Christchurch Earthquake - Way too close for comfort!

For most of the last two weeks we have enjoyed a fantastic trip to New Zealand where we went to celebrate the wedding of our good friends Sarah and Oliver who live in Christchurch. Our most vivid memories however are of a much more tragic event.

At 12.50pm on Tuesday we were just finishing our lunch, a nice sandwich in New Regent St, Christchurch, a few minutes after stepping off the tourist tram in Cathedral Square.
At 12.51pm we were on the floor of the cafe with our 7 month old Max's buggy thrown on its side, surrounded by food and bottles of soft drink falling from the fridges. Yes, we were in the middle of a 6.3 earthquake - it was very obvious very quickly.
What we didn't know at the time of course was that this was the most deadly earthquake to ever hit New Zealand and that only two streets away in both directions buildings were collapsing taking scores of lives.

The next few minutes were pretty hectic as we picked up our children and got out of there as quickly as possible. As we left the cafe we could see clouds of dust coming up the street, probably from the cathedral so obviously we ran the other way, with Lydia carrying a frightened Celia and me pushing a screaming but somewhat oblivious Max. We had to crouch and take cover a few more times as fairly large and extremely scary aftershocks hit but we were pretty quickly out of the central area and away from large buildings.

As we walked away from the central business district in a bit of a state of shock we could see helicopters dropping water on burning buildings and plumes of dust rising in several parts of the small city. It was pretty obvious that there was no chance of retrieving our luggage or passports. They were in a multi-story car park right in the city centre as we were due to head to the airport immediately after lunch. The locals told us that the last earthquake had sealed off the city centre for a week and that this one was much worse. We also heard on someones radio that the airport was closed so we, like many thousands or others were stranded with only the clothes we were wearing.

  


A backpacker hotel we passed as we left the CBD - everyone got out safely

 

Refugee children sharing their donated pyjamas

Over the next 48 hours we experienced so many random acts of kindness it wouldn't be possible to mention them all - but I'll try to remember the main ones

• The backpackers who let us share their radio to hear what was happening
• The amazing lady from Armagh street (we will find out your name and send you a thank you) who took us into her house and gave us water, baby milk, baby bottles, spare clothes for the children, advice on where to go
• The bus driver who squeezed us on the first 'stranded foreigners' bus out of the city and then left us all alone at the Antarctic Exploration Centre (a blessing in disguise)
• The manager at the Sudima hotel whos organisational skills in controlling, feeding and arranging sleeping for around 2000 stranded people was just staggering
• The Australian family (Levi, Sarah and Ruby) who so kindly allowed us to share their room on Tuesday night - unbelievably we were one of a very small minority in that hotel who actually had a bed - although with dozens of aftershocks there wasn't much sleeping!
• The businessmen and the German student who lent me their iPhone chargers - I hope the extra blankets from our room helped you sleep a little. iPhone4 battery life is appalling, just when you need it most.
• The Red Cross people at the rescue centres who were organised and helpful and gave us more nappies, babyfood and plenty of food and water.
• The manager of the beautiful Copthorn hotel and his wife who took us into their home and gave us coffee and a few moments of calm at a point in the day when things were becoming a little too stressful to handle (for Lydia!). They then found us a room in the hotel that allowed us to see the British Consulate on Thursday morning - and he bought me a Guinness.
• Margaret, the mother of our friend Michelle in Melbourne who drove, picked us up and then ferried us to one of the few open chemists to have our new passport photos taken
• The English couple we met at dinner who kindly donated clean t-shirts to Lydia and I (they probably smelt us across the table) and some books and stickers for Celia
• My employer Deloitte for arranging and paying for our very expensive new flights home - without them we would have been there until Sunday
• The British Consulate for getting us emergency passports (eventually)
• The random woman we met at the British Consulate who then insisted on dropping us to the airport
• My boss Lisa, for coming to meet us at Melbourne airport at 9.30pm with food, flowers, wine and teddy bears. Amazing.

Red Cross Relief Centres - Very impressive

The one thing maybe doesn't get properly reported is the number of aftershocks. In the 51 hours between the earthquake and the time we left Christchurch there were more than 100 aftershocks, each of them making your heart beat just a little faster than normal, and in some cases quite a lot faster! Check out this fascinating up-to-the-minute tremmor map. http://www.christchurchquakemap.co.nz/

And finally, thanks to all our friends around the world who sent so many great messages of support via Facebook. A lot of families in Christchurch are much much worse off than us this week so please think of them too. We have a story to tell for the rest of our lives. Around 250 people aren't here to tell any stories anymore.

The epicentre - where we were EXACTY 24 hours earlier - the view is probably quite different now

Very soon we'll post some details and photos of the real reason we went to NZ - a fantastic holiday and a beautiful wedding. It's a truly stunning country with incredibly friendly people so please go see for yourself. I guess it would be understandible if Christchurch isn't on your itenerary right now (although the tourist dollar will be most welcome in the coming months) but the rest of the South Island should be on everyone's 'must see' list. We loved it.