Day ten - Worcester Street - banjo action

Day Nine - top of high street

So this gal just so happens to work for the Save Happy Valley campaign and she must be doing something right because they’ve managed to keep the place from destruction for the past three years. She also told me that the Christchurch city council are about to rip out the fountain at the top of the mall where all the teenagers hang out. So according to her, the reason they’re doing that is because they want to run the teenagers out of town. Sounds a credible explanation, so I resolved to come back another day and see how it goes.


Spider boy



These are the teenagers they’re apparently trying to get rid of. Ooooooooo danger danger…



Like the purple dragon? Not sure who put that in the window but the head has been ripped off.



Two guys called Dave in one photo.



Secrets revealed. The rain came down so I high tailed it back to the Art Gallery, actually it was ok for me but I noticed that people were kneeling down to talk to me and getting wet. Those lines on the sidewalk are apparently where they’re going to be ripping up the tiles to do whatever they’re doing to the mall.

Fresh vids from Christchurch

Day eight – Worcester Bridge

No prizes for guessing where we are now. You gotta love that tram, even if it does only travel at 20km per hour. Not bad for right outside your back door. Great view of the city though.















This Jane, she does a great side-line career as coffee and cake delivery gal. Thanks to John in Auckland who sent her out to look for me.










Smile of the day award







So these guys are from Hagley High. Funny how teenagers get a bad rap for everything, then you meet a bunch like this and realise how interesting and straight up they are too.

Day Seven – one week down – Corner of Armagh and Colombo

Man, Woman, Little House. Prime retail, wheels up and stranded. What are you gonna do? How can such prime retail go standing with no interest? Great outlook, high visibility, all new frontage, go on take a look. Forget about that old place, there’s not enough sun, it’s old fashioned, the kitchen is practically falling down. Take a look for yourself.

Day Six – The City Mall near Bridge of Remembrance

View from the balcony of the Art Gallery into the foyer. What is it that kids get about art? I reckon they just like things with no rules, who wouldn’t. Every day there are kids who stick their faces into my window and ask me what I’m doing. I tell them something obscure of obtuse, they give me a look of disbelief and then they get on with it. Why must there be something to get, after all? Why should there be a specific point? Why



Someone left their glasses. Come get them off me at the house.


This is a kind of screwed-up panorama, but I like the fact that it’s not quite right. It is taken on my phone camera after all.




Did we really evolve from English people? How did that happen? Who was responsible?




This is Mandy. She’s a shop manager in the square, she filled my water bottle and offered a place to expel it too.


Damn, can’t remember the name, she’s a med student in her 4th year, passing by from Christchurch hospital. She is officially the first person I’ve ever met who doesn’t drink tea. Apparently it’s a taste thing, same with coffee. What about the drug thing? Doesn’t that count for something, you don’t have to be a med student to work that one out.


Christchurch lads.

Day Five – Near the Bus station on Litchfield St

Officially the noisiest spot in Christchurch. Well, if you add the fact that I was outside a store that is being renovated and there are concrete floor polishers inside with the doors wide open for fumes and noise, plus the buses coming and going, plus the fact that it’s a busy corner for traffic, you’ve got a fair bit of noise.

In fact they had three of those machines going. It was a lot calmer inside the house, but not a great day for conversations.



With the notable exception of Bev. She is the mother of my ex-girlfriend and came looking for me, apparently I was supposed to be in the square again today… what is it about squares though, seems to me they’re the worst place in the universe to actually meet people. And on the most part when you see art in a public place like a square you always feel like its been sanitised somehow. Anyway, that’s my excuse for being in an obscure and noisy corner of Christchurch.






I reckon I’ll put this one in my scrap book. I dunno why, I just love it.
























Leaders of the SPCSU
(Society for the protection of school girls against ugly clothing)
What is it about winter uniforms – I mean would anyone in their right mind be wearing a skirt like that if they weren’t forced into it. As a school kid I always resented having to do dumb things that I knew very well had no sense, well costumes like that just don’t make sense mums and dads, and maybe you think it’s character building to force your kids into wearing ugly clothes, it really doesn’t help anyone in the long run.