The day had started differently to that planned. I had arranged for an early bike ride over the Port Hills with Randall - a pal from the Source to Sea event. But it was raining so we cancelled at 7am. Actually, he had texted to say that the Gondola had reported their ride had ground to a halt and they needed him to go and fix it (he installed it). But the rain prevented me from taking to the hills that morning.
Instead I booked some flights for an Easter break in Australia - taking in Brisbane and Sydney on a whistle stop tour. I also made a few phone calls about possible jobs and then headed off into town to the CDC on Cashel Street to do some work for Business Mentors.
Chris was on a 'day off' from Wendy's - they are located just off Cathedral Square on Hereford Street. I left him logged on to the lap-top as I left for town. he talked about going to the gym later in the day - but then he does a lot of talking about going to the gym rather than actually going!!
Maria and Sarah had left at the same time - it was still raining at 8am and Sarah had asked for a lift in the car as Maria passed by her school on the way to 'Safe and Sound' (What a great place to be when an earthquake strikes - kind of reassuring don't you think?!)
Sarah was on a half day - I think that the teachers were on strike in the afternoon (I might be wrong about that, but there were definitely no lessons on the agenda). As the Boys High School were also off for a half day, the obvious thing to do was to head to Westfiled Mall to do some Girls High/Boys High 'opposite-sex spotting'!
So a pretty normal day...until about 10 to 1...and then all hell broke loose.
Sarah was sat in the Food Hall as the Mall started to shake around her. She grabbed her friend Molly and dived under a table. There was debris falling from the ceiling and a stampede for the door. But everyone got out OK. No major damage observed. A little shaken, Sarah and her friends headed back towards Boys High (there must have been some Boys with them!) - idea being they had a large sports field and it would be safe stading in the middle of that!!
Chris had still been on the lap-top when the house started shaking. Having spent the morning sitting around in his underwear, he decided he should now get dressed as he clearly would have to get out of the house! Apparently he was mid-dress when a large aftershock hit and he says he nearly jumped out of the bedroom window as his room was shaking so much!
By all accounts, Maria's place was safe and sound!
I had just eaten my lunch and had gone back to the desk where I was working on the 2nd floor of the CDC building on the corner of Cashel Street and Liverpool Street. I had experienced a few aftershooks back in January at the CDC and everyone was conscious of the windows imploding as they had done so during the Sept 4th Quake. We had also had a few conversations regarding the strongest part of the building - supposedly being the stairwell - and how you should head for that in the event of a Quake.
There was no warning. No rumble. Just a bang and everything started to shake. It was obvious within about half a second that this was not a 'normal aftershock'. Instinctively I turned my back on the windows and headed for the stairwell. I was conscious that others were heading off in other directions - where to I didn't know. But I was on a mission.
The shaking probably lasted around 10 seconds - maybe a bit longer - I can't really recall. Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion - or maybe it was the fact that you couldn't move in a straight line as you were tossed from side to side, against walls and cupboards as you headed for wherever you wanted to be.
Anyway, I made it to the stairwell. I stood there on my own as the shaking subsided and then wondered where everyone else was! "Everyone get out" was shouted by someone in the main office. Good idea, I thought. And then I broke the golden rule. I headed back into the office and to my desk to grab my phone, ruck-sack (containing wallet), bike helmet and jacket. And an apple that I had brought for my lunch but not yet eaten - not sure why I grabbed that, but I did!
There was a cabinet tipped over and blocking the exit for a few of the office staff so I did my bit to help clear a way out for them and then we all headed down the stairs - quite calmly - and out onto Cashel Street. As we exited the building I noticed the building opposite with gaping cracks running down the walls and I then started to realise that maybe it wasn't just a minor tremor. Also, the air was full of dust - which I was later to realise was as a result of the CTV building that had collapsed just 200 yards away.
We gathered on the street outside the building - the road was split open and brown water was spewing all around us. I looked up at the surrounding buildings - all at least 4 stories high - the CDC cloacked in scaffolding from the Sept shake - and thought to myself that this was not a good place to be if another more powerful shake struck. I then noticed the top of the Grand Chancellor Hotel a little further down Cashel Street and noticed that one side had appeared to have sunk. Only the tallest building in town, a quarter or a mile away, looking like it was about to come down. I did not feel comfortable there at all!
It's a bit of a dilema for most. You find yourself in a bad situation. You want to get away. Your normal mode of transport is your car - but in this case it's in a car park which you can't get to - or are frightened to go to - so what do you do? Only option is to walk.....
Unless your bike is parked across the road from the CDC!
So I officially declared I was leaving and I was off.
I actually headed towards the Grand Chancellor for about 100 metres and then turned north up Manchester Street. I then realised just what a disaster we were facing!
All the shop fronts were down. Rubble was littering the streets and piled on top of cars. There were gangs of people tearing at the piles obviously trying to help free people. People were stood around looking helpless. Others were taking pictures or filming with their phones. I got to around Gloucester Street and stopped - partly because the road was blocked by rubble, but also because I wondered whether I should stop to help.
And then I started to worry about Maria and the kids. I rang Maria as I cycled. No reply. I rang home. No reply.
A text came through. I stopped cycling and checked the phone. It was from Sarah asking if I was OK - which meant she was OK. Thank God. Then one from Chris asking the same. Relief. Just Maria now and we were all OK, though I just couldn't get a message to send to her.
I could smell gas. So could others. There were calls to get out of the area quickly. I was at Armagh St and decided to take a left to head across town. As I approached New Regent St I had to negotiate a large hole in the road plus a rather large gap that had opened up between the tram tracks and the tarmac. There were compression breaks too that I had to 'hop over' and puddles of orange water that I had to steer around.
Victoria Park was full of people who had emptied from the likes of Farmers and the Copthorne. I headed over the Avon and over Durham St. The road was particularly bad around here - pretty flooded. Then there was another strong aftershock.
I still couldn't get a message to Maria - neither had I received one from her.
I got to Hagley Park - Armagh Bridge entrance. The Ellerslie Flower Show crowd were beating a hasty exit. As I cycled past, I could see that the area was awash with liquifaction. I headed across the Park, between Victoria and Albert Lakes - except there was no between - they had been joined by about 12 inches of flooding across the dividing cycle path - so I got a a bit wet, or at least my shoes did!
There were piles of silt all over the track and over the golf course - and by the time I had arrived home I had a fair covering over myself and the bike!
Chris greeted me at the bottom of the path with 'the house is f###ed'! I had visions of it being flattened but fortunately he was a little bit over the top with his summary of the situation. Yes, stuff was all over the place; glasses smashed, TV, chairs, bed-side cabinets toppled over, etc... but the fabric of the building was still OK.
Still no news from Maria though.
I sent Chris off to get Sarah from school - forgetting she wasn't there - and set to tidying up the mess in the house. Then my phone beeped and I receved a message from Maria asking if I was OK. 'I am now' I said to myself!
Chris returned home - sans Sarah. Molly's parents turned up, worrying where she was - hoping she was here with Sarah. She was, and when they turned up it was rather emotional for a minute of 2! And they were closely followed by Maria who had left her 'Safe and Sound' workplace to check out that we were all OK!
We were still experiencing quite strong aftershocks and we had a bit of a fright when our garden wall was brought down during one of them.
We set to cleaning up the mess in the house - particularly the kitchen - a nice mix of glass, pasta, bulgar wheat, olive oil and tomato passata all over the floor! No power. No water. But at least we were all OK.
Thank goodness we had an emergency radio....and a landlady with a good supply of champagne! Nicky arrived back at the Studio late afternoon - she had been just around the corner from me Downtown and had experienced death and destruction at close quarters - tending to a guy who had fallen from a 3rd floor apartment onto the road below.
Some friends from around the corner had called in - mainly to get away from their place which was teetering on the brink of destruction - and the bubbly was duely offered to all. So there we were, sitting drinking champagne on one side of the river Avon whilst on the other side, in Hagley Park, hundreds of homeless people were queuing up for a bed for the night in the previously mentioned Ellerslie Flower Show Marquee! I did feel slightly ill at ease, but I think that was mainly due to the bottle of fizz that I supplied not really being up to the standard of those served earlier!
Chris had appeared with four of his pals whose house had 'taken a beating' with plans to sleep on our floor. They had turned up with some food - pizzas - but unfortunately we had no means of cooking them. But then, just as we were about to hatch a cunning plan, the power came back on, around 9pm. So it was pizzas all round! Plus we could catch up on the news of the Quake on the TV - see what the rest of the world was being told. Decided then to let my bro' John know we were OK - no point in letting everyone back home worry unnecessarily!
So that is more or less my story of the Feb Quake - or at least the first 10 hours or so. I guess this one will run a bit. May be a pivotal point in our Antipodean adventure? Watch this space!
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