Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Dear Mother Nature…you owe me $175

I’ve been called many things, but I can’t recall ever being called “brave.” I am, in fact, by nature a bit of a chicken.  This potentially embarrassing fact was reinforced to me today in a way I never anticipated.
As you may know, Josh and I are on a bit of a road trip. Christchurch to Hamilton and beyond. We’re motelling and hotelling. The car trip to Picton was uneventful. The ferry crossing was the smoothest I’ve ever had. We’re taking our time and feeling pretty relaxed about it all, and I didn’t even flinch when we pulled out of the ferry terminal into rush hour traffic in search of our Wellington Central Hotel. Which we found rather easily. We checked in at the office, got our key and were directed to our room. On the 5th floor.
Yep.
It’s an old building. I assume there are new buildings in Wellington but I don’t think I’ve seen any. It’s creaky and musty. And doesn’t look much like the photos on the website. But the 5th floor? The moment I walked into the room it hit me. The earthquakes. Until that moment I hadn’t considered either the fact that Wellington has had some fairly severe earthquakes recently, or that I might possibly be bothered by being on the 5th floor of a building.
Now, and for the last few hours I have been considering little else. It occurs to me that since September 4, 2010, I have not been in any building higher than two stories. Since February 2011, I have actively been avoiding any building that might appear to be risky in an earthquake. And what’s more risky in an earthquake than a building such as I am in right now, a stand alone concrete building that was probably built sometime before my father was born.?
So I stood in the middle of the room wondering what to do. On the verge of a panic attack, my mind could only think of one thing. The building falling down. I know the chances of that happening are probably minuscule. But three years ago I’d have thought the chances of buildings falling down in Christchurch were minuscule. And look how that worked out. And it didn’t just happen once. A building fell down in Christchurch just the other day. I can never rest easy again believing the building I am in will not fall down. Such is the legacy of the Christchurch earthquakes.
I thought I had coped well with them. I didn’t think I had any lasting issues about them. I thought I had survived.
But it’s 11:30pm. I’ve been awake since 5:30 this morning and at this very moment I have no intention of going to sleep any time soon. I’m still wearing my jeans. And shoes. Like those days after September 4 when many Christchurch people got very little sleep at night – nights were worse, weren’t they? – and what sleep they did get was stolen wearing clothes and shoes, ready to bolt every time the earth shook.
We went for a drive this evening around Seatoun and the airport. Got dinner. I calmed down a bit. I never did find a solution to the problem. I wanted to pack up and go find a nice, tidy, one-story hotel but in Wellington in the school holidays that wasn’t going to happen. Today. Tomorrow, it will happen. We’ve prepaid this room for two nights. I can’t get a refund. But neither can I spend another night here. I’m not sure I can spend this night here, but it looks like sleep or no I will be here on the 5th floor all night. Waiting for the building to fall down.

2 comments:

traceY EDWARDES said...

..sigh,,, i felt your fear reading this )-: Mother nature owes us all quite a bit of money thanks to her rock n rollin. and you've proved its going to always bug us...you missed the 4.6 today here though...

Anonymous said...

I totally understand how you feel, I feel the same in CHCH, I will avoid malls like Riccarton, the palms and eastgate at all cost.
However, Wellington is a different story. Yes, they have had recent large earthquakes.
But I ask you this.. prior to CHCH ever happening, where was the earthquake city of NZ - right Wellington. I believe their buildings are far safer than ours in CHCH.
Loved your blog, Peter and look forward to reading more as you travel up the north Island.