It Hurts to Look

I’m going to have to stop watching the news.

It’s not that I don’t want to be informed of what's going on in the world; it’s just too damn depressing these days. We’ve watched our country take a right beating over the last several weeks, with the massive flooding in Queensland, the bushfires in Western Australia and the cyclones bearing down on both our north-east and north-west coasts. And now, as we slowly start to rebuild after the damage done here, we are forced to watch our brothers and sisters in New Zealand deal with their own terrible natural disaster.

New Zealand is known for being earthquake prone, one of the problems of being a country essentially formed by fault lines, but the 6.3 rated earthquake that struck the south-eastern city of Christchurch on the 22^nd of February hit them harder than probably any quake has done before. It wasn’t as strong as the one they suffered in September of last year, but was closer to the surface and to the city, as well as striking in the middle of a weekday, as opposed to before dawn on a weekend.

As I write this, there are 98 people confirmed dead and 226 still missing. Television stations here in Australia have had rolling coverage, adding special news bulletins or simply transmitting New Zealand national news directly to air here. It’s painful to watch, even more so if you’ve been to that beautiful city and seen it in all its glory. I travelled around New Zealand in December 2007/January 2008 and absolutely loved it. I had been there once before that, but the second trip was the first time I visited Christchurch. We were tired from the flight from Perth and still adjusting to the time difference, but even so, we loved the city and all it had to offer. Some parts actually reminded me of Perth - it was a much more calm, friendly and relaxed place than some of Australia’s bigger cities.

My Dad by the Avon River in Christchurch, and the Canterbury Museum

The people were all so kind and helpful, the place we stayed in was gorgeous, and we all agreed when we left that it would have been nice to have spent more time there. Something tells me sadly it will be some time before we head back there now… 

Statue of James Cook, and what my brother named at the time "the giant waffle cone"

I was looking for a quote earlier to try to sum up the relationship of sorts between Australia and New Zealand, which has formed such a fundamental part of both nations’ histories. There were more serious quotes, and funnier ones too, but it was ones about brotherhood that seemed to fit best, because even though we mock their accents, and make jokes at their expense which may involve references to inappropriate behaviour with sheep, we love those Kiwis like family. They are enough like us that we’ll say “New Zealand is practically part of Australia!” but different enough that we still very proudly maintain two very distinct national identities.

Right now, our Kiwi siblings need our help.

Please, if you are able, give it to them.

To donate to the New Zealand Red Cross… http://www.redcross.org.nz/donate

or to the New Zealand Salvation Army… http://www.salvationarmy.org.nz/giving-back/donate-online/disaster-appeals/canterbury-earthquake-appeal/

or if you are in Australia, via our Red Cross: https://www.redcross.org.au/Donations/onlineDonations.asp