Sunday.
And a promise of a sunny one to boot - as the frost gradually thawed away.
Going to be a Marina day.!
Main project today would be convincing a pair of doors to swap sides of the carpark.
The white sedan is being the donor of just about everything in the cockpit for the revival of the van.
Drivers door made the change some weeks ago, but weather has dissuaded any outside activity since then.
First thing was to whip the door off the sedan.
The door then got the rustkill process - it is wonderfully sound - only surface stuff to discourage.
I will trial fit this and see if it cures all the water leaks. Both doors will come off again for painting when I know they fit up ok.
While that was drying I removed the door from the van. An ill-fitting job with a few gungey bits which will be best gone.
The van was obviously a different colour when new. I will paint the door opening during the final fit.
First fit looks good - apart from the spotty bits. I ripped the trim strip off as the surface underneath will need attention before paint.
Hinges on this door are perfect, and the close is just brilliant. Closes with no contact other than the click of the latch, and seals great against the trim which was also swapped.
Most happy with it - although the bog in the lower guard will need dealing to..
By now the day had progressed somewhat, so we decided it was time to play...
We seldom go into the centre of Christchurch city - it is still a sad sight despite the intervening years.
We have disappeared off the "recent disasters" list on a world scale, but the recovery is slow to the point that it may never entirely happen.
The best way to explore is by bike..
We found a carpark in the main street - about 3 blocks from the centre of the Square.
This would have been impossible pre-quakes, even on a Sunday.
Even though much of the shopping area is still housed in shipping containers, some effort has been put into creating people spaces..
It is difficult to navigate around the city because most of the landmarks are gone.
In a typical Kiwi way, little bars and cafes have popped up amongst the carnage, and on a day like this they were full of happy people.
We stopped for a beer and a bourbon.
No scotch today..
There are still many shipping containers being used to prop up old facades while the Insurance companies dither over whether or not the buildings will be resurrected.
And this is 5 years on.!
The locals manage to make a joke of it despite the continuing heartbreak for many..
We headed back home before the temperature began to plummet, and by close of play I had the dash out of the van..
Very pleased with todays progress, and shall keep the heat on.
I think the screen will have to come out of the van, so that will allow me to fit the bits of vinyl trim that hide the pillars.
Fortunately, the van has a new screen rubber, but I suspect that at least some of the water leaks may be getting in around the screen.
A good day in all.
Cheers guys.