Jake's & girlfriend's Waltham Rd flat was flooded by a burst, capped well, flooding 2 feet deep. Nearby Honda chop shop's waste water, flat sewage, garden gunge, dog food, gnawed bones, churned clothes, linen, bedding, furniture made a sodden, stinking mess on their shitty, wall to wall carpets.
It was National state of Emergency time, martial law time. Memories of that moving day: liquifaction; people, machines digging quakemire; potholed, sinkholed roads; portaloos; clean ups of roads, bldgs; closed, abandoned, trashed, collapsed bldgs; roofs collapsed; walls ripped off, exposing rooms, jumbled contents; fallen garden walls; trapped cars; crushed cars; rubble; broken glass; views straight through broken bldgs; fence cordons; NZDF soldier & cop cordons around the CBD; shocked people, 1000 yard stares; drivers dodging road lumps, cracks.
25.02.11. Yellow & blue portaloos, Probation Service, Winston Ave, National State of Emergency. Overstocked portaloos, while Feb 22 Killer Quake stricken E suburbs went without. Civil Defence boss, Hamilton messed up distribution
Winston Ave: I wanted to withdraw money from Papanui National Bank, but the bank was closed due to safety checking. On the Community Probation Service glass door, a Dept of Corrections notice:
COMMUNITY PROBATION SERVICES
This service centre is closed due to earthquake damage.
Information for all offenders
If you haven't heard from us, we need to hear from you. Please call... as soon as possible to advise us of your current address and discuss your reporting.
Offenders for Electronic Monitoring
If you have had to relocate with or without your monitoring equipment call us immediately on...
Community Work
No one is required to report for community work this week (Feb 21-25). If you are serving community work it's likely we'll need your help soon. If you have not received a text from us, please call the number below to talk to one of our staff...
While the Dept of Corrections tried to control criminals, the rest of us were treated like criminals during the National State of Emergency: nightly curfew; increased NZDF, cop presence; NZDF, cop cordons; checkpoints; residents, business people needing passes to access their homes, businesses in the CBD cordon; CBD, suburban zonings; threat signs, like reduced speed limits, DANGER signs, no access signs; road restrictions; detours; military vehicles roaming, incl unimogs, LAVs, cop helicopter.
The Probation Service office had many portaloos, while quake trashed E suburbs needed portaloos, citizens crapping in their gardens. CD boss Hamilton, ex military, had messed portaloo distribution, signal for future bureaucratic bungling...
Harewood Rd / Main Nth Rd: An orange digger demolished the brick, ghost shops. At last!
25.02.11. Green stickered, closed Probation Service, Winston Ave, National State of Emergency
Quakemire: I drove past 1000s of tons of slimy, liquefaction mud, heaped on roadsides; collapsed wooden bldgs, unstable brick bldgs with gaping holes, brick walls peeled, exposing rooms; roofs collapsed. Gridlocked, lumpy, bumpy, cracked roads.
25.02.11. Dept of Corrections notice, Probation Service glass door, Winston Ave, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Closed WINZ office, Winston Ave, National State of Emergency
I picked up Jake & girlfriend from their Cranford St flat, a quake cracked garage, next to a liquefactioned house, quakemire mound in the garden. Post quake, their power, water, sewage connections were all off still. Our Burnside rental had power & water restored hours post Feb 22 Killer Quake, sewage connection OK, lucky suburb. Jake & girlfriend used our house for showering, clean up, storage.
As Bealey Ave, Avonside Dr & Fitzgerald Ave in the CBD cordon were cut off by the military, traffic funneled into London St past Leah's quake closed school into gridlocked Stanmore Rd, border between quake ravaged, Christchurch CBD & quake trashed E suburbs. I drove Stanmore Rd / London St gridlock 4 times that muddy move day, over quakemire on slippery, quake cracked, bumpy, potholed, sinkholed roads
I drove through London St / Stanmore Rd gridlock, stopped at a Stanmore Rd ATM for Jake to withdraw money to hire a trailer. Argonaut ghost, Stanmore Rd, had collapsed in the quake, close to more ghosts at Stanmore Rd / Worcester St crossing: brick facades ripped off, rooms exposed, rubble on pavements, road, steel mesh fence cordoned.
Worcester St: Two people died in Wicks Fish, when the old, brick wall of the $2 ghost shop next door collapsed onto Wicks Fish. The $2 shop was tarped, abandoned since the 04.09.10 Darfield Quake. I passed those shops daily when I drove Luke to Sullivan Ave tech.
Several cordoned, shop windows had hand-written, Office Closed signs. I'd seen similar signs all over Christchurch since the Sept 4 Darfield Quake:
Office CLOSED
until further notice
Please ring...
OFFICE CLOSED
Please ring
...
for assistance
Worcester St / Tancred St, Linwood: Jake's Under The Red Verandah restaurant, 2 storey, brick, wood & iron ghost: windows shattered, injuring some diners with flying glass, furniture jumbled, some tables still set, the ghost wire-mesh cordoned. Neighbouring brick ghost: 3 brick walls had collapsed while Jake had a coffee break outside. He'd yanked a hot water cylinder out of the rubble with his bare hands, enabling his work mates to escape uninjured during aftershocks.
25.02.11. Steel fence, steel mesh fence cordon. Shop damaged by the Sept 4 quake, trashed by the Feb 22 quake, Main North Rd, National State of Emergency. Shop would be demolished
Soon post quake, Mon 14.03.11, the restaurant would be demolished, a smaller, next door cottage would be quickly revamped, enabling staff to resume work asap. Jake's boss paid his wages during demolition & rebuild, as business interruption insurance enabled Jake to be paid. It wouldn't last.
25.02.11. Orange digger demolishing brick bldg, damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, fence cordoned for months, demolished post Feb 22 Killer Quake, Harewood Rd / Main North Rd, National State of Emergency
Linwood Ave: We couldn't hire a trailer at Linwood Shell garage, as it was closed, fence cordoned, due to post quake bldg inspection. (Several garages would stay closed, fence cordoned for months post Feb 22 Killer Quake). Driving past many quake damaged, old brick & wooden bldgs, I resolved to return after Jake's move to snap damages. We hired a trailer at a Ferry Rd garage.
25.02.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Brick bldg demolished post Feb 22 quake, Main North Rd, national state of emergency
The girlfriend's dad helped with his big van, so three vehicles were enough to make the move across quake ravaged town to St Albans. Leah meanwhile had tidied up the liquefactioned St Albans flat.
Leah spent the next couple of weeks, (while her school was closed awaiting post quake bldg inspection) soaking, disinfecting, washing Jake's & girlfriend's clothes & bedding. Before washing, we spread it on our wooden decking: sun, rain, wind cleansing too.
25.02.11. Steel fence, steel mesh fence cordon. Brick bldg demolished post Feb 22 quake, was cordoned for months post Sept 4 Darfield Quake damage, Main North Rd, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Snaps of ghosts I took that quakemired day, three days post quake, incl some suburbs on the fringe of the National State of Emergency CBD cordon: Waltham, Phillipstown, Linwood, Richmond, St Albans, Merivale, Papanui. As I rushed around town moving Jake's belongings, snap captions would summarize destruction details:
25.02.11. Oxley Ave: Car trapped in Feb 22 Killer Quake, quakemired sinkhole, National State of Emergency
25.02.11 Cranford St: Grey quakemire boil, fallen concrete brick, garden wall, quake bent, steel gutter pipe, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Cranford St: Feb 22 Killer Quake, quakemired driveway, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Cranford St: Feb 22 Killer Quake, quakemired house, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Cranford St: Feb 22 Killer Quake tilted garage, quakemired garden, National State of Emergency. Area smelt of leaking sewage
25.02.11. Cranford St: Red fire engine passing Feb 22 Killer Quake sinkhole in quakemired road, quake sinkhole in orange, plastic, road cone cordon, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Squire St: Feb 22 Killer Quake, quakemired, National State of Emergency, one of many liquefactioned Christchurch streets
25.02.11. Bealey Ave: NZDF soldier on CBD cordon duty, National State of Emergency. Face mask worn against quakemire dust, sewage spores, demolition dust
25.02.11. London St / Fitzgerald Ave / Bealey Ave: ROAD CLOSED. White, plastic tape, orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Olive LAV, 2 yellow, Hi-Vis jacketed cops, 1 NZDF soldier on CBD cordon duty, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Stanmore Rd: People dug a trapped car out of a quakemired sinkhole, National State of Emergency. Nearby houses & Holy Trinity Avonside Church were quake damaged too. When it rained thereafter the area flooded. Was that quake sunk, road section built over an underground stream, or spring?
25.02.11. Stanmore Rd / Hereford St: Fallen concrete brick wall, Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency. The wall would be rebuilt
25.02.11. Waltham Rd: 2 Asian men fetching Cronos tank water 3 days post Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency. Mod bldg behind would survive the quakes
25.02.11. Waltham Rd: Sept 4 Darfield Quake damaged, brick, Canterbury Mineral and Lapidary Club, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, fallen brick parapets, brick rubble on pavement & road, roof trusses exposed, National State of Emergency. The ghost would be demolished
25.02.11. Waltham Rd: Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Feb 22 Killer Quake damaged, Paintball multi-storey, brick walls cracked, fallen parapets, brick rubble on carpark, garden, pavement, road, steel gutter pipe bent, steel mesh fence cordoned, National State of Emergency
25.02.11. Waltham Rd: Steel mesh fence cordoned, wood & corrugated iron flat, flooded by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency. Concrete multi-storey, undamaged by the quake
25.02.11. Tancred St / Worcester St: Under The Red Verandah, 3 fallen brick walls, brick rubble on pavement, corrugated iron roof conked, National State of Emergency. Son Jake, outside bldg when it collapsed
25.02.11. Worcester St: WHITEWARE ghosts, Feb 22 Killer Quake fallen, brick parapet & chimney, broken glass window, brick rubble in garden & on pavement, red, plastic tape cordoned, National State of Emergency. WHITEWARE would be demolished
25.02.11. Worcester St / Stanmore Rd: NE cnr, red stickered, Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, 2 storey, ghost flat. Fallen brick side wall, brick rubble on pavement. Bathroom, passage, wooden staircase, 3 rooms exposed. Loose wooden floor. Roof, ceilings collapsed, exposing roof space. Steel fence cordoned. Flat would be demolished incl red, green, blue, neighbouring Whiteware shops. Rebuilt
25.02.11. Stanmore Rd / Worcester St crossing: NW cnr, old, 1-2 storey, brick ghost shops, damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency. Cracked brick walls, side brick walls fallen, brick parapets fallen, exposing roof spaces. 2 Storey, collapsed ceiling, roof, exposing roof space. 2 storey, brick facade fallen onto verandah causing awning collapse. Brick rubble on pavement. Rooms exposed. Smaller ghost shops, Visions, Chalet Hair Fashions, Marcel's Picnic, roofs wonky, exposed roof spaces. Awnings wonky. Glass windows broken. Brick rubble on pavement & road, steel mesh fence cordoned. Shops would be demolished
25.02.11. Stanmore Rd / Worcester St: SE cnr, Linwood Community ghost, damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake, 2 brick walls fallen, brick chimney loose, red corrugated iron roof conked, brick rubble in garden, steel mesh fence cordoned, National State of Emergency. Bldg would be restored
25.02.11. Tancred St: Fallen concrete air brick, garden wall, Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency.
25.02.11. Cashel St: Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, red stickered, red brick, 2 storey, ghost house, top brick wall fallen, roof part collapsed, trusses exposed, brick rubble on pavement, white plastic tape cordoned, National State of Emergency. House would soon be demolished
25.02.11. Cashel St / Olliviers Rd: Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, brick, Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church ghost, National State of Emergency. The Church would demolished
Typical quake damage to brick churches: bricks fell off walls, gables, roofs stayed supported by strong wooden arches, like Knox Church (would be restored) Bealey Ave; Chinese Methodist (would be demolished, rebuilt) Papanui Rd; St Athanasius Coptic (demolished) Edgeware Rd; Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist (would be demolished) Cashel St / Olliviers Rd.
25.02.11. Cashel St / Olliviers Rd: Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, brick, Samoan Independent Seventh Day Adventist Church ghost, fallen E brick wall, nave exposed; slate tiled roof OK supported by wooden arches; fallen W brick gable behind altar; nave, brick side walls, buttresses cracked, fallen bricks; brick transept walls cracked, fallen bricks; N transept, brick gable fallen, roof trusses exposed; brick rubble in garden; broken glass windows; fallen gutter pipes; POLICE EMERGENCY, white, plastic, tape cordoned; National State of Emergency. Church would be demolished. 2019, Weedy demolition site
25.02.11. Tuam St: Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed, The Pump House ghost. Roadside, fallen brick wall, brick rubble on pavement. Slate tiled roof collapsed. Red / white chevron plastic taped. Orange, plastic, road cone cordoned. National State of Emergency. The Pump House would be demolished
25.02.11. Ferry Rd: Feb 22 Killer Quake damaged, 2 storey, brick, ghost shops, with Laughing Ladies mural, National State of Emergency. Top storey boarded. Shops would be demolished, rebuilt. Laughing Ladies mural would be repainted on the rebuilt shop
25.02.11. Bealey Ave / Colombo St: Brick crushed, white car beside Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed Bealey Pharmacy ghost, National State of Emergency. Bealey Pharmacy would be demolished
25.02.11. Papanui Rd / Rugby St: Chinese Methodist Church Hall, brick ghost, damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by Feb 22 Killer Quake, National State of Emergency. Red corrugated iron roof intact, supported by wooden arches. S window & brick gable collapsed, exposing wooden roof arches. N brick gable collapsed. Brick rubble in asphalt carpark, steel mesh fence cordoned. Chinese Methodist Church Hall would soon be demolished
25.02.11. Papanui Rd / Rugby St: Serial quake trashed Chinese Methodist Church brick ghost, National State of Emergency. Black tiled rile roof intact. Nave & transept, brick gables, incl rose window, collapsed, exposing wooden arches, nave. Brick rubble in asphalt carpark & garden. Post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, the red tiled steeple roof had been removed by crane & placed in the front garden, secured by nylon straps. A wooden roof box had covered the tower stump. Post Feb 22 Killer Quake the steeple roof was still OK, but the tower's wooden, roof box hung loose. The trashed church was steel mesh fence cordoned, abandoned. The church would be demolished Jul-Aug 2013. Rebuilt 2014-15
25.02.11. Papanui Rd / Rugby St: N view, serial quake trashed, Chinese Methodist Church ghost & Hall ghost, fallen brick gables, National State of Emergency. Brick Church left, wooden roof arches exposed, nave exposed, steel mesh fence cordoned, abandoned. Hall right, wooden roof arches exposed, hall exposed, would soon be demolished. The church would be demolished Jul-Aug 2013. Rebuilt 2014-15
25.02.11. Papanui Rd / Heaton St: Concrete block "African Animals" wall had survived the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, but was trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. The wall would soon be demolished, National state of Emergency. Cheetah, rhinos murals gone
*Trekked Winston Ave, Main Nth Rd, Oxley Ave, Cranford St, Squire St, Bealey Ave, Stanmore Rd, Waltham Rd, Worcester St, Tancred St, Cashel St, Percy St, Tuam St, Ferry Rd, Mathesons Rd, Papanui Rd, Rugby St, Heaton St, Rossall St. 148 snaps.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
I know a lady who was in the Red Verandah cafe when the quake hit... think 6 or 8 of them dived under a large table she told me...possibly the one you've photographed in the front of the building.... she's doing ok.
ReplyDeleteGreat photos...thank you
Sandy
Pleasure Sandy. Glad the lady's alright. The restaurant reopened today, Tues 29.03.11, 5 weeks after the quake, in a revamped cottage next door as After The Red Verandah. Had lunch there, the place already buzzing, including rumbling by the digger next door removing the last of the rubble, felt like aftershocks still.
ReplyDeletehey Mark
ReplyDeletegreat pics
Could I please use some for a fundraiser in Rotorua - Music Stand for Christchurch
I have been down to ChCh twice in recent weeks but was too busy helping my son to go around taking pics
Any ideas about where $$$ can go to to help in Aranui area?
Cheers
Heather
Hi Heather,
ReplyDeleteGlad you like the pics. Use some with pleasure, hope the word gets out. Bit of a shlep getting them as you know, all that silt dust & walking.
Went into the CBD red zone this morning, St Asaph St area, opened for the first time to the public, devastated cnrs Manchester St & Colombo St, will upload pics in due course, very time consuming.
Yesterday I was in Aranui & Bexley, coolpixing & photographed the Aranui Seventh Day Adventist Church ad board, cnr Rowan Ave & Pages Rd. The church was quake cracked & tape cordoned, but their op shop was open & there was a tented quake info kiosk with water tank in the back yard, run by Christchurch council.
Perhaps the church may know how to dispense your $$$? Contact phone numbers from the Pages Rd ad board:
Church: 388 5846
Lay Minister: 980 740
Maybe they can advise about Aranui, as I know no one there. I liked the housing there, staunch people, getting on with sorting things out.
Regards & best, Mark.