Christchurch - From CentrePoint on Colombo Motel

It’s been a good day!

2012-01-26T07:26:00.000+13:00

Today has been a busy day on the Motel front with a wide range of good news rolling in…..

Lonely Planet has released its new, post-quake Christchurch & Canterbury chapter from the upcoming Lonely Planet New Zealand guide,

We are there on Page 12 between the Jailhouse and The George. Look at that! 3 top accommodation providers from different genres all together - ranging from $30 to $886!! Jailhouse – Top Backpacker, CentrePoint on Colombo – Top Motel, The George – Top Hotel! Will also mention Orari B&B – Top B&B just to our left!!
We congratulate Lonely Planet on producing a comprehensive guide to post quake Christchurch that can easily be said to be the best guide to our new city at time of printing!! Most noticeable is that they have shown the central city area is alive and well and very much a place to visit!!
We are proud to be recognised in this way by one of the world’s top travel magazines and look forward to welcoming LP users to Christchurch!

A recent traveller, (Trip Advisor name; OmNomNomDePlume) who found us on twitter and drove in with ½ the South Island on his car reviewed us on Trip Advisor in probably one of the longest reviews we’ve ever had!! It kinda summed up a lot of what we do and recognised the effort we put into helping the travelling public get the most out of their visit to Christchurch. Made us laugh and smile! Have a read….here

Received the latest update for our all new motel website that we are working on. Starting to come on nicely and that gave us an extra little buzz!! Sorry but it’s all under wraps till we can get it together……..stay tuned.

Gotta live the good times and we did indeed today!!

CentrePoint on Colombo wins again!

2012-01-20T18:19:00.000+13:00

(Making room for another one!!)

We blogged about our first Trip Advisor Traveller’s Choice Award last year and we’re proud to say we’ve done it again this year in the awards announced today!

Only this time instead of just 1 section we’ve won in 2. CentrePoint on Colombo Motel is in the Top 10 Hotels for Best Value (it’s actually called “bargain” but that doesn’t fit well grammatically so we used the English translation of the Japanese language page phrase!) and an award winner in the Best Service in South Pacific Category by TripAdvisor in its 2012 Travelers’ Choice Awards.

We’re pretty happy but before we give ourselves a well deserved pat on the back, we’ll say thanks to all those guests who took the time to review us on Trip Advisor!

Best Service 2 years in a row is great but we do find this year’s addition of the “bargain” title an interesting one because it’s the section we most often get marked down in guest reviews. We often get told we are expensive... so does this mean can we raise our rates?!

It’s interesting to see that this year, 4 Christchurch Motels have made it into the top 25 for Best Service and 3 in the Bargain category – meaning that despite the shakes Christchurch is a place where you’ll get Great Service at a Good Price.

After recently being lauded by the Lonely Planet as one of the most exciting cities in New Zealand, Christchurch has now been given accolades from visitors over the last year and we hope that our RTO – Christchurch and Canterbury Tourism – uses this piece of good news to encourage more people to visit the city.

As for us, well it might just be a nice bottle of wine with dinner this evening!

Red Sticker Present on Xmas Eve?!

2011-12-25T00:41:00.000+13:00

Forty-six earthquakes in Canterbury in the last 24 hours. Twenty-five at 4.0 or higher.

This was the reality that greeted us this morning and facebook told us that our friends had been forced to leave their apartment in the middle of the night.

They slept in their car on the street after the police ordered them out of their unsafe building just before 1am. They were crammed in the front seat after filling the back seat with those things that are really needed.

Being only a 2 minute walk away, Naomi went round to see them.

They were told that structural engineers would be there at 8am to assess the building and there was a greater chance it would be red than orange stickered.

They had roughly 2 hours to get everything out - once it was red stickered entry was prohibited and anything left inside would be demolished with the building.

Our friends were rather bewildered after a sleepless night in the car and getting to grips with their new *homeless* reality so we decided they needed our help. We grabbed all our spare laundry bags and Naomi, mr16 and I headed over to help. Basically we stuffed things as fast as we could into bags, boxes and suitcases, carried it all downstairs and piled it on the grass. 2 hours of hard labour meant we were walking out as the red sticker was being applied. Whew, just in time but everything was out!

We used the CentrePoint Mobile and 2 other cars to get everything back to the motel garage where there was time for sorting before everything went to another friends place for storage till they get there new flat on 21 Jan.

They are staying in the motel till they get sorted.

So, our friends will now spend Xmas in a motel, a bloody good motel that is, but it won’t be the same as having it in their own house.

This is just part of life in Christchurch these days! We hope they have a very merry Xmas day!

Reclaiming our City – the Red Zone Bus Tour

2011-12-01T23:21:00.000+13:00

23 Nov. 5.40pm to 6.20pm, the RED ZONE, Christchurch.

This blog is more for our past, present and future guests than the people of Christchurch, but maybe they will also relate to what is said.

At present the motel and where we live is just 1 small block from the edge of the Red Zone. In fact, for the first 18 days after the 22 Feb quake, we were behind the cordon and under curfew from 6pm to 6am. Most Christchurch people have no idea what that could be like, and many have not seen the city centre that we live and breathe in every day. For many, the RED ZONE bus tours would have been the first visit to that area since the quake, but for us driving around and living right next to the Red Zone is an everyday reality.

But still, actually going inside the barrier instead of walking along the outside of the fence was a time of mixed emotions. One thing for sure was that there were no feelings of excitement and that no doubt resulted in mr16’s comment that it was boring. He was looking for a live demolition site that could not be seen from the barrier and was as disappointed as a 16 year old could be. For the record, mr12 recorded the whole trip on his ipod.

To be honest, I first declared that I would not do the tour but the *Bucket List* emotion took over and we did the once in a lifetime experience.

We walked the 5 minutes to Cramner Square and read the cautions before boarding the bus. The warning that we may well not survive the tour if there was an earthquake was absurdly surreal but once in the Zone it was easy to see what was meant as the bus crawled along right next to large buildings that are on the demolition list. CERA was right.

On entering the Red Zone I was immediately struck by the surrealistic situation we were actually in. Going to the city centre was a right that was torn away from us by a force of nature to the extent that 8 months on all that has been achieved is a snail paced bus ride around the Zone. Nature has indeed triumphed in a perverse way.

The atmosphere on our bus was solemn but cheerful, quiet ruled but riders gently spoke of items of interest. Looking out the window at pavements we used to walk on, restaurants we used to eat in, grassy areas we used to sit on and eat ice cream. It was surreal seeing how tormented the whole central city area is. We knew about the buildings, they have been well publicised. It was the parks, roads, riverbanks etc. that we were seeing for the first time that was surprising. The bike stand outside Icecream Charlie’s park had half sunken into the earth, as in an attempt to escape the absolute loneliness of the place. It’s easy to say that the whole central city area is buggered.

On a technical note, while the bus tour allowed close up viewing, a lot of what we saw could be seen by walking around the edge of the red zone, especially the CTV and PGC building sites.

On a lighter note, the bling that littered the ground outside what used to be the Louis Vuitton shop was bizarrely dazzling and driving under the raised arm of a massive demo digger that spanned an intersection with room to spare showed the immensity of the task being faced in the country’s largest work site.

From the point of an inner city business owner who has been battling the tyranny of proximity to the Red Zone, it was clear that those who have still existing leases that will force them to trade once the barriers are removed will find the situation harsh, having to trade in what is essentially a dessert with a smattering of oases. Many may well just trade until they are forced out of business. It is my hope that Christchurch people and visitors to our city support these businesses in unending orgy of shopping because by god these owners will need it.

So should you do the tour? Yes you should. There is something for everyone in the Red Zone because it’s everyone’s city and it’s a way to reclaim it, reclaim it from nature, reclaim it from the diggers and reclaim it from CERA.

Thanks to the person who helped mr12 this morning!

2011-11-30T23:25:00.000+13:00

We’d like to take this chance to ask everyone to help us find the person who assisted mr12 this morning after he was knocked off his skateboard by a black sports car at approximately 7.20am at the Bealey Ave / Colombo St. intersection this morning.

We have made an official police complaint and they will proceed as they see fit but we’d like to be able to personally thank that person for doing the decent thing this morning. This person helped mr12 up off the ground and recorded the car’s registration number which we handed to the Police today. The Police were obviously able to informally identify the car from what we told them as they then asked us to submit a traffic accident report. This kind person is also a witness to what happened and would no doubt help the police investigation.

Mr12 would also like the Caucasian male approx. 30yr old driver to front up and pay for the damage to his skateboard.

Mr12 has skateboarded to school almost every day for the last year but today as he was crossing Bealey Ave at Colombo St. a turning car, which should have given way, crashed into him. He jumped off the board and fell to the ground after his foot was clipped by the car – a close call! The skateboard ended up under the front of the car and 2 scratches on the board attest to it. The driver backed up to free the board, told mr12 he should be more careful and sped away without ascertaining if he was ok. A female jogger who was at the medium strip heading South, saw everything, helped mr12 off the ground and remembered the car’s registration which mr 12 then entered in his cell phone. After getting to his friend’s place mr12 rang home and as we instructed, made a sketch of what had happened.

So luckily mr12 survived and thanks to the kind actions of a person, hopefully the long arm of the law will reach out and deal with this person who not only ran into a child but also departed the scene of the accident without confirming if the child was ok.

If anyone knows of this person who helped mr12 please let us know.

Re:START

2011-10-29T20:20:00.000+13:00

It’s been 8 months since we could walk in central Chistchurch. We did that today, we smiled and felt happy, we felt at home and felt proud of what our city is. It’s been a while, it’s been a while.

(Haven't seen this side for 8 months)

After getting back to the motel we checked in some guests from Singapore and we were so excited being able to tell them that for the 1^st time in 8 months we had shops in the city. Understandably they were no doubt wondering why but we’re sure they will see what we mean once they have been for a walk.

(Colourful!!)

Check the Re:START map out here http://multimedia.stuff.co.nz/thepress/restart/restart3.pdf

About 10,000 people turned up and the closing time of 6pm was extended due to the number of people still in the shops.

(The shelves are a giveaway, yes, it's Johnson's!)

Its been done in a tasteful way and if it were not for the tram tracks and obvious surrounding buildings, one could be forgiven for not knowing it was Cashel St.

The 27 shops made out of brightly coloured shipping containers stacked on top of each other is sure to become a destination in itself – you must come and see it!

Anchored by Ballantynes Department Store and backed up by Kathmandu in normal buildings the container shops range from a variety of fashion shops, a bank where foreign currency can be exchanged, a souvenir shop, a book shop and 2 licensed cafes as well as others!

(The new and the old, the short and the tall)

Was great to see Johnson’s Grocery back. That’s the little English style shop that was just up the road from us. The great news is that he does intend to rebuild on the old site!

(Locals look longingly at still forbidden fruit)

Obviously lacking is an internet café, convenience store and a place to buy a simcard! Hopefully they’ll get there soon!

(Fluro Bear enjoys his CBD shopping experience)

The other positive was that today the surrounding demo sites were silent, the sun was shining and there was no wind to stir up that horrid dust. Would be nice if it stayed that way.

(Fluro bear is on the motel counter ready to guide guests to Re:START 2011)

It was great to see so many happy people milling around the tills making that till sound, but also spotted were one drunk person being escorted away by police, a protest march (walk) and buskers making a buck – just like what a CBD should be like.

Today we got our city centre back.

Want to be first in the new Spa Bath?

2011-10-19T22:09:00.000+13:00

Just who will it be? If you book to stay Friday it could just be you…..and your special other ½ too….it’s a double!

Here’s the story……

Sometime ago we walked into the garage to find ourselves standing in a puddle of precipitation. The wall was wet from ceiling to floor! Ooops! Something obviously wrong here!

The cause not instantly obvious but it was definitely coming from the CentrePoint Suite above. Oh….Nooo!!! Not a leaky spa bath?? We were able to confirm a few days later that indeed a hairline crack in the double spa bath was the probable culprit. Bad Double Spa Bath!

(Deluxe Man Cave with Double Spa Bath! How much would you pay??)

Or was it? We were actually able to ascertain that we have to blame the honourable guest who placed their gracious posterior (or other part of their anatomy) on the spout with a degree of force lacking any daintiness at all. (please……be more careful next time)

(In the Bathroom......It's starting to happen......)

But, whatever happened happened….. is all we can say and so it is that the spa bath be replaced. Waking up to water in the garage is not a good start to the day!

(New walk-in shower at the CentrePoint!?)

Today was Spa Bath Day, or should we say, rip out the spa bath and get the new one in day! We’re looking forward to day 2 tomorrow and ….if all goes to plan…..it’ll soon be all ready to go!

(Yippee! New bath.......supported by a couple of hunks of 4x2......naturally.)

This could be some good trivia for your next pub quiz night but…. did you know that it is impossible to get a bath the exact same size as the one that was installed only a bit more than 5 years ago? Hard to imagine but yes, bath makers appear to enjoy changing bath sizes – we think they may need to see a shrink!

You could be the first to stay in the CentrePoint Suite and bathe in the virgin luxury of our new spa bath – and that would be priceless!

A Tale of Two Cities?

2011-10-13T11:43:00.000+13:00

We have written before about how different parts of Christchurch have been affected in different ways by the earthquakes, and now it appears the Motel industry is no exception.

We always had the idea that here on Colombo St. just 2 blocks from the Red Zone and indeed cordoned and curfewed for 18 days after 22 Feb., things were a little different to, for example, the Riccarton area. Now, an interesting news piece aired on TVNZ which indicates that Motels in Christchurch have most certainly experienced business at levels equal to the busiest it’s ever been, has confirmed our suspicions

We are worried about the way this news has been handled because our motel and others in our area have not been experiencing such occupancy levels and we believe it has sent the message to the rest of NZ that it’s no good coming to Christchurch because there’s no accommodation!

Ourselves and other inner city MANZ motels have not experienced “business at levels equal to the busiest it’s ever been” and we would be absolutely devastated if kiwis and overseas travellers based their travel plans on messages like what is carried in the news piece. It also worries us that the majority of this message was presented by top executives of the Motel Association of New Zealand. Surely they could have been more aware of the reality of their individual members.

We must say that we do not know if the motel owners in this news piece had their views expressed in the way they wanted by TVNZ but what we are primarily worried about here is what the travelling public are lead to think by the overall presentation. It is the impression that counts. At least there could have been recognition that not all areas of Christchurch had enjoyed the good times!

We’d like to counter what was said and put our case forward. We feel that this news piece has missed the point in 2 ways. While it may be so in the Riccarton area, the inner city area has certainly not been “the busiest it’s ever been.” We also feel that a great chance to promote weekend visits to Christchurch has been lost after this piece did not differentiate between the busy Monday – Thursday period and relatively not so busy weekend period.

We would love to have had 92% occupancy since Feb as the motelier at the start of the news piece claimed but for us the reality was that while we traded at slightly above past years’ levels the result has been considerably lower than 92%.

We are paid up members of both the Christchurch Motel Association and Motel Association of New Zealand and so we feel we have the right to say it's not 100% correct when our Association execs say that “members are experiencing unprecedented occupancy rates” and that it is “most certainly, absolutely most certainly” the busiest it’s ever been.

While it is great to see our industry being reflected in a good light by the mainstream media and reflecting the great job motels are doing in supporting the recovery, the message should have been that while there are plenty of “No Vacancy” signs to be seen, that there is still accommodation available in Christchurch if travellers plan ahead and that there are especially plenty of rooms available over the weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) for people to visit Christchurch.

Surely this is the message that we should be presenting.

Don’t let the Snow come down on me….again!

2011-08-14T23:41:00.000+12:00

The first of many antarctic blasts is racing up the South Island now and we are not happy with memories of the last cold snap at the end of July fresh in our minds.

We are often asked about snow in Christchurch to which we answer *Yes, sometimes but only a bit and it usually melts in a day or so,* and we also add *but we can get a big fall of snow sometimes too* One of the biggest falls in Christchurch was 28cm on 14 July 1945 – Jeff’s Dad was 5 and his Mum had to walk into town to buy shoes for his first day of school the next day!

We’ve been back from Japan 3 years now and that the snow 2 weeks ago was the first snow we’ve had – and it was the biggest fall in 15 years – they said. Now we are due for another dumping – only this time the predictions are for a much colder snap which will last longer and dump even more snow on us! We had 15-20cm then & it was bad enough!

Because we don’t get snow too often, we are just not set up for it. The small number of front end loaders and graders we have are pressed in to clear the main roads but smaller roads just get clogged up. Snow tyres are nonexistent and few people have chains! After the snow comes the semi-melt, then the clear frosty nights turning all areas into sheets of ice! The city becomes paralysed by the underfoot conditions which can take days to resolve.

The good thing about snow is that we can plan! Not like a shakey quakey which randomly occur and catch you out, at least we can get ready for this meteorological attack!

Here at the motel back in July we had guests who couldn’t get in to Christchurch, and guests who couldn’t get out. Luckily we had a good balance and no major problems apart from way too much snow in the carpark which took 3 days to clear!

At least we sort of know what we are in for over the next few days but the predictions are for an unprecedented 3 days of snow so who really knows!

We all want to sing “Don’t let the sno~~~w come down on me~~”

Thanks for thinking of us in Christchurch

2011-06-13T23:25:00.000+12:00

It’s been another interesting day here in Christchurch with 2 shakes, one of magnitude 5.5 and the other a 6. We’d like to take this chance to say thanks to all those who have sent their best wishes to us and to say that we are still standing tall!

The smaller quake came first followed by the larger one just an hour or so later. Both were centred just at the edge of Banks Peninsular. Thankfully no-one was killed and this can be attributed to the decision to block off the inner city until the area can be made safe. On the not so good side, the Cathedral and other buildings have suffered further.

The full extent of damage will become clearer tomorrow but there is widespread liquefaction damage in the eastern suburbs and there were more rock falls in Sumner.

We had minor superficial damage, which means things fell over scratching on walls etc. and we lost water for about 4 hours. Talking about water, after a hard day we had just a little bit of fun, tipping out the dirtied well water we got as a back-up and videoed it cos that’s what we do!

Dalai Lama – a message of positivity at CBS Arena

2011-06-08T17:27:00.003+12:00

Today the Dalai Lama dropped into Christchurch on his way to Australia for a planned visit. He said it was meeting Hillary all those years ago that gave him the chance to become friends with many New Zealanders. He said that when friends are in trouble, you try to help them and that is why he is here.

It could almost be said that it was a hard ask. How do you comfort people who have lost so much? But he spoke of using intelligence to find positivity. He spoke of how the feeling of loss for those left behind is real and strong but that there was a need to hold onto something precious and somehow find a positive way forward.

He said that often in these circumstances some people did not like the word death being used but that death this was not a taboo word. He said that life has a start and an end and we all experience both. It’s just that some experience the end earlier than others. He said that we need to be aware of that and be prepared for it, and that if we did that we could enjoy our lives.

He also spoke about how the earthquake was not caused but just happened and this was also part of life. In terms of how to move forward positively, he urged everyone to think of others around them – around the world – and invoked the disasters in Japan and Haiti.

When asked what was the best way to rebuild Christchurch, he said “I don’t know, that is up to you, I’m leaving tomorrow!” The crowd happily laughed.

The crowd was put at 5000 and it would have been all that. It started with the Dalai Lama personally meeting and offering condolences to those who had lost someone. And he then received a Maori welcome including a hongi.

Before he spoke he was introduced by a Tibetan member of the local community.

I expected the Dalai Lama to sit at his chair and talk but he came up to the lectern and stood and spoke for about 30 minutes. Admittedly sometimes it was hard to follow some words but he did warm into it. His language assistant did an amazing job, following every word and instantly offering the correct English word when needed. We were then treated to a Buddhist Mantra which ended with “that’s the end just a short one!” The crowd was buoyed by these sporadic humorous interludes which underscored his message of positivity.

There was then a presentation of gifts from 2 schools, one local and one from Wanaka. Aspiring School in Wanaka has been studying Tibet and presented a book of poems and some edible Lotus flowers. In one of many spontaneous acts, the Dalai Lama opened the box and handfed the 2 pupils a petal each. He then had one himself before hand feeding Bishop Victoria and the Iwi representative. He then spoke at length to the pupils about how they had the role of taking the world into this century, that the time of us older people was over and of the responsibility they, as new guardians, held.

That was just so amazing to witness and once again summed up the reason he was here, to give us hope by looking positively to the future. After presenting the pupils with a white scarf each it was time for the Hongi and the second girl was praised for being well endowed for this – she had a very large nose! A most interesting comment but given by the Dalai Lama in his spirit of positivity it should be a wonderful memory for the rest of this pupils life.

And for that the Dalai Lama’s gets a positive “like” from me. It was an honour to be able to participate and directly receive his message of positivity for Christchurch.

Did we need to do this???

2011-06-04T01:30:00.000+12:00

Its 11.50pm but I need to get this out,

Cordon reduction is a big thing. I can say that cos we were cordoned and curfewed for 18 days after 222. The difference between cordon and not cordoned is almost like being alive or dead. You either can or you can’t and so it is a biggie.

After 222 we were released from cordon the day of the Japanese quake/tidal wave and on that day the barriers moved to Salisbury St. After that they went to Peterborough St. Today they moved 1 more block to Kilmore St.

What can be said, this is as bad as it can get. This block was one of the most lively blocks in Christchurch with 25 retailers ranging from food to antiques, culture to hair and coffee to sushi. Now there are 6? left.

The cordon opened at 5pm tonite so I took a walk to see what there was. After 222 I was able to walk down, under cordon, to Peterborough St. to see the carnage but I dared not go further. That became impossible as the police tightened their cordon grip. The next time I got that close was when the cordon moved to Peterborough st. Admittedly before then I saw a pic on twitter of a bare space of land where Metro café was but it didn’t really prepare me for what I saw today.

The street as been opened, but apart from a beaurocratic victory lap I cannot, for the life of me, see why they did it. They wanted to open the road to show progress? No wonder people who are still cordoned are really pissed. This is because there is absolutely no reason to open this road today. THERE IS NOTHING THERE. The only thing I could see was the Scenic Hotel on Kilmore St. but that apparently still needs work before it can open. There are a couple of other places but they also need work before they can open. It would be better just to open it to those building owners and keep others away. That would at least give them a chance to get things sorted out.

But its open, even though there’s nothing there. Here’s what I saw.

LYME Cocktail Bar is still standing – by itself – thai pho to the right has gone, café Valentino to the left….has gone.

Eirily the pavement outside café valentine that had the outside seats is still there but everything else has gone – memorabilia and all.

A hurricane fence straddles the centre line of Colombo St. The street is covered in mud and grime – looking more like a warzone.

The city centre is grim in the overcast conditions and the traffic lights flashing orange spell danger.

The biggest building on the block is still blocked.

Anyone can walk almost right up to the condemned Copthorne Durham.

Ending on a positive note, Himalayas progress is good!

At night – a new light has been added to the city, yellow light in the middle is traffic light at cnr of Kilmore/Colombo.

Opening up the city is good and welcome it. But it is disappointing that so little is left.

Welcome to the 2nd edition of “What’s Happening in Christchurch”

2011-06-03T00:00:00.000+12:00

This series started 1 May to give those that live outside of Christchurch an idea about just what is happening here as we have found that some people just don’t know. Understandable, it is afterall, our disaster – but we’d like to share it with you!

A Month of Contradictions - positives and negatives. One would think that everything would get better over time but we are still in a state of flux. While progress is being made in some areas towards recovery, and this is good, we are being constantly peppered with little bits of information about just how bad the overall damage is. It could be argued that this is better than getting it all at once but it does make for consistent disturbing headlines in the morning paper.

A Negative Example - the Cathedral is seriously damaged and the Rose Window on the east wall, the tower, the north wall and the south wall and the tower will all have to be dismantled and rebuilt – leaving only the west wall not requiring work on it – a mammoth task that insurance cover will not even come close to paying for! The Arts Centre, insured for $120 million, is predicted to take 15 years to restore and re-open – news that was greeted with disbelief by those that luv the Dux De Lux and are campaigning for it to be fixed and reopened separately from the rest of the Arts Centre! The Arts Centre Trust Board began with what can only be described as a selfish attitude that the whole complex must be repaired together. It has been great to see that in the last few days the Trust appears to be making moves to consider letting the Dux be fixed ahead of other buildings. Having the Dux – a true institution in the Christchurch social scene - reopened will breathe much needed life back into the devastated inner city area. It will give many people a reason to come into town again.

A Positive Example - Richie McCaw and Dan Carter have both resigned with the NZ Rugby Union and will play their rugby here for the next 4 years – now that was a boost! Ok so not so much to do with the earthquake but they are also signing up to stay in our city and that gets a “like” from me. Not sure about Dan but word has it that Richie was at his local supermarket when the 222 quake struck and he had to hobble home. Not a quake injury though – he was recovering from a rugby injury to his leg!

Cordon Reductions - the area around the casino opened mid month, resulting in a new ghost town. What a mess and a stench! But this also gave us access to a few more eateries, by a few I can name them all here – Blax Coffee, Procope Coffee, Spagalimis Pizza and Chinwag Eathai. There are a few retails stores open as well during the day. Next was the area close to the PGC building where some 26 persons lost their lives. On 3 June, Colombo St. will open down to Kilmore St. allowing a flow of traffic south along Colombo St. onto Kilmore St. If you want to see what the Red Zone will look like if its opened up – come and see this. There is nothing there. Virtually the whole block has been cleared and there is in reality, hardly anything to open to! 2 other small areas have opened but these will probably be the last of the cordon reductions.

The Red Zone is now the Red Zone.

(The future of these three buildings remains in the balance - look at the angles)

1200 Buildings Require Demolition - one of the more shocking pieces of news released. So far some 150 have been demolished leaving 1050 to go – quite a job! This gives you an idea of just how much the cityscape is going to change. The estimate is that over 444,000 9 tonne truck loads of rubble will be removed from the city centre. A lot will be recycled and more will be used for land reclamation in Lyttelton Port.

The Hotel Grand Chancellor - 26 stories “on a lean” is slated for demolition to start in early to mid June. Stage 1 - removing the carpark building that caused the fatal damage by slamming against the Grand Chancellor - will take 6 weeks. The piecemeal, from the top demolition will then begin. Once the top 11 floors have been removed, the rest will be pulled down by crane – all in 10 months – easy! But then they have to dig out the basement which has been filled with concrete to prevent the whole building from collapsing and then dig out the original piles. What a job! And, while they say 10 months, the MCL building was slated to take 2 and took close to 5 months so this is very much a watch this space area.

(Copthorne Durham is on the right, as seen from Room 7)

(One the skyline from room 7, hard to see but from the left, PriceWaterHouse Coopers, Forsyth Barr, Private apartment, Crown Plaza, Copthorne Durham - one demolition decided, four others to be decided)

More Large Scale Demolitions - the Copthorne Durham (close to the Casino) has also been confirmed as has the Gallery Apartments – an award winning 14 level luxury apartment building next to the Art Gallery when it was built in 2006-7. There are still a multitude of other high rises that are considered marginal and they appear to be under the hammer of the insurance companies – their fate being sealed is a question of time. Whether buildings will be fixed or demolished is very much based on overall economics. One thing we are learning fast in Christchurch is that being insured doesn’t mean its gonna be alright. In many cases the insurance funds available are nowhere near the amount required for the rebuild.

Cashel St. Mall – familiar to many visitors to Christchurch, is to loose 16 of the 27 properties between Colombo St. and the river!

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority – CERA, has a new boss. Roger Sutton will head it from 14 June. He’s a local boy who, as the head of Orion, the company in charge of electricity supply lines in the Canterbury region, has garnered great respect in his coolheaded handling of the power crisis since the September quake. It would not be wrong to say that almost everyone in Christchurch welcomes him to the role although once in charge, he’ll be where the buck stops and his everything will be tried. He’s taken a pay cut, from $700K to $500K for a possible big kick in the pants, so he gets a big “like” from me. With the raw power he will yield, it will be interesting to see how public opinion changes between when he takes over and 2 weeks later when I write the next update. There are many decisions he and CERA will have to make to move the recovery along and some will not be popular with some people.

An Events Village - to be established in North Hagley Park in the area where the outdoor concerts are held – only 5 mins walk from the motel. Funding has been approved and construction is about to begin. Yes! Hearing that news was uplifting, finally something to look forward to that was positive. It will feature both indoor and outdoor venues and food stalls etc. It will run through till Feb 2012 and will have large screens for the Rugby World Cup games. While we support the idea of the event area, it does come with the brutal confirmation that the central city area is far from being reopened.

(The Bohdi Tree new restaurant site in Ilam)

Local Restaurants - Himalayas, our favourite Indian restaurant which was quaked out on 4/9, then ½ rebuilt before being shattered again on 222, should be reopening towards the end of June! We are looking forward to that! We have also just heard that The Bohdi Tree is reopening later this month. After 9 years on Colombo St. they are moving to 399 Ilam Rd. about 8 minutes drive from the motel.

(Christchurch Casino)

Christchurch Casino - re-opened on 26 May although it is only operating on restricted hours, 11am to 3am Monday to Thursday and 24 hours Friday to Sunday. We are hoping that this will show people that there is something happening close to the city centre!

Alcohol Ban Zone - has hastily established by the City Council in the Riccarton/Ilam area. Losing the inner city has halved the number of bars and restaurants in the city and this has meant the suburban bars and restaurants are doing a roaring trade. Great for letting off steam but the residential neighbourhoods were getting just a little bit too lively, and hence the banning of drinking alcohol on the streets! It may also be extended to other areas of town.

Good News Quick Round Up - on Fridays & Saturdays, the market that was previously in Cathedral Square is in the YMCA carpark on Rolleston Ave. Some ex-Arts Centre stall holders are selling their wares along Worcester Boulevard near the Arts Centre on Saturdays & Sundays. In the central city area between the Red Zone and Hagley Park, open places are limited to; Botanical Gardens, Punting on the Avon, Boatshed Café, the YMCA coffee shop, Cook’n with Gas restaurant, Canterbury Cheesemongers and 2 restaurants in The George Hotel. In the Victoria St. area is the Casino, Procope Café, Blax Café, Spagalimi’s and some retails outlets. Outside the city centre, most activities (jet boating, ballooning, wildlife parks etc.) are operating normally.

(Strawberry Fare)

Not So Good News Round Up - we have heard that Strawberry Fare may not be opening for some time due to serious damage to the building. The Town Hall and Convention Centre reports will not be finalised for a month or so but they will not reopen until at least 2013, much later than was first expected. This and the delay in reopening so many hotels will have a direct effect on the recovery of the city. In the eastern parts of Christchurch there have been advances in clearing the silt and fixing the damaged sewer pipe system but this map shows how many people still need to use their chemical toilet.

That’s what’s happening in Christchurch.

The end of an era…..Wharetiki

2011-05-17T23:42:00.002+12:00

Over many years, many people have photographed the beautiful Edwardian Wharetiki house over the road from us at 854 Colombo St.

Today it took pride of place in our morning picture, reflecting the work started on it the day before. It was clear that its days were numbered. Sad, cos we kind of liked it, so much so that we had even given it our own name. We called it the Munsters’ House.

A year or so ago it was covered in The Press when it was for sale. It’s on 2000sq m of land and was built in 1904 according to the article but 1895 on the Wharetiki House B&B info pamphlet. Either way, it’s old and nice. It was built by Matthew Barnett, whose family owned the Arthur Barnett department store. Over the years it has been a school boarding house, an apartment complex, a guest house and a pre-school. It was valued at around $2 million.

That was until 4 Sept., 2010. In that quake the massive 4 birth chimney collapsed and plunged through the roof but did not cause any other visible damage. But after the 222 quake, the whole building took on a very noticeable lean and rattled loudly with every aftershock. As mentioned in previous blogs, it was red stickered, meaning its future was probably uncertain.

Late last week there was movement on the property and yesterday morning work started to remove the turret. This was completed in higher than comfortable winds today but the turret is now safely on the ground.

I was able to talk with the owner who is hoping to be able to use parts of the building in a new building to be built on the site. It would be great to see some of the former beauty of the building gracing the new Christchurch!

Cordon reduction reveals more……

2011-05-07T03:27:00.006+12:00

Today the Zone 6 cordon moved back one street and Zone 4 was opened so I decided to take a look. It was smelly, shocking and somewhat demoralizing.

View from over the wire, the digger is sitting atop of what's left of Cafe Valentino

View through the wire, a devaststed cityscape

Smelly, I went to the corner of Colombo & Peterborough Sts. and from there the smell from the rotten food in the nearby shops and restaurants was loud and clear. The other noticeable thing was the dirtiness of the whole area. When we were cordoned and curfewed for 18 days after 222, there were repeated sweeps of the streets by street cleaners and so by the time the cordon was reduced, the opened up area was pretty much as clean as it has always been! But today was totally different, it’s a mess, a total mess. Yes, the town has been opened up but there is so much crap lying around everywhere, no-one would really want to go there. Sure its early days but a lot of work needs to be done here.
I went down Peterborough St. from Colombo St. to Madras St. and was shocked. It was truly amazingly sad what has happened, the land and building damage was mind boggling, the whole street and every building has been affected - nothing is straight anymore.

The upper west side of Strawberry Fare has peeled off.....

Shocking and demoralizing, I went to see what was left and was expecting to see Strawberry Fare in a state that would be ready to reopen soon. From what I had seen soon after the quake, from my exclusive view inside the cordon, the building looked ok. But that was from the east. Today I saw the building from the west and it became clear that one of our favourite restaurants would not be opening for some time. The east-west shaking of the quake had peeled away large sections of the western side of the building leaving it looking sadly disfigured. Shocking and demoralizing, as the signs say, EXTREME DANGER KEEP OUT and ROAD CLOSED!

Lots of red, white & black but no sign of the army boys here!

Looking at the block along Colombo St. between Peterborough and Kilmore Sts. It does not look good. Starting at the corner of Peterborough and Colombo St. where the Thai Pho restaurant was and working around the street, this is how it goes. Thai Pho – demolished. Lyme Bar – damaged but standing. Café Valentino – demolished, Art gallery, Scottish Shop, Chinese restaurant – to be demolished for sure, 2^nd hand store, Sushi Shop & Whiskey Galore – building looking ok! Johnson’s Grocer, Metro Café – demolished, Sala Thai/2 antique shops/thai massage/hair dresser/dairy/Baiyok Thai Restaurant – all surely beyond repair. Thai Smile – will be open as soon as possible. Boutique dress shop – demolished. Building with hair designer on street level – badly damaged. By golly the street is going to change no matter what happens because it has to, there’s hardly anything left!

Early Childhood Building from the North-West (above) and the South-East (below)

The Casino is hoping to open by the end of May - great to see the lights on!

I then went up the Casino area and was once again surprised to see the damage. Whole swaths of the street front are either gone or partially demolished. On the good side, the lights were on at the casino and they have gaudy but impressive signage up advertising the reopening. The lights at the Casino stayed on into the evening……nice touch guys nice!

The Casino once again lights up the Christchurch skyline - looks nice cos its our skyline!

I must also mention Himalayas, our favourite Indian restaurant. The ½ rebuilt building was wrecked again on 222 but amongst the rubble I could still find the “Opening Soon” sign. We do look forward to them opening soon!

Himalayas, destroyed after the September quake, was being rebuilt only to be beaten to the finish line by the 222 quake.

Hope amongst the carnage. Today was a reality check as it was apparent that there is just so much more work to do even in this part of the city. We look forward to more hope and less carnage as the days move on.

Mr12 and the Drain – a story of luck

2011-05-05T13:22:00.004+12:00

Luckily when Mr12 and his skateboard parted company this morning, it was his skateboard that ended up down the drain…..

“Tamati said that we should make the most of the good weather while it lasts” was the reason mr12 decided to skateboard to school today.

But he was soon back home saying his skateboard had gone into a drain and was sitting in water more than a metre down. Now anyone with a mr/miss12 in the house knows that stories are not always as they actually may be so it was with a dose of salt I took this news.

I asked for a repeat and he said he’d been skating along, got caught on some rubble and went flying, him to the ground and the skateboard into an open drain! Gulp, I thought at least it was the skateboard that went into the drain! But it still seemed just too surreal! An open drain?

After securing the motel I headed off the 80 odd metres to where the “drain” was.

Sure enough there was a drain without a cover. Peering in I could see the skateboard sitting serenely in the drain water, probably about 1½ metres below the road level.

Mr12 wanted skateboard back so I told him to dive in head first while I hold his school shirt. Funnily enough he was hesitant but we had to get on with it! School was starting soon! It was looking to be a bit tricky but then a passerby stopped and offered to help saying, “I’ve done it before.” Made me wonder just how many drains in Christchurch don’t have covers at the moment!

So we both grabbed a leg, upended mr12 and lowered him in! Simple! He reached down and plucked the skateboard out of the drain water. We then pulled the legs with body and skateboard attached out of the drain and sent mr12 off to school….on his bicycle. Hopefully there aren’t any open drains big enough to swallow that!

Epilogue: Dad got to pull the skateboard to bits to hopefully stop it from rusting too much but I think this might be an insurance job!

Epilogue 2: Dad got to ring the City Council and report the missing drain cover.

Moral of the story: In post quake Christchurch, don’t expect anything to be normal -welcome to the new normal!

So what is happening in Christchurch?

2011-05-01T01:46:00.003+12:00

Locals have a pretty good idea about what is happening in Christchurch, but we have found that those from outside of the city don’t really have a clue. Understandable.

One of more common misconceptions is that the central city area is accessible. Many guests arrive asking for help getting reservations at restaurants that just aren’t there any more! The truth is that the Red Zone is guarded by the NZ Army and no-one gets in without permission. Many ask why this is, and the reason is that it is just not safe. Aftershocks are still continuing to jolt us and it was one of these that resulted in people being crushed in buses and outside the buildings they were shopping in. This cannot be allowed to happen again and the central city area must be made safe before it is reopened.

So this is a quick round up of what is happening – according to Jeff. Its not complete but will give you an idea of where the city is at.

On Sat. 30 April, the National Civil Defence Emergency ended and responsibility for managing the cleanup is now in the hands of CERA (Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority), a government department set up with special powers which in some ways exceed those of Civil Defence.

The Red Zone, with limited entry, is inside Salisbury St., Madras St. St. Asaph St., and Cambridge Terrace. Hopefully the northern perimeter will be reduced to Kilmore St soon but this will not happen until some more unstable buildings are demolished. If a building becomes unstable, roads can still be suddenly closed until the danger has passed, which usually means bringing the building down.

Due to the widespread damage, it is estimated that the Red Zone may remain off limits until at least the end of the year. At the latest count almost 350 buildings require either demolition, partial demolition, or work to make them safe and the list is still being added to. You may think that it is the old, heritage style buildings that headline the list and while that is true, the brute force of the quake and associated liquefaction has also done terrible damage to many modern buildings as well. Several high rise buildings are considered so unsafe that No Go Fall Zones have been set up around them. The Hotel Grand Chancellor is one such building. This all adds up to an unsafe central city area that cannot be opened up.

50,000 people used to work in the CBD area and to start returning to normal, a central city retail area on Cashel St. between Colombo St & Oxford Terrace is planned to be reopened at the end of October and will include the Ballantynes Department Store.

Other than that, the only places open in the central area are; Botanical Gardens, Punting on the Avon, Cook’n with Gas restaurant, Canterbury Cheesemongers and 2 restaurants in The George Hotel.

The Art Gallery is the Civil Defence HQ and won’t reopen for some time. The Arts Centre is severely damaged and is not expected to reopen for around 4 years. The weekend markets have relocated to Ferrymead Historic Park.

QE2, the site of the 1974 Commonwealth Games and a proud addition to our city that recently held the 2011 Paralympic Games, is a total write off and may not be able to be rebuilt on the same site.

Outside the city centre, most activities (jet boating, ballooning, wildlife parks etc.) are operating normally.

Closer to home, the buildings along Colombo St. between Peterborough and Kilmore Sts. were largely destroyed beyond repair in the quake. The only restaurants left largely undamaged are Strawberry Fare and Thai Smile and we look forward to them opening once the cordon is lifted. Café Valentino, Metro Café, Johnson’s Grocer, are all gone but their owners have already put plans in place for the rebuild.

Approximately 1/2 of the restaurants and bars in Christchurch are inside the Red Zone and this has resulted in the suburban bars enjoying a roaring trade. Good for them but it means that they can be extremely crowded. Some advanced planning is neccessary to enjoy your meal!

The Town Hall and Convention Centre are both damaged and won’t be reopening until early next year. It is hoped that AMI Stadium will be ready for next year’s season start at the end of January.

The eastern parts of Christchurch were also badly hit and an estimated 10,000 houses will need to be rebuilt. The construction of hundreds of temporary houses in parks is about to begin. An indication of the damage to the infrastructure can be seen by looking at the 2000 portaloos that now dot streets. The quake has basically stuffed much of the sewerage system on the east side of the city. Along with the portaloos, some 30,000 chemical toilets have been distributed for in home use. People have to empty their full tanks into 400 human waste disposal tanks spread around the city. Because the Poo Ponds, as we call them, are damaged and not operating at 100% capacity, raw sewage is being pumped into the rivers and to reduce the pressure, people who can flush are being asked to not flush too much.

Two months after the quake, a lot has been achieved but the sheer magnitude of the damage means that it will be a long time before Christchurch begins to return to normal. Estimates are anything from 5 to 10 years for the rebuild . This means that some people will be able to visit several times in this period and see the rebuilding of Christchurch, the Garden City.

That’s what’s happening in Christchurch.

CentrePoint on Colombo via Smartphone …… thanks to Motella

2011-04-24T16:50:00.001+12:00

While we always pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge, ahead of every aftershock, first inline for the portaloo and on the right side of the cordon when it comes to motel related social media developments, we are also prepared to give credit when it is due.

Admittedly the only reason this happened was because we were delayed by dodging the liquefaction, bumping over molehills and avoiding central city roadblocks while out buying Easter eggs for our guests.

But being first is being first and we congratulate Motella for “having their geeks beaver away in the basement ofMotella HQ on the new mobile blog template while most of NZ was relaxing athome away from work and the nation's retail stores this Easter.”

So, between filing our EQC insurance claims, guessing the strength of the latest aftershock and urging people to be careful of splashback when emptying their chemical toilets, we put our thinking hats on and arranged for our hackers to break into the basement of Motella HQ and steal the access codes to the new, fantastic, mobile blog template.

So now we can also beat our chests! The next time you are out-and-about visit CentrePoint on Colombo Motel on your smartphone you will be able to view our blog in a smart new mobile format that's easier to read, navigate, make comments and watch videos on the go.

And if you have any time left after adding to your life by viewing our blog, have a look at Motella’s blog too! It’s almost as good as ours!

Flattened, but racing to rebuild……

2011-04-22T02:17:00.000+12:00

This was the title of an article about the restaurants close to us in today’s paper.

It came as both a shock and relief. I’d heard stories but the reality is hard. Café Valentino- gone. Metro Café – gone. Johnson’s Grocer – gone.

Between here and the Town hall, probably the only restaurants left will be Strawberry Fare and Thai Smile. All the rest will require rebuilding.

So it was great to see in The Press today that there are already plans to start the rebuild.

Reading the article was both a relief and a reality check. We will get our favourite restaurants/shops back but not until the end of the year at the earliest.

This is a big positive for Christchurch and we congratulate Colin, Liz and Michael for staying in this part of town. We look forward to your reopening!

Is Christchurch the place to visit this Easter?

2011-04-20T00:15:00.002+12:00

Post quake Christchurch has turned into a Monday – Thursday town. There are very limited accommodation options during the week but rooms to burn (it’s a euphemism, ok) over the weekends. And the Easter break is no exception. For some reason people just don’t want to come to the Garden City unless they absolutely have to.

But the savvy traveller could turn this to their advantage. They could be the only ones to be able to go back to work next week and say “I went to Christchurch for Easter.” Those that didn’t will only be able to listen with envy while they look over the photos taken at the Red Zone Cordon.

A quick look at Wotif will reveal an abundance of accommodation options over the extended break in Christchurch while Akaroa and Hanmer Springs are Chocca!

The intrepid traveller will know that the chance is there. With so many people not being here, it’s a great time to enjoy post quake Christchurch. Christchurch will be empty – all the recovery workers are back home and most of Christchurch will depopulate to Akaroa, Hanmer or even further away places. The normally crowded restaurants could be back to normal levels and there are just enough attractions operating to keep you busy.

The Antarctic Centre, Punting on the Avon, Botannical Gardens, The Airforce Museum, Orana park, Adrenalin Forrest, Ballooning, Willowbank, Jet boating on the Waimak and a walk around the cordoned area – come and see the Grand Chancellor on a lean before its blown up or falls over!

You will also have the chance to take part in one of the most special Anzac Day Services in the country with the Christchurch one being held in Hagley Park at the more normal hour of 7.30am on Sunday.

You’ll be able to do all this by yourself, cos there aint gonna be anyone here!

And if you decide to stay with us, we’ll shout you a Punt! (Stay at least 1 night between 21 & 25 April inclusive and up to 2 people will receive one free punting ticket each, new direct bookings only. Must mention this blog, of course!)

So take the aftershocks by the goolies and come on! Visit Christchurch this Easter!

The earthquake affects us all

2011-04-14T17:20:00.002+12:00

There are newspaper stories everyday of how the earthquake is affecting everyone’s life. These days some of these stories concern how things can no longer be done in Christchurch and how people have no choice but to leave town to get something done. Here is another of these stories – and it’s about us!

If you had been following us on Twitter and Facebook yesterday you would have noticed that Jeff took a road trip to Dunedin and you may have been wondering why – here’s the story.

Unfortunately Naomi’s Dad in Japan is poorly and we booked tickets for her to go this Saturday on Monday. Then we looked at the passport & found we needed a stamp to get back into NZ – other wise Jeff would end up running the motel by himself forever.....

We rang Immigration (omg their 0800 number is amazing, anything between 25-30 calls waiting time and we waited anything up to 40 minutes for the call to be answered. The last time we used the call back service and they did call back!) and were told that we needed to complete THIS form and post it to the Dunedin office. So, being obedient servants of the State, we downloaded, printed and filled in the form....oops....tried to fill in form. Something didn’t make sense so we rang and waited, this time getting Roy (not real name). We told him what we had been told and he said OMG NO! Don’t use this form and don’t whatever you do, post it!! If you want to go on Saturday, take it to the Dunedin office in person with a cover letter explaining the situation, posting is impossible. Wow! So different, thanks Roy! So, we downloaded the correct form, filled it in and got confused – so back to the 0800 number and another long wait. This time we got Elizabeth (once again, not her real name) who immediately understood our situation and offered to go through all the paperwork so that we would not have any surprises in Dunedin. Yes, it took a while but we got it done. Thank you Elizabeth.

(Cool coastal morning scene)

So this morning I left home at 4.15am, getting to Dunedin at 8.50am. Asked a local where I was and found the Immigration Office. Jumped in the elevator and pressed the “3”, nothing. Pressed another button and ended up being on “4” joined by 2 others. I said I was trying to get to 3 and they said the elevator won’t stop at level 3 till 9. I started saying “Typical Govt Dept.” But stopped myself and asked, “are you guys Govt employees?” and they said “Yes”.........heheheheeeee

Anyway, I went back down to ground level and waited till 9am, still couldn’t press the “3”. Tried again at 9.01 and it worked, I was in! Explained the situation to the person and they said, come back in 90 mins.

Freedom, so I became a tourist & weirdly walked dangerously close to historical stone buildings and marvelled at a citycape of intact buildings. This was reinforced upon passing the Knox Church and Carlton Hotel on my return – my god this city is not normal and there is so much to do. Dunedin leaves us in the dust! Why is it that after 6 months of shaking 1/2 demolished buildings start to look normal. Dunedin was so surprisingly beautiful. I had never looked at Dunedin like that before. I also learnt that the Salvation Army began their activities in Dunedin in 1883. Needed a wake me up boost and so went and had a real great cappuccino at The Black Dog Cafe & Bar – goooood! After that, still had some time and walked into Snip Snip Snip and got my first post quake cut from Amanda!

(Go the Sallies!)

(Christchurch has got corgis, Dunedin's got ..... this)

(A good cappuccino)

Then it was back to Immigration where Naomi’s passport was done! (Usually this would take a number of days) 11.30am, after 2 1/2 hours in a truely Dunner Stunner (what the locals use to refer to a brilliantly beautiful day – which it was) I was in for the 5 hour drive home, slightly tiring but I still found time to Four Square and Tweet the trip home. I’m knackered but Naomi is now ready to go on Saturday.

It is in these little ways that the earthquake is affecting our lives. Today was 10 hours driving for what used to be a 40 minute walk, but that’s life.

But I’d like to give a really big shout out to Roy and Elizabeth and everyone else at Immigration NZ for their wonderful handling of the situation. You guys are really looking after Christchurch and we appreciate it! (sorry but this excludes the first person that put us so wrong!)

(Cool clouds on the way home!)

Thank you New Zealand, thank you!

2011-04-03T23:26:00.001+12:00

Thank you New Zealand, thank you!

This goes out to everyone that has helped us here in Christchurch so far, even those who live here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Let’s look at it, Christchurch is munted, in the east there are at least 10,000 houses needing rebuilding and 128 buildings in the Red Zone have had their lifelines cut short. On top of that, the locals are pretty much stressed out after 6 months of unannounced shakes.

Can we do the recovery by ourselves? Probably not. The announcement of the formation of CERA (Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority) was greeted with trepidation by some because it may lessen the control we have over our own future. But wait a moment, let’s think about it, can we do this by ourselves? The simple answer is, no probably not, there is simply too much to do.

In this way, we have to be aware of just how much the rest of the country is contributing to Christchurch’s recovery. And we need to be thankful to the rest of the country, because they are doing it hard too.

At the motel we have noticed 2 patterns of stay, the long term guest of 3 to 4 weeks and the Monday - Thursday guest. The long term guests are here for the duration and often work everyday. Monday – Thursday guests come into Christchurch for the recovery on Monday, stay 4 nights and then head home on Friday. The easy thing to say is, “Hey! Stay for the other 3 days!” and help us put Christchurch together even faster. But if you think about it, these people all have families too and at the moment they are giving over half of their lives to us. Four nights here in Christchurch means only 3 nights back home, and that must be tough. They are all working long hours here and then spend their down time in a motel a long way from home. They need to go home and see their families, participate in their communities and relax on their lazy boys. The other thing is that they still need to work in their own communities. For every day they spend here, is a day less they spend in their own communities, working and playing and for this reason we must be very grateful to them for the efforts and the sacrifices they are making for us.

For some of our guests this has gone on for 5 weeks now and will probably continue for a number of weeks to come. In addition, long term guests are here for up to 3-4 weeks at a time before returning to their hometowns.

In this way it is easy to see that this Christchurch disaster will have a large effect on all of the country for many years to come.

Hence we are ever so grateful to those that are working here, by themselves, for us, away from their own homes, away from their loved ones, away from their comfort zones, for us. This will go on for a long time to come and we are and will be for a long time yet, very, very grateful for their sacrifices for us.

A Sign of the Shitty Times We Live In!

2011-04-03T00:13:00.001+13:00

(This blog comes with a bad language/bad taste/terrible smell advisory)

This is no reflection on the state of the motel industry but there’s some SSMC (shitty social media communication) going on between the 2 isles of Godzone! Here’s what its all about!

Some may find some parts of this blog disgusting, downright rude, smelly and in bad taste. If you are one of those to react in such a way, click on the little white cross in the red box in the top right hand corner of the screen now. In reality, we in Christchurch have become very used to talking to each other about our pooze and weeze and how we deal with these everyday, so for once you can hear about it as well.

Why is that? It’s because the eastern side of the city no longer has a working sewer system. Some people can still flush their loos but they are being asked not to. In place there are 27,500 chemical toilets, 400 chemical disposal tanks and more than 2,000 portaloos.

(Many thanks to Bebe Thompson for sharing the family's toilet secrets)

When you feel the urge, you either go to the Portaloo on the street corner or, when your chemical toilet is full, you carry your tank of pooze and weeze to the disposal tank (if you’re lucky, its on your street) and empty it in full view of the entire neighbourhood. Little old ladies and short people have to make the trip twice as many times as others because of the difficulty of carrying & lifting a full tank up to empty it. Splashback is a constant worry for all. The council has been encouraging neighbours to make the chore communal – “let me help you empty your chemical toilet tank!” Citizens also have to hope their toilet room is big enough to fit an extra loo in it! Yes, the logistics of taking a crap are somewhat more intense than before.

Now, back to the story. Just as we felt that Christchurch was ready to take another step forward, we woke up to a newspaper headline screaming the horrific fact that there was a 50/50 chance our sewerage system would collapse and the whole city would be enveloped in a poo infused odour.

Just to gross you out totally, currently 40 million litres of sewage (1/4 of the daily total) is leaking out of broken pipes. Just because we can flush our loos doesn’t mean it goes to the proper place! You may ask, where is it going? The answer is no-one knows because the damage is so widespread. Ooooh yuckie!

Apparently the only way to solve the problem is to conserve water – have shorter showers, don’t have baths etc. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about the intestinal flow which results in either No. 1 or No.2 so we encourage the theory of only flush when it’s brown!

Which brings us to today’s topic. Despite the possible impending disaster, there is little visible panic and outside of the article in today’s paper there does not appear to be an overwhelming push to get the word out – not everyone reads the paper after all and there is not any great radio blitz to stop us pooing & peeing. But we decided it was time to put our best foot forward. While us stoic Christchurch people are totally at ease talking about ablutions, we realise that others from outside the city may not be so ready. We decided to take the extraordinary step of placing a laminated notice in each guest room asking guests to flush as little as possible. This alleviates the need to ask guests not to flush their toilets after asking whether they want green or blue milk.

In reality, we do believe that most people in this world do actually know how to live and that the last thing they want to do is spend their holidays reading signs about how they should be spending their holidays.

But, because I prefer smelling fresh air instead of what my bathroom can smell like, we took the plunge, stuck the laminated notice on with Bluetac and tweeted the result. We directed the tweet towards @Motella – the ultimate lover of motel room signage!

I sat waiting for a jovial 140 character limit reply but was disappointed. Oh well, I thought, maybe Gisborne motels are really busy with all the people not coming to Christchurch now. It was not till later that we noticed a facebook posting mentioning a blog entitled – Motel Sign Of The Times.

We are proud to have once again been judged worthy of a mention in the world famous Motella Blog, just as we are happy to be able to share the pain Christchurch is feeling with those who can comfortably sit on their own throne and dispose of their business with the simple push of a button. Shit you guys are lucky!

We hope you all think of this blog next time you are doing what ½ of Christchurch’s population now finds to be a most challenging task. And we hope that as a result of a bit of banter between two motel social media participants – this story reaches a lot further than the stench will if our sewerage system does totally fail…..

Postscript: CentrePoint on Colombo Motel's toilets are flushable.

Speciality Earthquake info Page

2011-03-28T23:30:00.002+13:00

Following on from yesterday’s blog, today we have set up a page on the motel website dedicated to the recent earthquake and its effects on our accommodation services.

As we pointed out yesterday, we believe that people should have the full story before they decide to stay with us.

We’ve done this because there are a lot of people around the world that still think Christchurch is still a beautiful city just waiting to be visited and because our annual advertising rotation means that the post 222 reality is not reflected in many promotional blurbs.

So we’ve set up a page explaining our position and situation as the closest accommodation provider to the cordoned area and how a guest, if they choose to stay with us, can get the most out of their stay. We’ve also added a guide showing already operating local shops and restaurants, as well as some that will be opening soon.

So that people may appreciate what has actually happened here we have also added links to the Civil Defence videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3-Kdt5XpHo, TV3 video and the before/after aerial photo distributed by the City Council.

We hope that this will provide visitors to Christchurch with information needed to efficiently allocate their time and also get them into local shops, restaurants and activities where they will hopefully spend lots of money!

It’s still a work in progress but we intend to update it often to hopefully reflect the fast progressing recovery process.

Trip Advisor Sympathy Vote

2011-03-27T17:21:00.002+13:00

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how you get it as long as you get it! And today, here from disaster central in Muntchurch is one of those stories.

Over the last 3 years we’ve worked hard and that’s been recognised by the travelling public who have written nice, not so nice and sometimes not really nice at all things about us on Trip Advisor. Thanks to a happy aggregate of these varying opinions, CentrePoint on Colombo Motel has been in the top 2 Hotels in Christchurch since 25 Aug 2009.

One reason we’ve done it is because we deliver what we promise. If our website says you’ll get a smile on arrival than that is indeed what you’ll get. None of those “but we thought we would get….” Stories here!

This presented us with a dilemma after the 22 Feb earthquake. In the space of 20 seconds almost everything good about us was destroyed. True, a lot of people are entertained by Jeff’s ???(you choose the adjective) way of looking at the world and impressed by Naomi’s attention to detail, but we also got lots of points for being so close to the best Christchurch has to offer, and we lost all that.

What’s more we were cordoned and curfewed for 17 days. The dilemma was, how could we possibly take people’s money (we don’t do this only for love you know!) without feeling guilty. These people booked on the good side of the shakey shake believing they would be staying in one of the best places in Christchurch! The reality post 22 Feb was very different. We still need the money to survive but we didn’t want to unnecessarily make people come and stay either. The last thing we wanted was unhappy guests. We’d rather try find a new type of guest that we can make happy.

Cancellations galore rolled in after the quake, and we advised people to avoid Christchurch if they could, but we were able to fill a lot of rooms with international media and disaster recovery personal and this was our happy median - we were not disappointing anyone and we were able to sell rooms and keep some cash flowing in.

But we were concerned about how we could maintain our Trip Advisor status! Sure Christchurch is seriously munted but it’ll slowly get better and we’ll be here guiding visitors and making sure they get the best out of what there is left of Christchurch. So it would be nice to keep our ranking!

Step up the sympathy vote!! What we have noticed since the quake is a lot of our previous guests stepping up and taking the time to write their reviews now. It is truly uplifting. What can we say?

First we say thanks, thanks for writing and thanks for thinking of us. Second we say thanks again, cos it gives us a little lump in our throats to read the messages of encouragement from so many guests that have stayed with us in the past.

Our motel has been bloody good in the past and will be bloody good again, we just need to get through these first few months till Christchurch gets off its knees and past guest’s comments is one way we’ll do it.

To those who have taken the time – thanks. To those who haven’t – now’s good!

In the meantime, we’ll be getting info out as best we can, telling people about the situation at CentrePoint on Colombo Motel and how we can help you enjoy Christchurch. Sometimes that will involve telling potential guests to stay in another part of town, but we’d rather do that than just taking their money.

Christchurch Earthquake - Rapid Assessment

2011-03-27T00:15:00.002+13:00

The Rapid Assessment is an important part of the Christchurch recovery effort with every house in Christchurch being visited in the 8 weeks from 11 March to divide all houses in Christchurch into 5 groups. We had ours yesterday and got the “no structural damage” top ranking which is what we expected.

The EQC or Earthquake Commission is a quasi-govt insurance system. Everyone that has private house insurance pays a compulsory part of their insurance premium to the EQC. I always thought it was bloody stupid since Christchurch doesn’t have earthquakes….mmmmmm.

How it works is that the first $100,000(plus GST) of earthquake damage is covered by the EQC and anything after that by private insurance. Weird indeed, why $100K? This is because when the system was set up in 1979, that amount covered most houses. There was not an inflation component built in. EQC also pays up to $20,000(plus GST) for contents damage.

The rapid assessment programme is a first in NZ and came about from the problems that arose from not having a good programme in place after the September quake.

Our assessor arrived without prior notice (part of the system), looked around the residential area, sat down, tapped away on his ipad (not a 2) and then left, all within about 15 minutes. We now wait 6-9 months for a full assessment. We don’t mind because many other are far worse off than ourselves.

Closest Lux Motel to the Red Zone…..

2011-03-24T23:46:00.000+13:00

Following on from the last blog, here is how we are coping with guests wanting to book with us. We’ve made a name for ourselves by being a good motel in tip top shape, offering bloody good service with friendly personalities, and being close to town. The reality is that people are still looking to book based on that information and so we feel we have to tell them the real situation we are faced with here just a stones throw from the Red Zone cordon. After that its up to them whether they cancel or not!

This is how we are doing it;

We are just a stone throw from the Red Zone Cordon.

Hello Mary travelleer

This is about your planned visit to Christchurch.

We’d like to explain how it is here so you can make an informed decision about staying with us.

While we are fully operational, the condition of the surrounding area means we are not as convenient to stay at as before.

Until 22 Feb. we were the Closest Luxury Motel to the City Centre, but the city centre is no more.

Depending on the area referred to, it is estimated that 60% to 80% of the buildings in the CDB will have to be demolished.

Sure you could come and stay but there are no longer any shops or restaurants in the area that can be walked to. Driving is necessary.

The other thing is that the traffic can be gridlocked and what used to take 10 minutes can easily take 30-40 minutes depending on the time of day.

The centre of Christchurch is still cordoned and the Red Zone no-go area barricade is just 50 metres away.

This makes us somewhat isolated from the accessible part of central Christchurch where the Botanical Gardens are open. To get there is a 40 min walk one way.

Naomi and I would love to be able to welcome you to Christchurch, but please be aware that our current situation is very different from when you made the decision to stay with us.

We are staying here to help rebuild this wonderful city and we look forward to welcoming you to a new Christchurch in the future!

You can follow our progress on our blog, facebook and twitter. (all accessible from the motel homepage)

Using our guest map to show the off limits areas in Central Christchurch