Christchurch - A Story from the Coalface

Christchurch - A Story from the Coalface

This story from Jim Davis Harcourts South Island and Canterbury Business Development Manager sums up the attitude of one company, Harcourts, badly affected by the quake.

I thought with this update I would tell you how we have spent the weekend, and the efforts of so many Harcourts personal. Its a bit of a story but what the hell.

Katey lane from our city office team, rang me early Saturday morning for help. Katey along with other members of the city office have been associated with St John’s ambulance service for quite some time. The service needed help with coordination of meals etc and feeding of ambulance crew and paramedic crew. So via our Auckland staff a text went out for volunteers to assist on a roster to prepare and cook food. Within minutes Gilly was swamped with offers of people within Harcourts prepared to help.

Photo: Taking a Rest Break - Ambulance station 4.00a.m.



Then we needed food, same again sales consultants manning a depot in ChCh were swamped with food deliveries after numerous people were tasked with finding, meat vegetables etc. With staff and food and under the guidance of Lizzy Moyle (Johns x chef daughter) a makeshift kitchen emerged within the four avenues cordon to feed ambulance and other rescue work personal. Volunteers from Harcourts started arriving to cook, Libby McCormack is I can tell you a dab hand with a potato peeler.

To give you an idea of what it’s like everything including water is driven in, at all times you have to carry a dust mask, not only because of the constantly billowing liquefaction dust, but because should the massive Grand Chancellor building suddenly fall the resulting dust cloud is expected to be all enveloping.

Initially the makeshift kitchen was a scene of chaos, but gradually it all came together. One of the many suppliers of items from our call for food was the Wai-ora gardens community trust, who turned up with a HUGE high sided trailer of freshly picked vegetables. Once the team in town had taken what they needed we still had almost 2/3rd of a full trailer, so a decision was made to take that through to Lyttleton for the community over there.

So John Moyle and I along with an escorting St Johns vehicle had the job of driving the trailer thru the road tunnel to Lyttleton. It is a scary feeling driving in a tunnel in CHCH at the moment, but arriving in Lyttleton is an eye opener, naval vessels in the harbour, and army and navy people everywhere. We got directed to the community park where 100s of people are being fed and entertained. We meet Heather Chick and soon we had a human chain passing out vegetables to the community. It’s a sobering thing to see people walking away carrying 4/5 cobs of corn wrapped up in their jersey.
While we were there the local authorities announced that another 50 homes were declared unliveable and those families were being re housed and fed in the community hall. 

So as we drove back to CHCH I was on the phone to the ever waiting Auckland regional staff, chase up Auckland businesses.  "Lyttleton needs emergency supplies of food". Same response “leave it to us we’ll sort it”.

Its funny how life works, we had just finished that call to Emma in Auckland and my phone went from a friend of mine, as we chatted, I told him what we had been doing, and that we needed supplies. Immediately he handed his phone to a man called Grenville Thomas who owned the Oxford on Avon pub/hotel, in central CHCH within the cordon. Grenville’s pub is a bit munted , but it has an outside chiller room that is now without power and is stock full of 100s of kgs of meat that the hotel had in storage. If we could get to the site we were welcome to the meat, before it all went rotten. Another quick call to St John’s and along with other personal they took a truck and went and salvaged Beef, chicken, pork the works. It’s a good Job Lyttleton people aren’t vegetarian.

Sunday has been much the same dozens of Harcourts people manning the drop off depot, others cooking, some running the supplies between the sites, thru it all it seems a bit surreal to be driving down Moorhouse Ave and seeing large 8 wheel army vehicles with guns running through the streets.

Despite it all you still get a laugh or two.  Phil McGoldrick and I along with a few others got asked to go and raid one of the damaged ”warehouse stores “ in the city ( with their permission) for supplies so off we go and get let into a warehouse store hit by an earthquake, I’m sure you can visualise what it was like inside. Armed with a list and trolleys we were all combing and pushing through the aisles to find what was required. For me with my advancing old age I had stopped in the area of the store where the $2 glasses were so that I could properly see and identify what we where needing, and who should ring at that time none other than Thomo from Australia just checking in. Needless to say he had quite a laugh at my expense.

I tell you though walking back through a quake ridden city pushing trolleys loaded with warehouse items, you don’t need a Phil McGoldrick asking if anyone else feels like a Looter.

Watching Ali Aitken and Clare Beer drive off in a St John’s vehicle to fill up the empty Gas bottles we had collected is also a sight, as I said to them they needn’t go anywhere there was plenty of verbal gas coming from that vehicle to power any BBQ.

So tonight more crews of consultants are working through the night peeling spuds, cooking and plating meals, despite the dust, dirt and whats happened in their own lives, you can’t but wonder about the human spirit and the Harcourts family and how they band together at the best & worst of times.

During the course of the weekend we have spoken with heaps of Harcourts people out on shovels, working with other organisations and just helping where they can. No matter where you are you can be proud of what Harcourts people are doing within CHCH.

I better stop rambling now otherwise Berty will think I have changed into a certified “Tree Hugger”

Stay safe