Broken Heart

Lyttelton's Empty Spaces

Site of Deli in Lyttelton (we think!)

Today is our last day on the beautiful Banks Peninsula, and we’ve set it aside to go into Christchurch to get some idea of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Feb. 2011. Our hosts at Charteris Bay described their experiences briefly when we arrived. Gary said he and Belinda fled outside and watched as the sides of their house bulged outward during the quake. In spite of this their house and all the others in this region appear untouched. One would never know that the epicentre was only a 20 minute drive from their house around the bay in the small town of Lyttelton.  Unfortunately Lyttelton was nearly devastated by the quake. There are ships in the harbour, but the ships that brought tourist trade in the past have deserted because so many businesses have either disappeared altogether or are operating in a limited manner out of trailers or cargo containers. The ships now go to nearby Akaroa, a beautiful town with a French flavour further out on the peninsula. Very few businesses remain open on the main street, and many buildings are gone completely as is the deli we liked so well. We walk to where we think it was located and find only a big empty lot. The used bookstore is gone though there is a sign saying it has moved further up the hill. I bought a biography of Janet Frame there and it sits on the beside table at home; I haven’t read it yet, I guess I saved it from the quake by carting it home to Canada. It looks as though some of the homes surrounding these streets are inhabited but many appear to be empty.

CBD Christchurch

Cashel Mall made from shipping containers

The heart of Christchurch, the CBD (Central Business District), is broken, surrounded by fencing, danger signs and a few tourists like us taking pictures and walking outside the cordoned areas, craning to get a better look. I admit to feeling a bit guilty going in to see the damage and taking photos. It’s a bit like taking photos at a funeral, but as we were here so recently I feel I must in order to appreciate the havoc caused by such a natural disaster. We park at the supermarket where we had stocked up in February 2010 and walk to the centre trying to get our bearings. All the landmarks we remember are either empty lots or are beyond  the barriers. The used bookshops, backpacker hostels and bars are simply gone. Ballantynes, the department store where I bought a legendary cake pan for my friend, Ros, is open for business and at one end we find large brightly coloured shipping containers where some of the devastated businesses have bravely set up shop calling it the newly reopened Cashel Mall. There is a gourmet store, a bookstore, a few coffee shops and some clothing stores. Two of the banks are operating out of large mobile trailers. We follow the tram tracks to the river and can see Cathedral Square from a distance. The 

Hotel in CBD

Anglican Cathedral and another stone church look like they were hit by bombs, missing towers and entire walls. We slowly  piece the city back together in our minds using some of the buildings still standing as landmarks - the Art Gallery, some other arts buildings including small shops we’d enjoyed in the past; the outdoor pub where we’d sipped our flat whites in the summer sunshine would be just to the side of them. We slowly retrace our steps and I wonder where all the people who used to work and study here have gone. There are only cranes, construction workers and buildings with large red, yellow or pink scrawls on the facades, presumably put there by rescue workers and obviously conveying important information we are unable to decipher. How sad and strange that the quake could have hit anywhere in this area, but it hit Christchurch - at its heart.

Click Below to See Map:
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Christchurch,+Canterbury,+New+Zealand&hl=en&ll=-43.564472,170.793457&spn=6.576043,14.128418&sll=-44.197959,170.969238&sspn=6.50665,14.128418&vpsrc=6&hnear=Christchurch,+Canterbury,+New+Zealand&t=m&z=6

Building on Columbo St.

Church in CBD