Earthquake Part 4

Then (22 February)

Seven of us (L1, L2, L3, L4, M, J and me) left Victoria Square heading down Armagh Street. We walked slowly and carefully down the middle of the road, looking to right and left as we went and trying to take in the scale of what was happening to our city.

Reaching the intersection of Armagh Street, Rolleston Avenue and Park Terrace we stopped to reassess. L3 and L4 turned right to walk towards Harewood - L4's car was on the top floor of the Farmers carpark, and although L3 lived in the opposite direction, none of us wanted to let L4 go off on her own. M, J and L2 kept going over to Hagley Park looking for a toilet. L1 and I turned left and headed down to check whether my car was any use to us.

This part of the journey was harder - down Armagh Street we had been able to keep to the centre of the road, but Rolleston Avenue had parked cars, footpaths blocked with fallen bricks, and moving traffic as parents came and went collecting their children from Christ College. We walked on the outside of the parked cars but did not feel safe. Getting to the car park we were relieved to find my car intact and accessible, and I looked at my watch to see that we had made it back within the $8 parking ticket we had pre-paid - it was about 3:15, but felt so much later after what we had been through.

Heading back to the corner of Armagh and Rolleston, we were expecting to meet up with the others who were going to return there after finding a toilet. We were standing on the corner when the ground shook again, dropping us to the ground. What an irony, that clutching the ground seems to be an instinct, in spite of the fact that the ground is proving itself untrustworthy!