Friday comes and I fly down to Christchurch. It had been sleeting and was freezing cold. I was told that as I was coming in after hours the motor camp would leave the key and a map out for me so my hubby made sure I took a wee torch with me so I could find my way around. When I did get to the camping ground the lady had waited for me and while I was checking in she mentioned that 3 other walkers were across from me. So the first thing I did was throw my bag into my wee cabin and then rock over to see who it was. Turns out it was Terry and her husband and another walker, john. So I stayed and chatted to them until 10pm and then headed to bed for a good nights sleep. Or so I thought.
4.35am and I am awoken as I am thrown from my bed. I hit the floor wrapped up in my sleeping bag...everything around me was shaking and rolling. I tried to stand up and get to the door way but it knocked me over again and so I crawled to the toilet door way. The doors were swinging back and forth and slamming against the wall. There was a huge crack and smashing sound (ended up being the toilet cracking) The noise was deafening...the jolting suddenly got faster and harder, so I clung to the door frame. Finally it stopped. It was a 7.1 earth quake. It felt like it went on for a good minute maybe two. I instantly flicked the lights on and they didn't work. Then I remembered my wee torch so I felt around and found it. I grabbed my cell phone but the camping ground is in a dead zone and had zero coverage so I couldn't call anyone. I opened up the slider door and stood semi outside and semi inside. Not really knowing what to do.....I could hear people calling out for help and dogs were barking manically. Car alarms were going off and people were slowly surfacing. About 10 mins passed and then another shake and with that I up and raced out the door and over to the unit with my friends. So we all sat like frightened possums until day break. There were many many after shocks...many were 4.5 and 5.1 on the reciter scale. We had a little radio and we listened to reports coming in off collapsed buildings all through the city and roads ripped up and huge holes appearing. It all seemed surreal to us.
We got dressed and decided to head to the race (not realizing it was canceled) as we left the camp ground we came face to face with the damage. The road had huge ripples in it (some pointed up half a metre) There was no way the event could be run as you couldnt drive to it nor could you walk or run on it.
We talked to many people and learned of their experiences and then at 11am with no water or power we decided to try and find some food and drink. All of Christchurch had no power or water. Water mains had burst all through the city and sewage pipes had also burst so people were asked to not flush toilets etc. We heard on the radio that the air port was still closed and that power had been restored to New Brighton. We drove carefully to New Brighton and found a cafe that was making coffee with what little water they had left. Much needed food and coffee. Just about every house we passed had damage in some shape or form...either flooded, filled with silt or cracks. Most chimneys had fallen in or off houses. The city was shut and locked down so we ended up heading to the air port where we were able to finally enter and sort out our flights.
The event was canceled and yes I am hugely disappointed about that, but I am unhurt and when I look at the photos on line I can hardly believe that I was a part of it and came out ok.
here are my photos - taken from my cell phone 1) this was the walk course
2) this was a small part of damage to the road
3)This is looking over the running course to where the walk would have turned.
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