Yes - I know - I are been slack of late. But I have good reason.
Michelle moved back home on Saturday, and so time spent blogging has been reallocated for use as time spent with my wife. This is a good thing. An even-better-than-blogging thing.
So, thanks to you all for your prayers and support - they are bearing fruit, and your continued faithfulness will be greatly appreciated.
[Britomart]
Yes, it sounds like a good name for a laundromat, but the new Britomart Transport Centre took its first train yesterday morning. I popped down there at lunchtime today to see what all the fuss was about, and found myself walking into another country, a country where they actually have underground railway stations. I would have thought that, like other countries, there would have been more shops and stalls in the station, but then of course, its not even finished properly yet, and there may not be the volume of passengers to warrant any retail even when it is all finished. But we shall see.
Lots of dressed concrete, and a subtle, yet effective use of coloured lighting. The pedestrian subway under QEII square is lined with those little white ceramic tiles, which gave me the impression someone had dug the subway in the seventies, just waiting for it to be unearthed for use in the Britomart complex thirty years later. Oh well, I'm sure in thirty years time they'll have a two-centimetre-thick coating of rock-concert posters.
Another random discovery was that the escalators move slower than average.
On the whole, I like it. I'm not at all up with the play on modern architecture or design, but I would say that this has been executed tastefully, and rather simply. It looks easy to maintain, and there is plenty of space - it is quite a bit airier than most other underground stations, but then it does have the odd window in the roof that allows daylight to be seen.
If you're looking for it, the new station is under the old CPO building at the bottom of Queen St - right on QEII square, which is soon to be reopened for bus traffic only.
I'm off home in fifteen minutes - so you all have a good evening!
