Ōtautahi / Christchurch Daily Photo

I heard through word of mouth that Gloucester was going to be closed today to cars so that pedestrians could walk down it, and that the cordon was being reduced slightly so everyone could get a better view of the Square from the north side (from Colombo Street). So I ventured down there to check things out, as did hundreds if not thousands of others. It was very busy.

It’s kind of surreal when you see people ‘walking the cordon’. The cordon is such a visible presence and a constant in our face reminder that so much of our city is still off limits. It’s an odd experience walking around our broken city with large numbers of others – people bring down their dogs, their kids, their grannies – it’s a not so regular ‘family day out’. I half expect there to be street vendors and magicians blowing balloons. Except that every now and again you see someone wipe away a tear. There’s a lot of hand squeezing and staring off into space.

The photo below shows a pink panther pinned to the army cordon control point, a model of the cathedral, and a news reporter covering the open day.