After a sleepless night, due to quite a lot of aftershocks, I have made it to a Danish newspaper:
http://politiken.dk/udland/ECE1202891/dansker-i-christchurch-efterskaelvene-er-det-vaerste/
Hopefully I succeeded in providing a more detailed view on what the situation in Christchurch is these days (not talking about the current state of emergency) than what is currently in Danish media. To be honest, I got sick of reading about people thinking they were about to die.
23 February 2011
22 February 2011
Earthquake/aftershock
Just a brief notice to let you all know that I am fine after todays 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch. During the shock I was in my office on the 8th floor at uni. As soon as we realised a major shock was going on we dived under our desks and sat it out. Computer monitors were falling over, books falling down right where I had been sitting 10 seconds earlier. Uni was evacuated and I went straight to The Paddock to be with family and out of town.
Damage in town is reported to be worse than in the 7.1 quake in September last year. I have not yet been home to see how my apartment is, but at this stage it really does not matter. Everyone I know appear to be okay at this stage, and my family visiting from Denmark had just left Christchurch in the morning. They are safe in Hamner.
This will be all for now, I just wanted to let you know that we are all safe down here. Hopefully my next post will be less affected by natural disasters...
Damage in town is reported to be worse than in the 7.1 quake in September last year. I have not yet been home to see how my apartment is, but at this stage it really does not matter. Everyone I know appear to be okay at this stage, and my family visiting from Denmark had just left Christchurch in the morning. They are safe in Hamner.
This will be all for now, I just wanted to let you know that we are all safe down here. Hopefully my next post will be less affected by natural disasters...
6 February 2011
Canyoning Leaping Burn MAX 27/1-2011
After finishing my trip with Silkeborg Højskole in Queenstown, I had decided to go canyoning in Wanaka. I will not say much about this, only that Deep Canyon does epic trips for both beginners and advanced canyoners, and I have not heard of anyone who was disappointed with them. If you need another reason for coming to New Zealand, this is it!
Anyways, enough talking - I believe the photos speak for themselves. See more at my Picasaweb, or check out this YouTube video of a different trip down the same canyon.
Anyways, enough talking - I believe the photos speak for themselves. See more at my Picasaweb, or check out this YouTube video of a different trip down the same canyon.
17 January 2011
2010 in review - 8 January 2011
Happy New Year! Today it is exactly 366 days since I first set foot on New Zealand ground, and I suppose this calls for some kind of review post. At the same time, I am currently waiting for a ferryload of people from Silkeborg Højskole, whom I will be guiding around the South Island with three other people for the next 2½ weeks. If I was not looking at another year here, one might say that the circle had been closed - but since I am only half way through my stay, I will not use such pseudo-poetic terms just yet. I was supposed to meet the people yesterday, but due to a delayed flight they missed the ferry and had to spend a night in Wellington. Since this leaves me no choice but to get french toast for breakfast instead of porridge, which I will be living off for breakfast for the next 19 days, I guess I should not complain too much.
Back to the year in review, which might eventually lead to a bit of an update on what has happened since my last post on the Mueller Hut trip (in October? Gosh, time is moving fast!). Back in January, I spend a month with Silkeborg Højskole, getting a first brief look at a lot of New Zealand. Probably the best possible way to enter a new country that I was to call my home for the following two years, with good friends and lots and lots of tramping. February arrived, with university starting, crappy and expensive student accommodation and in March I was finally able to settle down with some sort of routine. While weekdays were spent studying, most weekends were either used for tramping, mainly in and around Arthur's Pass, or visiting family.
At Easter time, I decided to take 5 days tramping solo from Lewis Pass to Arthur's Pass, certainly an experince worth repeating. It is interesting to see the change in what is important, whether tramping alone or with others, and the silence and room for all sorts of random thoughts is absolutely incredible. Back again, I finally got around to buying a car before getting my first experiences of white water kayaking. While it was truly action packed, it also made me realise that tramping is the one outdoor activity that supply thrill and tranquility at the same time, thus offering the perfect getaway after busy days of studying. Besides, the amount of drinking and nudity on the kayak trip was a bit over the top for me. Perhaps I am slowly getting old and boring..?
The next big thing happening was the arrival of winter and various ski trips. Words cannot describe the difference between skiing in Europe and skiing in New Zealand, but I have to admit that I have fallen for the Kiwi ski club atmosphere in spite of being nearly killed by a rope tow at Mt Olympus. Late July brought my first visitor from Denmark, another interesting phenomenon how friendships develop at light speed when you find yourself somewhat isolated on the other side of the globe.
September was entered with a bang and a shake - roughly 45 seconds of shaking to be precise. Very few things since then has not been somewhat affected by the earthquake, mainly because of the still ongoing aftershocks that is a constant reminder of what happened before and could happen again without any kind of warning. Prior to this experience, my only knowledge of earthquakes and the affect they have on people were what the Danish news media had been presenting over the years, and the last months have opened my eyes to the affect quakes have on people living in affected areas. Although the main shock is the most powerful, and most often the most devastating one, the aftershocks are by far the ones causing the most stress among people. With some, you can hear them coming as a deep growl in the ground before everything starts shaking, and the worst bit is not knowing how bad and how long they are going to be.
The other interesting thing to experience is how imortant the depth and position of the epicentre is to the damage a quake can cause. On boxing day (26 December), a shallow aftershock located just underneath the centre of Christchurch had the city centre cordoned off for a day and a half while buildings were re-checked for structural damage. In this, 3½ months after the primary quake, new buildings were condemned. Luckily I know of noone with major structural damage to any property, but noone can feel safe just yet - and noone knows when it will all be over.
Besides earthquakes and studying, I have spent quite a lot of time at 'The Paddock' with my aunt. 5 kid goats were born on the day of the earthquake and the following day (they were expecting two or three), and I do not dare imagining the stress the earthquakes would have caused if I did not have family nearby (and I am still grateful that I was at their place at the time of the main shock). Skiing and tramping has (of course) been a major part of my life as well, and came November I finished my last exams for the year. Since then, I have been awarded a Summer Scholarship to continue my academic work over the summer, and for my Masters thesis this year I have just accepted another university scholarship. When our final grades were released, I even got a 'personal' (computer generated) letter from the Dean of Science, congratulating me on my exam results. It seemed like a bit of a joke, but was good fun reading.
In late November, I spent three weeks with a good friend of mine visiting from Denmark. We spend a couple of weeks driving around the South Island, tasting wine, canyoning, tramping and just enjoying life, good food and excellent cognac, before finishing off with four days in Sydney. An excellent way to celebrate the end of the academic year, and great to see a friendly face again.
Back to the year in review, which might eventually lead to a bit of an update on what has happened since my last post on the Mueller Hut trip (in October? Gosh, time is moving fast!). Back in January, I spend a month with Silkeborg Højskole, getting a first brief look at a lot of New Zealand. Probably the best possible way to enter a new country that I was to call my home for the following two years, with good friends and lots and lots of tramping. February arrived, with university starting, crappy and expensive student accommodation and in March I was finally able to settle down with some sort of routine. While weekdays were spent studying, most weekends were either used for tramping, mainly in and around Arthur's Pass, or visiting family.
At Easter time, I decided to take 5 days tramping solo from Lewis Pass to Arthur's Pass, certainly an experince worth repeating. It is interesting to see the change in what is important, whether tramping alone or with others, and the silence and room for all sorts of random thoughts is absolutely incredible. Back again, I finally got around to buying a car before getting my first experiences of white water kayaking. While it was truly action packed, it also made me realise that tramping is the one outdoor activity that supply thrill and tranquility at the same time, thus offering the perfect getaway after busy days of studying. Besides, the amount of drinking and nudity on the kayak trip was a bit over the top for me. Perhaps I am slowly getting old and boring..?
The next big thing happening was the arrival of winter and various ski trips. Words cannot describe the difference between skiing in Europe and skiing in New Zealand, but I have to admit that I have fallen for the Kiwi ski club atmosphere in spite of being nearly killed by a rope tow at Mt Olympus. Late July brought my first visitor from Denmark, another interesting phenomenon how friendships develop at light speed when you find yourself somewhat isolated on the other side of the globe.
September was entered with a bang and a shake - roughly 45 seconds of shaking to be precise. Very few things since then has not been somewhat affected by the earthquake, mainly because of the still ongoing aftershocks that is a constant reminder of what happened before and could happen again without any kind of warning. Prior to this experience, my only knowledge of earthquakes and the affect they have on people were what the Danish news media had been presenting over the years, and the last months have opened my eyes to the affect quakes have on people living in affected areas. Although the main shock is the most powerful, and most often the most devastating one, the aftershocks are by far the ones causing the most stress among people. With some, you can hear them coming as a deep growl in the ground before everything starts shaking, and the worst bit is not knowing how bad and how long they are going to be.
The other interesting thing to experience is how imortant the depth and position of the epicentre is to the damage a quake can cause. On boxing day (26 December), a shallow aftershock located just underneath the centre of Christchurch had the city centre cordoned off for a day and a half while buildings were re-checked for structural damage. In this, 3½ months after the primary quake, new buildings were condemned. Luckily I know of noone with major structural damage to any property, but noone can feel safe just yet - and noone knows when it will all be over.
Besides earthquakes and studying, I have spent quite a lot of time at 'The Paddock' with my aunt. 5 kid goats were born on the day of the earthquake and the following day (they were expecting two or three), and I do not dare imagining the stress the earthquakes would have caused if I did not have family nearby (and I am still grateful that I was at their place at the time of the main shock). Skiing and tramping has (of course) been a major part of my life as well, and came November I finished my last exams for the year. Since then, I have been awarded a Summer Scholarship to continue my academic work over the summer, and for my Masters thesis this year I have just accepted another university scholarship. When our final grades were released, I even got a 'personal' (computer generated) letter from the Dean of Science, congratulating me on my exam results. It seemed like a bit of a joke, but was good fun reading.
In late November, I spent three weeks with a good friend of mine visiting from Denmark. We spend a couple of weeks driving around the South Island, tasting wine, canyoning, tramping and just enjoying life, good food and excellent cognac, before finishing off with four days in Sydney. An excellent way to celebrate the end of the academic year, and great to see a friendly face again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
