Christchurch Earthquake... again...

At 12.50pm on 22 February, 2011, someone decided that Christchurch had not had enough.  We will never know why this verdict was reached but the penalty was harsh.  We have been visited by a vicious ripping apart of the earth and much that we love in our beautiful city is no more.  This of course refers to both the poor souls who are no longer with us as well as the physical destruction.

Once again, we begin our blog journey as we start to get back to normal and will make periodic updates.  

Today’s message was written to reply to all those who asked how we were.

Thanks for the email and your kind thoughts.  We really do appreciate them and we do need them.  Our beautiful city is a mess, the Cathedral Spire is down, 65 are confirmed dead and many are still trapped in collapsed buildings.  Over 1000 people are sleeping in Hagley Park but at least the big tents are up for the Flower Show and they are out of the rain.

We are shaken but safe.  The Motel is structurally sound and we have power but no water 10 hours after the quake.  We should be back to normal in a day or two and we are thankful for that.  It is the wider city area and those trapped, injured and dead that our hearts go out to.  

The kids were both at school and we spent a stressful 3 hours until we got confirmation that they were ok.  Being kids they were excited and we let them go take some photos.  It was not the time to lay down rules, this was their way of coping and they are good, responsible kids.  Some cops told them to get out of the central city and go home….they said they live in the central city!  

In a word, it was massive, much bigger than the 4 Sep quake.  In that quake we did not have any damage in the rooms but this time we lost 95% of our plates, cups and glasses and a few other things will require repairing.  We will need a massive shopping trip but we should be back to normal in a day or two!

In September the quake was 30kms away and a magnitude 7.1.  This time it was situated pretty much under Lyttelton and it was only 5km deep.  The magnitude was only 6.3 but the shallowness and closeness made the result so much worse.

Just as we thought things were getting better after 4 Sep., we are back at step 0.  Tomorrow we take step 1, and then step 2.  One step at a time till we get back to normal again.

Thanks for thinking of us! We really appreciate it.

CentrePoint on Colombo honored in the 2011 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards

Results are out and this year we are on the list, giving us one of those real nice warm fuzzy feelings!

• CentrePoint on Colombo

CentrePoint on Colombo Motel is in the Top 10 Hotels for Service in South Pacific Category by TripAdvisor® in its 2011 Travelers’ Choice® awards.


What more can we say, you’ve just gotta come and stay!

Many thanks to all our guests who have taken the time to review us. Great things happen when great people come together!


We’ve applied for a plaque to put on the counter (can’t wait!) and some flash keycards from TripAdvisor to show off our award.

Go to Trip Advisor and see just what everyone has been saying about us. There’s lots to read with 225 reviews; 178 Excellent, 45 very good, 1 average, 0 poor, and 1 terrible. Yes! 1 terrible - have a read and see what you think! 

We’re happy to be able to say that we get a real good range of people, from first timers to veteran Trip Advisor users reviewing our accommodation. Many thanks to all of you.


For the complete 2011 Travelers’ Choice list, go to www.tripadvisor.com/travelerschoice.

When Tweople get twogether

Today a bunch of people, most of them Tweople got together and did a number of amazing things.


Best of all, we gave #eqnz a big kick in the goolies, but we also helped out some people who have been kicked in the goolies by #eqnz. Give and take?

Missing Link is a business here in the Christchurch CBD in a beautiful heritage(?) building that survived the Sept. 4 quake but was red carded (means need to be fixed before people can use again) after the Boxing Day quake.

 The powers at be decided that while it was red carded, Missing Link was able to have a limited amount of time to get things removed as long as a structural engineer was present. #eqnz wasn’t gonna stop us!

So Twitter came to the fore and the word went out resulting in about 40 people, employees and Tweople etc. getting together to clean out the office in 55 minutes.

Don’t know about the others, but mr15 and myself responded to the twitter request to help some people in need, and as a way of saying Sod Off!! to #eqnz. We have been relatively lucky in this disaster and so its noice to be able to help those that have had a bit more shaken out of them than we have.

A lot of people wonder just what social media can do but this little effort today shows that something good can come from a bunch of people tapping away with a limit of 140 characters!


Footnote: Tweople are people who tweet. A lot of twitter words start with Tw, for example, twogether. #eqnz is a twitter hashtag which refers to the 4 Sep. earthquake. Goolies are goolies.


Follow @Centrepntmotel on twitter and enrich your life!?

19th New Zealand Scout Jamboree

Mr15 and mr12 are with the more than 4000 Scouts and leaders who are taking part in the 19th New Zealand Scout Jamboree at Mystery Creek in Hamilton.


We are enjoying a staycation having the house to ourselves!

Mr15 went up in the Malvern Scout Group advance party to set the campsite up on 28 Dec and mr12 went up one day later. They are due to arrive back in 2 days after 10 days of fun and adventure. If you want to know more about what they are all doing, view the Jamboree facebook page

Mr15, Tak, who has recently been awarded his Chief Scouts Award, the highest award that can be achieved while in Scouts (as opposed to the next level, Venturers) got a special mention in the daily report from the Contingent Leader Adrian Price.


The following is some excerpts from the daily report;


“It was an exciting morning when the Governor General, Anand Satynand dropped by with RH Bill English and RH Phil Goff to see the Jamboree and to have lunch with Takuma Peters who has achieved his Chief Scout award.


Tak went along to the Chief Scout's Luncheon with around 120 other Chief Scouts who have been awarded their badge this year. Jo and I vetted his uniform and presentation last night and Tak organised cover for when he would be away from his patrol during the day. We borrowed a few things from amongst the troop to make sure he had some smarter pants, and a more modern shirt, but I felt like a proud uncle as he walked off to his appointment with the Scouting top brass as well as the top echelon of our political system, representing our group. Well done Tak.


He's become an aspirational goal for our Scouts and a number of them came up to us afterwards to ask just how they could get on the track to their own Chief Scout next year, a few of these were Scouts who'd expressed their intention to leave after the Jamboree.”


Reading that gave us a warm fuzzy feeling and made us feel proud parents! Well done to Tak for the commitment, perseverance and determination required in getting his Chief Scouts Award!


Footnote: Jeff is a Queen Scout (highest award in Scouting) and his Grandfather was a King Scout. Jeff is currently the Chair of the Malvern Scout Group Committee.


Interested in Scouting, call 0800scouts.

Oh no! Not again – Boxing Day Earthquake

Yes, again, but once again the motel had no damage and is operating normally.

Here’s what happened.

In Christchurch everyone had a quiet Christmas day with no noticeable aftershocks. It was indeed a relief, perhaps too much of a relief.

No sooner had the big day finished, we were revisited by aftershocks again. The first came just after 2am on 26 December, Boxing Day, and had us up checking that all was ok – yes we get used to it!

Can’t remember if we noticed the 5.30am shake but we did notice the one just after 8am. It brought back memories of just after the September quake when we had numerous shakey shakes in one day – was today going to be another one of these days?


We found out at 10.30am when we had a 4.9 aftershock – but was it an aftershock – technically yes but it felt more like an earthquake to us. The big difference was that the epicenter of this shake was at the corner of Moorhouse Ave and Montreal St. just over 2 kms from here, and it was shallow. It was a little frightening because the shaking was once again different from the other aftershocks we have been having, and as it turned out, it was more violent than the 4 Sep. shake. Luckily it was only 4-5 seconds long.

Still, the damage was done and this time it was centered in the centre of the city. Many older buildings which escaped damage in the 4 Sep quake were not so lucky this time and once again buildings were getting red stickers on them.

This time the damage was mainly limited to the central city area and our area escaped unharmed. Here at the motel, we and the building were shaken but once again we did not sustain any damage.

We can once again be thankful as no-one was injured and Christchurch just has another mess to clean up. Christchurch is once again shaken but we are still good!

Now, 5 days on, while a few buildings still have fences around them, the cordons have all been lifted and tonite’s New Year Party in the Cathedral Square will go on as planned.

We wish everyone a most wonderful New Year and look forward to welcoming everyone to Christchurch in 2011.

A Heavenly Spectacle in Christchurch

Today we were treated to 2 heavenly spectacles in Christchurch, a wonderful Nor’ Wester sunset and a Lunar Eclipse.

 We were not only able to remember to look at the right time but we also managed to take a few picks to capture the grandeur of the moments.

The Nor’ West wind flow fair wacked us today but it was worse down south towards Ashburton. Still, I had to tie up the trees to stop them being blasted out of shape!

Towards evening we were treated to a 30 minute transitional light display as the setting sun lit up the Christchurch sky.

The lunar eclipse was set for 9pm but no-one could find the moon. Troublesome. But towards 10pm Mr. Moon finally made an appearance and we were treated to our second celestial delicacy of the evening. It’s these small things that life is about!

And just in case you did not see it we decided to point it out to you!

 Tomorrow may be somewhat boring with just a sunrise and sunset.

New Way to Look at Christchurch!

Want to know what central Christchurch looks like at 7am each morning?


Follow us on Twitter or Facebook to find out!

This all started on 4 September, the day of the Canterbury Earthquake(blog). We never lost the electricity here at the motel but when I walked out onto Colombo St. around 5am and looked towards town, there was nothing. The whole central city area was enveloped in darkness. Believe me, that was a strange feeling.


That started my habit of walking out onto Colombo St. each morning, usually when I got the newspapers, and looking towards the central city – can’t explain why, Christchurch has always just been Christchurch. Maybe it was just to make sure Christchurch was still there – especially since the Cathedral is clearly visible from the motel entrance. Maybe the quake has raised people’s awareness of the city they live in.


Now, each morning when I get the newspapers around 7am, I take a quick shot of central Christchurch and a hopefully topical part of the morning paper to share with everyone. So join me and enjoy the best city in the world 7am series.