Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon: Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
TRANSCRIPT OF PROGRAMME:
Days after the city of Christchurch was devastated by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, This Way Up's presenter Simon: Morton traverses the city using the Avon River as his route. Travelling on a bicycle from the source of the Avon in the West to Heathcote Estuary in the East, where the Avon meets the Pacific, everyone has a story to tell.
TRANSCRIPT OF PROGRAMME:
MUSIC
Simon:
I am on my push-bike six days after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck Christchurch at 12.51 at a depth of 5 kilometres and the epicenter was some 10k south east of the central business district. And the reason I am at Avonhead is that I am looking for the source of the Avon River, because today I am going to take a trip. I have got my bicycle here, and I am going to try and work my way from the western part of Christchurch to the eastern estuary where the Avon meets the Pacific Ocean, so my first task is to find the source of the Avon River.
MUSIC
Woman:
When we bought the house, we were told that basically this was head of the Avon River – just underneath there, and as I say, first there was – you can come right up – but when the earthquake happened there was a whole lot of liquefaction along here and basically the water’s come out. See, there is no water.
Simon:
No, it’s not even running is it.
Woman:
No it’s stopped.
Simon:
It’s gone dry.
Woman:
So basically when it came there was a whole lot of silt and there was a trickle down here, but now it is completely dry.
Simon:
And were you affected here by the earthquake?
Woman:
We had the same devastation inside with everything falling out of the drawers, cupboards. And our chimney cracked. It survived everything else except for that last one. But we can clean that up. But structurally we are fine. But, I mean it’s like a city of two halves. You have got the north-west area and then you have got total devastation across town. So it’s just surreal really. But there are no birds. Where have all the birds gone? We used to be woken up every morning with the birds as soon as it was light. There is just… You can feel the silence.
2:26 Simon:
It is isn’t it? We are in quite dense bush here as well. I mean there is a road there. But we have lots of natives with pittosporum around and stuff. And there are no birds.
Woman:
No, it’s silent. And we were always woken up in the mornings at light. It is our alarm clock. And there are no birds. No crickets chirping. Nothing.
Radio New Zealand Broken River
3
MUSIC
Simon:
Well, I am in Ilam Park now. And on the right the Avon is running. It’s got a bit more water in it now. I am probably about two kilometres away now from the head of the Avon in Avonhead.
Woman 2:
Well, we were pretty lucky to live just over in Waimairi Rd, and we were fine actually. I was standing at the bench making a cup of tea and I just poured the hot water into the sink so I could just hang on to the bench and a few things slid around, but we were really quite good. I mean it is so terrible for everyone else. But I walked down to have a look at the source of the Avon which is just coming round the back of Ilam Place there and it was just white. It was like white clay.
MUSIC
Simon:
Where are we here?
Man:
Carlton Mill.
Simon:
And this is the Avon River here?
Man:
This is the Avon, yes.
Simon:
And has your property been affected?
Man:
No, no. Not at all. We have been very, very lucky.
Simon:
Because we are not far from the CBD here, are we? We are probably about a k and a half?
Man:
At the most. Yes, I mean you can just about see it over there.
3:58 Simon:
It is very quiet. There are not many people around.
Man:
No, no you are quite right. It is quiet. Except for a few lorries going by.
Simon:
And you are not feeling too shaken yourself?
Man:
No, not really. No, I have had enough. I don’t want any more. And my wife is all right. Because we are both eighty. So, this isn’t very good for eighty-year olds.
Simon:
Well, the sound there of a house being demolished.
MUSIC
Simon:
I am at Hagley Park North which is where the Avon River meets Bealey Ave and Harper Ave and then there is Park Terrace which runs south into the city. There’s policemen. Road cones. I am starting to feel like I am definitely in some sort of disaster zone.
MUSIC
So on the eastern side now of Hagley Park and this is where the Ellerslie Garden Show is planned. There is a huge marquee set up, but there is no-one around. It is spookily quiet. I look east into the city. The other side of the Avon here is all cordoned off, so basically most of – I think all of – the houses have probably been evacuated, and there is no-one walking in the streets, apart from the odd policeman and the odd person wearing a hard hat.
MUSIC
Dentist
My business is here – just down the road here a little bit. I am a dental surgeon and we have come in to see if we can get some access to patient records, and it’s not very far away but unfortunately they won’t let us in, and so we’re going to walk out again now.
Simon:
And the access to the dental records? Is that because people have made requests?
Radio New Zealand Broken River
5
Dentist
No, they haven’t made requests yet. But there is a chance that there is one or two that may be required. But, I guess they will get in contact with us if they need us. But, we will see.
Simon:
And all of your staff and patients were safe when the earthquake struck?
6:23 Dentist
Yes, they were luckily. Yes, no, we were all safe and sound. And the families are all safe and sound so we were pretty lucky in that respect. But I think I might be taking early retirement.
Simon:
Oh, really. That is something now you are considering?
Dentist
Well, you have to consider that, don’t you? Because I’m sixty-odd years old and it is going to be hard to start up a business again.
Simon:
And it sounds like that’s going to be the story for thousands of businesses.
Dentist
Small businesses. I think that will be one of our biggest problems now that we have our staff that are not going to be paid.
Simon:
And you work in the practice do you?
Dental Practice Manager:
Yes, I work in the practice too.
Simon:
Right. And so when you say they are not going to be paid – that is because the business is not operating.
Dentist
The business is not operating.
Simon:
Doesn’t the insurance kick in though and take over those payments?
Dentist
It depends on how well insured you are.
Simon:
And do you know how well insured you are?
Dentist
No, not particularly.
Simon:
Right. Yeah, I guess—
Dentist
Not particularly well insured.
7:25 Simon:
And what, sorry, what do you do with the practice?
Dental Practice Manager:
I am the manager of the practice.
Simon:
Right. So, I mean, how are you going to live day-to-day?
Dental Practice Manager:
Not too sure yet.
Simon:
So really at this stage you do not know how you are going to pay for—
Dental Practice Manager:
My mortgage next week.
Simon:
Right.
MUSIC
Simon:
Good day, good day. Can I have a quick word with you guys? Are you locals?
Local Man:
Yeah.
Simon:
I’m just from Radio New Zealand. I’m following the Avon through to Heathcote. Are you in checking out a business today?
Local Man:
No, we live up in Chester Street West.
Simon:
Oh okay. That’s right near Radio New Zealand House.
Local Man:
Yeah. Opposite side of the road.
Simon:
So, you guys have had to move out?
8:05 Local Man:
Yeah. We have got no power. Got no water. We’ve got three kids. Our youngest was born four days before the earthquake.
Simon:
Gosh. Have you got help, assistance?
Local Woman:
Yeah. We’re out at Prebbleton at my parents’ place.
Local Man:
Yeah, we have got all of our three kids safe. I was in Centennial Pool with my daughter when it happened and there were tidal waves going through the pool and there I just held her in the middle of the pool and we got out and made our way back home. We had to go past the Pyne Gould Building at the time and we just sort of kept on going.
The Pyne Gould Building
Simon:
So you were in Centennial Pool. That’s a pretty large pool, isn’t it?
Local Man:
That’s right. It was in my daughter’s swimming lesson. She’s fourteen months old and there was six foot waves coming through there from all four directions at the time, so the best I could do was just ride them out and hope we stayed above the waves. My main concern was that the roof would come down and that we would be trapped under the water. But that didn’t happen and so luckily we are here.
MUSIC
Simon:
Right. I am now opposite the Arts Centre proper and there is a series of large trucks being moved in here that are no doubt going to be carrying things out. And the cordon now. I am seeing military vehicles. I am seeing more and more police and quite a few men in fatigues. Good day, good day.
Soldier
How you doing?
Simon:
Good. I’m just from Radio New Zealand actually. I am trying to follow the Avon from around here. Round through to the Heathcote. Round to the Valley.
Soldier
You won’t be able to do that through there.
Simon:
Round to the estuary.
9:50 Soldier
Yeah, you are going to have to go all the way round to the other side.
Simon:
So I will just work round the cordon.
SIREN
Simon:
Good day mate. I am just trying to get east. Can I go through here or is it part of the cordon still?
Policeman
Yeah, this is all part of the cordon mate.
Simon:
So I will just carry on down here.
Policeman
What you want to do is go Moorhouse Avenue and up to Montreal. That is the outer checkpoint for everyone.
Voice on intercom
Yeah, we are on the corner of Colombo Street and Peterborough Street. They have just told me it sounds to them as if a building has come down to the north-west of our location it would seem. Roger.
Simon:
So it is mainly service people coming in here isn’t it?
Policeman
That’s all it’s for.
Simon:
That’s all it’s for?
Policeman
At the moment business owners aren’t allowed back in. And home-owners, unless they are drilled and have extenuating reasons such as medication or something really serious we are not letting them back in. That’s the instructions that we are under.
Simon:
So I am going to carry on the journey now. This is the main access point into the cordon and it is just absolutely solid. There is a mix of both Australian and New Zealand police and also New Zealand army and Singaporean army, and there is a constant flow of what looks to be service vehicles. People in high viz vests. Everyone from steel-workers, engineers. So it is now 11.53. I am on Moorhouse Ave and I am going to start to head east.
MUSIC
Simon:
Good day. Good day. You’re pushing a trolley.
Woman:
Oh, you gave me a fright. Yes.
Simon:
How are you? I’m Simon: from Radio New Zealand.
11:17 Woman:
Oh, right. How are you?
Simon:
How have you fared? Are you all right?
Woman:
Well, my place is pretty smashed up. But it is still standing. Nothing else is, but the flat is still standing.
Man:
How are you bud, all right?
Woman:
Yeah. How are you? Are you all right?
Man:
Oh, no, I’m pissed off mate. I’ve lost every bloody thing.
Woman:
Yeah, did you?
Man:
I’m out at the Addington Show Grounds at the moment. I shoveled about six tons of bloody mud last three days, mate.
Woman:
It’s not on, eh.
Man:
I was outside the Cathedral when it collapsed.
Woman:
Were you? Oh, God. Bugger that. I was in my flat. That was scary enough.
Man:
Yeah.
Woman:
It just rocked. Because I’m upstairs. I’ve only got garages under me so it is not really stable. So it was pretty shaky.
Man:
I’ll tell you what. This one scared the shit out of me. We are all in the camping ground. I’ve got splits all around my walls and I’m sleeping out on the bench outside. I’m not going inside.
12:10 Woman:
Don’t blame you.
Man:
Too bloody scared, mate. Every bloody little shake and I’m going like that.
Woman:
Yeah, mine shakes. Even with the trucks because I’m on Nursery Road and that road the traffic’s just non-stop.
Man:
Sorry buddy.
Woman:
Yeah, just non-stop where I am with the traffic at the moment.
Man:
Yeah. It’s good to see you are all right.
Woman:
Yeah eh. Good to see you’re re good too.
BIRD CALL
Simon:
So I have gone past the main CBD now, and I’m still on Moorhouse Ave heading East. I’m going past Hoyts and it would be one of the few times when you have to go onto a forecourt of a car yard and not have somebody come out and say good day.
MUSIC
Simon:
I’m not sure if you can hear, but the city is so, so quiet. I am on Fitzgerald Ave which would normally be buzzing at this time of day. It is lunch-time and listen… there is no-one about.
Woman:
I know. I know. Most of our neighbours have disappeared.
Simon:
And at this time. I mean, it is, what, just past one o’clock on a Monday and this would be just a stream of cars, wouldn’t it?
Woman:
Yes. It’s actually quite lovely having a nice quiet street for a change. We can go and visit the river any time. Well, we can go and visit the open sewer anytime, I should say.
13:36 Simon:
How are you guys coping? Are you all right?
Boys:
Yes.
Simon:
I mean, has it been fun, or is it more sort of a scary thing.
Boys:
Mmmm. It’s okay. In between.
Simon:
Were you guys at school when the earthquake hit?
Boy:
Yeah. We had just finished reading in my class. We were going down to the mat. I practically fell under my desk.
Simon:
Did you know what was happening?
Boy:
Oh, yes. And I was lucky because my birthday was after the quake and I didn’t get any… and I didn’t feel any after-shocks on my birthday.
Simon:
Oh well, that’s a good birthday present isn’t it.
Boy:
Yep.
Simon:
Did you get good presents?
Boy:
Oh yes.
Simon:
What did you get?
Boy:
My sister gave me an ultimate omni tricks Benten thing. And it came with a swamp fire thing that you put on.
Simon:
Swamp fire?
Boy:
Yeah
Simon:
Wow.
Boy:
And then my Mum gave me a goop.
Simon:
Goop?
14:29 Boy:
Yeah. Action figure, and it came with a glass thing, so I just have two. And the goop was like “gardy gardy gah, goop”. And then “swamp fire – pooh, what’s that smell.” It’s really funny.
MUSIC
Simon:
Right. I am turning off onto Avonside Drive here, and the damage here is just mind blowing. There are driveways lifted up fifty centimetres, seventy centimetres. There are steps in them. There is a wall here completely tumbled down. This looks to be a school of some form
Nurse 1:
We are nurses, but we have been sent home to make muffins for the rest home people down here at St James Rest home.
Nurse 2:
They have no oven facilities, no power, no water, no nothing. So we are going home to bake.
Nurse 1:
So we have just been to the supermarket. Walking to get the stuff to go home and make these muffins for them.
Simon:
So you are all armed up with flour and sugar and a few nice treats.
Nurse 1:
No sugar. They have all run out.
Nurse 2:
But we have got sugar at home.
Nurse 1:
So we have to use our stuff. And, you know, some of our staff are round there helping them out now.
Simon:
Oh well. Good on you guys out here helping out. Good luck with the muffins. What sort of flavor of muffins are you going to do? Blueberry?
Nurse 2:
Yeah.
Simon:
Chocolate? Any chocolate available.
Nurse 2:
Just blueberry today.
Simon:
Just blueberries.
Nurse 2:
Chocolate maybe tomorrow.
Alistair:
I’m Alistair:.
Simon:
Alistair:, how are you?
Good
16:05 Simon:
And you look as if you have got a bit of sweat on the brow there mate.
Alistair:
Just a little bit, yeah.
Simon:
And what are you doing here.
Alistair:
We have just been going round finding people with liquefaction and helping them clear it out. Yeah, it is just, you know, that we have been so fortunate that we are in the north-west and thought we would pop over here with the team from the youth group and help out yeah.
Most of these guys are students so their schools are closed. The other guys, they can’t get to work or whatever so they are all just helping out and pitching in.
Simon:
Well, I am on my bike here and I have to be so careful. Because some of these cracks are two metres deep now. This is some of the most severe, and I’m going to take some photos of this, so if you are keen to see what I’m seeing, drop in and have a look because these are—I’m going to go and put my bike in one of these cracks just so you can actually see scale-wise how deep it is.
Simon:’s bike in one of the cracks in the road
MUSIC
Simon:
It’s half-two now and pretty hot out here I must say. A nor’west sort of Canterbury day. The thing that strikes me about where I am at the moment which I think is still in Avonside technically. The houses come right down to the edge of the river, separated by a road that has been badly, badly destroyed in places and uprooted and uplifted and bent and twisted in the most unusual shapes and forms. But the thing that really strikes me is there is no-one about. It is becoming quite hard now to find people to talk to. And I am looking in driveways. There’s no cars. I am just assuming people have run off here. I’m starting to see quite a few of the yellow stickers, the yellow labels that were put on homes telling people that they should probably evacuate.
A CAR PASSES
The nor’west has been warming all of this silt and it is now becoming very air borne, so that every time a car goes past there is a huge plume of these fine particles of silt which become air borne and being on a push-bike going the other way, they’re a pain, because not only do they affect your eyes, but they get in your nose and in your mouth. You can taste the—that silt gets everywhere.
MUSIC
I am looking down Prestwick Street and there are four machines, four diggers moving this grey silt, and I have got to say, this is probably the worst affected area that I have seen so far. The piles of the silt are ten to fifteen foot. Say, three to four metres tall. And this road is totally, totally destroyed. There are guys working in driveways. I can’t believe it. I cannot believe what I am seeing. I can’t quite believe what my eyes are telling me.
Local Man:
It’s pretty stuffed eh?
Simon:
Do you live down that road?
Local Man:
Yeah, down the other end.
Simon:
There is just so much silt, isn’t there?
Local Man:
Yeah, it’s crazy eh. It’s nuts. Some of the guys over here have a foot in their house. It’s terrible.
Simon:
In the house.
Man:
Yeah.
Simon:
How’s your place?
Man:
Oh, it’s (UNCLEAR) round the house. It’s got it under the floorboards, but it’s about this far off from under the house and the floorboards.
Simon:
So it’s popped up under the piles and sort of filled all the space?
Local Man:
Yeah, all under the house is filled up. It just hasn’t come through the floorboards, thank God.
20:14 MUSIC
Elaine:
I’m Elaine:, and I live in Avonside Drive.
Simon:
I can’t believe—I mean I have gone from further down the river from these massive cracks to these huge, huge mounds of liquefaction. And well, just look at the garden here. Look at this. There are little volcanoes. Well I mean they are not so little really actually, but they are everywhere.
Elaine:
They certainly are.
Simon:
And have you had yours removed?
Elaine:
No. It’s out on the side on the grass.
Simon:
Who did that?
Elaine:
My son, and my husband and lots of friends. So we were lucky.
Simon:
So, people have come to help.
Elaine:
Yeah, they certainly have. The tremendous response. People popping in with food. People you don’t know—popping in with food and meats and everything. It has certainly pulled the city together once again.
Simon:
And for you, this earthquake was a lot different to the one in September?
Elaine:
Oh, definitely, definitely. A lot worse. And, of course, all the people dead. That makes it a so much worse, doesn’t it?
Simon:
Where were you when it happened?
Elaine:
I was in the Regent Theatre in town. We were just paying to go inn to see ‘The King’s Speech’ and it started. But I think some of the people that were in there before us, they copped it, I think. So we were lucky. Very lucky.
Simon:
Are you staying busy though. Are you getting out?
Elaine:
Oh yes. Yeah. Although it is a hassle to get out. I mean somewhere where it probably took you quarter-of-an-hour to twenty minutes to get to, well it takes you an hour now.
21:46 MUSIC
Simon:
There is something odd about seeing things that you are conditioned to believe are solid, will always be there as we journey through life. You get your ups and downs and things change. You fall in and out of love. Get married. People come and go. People are born. People die. It is a constant sort of river of change. And yet things like pavements, curbsides, roads, buildings, they are meant to be solid. They are the constants in our lives. And what I have seen today, I have seen things fissured. I have seen them broken, shattered, crushed, the wrong way up. Things that aren’t meant to move.
Woman:
Well, I live in that house and we have a detachable garage now. It’s on an angle. My husband said it was like forty mil this way and ninety mil up that way. Well, we are living in it. We are quite happy today - we got a rental - a port-a-loo in the park. So we don’t have to do it in the bloody ground. So that is like a million dollars. Got no power, got no water, got no telephone, but the area—the people in here – like yesterday there was um—I wondered what these people were watching down the street. And I looked down here and it was like an army of university students. There was like five hundred of them all walking down here and they were just going into people’s property. Just digging out all that liquefaction. It was just—We were quite teary. I’m a bit emotional now. But no, it’s—compared to what we have right now, this I like two hundred percent better than what we had three days ago.
Simon:
And you have got some bread here for the ducks?
Woman:
Yes, somebody has to keep them happy. They have been very quiet you know. As soon as that earthquake is, there is no noise. I have two birds in a cage – rainbow lorikeets – and they talk every day, but from that earthquake until Saturday they never said a word. I went out there and talked to them, and they normally talk back to me, but no, there was just nothing. And then on Saturday afternoon I went out there and I says ‘Hello Roddy’ and she turned around, and said ‘Well, piss off then.’ Oh well, she’s back to normal.
MUSIC
Simon:
Well, it’s nearly 5.00 p.m. and I have been travelling since 7.00 this morning. I’m starting to feel a bit weary.
MUSIC
Biker:
I’m not too sure where I am to be honest. I think we are in Upper Brighton. I have just been biking home from Mt. Pleasant.
Simon:
Are you living in Mt. Pleasant?
Biker:
Yeah, yeah.
Simon:
And that’s been pretty badly hit, hasn’t it?
Biker:
My street has been pretty much been evacuated and most of the access routes up the hill are very seriously damaged if not complete write-offs.
25:09 Simon:
So, have you had to evacuate, get out of the house, or are you still living in your home?
Biker:
I am out. There’s a couple of houses behind me that could possibly fall down onto mine. So everyone on the street is just trying to work out where to go. Most people are around here—a lot of people are. And some of them are determined to come back, but they are waiting to have stickers put on their houses so they know whether it’s a situation where they are actually able to come back, or whether the house is completely unstable and it’s just way too risky. And we’re hoping that will happen tomorrow but we don’t know.
Simon:
It’s that unknown I guess that is so destabilising isn’t it, for a lot of people, because we are used to being sort of managed by councils and governments and told—and when a natural disaster comes along like this and you say ‘hold on, who’s in charge?’
Biker:
Yeah. Well, what I have seen – the upside of what I have seen – is that most places you go there are people out working fixing things and trying to get things looking back, as normal as possible as they can. Otherwise, when you are travelling round you know all your familiar sights have become unfamiliar and it’s quite horrifying for people who have grown up knowing an area for it to suddenly look so disastrous really so it’s tough, tough times.
Simon:
So, where are you heading now? Are you trying to get through to Mt Pleasant or are you on your way back to town?
Biker:
I’m just heading back to Burwood, but I’m pretty stuffed actually because I’m not used to biking around so much. The good side of biking is that you can get to places quicker, but the downside is that you get the dust and trucks.
Simon:
Yeah, I’ve got to say I’m feeling that I’ve got a mouthful of dust I’ve been on the go since seven this morning. It’s been a long road actually but I’m not far from the sea now I don’t think. How far have I got to go ‘til I get to the estuary?
Biker:
Probably about two ks - a k and-a half.
Simon:
A k from the estuary. Oh good. I will be looking forward to getting there.
Biker:
But you know, it’s saddening to go past all these houses that were once— (He breaks off, weeping suddenly)
Simon:
It’s a tough time for a lot of people, I have got to say. You’re not the only one I’ve been speaking to and their eyes have just welled up with tears, mate. It’s a tough one.
Biker:
Yeah, it is tough.
Simon:
You look after yourself, eh.
MUSIC
Simon:
Well, you can probably hear the steamroller next to me. There’s a chap here and they are working pretty much non-stop on repairing this road. I’m stood on a bridge on Bridge Street that connects with the city to New Brighton. It’s one of the main links and it’s shut at the moment. And this is the end of my journey. I look out west and I can see all of the suburbs – Redcliffs, Ferrymead. I can see a little bit of Sumner and some of the most badly affected areas structurally. A lot of unknowns out there.
This is the end of the line. It has been fifteen kilometres. It started at seven o’clock this morning. And it’s been quite a journey. And I guess my overall feeling is that this community is rebuilding. People are, apart from the men and women that are wearing the hard hats that are repairing the cables and the pipes and the roads and the infrastructure, and the builders working on the land and the students and the groups lifting all of the silt.
The community is also building on another level. People are talking. People are so happy to see me. People wanted to share their stories. Everyone here seems to want to rebuild but there is still so much that is unknown. People don’t know about their homes. Thousands of people don’t know whether their homes are habitable. Thousands of people don’t know if their children will go to school, or when they will go to school. Thousands of people don’t know about their jobs. They don’t know if their businesses are going to be open. They don’t know about their future.
So there are still a lot of questions to be answered. And I don’t have any answers to those questions, but I do have a sense that Christchurch will be rebuilt. And I guess the only challenge that lies ahead of me is to get my bum back on the saddle and peddle some twelve kilometres or ten kilometres back into town.
MUSIC
ENDS