I have been recovering. I didn't realize I was so bushed. All I seem to want to eat is yoghurt and the 5 hour time change from Lombok to New Zealand has been more difficult than I anticipated. It takes 6 hours to fly from Indonesia on account of how absolutely large Australia is. It is about the same distance as from Vancouver to eastern Ontario according to my fingers which are not all that accurate really. I was curious about this city which is on the top of the south island as I heard it was like our Nelson in British Columbia. To some extent I would have to say that this is true. It is an artistic type of a community with older buildings but has a lot more light and the surrounding area is relatively low. It is also on
the ocean rather than a lake. There is a jazz festival and a film festival going on here this week, a perfect antidote for what I have just come through and I enthusiastically settled into it despite the decrepid hostel I find myself in, a decaying mansion located conveniently close to everything. Nelson recently experienced drastic flooding from intense rain and homes have slipped down slopes as a result. I read in this mornings paper that 180 homes have been condemned. As 10,000 people have relocated here from Christchurch due to the quakes it must be quite worrisome for some. I have been curious about the earthquakes in Christchurch. In this mornings paper I read that "More than 9,500 shakes have hit Canterbury since the 7.1 magnitude quake in September 4, 2010," (The Press, Christchurch, January 6, 2012). The subject of rebuilding peppers the papers and everytime I read one it is a hot topic. Yesterday the band that you see the picture of here were joking about luiquifaction. I didn't really clearly understand that word until I saw a film here at the festival called "When A City Falls" about Christchurch. My God. Mud and water oozed up from the ground after the quakes creating an enormous mess and it is ongoing. Almost 200 people died mostly from being trapped in buildings. Their great cathedrals were severely damaged. It was clear to me in watching people descibe their heart break over who they lost and how, that the understated British reserve thrives here and emotions are kept in check even although it is appallingly difficult. I was reading in the local paper yesterday about a politician in Christchurch responding to a blog that said it was best to avoid the place as it is still dangerous. He refuted this and said Christchurch is on the rebuild and the "glass is half full". I thought to myself, firstly this blog you are reading is private, not published, so I want to feel free to speak my mind and not see a rebuttal in a paper, but secondly, Christchurch cannot in good conscience encourage tourism because the quakes are ongoing. It isn't a one-off. The paper here in Nelson had a graph on the front page of multitudinous quakes that had occurred the night before last. The area does not seem to be settling down - and it seems to me, lovely as this city is, to live in it would require nerves of steel. I plan to visit but for one night only. Apparently the downtown core is cordoned off. My next moves are just clarifying now. I am going to Paparoa National Park tomorrow to help a lady out there who is running a kayak and canoe business. The area is lovely and I am hoping it will go well.