Hot Stuff

If you've read the Christchurch blog, you'll have seen the damage caused by earthquakes here.  There's other powerful natural stuff at work too.  New Zealand lies on a plate boundary (http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/earthquakes/1/2/2), meaning that there are fault lines along which earthquakes occur, volcanoes (lots of these, Auckland is built on about 40) and areas where the earth's crust is much thinner than is usual.

In these 'geothermal' areas, heat from underneath the ground can be felt and seen at the surface, in the form of bubbling, boiling water in pools and lakes, and steam vents.  http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/geothermal-energy/1

I visited Rotorua, a town in an area with a high amount of geothermal activity. It's really strange to see steam coming out of a crack at the edge of the road for example.  There are park areas where there's loads of steam and boiling ponds - quite spooky at times.  Some areas of ground are very unstable, new cracks and vents appear all time.  In a few places you could feel the heat through your shoes when walking around!

People have lived in this area for a long time - Maori tribes for hundreds of years.  The hot water is used for cooking, heating homes and washing.  Vegetables can be cooked by putting them in a fabric (muslin) back and dipping them into the boiling pools.  They cook very fast.  People also have 'ovens' - wood or stone boxes over areas of hot ground.  There are still villages that use these everyday.

Geothermal power is also used by power companies to generate electricity and to heat homes and businesses in the area - a good renewable energy source!
More info: http://geothermal61.learnz.org.nz/ or wikipedia it: Wairakei Power Station

Christchurch

 You might not have heard of many places in New Zealand, but I bet most of you know of Christchurch.  Since September 2010 Christchurch has experienced three earthquakes and many big aftershocks.  The biggest quake, on 22nd Feb 2011 caused massive damage and loss of life in the central business district of the city.  There is still a 'red zone' there, a big square of the city that cannot be accessed due to continued danger of building collapse.

Christchurch is New Zealand's second biggest city so many people were affected by the earthquake.  It is a bit bigger than Leicester in terms of the number of people that live there.  Lots of suburbs lost power and water, houses were damaged and flooded.  Today there is still much clearing up to be done, not helped by continued aftershocks.  Scientists think that these many continue for more than ten years. 

You can read more about this at:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17113574

Some people have moved to other areas of the country, but most are trying to clean up and carry on life as normal.  They don't want to leave their family and friends.  Would you stay?

In the photo above, you can see the spray paint that showed that the emergency services had checked and closed the building in the aftermath of the earthquake.

In the museum is this big display of fabric hearts stitched by people around the world and sent to Christchurch.  There were lovely messages of support attached to many of them.  Although New Zealand is a small country (about 5 million people, UK is 65 million ish) there are many people with relatives abroad, and New Zealanders who live in other countries - many people around the world would have been affected by the problems in Christchurch.

The city has taken an optimistic stance about the rebuild - many see this as a chance to make a really exciting modern city.  There's some cool stuff going on, my favourite was the gap fillers project.

http://www.gapfiller.org.nz/

If you click on one link from this blog, make it this one.

Local people have decorated and made public spaces where buildings that were damaged and demolished used to be.  The photo below shows one that is a book exchange.  You go along and swap a book - easy!  Great for folks whose books got soggy from the flooding.  There's other sites which have outdoor cinemas, live music, a giant chess set, pianos - look at the link! Amazing!

Re:Start is another project.  Many major companies and local businesses have reopened in shipping containers as their original shops were so badly damaged.  As you can see they are very colourful, and look pretty good. A great way to get started again in the small space available, and a cool way to reuse shipping containers.