A Box of Birds: February 2011

Sunday, February 27, 2011

The Cranmer Bridge Club was built in 1864 which makes it one of the oldest buildings in Canterbury if not New Zealand. Cycling along Armagh St it appeared OK but when I turned into Cranmer Square the damage is quite extensive.

Worcester Boulevard

Looking along Worcester Boulevard not much seems to have changed apart from the barricades, the lack of people and the soldiers. In the distance is the cathedral. From this distance it looks the same as ever but we know that the tower has gone and the building is going to need extensive repairs.

Missing Head

William Rolleston

I don't know much about this historic character but he has come to an ignominious end.

Museum

The museum seems in very good condition, there are no barriers around it so it is in no danger of imminent collapse. There is obvious damage however. The statue of William Rolleston, 4th and last superintendant of the province of Canterbury has been knocked from his plinth.

Arts Centre

Most of Rolleston Avenue is cordoned off but I was able to get to a small section and see that the Arts Centre appears undamaged. It will need an inspection but, fingers crossed, it can be repaired. Could not venture in far enough to see the Duxdelux but here's hoping it survived.

Still Standing

They say that one third of the buildings in the city centre will have to be demolished many of them heritage buildings that define the character of Christchurch.

But this is the garden city and our trees and gardens will survive. I had a lovely cycle through the botanic gardens.

Love CHCH!

I cycled through the botanic gardens. It was almost deserted but someone had left this cheery message in the gravel.

New Bunkers

Today I went for a bike ride. Getting through town on car is difficult and I wanted to see first hand how some of me favourite places had fared. Hagley Park looks fine but the liquefaction means a lot more hazards on the golf course.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Aftershock

This image has appeared on the net and shows Christchurch from the port hills just after the quake hit on Tuesday afternoon.

It appears that the 7.1 magnitude earthquake we experienced last year had a particularly nasty sting in the tail. The vicious earthquake that ripped through the city on February 22nd was apparently 'just' an aftershock. We have endured 1000's of aftershocks in the past five months including a scary cluster on boxing day but we seemed to be coming to the end of them and were looking forward to the future. Now the heart of our city has been destroyed. Christchurch will be rebuilt but it will take years, maybe decades and it will be very different from the city we call home.

Basillica

Not one of my pictures, found this on the web. The Catholic cathedral is directly opposite James's school. This is the view I had while I was in James's school listening to the radio for news about how to get out of the city.

Jump

Found this image on the web. I knew someone would have to try this. This is the bridge across the Avon I showed a couple of posts below.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

End of the Road

As I said in my earlier post we had to abandon the car because the road had broken up completely. This is what I meant. As the road loops past the river Avon it has collapsed completely.

Bridge Across the Avon

Today it is bright and sunny and there are only a handful of people; locals sat in stunned silence and a few sightseers on foot or bicycle. When we walked across here on Tuesday afternoon there were tens of thousands of us all headed out of the city. The road was covered in muddy water oozeing from underground and the air was full of smoke and dust from burning and collapsed buildings.

Drug Farm

A policeman pointed out these cannabis plants. A secret that had been exposed when the roof collapsed.

Hole

Towards the northern end of Fitzgerald Ave the road really starts to break up.

Fizgerald Avenue

I had a walk down Fitzgerald Avenue. This was the route we took to escape the city centre on the day of the earthquake. At this point we had abandoned the car and started walking. These are the buildings next to the 'Bone Dudes' shop.

Carlton Hotel

The Carlton Hotel was in the process of being repaired after the Sept quake. I think it is now doomed.

Knox Church

I don't think are many churches left in Christchurch.

Merivale Shops

The supermarket at Merivale mall was open but many of the shops on Papanui Rd are gone. This is was Quinns.

Pharmacy

Today some of the larger supermarkets have opened so I went shopping for supplies. Destroyed buildings and cracked and mud covered roads are everywhere. The pharmacy on the corner of Bealy Ave and Colombo St was destroyed.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Countdown.

Tracy works on the 6th floor of the polytech. Luckily she nipped out to buy some almonds for her salad. Unfortunately she happened to choose the Countdown supermarket on Moorhouse Ave. This video is from the security camera when the earthquake hit.

Our New Toilet

We have power and some water (though that has to be boiled for 5 minutes before drinking). However we don't have sewerage so we have to crap in the back garden.

This is our new toilet. Very basic but it does have the distinct advantage that it gets plenty of fresh air!

XD06 Crashes Again

This post is for my ice friends. X-Ray Delta Zero Six is a famous US Navy plane from the Antarctic program. It crashed in Antarctica in 1971 and spent many years buried under the ice before it was dug out and repaired in 1988. I actually flew on this plane after it was put back in service.

I bought this replica as a souvenir but it had a bad landing yesterday. Fortunately, I think a tube of super glue is all that is required to restore it this time.

Survivors

This is all that survives of our glassware.

Glassware

Today we began the clean up of our house. Here is some of my Mum's glassware. She was so proud of these glasses and now they are just dust.

There are huge aftershocks occurring as I write this. They are coming at the rate of about three to four an hour now.