Been back in Christchurch now the last few days doing more climbing and surfing. Rode through a couple midnight aftershocks since we've been here as well. This is definitely an interesting place to be right now. It doesn't take long to figure out that the city is currently just a visage of its former self. For starters, the entire city center, the heart of the business district and cultural core is closed. Square blocks (maybe 10 x 10) are completely shut down, barricaded, every building within that boundary uninhabitable, in the process of either being torn down or completely rehabilitated (in the case of old masonry landmarks, like churches and museums). Outside of there, the damage is spotty, but equally apparent. Just about every church in the city is a fenced-off, half-standing pile of rubble with the steeple braced upright on the ground nearby. Homes are wrapped in red tape, cliffs have crumbled, undermining foundations above and crushing backyards below, businesses are shuttered, heavy equipment visible through remaining storefronts, entire buildings missing, the din of demolition equipment (jackhammers and squealing metal equipment tracks) constant throughout the city. Over 600,000 properties have been red-tagged. The most damaging quakes were a 7.1 in Sept 2010 and a 6.3 in Feb 2011. The aftershocks are constant. In the last 24 hours alone, there have been 10 earthquakes ranging from 2.5 to 4.1.
People are obviously missing from the city as well. The place is a ghost town. Something like a third of the population has relocated to other parts of the country. Everyday the paper is full of stories about the recovery effort, insurance claims, and the government's next steps. They're putting the total anticipated cost between 20 and 30 Billion. Unfortunately, a lot of the rebuild effort is tied up in insurance claims. People are getting pay-outs to vacate their properties (residential and commercial) because even if they could reach a settlement to rebuild, the insurance companies aren't willing to reinsure, the government isn't stepping in to guarantee anything, and people can't afford the risk on their own - so they're taking what they can get and leaving. Despite all of that, the folks that have stayed here are surprisingly upbeat. They love this place and believe it will be rebuilt, and seem to understand that it won't be the same and will take a long time to get there, but they're still here, going about their lives. A lot of business are operating out of shipping containers and temporary facilities - some nice ones too - I imagine some of them will stay like that permanently.
So, this might not be a bad place to find work after all, but that will have to be another day. The plan right now is to spend a week at home, then meet a friend in Peru at the beginning of February, travel for another 2 months (into Central America, finally visit my family in Panama) and then go back to work. If it's still quiet in Southern Cali, then Christchurch might not be a bad place to look. There is some work unfolding here. Aside from being on the other side of the planet, it's strikingly similar to California: lots of sun, golden rolling hills, plenty of surf, nearby mountains - what else can you ask for? Family and friends, that's what, which is why I'd rather be home, but I do have to return to the world of the employed at some point, wherever that may be, and being a part of the resurrection of this city would be a really cool thing to be a part of, so maybe...
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