My Christchurch - Laurel Smith

Christchurch continues to stand strong and recover after the 22 February earthquake. For ways in which you can help, visit The Red Cross New Zealand website.


I was sitting at my computer in my little apartment in Wellington when the earthquake hit Christchurch. I had absolutely no idea. My boyfriend sent me a text and asked me to check on his family. It struck me as a strange request. So I called him and he told me in one breath that another earthquake had hit Christchurch and that this time it was bad. In the September quake we were 'lucky' - early morning, people at home, barely anyone in the central city. But this quake was in the middle of the day.

Christchurch is a special city for me. It is my refuge. I felt like something had been ripped from me. I let the news coverage wash over me. I ached for the people who were having to live through this tragedy. I prayed for my family and friends. I shook as I couldn't get hold of loved ones, not even realising that I was holding my breath.

I don't live there and haven't since I was a child. But my boyfriend's family (my surrogate family) does and in the ten years that we have been together, we have spent numerous days and weeks in the Garden City. It was the place in which I think we really fell in love. It was the place that we went to when we needed to escape our daily lives.

It holds so many memories. Walking through the square eating souvlaki, dinner at the Octagon listening to old Edith Piaf covers, op shop missions through the city, hours spent perusing vintage clothing at Tete a Tete and Two Squirrels, Christmas holidays, birthdays, anniversaries. It is the last place where I can remember a good day with my mother (we have a tumultuous relationship). We spent hours in streets that now resemble a war zone.

So many lives lost, so many beautiful buildings destroyed. My boyfriend's mother was here briefly on the weekend and she has hardly slept since it happened. She said that she can never explain the way that it feels to have the earth move like that beneath you. The very foundations of their lives have been shaken.

My Christchurch is family. And I want to help it feel safe again.

Laurel is a vintage seller living in Wellington. She blogs about her thrifting adventures and vintage finds at Ooh La La Vintage.