Christchurch Daily Photo

This artwork can be see at Waltham Park. It’s part of Project Legit which is run by the Christchurch City Council. The project encourages graffiti artists to express themselves legitamitly, reducing the incidence of vandalism in the city. I can’t comment on whether it’s working, but I sure love the artwork.  Will post more tomorrow.

Gosh, he can’t be any more than 2 and a half? Spotted in the city.

This crowd scene is  from last weekend, and I’ve been saving it for a rainy day… And boy has it been raining in Christchurch lately! Anyway, these lovely happy people are supporters of the 350 Movement which says on their website that: “350ppm is the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide that scientists say is the safe upper limit for humanity. We’re currently at around 389ppm, and rising at 2ppm per year”.

So they want to get international agreement on getting those levels down. These people were standing in a 3 formation on the ground and photographers in a building a few stories up were taking photos. And of course I was taking a photo of the people having their photo taken as I thought it might be interesting. I think it is, as I rather like the looks on their faces !  And yes, if you took a way the signs it kind of looks like a revival meeting.

Here’s another shot with my mobile phone, of Hagley Park, the major inner city park that Christchurch is very well known for (the Avon River is just to the right).  It’s a special spot this park, and I really make the most of it. Most nights there are lots of joggers and walkers and cyclists (including the one I thought came a bit close to running me over!). Most people walk the perimeter of the park which has either pebble paths or ashphalt. In the middle of the park are playing fields. The park gets a lot of use during the summer as a venue for outdoor events. This photo was taken about 7.3opm, and it was very pleasant, with a beautiful light. I kept thinking “I wish I had my SLR with me”, but then if I had I would have  ambled around for hours and not gotten any effective exercise. So the mobile is a good compromise – I get my exercise, but I also can get a semi decent shot.

Well the sign says it all. I didn’t try them out, but I trust the coffee was indeed good, as the standard of coffee in New Zealand is generally very high. New Zealanders really miss their coffee and their chocolate when they travel. In fact, I’ve been known to post kiwi lollies and chocolate overseas to desperate ex pats!

Love this sign! This is the Wunderbar, a bar in Lyttelton (which is a port town). They only let nice people in.  I wonder what the test for niceness is? I snapped this with my cellphone after walking over the bridle path from Heathcote over the hill down into Lyttelton.

This is a Michael Jackson impersonater, who performed before the Thrill the Word event at the Christchurch Art Gallery. The event was the world’s largest simultaneous dance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  I went down to photograph it with some friends…. but we ended up in it, heck why not! It was a lot of fun, but quite tiring as the sun was out, and there’s some tricky moves in that dance. But we did it. Around 300 other groups participated as well around the world. Don’t know yet if it’s a world record…

Here’s some shots of the practice… (not photos of the actual event as I can’t dance and take photos yet… And yes, I did have the zombie makeup and blood splatters down my neck.

Frocks on Bikes was a fun event where women get dressed up and ride their bikes! It’s part of the Frocks on Bikes organisation that encourages people to leave the car at home and cycle. Being a flat city, Christchurch is ideal for cycling. So no excuses – get out and pedal power your way to work and outtings! The event was also part of the Christchurch Festival of Cycling.

One of the main streets in the CBD.

From this angle the players and observers kind of look like chess pieces as well!