By Liz Puranam
Everyone around the country has gone out of their way to help those in Christchurch.
Families very quickly offered to take in residents from the city, but one woman in the beachside town of Leigh near Auckland went even further, filling up empty holiday homes with people needing a break from Christchurch.
Something as simple as going to the beach on a sunny afternoon means so much more to some Christchurch families after what they've endured.
Cath Lewis was on her daily walk when she saw a way the Leigh community could help those suffering in Christchurch.
"I'm always aware of how many homes, some of the most beautiful, here are left empty," says Ms Lewis. "They're holiday homes, and I just made the connection and thought wouldn't it be beautiful if we can get some people up here and get them some respite, care."
Ms Lewis got in touch with real estate agency Harveys to find accommodation to offer to people in Christchurch. Jacueline Yoder and Shelley McCabe's families are two of eight that have taken up the offer so far.
They've even enrolled their children at Leigh School.
"It's amazing," says Ms Yoder. "The benefits for our kids, particularly to take them away from quite a stressful environment and all the after shocks and the lack of facilities and the evacuations that've been happening on and off in Lyttelton."
Neither families know if they'll be able to live in their houses, and the Yoders' business has been red-stickered.
But they say they feel prepared to face their lives again.
"We will be going away very different people, and Cath would attest to that to what we arrived," says Ms Yoder.
Ms Lewis hopes more Christchurch residents will come up to Leigh to occupy some of the 60 homes the community has made available for free.
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