Aunty Pipi’s Guide to Post-Quake Christchurch

Kia ora whanau,
Well the past year in Otautahi (Christchurch) has definitely shaken old Aunty Pipi’s pearls around and in return seen more than the usual empty gin bottles scattered over her floor both as a result of rattled shelves and rattled nerves.

These earthquakes have definitely shaken our community but in saying that, they have also brought our community together, making it stronger and more resilient.

It was nearly a year ago at 12.51pm that our city and communities changed forever. Through the dust and rubble we saw a flurry of Facebook updates, txts and phone calls from all over the country trying to ascertain the wellbeing and safety of loved ones. We all raced through cracked roads either on foot or car (both at foot speed) to pick up family and ‘family’; some bruised, some bleeding but all in a sense of dismay. It was in these initial moments that our age, gender, ethnicity, profession, religion or sexuality were put aside and we realised we were all Cantabrians and all going through the same experience. This is what brought together Otahtahi as one but within that community our own GLBTI community became closer. I know many rainbow people opened up not only their hearts but homes to ‘family’.

Old Aunty’s house became home to a total of 10 displaced gay folk, some as far as California. For that week we had ‘family’ sprawled on couches and floors, with pets and friends all nestled together with whatever food and beverages they could carry from their cracked, waterless and powerless homes through puddles of liquefaction. We saw friends and family who were lucky enough to still have power and water open up their homes for hot showers, internet access or the simplest gesture, like a cup of tea and the chance to watch the news so they could see the true wide extent of a disgruntled Mother Nature. Food hampers and survival kits (many which included essentials such as chocolate and alcohol) were dropped off to those in need, along with a well needed hug. I think it’s fair to say the Otautahi rainbow community are by now well practised in the art of hugging.

Once the dust had settled over our shaky town it started to become apparent that not only had many communities lost essential services, businesses and centres – we had lost loved ones too. With the majority of our GLBTI venues and services in the CBD gone or out of bounds it was months before some services relocated to safer, albeit more difficult to get to locations. We saw old and new groups, bars, clubs and venues such as Q-topia, NZAF, Agender, Menfriends, The Closet, The Box, Cruz and the Honey Pot Cafe struggle to find new homes but it did happen and we managed to make it work to the best of our ability.

Within the Rainbow social scene with no specific venues to meet at we saw an increase of house parties and the integration into the more commonly straight venues. With so much uncertainty facing the city, the GLBTI community saw a large exodus of our members. They simply had had enough of the shakes and or had no personal or financial responsibilities tying them to the city; they saw the quake as a great incentive for them to make the move to a safer more attractive big city, either up north or across the ditch. Many people left and never came back, some so determined to leave that they didn’t even bother with a farewell, other than a Facebook status update. A shame! We all know how much we love a party!

Meanwhile back in Christchurch, with an ever increasing amount of aftershocks and still no local gay bar up and running, we were lucky to have a group of community focused individuals who created UpRising Trust; their aim to bring the rainbow community back together by creating monthly events. These proved to be an enormous hit; the sort of shake up the community needed and approved of. The very first ‘UpRising’ party saw over 400 GLBTI people flock to a once forgotten bar and brought together a somewhat displaced community out of the woodwork and gave them a place where we felt together again. We saw people who would not normally venture out on a Saturday night and all our usual stalwarts came together and were just happy to be in each other’s company. After so many weeks we saw familiar faces and shared stories of post-quake experiences. It created a sense of community that Christchurch had not seen for some time. With the loss of our CBD any cafes, bars or venues that popped up seem to attract all punters, gay, straight or questioning. We were just happy to be offered a place to socialise and forget about the shakes for as long as we could.

Now, nearly a year later, we have new and old businesses and venues opening up all over the city with the cordons slowly coming down inch by inch, whether it be our signature gay bar, sex on site club or a brand new container bar who welcomes any custom as long as you’re friendly and willing to give them a chance. Old Aunty Pipi has even ventured out from her usual nights out at the RSA and local bingo hall to an UpRising party down at the ‘Pegasus Arms’ or the newly rebirthed ‘The Colombo’ (however I have found the G&T’s are good at ‘The Volstead’ and ‘The Monday Room’ too). She even fancies a wee boogie at the somewhat smaller ‘Cruz’ which  just happens to be handy to her favourite slot machine down the road at the casino.

All in all, the quakes have given us a year we will never forget, but they have also given us back a community that is stronger and more united than ever not too mention a rather strapping Student Army and an influx of gorgeous men in Army uniforms guarding our city cordons. Old Aunty believes our community is stronger and more enthusiastic about a brighter rainbow future for Otautahi.

Kia Kaha
Aunty Pipi xxx