A view of an empty site that is now covered with weeds and silt from liquefaction. On the site is a digger and two shipping containers. In the background, demolition work on the Manchester Securities House can be seen.
Damage to the Gayhurst Road bridge. The road has buckled due to the bridge's movement, and the bridge is cordoned off. Liquefaction covers part of the street, and in the background St Paul's Church is also cordoned off.
A photograph of a corrugated-iron clad building on Oxford Street, which is all that remains standing after the buildings around it have been demolished. The photograph is captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "13 Oxford Street in Lyttelton".
The "Nucleus" sculpture by Phil Price on the corner of High, Manchester and Lichfield Streets. It has been cordoned off with fencing and road cones, and on the right is a rubbish skip. In the background is the Westpac Building.
A review of the week's news including... National MP Todd Barclay falls on his sword while Labour is in damage control, the decision to not prosecute the Pike River Mine CEO is to be contested in the Supreme Court, the lawyer for Akshay Chand says she sought bail on his behalf believing his mother and aunt would monitor his every movement, The Education Ministry is forced to apologise for its flawed handling of school closures and mergers after the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, The Health Minister is forced to defend his embattled Ministry following a major budget blunder, employment lawyers aren't surprised another health sector group is taking a pay equity claim, Ministry for Primary Industries officials come under fire at a packed Stewart Island public meeting on the cull of the island's farmed oysters, it's Plan B for a crowd funded initiative that wants to take control of Dunedin's Cadbury factory and All Black great Sir Colin 'pinetree' Meads has been immortalised in bronze.
Labour leader Phil Goff is being 'shored up' and strengthened by reinforced steel beams which represent his 'leadership. He tells ACT leader Rodney Hide who holds a newspaper with a headline reading 'ACT rattled again' that he needs to 'strengthen now before the next shake up!' As an insecure leader he is showing sympathy to Rodney Hide who is even more insecure because of the recent embarrassment of the David Garrett debacle. The title of the cartoon is 'Quake-proofing essential...' which is a reference to the Christchurch earthquake of 4th September and the continuing aftershocks. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
This report contributes to a collaborative project between the Marlborough District Council (MDC) and University of Canterbury (UC) which aims to help protect and promote the recovery of native dune systems on the Marlborough coast. It is centred around the mapping of dune vegetation and identification of dune protection zones for old-growth seed sources of the native sand-binders spinifex (Spinifex sericeus) and pīngao (Ficinia spiralis). Both are key habitat-formers associated with nationally threatened dune ecosystems, and pīngao is an important weaving resource and Ngāi Tahu taonga species. The primary goal is to protect existing seed sources that are vital for natural regeneration following major disturbances such as the earthquake event. Several additional protection zones are also identified for areas where new dunes are successfully regenerating, including areas being actively restored in the Beach Aid project that is assisting new native dunes to become established where there is available space.
The seismic survey truck T-Rex (from University of Texas) was in Bexley and Pacific Park a few days ago and may have left this calling card on the front lawn of my old "red zone" house. Obviously the geotechs will know what it means.
Another empty Red Zone section. Avonside Drive, Dallington.
There is some beauty in the desolate and near empty Dallington Red Zone.
A photograph of Tim Corry, Community Development Worker at the Christchurch Methodist Mission, taking part in #FiveYearsOn. Corry is from the Christchurch Methodist Mission's Wellbeing New Brighton Project, an All Right? Champion. Corry holds a sign which reads, "Five years on, I feel... that my glass is half full." All Right? posted the photograph on their Facebook Timeline on 21 February 2016 at 9:27am. All Right? captioned the photograph, "Tim from the Christchurch City Mission is feeling that his glass is half full. #fiveyears on #5yearson #allrightnz". (This was later corrected in the comments to, "the magnificent Christchurch METHODIST Mission".)
Prime Minister John Key sits at his desk on which are two baskets; the first is labelled 'Great news' and contains a very few documents and the second which is labelled 'Disasters' is so laden that it is causing the desk to crack. Context: New Zealand seems to be beset with disasters: the earthquakes in Christchurch, the 'Rena' shipwreck and consequeny oilspill etc. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).
An aerial photograph captioned by BeckerFraserPhotos, "The Avon River windings its way through densely pupulated housing. The Gayhurst Road bridge can be seen. The piece of land circumscribed by the loop of the river is all zoned red, as is the land to the left of the photo. On the right, most of the land is zoned green or orange".
Dried liquefaction silt in North New Brighton. The photographer comments, "This is the the top layer of liquefaction that has dried up in the hot sun. A broken eggshell is around 5 times stronger than these, but a fallen leaf is just not enough to break one. You can see underneath that the heavier sandy layer of liquefaction has dried and has cracked as well".
Damage to the garden of a house in Richmond. Liquefaction is visible among the plants and on the driveway, and the driveway is badly cracked. The photographer comments, "These photos show our old house in River Rd. Water and silt have flattened the long grass in the back garden. The growth right of centre is suckers growing from the stump of a prunus tree we had felled last year. The section of fence between us and our neighbour fell down in the Sep 4 quake".
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man or woman in possession of natural body odour is most definitely in want of something to cover it up. At least, in today’s society, it certainly seems to be considered unacceptable … Continue reading →
The end of year is upon us again, and Underground Overground Archaeology is closing the boxes on our finds for the year. The year we finished up our Christmas party with a scavenger hunt around the central city using cryptic … Continue reading →
This week’s post is a bit different. It’s not directly about Christchurch archaeology, but it is about an archaeologist working in Christchurch. We’ve taken a bunch of photographs of one of the desks in our office and we want you … Continue reading →
A digital copy of a painting by Julia Holden. The painting is of an excavator parked on a cleared block of land. The land is on Colombo Street, near the corner of Armagh Street.
An abandoned residential property at 20 Seabreeze Close in Bexley. The roof is warped and the backyard is overgrown with weeds. A sticker has been placed on the power box to indicate that the power has been turned off.
A photograph of a child inflating one of the paper origami balloons of Halo. Halo is a temporary installation that is part of LUXCITY.
A photograph of the former Central Library on Gloucester Street. The entrance has been boarded up with plywood and the footpath is covered in dead leaves. To the left, a sign reading 'Library Open' is still standing outside.
A photograph of a man inflating one of the paper origami balloons of Halo. Halo is a temporary installation that is part of LUXCITY.
A photograph of a child inflating one of the paper origami balloons of Halo. Halo is a temporary installation that is part of LUXCITY.
A digital copy of a painting by Hamish Allan. The painting is titled, 'Rebuild' and was painted in 2014. The original painting is acrylic on linen and measures 1010 X 1010mm.
A digital copy of a painting by Hamish Allan. The painting is titled, 'Digger Days' and was painted in 2011. The original painting is acrylic on canvas and measures 760 by 760mm.
Dr. Mark Quiqley is Senior Lecturer in Active Tectonics and Geomorphology in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Canterbury. He is part of the team involved in the scientific response to the Canterbury earthquake and has been monitoring it from the air.
One of the great community initiative's in Canterbury is the Rangiora Earthquake Express - where urgent help is still needed. These Rangiora volunteers have been up and running for sometime now, with daily runs into the Christchurch suburbs most desperately in need of water and other essential supplies.
Part the First Movember is upon us once again, and to celebrate Undershaved Overgrown Archaeology brings to you a brief history of facial hair in Aotearoa. Movember is all about men’s health, and we’ve previously covered health in the blog … Continue reading →
A photograph of a vacant site on Gloucester Street. The site is to be the location of Illusions, a large-scale installation which is part of LUXCITY.