Thursday 16 September 2010. Darfield Quake. Day 13. Riccarton Shaken

Thursday 16 September 2010. Darfield Quake. Day 13. Riccarton focus. State-of-Emergency was over. I'd seen enough damaged & demolished buildings to last a lifetime. I'd seen enough repairs & demolitions which quickly changed some areas of Christchurch. Some areas were slower in demolitions & repairs.

An overcast, cold morning, when I drove to Church Corner, Riccarton Rd / Yaldhurst Rd fork, to coolpix damaged St Peter's Church, the oldest Anglican Church in Christchurch. When we'd arrived in Christchurch 15 years before, we'd stayed our first weekend at Riccarton Campsite opposite St Peter's Anglican Church.

The church was cordoned with red, yellow, plastic, DANGER tapes. East transept-gable toppled, church doors yellow-stickered. Archbishop Victoria Matthews wandered past giving me a refulgent smile. She would soon be maligned by Heritage hailers.

Church door-sign:

     Dangerous.

Blocks and bricks 
         loose

Nobody to go into the 
    church without 
  permission of the 
         vicar.

Another door sign:

Wedding in Parish Hall.

Sunday Services also in 
     the Parish Hall.

       All welcome.

A good place to end my quake-trekking (wishful thinking) an Anglican church in Christchurch. But Facebook dialogue would continue, as would 3 years of aftershocks & more quake-trekking.


16.09.10. Yellow, plastic, tape cordon, CIVIL DEFENCE. Quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Red, plastic, tape cordon. Quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Red, plastic, tape cordoned, DANGER. Quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Yellow stickered, red, plastic, tape cordoned, St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Gargoyles, quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10.  Red, plastic, tape cordoned, yellow stickered door, quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Red, plastic, tape cordoned door, quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch


16.09.10. Church notices on door, quake damaged St Peter's Anglican Church, Riccarton Rd, Christchurch

*Trekked Riccarton Rd, Church Corner. 8 snaps.

I would stop snapping a while, as I was exhausted. Over 13 quake days, I'd trekked 90 streets, some several times. I needed to write blog-posts, edit & upload snaps on my Woza Wanderer blog & Facebook. Little did I know that in the next couple of years I would trek more than 300 streets taking quake-snaps.

Facebook:

Today I drove down Moorhouse Ave for the first time since the quake: couple of old brick-buildings roofs-damaged. Containers lined the road before the old brick-station clock-tower, just in case... Looked at demolitions, clean-ups on Riccarton Rd & St Peters Anglican Church: gable damages, unstable stone-walls, gargoyles did well. 16 September 11.20am.

Yesterday Luke & tech builder-mates minibus-toured Lyttelton with their tutor who lived there. Discussion on damages to retaining-walls, as Lyttelton is built on steep Port Hills slopes. Two days post-quake, Luke & his builder-boss repaired a chimney on a Manchester St  house. 16 September 1.37pm.

State-of-Emergency over yesterday, Wednesday. A cop & two NZDF soldiers sat in a car observing while I took photos of road & garden damages near Locksley Ave by Avon River. Glad troops have left Christchurch streets!16 Sept 2.28pm.

Facebook friends worried that Christchurch looked like a war-zone & queried looting.

Coda.

St Peters would be damaged again in the 22 February 2011 quake. The church would be closed, scaffolded for years. After a rebuild, St Peters would reopen 10 years after that quake on Sunday 28 February 2021.

Content & pics Mark JS Esslemont.