Wanderings

A couple of weeks back, we did a one-way hire up the country courtesy of Transfercar. Pretty good deal - free car, free ferry and free tank of gas. You can do one-way hires in both NZ and Aussie through these guys - cars, 4x4 and motorhomes.

The car in question was a Daihatsu Sirion. Now I've driven a Sirion before and it was dire. This one however, once you got the seat adjusted, had definitely been loosened up courtesy of 174000km of tourist driving ("it's a rental, don't be gentle"). We had a classically funny time hammering it up the island. I can guarantee that the next time you see a Sirion driven painfully slowly, usually by a crusty old bastard wearing a plaid cap, it is definitely not the car. They can do a lot more (although the transmission will whine a little...). All speeds were within posted speed limits, of course.

This was a camping holiday - a dry run to see if we can exist only with our packs and would meet the luggage weight limits for flying back, which we easily did at only 16kg each including sleeping gear and tent! We're keen to camp around Aussie or further afield however thought it was worth trying at home first.

So off we toddled up the island. As we so often do, halved the journey at Kaikoura. I'd recommend lunch at The Dolphin Encounter. Hadn't eaten there before and the food was excellent.

We had planned to stay in Blenheim Top 10 however the camp ground was too reminiscent of the Bates Motel...as well as the owner presenting like a masturbating pervert. To maintain my virtue we toddled up to the Picton Top 10 which was really well done. More traffic noise than expected however great facilities. I must say, I do love being able to put up your tent, airbeds and bedding within 30 mins!!

Picton has always struggled, mostly as it only exists as the place where you wait for or leave the ferry however there has been significant improvement in the township and it looks quite pretty now. We drank and wandered the streets :)





We took the Kaitaki across Cook Strait the next day and for the first time indulged in the Kaitaki Lounge. This is the only way to do this trip folks! Free food, free booze and no kids...very peaceful. Had to tolerate Wellington for a night and stayed at the Harcourt Holiday Park which was very quiet with reasonable facilities. A peaceful sleep.

We decided that a couple of nights in Rotorua would be fun so made our way up north. We had planned to stay at Cosy Cottage for old time's sake however this was just such a dive. Found Rotorua Thermal Holiday Park which was really well done. Heaps of space for tents away from the sliding doors of campervans and good facilities. You could lie in bed listening to the bubbling mud only a few metres away down the bank! Definitely a recommended option.



The campsite with the super sized freebie vehicle



The mud pools in the campground!





This wee pool would have been a boiling H2S death trap for anyone dumb enough to have leaned over too far

After enjoying a nice pint and a feed the night before at the Pig & Whistle, we decided to go down Waimangu Valley, including the boat trip across Lake Rotomahana. The former site of the Pink & White Terraces, the valley was created in 1886 following the eruption of Mt Tarawera that destroyed the surrounding area, exploded the lake to 20 times its size and covered the Terraces in ash.

Hmmm. Good points include an easy to navigate pathway, good signage and information available. Downsides include the price (a ridiculous $77 each with the boat trip which you might as well do, otherwise $34.50 each). Although I enjoyed seeing Waimangu again, there had been few changes in the 20 years since I was last here. In my opinion, promises a lot and doesn't deliver for the money. Go to Wai-o-tapu instead - much better priced ($32.50/head) and you'll see just as much.

Still, some photos...



Frying Pan Lake & Echo Crater



Cathedral Rock



Hot Water Creek



A brave wee birdie!



Bird's Nest Terrace



Inferno Crater



Outflow from the Inferno Crater



Kaolin Slope



Warbrick Terrace



Fumerole Bay, from Lake Rotomahana



Donne Cliffs



Donne Cliffs - love the colours

Finally made our way up to Auckland via Hamilton (the Tron remains the hell-hole it has always been in case anyone was wondering). Naturally, it was pissing with rain when we needed to pack up however we managed! We'd booked in to a hotel in Auckland using Wotif. Turned up looking like vagrants with packs on our backs and the concierge was delightfully disparaging. Probably not to his advantage when he had to store our sopping packs until the room was ready! Serves you right mate. Managed to trash the hotel room within about 5 minutes with pieces of tent lying all around the bathroom to dry and air. There was mud for Africa. I'm sure the slow drainage in the shower had nothing to do with the leaves that *may* have made it down there...

All in all, a fun trip. Cheers to Jucy Rentals for the car!

The Rose

Life, the universe and everything - at least in America's perspective

Well, this has been a while.

Life boxes on. I have to admit that I did enjoy my trip to the States, especially touring around with an Aussie colleague I met at the conference. A different world though...Arizona really is full of cacti, America is very big, they are obsessed with status and apparently trying to score foreigners is kosher on a conference. I was actually struck with how little training they seem to have as part of their residency - much more limited that Australasia or UK. The UK/Aussie contingent agreed - I feel smug :)

Tucson was an interesting spot, gorgeous weather. Really not a good place to be a pedestrian. I walked in to town on a Sunday and ended up on parts of the road as there was no pedestrian access! Also, town was SHUT on Sunday FFS. I was trying to find a decent coffee which I have since discovered is an impossibility in America. The coffee is so bad, like drinking dishwater. I resorted to pepsi (apparently coke is unobtainable in Arizona) and hung out for a good coffee on return to the Antipodes.

Bitchiness aside, the American crew were a really friendly bunch from the staff at the hotel to the attendees at the conference. Certainly couldn't fault being interested and welcoming - even if somewhat stunned that people from around the world are prepared to check out an international conference!

What a nightmare trip back though. 6 hours waiting for a connection in LAX...that was delayed for another hour. Finally left the US at 12.45pm...to have a screaming baby for 13 hours on the flight. Honestly, why aren't children taped onto the wing? They could cryo then defrost on landing. Or drop them over the ocean.

Here's some photos:



J W Marriott Starr Pass Resort - cheers work for putting me up here :)



Free tequila shots at 5.30! Epic.



Schooling in Arizona...love it



Wahoo! The yellow buses are real.



Starr Pass - how the other half live



San Xavier del Bac Catholic Mission. Wandered out here for an hour or so, just south of Tucson.





Tombstone, site of the "OK Corral" debacle..."the town too tough to die". This wee spot is about 80 miles out of Tucson and is vying for the tourist dollar. It's a maintained "western town" and every second building is a tourist trap. A fun visit, even if a little cheesy!



Tombstone "taxi"



Tombstone Court House



The gallows!



Boothill Cemetery and the OK Corrall boys



Love it

Wagged one day of the conference to go to Tombstone and then drove (on the wrong side!!) to Sabino Canyon which was a fantastic walk in the afternoon. I may have been a little inspired with the water on the valley floor. Awesome scenery, ironically reminded me of Milford Sound with the styling in the rocks, minus the Saguaros (cacti) though!

I'd rate Benson as a place to eat on the way back to Tucson - had an epic US sandwich in a roadhouse...without cheese. Awesome. Of note, the ants in Arizona are big enough that they carry cheeseburgers back to the nest, not just pieces of food.



















Cool - even I, the arachnophobic, was impressed by the tarantula wandering across the path. Oh, and the mountain lion basking in the sun on the rocks. They even give you a pamphlet on how not to get eaten by a mountain lion. My strategy was to push my travelling companion into its path and run away. Operation human shield.



Finally, a trip out to Sonora Desert Museum before heading home. Essentially a wild life park set in "natural surroundings". Hard to avoid the American idiots though - there was a lizard on the wall of the aviary (?buffet lunch) - and one of them had to try and touch it. Sigh.



This little bugger was on the path.



Gila Monster



Javelinas - apparently it is a native peccary...



Prairie dog

Verdict? A driving tour of the US would be bloody enjoyable although it would be nice to come home to have a good coffee...

The Rose

Sloppy seconds

I write this, apparently, from the past sitting in my rather pleasant hotel room in Tucson, Arizona. That's "Toooooo....saaaaaooohhnnnn" for all you phonetic plebs out there.

The blog title kindly comes from my darling husband who pointed out that, as it is 20 hours later in NZ, I am living his sloppy seconds. He has yet to tell me how the day pans out.

Blog-wise, as I am paying for 24 hours of in-room internet, I might as well use it!!

Some water under the bridge since the last blog. Hundreds of aftershocks. Just checked the count, 1911 as of now. Sold the house. Now married to an unemployed bum, although to his credit, the bum helped the house sale go smoothly and is looking for a job. Moved to a serviced apartment after all our stuff was stolen by two chaps who tidily wrapped it all beforehand and billed us for storage. Placed my baby girl in kitty storage, although she has been busted out twice and smuggled into the apartment :) We try to arrange all of life's major stressors to occur at once.

So, America. Yep, first time here. Gee, it's pretty big huh? Flights were tolerable, although I think I clocked up 23 hours of travel and time in airports and 34 hours without sleep. Apparently this is how you conquer jetlag - don't sleep and crash for 10 hours at local time! What a melee at LA domestic though. Took over an hour to get through LOCAL customs. Sheesh, apparently you can offend less people coming into the bloody country. And "flowing clothing", read, "not US-style clings to every angle to get a better hourly rate", leads to a patdown. Clearly I'm a terrorist. I was however impressed to find myself and baggage in Tucson as predicted. Was expecting some luggage drama as United Express falls into the "cheap" airline bracket. Maybe that will be saved for the return leg?

I'm here for a course and conference which starts tomorrow and work have checked me in to a nice hotel which is grand - including an extra day so they're not wasting their money for a jetlagged staff member to sleep during a training course!!

It's been the odd things so far - light switches go on the wrong way (maybe hotel specific!!). Stressing about the tip thing (too much? too little? this person? that person?). Seeing endless land during the across country flight from LA to Tucson all the way to the horizon. Road lanes that are wider than NZ's - now I get why US vehicles look so ridiculously big in NZ, they look fine here! Coke/Pepsi bottles that look small as they're missing a few mL.

Walked in to town from the hotel this morning. Beautiful weather (27ish). Took nearly 2 hours to walk into town and there were no cafes/businesses open and buggerall to look at! Not to mention running out of pavements. Clearly this is why shopping happens in the malls here as the bloody city centre shuts down.

Still, the people have been friendly which is nice. Taxi driver has pointed me in the direction of some malls (cheers) that I feel I should visit so I can say I have done America with cheese (had one in a breakfast panini at the airport, yeerch) and mall shopping. Not to mention a free bottle of wine and some fruit courtesy of the concierge after we had some accent issues and a chuckle. Very nice :)

Course starts tomorrow, damn, have to earn my place here!

The Rose

From the "you thought it was permanent" file

During today's open home we went for a wee drive in the surrounding countryside towards the epicentre of the quake. It was a 20 minute round trip, we're that close!

Picture this. You're driving down a road you know is straight and flat because you've been down it before. However it's not anymore. It has a hill in the middle of it and the road now has a sharp bend - the entire road has been displaced 2m to the right.

This one was the kicker. Picture a 8-10m high pine shelter belt. Planted straight. Been there for many years. Except these ones now have a kink in them - the shelter belt has been displaced 2m to the right.

Also saw pine trees, at least 20m tall, ripped out of the ground.

Wow.

The Rose

A picture tells a thousand words

I'm going to go out on a limb and point out that a lot of the city is absolutely fine. However that doesn't sell papers.

Here are some of the good piccies:

Old Christchurch Railway Station clock stopped at 4.35.

Where will the Fendalton paedophiles go now? Local Scout Hall.

Waimakariri River bank.

Motorway onramp north of the city.

This is a new suburb north of the city. Odd, the road is closed.

This is a river. Honestly.

Genuine tragedy. At least it wasn't sugar-free...

The Rose

More lighter stuff

1. Just waiting for the land chiropractor to turn up and say that the earth has had energy pent up for over 7 years and it will take just as much energy, treatment and time to put it back again.

2. Alvarados making the most of things.

The Rose

On a lighter note

As I'm getting sick of talking about constantly being on edge etc etc here's another epic moment from The Dragon. Quote of the day: "My need to poop has mysteriously disappeared. Hopefully it hasn't disappeared into the bean bag".

*Mental note* Trick the boy into checking the bean bags.

The Rose

Canterbury Earthquake

The dragon’s earthquake special...

Like everyone else in Canterbury my Saturday morning started fairly abruptly. Now, I mean it when I say we have a fairly large amount going on. Personally, I am out of a job at the end of the month. My motorcycle and house are for sale and we are staring down the barrel of moving city again. We have plenty to stress us out....

Sept 4, 0435...
The Rose and I found ourselves in separate parts of the house, she in a doorway, me flat on my back in bed. I am the first to admit to being a tad dismissive of earthquakes. However, this is the first where I have experienced freefall as at the peak of the shaking, 1.2 times gravity was measured. If some of the houses near the epicentre look like they have been picked up and dropped, it’s because they have been, literally. After the noise died down a little we gathered enough of everything to survive for a while without the house. Everything piled into the truck and at a random moment I deemed safe (whatever that is) manually open the electric garage door. Electricity was the first thing we lost, it was gone before we even woke up. I backed the truck out of the garage and as far down the drive as practical. The only thing we wished we had and didn’t was the cat.

News
The rationale behind the truck was firstly the fact that it is one of the more robust places to spend time and it has a functioning radio. The thought that crossed our mind was “where was this event centred”, immediately we thought of family in Wellington. This is the first earthquake we have felt in 3 years in Canterbury. We had no idea what magnitude it was. I don’t think it crossed our mind that we had just experienced a magnitude 7.1 earthquake. Neither of us would have rated survival of such an event as plausible unless you were in the open at the time. When we got the news that is was centred near a nearby town and the magnitude we were lost for words.

Daylight
Having spent a few hours listening to the radio and the comments of callers that were ringing and sharing their experiences waiting for the sun to come up, it was time to look at the house. Power was still out and the constant movement had subsided to a shake every minute or so. Even if they weren’t discrete earthquakes, there was movement that you could hear and feel. First of all we looked around the house for visible signs that we shouldn’t be in there. But, mercifully, there were no gaping cracks or holes to be found. To add an element of surrealism to it, there were no cracks at all. It was as if the entire event hadn’t happened. Apart from the fact that the place looked ransacked. Books and DVD’s had been strewn every which way from the bookshelves, speakers knocked over and a few candle sticks thrown around. A glass plate had unfortunately been in the way of a candle stick and was broken. Aside from a broken lever on my motorcycle that was discovered a little late on, this was the extent of the damage. After an hour or so of picking up and tidying, the place looked pretty much normal. The only service we were missing was electricity. We even had internet courtesy of our mobile phones.

Gravity
The gravity of the situation was beginning to sink in. As we sat there looking around us, listening to the constant rumble that was the surrounding buildings being subjected to wave after wave of tremors, we began to think. Luckily I had been able to make contact with my family and let them know that for the most part all was OK and there was nothing really to worry about. Reports were beginning to reach us of the problems the region were waking up to. Buildings and roads destroyed and services such as sewage and water unavailable. Looking around us and the immediate neighbourhood it was fair to say we did pretty well. We holed up for the day listening to the radio and basically surviving the aftershocks. Power returned in the evening mercifully, just 12 hours after the “event”.

The next day
After an unsuccessful attempt at a night’s sleep we set about the tasks for the day. We needed supplies. The quake had hit us when we were very low on stocks. We sent a txt message to our estate agent to see if the open home that was planned was still a go and headed to the shops to see if restocking would be a reality. It was. An hour and a half later we had a full diesel tank in the truck and 10 days of supplies. The only thing we couldn’t get was the gas cylinders filled. Got home and found the open home was a go. It seemed at least four parties needed the distraction, us, the agent and 2 couples who came for a look. After a quick trip into town the gas bottles were full and we were done for the day.

Aftershocks
The Rose had a couple of days of leave planned and I had received word that my office would be closed so there was no rush on Monday morning. We actually slept. Aftershocks will never mean the same thing to me ever again. You read it in the paper and think of it as a few earthquakes that are smaller than the first one and subside to nothing. By and large this is correct. Although in your mind you picture 10 or 20. We have registered more than 250. The trouble is, when you start with a 7.1, quite a lot is smaller than that. We have had at least 100 aftershocks greater than 4.0 over 4 days. Every time you wonder if it is another big one about to strike or if it will be “just another aftershock”. About 20 of these have been above magnitude 5. Another problem is we were only 16Km (10 miles) from the epicentre of the original quake. This means that aftershocks are short and violent. The energy release that would normally be spread over 20-30 seconds happens in 3-5. Imagine lining up a speed hump in the car, then hitting it at 50 to 60 kph. It is fairly disruptive. As it happens, this experience was only common to those with 5 to 10 kilometres of the centre of the aftershocks. Those further away got a more gentle rolling experience from them.

Poor choices
I found out that my workplace intended to open for business just 72 hours after the event. Buildings all over the Christchurch CBD were in the process of being classified as either OK or standing rubble. The ones that were already rubble clearly needed no classification. I took the opportunity to see what access would be like getting to the office. Some of the rural roads had sections displaced and dropped out of them, others rippled badly by the effects of Liquefaction. We saw buildings that had been marked with yellow paint. The markings needed no explanation, a large yellow cross, the word “NO” and a timestamp. I arrived at the office and immediately felt uneasy. I went upstairs to see where my desk and workspace was to find all of the ceiling structures buckled and the ceiling had caved in. Nothing compared to the awnings that had been flattened by tonnes of rubble outside my usual daytime haunts. Nothing was sacred, the bakery, the little Thai place I have been to more times than I can count, the cafe down the street. None of the buildings were remarkable aside from the service they performed for me. The choice to open the office ended in panic and tears the next morning. An aftershock centred much closer to the city centre and more like those we had become accustomed to near the epicentre tore through the central city. More ceiling tiles came raining down and people were diving under tables before they were hit by them. At least one was too slow. No real injuries but on top of the other stressors it was too much. The office is now rightly closed till Monday.

The bigger picture
Christchurch is NZ’s second largest city. It has a reputation for being conservative, old and a little boring. Sadly, many heritage buildings that were actually very pretty (not always the case in NZ) and worth retaining are facing the bulldozers. Downed chimneys are everywhere and houses are ruined. Estimates would suggest that at least 100,000 of the 300,000 structures have suffered some sort of damage from a crack to a complete loss. Old or new, unless the right circumstances were present, there was damage, sometimes irreversible. The effect on the population has been profound. People are now focussed on getting things done. Public places are courteous but sombre and everybody’s story seems to have a common thread at the moment. As time goes by, more is known of the future. Ironically this mirrors our own instabilities of the past 6 months. I would say it will shake down in the fullness of time but there will be stories for years to come, either from the big event or the rebuild.

Conclusion
The only thing that is constant is change. Simplicity is your friend and makes change easier to cope with. In those first few hours, the thing that was the most use was a radio. It was our reliable link to the outside world. It let us know what we needed to do and that we were all in the same boat. Hardly the most complicated form of communication these days. Take it easy, take your time and look at the bigger picture. It could all be different tomorrow.

Wondering what the hell all that was about, try looking here

Christchurch earthquake day 5

Never intended to blog daily about this however clearly I am!

Back at work today which was odd. On one hand a touch of normality. On the other, really hard to leave the house to the unknown. What's it like having an earthquake a work? Honestly, less scary than home. Less aftershocks for starters!

Part of the worry on leaving home was The Dragon's plan to enter his workplace - a bloody bombsite. However courtesy of the aftershock this morning, his workplace has since been closed. Only took staff sustaining (fortunately minor) injuries from falling ceiling tiles and a burst gas pipe for them to decide that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. FFS. Still, reassuring that he wasn't in there and won't be for some time.

Some new experiences today. The media have been banging on about the aftershock this morning (5.1), "the biggest one ever" etc etc. Found myself feeling annoyed, wanting to yell out "what about the 4 we had before that one out in Rolleston or the 5.2, 4.0 and 5.4 in 10 minutes on Monday". Great, I've reached the level of competitive earthquaking :) Seriously, a shallow and strong quake this morning and people who haven't had the experience we've been having were clearly very distressed. Odd driving during the quake, car felt very heavy on the steering for a few minutes then back to normal. Took a few minutes to work out why!

A number of others things struck me today. We've (officially) been given the "well done, keep calm, carry on" message. Literally in those words! Also comments about watching your teams, checking everyone is OK, showing leadership etc. All things which are really important and actually help you to feel calm yourself. By reassuring others you are yourself reassured. However a tiny part just wants to throw your hands up in the air, grab your loved ones, jump in the car, run home and hide under a blanket until the bogeyman has gone. Bit of a bugger that this philosophy doesn't help yourself, others or pay the mortgage.

Another area of note as a shrink is the need not to "medicalise" this event. Everyone is scared, afraid, uncertain, anxious and jumping at shadows. The last thing you need is to be a "survivor" or a "victim". That's not to say that many people aren't in this situation. However it needs to be acknowledged that it is NORMAL to be distressed and accept the help offered when you want or need it. I have to shamefully confess that I became a bit acopic on returning home today - leading to (sorry) a bath. Not the hottest, deepest, biggest bath ever however the first time I have not been an absolute scrooge over water and amenities. I'm feeling pleased, guilty and a little more upbeat all at once.

Onwards, upwards...

The Rose

Christchurch Earthquake 4

Well, I've just had 2 really relaxing, fun-filled and joyous days of annual leave. Not.

More thinking and reflecting on the last few days today, fuelled by a bunched of nasty aftershocks last night. Some of the thoughts that have stayed with me are:
-bloody hell, I really wish I didn't know that we were only 16km from the epicentre!
-how can so much sand and silt come out of the ground so fast?
-how is Christchurch going to regain it's previous stately beauty?
-impressed at how quickly we could resupply after the event
-impressed at how everyone is working together and supporting each other as best as we can

In terms of images, the ones that have persisted are:
-seeing "X" and "No" in orange spray paint on a building that has been condemned, even if it looks OK
-sitting at a traffic light and seeing a car waiting at the lights beneath a chimney that you can see daylight through and could collapse at any moment
-railway lines only 3km from my house that have an S bend in them
-cracks a metre wide ripped in the landscape
-bridges that have collapsed entries, exits and big ridges in them
-pictures of The Dragon's workspace showing all the roof tiles above his desk missing...which would have landed where he normally sits
-cases of V bottles littering a floor in a warehouse (waah!)
-smashed wine bottles piled about half a metre high in the local supermarket (double waah!)

And the things that have made me angry:
-my birthday today (and the point was?!)
-burglars and looters
-The Dragon's work who want everyone in the place despite significant building safety and sanitation issues. Some people really are knobs.

Yippee, back to work tomorrow. Can't wait.

Please donate to help Canterbury!

The Rose

Christchurch Earthquake 3

2 days on and Canterbury is surviving. Already major efforts are underway to start clearing unrecoverable buildings. Lots of people back at work although the city centre remains a no-go zone.

What has struck me most today is the variation in damages. The quake centre was Wards Rd, 43.55°S, 172.18°E which is 16km from our house on a direct line. So pretty bloody close then. We're feeling a lot of aftershocks that aren't been felt in town apparently although obviously the bigger ones are felt everywhere.

From the "gosh that's lucky" files, Rolleston is built on rock and river bed - mostly large stones which we're now rather thankful for (I can now accept the plus side of the blood, sweat and tears required to establish the garden with a pickaxe).

Some of the areas we saw today, all places we considered living, are not so lucky. Halswell (45km from the epicentre) and Tai Tapu (35km from the epicentre) have been badly hit, especially with the liquefaction (water bursting through loose soil/sand in the subsoil). Hard to describe the huge piles of grey silty earth covering massive tracts of roads and driveways. Not to mention bridges and roads that now have involuntarily speed humps, massive cracks and height changes. Another suburb we considered buying in (Bexley) (57km from the epicentre) is likely to be bulldozed secondary to this phenomenon. Looks like Kaiapoi in North Canterbury, about 60km from the epicentre, has also sustained severe damage.

Checking what underlies the soil will be a feature of any new house purchase/rental from now on I think!

The Rose

Christchurch Earthquake 2

Well, we have survived the night. Managed to get some sleep although woken frequently with aftershocks, some into the 5's. The worst aftershocks were between 4-5am (about 4) - significant amount of retraumatising courtesy of the 4.30 events of yesterday!

Ventured into town today to get some supplies. Managed to get diesel, LPG gas bottles filled and food :) The suburbs had a "business as usual" feel although everyone was very quiet, just getting in and getting stuff down before going home. Really impressed at how calm everyone is being and how well stocks and supplies are coming through. I'm glad we shopped when we did though - arrived home to enjoy another 5+ aftershock! Wouldn't have wanted to be in the supermarket for that bad boy.

The most surreal experience today was still having an open home for the house sale - and people came!! Actual buyers not just rubber-neckers. We feel qualified to recommend the house as "sturdily constructed". :)

Went into town a little later to clear the P O Box and checked the routes for work, skirting around the cordons. It's just so sad to see. Christchurch is NZ's prettiest and most gracious city and all around there's horrible damage. So many chimneys down, pulling down roof tiles and walls. We could see some of the buildings that have sustained major damage - facades and building frontages lying on the street with the inside exposed to the world. Huge cracks in a number of roads with the liquefied sand covering massive areas. Beautiful buildings in disarray.

Having seen some of the buildings and comments from others, we're feeling even luckier now. We have water, power and phone. The house is built on concrete with a rock/stone base, hence why we have lasted. Some houses in the area haven't been as lucky.

You just can't envisage the destruction, ongoing anxiety with every aftershock, feelings of being overwhelmed and concern for the suffering of others.

The Rose

Christchurch Earthquake

Well today has been a long and eventful day that started at 4.35am with a rude wake up from the planet. AKA the Christchurch earthquake, 7.1 on the Richter Scale.

I have never been in a quake like this before. Banging, crashing and roaring and really difficult to stand up and get to a door frame. Power went out immediately so all we had to reference was the massive noise, shaking and crashing sounds around the house. The shaking went on for ages however we managed to get together the tent, clothes, food, cat cage (although cat was elusive!) and some bedding, get the truck out and pile in to tune in to the radio to find out that we were only 20km from the epicentre.

Went back into the house and then an outside survey about 7ish. Amazingly, the house seems fine, no cracks in the roof, tiles, bricks or concrete. Guess that's why you live in a new house that has the highest earthquake specs! The other new houses round the neighbourhood have faired similarly. I understand that some houses in Burnham township and the army camp have been mothered with walls, ceilings and windows blown out.

We've been lucky with damage inside too although a lovely glass plate of mine was smashed. Otherwise, 1 shot glass fell out of the cupboard and smashed to smithereens. Books off the bookshelves, speakers fell over, pictures everywhere on the wall, dvd's on the floor, tv monitor fell off, papers everywhere. Still, having sold most of our stuff there was little to fall over! From the "how" files, my phrenology head fell 2m to the ground and was completely unharmed :)

Power was out until about 5.30pm - amazing job from the power company to get that back on so quickly. Water is apparently contaminated so all drinking water is being boiled although we still have supply. Phones have been a bit flaky although we realised we have no non-powered phones so couldn't use our landline with the power out! Mobile internet etc has been intermittent however all going now.

The quakes have continued constantly all day with a noticeable one every 3-5minutes. It's like being in a storm with the ongoing booming and shaking. Still, we're lucky. There's a hell of a lot of carnage in the city centre, especially in the older buildings.

We look forward to the evening...

The Rose

Movie stuff

Due to all the other chaos going around me (selling house, changing jobs with associated endless costs and bills, selling motorcycle, losing the plot etc etc etc), I think I'll blog about some movies I've seen recently.

Inception (2010) - I really like Christopher Nolan's work and I thought diCaprio played his part well in detailing how the mind constructs dreams and ideas. The movie leaves you constantly questioning reality and how we perceive the world. Beautifully constructed. I know some people struggle to connect with Nolan's characters however I felt there were plenty of emotional aspects for each character to come alive. Definitely worth seeing on the big screen with a coffee beforehand to help you focus! 9/10

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Sweden 2009) - I'm a fan of the Steig Larsson books (Millennium Trilogy). Based around a Swedish magazine (Millennium) and their key writer (Mikael Blomkvist) and an antisocial woman (Lisbeth Salander). The first film/book is based around Mikael investigating the disappearance of a woman from a famous family. Well shot and ties together well. The movie skips a lot of the development of the magazine in the novel and focuses on the key story however there are enough hooks to link the next two films. An enjoyable watch. 7 1/2/10

The Girl who Played with Fire (Sweden 2009) - second of the Millennium trilogy. Begins introducing the back story of Lisbeth Salander which is an indictment on governmental abuse (more in no. 3). This one focuses on the murder of two people freelancing for Millennium and Salander is the prime suspect. Again, elegantly shot. Although there is a lot of detail missing from the book, the film hangs together tightly and leaves you waiting impatiently for no. 3. 7/10

A Prophet (France 2009) - based on the tale of an Arabic man sent to prison for 5 years. Details the rivalry between the Arabic and Corsican gangs in the prison setting. Gives a nasty (and yet unfortunately realistic) description of prison life and vendettas. The film is too long (2 1/2hrs) and drags a little towards the end however it's engaging and very non-Hollywood. 7/10

How I Ended This Summer (Russia 2010) - Beautifully shot Russian film set in a meterology spot on a remote island. Nothing to do outside of station monitoring except catch dinner and play in the leftover army sites. Slice-of-life style film involving an old hand and a young, computer bunny. Drama ensues when the young chap becomes afraid to pass on some bad news to the old chap due to fears for his life. You have to be in the mood for a slow paced film however the black humour is excellent. My favourite from the film fest. 9/10

The Double Hour (Italy 2009) - Sonia, a chambermaid in a fancy Turin hotel joins a speed-dating club and hits it off with Guido, a hunky security guard. What follows is a cleverly constructed double story of their interaction and her betrayal. Nicely put together and entertaining. 7/10

25 Carat (Spain 2008) - entertaining Spanish film in the style of Snatch (gangster, good guy/bad guy) etc. Well-paced, not too long. Good character development of the main stars and ended before becoming repetitive. 7/10

Agora (2009) - starring Rachel Weisz as Hypatia, Greek female mathematician/philosopher. Really struggled to connect with this film. Nicely shot and points out the fanaticism and ridiculousness of religion however the characters felt flat and poorly developed. Rachel Weisz lacked the passion to pull off her role - willing to die for her beliefs but not defend them? Didn't leave me feeling satisfied. 5/10 on a slow rainy Sunday.

Room With a View (1985) - I haven't watched this in years. In the days that Merchant Ivory really was Mr Merchant and Mr Ivory comes Helena Bonham Carter's first film. She still has the mighty eyebrows (even at age 19). I like the slow pace of EM Forster and find the pace and snideness of this movie appealing. Stars a multitude of British actors including Maggie Smith. A typical tale of boy meets girl, girl thinks she should marry one chap and then marries another. A classic chick flick. 7 1/2/10

Green Zone (2010) - Matt Damon what were you thinking. He stars as a warrant officer in the Iraq war discovering that WMD don't exist. Cue crusade to bring this all to justice. Good guys vs bad guys. Brendan Gleeson trying to do a British?! American?! accent. This film was very unbelievable and poorly written. Try Generation Kill if you want to see an Iraq tale. 4/10.

The Aviator (2004) - Thought I'd check out some of diCaprio's earlier stuff as I'm enjoying his acting more and more. diCaprio starts as Howard Hughes, early American director, millionaire, engineer and aviation inventor in the period between 1920 - 1950. Directed by Scorsese so the start is really slow - the first 50 minutes are scene setting and it feels a little confusing and dull to begin with. Cate Blanchett stars as Katharine Hepburn and mimics those irritating mannerisms perfectly. The last 90 minutes rushes by so fast and is extremely engaging. Well worth a watch (persevere!) 7 1/2/10.

The Beach (2000) diCaprio stars as Richard, a young American lad touring Thailand. Given a map for a beach paradise by a chap who commits suicide the next day. Finds the island where a bunch of reclusive students have managed to set up a resort for 5(!) years. The film focuses on the obsession to keep the island secret. Not quite what I expected and fortunately the film is only long enough to explore the story in a linear fashion. Entertaining bumf for a non-thinking night. 6/10

That'll do!
The Rose

Tribute to our girl Bree

On 19 July 2010 our dear little girl Bree left us. This has been one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever had to make. She’s had a rough year, including becoming really unwell in February 2010 and we thought we might lose her then. Although she recovered, the wee spark had already left her.

She’s definitely squeaked through the door of reasonable doubt with her previous 8 lives though! What a lot of great memories we have of our adopted kitty.

Our first experience with Bree was when this white shape started sleeping regularly on our front porch. Nicknamed “Cat B” (as we already had cat A), she managed to find a spot to sleep in peace where Eve never went.

Bree formally entered our lives with a moment of daring theft on 26 January 2006. Obviously starving, she ran into the house, jumped onto the table and nicked some leftover chicken from dinner. From that point, we decided to keep her.

She was in pretty bad shape when we adopted her – only weighing 2.2kg, covered in fleas, needed teeth extracted. With an old broken tail and manky fur she wasn’t a pretty sight! With some TLC however she quickly turned in to a lovable pet. Due to her “Cat B” status, an appropriate “B” name was sought. As she was initially pretty anxious, we named her after “Bree” from Desperate Housewives! It was always difficult to guess her age, between 10 and 12 at the time of adoption the vet thought.

Not everyone found her as lovable as we did though! Eve had her furry nose firmly put out of joint with the new arrival. It was weeks until she would stay in the same room with Bree. Still, they slowly adapted although having two female territorial cats in one house could be challenging. Regular yowling, chasing and hissing battles ensued, especially fighting over the catnip.

Bree settled herself into the household. She was never a terribly active cat, preferring to sleep in the sun when given the opportunity. Despite her age, she managed the move down south well and absolutely relished the Canterbury summer (mmm…30+ on the deck) and also enjoyed the double-glazing and heating in the winter.

Bree had some less cute habits though. Regurgitating food was one – leading to an extremely amusing incident where she vomited into The Dragon’s trousers which he put on before realizing what she’d done. Awesome.

It’s been a bit of an eye-opener having an older cat. She’s been through the mill – hyperthyroidism last year (did you know cats can have radioiodine?), has a heart murmur and in February 2010, became extremely ill with vomiting and diarrhoea.

As she’s got older, she’s begun to struggle to move around and wash herself. New experiences for us include brushing a cat, cleaning the ears of a cat, clipping the toenails of a cat, bathing a cat…

Thanks for all the memories little one. We’ll miss you terribly.

Here’s a photo tribute to our baby:

The first pictures of our new arrival taken January 2006. Gosh she was thin! As with Eve, never managed to convince her to keep a collar on.








Looking lovely December 2006:




Out in the garden March 2007. Not sure why she looks so worried!




April 2007. Sleeping in the sun - Bree's favourite activity






August 2007. One of the unusual times where the white cat slept on the white washing...


November 2007. Bree adapted well to the move to Christchurch, discovering that sleeping was possible in different cities


April 2008. She loved the fire in our flat in Christchurch. The cats grudgingly learned to share - although Bree seemed oblivious of the potential danger!








We moved into our new house and bought beanbags for one room that proved extremely popular...


As did the catnip...Catnip? What catnip!






Last days in her favourite place...


With love from The Rose & Dragon