Christchurch on the Up and Up.

We spent the night in Kaiapoi just down the road from the New World Supermarket in the derelict earthquake area which is soon to become a 2 hectare dog walking area beside the river.

I went looking to get a cover made for the unicycle to keep the harsh Central Otago sun off the tyre, however businesses in town are very busy, saying next week we can do it... so I found this solution  

..which is closed cell foam door protector purchased from Para Rubber.

This is the Halswell Menz Shed. A most impressive place, just to mention the drive in, through lovely gardens out at the St John of God in Aidanfield.

Chatting to the guys at smoko I found they were only open because they had been out demolishing a kitchen somewhere, so they can reinstall it at the shed for their kitchen. These guys are enterprising,,, they did up a motorhome which they rent out to fellow sheddies. They recently sold it and are going to buy another. They also have a ladies night where the ladies pay $5 per night. 

Most of their machinery is donated and or passed onto other sheds. I spoke to Des and Malcolm among others, and managed to do a few more jobs on the bus despite excessive chatting.

A very tidy shed with signage around on various machines stating the main points to be aware of for safety and proper use.

 I some how bent the bracket on the leg on the bike rack at the back, which attracted quite bit of banter from the guys. But that was soon flattened and brought back to shape in the engineering shed

 We parked up in North New Brighton near the Bottle Creek mountain bike park which also attracts a lot of dog walkers

A nice day ... and my thoughts turn to riding my unicycle.

It's amazing how delicate the balance is to get on it...if I don't ride it for a week or so, it'll take me 3-4 attempts just to get on it and stay on it.....

 However it's great entertainment for the watchers...

waiting for disasters.

Safety first....between the flags.

Trips into the city reveal how Chch is coming back into its own, below is the new bus depot

 Outside a new skyline is emerging in the central city. 

 Strange visitors from the north invade the sidewalks!

The tourist side of Chch is definitely moving back to happier times, 

with the trams getting good tourist patronage. 

All the way from Invercargill???

 The day we viewed the cathedral they were starting to remove the iron girders which held up and supported the entrance of the cathedral, which has looked a sad and sorry state for such long time with the workmen going up to assess the damage and start to plan its rebuilding.

This shot is taken from the new Christchurch City Library which borders the north side of the Square.

It is ultra modern, with many (for a library) great services and features. 

 Four floors of books, computers, magazines, newspapers common to libraries, but this one has a Creative Hub on the 4th floor featuring music recording studios, art programmes, 3D printers and fabric printing, also sewing machines available. All with back up help in the form of free videos and how to and regular classes on such subjects as below.

Teenagers dancing along to the big screen fitness exercise programme, have all come along way from the studious, be quiet librarys of my childhood (and even adulthood)

 The creative hub is a super place to learn and play and to be creative... wish I was young again!

A  3D printer .... if only I knew how to work it!

My niece lives in Christchurch and has three children, two of which have gone or are going to a preschool school for 2-5 year olds. I asked if I could perform for them and below are the results.

This was my first unpacking of my travelling show, so it took some time with an attentive audience of under 5's at first in complete silence, but that soon opened up when I started chatting to them!

All in all a very successful and satisfying first showing, 

with many learnings to integrate into future shows.

With Christchurch under our belt we headed south towards Ashburton...and found...

You'll have to wait till the next blog.

Till then...have fun...be joyous and stay safe.

Cheers

Jimu & Christine