The zone system which divided, strangled Christchurch CBD was military, riddled with NZDF cordon soldiers at checkpoints. Once the National State of Emergency was over, central & local govt bureaucrats would continue using military jargon in their divisions of quaked land (CBD & residential land) into various colour coded zones. CBD military checkpoints would continue for 28 months during CERA occupation of the CBD. My trek that day would be through outer CBD ghostland, past church ghosts, house ghosts, hotel ghosts, business ghosts.
Feb 22 quake trashed Carlton Hotel, Papanui Rd / Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. Before demolition, Carlton Hotel was used as a backdrop for One News
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, demolished Carlton Hotel, Papanui Rd / Bealey Ave, national state of emergency. An office block & Burger King would be rebuilt on site
Bealey Ave / Victoria St junction: Sept 4 Darfield Quake damaged, Feb 22 Killer Quake holed Knox Church was cleared of pavement rubble, but still steel mesh fence cordoned. Zone 4, NZDF soldiers' fence cordon gone. Across Victoria St, Saggio di vino demolition site was empty, as were other adjoining demolition sites post Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Feb 22 Killer Quake. Ghostland.
Sept 4 Darfield Quake damaged, Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed Knox Church, rubble removed, Bealey Ave / Victoria St, zone 4, National State of Emergency. Knox Church would be empty, dilapidated for 3 years, then restored with copper wall cladding, 2014.
Dublin St cop & NZDF soldier cordon was gone. For the last 6 weeks, Park Tce by Avon River was cordon guarded by cops & NZDF soldiers, occasionally flaunting a parked, olive LAV.
Bealey Ave / Park Tce: NZDF soldiers' makeshift blue tarp hut was gone, but the cnr was still cordoned by 10 concrete blocks & orange, plastic road cones, controlling sparse traffic on the pre-quake busy road. When I trekked Park Tce, there were few cars, some pedestrians & joggers. Pre quakes bustling, zone 4 was post quake spooky. Empty.
During my trekking through zone 4 & some of zone 1, I saw demolition signs on steel mesh cordon fences & USAR / TF spray-painted graffiti on pavements & Strategy ghost with a threat sign on its steel mesh fence cordon: EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT. During 7 months of quakes so far, it was the first of many EXTREME DANGER threat signs I would see, especially on demolition sites & construction sites. What was the difference between DANGER & EXTREME DANGER in quakes? Although we'd already survived 1000s of quakes with many DANGER threat signs in Christchurch & Canterbury towns affected by quakes, authorities now decided because lives were lost in the Feb 22 Killer Quake we were in EXTREME DANGER!
There was EXTREME DANGER in allowing Wellington bureaucrats & their new CERA dept to control Christchurch rebuild & recovery for the next 5 years! PM Key & CERA minister Brownlee decreed the National State of Emergency & Christchurch military occupation, usurping Council functions, concocting ad hoc rules. A post CERA cockup, 2022: After CERA's demolition of AMI stadium ghost, mayor Dalziel's Council would dither about building a new stadium, which CERA had Blueprinted between Madras St & Barbadoes St: Building cost blowouts, total cost, over half a billion NZ dollars, Keys's & Brownlee's CERA legacy for future ratepayers!
Christchurch was in shit, Feb 22 Killer Quake damage to the sewage system. Chemical toilets & portaloos were common. Jake, after being quake flooded out of his Waltham Rd flat, flatted in a Cranford St liquefactioned garage with a stinking chemical toilet, which he emptied into a roadside, plastic sewage tank. BEWARE SPLASHBACK warned the tank sign.
Post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, sewage experts had warned about quake damage to Christchurch underground sewage pipes. The Feb 22 Killer Quake proved them right. E suburb residents who'd been told by Christchurch Council their plastic wrapped shit would be collected from their red, roadside rubbish bins found that didn't last long. They had to dispose of their own shit, with Council rubbish trucks scrambling to comply. I'd snapped a Council sign on a plastic water tank, near Leah's London St school, which recommended such shit disposal.
Liquefaction silt danger was obvious: the Council notice on the water tank at London St, stated gloves, gumboots & mask should be worn, hands washed afterwards, when dealing with silt. A medical doctor misinformed in The Press that silt wasn't a health problem. Shit from broken sewage pipes, mixed with quakemire during the Feb 22 Killer Quake, was shoved above ground in flood water. On Feb 22 quake afternoon, I'd waded through liquid shit in Westminster St, Madras St & London St, calf high in places. When silt dried, fecal bacteria formed spores, easily inhaled. For a month post Feb 22 Killer Quake, I had a nose skin infection.
Having endured apartheid SA's lengthy States of Emergencies, I was leery of NZ's National State of Emergency & dictatorial CERA powers. (There was also a short State of Emergency post 04.09.10 Darfield Quake). CERA would cause squabbles between Wellington bureaucrats & Christchurch Council. Over the next 5 years, there would be a disconnect between CERA & Council, CERA meddling in Council affairs.
7 months post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, 7 weeks post Feb 22 Killer Quake, Christchurch CBD was cordon strangled, demolitions proceeding, insurers whinging with slow payouts. Insurers would continue slow payouts, repairs, rebuilds for years. EQC was so dysfunctional, insurers had excuses galore, blaming EQC for slow payouts, rebuilds.
Eight months post Feb 22 Killer Quake, the CBD red zone would still be strangled with NZDF soldiers at checkpoints. Citizens were still banned from the ghost CBD. More demolitions were done. Insurers were still whinging. Recovery?
Ditto 16 months post Feb 22 Killer Quake. Squabbles amongst CERA, Council, EQC, insurers. Property owners buggered by the lot. CERA: dept of delays & doublespeak, especially regarding house zoning & the housing crisis.
Ditto more than 2 years post 22.02.11 Killer Quake. Doublespeak continued regarding the rebuild. CERA allowed access to many outsiders, like contractors, into the red zone, but citizens were banned cordon entry.
At zone 4 crossings, NZDF soldiers were in the red zone, steel mesh fence cordon by their blue tarp huts. Some soldiers were seated, most wandered about their cordon patch, looking alert.
Notes I made in zone 4 & my exit via bits of zone 1 by CD HQ / Art Gallery & Montreal St in zone 3, which I'd trekked weeks before:
14.04.11. Orange, plastic, fence cordon. Grey portaloo. Feb 22 quake damaged, brick, garden wall, Bealey Ave / Park Tce, zone 4, national state of emergency
Bealey Ave / Park Tce: Brick, garden wall damaged, orange plastic fence cordoned. Grey portaloo. Few cars, more pedestrians, cyclists & joggers by Avon River. NZDF soldiers' cordon checkpoint & blue tarp hut gone.
14.04.11. DANGER. White, plastic, tape cordon. Feb 22 quake collapsed, brick garden wall, Park Tce, zone 4, national state of emergency. Sept 4 Darfield Quake damaged, Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed Knox Church beyond
Brick, garden wall collapsed, fallen brick rubble in white, plastic, DANGER taped driveway. View through brick arch to trashed Knox Church beyond. Next door house, boarded windows. Yellow spray-painted on pavement: NZRT 12
4 - 3
Clear
Clear meant no bodies.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake collapsed, concrete brick, garden wall, Dorset St, zone 4, national state of emergency. CLEAR meant no bodies
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, UNSTABLE WALL, Dorset St, zone 4, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, concrete block & iron braced, concrete wall, Dorset St, zone 4, national state of emergency
Dorset St to Victoria St: Concrete garden wall collapsed. Fallen concrete bricks on garden steps & pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. UNSTABLE WALL, yellow spray-painted on another concrete brick wall. Concrete end wall of bldg next to Spags: concrete block & steel braced.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged Indian Food, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency. Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Knox Church beyond, Victoria St / Bealey Ave
Victoria St: Indian Food closed, cracked concrete, foundation slab. Quakemired carpark view to Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Feb 22 Killer Quake trashed Knox Church, Victoria St / Bealey Ave.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 2 quake, Procope closed until further notice, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency
Procope cordon fence sign:
PROCOPE
COFFEE HOUSE
We are currently
CLOSED
We'd love to be open and
welcome back all our customers.
However we and our neighbours
@ 167 Victoria St need to make
some repairs first.
Look for updates on Facebook @
'Procope Coffee House.'
We look forward to seeing you all
again soon!
Jason and the Procope Team.
Procope would survive the quakes.
Victoria St: Quiet, ghostly, few cars, more pedestrians. Many businesses closed, just before 9:00. Lots of USAR / TF graffiti, yellow spray-painted on pavements & bldgs. Example on pavement outside closed Minifies: NZTF 2
1/3/11
Clear
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, USAR / TF graffiti on pavement, Minifies, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency. CLEAR meant no bodies
Canterbury College of Natural Medicine & Clinic, wood braced, concrete garden wall.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, wood braced, concrete, garden wall, Canterbury College of Natural Medicine, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency
The niche coffee shop, tiles fallen off first storey, concrete block, side wall. Two young EQC blokes, in Hi-Vis vests, wandered Victoria St with clipboards.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake fallen wall tiles, The niche, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency
2 storey, Caxton Press, weedy demolition site post Sept 4 Darfield Quake, part demolition. Exposed staircase & ceiling. Doors & first storey window boarded.
14.04.11. Sept 4 quake demolition site, Caxton Press, Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency
Victoria St / Salisbury St / Montreal St crossing: All cnr bldgs quake damaged. ROAD CLOSED. EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT threat signs on steel mesh fence cordons by 4 storey, Strategy ghost. Blue crane by quake warped Strategy. Yellow skip inside fence cordon. Workmen on roof chucked loose roofing down. Strategy was damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by Feb 22 Killer Quake: fallen upper storey wall, 2 exposed rooms, windows smashed. Tangled, aluminium blinds, first storey windows.
Behind a fence cordon, a blue digger & a yellow digger laid shingle on Salisbury St by Strategy. Opp Strategy, across Salisbury St, NZDF soldiers lurked by their blue tarp hut, behind their red zone, steel mesh fence cordon on a Sept 4 Darfield Quake demolition site. Another digger stood by brick rubble on the demolition site.
14.04.11. Blue crane by Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Strategy bldg (soon demolished) Montreal St / Salisbury St, zone 4, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Blue digger & yellow digger laying shingle on Feb 22 quake damaged Salisbury St, zone 4, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, red zone cordon, NZDF soldiers by their blue tarp hut, Montreal St / Victoria St / Salisbury St crossing, zone 4, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Strategy bldg (soon demolished) Montreal St / Salisbury St, zone 4, national state of emergency
Opp Strategy, 4 storey, cnr ghost, glass facade, windows smashed, glass on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. The bldg would be demolished.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon, traffic obstruction. Feb 22 quake glass on pavement, Salisbury St / Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency. The bldg would be demolished
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged bldg, windows smashed, Salisbury St / Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency. The bldg would be demolished
Opp cnr, wooden Ironside House, boarded door, scaffolded back wall. DANGER DO NOT ENTER threat sign & yellow sticker on boarded gate. A sewage stink wafted from the garden excavation. Ironside House would be repaired & about 10 years post quakes, Spags pizza cafe, estab 1978, would relocate from its Victoria St, quaked premises to repaired Ironside House. Pre & post quakes we enjoyed Spags pizzas. And 1978 was the year we married in Durban North, RSA.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged, Ironside House, Salisbury St / Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency. Ironside House would be post quake repaired as a posh restaurant
Victoria St / Montreal St / Salisbury St crossing: Quake damaged, Jubilee Clock Tower, base & finial repairs proceeding, steel mesh fence cordoned. 6 blue shipping containers cordoned potential collapse, Montreal St. Behind clock tower, old, brick, Victoria Mansions ghost, wall Feb 22 Killer Quake cracked. Orange portaloo next to containers. Rest of Victoria St & Salisbury St in the CBD red zone was steel mesh fence cordoned, NZDF soldiers checkpointing.
14.04.11. Shipping container, steel mesh fence cordon. Orange portaloo. Feb 22 quake damaged, Jubilee Clock Tower, Montreal St / Victoria St, zone 4, national state of emergency. Jubilee Clock Tower & abandoned Victoria Mansions behind survived the quakes
In the CBD red zone, behind a NZDF soldiered, red zone, steel mesh fence cordon, a printed sign: REBUILD, BRICK BY BRICK! Dumb, considering casualties by flying bricks in the Feb 22 Killer Quake.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, red zone cordon, NZDF soldiers, Victoria St / Montreal St, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged, abandoned, Victoria Mansions, Victoria St / Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency. Victoria Mansions would survive the quakes
14.04.11. Shipping containers, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged Victoria Mansions, Jubilee Clock Tower & Strategy bldg, Montreal St / Victoria St / Salisbury St crossing, zone 4, national state of emergency. Strategy bldg would be demolished. Jubilee Clock Tower & Victoria Mansions would survive the quakes
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Montreal St / Peterborough St view, Feb 22 quake damaged bldgs: The Peterborough, Victoria Mansions, Jubilee Clock Tower, Strategy bldg, zone 4, national state of emergency. Strategy bldg would be demolished. The other bldgs would survive the quakes
Montreal St: Open to sparse, one-way traffic, veering past steel mesh fence cordons & orange, plastic, road cones. Carpark view of Victoria St, 4 storey hotel ghost in the red zone, back windows smashed. Next door demolition site, yellow digger & rubble heap. The hotel would soon be demolished.
14.04.11. Montreal St view, Feb 22 quake trashed back of a Victoria St hotel (soon demolished) red zone, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Shipping container, steel mesh fence cordon. Montreal St view, Feb 22 quake, Peterborough St demolition of bldg by a yellow digger. Red zone cordon with yellow, Hi-Vis vested, NZDF soldier, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, Montreal St view, Peterborough St demolition, suits & NZDF soldiers' blue tarp hut, red zone, national state of emergency
Montreal St / Peterborough St: Yellow, Hi-Vis vested, NZDF soldiers at another blue tarp hut behind red zone, steel mesh fence cordon & orange, plastic, road cones. The yellow digger demolished a bldg in Peterborough St.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Jogger & Feb 22 quake damaged arch, The Peterborough, Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake damaged, red stickered, The Peterborough, Peterborough St / Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency. C spray-painted on door meant Clear, no bodies. The Peterborough would survive the quakes
Opp cnr, The Peterborough. Red stickered front door. Old, greystone facade, fallen gable stones on front steps, steel mesh fence cordoned. Orange plastic road cones. Broken stone arch at back of bldg.
Montreal St / Kilmore St: Greystone, 2 storey, Cranmer Court ghost, damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by Feb 22 Killer Quake. NW side of bldg, fallen greystone gables, fallen greystone, N wall, boarded. Broken windows. Fallen windows, curtains hanging outside. Roof, grey tarped by a W gable. Collapsed Octagon turrets, gabled roof & stone rubble on pavement. Fallen greystone, W & S walls, W wall boarded, 2 attics & roof spaces exposed. Facing Cranmer Sq, S side, fallen gable stones, 1 attic exposed, broken windows, rubble on pavement. Bldg steel mesh fence cordoned, a mess. Yellow crane roadside, inside cordon. Kilmore St, red zone, steel mesh fence cordoned, another NZDF soldier hut, unoccupied. Cranmer Court would be temporary repaired over many months, but would be demolished after 2012 protests. 2023. Cranmer Terraces would be built on site.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow crane by Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Cranmer Court, Montreal St / Kilmore St, zone 4, national state of emergency. After protests, Cranmer Court would be demolished in 2012
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Cranmer Court, Kilmore St / Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency. After protests, Cranmer Court would be demolished in 2012
Opp cnr, red stickered, Chateau Blanc Suites looked OK on the outside, but was damaged inside. Chateau Blanc Suites would be part demolished post 23.12.11 Xmas Quake Swarm. The rest of the bldg would be restored, reopened as 5 star Montreal Hotel, Oct 2014.
Chateau Blanc Suites' door: white label on top of a red sticker dated 26.2.11 showed double checking by NZ Response Teams:
RT3 & RT2
All units cleared
28/2/11
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake damaged, Chateau Blanc Suites, red stickered, Kilmore St / Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency. Chateau Blanc Suites would be part demolished post 23.12.11 quake swarm. The rest of the bldg would be restored & reopened as 5 star Montreal Hotel in Oct 2014
Cranmer Sq: Old stone, garden wall collapsed. Cranmer Sq grass, quakemired below London plane trees.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake collapsed, old stone, garden wall, Cranmer Sq, zone 4, national state of emergency
Cranmer Sq / Chester St West: Two yellow, Hi-Vis vested, NZDF soldiers, blue tarp hut, steel mesh fence cordon. Down Chester St West, Durham St Methodist Church had collapsed in the 22.02.11 Killer Quake, killing 3 people. The church would be demolished, eventually rebuilt, office like, with a truncated tower.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, red zone cordon, NZDF checkpoint, blue tarp hut & soldiers, Cranmer Sq / Chester St West, zone 4, national state of emergency. The house would be demolished
Cranmer Sq: Fallen greystone garden wall, stone rubble in garden. Fallen brick, garden wall, brick rubble on pavement, steel fence, orange, plastic, road cone, white, plastic tape cordoned. 2 storey ghost house, walls cracked. USAR / TF & NZRT graffiti on yellow, RESTRICTED, plastic taped, garden wall. Queensland USAR / TF was double checked by NZRT:
NG NO NG
NZRT 18 [In yellow square] QLD TF1
17/3/11 2345
[In yellow square] 27/2
[In red square inside a red circle. Big
yellow cross over the red graffiti]
Local & international, Urban Search & Rescue / Task Force & NZ Response Team double checking of quake trashed bldgs was seen all over Christchurch, shown by spray-painted graffiti on walls, doors windows, pavements. The house would be demolished.
14.04.11. Yellow, plastic, tape cordon. Feb 22 quake, USAR / TF graffiti, 2 storey house, Cranmer Sq, zone 4, national state of emergency. The house would be demolished
14.04.11. Steel fence, orange, plastic, road cone cordon. Feb 22 quake collapsed, brick, garden wall, Cranmer Sq, zone 4, national state of emergency
Crossing Armagh St to Montreal St, I left zone 4 & entered zone 1.
Cranmer Sq / Montreal St: Two orange diggers part demolished old, brick, 2 storey, Cranmer Centre ghost, damaged by the Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Fallen brick gables, exposed roof spaces, fallen upper brick walls, brick rubble in garden & on pavement, steel mesh fence cordoned. 2 gables, 4 upper lancet windows, wood braced. Fallen S brick wall, boarded, 1 room exposed. Roof, grey tarped. One digger loaded metal onto a truck. Another digger heaped dusty rubble at the back of Cranmer Centre.
Workman on Cranmer Centre roof chucked roof rubbish down. Demolition threat sign on cordon fence: QUAKE REPAIRS KEEP OUT. I didn't stay long, fearing asbestos dust. Cars drove one-way N along Montreal St past Cranmer Sq to Kilmore St. Cranmer Centre would soon be completely demolished.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Yellow crane by Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Cranmer Centre, Armagh St / Montreal St, zone 1, national state of emergency. Cranmer Centre would be demolished
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Cop car passing Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Cranmer Centre demolition, Montreal St / Armagh St, zone 1, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, WMD, 2 orange diggers demolishing Cranmer Centre, Montreal St, zone 1, national state of emergency
Montreal St: Opp Cranmer Centre: 2 storey, old, brick, Windsor Hotel ghost, damaged by Sept 4 Darfield Quake, trashed by Feb 22 Killer Quake. Windsor Hotel, top storey, fallen bricks on scaffold & carpark, damaged roof tiles, exposed roof space, blue tarped. Windsor Hotel would be demolished. New concrete bldg construction next door survived the Feb 22 Killer Quake.
14.04.11. Sept 4 quake damaged, Feb 22 quake trashed Windsor Hotel, Armagh St / Montreal St, zone 1, national state of emergency. Windsor Hotel would be demolished
Montreal St / Gloucester St: CD HQ / Art Gallery, glass facade OK, checked by workman in orange crane box, steel mesh fence, orange, plastic, road cone cordoned. High rise behind, broken windows, one boarded. The Art Gallery would be closed 2013-2015 for repairs.
14.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake Civil Defence HQ / Art Gallery, Montreal St, zone 1, national state of emergency. The Art Gallery would be closed 2013-2015 for repairs
Gloucester St: Opp RSA, 2 storey, Allan Dingwall House, boarded, USAR / TF pink graffitied.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake boarded Allan Dingwall House, Gloucester St, zone 1, national state of emergency
14.04.11. RSA memorial Howitzer, Gloucester St, zone 1, national state of emergency
Gloucester St / Durham St Nth: ROAD CLOSED. Two NZDF soldiers check-pointed cars into red zone Gloucester St, steel mesh fence, orange, plastic, road cone, white plastic tape cordoned. Soldiers had a new wooden hut, improvement on a makeshift blue tarp hut. Across Avon River, Oxford Tce, ghost Brannigans glass fronted facade was damaged by the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Brannigans would be demolished post 23.12.11 Xmas Quake swarm. Next door, 2 storey, brick, Caffe Roma, fallen brick parapet, brick rubble on pavement, white, plastic tape cordoned. Caffe Roma would survive the quakes, after vagrants had doss house messed it. Nearby brick heritage, Our City ghost, scaffolded, would be closed for years, awaiting 2021 restoration.
14.04.11. Gloucester St view across Avon River to Sept 4 & Feb 22 quakes scaffolded, Our City, red zone, Oxford Tce, national state of emergency. Our City would survive the quakes, but was abandoned for years, awaiting restoration, 2021
14.04.11. Red zone, NZDF soldier check-pointing a car, Gloucester St / Cambridge Tce, national state of emergency
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, NZDF soldiers' blue tarp hut & quake damaged Brannigans, red zone, Gloucester St / Oxford Tce, national state of emergency. Brannigans would be demolished post 23.12.11 quake swarm
14.04.11. ROAD CLOSED. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake, red zone cordon, NZDF soldiers' hut, Gloucester St / Cambridge Tce, national state of emergency. Backdrop, quake damaged Brannigans, would be demolished post 23.12.11 quake swarm
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence, white, plastic, tape cordon. Gloucester St Bridge, red zone cordon view, Feb 22 quake damaged, Caffé Roma right, Oxford Tce, national state of emergency. Caffe Roma, only bldg in the pic to survive the 2010-11 quakes
Diag opp cnr: URS House ghost, cnr wall panels Feb 22 Killer Quake fallen. Red stickered glass door. URS House would be demolished, replaced by multi-storey offices, Awly Bldg, opened 2016.
14.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake felled wall panels off URS House, zone 1, Gloucester St / Durham St Nth, national state of emergency. Quake trashed, Provincial Chambers right would be mothballed for years for restoration
14.04.11. Orange, plastic, road cones, steel mesh fence cordon. Feb 22 quake trashed Provincial Chambers, Durham St Nth / Gloucester St, zone 1, national state of emergency. Provincial Chambers would be mothballed for years for restoration
Circled back from Zone 1 to zone 4, Cranmer Sq via Feb 22 Killer Quake collapsed, greystone Provincial Chambers ghost, Durham St Nth & quakemired, red zone cordoned Armagh St / Durham St Nth crossing, which I'd snapped on another zone 1 cordon trek.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, USAR / TF graffiti on glass door, Armagh St, zone 1, national state of emergency
Montreal St back to Bealey Ave: EQC man in yellow, Hi-Vis vest inspected a house. Considering NZ's low wage economy, EQC inspectors' dubious inspections done post Sept 4 Darfield Quake & Boxing Day Quake & the many deaths in already inspected bldgs during the Feb 22 Killer Quake, EQC inspectors' $100 / hour pay was rotten. Given complaints from homeowners about poor EQC inspections, EQC inspectors were daylight robbers. In comparison, Leah's salary, $20 / hour as a specialist teacher, resolving individual learning difficulties, was peanuts.
14.04.11. Feb 22 quake, yellow, Hi-Vis vested, EQC bldg inspector, Montreal St, zone 4, national state of emergency
Papanui Rd / Merivale Ln: Old, 2 storey, ghost house, red stickered, BUILD FIRST GET A HEAD START renovation sign, roof tiles gone, trusses & roof space exposed, brick walls cracked, ceiling collapsed into front room, rubble & rubbish in white, plastic taped, steel mesh fence cordoned garden. The house would be demolished. Six shipping container shops would develop on site.
14.04.11. Steel mesh fence cordon. Quake trashed house, Merivale Ln / Papanui Rd, national state of emergency. The house would be demolished. Six shipping container shops would be erected on site
That night Leah told me that as Manchester St Red Light area was red zoned closed, whores & other quake evacuees had moved to Rangiora, booming with new rentals. As most citizens were banned from Christchurch cordoned CBD, red zone, some whores just moved their beats up Manchester St closer to Bealey Ave. Two years later, street whores would be a nuisance polluting Manchester St beyond Bealey Ave.
Sat, 16.04.11. I drove down Colombo St, Sydenham, after the military cordon had opened. Many of the ghosts I'd snapped post Sept 4 Darfield Quake were demolished, wastelands along Colombo St, Sydenham.
With Leah that drizzly afternoon, I did the same zone 4 / zone 1, ghostland trek. Leah was distressed, shocked at so much CBD quake damage. NZDF soldiers were alert, friendly at checkpoints. There were many Sat afternoon rubberneckers with cameras, parents with kids too. I didn't snap for a change. We saw & grieved.
Traffic jammed along Montreal St, Sat afternoon drivers rubbernecking. The Victoria St hotel was demolished in the red zone cordon near Jubilee Clock Tower. Demolition continued on EXTREME DANGER Strategy, Montreal St / Salisbury St. Few businesses were open, most closed.
Trekked along Park Tce, still deserted with orange, plastic, road cones along the way, a portaloo at Armagh St cnr. Five star, The George Hotel solicited trade with a sign on nearby Armagh St Bridge over the Avon, together with BOTANIC GARDENS OPEN signs. That showed how bad the CBD needed business recovery.
Rolleston Ave: Several Porta-classrooms in Christ's College courtyard. Stone gable, roof slate damages behind. One staunch Jap tourist bus was parked by steel mesh fence cordoned Canterbury Museum, Jap tourists looking for quake pics. No other tourists seen.
Trekked Worcester Blvd for the first time since the Feb 22 Killer Quake. Saw boarded, fence cordoned Arts Centre, clock tower cracked below a clock face, steel & concrete block braced clock tower. Few businesses open, most closed.
NZDF soldiers, gawpers at Worcester St Bridge cordon: Oxford Tce, Our City, old, brick bldg, metal braced. White facade of opp Clarendon Tower, cracked. Clarendon Tower would be demolished. Slow demolition of high rises like Clarendon Tower would delay reopening of the CBD, due to dangerous drop zones.
Sir Robert Falcon Scott statue, gone. Christ Church Cathedral, tower gone.
Cambridge Tce: Trekked wet autumn leaves beside Avon River, saw red zone ghosts across the river: Oxford Tce restaurants were battered, most high rises looked OK externally. Internal damages unknown?
NZDF soldiers' wooden hut, Hereford St Bridge cordon: Bridge wing walls, cracked. Battered bldgs down Hereford St in red zone. Opp Central Police multi-storey, old brick Library Chambers ghost, fallen Oamaru whitestones on fence cordoned pavement. Library Chambers would soon be demolished.
Bridge of Remembrance over Avon River: Steps & bridge cracked, steel mesh fence cordon across middle. Cashel Mall messed, rubble pile in middle of mall.
5.49pm, M5.3 quake while I typed. Depth 11km, 10 km NE of Diamond Harbour. (GeoNet). Shook my pc monitor, nearly spilt my tea. Lyttelton power cut. Redcliffs rock fall.
Mon, 18.04.11. After Saturday's M5.3 aftershock, The Press reported Strategy demolition, Victoria St / Salisbury St, front page news, confirmed little business happening in Victoria St, yet.
*Trekked Bealey Ave, Park Tce, Dorset St, Victoria St, Montreal St, Kilmore St, Cranmer Sq, Gloucester St, Armagh St, Papanui Rd. 105 snaps.
Facebook:
EXTREME DANGER: Many people viewing Christchurch CBD ghost town. Little business open. M5.3 aftershock, 5:49pm near Diamond Harbour. Lyttelton power cut. Redcliffs rock fall. 17 April 2:58am.
@Averil. Hopefully will quieten soon. Every time we think it's over, another aftershock. Workmen meanwhile trying to "make safe" as much as possible: demolitions, roads, power, sewage, housing. Many NZDF soldiers still guarding CBD cordons. 17 April 9:03am.
@Janet, Andrew. Read a letter to The Press, speculation that Chch & Alpine Fault are moving. Maybe we're in for more? [True]. 20 April 9:06am.
[Supportive comments from South Africans].
@Maggie. Quakes stopping? Anyone's guess. Experts are scrambling to explain. 21 April 11:33am.
Content & pics Copyright Mark JS Esslemont.
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