Shaky City - resident's view - Website of hazelthenut!

Second thoughts on the “Shaky City”

Since late July 2013 I have been living and working in Christchurch. This page gives some impressions of a more recent resident of the city.

15 March 2019 (shootings in mosques in Christchurch)

In the aftermath of the events which took place in Christchurch I added a new tab to this site; "Processing 15.03.2019". As human beings New Zealanders from all walks of life have been confronted with issues which are hard to make sense of.

In the words of John Donne (1572 - 1631):

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main... any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind..."

https://hazelthenut.jimdo.com/processing-15-03-2019/

St Barnabas Church, Fendalton - February 2017

The original wooden St Barnabas (Anglican) church opened in 1876. It was replaced in 1926 by the present church, which was also Fendalton district's war memorial. The church was badly damaged in the earthquake on 22 February 2011, but over the next 6 years it was beautifully restored (and earthquake strengthened).

February 2017 was a difficult time for Christchurch. Fires swept through the Port Hills, and a helicopter pilot, Steven Askin, died while fighting the flames. So it was lovely for the city to have something to celebrate. I felt privileged to sing with the church choir at the church's reopening and thanksgiving service.

1952 archive film footage of Christchurch

Wonderful 18 minute promotional travelogue, made for the Christchurch City Council, showing off the city and its environs. Filmed at a time when New Zealand’s post-war economy was booming as it continued its role as a farmyard for the “Old Country”, it depicts Christchurch as a prosperous city, confident in its green and pleasant self-image as a “better Britain” (as James Belich coined NZ’s relationship to England), and architecturally dominated by its cathedrals, churches and schools. Many of these buildings were severely damaged or destroyed in the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011.

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/christchurch-garden-city-of-new-zealand-1952

September 2015

One of the issues for cyclists in a city like Christchurch is tram tracks in the central city. The sign shown here is displayed with reason! I broke my R fibula when cycling across the angled junction at the south end of High Street. I caught my front bike wheel in the tram tracks, dislodged the mudguard slightly, jammed the wheel & caught my foot in the process, at an angle which it wasn't designed to bend in. However, the plus side to this was that an ambulance was sitting at the traffic lights at the intersection, so I received immediate attention!! The bike and I were taken to Christchurch Hospital. My leg is now in plaster - so no cycling or swimming (or work) for 6 weeks for me - I'm literally hopping mad with myself! (The bike was fine, by the way!)

July 2015

The great letterbox mystery... can you help solve it?

I loved this article in "Heritage this Month", the latest (July 2015) Heritage NZ newsletter. It is particularly appropriate this month, as NZ Post is reducing its postal deliveries to 3 days / week nationwide!

A few weeks ago a Christchurch couple’s old letterbox went missing. They assumed it was stolen and planned to replace it the following weekend. But on Saturday afternoon they were shocked but delighted to see that the letterbox had been returned fully restored.

Inside a small plaque was attached saying ‘Heritage letterbox restoration RSPCLB Nelson division, June 2015’.

Katherine, one of the homeowners, has searched online for any mention of this organisation but nothing has come to light.

“We would love to know who was responsible and be able to thank them,” she says.

The Christchurch office of Heritage New Zealand is also baffled. The restored letterbox has raised a whole lot of new questions. Did the letterbox travel to Nelson? Is there an underground heritage letterbox list? Who are the RSPCLB?

A nice small scale restoration story! Meanwhile the rebuilding of central (& eastern) Christchurch is agonisingly slow, with delays to, or cancellations of, many of the key / "anchor" projects...

January 2015

There was a cool sculpture trail from November to February: 49 large and 50 small giraffes were found in 61 sites around the city. My favourite was this giraffe, "Safety First" (the work of Justine Ottey). I love the horns! The buildings behind the giraffe in the picture on the right show the state of parts of Christchurch's CBD...

Next month the giraffes will be auctioned to raise funds for 4 charities (Gap Filler, the Child Cancer Foundation, Life in Vacant Spaces and the Life Education Trust.

September 2014 - "Christchurch - the ever evolving city".

5 short videos of Christchurch were released, which warrant viewing.

Video 1 ("Build")

This gives you an idea of what's happening with the rebuild. It avoids controversy though - e.g. that the council is now skint & is trying to get sponsors for some of its flagship projects, & it doesn't mention that where the Margaret Mahy playground will be was a swimming pool. These are scarce as hens' teeth in Christchurch these days, & the pool was repairable & that doing this would have cost less than the proposed playground...

Video 2 ("Imagine")

This focuses on the arts. Not the classical arty stuff (e.g. traditional choral singing) which I'm more involved with, but the Generation Y stuff - Gap Filler (their latest one is another golf course hole: they've also made lots of wee gardens & coffee corners) & the Street Art. Some of the arts have moved outside in this city where the Art Gallery & Arts Centre are still being repaired. You love it or hate it - I really like the big scale murals while I hate the tagging which is increasingly evident in vacant lots. But where do you draw the line? I also like the smaller scale things - e.g. I admire the creativity of those folk who manage to stick road cones on the top of multi storey buildings - it always makes me smile when I notice them, as well as to wonder how on earth they got them up there!!

Video 3 ("Innovate")

I was aware of Christchurch's Innovation Precinct, but not of the finer details of this. I thought that the bits about the high tech cat's eyes was interesting - I also wasn't aware of DOC (Department of Conservation)'s input to this, & their focus on 3 species which don't live here, including the tui. When living in Dunedin & also when living in Whakatane tuis would visit my garden - I hadn't really thought about their absence here! One thing about living in Christchurch is the rate of change, & it's difficult to keep up to date with what's happening, so these videos are useful ways to inform both Cantabrians & those who live further afield.

Video 4 ("Preserve")

This video features some of Christchurch's heritage buildings - no mention of the Anglican cathedral, but some other church buildings are included in this, including Knox Church (yes, Scottish presbyterians reached these shores, despite the more English feeling to the former Christchurch!) - I was aware that Knox Church's basic structure had survived but wasn't aware that when this reopens the outside of the building will be modern & that it is being rebuilt around the preserved interior. That's the other way round to the position with most of the buildings which have been saved, where the façade remains but the interior has been redesigned to be fit for purpose in today's world. New building techniques are being used to preserve some of the old buildings (or the appearance of these). Over half of the heritage buildings in the CBD have gone, so the newly hatching city has a very different feel to it than the old CBD had, but there are pockets which will remain in gothic style, particularly the area around the Arts Centre and the Canterbury Museum. In years to come the area where the hospital is will be redeveloped into an enormous Health Precinct, and there will also be new retail outlets, new hotels, a new convention centre and new sports facilities... it will all take time though.

Video 5 ("Unite")

The final video in the series shows what has been happening in some of the smaller communities around Christchurch. You may have heard how the quakes have brought people together - the "student army" & the "farmy army" spring to mind as ground-root responses in the immediate aftermath of the quakes - but people continue to work together to try to restore some of the vibrancy in their communities. It's hard when key facilities are no longer there, & when people continue to live in damaged housing, or to be frequently moving from one temporary living situation to another, so initiatives like the ones which are shown here are ways which are gelling places together. Gap Filler features yet again among these initiatives... some of these wee oases of fun ideas are just so cool...they aren't the final chapter in this city's evolving history, but will be followed by other ideas. That's the nature of the beastie - they're temporary creations until their replacement by something more permanent.

http://www.futurechristchurch.co.nz/my-story/videos

November 2014 - High Viz

This "fun-filled, factual, six part series about the Canterbury rebuild - for kids, by kids... featuring hard-hitting interviews with the movers and shakers of post-earthquake Christchurch..." was produced. It "explains what happened, what's going on right now and what the future has in store". Great fun & very informative. The evident talent of future generations shows that the city has an exciting future ahead...

http://www.futurechristchurch.co.nz/my-story/hi-viz

5th March 2014: the morning after the night before - after over 24 hours of torrential rain, which started on 3rd March! This was the worst flooding in Christchurch since 1975 - supposedly this was a "once in every hundred years" event. Parts of Christchurch were badly flooded - not welcome news in suburbs with earthquake damaged houses, or in areas where the sewerage systems and roads are still being repaired... my corner of my suburb got off lightly, with soggy gardens being the main consequence. By the evening of 6th March the floodwaters were receding, but only the ducks really appreciated all that extra precipitation.

22 February 2014: Yes, I am still here - and yes, so are the cones! They are now part of the everyday scene in Christchurch. They may have been breeding recently - I have seen them in various guises, including cones covered in tinsel at Christmas time!

On this day throughout NZ many cones can be seen with flowers in them. It is one way to remember that 3 years ago 185 people lost their lives, and the city changed forever, with many homes damaged and the loss (so far) of around half of Christchurch's "heritage buildings". In Girl Guiding circles 22nd February is called "Thinking Day" - many Cantabrians spend the day reflecting too. I had time to mull things over while participating in a 12 km run / walk, "A run to remember", along with about 1700 other people. This event raised money for the Canterbury Earthquake Children's Trust, which helps children who lost parents in the earthquake. I only ran the first 2 km - after that I walked as it was far too hot for me (temperatures reached 31 degrees I believe!). Later in the day I cooled off in the local pool.

10 January 2014: Christchurch has fewer heritage buildings than it once had, thanks to some recent seismic events, but it is still well worth visiting. Christchurch & Canterbury Tourism feature this superb picture, which depicts some of the diverse attractions in the city & in the wider area. Some of the original attractions remain - e.g. the Antigua boatsheds, the fountain in front of the Canterbury Museum, the tramway, the Gondola... & there are new iconic buildings, including the Transitional Cathedral & the Restart Mall, which is comprised of shipping containers! There is a fascinating, constantly changing, mixture of old & new here. Change will be a feature of life in Christchurch for many years to come!

5th September 2013: I've just bought a house at auction today (by phone)! Eeek - scary stuff, but I didn't get carried away and I managed to secure the property at below the reserve price - although this was still higher than the capital value of the place. Not by much though in this case, whereas many properties are being sold here at at least half as much again as the capital value. I'll now have to sort out property insurance - not a straightforward process in Christchurch since the earthquakes as if there have been EQC claims copies of the builder's report etc, details of any work done and of any outstanding claims are needed. Buyers have to take over the insurance of the previous owners.

31st August 2013: Househunting here is taking up most of my spare time - I've viewed 33 properties so far! Many properties are selling in days and are already under offer by the time the prospective purchaser contacts the real estate agent. It's frustrating because of the scarcity of decent housing stock, particularly for those buying at the lower end of the market (up to $400K?). My available funds are limited, given the costs of moving here from North Island, and because I'm selling my property in Whakatane at a loss - although it's bigger & much cheaper than what I'm looking at here (unless I choose a Fawlty Towers type of place, which there is no shortage of!). Most properties or sections are being auctioned or sold by deadline sale. Auctions cost the vendor money but can yield good profits for the seller. However, each time a potential buyer bids unsuccessfully at auction that failure costs them at least $250 because the buyer needs to have a lawyer involved to check the particulars. The buyer also needs to negotiate with the vendor's insurance company to transfer insurance to the buyer here because of all the outstanding EQC (earthquake damage) claims. So it's a somewhat stressful process overall. Prices are really inflated (not only for buyers but also for those renting places). The cheapest / best value properties tend to be on the eastern side of the city where many areas are still quite run down. Living in such areas isn't exactly good for one's mental health: I'd also have to cycle across town to work each day - the distance wouldn't be an issue, but the time spent negotiating traffic lights & exhaust fumes would be ugh!... Given the extent of the rebuild, pressure on housing is unlikely to ease for several years.

26th August 2013: This month I've been conscious of Christchurch's Japanese inhabitants. There are around 1500 Japanese people living here, and Kurashiki (650 km SW of Tokyo) is one of Christchurch's sister cities. 28 of the people who died in the earthquake in February 2011 were Japanese (12 were studying English here).

Each year for the last 36 years people have gathered in Christchurch to remember the people who died, and those who survived, in the bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I went along to this year's event, which was held in the early evening of 9th August at the Peace Bell in Christchurch's Botanic Gardens. After the service I had a go at ringing the bell (as shown in the photograph). Christchurch's peace bell is one of 21 around the world http://www.paradise-press.co.nz/wpb.html

On 24th August I attended a recital of traditional Japanese music - this was fascinating as four different types of Japanese intruments were played: the koto (a huge 13 stringed zither), sangen (3 stringed lute), shakuhachi (5 holed bamboo flute) and sho (another wind instrument - an early type of pipe organ with 17 slim bamboo pipes, each of which has a reed). Tuning the stringed instruments was a very time-consuming procedure! There was also a four part Japanese choir which sang during the major work - a long concerto piece about the Buddhist monk Nichiren. The music sounded quite different to classical European music, and the musicians (who were mainly female) wore traditional Japanese dress.

4th August 2013: Cones, cones, cones! Since the earthquakes there have been millions of these colourful additions to the street furniture. I have never previously seen so many cones in one place. At around $30 per cone, they are expensive items, but they have acquired a status like other types of street art. They brighten up gap sites, clutter up cycle tracks, surround damaged buildings and newly constructed properties alike, as well as drawing one's attention to the numerous roadworks and traffic diversions in the battered, but resilient, city. They have even been found in the trees on the Lincoln University campus: a student posted this picture recently on the varsity's facebook page. The Christchurch Press dubbed this new species of tree a conifer - or should that be cone-ifer? Christchurch was recently named as the eleventh friendliest city in the world, but perhaps it should be renamed Cone City instead of the Garden City (or Shaky City)?

31st July 2013: I'm still adjusting to cycling in a big city - factoring in time for traffic lights is one issue; then there's car exhaust (lots of it) & traffic noise; one way streets are another thing to get used to. On top of this Christchurch nowadays has its own way of making journeys memorable (or not): the landmarks are constantly changing, there are detours which change each week, dust is the order of the day and there are potholes galore. I'm currently using a borrowed bike with wide tyres, a contrast to my normal road bikes with skinny tyres, which will give a less comfortable ride, particularly in the city centre.

27th July 2013: After accessing my PO Box for the first time I cycled around the CBD and bought some groceries. It's annoying to have to buy citrus fruit after helping myself to them in Whakatane!

I also looked at a property which is for sale - completely overpriced, stinking of tobacco smoke & still needing EQC work done on it. Like many others it is a 'deadline sale' (not a fixed price but they'll look at offers on a set day unless a sale is agreed beforehand. A property's rateable value is only a guideline, and is likely to be less than the finally agreed price). I expect that it will get heaps of offers as there were 4 lots of viewers (including me) in that half hour - this was just one of several open home dates for that property. So finding a home here in my price range will be difficult. I don't want to live in that part of Madras St (just N of the CBD) anyway - the street looks a bit shellshocked in parts. It's all a bit random as to which areas are battered & which aren't. But at least the CBD is now accessible.

Yesterday the Court of Appeal upheld a High Court decision allowing the Church Property Trustees to continue demolishing Christchurch Cathedral.

17th July 2013: In contrast to my previous experience, when I went along to the Post Shop today I was able to set up a PO Box in Christchurch without any difficulty!

5th July 2013: Approximately three weeks prior to my move I went to the Post Shop to get a PO Box organised in Christchurch. This didn't prove to be an easy process - or, indeed, to be achievable in the hour I had allocated for this. Firstly, the NZ Post website didn't have up to date information re the location of their PO Box lobbies - some of these were obliterated in the February 2011 quake - so the NZ Post staff who were trying to help me had difficulty in finding the tel numbers of the associated Post Shops in the city. Secondly, PO Boxes now appear to be as difficult to obtain as hens' teeth since the quakes, due to fewer boxes being available, & because of all the temporary residents, workers etc in the locality. This isn't something which I'd considered! The effects of the earthquake are longlasting, and affect many more areas of daily life than you might expect. I hadn't anticipated that it would be so difficult to obtain a PO Box, which are in common usage in Aotearoa.