My Quilt

I have finished my quilt. It is imperfect but I am still proud of it and happy to have finished it. I do need to make a pillow case that goes with it, and my husband thinks I need to put something underneath it to make it look right. The bed does not suit a valance, so am not sure what to do about this challenge.

Earthquake Part 8

Now

Today is the local public holiday in memory of those lost in the earthquake. There has been a lot of debate about the timing for this event, with many feeling that it is too early. I also thought that it was too early, but after teaching for four days this week, our first week back, I was too tired to think straight yesterday afternoon and decided that a day off would be most welcome. I think that even those of us with minor damage and inconvenience and grief are still struggling to cope with the momentous events over the last month. Everyone says "are you OK?", and the stock answer is "Yes", but it is often a bit of an act, and it is hard to get behind the facade to check on how people really are.

Our friend who left town the day after the earthquake is back staying with us for a few days and wanted to go to the memorial service. I got out the map and looked for the place closest to Hagley Park that did not require me to cross Barrington St and Brougham St, two main roads that have been gridlocked lately. I dropped my friend off complete with sun-hat, water, sunblock, cushion, marshmallows, cell phone and emergency toilet paper, then came home to garden. Even though we have not been watering for three weeks the weeds have still grown, and I discovered cracks in the front garden - maybe due to drying out rather than earth movement, as the lawn and pavement do not seem to be cracked in the same places.

I watched some of the memorial service on TV and was pleased to see Prince William planting a new tree to begin the replacement of those that needed to be removed due to earthquake damage.

Then (22 February)

Once the power came back we were able to watch television. Our jaws dropped in disbelief at the scenes of our city crumbling, and the people - those in crisis, and those responding, helping, coming to the rescue. There was only so much we could take, and turned it off. Conversation flagged as shock and tiredness caught up with us. Phone calls and texts were made - friends, family, colleagues checked up on. We have a phone that does not need a separate power supply so were able to talk to some people that way before the power came back, phone lines permitting. I wish I had kept notes at the time, because I am finding it hard to remember this time with any confidence.

Earthquake Part 7

Now

Today was our first day back at school following the earthquake I have been writing about. Having not been teaching in the classroom for three weeks, going back felt strange. Our classrooms are safe to work in, and we can use the toilets, but along with the rest of the city we cannot drink tap water. We were asked to tell our students to wipe their feet on entering buildings, but at the end of the day my cleaner was still upset at the amount of silt that had been walked into the buildings. I took a bottle of water with me, and decided not to take the risk of drinking tea or coffee on site. As the temperature crept up (expected high of 27 degrees, after a foggy start to the day), I probably did not drink enough, which added to the mental block which a lot of use were struggling to overcome - we knew our brains weren't working right, and although we were attempting to be normal it was not convincing. Luckily there were no significant aftershocks. Doing my lunchtime duty, I noticed many scars in the grounds where I am guessing that pipes had needed repair. We also have lumps in the asphalt where the liquefaction has pushed up rather than through. The stream, named Pariwai by an ex-student, is no longer flowing and seems to have a layer of oil floating over some of it.

Then (22 February)

It took us 1 3/4 hours to get home - usually a 15 minute drive. As we got towards our end of Lyttelton Street, we could tell that things were worse than they had been in September - much more liquefaction. I dropped one of us at her home, and the other three at the school gates, two to collect their cars and one to walk home as she does every day. The picture above shows the hole in Lyttleton Street near to Pioneer Stadium, right in the middle of the road.

Arriving home, I found my husband safe at home, having taken 1 hour 55 minutes to get home from his school. He had been home for long enough to take photos of the damage but had left it for me to see. Not too bad, but worse than September - broken glassware, vases and platters, books and porcelain dolls on the floor, drawers in the kitchen open and so on. Perhaps the worst was the spilt port, which made a sickly sweet smell throughout the living areas and resulte din us bundling the rug up and putting it outside.

No power, no water, no toilet flushing. Our generator needed fixing - the starter cable had broken. The new gas hob has an electric ignition system but P. had asked the installer if it could be lit without power. My recollection is that he spent a long time fiddling with the barbecue starter to get the elements going, but he cooked a meal of sausages, potatoes and salad for the three of us. A bucket of water was filled from the rain water tank for judicious toilet "flushing" - there is a knack to pouring the water to replicate an actual cistern flush.

At some stage that evening the power came back on and we were able to watch the non-stop television coverage - or as much of it as we could bear. And we put our cell phones to charge!

Earthquake Part 6

Now

I have been running around in tiny circles as part of my coping strategy over the last few days, and have left me and my friends stranded in Hagley Park.

Today's photo shows my bathroom. The water bottle and plastic cup are needed for hygienic tooth cleaning. The battery-powered sensor-triggered soap dispenser is my panicky purchase from Richmond Pak'NSave when they had sold out of hand sanitiser. The little spray bottle is the very last hand sanitiser from the chemist in Richmond Mall. These small details show how much energy needs to go into the smallest of daily routines. A view to the left would show our bath full of water, filled when the water came back the first time, and kept in case it goes again - not a pretty sight.

Future

Moon man debate runs hot, with predictions of a big quake around 19-21 March. With John Key announcing a memorial service for 18 March accompanied by a public holiday for Christchurch, I find myself wondering if he is (a) trying to lay the prevalent anxiety to rest OR (b) allowing us the option of taking a long weekend out of Christchurch. Please comment with your opinion.

Then (22 February)

Note: This mornings's Press suggests that the fallen tree we saw was an oak, not a willow.

In my last post, I left us in the compound in Hagley Park. Eventually we reached consensus about our next step - walk to my car and drive home. There was concern amongst us about the trees, so we walked briskly down the tree-lined avenue and out on to Rolleston Avenue. Once we were safely buckled into the car we headed cautiously down Park Terrace to Carlton Mill corner and then left in to Harper Avenue.

My recollections of the drive home are patchy - I was concentrating on driving safely in trying circumstances. The roads were packed and it took an hour and three quarters for me to get home. Things I do recall

• New "sand bunkers" in the Hagley Park golf course
• Not being able to turn right into Riccarton Road due to a fallen brick building (Dalley's seed merhants? I remember buying gardening supplies there with my mother years ago)
• Having to choose whether to trust the new fly-over by Placemakers or go the long way round
• People overtaking when there was no where to go and lanes were merging
• Stopping at the railway line in Matipo Street, aware that crossing lights would not be working
• Pausing to allow traffic to move ahead under the over-bridge on Wrights Road so that we would not have to stop underneath it

Earthquake Part 5

Then (22 February)

Standing on the corner of Armagh and Rolleston regathering our strength following a scary aftershock, we were so grateful to a woman who gave us a drink. A doctor who lived in Armagh Street with a husband teaching at Christ College, she was walking along with a bottle of soft drink and glasses and very kindly poured us a drink to share. This renewed our energy to the point where we could keep walking up towards the Gardens car park. This part of Hagley Park was being set up for the Ellerslie Flower Show, and official-looking people were directing the lost to a fenced-in compound. We wondered, slightly irrationally, if perhaps the entrance to the compound was one-way and that M, J and L2 had gone in and not been allowed to leave. A huge willow tree had fallen over onto the fence around part of the Flower Show grounds. (Note that the above picture is not the actual tree, but a much smaller gum tree that fell in the September quake.)

We found our missing friends sitting on the grass inside the compound, surrounded by displaced people many of whom were from overseas or out of town, and some of whom had left their possessions in hotels when they escaped. I think our friends had arrived somewhere that felt safe and run out of energy to do anything else. They reported that the portaloos had been closed so they had to pretend they were tramping. We sat for a while, girding up our strength to tackle an attempt to drive home towards the south west.

Now

This morning, I had my first shower since Sunday morning. It was and is lovely to feel clean after several days getting increasingly sticky and smelly.

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!

Earthquake Part 3

Then (22 February)

Listening to radios on cell phones and intermittent Internet access had told us some details, and we heard differing instructions - don't move, go to Hagley Park. Two of us set off to walk towards the hills. A working mother with husband at home looking after the toddler decided to head home if her car was accessible, so we escorted her to Oxford Terrace to find her car unscathed. Traffic was moving slowly down Oxford Terrace and we could see it moving across the Manchester Street bridge, so we hugged her, told her to be careful and watched her drive off.

Returning to Victoria Square, we met two more colleagues to add to our group. My friend noticed a group of people in wheelchairs with carers, and we went over to check whether we could help. It was quite windy, and we thought they might get cold just sitting there so suggested that they might take turns in their minivans. Then we noticed some people huddled up in pastel coloured blankets which they had got from the Copthorne Hotel. My friend negotiated that the people in wheelchairs could also get blankets from the hotel. I was really proud of my friend for doing this - I had not even noticed the wheelchairs.

We decided that it was too cold to sit around any longer and that we would head towards Hagley Park and my car. The next installment will follow after I have done something else useful.

Now

We have water back on - hurray! We have not showered since Sunday morning, so are excited by the idea of being able to come clean.

Earthquake Part 2

Then (22 February)

We talked with other teachers we knew in the crowd and made some decision

s. My little group of four decided to head towards my car which I had parked in the Arts Centre car p

ark near the Worcester Boulevard-Rolleston Avenue corner. We did not want to walk under the Convention Center overbridge on Kilmore Street, but were uncomfortable about going over bridges. We watched people crossing the Colombo St bridge and decided that we would risk it but shoul

d walk quickly over it. As we moved in this direction see could see people up high in the Forsyth Barr building and also that

the top of the cathedral spire had fallen down. Once over the bridge we moved into Victoria Square picking our way carefully around the liquefaction and commenting on our inappropriate shoes. We found some more colleagues and sat down on the grass to consider what to do next. It was cool and grey, the air felt damp, and people wandered past and stood around in small groups.

Now

Awoken by something, I got up to check GeoNet for the size of the quake at 10:42 pm - it was 4.6 and centered closer to our place than most. The ability to see where a quake was on Google maps is a useful feature that encourages many further minutes of earthquake-obsession.

NB This spellcheck does not know how to spell Google, which is intriguing when Google owns Blogger!