Being in New Zealand is a completely different kettle of fish to being back in the UK for these sorts of things. Over here, especially since the last two earthquakes in a shaken-to-shit Christchurch, you begin to pay more and more attention to them. I felt the September 4th earthquake, my very first as a thankful natural disaster virgin. It was teensy, like a lorry grumbling past your window at some sleepy hour in the morning, but there it was none the less. I was sleeping off a horrendous hangover for the last one, but there it was.. a nasty little surprise that nobody really saw coming apart from some whacked out moon man with his theories of tide and time and earth movement. Perhaps calling him 'whacked out' is slightly hurtful, he's just a guy with some ideas, and I'll give him his kudos. If his next prediction turns out to be true, we could be getting slapped with another nice gift from Mother Nature, a 9.0+ earthquake that's supposed to be arriving sometime next weekend. Though I'm more of a skeptic than a sponge, it'll be at the back of my mind as I spend the 3-day window in an open field, near no copious amounts of water (back off, Lake Wakitapu) or unsturdy looking buildings with suspicious looking balconies.
Here, your awareness is different. When Christchurch Strike #2 kicked off, the whole country was skitsed out. You never really realise, thousands of miles away, in your nice earthquakeless country, how huge the rammifications of these things are. Of course, you are aware, and you understand, but when out of the line of fire, perspectives change. I wasn't in Christchurch, I didn't lose my house, my work, time, money, sleep, my friends or my family. But 300km away, people did. We still live here, on a lovely little faultline that likes to awake from its slumber every now and again and stir up some epic shit, in a country where the six degrees of separation rule probably isn't too far off.
If you consult the image above, of the omnious sounding 'Pacific Ring of Fire', you will notice that New Zealand sits smack bang in the middle of a nice little orange line that is supposed to represent where two plates meet. The UK sits out of view, somewhere to the top right of that picture, with no blobby orange lines to speak of. At home, your attention falls to different kinds of worries: an undeniably wellspoken public schoolboy running our country, economic shitstorms, Prince Andrew being pals with a sex offender. You know, the usual. I can think of only once that I ever remember the earth moving back home. I think a couple pictures fell off walls and people went apeshit. Over the last few weeks, conversations along the lines of 'What would you do if there was an earthquake here??' have been aplenty, followed by hypothesising over countless scenarios (the lake turning into a tsunami being Big Concern Number One) if it did hit big. Moonman's March 19th-21st prediction for Otago has been a hot topic, overtaking the usual stories of who slept/banged/vommed in which toilet in which bar.One of the big ways I notice the difference in how NZ and the UK react to these things is Facebook. That sounds shit, as if it's the gateway into people's innermost thoughts and feelings or something, but check out those statuses and there'll be a big difference. I have not seen one single status update about Christchurch or Japan come from the UK, whereas there's been an inundation from people I know in NZ. Maybe my friends back home all just have hearts made of steel. Or maybe it's that level of proximity thing.. because an event just seems so unreal, you can't identify. Fuck, I can't identify either, but whether people think about it briefly just once, or it keeps popping up in your mind, it's out there - it could happen here. It did, 5 hours
away and that was close enough (take note, Mother Nature).
I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. Guess it's just one of those things I like to have a little ponder about. Any more than that and I'd end up scaring myself shitless and probably would never come out of hibernation from underneath a reinforced desk or sturdy wooden doorframe. I have a horrible fascination with natural disasters, which makes me sound like a weird, morbid freak, but there's something so interesting about what nature can do. I don't think the amount of National Geographics and David Attenborough documentaries floating about at home helps matters. Today I learnt that a whale's penis can be up to 12ft, and one of its balls can weigh up to a ton. Although still centered around genitals, it makes a nice change to the usual conversation that takes place. As I type this, in the Google search bar at the top right of the page, is 'tubgirl'. Google it, I dare ya. But you have been warned.
(P.S. These links are pretty interesting. I've included Moonman's theories because, like I said, he be a hot topic right now. Decide for yourself, and party hard 'til 2012!
Just incase.)
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