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.

A Tale of Two Cities

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. My very basic knowledge of Charles Dickens finishes at that point. However, since 4 September and more poignantly, since 22 February, this has become the story of Christchurch.

There is a line in Hagley Park where the ground rises. It looks like a hump in the ground except it keeps going to the edge of the park. I'm not sure of terminology, but if you look at Christchurch as a relief map, it looks a little like waves radiating out from the Canterbury Plains. What this means is the Canterbury Plains gradually slope up to the Southern Alps. What is a particularly striking feature of this rise in Hagley Park, is this seems to mark the point where the destruction and liquefaction of the city comes to an abrupt halt. When you enter Hagley Park from the town end, there is masses of silt lying over the fields and two uprooted trees. When you get about halfway across, it looks like nothing has happened.

That doesn't mean there was no liquefaction beyond this point. Around waterways and in small pockets, there is piles of silt, but nowhere the amount that has occurred to the east of this line. It also doesn't mean that everything is 100% to the west of this line. Only 50 metres from the exit at the Riccarton roundabout is a second hand book shop that collapsed and claimed a life.

However when you speak to most people, the damage they have experienced to their homes is nowhere the scale of destruction suffered by people in the eastern suburbs. So while people in Riccarton, most of Fendalton, Burnside, Hornby, Papanui have power, water and most can even flush toilets; people in Aranui, Dallington, Burwood, New Brighton, Bexley and Shirley are lining up in the streets for water, unable to cook and using portaloos.

In fact, it's reached the point where people, like the woman I met while walking the dog tonight, will say "No we're fine. No damage apart from the wall we lost, but nothing compared to people on the east side of the city. Here we are walking our dogs while they hunker down for another night". Most people in western suburbs when you ask, will just say "No damage", and shake their heads in disbelief. People who have lost their houses, might not respond directly but say instead, "We're staying with relatives". Even those who have lost their homes and have only the clothes they stand in, are taking stock, and are thankful they and their family are in one piece.

In this disaster there has been talk about the heroes. There have been tales of ordinary folk throwing aside pieces of masonry to free victims. Firefighters climbing rubble to get to people. Search and rescue crawling through gaps to find survivors. Police and army working tirelessly to ensure people stay safe. The Student Army, the Baking Army, the Rangiora Earthquake Express. I'll add to those, people who have lost their homes and can still smile or even remain positive. They are genuine heroes. Whenever I've heard interviews with these people, the only thing that has annoyed them has been the rubber-neckers - just out for a look around.

I'm not a rubber-necker so I will never venture to the eastern suburbs just to see what has happened. I would go there to help a friend.