The Recovery-Christchurch

New Zealand has 4.4 million people in the entire country (a little more than Oregon). Christchurch is the third largest city with a population of about 375,000. There is no big brother, no huge federal aid program to sweep in and help out. What they have is what they have. This applies to financial assistance, insurance money, engineering services and contractors. Thus, the progress is slow and the people are tired.

Over a year of earthquakes culminating in the February 2011 rumbler that did the most damage. The downtown was devastated and 100,000 homes damaged. Two years later, everyone is still inconvenienced and many, many people are living in limbo not knowing what will happen with their damaged businesses or houses. So many buildings are half demolished and held up by scaffolding while the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and insurance companies try to decide whether to demolish and rebuild or to repair them. "Red Zones" were established by the government and cordoned off so people were not allowed in. This was a major inconvenience to business and home owners, but did keep things in check.

We met up with some old friends whose house is quite damaged. Sure they can live in it but the floor is sloped, doors no longer close and the walls are riddled with cracks. After two years, no one can tell them if their house will be rebuilt or repaired. They are tired.

But if there is one thing about kiwis, it is that they are creative and tough. They most certainly will perservere. We saw some of the most creative solutions, both physically and politically. I guess shipping containers are cheap because they have used them a lot. In Sumner an area with lots of bluff/cliff failures, they lined the roads with them. Then to add some interest, they covered them with canvas had allowed artist to go wild! The effect is fantastic. Near downtown, and in order to keep businesses going they set us an area they call Re-Start. It is an outside shopping mall completely made of shipping containers. We saw temporary bars made of scaffolding and tarps and outfitted with window seats and everything.

In Christchurch, as in Chile, the threat of earthquakes was generally understood and designed for. The numbers we heard for the cost-benefit of earthquake retrofit were that for every $1 spent on (sucessful) retrofit saved $8-$10 in repair or rebuild. In Christchurch, the long period between the initial shock of the first September 2010 earthquake and the devastating February 2011 earthquake forced people to prepare and that served them well. In Chile, the frequent earthquake events also continually remind them to be prepared. Even so, the damage to the economy and the psychy of the people is tremendous. I hope that Oregon will not soon forget and work diligently to retrofit and prepare.

The kiwis use shipping containers here to hold back the falling cliff. Several have canvases wrapped around them and painted for art. Note the house falling off the cliff above.

Another use of shipping containers was to make a retail shopping center!  Businesses were up and running in no time!

If you have land but no building, no worries, just set up a temporary bar!

The white sign reads, "Businesses open for normal business."  Never-mind the trenches and backhoes.

So many buildings looked like this; in limbo between total demolish and rebuild, and repair.

Christchurch Earthquake Damage

Ground rupture from Darfield quake

Christchurch suffered countless earthquakes and aftershocks in 2010 and 2011. Unlike Chile's recent subduction-type earthquake, and the one anticipated for Oregon, these quakes were relatively short duration (15 seconds) and emanated from shallow, crustal tears in the earth (some had significant surface expression evident by shifted fences and open cracks in the earth). They did not occur where expected and some of the faults that ripped were previously not identified. This type of earthquake does not generate tsunamis but it's intense shaking causes a lot of damage.

The historic Art Center being propped up

Two of these events caused most of the damage. The first was in September 2010. It was a 7.0 and occurred in the wee hours of the morning. This earthquake caused a lot of damage but there were miraculously no lives lost and few buildings were affected. The second earthquake was in February 2011. It was a 6.3 and occurred mid afternoon on a busy work day. The massive shaking and close proximity of the fault of this quake were devastating to Christchurch. The soil beneath much of the city is sand and the water table is just under the surface, the perfect recipe for liquefaction, a condition where the sand looses its strength almost completely and can no longer support foundations. Often the soils are variable over a very small area so that buildings sink differentially and tip over or break apart (this happened to a lot of houses too).

Most church spires fell and are being preserved.

Over 200 people were killed in the 2011 quake, mostly by collapsing buildings. The Central Business District was demolished. Christchurch had hundreds of 100 year old, beautiful brick buildings with spires and towers. Tourists flocked to the downtown to see the beautiful buildings, like the Arts Center, Cathedral Square and the many old churches that dotted the city. Most of these are now heaps of rubble. Nearly 100,000 homes were damaged and somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 were completely condemned, bought up by the government and are being demolished.

The Art Center Spire

Utilities were also wrecked. People were without power for days, but out of water and sewer services for weeks. I read a newspaper article that outlined the condition of lifeline services several days after the February quake. It suggested that people dig biffies in the yards (mind you the groundwater table is often only 6-inches below the surface) or make portable toilets using double plastic bags. There were dump sites set up in neighborhoods. Eventually port-o-potties were set up for neighbors to share. They are still very much in the process or repairing these systems. It seemed like the streets were ripped up at every corner to repair damaged pipes making travel through the city slow.

Little Paradise

Outside of Queenstown on our way to the Routeburn hut, we stayed at a small "lodge" that caught my eye when looking for hotels. The owners have lived here 20 years and the husband is a very driven artist with a need to constantly create! This includes inside the house and out. In the garden, in addition to the sculptures, ponds and fountains, there we over 300 rose bushes. His handiwork inside was astounding. The pictures below are just a sampling of the place.

Surveyors showed the owner he was on the
45 parallel, so cool he built a 45th-demarkation.

Notice the siding of the house, it's stacked wood.

Nice place for yoga with the mountains and lake in the background!

The medium of the sculptures is tiny rocks set in concrete,
this woman's fine hair is tiny rocks coating curled wire.
There are many 2-foot long salmon in the pond
with a sculpted fresh-water eel at the bottom of it.

Driftwood siding.

The floors are made of wood tiles from "slicing" logs,
fitting them together, and then varnishing the whole thing.

Look below the sink; there are drawers and cupboards.

We didn't get to use the tub; evidently it leaks!

What can I say, this is brilliant!  It's a little
scarey to flush wondering what will happen
to the fish, but there is a real toilet tank
in the wall behind the fish, but you do wonder!

The Routeburn Track

Starting fresh on the Routeburn

Kiwis love to tramp.  They make trails (that they call tracks) through the most spectacular areas to share their country's beauty with the world.  The best tracks are called Great Walks and are some of the best hiking on earth.  Mind you the trails are rough at times and are built for great scenery not smooth, even grades.  Often times you hike for a quarter mile or more scrambling up or down stairs cut into the rock with your muscles screaming!

Making breakfast with fellow trampers

Thirteen years ago we did the Milford Track with the boys; a 32 mile, three night backpack trip.  The tracks are outfitted with communal huts along the way where you share a bunk house with 30-50 of your new best friends.  The huts also have cooking facilities with running water, bunks and mattresses so you have room in your backpack for wine and fresh apples!

Lunch stop the first day

This year Scott and I did the Routeburn Track.  It is a 20 mile tramp and every bit as beautiful as the Milford.We stayed two nights on the trail in the MacKenzie Hut and the Routeburn Falls Hut. You meet some really interesting people from all over the world and see breathtaking scenery.  About 10,000 people a year pass along the Routeburn Track.

Looking down Hollyford Valley after a long day's hike!

It wasn't always sunny, but...

the weather was perfect

Routeburn Flats

Looking back at Harris Saddle-the summit

Whale Watching In Kaikoura

Kaikoura is a sweet little artsy beach town about 100 miles north of Christchurch and a must-visit spot on the south island.  It is tucked away on a peninsula under beautiful mountains.  It is a sealife mecca with its nearby very deep underwater canyon that nourishes the area.  Sperm whales, dolphins, sea lions and seabirds are everywhere! 

I went with a couple other gals whose husbands are earthquake experts.  Aneta was our host and lives in Christchurch and Mary is visiting from California.  We stayed one night; we hiked, shopped and whale watched.  We went out whale watching on a relatively small boat with about 30 people and saw four Sperm whales, which we were told was a lot!  They lounge around on the surface re-oxygenating for about ten minutes and then take a deep dive miles below the surface feeding in the canyons near the coast.  It was a great trip despite my sea sickness - yuck!

Kaikoura beaches

Sea lions along the way

Hiking with Mary and Aneta

Sperm whale oxygenating before deep dive

Fluke ahoy!

Classic Kaikoura experience

Arrival in Christchurch

Our first day in New Zealand

The best thing to do in a new place is to go on a big hike!  It's generally a sure cure for jet lag. We hiked  to Godley Head out on the Banks Peninsula that separates Christchurch from Lyttleton Harbor.  It was a stunningly beautiful day. 

Driving through Christchurch is a challenge because so many streets are closed on account of the earthquake.  The central business district is completely shut down with some rebuilding and lots of retrofitting.  More on that in a later blog.
 

Looking back towards Christchurch

Godley Head walking  track

To get to our track we passed through the little town on Sumner south of Christchurch and out to Taylors Mistake a very popular surf spot.  Captain Taylor thought he was turning his ship into Lyttleton Harbor only to crash into a small bay that is forever his namesake. 


Many roads and walking tracks are still closed from the earthquake, but the open ones are impeccably maintained...and enjoyed by many.

One of the 60 million sheep in New Zealand