In Gear | Rotary in Southern New Zealand Issue 2 | Page 73

as well as cuts from broken glass. By morning it was
learned that all roads leading in and out of Kaikoura
were compromised. The twin tunnels to the south were
buried along with a major slip at Ohau Point to the
north. We were isolated, a scenario that was discussed
in meetings with St John but, for me, never seen as an
actual probability.
Though my neighborhood on top of the peninsula
was spared, those living in the valley below, where
the soil was softer and more pliable, were not so
fortunate. Roads heaved, bridges failed, and houses
were structurally compromised. The Elm Estate, a
two-storey, masonry and concrete structure, and one
of the area’s older homes, collapsed crushing Louis
Edgar, one of the community’s beloved citizens. Power
poles were tossed about and appeared to march in a
drunken stupor along the roads. The main line to the
water tank, high up on the peninsula, broke as well as
water and sewer lines that were buried along the street.
Because the sea bed rose, the boats for Whale Watch
and Dolphin Encounter were aground at the marina
and the very crays and paua that the town was famous
for were left high and dry to bake in the morning sun.
As dawn greeted the residents of Kaikoura, neighbours
were conducting their own welfare checks making
sure that friends and family were okay and tending to
needs. Because power was out during the initial hours
of the quake, it was not uncommon to see individuals
going door to door to offer food from their freezer to
their neighbours. Since it had a generator, the medical
clinic was not only with electrical service, but had wi-fi,
too. Once the word got out, tourists, anxious to connect

with family members back home, began crowding the
front of the centre, busy texting emails, while others
surfed the internet. Soon, the park in front of the centre
became an ad hoc campground packed with tents and
caravans. Up the road, the town cemetery became
the alternate campground. Over 700 tourists were left
stranded in Kaikoura. The community reached out to
them, opening their homes and offering a warm meal.
Allister McNaughton, of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church,
opened the parsonage and sanctuary to those needing
food and shelter. Soon, volunteers of the Takahanga
Marae, located just behind the medical centre, began
cooking ‘survival dinners’ consisting of grilled crays for
those in need of a decent meal. Members throughout
the community made sure that no-one was left wanting,
sharing food, shelter, and supplies.
Though, in looking back, everything seems like a blur,
it did not seem like it took much time before the rest
of the nation came to Kaikoura’s rescue. An area
in the park, fronting the clinic, had to be cleared so
that air ambulances from Christchurch and Nelson
could land. Private helicopters, whether local or from
outside the community, began to fill the air as they
conducted welfare checks throughout the surrounding
countryside. First responders from St John, the Red
Cross, Civil Defence, and others began flying into the
local aerodrome. Murray Hamilton, of Air Kaikoura,
began shuttling people and supplies in and out of
the town, paying particular attention to community
members in need. Soon, naval vessels from New
Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States were
cruising the bays of the peninsula and offering their
helicopters to move supplies into the town.

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