The Surprise that Now isn’t, ….and Ones That Definitely Were…

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

I was  going to surprise you all in a few days by taking you on a new  Kiwidutch “tour”.. one that we are on at present as we have headed to the Southern Hemisphere to  spend Christmas with family and friends.

I’ve been preparing the posts and photos already with just a little time delay… but yesterday that  surprise went out of the window when we were overtaken with bigger surprises of the Mother Nature variety.

In the tour sequence you will eventually arrive in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, but we are already there on 23rd December 2011 and this is the day that Himself, Kiwi Daughter and Little Mr felt their first earthquakes.

No one could have missed them because they were huge… There were a whole swarm of rather major earthquakes early afternoon, (a.m. if you are in the Northern Hemisphere)  the first one was a BIG rolling  and rumbling one of about 20 seconds duration while I was trying to hang out laundry in the back yard (I had a seat next to me to hang onto) but during the quake  I was desperately trying  instead to grab the crutches and go find the kids…

… I didn’t have much success until the shaking stopped.

Kiwi Daughter  was alone in the downstairs bedroom starting to draw pictures and Little Mr. was upstairs taking a plate back to the kitchen, R.  was at the bottom of the stairs. Both kids got the fright of their lives.

Himself  had finished painting the fence at the house we own in Papanui  with my cousin P. and was in the rental car on his way back here… he’s never felt a quake before so he didn’t actually realise he was in one, he thought there was something wrong with the steering and was trying to pull over, but the car didn’t want to respond …

…then it all got ok again so he drove on and he only realised it must have been a quake when he saw hundreds of shoppers being evacuated into the car park  of the big Mall at Northlands…

Himself   was also  still in the car when first aftershock hit a few minutes later but was back with me comforting the kids when the next big one hit a while later so it was the third big one  that he actually “felt” as his first real earthquake.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

 The house where were are staying is solid as  a rock but the fridge went walk-a-bouts, the Christmas tree toppled and some stuff in the garage tumbled all over the place.

Nothing serious, though, no liquefaction and no real damage. Electricity stayed on which is more than can be siad for large swathes of the city especially in the eastern suburbs.

Yesterday Friends of our had a BBQ planned for tonight and said Please still come:  it would help everyone most if they all carried on as much as possible as normal.

We went and had a good time, Little Mr was clingy and scared but played outside with Lego in the end… I keep feeling wee shocks and don’t mention it to the kids, no big ones last evening while we were out though but there is every chance of something above 5 magnitude in the next few days.. that’s been the pattern every other time.
They come in clusters.

Turns out that there was another big shock that happened  early evening but we were’in the car on our way to our friends place on the other side of the city and amazingly didn’t even feel that one.

(Fortunate actually because Little Mr was rather distressed by the end of the afternoon and Kiwi Daughter was also a mess but was  just hiding  the fact significantly better).

The friends where we went for the BBQ lost a fishtank (but saved the fish) and gained more cracks in their already badly damaged home, Thanking God yet again that everyone is ok and trying to laugh, but this cluster will be the last straw from some people who thought things were calming down finally since there hasn’t been too much for a while now… whooooooo,… short sharp jolt shook the house as I typed that last sentence.

Lots of people injured by stress accidents… car prangs, panic and heart attacks etc no deaths that I know of… Sumner and Redcliff suburb  reports look like more cliff came down, (we were there three days ago) big evacuation of residents in the area below, liquefaction in the east of the city is bad and power is off for about 1/3 of the city… it always seems to stay on ok  in the area where we are and luckily hasn’t gone out for any  of the big quakes so far.

I emailed  friends and family last night:  ” We expect things to be unsettled for a .. whhooo another shock, and a rumble..still going …  gonna be an interesting night, I’m not scared but the light is on as I type in bed… might be a different story half asleep and in the pitch dark
Then we will see exactly how big a wimp I really am”. 

Damage reports are still coming in…some red stickered buildings marked for demolition (were cordoned off) have come down yesterday afternoon,  it seems we will know more tomorrow… whee another kick… rock and roll!

Kiwi Daughter is in the double bed next to me, Little Mr is  sharing with Himself in the double in the other room…  she just slept through the lot. So far so good. No peep from the boys room either… even better. Little Mr. (now a.k.a. Little Mr. Limpet) will take some calming down he’s really on edge.

My Aunt and uncle who live in two streets down from where we  are staying have more breakages as stuff exited the cupboards this afternoon and are quite shaken up (we drove round to see if we could help out)

whooo more rolling ….. oi, and a thump… still going maybe 15 seconds, but just a  little one, feels like a boat docking at the wharf and coming alongside the dock way too hard.. we are just missing the water bit.

The house is making creaking noises and there are so many smaller rumbles that I’ve lost count,  but they are just hiccups rather than the coughs of the big ones. …better sign off and try to sleep (yeah right)” 

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

Kiwi Daughter said yesterday afternoon “ok I’ve felt earthquakes now, we know what it’s like, Can we switch them off now?” (sigh) with around 10. 000 aftershocks since the 7.1 quake in  September 2010, everyone here in Christchurch is just wishing it would be so easy.

We have emailed family and friends back in the Netherlands so they know we are ok. We have two scared kids but we are fortunate… they get to go back home to quake-free Nederland after our holiday, we are staying in a house that has been 98% damage-free  though all the quakes that have hit Christchurch so far and  Himself and I at least feel totally safe.

We have friends and relatives who have been on the phone as soon as the system was back up to check if we were ok.  Even the neighbours of the house where were are staying, knowing that we are not locals, came to check that we were ok within a minute or so of the first shake. Community spirit is alive and well here.

This morning the full extent of damage is coming to light, the whole family Kiwidutch was jolted awake this morning at 06.30 a.m., frightened kids just wanted to stay close.

I’m sitting on a bed having a rest and catching up with a rush of email and I’m not telling the kids that there are little tremors  going on almost continuously at some moments. If you aren’t in a quiet spot and being still,  then you don’t feel them.

My heart goes out to everyone who’s lost power, got liquefaction, more damage and traumatised kids,  they have the physical and emotional mess to deal with just days before Christmas and Malls, supermarkets and businesses all over town are still closed this morning as staff clean up the wreckage of fallen stuff and they loose revenue too since the customers can’t come back until places have been cleaned up.

Family Kiwidutch have much to be Thankful for… we will help out here wherever we can, but to everyone, and especially the people of Christchurch, have a  SAFE  and Happy Christmas.

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

(photograph © Kiwidutch)

When Earth and Sea Rise Up…

(image photographed from media sources)

Yesterday was another day glued to Local and International News broadcasts with my heart in my mouth, tears in my eyes and a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach.

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake strikes deep in the sea off the coast of Honshu, Japan and triggers not just shaking in Japan, but also a massive tsunami along the coast and tsunami fears across the Pacific.

Video feed brings footage around the world showing the moments the earth shuddered and the subsequent  enormous wave streaming inland at a relentless pace, sweeping everything before it … buildings, cars, boats, all tossed around like a temperamental  toddler scattering their toys.

As a native of New Zealand and having spent most of my years growing up in the city of Christchurch, it has been only too clear in recent weeks and months that the earth’s destructive forces are not ones that man can easily reckon with.

(image photographed from media sources)

The Earth is restless and Mankind and his imprints are but mere dots on the earth surface… we are all humbled by the forces of Nature when they rise up.

That doesn’t make watching the News bulletins any less  emotional,  as people flee Natures forces where they can, are caught up in it when they can’t and all watch in horror as events tumble out of control around them.

New Zealander’s may have more first hand earthquake knowledge than they really care for of late, but  as a Kiwi far away from my own broken city, my heart goes out to the people of Japan as much as it did for the people of my own as I watch the pain and destruction that Nature has unleashed on their land.

The hand of friendship, assistance and aid will be extended to Japan,  and whilst family,  friends and fellow Cantabrians may be busy shoveling silt, dodging gaping cracks in their roads, mending shattered homes and businesses, but they will not be too busy to join the millions around the world who will also be doing their bit to assist if they can.

The damage is done, the earth and sea have risen up,  I can only hope that the people of Japan can also rise up again too.

Japan, you are in my thoughts and prayers during this dark day and long road to recovery.  Stay Strong.

(image photographed from media sources)

(image photographed from media sources)

(image photographed from media sources)

Aftershocks are very stressful too… many say that they are harder to handle than the original quake(s)… and as New Zealander’s well know, there won’t be just the odd few…

(image photographed from media sources)

Edited to add: I’ve just seen in New Zealand News that despite the ongoing work in Christchurch, one of New Zealand’s three specialist Urban Rescue Units (48 members strong)  is flying out to Japan today to be of assistance in the towns of the north eastern coast.

The team from Japan that came to Christchurch to assist in the work there, have (naturally) been released early for the urgent work now needed at home.

That’s what I call International care and help… Christchurch Kiwi’s knew they weren’t alone, I hope that the people of Japan know that they aren’t either.