After sitting up glued to the devastation of the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami until 2am I packed this morning and eventually left Dunedin at 11.30. I reflected on my goals and expectations for the Twitter Tour 2011. This journey for me is about making connections, sharing stories, exploring, and having fun along the way touring our country. Today, I am heading to Christchurch, unsure of what is in store but really looking forward to connecting with very special relatives and friends. Magic journey - brief stop in Timaru for a coffee, I arrive in Christchurch at 4pm. I connect with my relatives and share in their stories and hardship, where every sentence is phrased in gratitude of survival and time is marked by where you were and what you were doing, when the earthquakes struck. I then drove across town to New Brighton - across a zone of devastation, emptiness, shattered dreams, twisted and ruptured roads... past guards and through dust! I took NO photos - none of this can be recorded - but it is forever etched in my mind, and in my heart. We must never forget the people of Christchurch and their suffering. There were two mild aftershocks while I was there and I have a profound sense of awe for all who live through the battle of life that remains... boiling water, using hand sanitiser, the portaloos, the tank for emptying chemical toilet waste, the broken, battered, tortured town.... Sleep does not come easy tonight...
