By Imogen Crispe
It is one year since the people of Christchurch endured one of New Zealand’s worst tragedies.
The magnitude 6.3 earthquake of February 22 killed 185 people and destroyed much of the city’s historic buildings, as well as countless homes and offices.
But the survivors have pulled through and are looking forward to a new future for Christchurch.
However, the year has not been easy for most people.
3 News spoke to people about their experiences following the quake.
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Barry Easton
Taxi driver Barry Easton was driving a woman in her 90s and at first thought the earthquake was a problem with the car tyre. He managed to drop the woman home and then went to his own home where he printed off flyers with his phone number and posted them around town to let people know how they could get a taxi. He then gave people lifts all around town and checked on others to make sure they were alright. Blue Star Taxi’s computer systems were down so he and the other drivers used old fashioned walkie talkies to communicate.
Barry, 62, says since the quake work is down 40 percent and he barely drives anywhere but in Riccarton.
“Once it would be all over the city. Now there’s nothing to go to in there.”
He says his income is down because there are not as many people visiting Christchurch.
“We don’t have any cruiseships, we don’t have conferences and that.”
And his way of life has changed - where they used to go out regularly, he and his wife barely leave home.
“I’ve become a stay at home person. There’s nowhere to go for my age group really.”
Before the quake, they used to go into town for shopping or to eat out.
“We just don’t have the income anymore to do it.”
As well as less work, Barry has also faced higher maintenance costs for the taxi he drives because of the bad road conditions around the city.
But the one positive after the quake is Barry knows colleagues better.
“We’ve got a lot tighter, there’s a lot more waving and that as you pass, and more chat at stands.”
Working together with limited resources brought them together, he says.
Barry says he is used to the aftershocks now.
“I never thought I’d get used to earthquakes but you do don’t you. I don’t like them but I think I’m over it.”
Although he worries there could be another big one.
“You just wonder the chances.”
Lucy Hickmott
Lucy was at work at Vero House on the corner of Oxford Tce and Hereford St when everyone started getting thrown about and things were falling around her. She and her colleagues were told to get under their desks, then evacuate from the second floor office. She was okay, and so were her colleagues, but the building was not and the following week staff moved to a new location in Sydenham. Lucy helped with the Vero emergency response team to coordinate members of the assessors coming from the North Island.
What Lucy, 25, misses the most since the earthquake is the city centre.
“Being in the central city day to day and being able to go to shops and sit by the river.
“It feels like a different place.”
She says life in general in Christchurch is different.
There are not many restaurants or cafes around her work so she and her colleagues have to take lunch to work. She used to take the bus to work, but now it’s easier to drive.
Lucy feels fortunate that she and her family members were alright, and they did not suffer any property damage.
“I consider myself very lucky.”
Not everything has been bad for Lucy since the earthquake.
“I think I’ve grown a lot from going through that, you learn to appreciate life a lot more.”
Her partner spent a long time trying to find her on the day of the quake, and this made him realise he wanted to marry her, she says.
“He was so worried about me.
“That kind of sparked it.”
He proposed in August and they are getting married in March and moving to Brisbane, a decision influenced by the earthquake.
“We did want to move anyway, but because of what happened here we want to have a new start… and get away from it all.”
Born and bred in Christchurch, Lucy definitely intends to return one day, perhaps when the city is back in shape.
“I do love the city,” she says.
Max Warren
Max was on his lunch break on his second day of a new job as an architect in central Christchurch when he got thrown to the ground. He had only just moved back to the city a couple of days before, after studying in Auckland. Max was on Durham St and saw the St Methodist Church in the CBD collapse before dust surrounded him, obscuring his vision. Comedian Mike King ran out from nearby and started trying to direct traffic. Max then wandered back to check his office building and went to find his parents who also worked in the city. They were fine. He had three weeks off work and in that time he and an architect friend went around local schools checking them for structural damage.
The Christchurch-bred architect, 24, is now excited about how much the city could be improved, as he thought some parts of it were “conservative and dull” pre-earthquake.
“There’s been some horrible buildings that have been knocked down.”
The architectural firm he works for now has plenty to do.
Max and his colleagues are working on residential rebuild projects, as well as concept designs for commercial buildings.
“There’s a lot of cool stuff I’ve seen we’re working on that’s going to make the city quite vibrant.”
Max still works in the central city because his office building has had structural strengthening, so he sees what is happening in town.
“Just walking into the town it’s bizarre when you walk past things that were there and aren’t there because of the demolition.”
He notices the lack of maintenance in the city, such as the long, unmown grass on the riverbank.
“It’s kind of unreal,” he says.
Parking wardens don’t check the central city anymore, so Max can park at work. He would prefer to cycle but the roads are not suitable.
He says in the past he took for granted having a city area where he could hang out after work or on the weekends. Now he just goes straight home after work, and in weekends has to find other things to do.
“There’s just nothing really for the young people to do here.”
And now Max has moved home with his parents because it’s so hard to find a flat these days.
“An ad for a flat is only listed for a few hours, and hundreds of people turn up.”
He thinks he will stay in Christchurch for at least a year or two, as long as there is progress made in rebuilding the city.
“It’s quite interesting doing what I’m doing here, seeing the city being rebuilt… on a sketch pad.”
Aria Broughton and baby Ngaru
Aria had just put her four month old baby boy down for a sleep when her New Brighton home started shaking. She realised it wasn’t going to stop and ran towards the bedroom, things falling in seemingly slow motion around her. It seemed like ages had passed when she finally reached Ngaru’s room and got him out of his bassinet. He was alright, because for some reason Aria had put up the hood of the cot so nothing had hit him. She then stood in the doorway with Ngaru between her legs until the shaking stopped. Her elderly neighbour was her next thought, so Aria went to check on her then ran into the street to find the local pub collapsed and chaos everywhere. It took her a few hours to get in touch with her partner who was at work, but he was fine.
Baby Ngaru is 16 months old now and has no idea about the earthquakes.
In fact he is so used to them, they help him sleep, Aria, 25, says.
“One day he woke up and an earthquake rocked him back to sleep. He started crying and an aftershock happened and he stopped crying.”
It was hard having a new baby with all the chaos though, and at one time Aria wasn’t able to bathe him for a few weeks.
For months Aria had to go to her parents’ house in Rolleston to fill up containers of water so her family could cook and wash.
The tap water was potentially contaminated, so they couldn’t use it.
“It’s just made us realise how precious water is, especially with a new baby.”
The earthquake made Aria realise how “ill-equipped we are for natural disasters”.
She says it shows how dependent people are on power and water - the family had to use chemical toilets for four months.
Now Aria and her partner want to have their own water and power supply, and self-composting toilets.
“For us, we want to get more control of our lives.”
“We always had this idea of being sustainable and natural living. I guess [the quake experience] has reinforced that as an important way to go for my family.”
They are moving to rural New Plymouth soon where they hope to become self-sufficient in that way.
The family had always been planning to move there but Aria says the earthquake “has definitely hurried up the process”.
Even though Aria has always lived near Christchurch, growing up in Selwyn, she doesn’t think the family will move back. But she does like the city and has noticed some positives that have come of the earthquakes.
Aria says there are farmers' markets popping up everywhere as a safe place to shop, as well as inspiring community projects.
“Lots of really cool organisations have sprung up.”
She likes Gap Filler, an initiative which fills spaces left by earthquake destruction. They have put in book exchanges, market gardens, art installations, and even a piano at the end of Aria’s street.
“I think in a positive way it’s really sparked a lot of creativity.”
Catrina Hunter
The earthquake brought Catrina to tears, remembering how she had been crushed by her dresser in the September one. February 22 was her second day of university but she had no classes so she was at her boyfriend’s house relaxing. The power went out, but she was alright and went to check the house. The chimney was at a precarious lean so she and her boyfriend sat in the safest room of the house until the power came back on later that evening. All the time she was trying to get in touch with her brother and her parents who were scattered around the city. She eventually heard from all of them although it took five hours before she heard from her dad, a photographer.
When she realised university would not be continuing for a while Catrina, 22, made herself useful.
“I volunteered at the Red Cross doing the emergency forms data entry. Then when they started the emergency fund I was employed for that role.
“That was both an amazing and really hard job.”
Catrina kept working for Red Cross until university began again in March. But studying was a little different from before.
“Classes were amalgamated or cut so less were offered.
“We had classes in a tent for the first few months or online.”
By the time second semester came around things were “slightly more normal”, but there was limited access to the library and no access to the law library.
She managed to finish the arts part of her double degree in law and arts, and now has one year left of law.
This year Catrina wants to really focus and do well at university so she can finish her course and perhaps go travelling.
“I have a lot of drive to not leave without finishing my degree.”
But the Christchurch born-and-bred student does plan to leave.
“I love Christchurch, however I am not stubbornly staying here because I feel I must. I always wanted to take lots of opportunities and see what is out there and settle in the best possible place.”
She says she doesn’t think leaving means abandoning Christchurch.
“There are so many things you can do elsewhere that will benefit Christchurch. It’s about making sure people aren't simply giving up on it.”
The city has changed a lot for Catrina.
“My Christchurch was so small right after the earthquake. We didn't leave the flat very much.”
She says even now it is hard for young people to get around and there is not much entertainment.
“Christchurch is seen as really boring and there is little to do sometimes.”
If people want to eat out or go shopping, they have to pre-plan, she says.
“You can’t just go to town and stumble across somewhere.”
Catrina says the party scene is gradually coming back, but it takes effort to find suitable venues and encourage people to come.
She hopes Christchurch will be beautiful again one day, with gardens and nice buildings.
“Someone has to be creative and stand up to all the ugly and put money in and not just do what is easy, but what is best.”
3 News