Rebuilding Shakeytown: Every smile counts

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Every smile counts

Today is census day here in NZ - it was supposed to happen 2 years ago but a rather disruptive earthquake sequence put paid to that. It was quickly realised, by the powers-that-be, that any data collected was going to be horribly skewed by the mass exodus of people escaping Shakeytown, and tracking down everyone left behind would be near impossible. So, we do it today instead.

I filled out my census form online - quick and easy! I really liked the fact there was a helpful explanation on how to account for time spent off-site due to earthquake issues. It's a good feeling to be back on our little plot o'land - taking into account the two years spent away, we've been living here for 11 years.

There are a number of other things that have made me smile in recent times so, in no particular order, here's a few:

Cafe in Hobart, Australia
(the name was waaay better than the coffee)

Cat busting out Tetris shapes on the bed

Just another orthodox street sign

Fresh Guacamole, with a twist

And then, while walking through Re:Start Mall recently, I found this:

A whole wall of smiles...

From all over New Zealand!

These smiles were all collected by Terry, a backpacking tourist from Taiwan. He noticed that the people of Christchurch weren't smiling any more so he decided to go out and find people who had smiles to share.