Angela's Visit, Nelson, and News

Angela tramping in Abel Tasman NP

My sister Angela was the second family member and first Wallace to come to see us in New Zealand, but the visit almost did not get off the ground. First, she changed the dates of her visit due to a scheduling conflict with a meeting in New Jersey, then with the Sept. 4th Christchurch quake, her Organizers conference here was canceled. She managed to fly in anyway on Sunday, Sept. 12th and came up to Timaru two days later. I was able to rearrange my work schedule on short notice and got off Thursday night the 16th until the 22nd. My original plan was to head to the northern part of the South Island, but aftershocks continued and caused a slide across the main road. Next idea: head south, over the Southern Alps to the West Coast. But, the day of departure, the headlines read "Storm the size of Australia to bring snow, rain, and high winds to New Zealand" Not wanting to become snowbound and reenact "The Shining" or "Misery", it was back to Plan A.

Turns out, that was the right call, despite some 4.4 aftershocks in Christchurch. Highway One just south of Kaikoura had been closed due to a quake-related slide, but that was cleared the night before we passed through. We drove in and out of the rain, but were lucky to stop mostly during breaks in the weather. This was true in Kaikoura, a formerly sleepy seaside village with a dramatic backdrop of nearby 8,500' snow-capped peaks.

It is now a tourist mecca, known for nature cruises and seafood, especially very large crayfish (which we would call spiny lobsters). Colonies of sperm whales live in the bay, and the locals are so confident they will appear, they will refund your whale-watching cruise fee if you don't spot some. We didn't have time for a cruise then, but definitely I will return to do that. Given the iffy weather, we pushed on to Nelson, our goal for the night. Nelson has a reputation as home to retirees and counter-culture and artistic types, and mild weather. It is also the gateway to Abel Tasman National Park, a seaside wilderness area, and many peoples' favorite place.

I can't disagree.

We ended up spending three nights in a very luxurious suite in Nelson, allowing a full day to explore the city environs. We climbed Botanic Hill to the "Centre of New Zealand" (a dubious claim) for a lovely view.

Also worth visiting was the WOW (World of Wearable Art) & Classice Car Museum.

Angela and Fayne in a 2001 Plymouth Prowler

Couture Design by Smith featured at the WOW Museum in New Zealand

The area around Nelson is a rich agricultural area, growing apples, Kiwi fruit, citrus, and hops. We were able to participate in the extended, country-wide New Zealand Film Fest (our fourth venue) and saw "Exit Through the Gift Shop" [a "prankumentary" in my opinion (not my neologism, alas)], and the delightful "Babies". And of course there were many lovely beach scenes.

After Nelson, we headed south through Murchison and the Buller River Gorge and across Lewis Pass to the alpine village of Hanmer Springs. The weather this day was the worst of the trip, with steady driving rain and slushy snow over the pass. Fortunately, we didn't have to put on the chains, and we missed the heavy snow in the far south that caused roofs to collapse in Invercargill. Hanmer Springs is noted for the natural hot springs and baths, a bit like a tiny version of Calistoga. There is only one city-run hot springs, the water could have been hotter, it was under construction, and it was a bit more "family-oriented" than I expected.

(A little bit like this)

(but more like this)

The village surroundings could not have been more lovely, with beautiful pastoral walkways through the early spring woodlands.

From there it was back to Christchurch Tuesday night to see Angela off Wednesday the 22nd morning (one day before her **th birthday). Hopefully, her NZ visit was worth all the trouble. We were surprised to find many Christchurch hotels booked, teeming with people coming in to assess and appraise the damage, do repair work, residents displaced from their homes, and some Metallica fans in for there two concerts "to save Christchurch". As they say, it is an ill wind that blows no good. On the way home we saw some evidence of the quake damage.

A secured turret from the Great Hall at the Arts Centre

A severely damaged church near the epicenter

Now the news. I was originally contracted to work in Timaru through the end of October, but I am enjoying the work, the pay is good, they have a need and appreciation for my services here, and there is still a lot of NZ I want to see. That has led to a revision of our plans to work six months, travel for six months. I have committed to work here through March 1, 2011, and will be taking three weeks off over the holidays to come back home for granddaughter Kimarra's birthday and Christmas and New Years with family and friends. We plan to come to Fort Bragg late in December before returning to NZ. Post-NZ plans are less clear but I expect we will travel for a few months, and be back home no later than Sofia's BD June 20th. It is exciting but somewhat stressful having so many options from which to choose. (Did I hear someone say "boo frigging hoo!!"?)

Reflections on an Earthquake

The earthquake in nearby Christchurch made the international news, and a lot of our friends and family must have been a bit worried at first. Most of my blog followers have experienced earthquakes, and I know my musings are not unique.

vancouverite.com

 Fayne and I were both awaken about 4:30 am Saturday Sept 4th first by a sound-a low, deep rumble. Our house being no more than 0.5 km from the shore, the first thought was there was a strong wind coming in over the sea, but as it slowly grew in intensity, we quickly recognized it as a temblor. It lasted a long time, well over a minute. The room rather gently rolled, then gradually abated. Nothing in our sparsely furnished 100 year-old home fell or was damaged. We were alert, but not overtly frightened, ans felt no grave danger. There was a second strong after-shock about 20 minutes later, the first of many over the next few days (one just occurred as I am typing this). We were awake and alert. I got up to see if there was any news on NZ TV. There was none. We went back to bed. Being right across the street from the hospital, I could hear no sirens or traffic, and assumed there was no significant local destruction or injuries (only a few church steeples were damaged in Timaru).

When you have lived in earthquake country, there a lot of questions that cascade through your mind, such as:

1) Where was the epicenter? A small quake under your house is felt much more than a large one far away. In this case, the center was 20 miles west of Christchurch, about 120 miles from here, in Darfield, a small town on the TranzAlpine train route.

2) Was anyone hurt? You know you may just been on the border of a tremendous tragedy, or not. Miraculously, no one died in the quake. If it had occurred in daytime, almost certainly some would have.

3) Would there be bridges down, dams broken, fires, or a tsunami? There was some significant damage to old brick buildings, some were destroyed, and a few fires due to downed power lines, gas leaks, and broken water mains, but the emergency response was great. The Christchuch Hospital was back onto full power within a few hours. There were a few small rural bridges down, cracks in roads, but no tsunami warnings.

dailymail.co.uk

4) Are friends and loved ones safe?  Two families from there in particular have been most kind to us, as detailed in previous blogs. Michelle Dhanak and family and home were fine, and worried mostly about the water and sewage issues. David Cohen (Paula's brother) and family were safe, but unfortunately suffered more damage to their home and flooding and debris in the yard and neighborhood. Our thoughts are with them.

I believe what is so fundamentally upsetting about earthquakes is that throughout life, our ultimate point of reference is the solid ground beneath our feet. Numerous figures of speech reflect this: rock solid, mother earth, being grounded, have your feet on the ground, etc. With other natural dangers, be it wind, rain, flood, snow, or lightning, we can seek refuge on or in the ground. If you can't trust the earth, where can you be safe?

It is also not too comforting to listen to the experts. We always hear "but this wasn't the big one we are expecting". Also, it seems often the fault line is one not previously know. I think things are always a lot clearer in retrospect, analyzed after the quake. (Not too helpful). However, I don't think many people regret the seismic retrofitting done here or in the states. I am sure there would have been much more destruction of the historic stone buildings without it.

We are left thankful that most of these events are far less tragic than they could be, and aware that there are so many things in life over which we have no control. We can always build new buildings, as Helen, one of the secretaries here, reminded me. And we can take heart in they way most people respond and rise to a crisis and pull together.

It is unclear at this point how this will effect my sister Angela's plan to attend a conference in Christchurch next week. We shall see.

Also, we wish a very happy birthday to my mother Billie Hope, born on September 6th, 19**. We love you.

The Last Train To Greymouth

(and the first- just one daily)

One of the first things that caught my fancy about visiting New Zealand was reading about the train trip across the southern alps, the TranzAlpine Express (they love to make words and phrases incorporating NZ, pronounced "En Zed"). My resolve was set when I learned that Jonathan and Heidi Pace were now living in Greymouth, the western terminus. The Paces were in Fort Bragg for several years, and then set off wandering a bit before landing in Greymouth in 2005. He is a general surgeon and she is a therapist, and they are both happily settled now, with two sons currently living at home. We have been in touch via email, and we booked a trip the weekend of August 21st. We boarded the train just outside of Christchurch, in Rolleston, where the "station" is a bare track-side platform. It was cold and dreary at the onset, but as the train slowly climbed through the broad Canterbury plains to Arthur's Pass (elev. 737 m/2,417 ft) , clouds and sun began to appear. 

The building of the railroad must have been quite a feat, as the tracks wind through steep gorges, over four tall viaducts, and through 19 tunnels, with the Otira Tunnel an impressive 5.3 miles long. On the west side, we slowly descended by lovely lakes

Lake Brunner

following the Grey River down to the Tasman Sea to the town of Greymouth. Heidi Pace graciously met us at the station, we dropped our things off at the motel, and went to their home for coffee and a snack. Jon was on call for surgery, so we arranged to meet up with him later. Fayne and I had time to take a walk out on the pier at the edge of town.

Heidi suggested we go to a talk at a local gallery where a Kiwi author was discussing his new book on the Tasman Sea, which served as an introduction to our visit to the region. We finally met up with Jonathan at a local funky restaurant where there was an impromptu meeting of hospital people.
Sunday morning they showed us around the hospital and about town. He was making an effort to recruit us to come there, but the weather isn't the best, and the town suffers from periodic devastating floods, most recently in 1988. They finally built a tall flood wall ("the Great Wall of Greymouth"), but many of the old buildings did not survive over the years. Here is a look from the flood wall down a main street

and a look back up the river.

The Paces could not have been more hospitable, and overall we had a great visit.

Jon and Heidi in front of the station

On the trip back, I tried to be out on the viewing platform as much as possible to better enjoy the scenery and get some blog-worthy photos. Here are a few as we wound back through broad rivers, by snow-capped mountains, and over deep gorges.

Every place we have been in New Zealand seems more beautiful than the last. If only I can find a train trip with penguins on it.......Hmmmmm.