The seeds of the city

 

18/11/12

 

Yesterday was our first day exploring Christchurch.  We strode out, keen to explore, excited and enthused by the adventure.   As we turned the first corner heading toward the city centre we stopped overcome by what we were seeing.    I’ve grown up hearing about natural disasters, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes and I always feel deeply moved with compassion for the people’s lives these events devour with their ferocity, but I have never been face to face with the devastation, not like I was yesterday.  Two years on and around every corner buildings stand half crumbling, derelict, dead.  In the bright sun you can imagine the awesome shadows which were once cast by these structures, now just gravelled open space.   The cracked buildings which are holding on to their foundations are unusable, their outsides derelict their insides disordered chaos as if it all happened yesterday.  No banks, no shops, no cafes even the cathedral and historic monuments are broken... 

So what of Christchurch now?  Out of devastation comes an innovative, funky city.   Here are some examples.  In a square in town is an outside dance studio.  The tiled floor is flanked by flood lights and a disco ball hangs in the middle of the floor suspended from the corner posts.  An old washing machine is the water proof home of the sound system, simply pay $2 and plug in your ipod and boom, instant dance studio.  Around the edge are wooden art deco style seats and a chalk board for people to book in their session.  I struck a pose for a photo secretly longing to bust a groove.  The infectious girls would love it!  

As well as the outside dance studio the retailers have had to find alternative premises.  Imagine if you can a matchbox city.  Units made of containers, some adjacent some two stories high but all vibrantly coloured and beautifully crafted with class and style.  An apple mac store, boutique clothes shops, coffee shops... Querky and fun, just being there makes you smile.  The hub teems with life, soul and energy unlike the surround ruins. 

container shops and cafes

So out of the devastation has come something amazing, a true triumph for Christchurch, the seeds of new life. 

We also spent the day opening a bank account (very easy) and buying a car (not so easy).  We walked miles and miles looking at tens of car lots and hundreds of cars.  The search was somewhat dry due to our low budget, high expectations, and Dan’s obsessive (and slightly annoying) love for Toyotas!  We test drove one car and were walking back to test drive a Jeep we had seen earlier in the day when a man appeared in front of us holding Dan’s bag.   Dan had taken the bag off to test drive the car and placed it on the back seat.   In this bag was an iPad, our passports and every single piece of important documentation we had with us.  Oh dear Dan, oh dear...  When we reached the place where we had seen the Jeep it had already been sold.  At this point I was exhausted from walking miles, my feet were sore,  my eyes burned with tiredness, my head was throbbing and I was beginning to feel broken.  Dan was a little twitchy too, but I’m pretty sure that was because he thought I was going to spontaneously combust (let’s just say he would have definitely been singed!)

In short we did manage to find a car- I think God took pity on my grumpy pleas, like Dan he probably just wanted me to shut up!  Both God and Dan are gracious and thankfully I think both have forgiven me.  I have named the car Max. Dan says it’s a 4x4 mistubishi estate, I say it’s blue.

Max

Today we went to church.  Dan really wanted to go and found a Baptist church where the pastor had previously been in Greymouth for 11 years.  We turned up hoping to slip in the back, listen to the service, have a few conversations and disappear as we both felt tired still.  I’m pretty sure Dan will have recurrent nightmares about what greeted us, tables with big sheets of paper, pens, play dough and lots of unknown people.  A ‘relaxed family service’ which as visitors requires you to awkwardly join a table, not wanting to take anyone’s seat and hoping you aren’t asked to describe yourself as an animal or hop backwards whilst reciting genesis.  It’s a God given gift that when in such situations I find an inner confidence which sometimes defies me in day to day life and I was very pleased to be able to encourage Dan to embrace the less traditional side of church life.  It was actually a lovely service and at the end Dan chatted to a lovely old boy whilst I heard one ladies sad story about the impact the quake had, and still was having on her life.  However - note to all vicars - if you intend to hold such a service why not have a table designated to visitors (write visitors table in big letter) with a couple of friendly people who can greet and seat you, this will reduce the social anxiety of your guests.

We went back to the containers for lunch and watched a street entertainer ride a five foot tall unicycle whilst in a straight jacked (this equated to shot nerves as I imagine all the horrible things that could go wrong if he fell off).    

Now we are just chilling planning the next phase of the trip before packing up.  We head to the mountains tomorrow for a stop over before going to Greymouth.  I love it here but I miss home.

Hugs

Sarah