It's been a week since a devastating earthquake hit Christchurch, the beautiful city that welcomed us with open arms. 'Bent and I tuned into Radio New Zealand at 6:51 p.m. to share in their national two minutes of silence exactly seven days later. The latest estimate is that about 240 people have lost their lives. Officials have warned families that the damage is so severe that some of their loved ones may never be found. Many more people have lost their homes or workplaces. Families have left town, some of them for good. Their children are frightened after two major earthquakes in five months. The town's centre is in ruins.
We hear about tragedies on the news every day but sadly, we aren't able to give them all the attention they deserve. This one feels more real to us because we recognize the rubble-strewn downtown streets we shopped on, the damaged coffee shop we sat in, the heaved-up roads we drove on, the broken cliff we stood under and the collapsed cathedral we explored. Sometimes when things like this happen, you feel relieved, "Holy crap, if that had happened a week earlier, I could have been killed." But honestly, my thoughts haven't gone there, at least not so far. I'm heartbroken for the people of Christchurch who treated us with such kindness and for their lovely city that lies in ruins.
Over the past week, Jack and I have communicated with some of the people we met. A couple have lost their homes and places of work but thankfully, none have lost family members or their own lives. Because I shared so many of our NZ experiences with AP, I want to share some post-earthquake follow-up.
For our first week in Christchurch, we rented a house next to Hagley Park, a huge urban green area. There is now an evacuation camp on the manicured grass.
The couple who rented us the house by the park also own a nearby motel. They did not suffer any property damage but they've been worked off their feet since the quake. First, all the people who were booked to stay with them left town or cancelled their reservations. Then they were flooded with rescue workers needing a place to stay. They feel sick about what has happened to their beloved city but don't have much time to think about it now.
The earthquake was centred under the harbour of Lyttelton where we first tested our kayaks.
To get there, we drove through a long tunnel under a mountain; it was closed for several days after the quake due to rockfall. After paddling, we visited shops and went for coffee on Lyttelton's charming main street which is now filled with rubble. Luckily, no one died there.
Our kayak guide Gaz, who has river and climbing rescue skills, joined in the urban search and rescue efforts for the first few days until the international teams arrived. He described the work as truly heartbreaking and emotionally draining. I can only imagine (thank God).
Sam, the paddler who drove the van to shuttle us on the Waimakariri River, was lucky. Thanks to "a very well timed leap", he is alive and well.
He works in the shop where my kayak is being packed in a custom-built box for shipment to Canada. The shop is structurally sound with damage to some of their wares. I haven't yet heard whether my kayak survived the quake undamaged. It doesn't matter to me at all compared to the big losses other people have suffered but it is strange having this small personal connection to a natural disaster halfway around the world.
Race Director Robin Judkins and the Coast to Coast organizers are fine.
They are based in Sumner where the race finishes. This beautiful beach suburb suffered particularly severe property damage although fortunately the loss of life was fairly low. Some cliffs in Sumner and adjacent areas have collapsed, sending large rocks plummeting onto the road where C2C competitors biked and destroying a few buildings. Some homes on top of the cliffs are closer to the edge now and may not be safe.
The apartment building we stayed in at Sumner Beach has been evacuated due to structural integrity concerns.
The senior couple who rented it to us also ran a B&B in a lovely old house where they'd lived for 34 years and raised three children. Their house - and thus their business - was destroyed and they aren't allowed to stay in the evacuated apartment, which was their intended retirement home, so they've had to leave town for now. They snuck back into their house to retrieve some treasures. They can't even drive a car up their road because of big cracks in the road. Their
story made the local paper.
Finally, there is major damage to the heart of Christchurch, including the collapse of their iconic stone cathedral. It is believed that 22 bodies lie beneath the rubble.
This
link uses a fascinating technique to let you compare before and after images of the cathedral and other parts of town.
If you also feel a connection to New Zealand and its current crisis, you may be interested in the
international earthquake appeal fund set up by the NZ government. We don't get tax receipts for a donation but I can't find a Canadian organization that is sending a comparable percentage of their funds to NZ. I suspect the admin overhead for the new fund is relatively low so most of the money should get to where it is needed.