It’s bizarre how you can step outside of a place you have been for a long time and all of a sudden the memory of living there and all the associations with the place disappear as if they were only a dream. It’s hard to believe also that it’s been so long since I wrote my last blog; my priorities between then and until my arrival back became largely about more immediate concerns with my health and the state of my assignment.
Back in May I left Choiseul in a hell of a rush and not knowing when I would be back but hoping that it would be sooner rather than later to avoid breaks in continuity of the assignment, but also realising that there a number of road blocks that needed to be sorted by others before I could continue working.
So it was a hustle to get a seat on the plane at the time that I was trying to get out; the twin otter was out of action getting repairs and in its place was what looked to me like a tiny toy plane. At first the airline agent wasn’t buying my desperation to get out, so I was trapped, I needed a plan. After visiting the local Doctor I eventually got a letter backing my case, with a bit more pleading and attaching myself limpet like to the agents front desk , I was on the next flight to Honiara. I was very lucky as I was up against a number of others also trying to make a case for getting on the plane. In the end I was relieved to get a plane ride out as it the only other option to get off the Island would have been a four hour plus boat trip over some rough seas to Gizo.
Arriving in Honiara I landed on my feet in the flashiest of all the hotels in town (thanks insurance) and then headed off to the Doctor who then sent me to Honiara hospital; previously I had been to the hospital but this time was surprised anew at just how run down it was, just outside the room where I was to get a blood test was a lovely deep open drain with soupy black polluted water, inside the facilities were well and truly falling apart; I was just hoping that the needle that would be stuck in my arm would be one that hadn’t been used before. But here in the Solomon’s even though they don’t have the facilities and equipment like NZ or Australia, they do a pretty damn good job with what limited resources they have available. My concerns were as they so often are here, unwarrented, as they had a whole bag of clean ones.
Eventually the results came back showing nothing significant which was a good thing, but still didn’t resolve the issue of what was really wrong so the insurance company suggested a trip back to New Zealand for further tests to get to the bottom of what was really was going on, who was I to argue as I was languishing in Honiara.
Christchurch; it ain’t Choiseul
Getting back to Christchurch happened quickly and before I knew it was flying back over the Southern Alps and touching down in my home town. I hadn’t been back after the big February quake and it wouldn’t be for some time till I really got my head around the full extent of the damage that had occurred, but it was nice to be home; the last 8 months out in the Solomon’s had been trying and at time very frustrating so it was nice to not have to worry about all that side of life for a while and just focus on getting better and hopefully issues with the assignment would be resolved in my absence.
Over time it became clear what the earthquake meant to people in Christchurch. It appeared that eastern Christchurch had been hit the hardest while areas on the west had suffered minimal damage or not even hit at all. As is so often the case those with the least resources get hit the hardest and this was the same with the Christchurch quake, the east of getting hammered while the wealthy on west could continue on almost as per usual. The quake I think reinforced the east west divide that has always existed in Christchurch more starkly than ever before.
The family home has been buggered essentially, lots of movement has created many cracks in the walls and the floor in parts of the house seems to run downhill and the roof of the garage has a big dip in the middle were the concrete foundation has dropped significantly. Years of investment and building up a family home have largely been destroyed; it was a very hard time to be there. What the future of the only home that I have known is unclear, but the suburbs and the area where I grew up will never be the same again and that was difficult to fully accept; This house so full of memories.
In crisis situations like this, aspects of both the best and worst of human nature are highlighted and it appeared that there were clearly two distinct groups. There were people that were constructively dealing with the situation and looking to the future and then there were those that were trying to gain as much from the situation as much as possible. A number of contractors fell into the latter category and sadly I heard of a number of stories where residents were doing the same. It was an even split from what I could tell, but those that are working to promote visions of a new city and working on building stronger sustainable communities have the upper hand, the Avon River Park proposal being an example of one of the brilliant concepts to come out of post-quake Christchurch.
Largely the time was nowhere near as productive as I would have liked it too be, but I did manage to spend time with a number of friends, many of them in the ‘green business’ restoring the Christchurch and Canterbury environments. It’s always been a strange anomaly of New Zealand ecology scene; the ambitious and visionary work largely being done by local government staff and not for profit organisations in urban Christchurch. While most of New Zealanders praise efforts to clear pests and restore offshore Islands, development of predator proof sanctuaries in North Island bush, or captive breeding of endangered native bird species; the work in Christchurch continues to deliver huge environmental dividends largely unrecognised by the wider environmental community in New Zealand.
The work many friends have been doing in urban Christchurch will in time get the full recognition it deserves. But for me I am happy to count these people as friends and to be able to appreciate that even in uncertain times these people and their projects are positive examples of the good people can do if given the resources, time and opportunity.
Eventually I started to find some solutions to my health and it was a lot simpler than I had expected. I worked with a physiotherapist who massaged a point at the top of my spine, eventually it became clear that all the knocks I have had to the head had created this issue of on-going headaches and thankfully it wasn’t some inoperable brain tumour. Eventually after almost 2 full months it was time to head back. It was going to be a struggle to head back to uncertainty and leave mums cooking, cooler temperatures and a malaria free environment.
But my assignment still had a lot of time left on the clock and I was hopeful that there would be some new projects to work on and a house to move into when I arrived back, so it was back on the plane with bags fully packed taking everything I could possibly need for myself and for friends in Choiseul (including soccer balls, soccer boots, fishing rod, muesli bars, books etc.) This time it needed to be Choiseul 2.0.
