Sunset on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula
Around lunchtime on Tuesday (Monday evening for those on the East Coast) I felt my world shake. The floorboards rattled, lamps and bedside goods threatened to fall from their perch, picture-frames twisted violently on the wall, and all power was lost. And then it was over. After the voice from the radio informed me of the magnitude of the earthquake, the bureau quit grinding the floor, the picture-frames settled at a perfect angle, and the lights came back on. This was an experiential exhibition at the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand, located in the capital city of Wellington (my home for the next four months), roughly 400 kilometers north of where the actual earthquake was occurring in Christchurch.
For the past few hours I’d been touring the Awesome Forces exhibit, which primarily serves to bring the country’s seismic activity and volcanic eruptions to life through large-screen projections and simulations like the shake-house I’d just come out of. I read about all the major faults, how overdue Wellington is for an earthquake, and how it lies within a collision-zone between two of the Earth’s great tectonic plates, sitting on top of one of the region’s most active geological faults.
Wellington is a vibrant city of about 390,000 people, the country’s arts and cultural center, and the most isolated capital city in the world. Sitting along Cook Strait, which connects the Tasman Sea with the South Pacific Ocean, as well as the North and South islands, Wellington is home to a beautiful harbor and beach, and a strong nightlife that incorporates the cultural diversity of its people. Over the past few weeks I’ve come to feel extremely at home here, through attending rugby and soccer matches at Westpac Stadium, drinking local beers downtown on Cuba Street, running in the mornings along the waterfront, or just enjoying the friendliness that everyone in New Zealand seems to embody. Kiwis are self-conscious about their country—other than rugby they have little else that gives them a sense of national pride—and thus they take great joy in hearing about how much you love their country and how beautiful you think it is. In Wellington I’ve found a city that offers me all of the culture and nightlife that I had been searching for, while remaining friendly, green, and laid-back.
View from Mount Victoria
I heard about Christchurch while I was still in the museum, and on the street, and from a phone call, and in the store, but it wasn’t until I returned to my flat when I saw what was happening. TV3 news ran live footage of reporters in the wreckage, with people stuck under buildings and roofs and awnings crashing down everywhere. Just a week or so before I’d been bonding through mountain-boarding and kayaking in the sun up north of Auckland with my program, half of whom were now in that city.
It seems like everyone who comes to New Zealand is looking for the same thing: a changing experience. How you choose to have that is where there is variety—whether through weekend tramping trips in Lord of the Rings territory, skydiving from 16,000 feet in Abel Tasman, staying overnight in a marae with the indigenous Maori, or any of the other countless opportunities to experience the world as you can only do so here. New Zealand is a place filled to the core with adventure, culture, and beauty unlike anywhere else in the world, and once you’re here you understand the richness of the experience. Never before have I felt time fly by so fast while doing so much more than I ever have with one day.
Oriental Bay
A few days have passed and I’m thankful to know that my friends in Christchurch have all been evacuated and are okay. I’m thankful to know that my friends and I hit the brakes on our South Island excursion we’d planned for earlier this week and elected to go tramping up north instead. There’s been a frenzy of reports by seismologists recently who can’t believe Christchurch was hit again before Wellington was, and who say that it may only speed up the time before our big one here. Earthquakes usually appear in swings, and while the city typically seems in denial, our flats are now all packed with earthquake kits and my inbox with emergency guidelines.
To be a student here this semester means I have to face the fact that an earthquake could occur. The shocking truth is that if it were to strike and I was on campus at the university up the hill, I would probably be fine, though if downtown near the harbor I most likely would not be. It’s my natural tendency to play things safe, but coming here seems like an escape from that. I’m not going to spend the next four months avoiding Cuba Mall because it’s buildings aren’t earthquake-proofed, or stay off the waterfront because in the event of an earthquake, a tsunami is likely to arise as well. Living a little bit on the edge here is what has made me come fully alive, and so on this beautiful late summer day I head out to see what the world has waiting for me today.
