Tag Archives: New Zealand

Red Stickered

Red Stickered by Steph Jennings
Red Stickered, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

In the aftermath of the Feb quake all buildings had to be assessed for damage – this was a long process as even buildings without obvious damage had to be looked at.

The EQC (Earthquake commission) sent a team of insurers and structural engineers to every home, business and building in the city and rated them placing placards in the windows.

Red placards are issued for seriously damaged homes and commercial buildings. You MUST NOT ENTER a red-stickered building because it has been deemed UNSAFE.

Yellow placards indicate limited access to the building and further structural assessment is needed by the owner’s consultants.

Green placards mean that the home has received a brief inspection only. While no apparent structural or other safety hazards have been found, it is the home-owner’s responsibility to set up further evaluation.

At present s in the CBD alone 755 are red stickered 909 yellow stickered and a further 1266 Green stickered.

The stickers are only for imminent instruction only, many of the yellow and green stickered buildings while structurally sound are not economically viable to repair and will also need pulling down – My uncles house is one of them.

Akaroa Bay from 699m

Akaroa Bay from 699m by Steph Jennings
Akaroa Bay from 699m, a photo by Steph Jennings on Flickr.

Looking back into Akaroa Bay from the highest point on the Banks Peninsula Tramp.

The Banks Peninsula Track is privately co-owned and co-run 35km track passing through several small holdings on the Banks Peninsula.

We completed the 4 day tramp which involved traversing the headlands and down into bays, sleeping in stargazers and huts, bathing under the stars, walking on beaches with seals and up hills with penguins and some of the most dramatic scenery I’ve ever seen – oh and sheep, lots and lots of sheep!

The numbers are limited on the track to 2500 per year, with a maximum group size of 12, this is so the path is never crowded and minimise impact on this beautiful landscape!

New Brighton Pier, New Zealand

300m pier which struts out into Pegasus Bay.

4 Rivers flow into the bay from north to south they are:

Waipara River
Ashley River
Waimakariri River
Avon River and Heathcote River via the Avon Heathcote Estuary.

The pier was built originally in 1894 and was demolished in 1964.

$4 million was raised by the council and community funds to build a new pier, and in 1987 it was opened. You can get good views of the ocean at the end.

There is a library at the beginning of the pier and a cafe underneath.