exponential kiwi

Happy (shaky) New Year

It has been a dispiriting start to 2012 with yet another swarm of quakes that started on Dec 23rd.

Coupled with this has been widespread unease over land zoning. On the one hand, there are properties in Kaiapoi zoned red where some residents are claiming the land is fine (in spite of reports apparently suggesting otherwise), their houses are relatively undamaged and having to move is causing considerable distress and hardship; on the other are suburbs like Parklands where many residents are growing weary of silted up streets and sink holes while being told the land is stable and they’re good for a rebuild - all they want is a pay out so they can move!

Homes deemed at risk from rockfall are in the spotlight too with residents refusing to go facing the prospect of stiff fines if they fail to budge.

I’m sure there’s still a lot of good intention out there to sort the problems we have here in Canterbury. Is it just simply the sheer scale of damage that is derailing the process or is it that broadbrush land assessments are missing the individual nuances of what the land is doing in particular areas? Is the bitter debate over land zoning just the inevitable outcome of tough decisions having to be made, in which case the consequences of those decisions are being borne very unevenly across the region.

We remain relatively unscathed here in Rangiora and the town is going through a growth bonanza. I really do feel for anyone trying to rebuild and start again in what is now an over-heated housing market.

Portacom Press

I paid a call to Avenues Editor Yvonne Martin recently at the portacom village out near Christchurch Airport - home to The Press & local Fairfax staff since the February earthquake. It’s humbling to see how little space they have out there & a credit to all that the magazine has continued to roll out, month after month. The setting is about as inspiring as a shoebox! The canteen’s pretty good though and I suspect everyone is feeling alot safer where they are than they were at the start of the year in their old building in the Square, (now gone, of course).

They’re all relocating back into the CBD shortly, though to even call it ‘the CBD’ seems wide of the mark. More like CDZ - Central Disaster Zone!

It seems a few other businesses are now starting to head back into the centre too so here’s hoping it marks the start of something constructive. What a weird environment it’s going to be though, with so few familiar landmarks remaining.

I just wish everyone at The Press and Avenues a safe and productive return to the heart of Christchurch and hope the new building works out very well for them.

Rangiora documentary maker Amy O’Connor

I recently interviewed Amy for essence magazine, in particular focussing on her recently completed documentary Strawberries with the Fuhrer. This is the title of Helga Tiscenko’s autobiography, in which she describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a Nazi General. The discomforting part of it, as Amy’s documentary so admirably captures, is that Helga really had no idea of the atrocities being committed by the regime of which her father was a high-ranking member. She remembers her parents as being kind and loving; only much later did she come to question how they could have been a part of something so evil. Amy also interviewed Helga’s daughter for this documentary and she describes the feelings of shame and guilt that she still has because of her grandfather’s actions in the war.

Amy screened her documentary in Rangiora on August 28, which I’m pleased to report was very well supported. The first screening was sold out so it was shown for a second time. This is great work from Amy, who is a very talented young producer and director.

Over the Wide and Trackless Sea …

This is the title of a book by historian Megan Hutching, which describes the lives of pioneer women and girls of New Zealand.

I’ve just finished reading this book and was particularly struck by the terribly hard life of one Danish woman, Christine Nielsen, who came to this country with her husband in the early 1870s. Not long after they arrived at their remote bush home near Waipawa, her husband Niels suffered a major heart attack that effectively left him an invalid. So Christine ended up single-handedly building their slab hut, splitting shingles for the roof, making bricks to build an oven, raising eight children and running the family farm. The nearest source of supplies was a three day journey away and involved two river crossings! Apparently she sold bread to try and make ends meet. ‘Tough’ doesn’t come close to describing what life must have been like for her.

Sadly, Christine died at 46, apparently worn down by over-work and a poor diet. Phew, what a life…

I have also enjoyed reading Jim Henderson’s book Swagger Country and David Lange’s autobiography in the last few weeks. Both good reads.

2011 Surf Rescue Media Awards

Sad to say I missed out on the best feature story, but it was still fantastic to be one of the three finalists at the above awards. They were held at Government House in Auckland on Tuesday evening (July 26). The top prize went to Donna Chisholm of North & South, who is widely regarded as the best feature writer in the land … so, I probably never stood much of a chance. It was great to raise some awareness, nonetheless, that glossy magazines like Latitude do exist in Canterbury, as do fantastic family surf clubs like North Canterbury’s Waikuku Beach Surf Life Saving Club. Take a bow everyone!

The mixing and mingling was fun at Government House. I caught up with former Holmes colleague Vicki Wilkinson-Baker, as well as Donna who used to be features editor when I was a reporter at the Sunday Star-Times back in the late 1990s. Being a devoted freelancer and a mother, it’s not often that I find myself with a glass of wine, wearing heels and nibbling finger food of an evening.

It was great to be able to spend some time with family in Auckland as well, cruising Queen St. It’s like a foreign country - no quake damage, no cordons.