They arrived at their Christchurch boutique hotel, the Charlotte Jane, around noon on Tuesday. The Charlotte Jane is a two story, wood structure building. After checking into their 2nd floor room, they were preparing to leave it and walk the mile into the CBD (Central Business District) when the earth started shaking. Marji says it was very loud, very powerful and seemed like it lasted a long time though probably wasn't more than 20 seconds. They could not have walked if they wanted to and were thrown to the floor. Everything in their room was also thrown to the floor---the TV, lamps, end tables, etc---and they were rolling around trying to dodge them. When it stopped, they heard their hostess downstairs yelling for everyone to get out of the building. They rushed outside with the other guests and found their hotel's chimneys swaying, but otherwise looking okay structurally. The place was a mess inside with broken dishes, bottles, etc. They remained outside for the next 8 or 9 hours, returning to their room only for quick bathroom visits and flushing the toilet with pond water. There was no water or power, and a constant flow of stunned people moving up and down the streets. Initial impressions from the locals were that it had to have been a quake greater than 8.0 since it was so much worse than the 7.3 quake in September. (This one turned out to have caused greater damage because it was shallower and almost a bulls eye on Christchurch CBD). They also began to get reports from people who had been in the CBD as to the devastation there. Hotel staff couldn't get home and they couldn't reach loved ones on the phone either, so they took care of the guests. The Barrons and the others were fed a delicious meal of lamb shanks and some vegetables. Amazing.
They debated sleeping in their rental car for the night but decided to sleep in their room instead since the hotel looked pretty solid structurally. The power came on about 9:30 pm and the TV worked despite its fall to the floor. They slept fully dressed, with shoes on and the TV on. Actually didn't sleep very well as the aftershocks continued all night long and they were prepared to run for their lives again if necessary.
Marji and I were texting throughout that day and I was updating her on the news as it was reported on TV. We weren't sure of the conditions of the roads for them to drive out of Christchurch. I began trying to get them a flight on Air New Zealand out of Christchurch to anywhere, but the Air NZ website was overwhelmed and I couldn't get through on the phone lines either. Kept trying right up until bedtime. The next morning I had to be at the thrift shop to work (only one there that day so had to go) and Ralph had to be at work. The Barrons were getting ready to go camp at the airport early to try and get on a flight when their hostess was able to get onto the Air NZ site and find 2 seats left to Wellington at 10 am. She asked them if they wanted them and they did! They had to drive about 5 miles to the airport and found the road to have "moguls" in it that were not there the day before when they came in, but it was driveable. By the time I finished work at the thrift shop at noon and reached Marji by text, they were in a rental car from Wellington and driving to our house.
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