The Big Quake

January 2011! The start of a new diet and a whole new way of life.

I had been a homeschooling mum for many years, and this year my youngest was off to High School for the first time. I would have no children at home during the day for the first time in 22 years. Time to change my life.

I decided I would start an education programme of my own. I wanted to learn Latin, and brush up on my maths skills. I also decided to start a Great Books reading project. I wanted a puppy to walk for exercise. This was the start of my new life. Hubby and I had decided I would have a year of grace, a year to do as I wished, and then I would go back to work.

Son started at school on Feb 2nd 2011, hubby, a teacher, had started back the week before. I was on my own. I organised what we were going to eat for tea, and settled down to my own work. 2 hours later I needed a break, and went for a walk on the beach. This was great! I could get used to this way of life!

2 weeks passed, son was settling at school, I was getting into a routine at home, and best of all I was losing weight. The paleo diet obviously suited me. The reflux had gone, and I had more energy, and felt so much more alert.

I was lurking on various forums on the internet as well, and had discovered that dairy was a huge bone of contention in paleo circles. After reading and thinking it through I decided to keep dairy in my diet. The main reason was that I love a cup of Earl Grey tea with cream! This was my big treat of the day, actually many treats of the day...

I also loved not having to count things and to be able to snack if I felt hungry. I was eating quite a lot of food and still losing weight.

The 22nd of February was a Tuesday. It started early for us because hubby was off to camp with 30 ten year olds. They were not going far, just to the Banks Peninsula, where they were to camp until Friday. As we only have one car, a neighbour whose child was in the class, picked hubby up, and later I took son to school in our car. Hubby is a teacher at son's school. There was a funny little aftershock just as I dropped son off, but we were used to them by now. I went home.

The morning was routine. I actually had to go to town, and had intended to go in the morning, but I was feeling rather lazy, and decided I would go later, and combine it with picking son up from school. This decision may well have saved my life.

I had lunch at 12.30, some left over meat from the night before, with red and green peppers. It is funny what I remember and don't remember from that day. I had finished eating, and took my plate to the sink. I then turned to get ready to go out to town. I really didn't want to go, but there was stuff I needed to get. My mind was running through the route I would take, so as to end up at school, and I picked up my purse. My sunglasses were on the kitchen counter so I went to get them, and turned to walk to the back door of the house.

As I took a step another earthquake hit. I have lived through more than 10,000 earthquakes over the last 2 years, but none of them, even the other bad ones, felt like this. I was knocked off my feet, and my mind went blank. I had a overwhelming desire to get outside and I was trying to crawl to the backdoor. I think I make have shouted, I have no idea. Things were falling around me, hitting me, and above all the noise. The earth was literally screaming, being torn apart rock by rock, the house was shaking itself to bits and above it all I could hear people in the neighbourhood crying out.

I made it to the back door, and my neighbour C called out. "Are you OK?" I called back I was and she said to go out the front and meet up. As she said that another quake hit, and we both shouted out. Then we made it to the front street. People were coming out of their houses, crying and shaken. Another big aftershock hit.

"This is bad, this is bad, this is bad" I said to C. We turned to look towards the city and a cloud of dust was rising. Both my daughters, and C's daughter were in town.

I went to find my mobile phone, but it was an old fashioned one, and was in pieces on the floor. With trembling hands I tried to piece it back together. The rubber behind the numbers wouldn't go in and I couldn't get the glass to fit. As I finally got it back together a text came in from daughter 2.

"I'm OK."

I have never been so glad to see a text in my life, but it wasn't enough information. What about daughter 1? Why weren't they together?

I texted back, "I'm OK too, where is E? I am going to get J"

I was torn, do I go to town and get the girls? Do I go to school and get son? My plan was flawed but was the best I could manage. I would get son, and then we would, together, find the girls.

My daughter did not get my text for another hour. It would be 3 hours before I got another text. The system was overwhelmed, cellphone towers were down, and everybody in the city was trying to call everybody else.

The drive to school was awful, the radio in the car was giving details. The mayor came on, sounding calm. "We think it came from the Peninsula", he said, "but we don't know. We have lost contact with the Peninsula."

Lost contact! Hubby was on the Peninsula! And where was daughter 1?

The rest of this day is a nightmare blur. I made it to school, I drove through floods, Across planks leading up to broken bridges, along footpaths and through playing fields. It took almost 2 hours to drive the 15-20 minute journey, and I was lucky to be going against most of the traffic. I was going towards the city. People were leaving it. As I got closer the walkers started. Covered in dust, wet from liquefaction and floods, often bloodied, they walked down the streets, dazed and shocked. As I pulled into the school carpark a text came in. It was from a number I didn't recognise, but I opened it anyway,

"I'm OK. Its bad. E"

It was from daughter 1. She was alive.

Son met me,  "The girls, were the girls in the city?"

"Both alive" I said, "both alive."

Then the head teacher, and a number of parents saw me. "Have you heard from P and class 5?"
This meant they hadn't either. Nobody knew if the camp, my hubby and 30 ten year olds were fine or not.

Son and I set off home. During the journey a text came in from daughter 2.
"E with me, things are very bad. We are leaving the city. Will ring you later"

I texted back to ask were they were going but it took a number of attempts to send, and no answer came back.

Son and I had to abandon the car and finish our journey on foot. The whole time aftershock after aftershock had been rolling through.

We got home, and rang my parents in the UK. They were frantic...they had seen the news. I said we were all OK, but we still had not heard from hubby.

An hour later the phone rang. I don't understand phones...we had nothing, no power, no water, no sewage...actually that is not true...we had lots of sewage, it was just in the streets, not in the pipes....we had no services at all, and yet our old green telephone with the curly cable still worked!

It was hubby, "The girls! I have seen the city centre on the TV. How are the girls?"

"Alive, leaving the city"

He was OK, the camp kids were all fine, and they were staying there for the night. "I have just seen it," he said. He was at a house a mile or so up the valley from the camp. They had felt the quake, but being under canvas they were fine.

We were all alive, we were all OK. The girls rang later that night from a friend's farm north of Christchurch. Daughter 1 gave her story. She had been caught inside a building. Thankfully she was not alone. She, and the 3 people with her, showed such courage and resourcefulness, I am so very proud of her. She was however, trapped in the dark. She was shocked. I was so grateful she was out of the city and safe.

I am going to stop writing now. This has been cathartic to write, but I need a break. I shall write more later.