The Christchurch Cathedral lies crippled, missing its spire and tower.
"Welcome to the war zone," read a New Zealand friend's message when I switched on my phone on arrival in Christchurch at about midnight Saturday. The message hit home the next afternoon, walking around downtown Christchurch's business district. A stark departure from the surroundings of Hagley Park, across the road from the scenic Botanical Gardens, the area was ravaged by the earthquake of February 22, 2011.
On that day, a 6.3 magnitude aftershock of an earlier earthquake that occurred in September 2010 caused a disastrous disruption to Christchurch. There were nearly 200 fatalities and 10,000 injuries. It is reckoned that 70 percent of the buildings in the city's central business district were demolished. Losses are estimated to be in the vicinity of 40 billion dollars. It is a disaster that forever changed the way Christchurch thought about its vulnerability to earthquakes.
Walking around the city centre the next day was something of a sombre experience. Countless buildings remain boarded up, with wires running along their peripheries. There are several collapsed brick and mortar structures and ones that look like that could collapse at any minute. The gothic Christchurch Cathedral lies crippled, missing its spire and tower. Numerous cranes and bulldozers and other such heavy machinery lie idle today, but come Monday will come back to work, their loud noise drowning out any other possible sound nearby. There are scant signs of the ICC World Cup taking place here, only a few flags flying atop street lights and one poster on a wooden gate opposite one of the building still boarded up and awaiting restoration.
The desolation hangs heavy over a first-timer like myself. Even considering it is a Sunday, downtown wears a deserted look - like it could be a lot used on a Hollywood film set, but on a day after shooting has packed up. "There used to be a lot of activity here," says one local resident, "but since the earthquake, the charm of downtown Christchurch had lessened. It's not like there's a lot more buzzing during the week."
Two days later, when offices and shops are open and retailers at the Re:Start container mall - a lovely outdoor area with portable stalls, kiosks, cafes and stores catering home-made items, and now in its third location owing to construction progress - I do see a marked difference. Catering to over 50 businesses now, the open-air mall attracts locals and tourists, including New Zealand cricketers Corey Anderson, Trent Boult and Adam Milne, the area is not so desolate as I found it on the weekend. Yet at almost every corner, and significantly owing to the vast skyline overhead due to the absence of any tall buildings or high-rises since the earthquake, there are reminders of what was once.
The 13-storey Central Police Station - for 40 years the headquarters for police in Christchurch and the only tall building remaining in the area - is due to be blown up next week. The police moved out in 2012 after concerns it wouldn't withstand another big shake. "There were complaints from the coppers every time we passed by that they felt the floor move," half-jokes Reg, a jovial Mauri tourist tram operator, when we roll past it.
One positive is the impressive street art which has seen a revival since the earthquakes, which adds life and colour to the streets of the city. That Christchurch is transforming is evident - there are numerous state-sponsored initiatives that are attempting to take advantage of the destruction of 2011.
But there are clear obstacles. A report in a local newspaper details the difference of opinions in the Christchurch City Council, whose long-term vision to triple the city's population to one million and to have two million living in the greater city is not so clear-cut. Budgets threaten to extend as infrastructure expands, and there are concerns over the destruction of drinking water supplies and rivers. Bottlenecks facing commuters from Christchurch's satellite towns could be increased, worry some, and there is no commuter rail network. Other critics feel that major changes to development rules in central Christchurch favour investors and could create slums.
Street art has seen a huge revival since the earthquakes, bringing back life and colour to Christchurch.
Yet what is visible to an outsider like me is only the physical damage caused by that tragic day in 2011. Joan, a taxi driver, offers a hint at a much tougher, deeper loss. "For me," she says, "the pain of knowing that so many people lost their jobs after the earthquake is more painful than the physical destruction."
Another sobering reminder of how 20 seconds of natural disaster left such a deep impact on an otherwise homely city. May the cricket give resilient Christchurch residents more reason to smile.
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