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Cars in MacKenzie Avenue, Woolston - Source: Supplied by Wayne Henderson -
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I'm sitting on a footpath looking at my city.
I was born only about three blocks from here.
For fifteen years I played rugby at the park 200 metres down the road.
I can see the Burger King where my flatmates and I used to feed our hangovers in the years I spent studying.
There's a big intersection here. To be honest, it's always been a bastard. A major four lane avenue moving across the CBD intersects with a major road leading straight into the CBD.
As well as that, there's a major road leading straight to some of Christchurch's leafier suburbs. No matter what road you're on or where you're going, traffic always builds up here. You have to rely on an intermittent green arrow to ever get across. People always push it and gas it on the yellow-red.
Today the roads are messier than ever. There's a cop standing in the middle, I think he's an Australian actually; he's trying to direct vehicles as they creep up. One road's cordoned, several lanes are out on the other ones and there are cones everywhere.
Across from me there's a magnificent old church where I had to play a music concert once upon a time. I remember it had a glorious high ceiling and the music would sound deep and wonderful as it filled the hall. Now there's an enormous cavity in the side. A wall of red bricks has crumbled down. They've spewed onto the road in a heap and there's bright emergency tape all around it. I hope nobody was under it when they fell.
Down by the park where I played rugby are more cordons. I can see a couple of army guys there pacing around. I feel sorry for them... they have to do 12 hour shifts and they're not allowed to sit down. They constantly get bugged and questioned by munters, slightly crazy people who crave a bit of attention.
Every night before curfew one of the army's huge armoured vehicles parks up. They vehicles look a bit like battle tanks, and they attract munters to cordons like moths to flames.
Oop, there's an aftershock. Wasn't a major one. Don't think that cop even noticed.
I still haven't checked out Burger King. It looks ok, I don't think anyone could have been trapped, but I'm not sure about the damage inside. The building next door to it is an old brick pub, and that's been completely destroyed. It has a flag pole on top which used to point straight up. Now it's on the sort of angle that you'd hammer in a tent peg.
From where I'm sitting I can see inside to the rooms upstairs. One of them has a lime green wall. It's quite a startling colour, a bold/brave/potentially regrettable decision for whoever was once charged with redecorating.
I wonder what colour they'll paint it next time. I wonder if a new church will be built, and I wonder if it'll have high ceilings for music concerts with deep, rich sound. I wonder if anyone will play rugby at the park this season.
This city I know so well is no longer the city I know so well. She's torn and broken and bleeding.
