This is what happens when you ask too long to stop writing about your August holiday in Christchurch - a massive earthquake hits the city, bringing about damage, destruction and devastation and thus requiring you do a rewrite. Man, what a hassle, etc.
I came to Christchurch on the TranzCoastal train, as percentage of my "Oh, I am so weary of flying" phase, in which I observed that the ferryboat and groom can be only as slow as air travel, only much much slower.
It was a stormy day in Picton, and I was constrained to take sanctuary in the town`s cafes to meet the four-hour gap between the motel check-out and the train`s departure. So my happy memory of Picton is seated in a cafe, drinking too many cups of tea and reading Nick Kent`s 1970s memoir of sex, drugs and rock journalism as the thread and rain battered the giant plate-glass window next to me.
Finally I was on board the train, where I spent five and a half hours in a carriage half-full with exceptional needs adults and their stock and impatient caregivers. And the carriage`s toilet was out of order, necessitating a long wobbly walk on to the next carriage. And the just thing left to eat was a "ham" and "cheese" "croissant", where the melted cheese gave me a first-degree burn when it dripped onto my finger.
But there were scenic delights, particularly the Lake Grassmere Saltworks. A few days ago I visited Blenheim for the day and sent my parents a postcard with an aerial photograph of the saltworks, because who puts a photograph of a giant stack of salt on a picture postcard?
But as the trail passed through the salt fields, I was terribly impressed. Massive briny ponds! Giant stacks of salt! I will ask the same head that I formerly asked after seeing a giant pile of salt at the Mt Maunganui salt refinery in the `80s - how big would one chip have to be to use all that salt? Pretty big, yeah.
The sun was setting and the death minute of the journey was done a black landscape. But presently the lights of Christchurch began to light the cityscape and I felt glad, safe and comfortable.
When I finally alighted the train, I was hackneyed and had a cold, but later a pair of years of travelling, I was only glad to be in a set of urbanness.
One month later, the earthquake woke me up as I slept in Wellington. I lay in bed, annoyed at having my sleep disrupted and questioning what the weird rattling sound was. About an hour later I dozed off again.
In the morn when I discovered there`d been a massive earthquake in Christchurch, I first wondered if my friends were OK. When it became known that there were no casualties, my thoughts then turned to the cafes. Specially, was that point where I had the really amazing scrambled eggs OK? It was, as was the point that does the really smooth lattes that taste like honey.
In August, Megan and Anna had taken me on a spell of Canterbury University. In September the uni released photos showing the shelves in the library toppled over, thousands of books strewn all over the floor. I wanted to start on a flat and put the books back in the proper order.
I`d visited the Christchurch Art Gallery a pair of times, one of my favorite places. After the earthquake, its strong, modern building was repurposed as headquarters for civil defence work. I imagined a hiviz-vest-clad worker casually resting her coffee cup on an artwork, while nervous gallery staff swooped in to cheerfully reposition it.
I`ve been to Christchurch three times in the final year. So often so that there was a rumor that I had a secret boyfriend there. Well, perhaps the metropolis itself is my secret boyfriend. So when he gets smashed up a bit, it`s sad for me.
But, of course, I didn`t live that the seismic reset button was passing to be hit but a month later I left. I didn`t quite cause the near of my time there and did drop a bit of sentence in bed, feeling a ill from the cold, watching episodes of UK Big Brother on my iPhone.
But I`m glad I was capable to make that visit. I take good memories - seeing the Pixies live, hanging out with friends, yelling at films, experiencing good art and good coffee, and putting on an extravagant beauty mask treatment one night in my hotel as I listened to Lady Gaga on my iPhone. I make a nice pre-quake memory of the city.
I shall deliver to Christchurch in summertime to make some new memories.
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