For the rest of my life, I will always remember where I was and what I was doing on Tuesday 22 February 2011 when I first heard the news. I was living in Newcastle, Australia and had just returned from my lunch-break to find an email in my inbox from a shipping company in New … Continue reading February 22, 2011 – The Second Earthquake
6:30am sharp(ish) – On the road from Newcastle to Sydney – need to be there two hours after Pacific Blue flight containing my dog (Levi) and my cat (Wanda) touches down at 7:30am. 6:40am – Wonder if Levi has thought to pick up a couple of bottles of Bombay Sapphire duty free on his way … Continue reading A Most Frustrating Day
Whilst the kids and I had been away in England, another problematic situation had arisen that slightly took the gloss from my euphoria. The company I’d been working for had been sold to a global organisation and staff were being laid off and I was one of them. It wasn’t quite such a catastrophe for … Continue reading The Move to Newcastle
I never thought for an instant that I would consider leaving Diamond Harbour and return to Australia to live. But I also never dreamed that on September 4th, 2010, I would be woken at 4:35am by a shallow magnitude 7.1 earthquake centred only 70km from my home. The night before the earthquake was a Friday … Continue reading September 04, 2010 – The Christchurch Earthquake
The day started out exceptionally well. I had finally received an offer on my house in Diamond Harbour. There were overdue repairs and maintenance issues to address and servicing the mortgage had become too much of a burden on my sporadic income. I needed to sell it before I found myself forced into the ignominy … Continue reading My Son’s Cancer
Harbour [hahr-ber] Noun – A place of shelter or refuge, especially one protected from rough waters Verb – To give a home or shelter to I was restless. I had just split up with a guy I’d been seeing for a few months and somehow that relationship had spilled over and soured the close relationship … Continue reading Diamond Harbour
When Mum phoned me from New Zealand with the devastating news that she had been diagnosed with cancer and had only months to live, I couldn’t believe it. I don’t think she did either. The kids and I arrived at Christchurch airport from the Gold Coast two days after I received the call. The day … Continue reading The Winter of her Life
I have spent a night in the mangroves on Mars. No, I haven’t explored the depths of the mental universe whilst high on psychedelic cocktails. Mars is the name of the houseboat that my husband and I hired when my sister and her partner visited us in Australia for a two-week holiday. Queensland, as the … Continue reading Life on Mars
My father died on January 12, 1966. British Airways offered to fly us back to England free of charge and whilst this option might have been seized upon with open arms by a grieving young widow with three hungry mouths to feed, my mother had other ideas. The summer of ’66 in Christchurch was warm … Continue reading The Teenage Train Wreck
I made my first appearance on planet earth in July 1960 in Old Windsor, England. My parents waited eight years before taking the plunge and having another child. Which is probably not surprising as I don’t imagine it would be a picnic raising twins in post-war Britain. Living in an upstairs flat with no running … Continue reading Escaping the Rat Race
Claire Jewitt 