This a photo from the town’s CBD, courtesy TVNZ
chch quake 04 sept 2010
…and this is my room
my room after the quake
… I am actually feeling one of the many aftershocks as I write, five hours after the main quake. Saving power and communication usage now, so no more bla-bla. The State of Emergency has just been declared.
FACT: I stopped 150 meters short of reaching home.
car in river 1
RUMOR: Nobody was hurt.
car in river 2
ACTION: NZ Police sent a rescue diver straight away.
car in river 3
CHARITY AUCTION: Due to the tidal nature of this river (Heathcote Estuary, Canterbury, New Zealand), free test-drives are being offered only at low tide. You may book one by registering on our website.
car in river 4
A plane carrying Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife has crashed in western Russia and that at least 87 people have been killed.
The Polish Foreign Ministry confirmed that the president and his wife were aboard the plane that crashed near the city of Smolensk, after touching tree tops before landing.
(Photo above – courtesy BBC News)
The Tu-154 plane crash-landed and burst into flames near the Smolensk airport, about 400km west of Moscow.
The aircraft had a capacity of up to 90 people, although Russian news agencies reported 132 passengers on board.
The Polish officials, all presumed dead, were in Russia to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre, when the Soviets killed thousands of Poles.
It’s been impossible for me to write during my next to three weeks stay in Europe. I have no real excuse, it wasn’t the lack of topics or the difficulty of charging my E71 or the no net or G3 coverage at times. I have no excuse. I just realised that this trip back to the Old Continent is a bit like a cross section into the core of my life. And life is not about places. Life is about people. During my tumultuous stay and travel in Europe I met people, I loved people, I made, lost, helped and hurt friends. I looked into myself. Yet this mockoblog tale should remain mainly about places.
So I took photos. Hundreds of them. In Romania, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. When will the time come for me to sort them out and publish them, I do not know, as life is rushing towards me at the speed of light.
As a good old friend would say – WHATEVER.
I say – anyway, let’s get on with it!
So I’m sitting in a cafe in Vienna Airport. Needless to say the only delayed flight on the board is mine, by three hours or so. Emirates were good enough to offer us a sandwich and a drink. This time I’m in no danger to miss a connection. I’m supposed to stay overnight in Dubai on my way to Sydney. It will probably be worse that missing a plane – I’ll miss my stay at the Millennium Hotel if I run out of time.
I’d like to sleep. Yesterday I travelled by car 800 kms through snow, slit and snow from Zurich to Vienna in 10 hours. Tough and late. Whatever. I’ll better get a drink.