Superficially, everything around here seems normal, except that it isn't. Parts of the city are still without power and water. We are being asked to boil water and to flush sparingly as the waste systems are not fully operational. There are no buses running and the central city is still cordoned off. I am grateful, of course, that the damage wasn't far more severe. I had planned to be in the area where the worst damage occurred, running errands, just a few hours later. There can't be a much better time of day to have an earthquake than 4.30 in the morning.
The photo is for Carmi's Thematic Photographic theme for this week, transportation. This old style delivery bike stands outside Johnson's grocery, a store near the centre of Christchurch which looks very much like the grocery stores of my childhood. It has managed to survive by providing specialty items such as imported biscuits, cereals, sweets etc to the immigrant community who want the items they remember from home (especially the UK). I have no idea if the shop will still stand undamaged when I can next get into the centre of the city.
We are still experiencing frequent aftershocks. It's a bit unnerving.
