The Lonely Car

For those of us who have entered the currently cordoned off area of Christchurch central city, they would be familiar with a dark blue Mitsubishi Galant parked on the side of the road. Nothing remarkable about the car except for one thing. It is the only car parked on that stretch of road till you get over the river. The other thing is it is still sitting in silt up to its wheel rims whereas Montreal Street has almost been completely cleared of silt. And yet, like a preserved section of the Berlin Wall, this car is telling a story. It gives a snapshot of what Montreal Street must have looked like with about 20-30 cm of silt across it. It also shows what people had to do to get their cars out and moving. But it tells another, more poignant story - where is the driver.

Each day when I walked past, I thought of this. Has the driver simply fled town? Did they get a lift home with someone else and haven't returned because of the cordon? Did they simply walk home and not return because of the cordon? Are they injured in hospital? Or are they never going to pick up their car? I would like to think the earlier scenarios would be true, but I suspect it's one of the last two.

The cordon surrounding the central city will be partially lifted tomorrow at 8:00am. This will allow people who have their cars in the green zones to pick up their cars. And it means people in that zone can return to their workplaces to retrieve vital equipment providing their workplaces can be entered. In many cases as well as keys, they will also need crowbars.

For those who enter the cordon via Montreal Street, I hope they see a dark blue Mitsubishi being dug out of silt by friends while the driver tries again to get it out of the quagmire. And then never notice that dark blue Mitsubishi again.