The Fallen City

Christchurch, the fallen city, has been hit with a series of earthquakes first starting in September 2010. Since then the region has been hit by thousands of quakes with no end in sight. The city is saying that it will take 12-15yrs to rebuild the city. Even though the structures will take this long to rebuild, the peoples spirit has been rebuilding at a rapid pace.

I was only in town for 1 day and one that day I was shown the true spirit of the fallen city. It was a beautiful day and people were out. I got a free concert in the park, which is something they do every Sunday, watched a rugby practice and just enjoyed the quiet nature of the people.

My first day of work at the restaurant was on Dec.23 and there were 2 large-ish earthquakes that day. One was 5.8 and the other was 6.0. Considering I have never really felt an earthquake and I was in a strange building surrounded by glass and sharp things that could hurt me if they fell; I did pretty well. It was kind of funny because both the boss and manager were a bit worried about me because they could tell I hadn’t really felt anything like it before. Since that day there have been hundreds of aftershocks, some I can feel and some that I can’t. What amazes me is how quickly I have become accustomed to them.

Christchurch also marked my very first couch surf. I stayed at “The Castle” as it is known by the residents past and present and all those who walk through the doors. My hosts, Hilal, Kayla, Oli, Ben and Logan (who I only met in passing) were so great and welcoming. However, I was a bad guest who went to bed early. They had a party and I just couldn’t stay awake because I was so hung over. Lucky for me they were cool with me hitting the hay early and were more worried that they would keep me up. I loved staying at The Castle because it had so much old school charm since most of the fixtures in the house were the originally ones and because I was able to meet new, interesting people with a similar spirit to mine.

Onwards to Lake Tekapo and then Queenstown!