Christchurch: We'll soldier on

My beloved ancestral home is in ruins this week, following Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude earthquake. The 7.1 in September was bad enough - it ruined a lot of homes and caused much stress for family and friends. But this one, although smaller in magnitude was literally a kick in the teeth to Christchurch, which was still picking up the pieces from September's quake.

I say ancestral home, because although I don't live there now, much of my family does and my mother traced our history back to the First Four Ships, which landed in Lytellton Harbour in 1850. My ancestor, Charles Bourn, came over on the Randolph. There's a plaque in Cathedral Square with the names of the passengers on it - no doubt covered in rubble now. For 160 years, Christchurch has grown and endured everything that Mother Nature has thrown at it, including several other strong earthquakes. It's architecture, beautiful gardens and temperate climate have beckoned people from around the world, to visit, and to settle in the Garden City.

I've spent many an afternoon, walking in the Botantic Gardens, surveying the city from the balconies atop the Cathedral's spire; many evenings with friends, just hanging out in various spots around the city, never thinking for a moment, that in February 2011, it would be in ruins.

Today, the spire of the Cathedral lies in the square. A pile of 130-year old bricks. Underneath, the bodies of visitors to the Cathedral wait to be recovered. It is nothing less than a resounding kick in the teeth to the people of Christchurch and Canterbury. Homes and other historic buildings throughout the city are ruined. Liquefaction oozing out of foundations, up from sinkholes in the roads, and in the middle of school playing fields. The Central Business District (CBD) is an utter shambles.Many are still without water or power, on this, the fourth day following the quake.

But in spite of this devastation, in spite of the 113 confirmed dead, and the 200 people still missing, Christchurch is not sitting on it's laurels, bemoaning what they have lost. Not even close. In the words of my aunt, "We'll soldier on." In the minds of Cantabrians, there's no other course of action. They pick up the pieces and carry on. Houses can be rebuilt. Yes, families have been tragically shattered, there's no bringing them back, but like the living, the dead would no doubt be saying, We'll soldier on.

Much of the CBD will have to be torn down and rebuilt. Christchurch will never look the same. But it like it's people will soldier on. They will rebuild - in fact, I read in the NZ Herald yesterday that they are already planning to rebuild the Cathedral, and the NZ Historic Places Trust is looking at repairing many of the damaged historic buildings in the city.

All is not lost. It's a kick in the teeth, to be sure. And I, like many, many others, am grieving for all that has been destroyed this week. One day, a day that will come much sooner than anyone thinks perhaps, I believe that Christchurch residents will no longer say We'll soldier on - they won't need to, because Christchurch will rise again from its ruins. We'll be able to look at the progress we've made and say, She'll be right, mate.

And she will.