National Christchurch Memorial Service

The memorial service will take place from midday.

The National Christchurch Memorial Service offers people the opportunity to reflect on recent events and remember the loss of New Zealanders and citizens of other countries.  International guests will also be able to pay their respects for citizens from their countries who lost their lives.
The service will remind Christchurch of the support it has from the rest of the country and the international community. It also offers the opportunity to thank all those involved in the rescue response and acknowledge the efforts of all others who have contributed in working towards the recovery.
HRH Prince William, Prime Minister John Key, the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, the Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker and other dignitaries will also be at the service to pay special tribute to the people of Christchurch and all families who have lost loved ones. 
The service will be broadcast live on TV One and TV3 from 12 noon and on Radio NZ from Morning Report onwards. This offers not only the people of Christchurch, but New Zealand and international audiences the chance to pause, reflect and grieve in the way they need to.

What will be included in the Memorial Service?

Friday 18 March 2011 – North Hagley Park
People are asked to be gathered at Hagley Park by midday (view PDF map of Hagley Park). Prior to the formal service, there will be musical tributes including performances by well known Kiwi artists Dave Dobbyn, Dame Malvina Major and Hayley Westenra, who will sing the national anthem.
The Memorial Service officially begins at 12.30pm. The service will be led by the Very Reverend Peter Beck, Dean of ChristChurch Cathedral and will include other city church leaders. It will be opened by Ngāi Tūāhuriri and include tributes from HRH Prince William, the Mayor of Christchurch, the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Music, prayers and readings will also be part of the service.

Musical tributes begin at 10.30am.

You are asked to be at the service at 12 noon.

The official Memorial Service begins at 12.30pm

The service will include a two minute silence, at 12.51pm. 

The Memorial Service finishes at approximately 2.30pm.

Music will follow the service and conclude at 3.30pm

For the full service programme see this Friday’s Press.
Please respect that this is a smokefree and alcohol free event.

How do I get there?

Arriving to the memorial service by foot, bus or bike will ease traffic congestion, however please still allow ample travel time.

Bike or walk

Limited bike racks will be provided at the end of the main Hagley Park bike path near Lake Albert. You will need to bring your own lock.
It is best to walk into North Hagley Park from Harper Avenue or from Riccarton Avenue. Park Terrace and Salisbury Street walking bridge will be closed.  The Armagh Street bridge will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians.

Buses

Free buses will be running on the day, with as many running as possible.  Buses will stop at two key stops – one on Bealey Avenue and Hagley Avenue, and will also leave from here (View PDF map of Hagley Park). For timetable and route information about Friday’s bus services, please refer to www.metroinfo.co.nz or call 03 3668855 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              03 3668855      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.

If you need to come to the service by car

Vehicle Parking

Free, limited car parking is being organised at two car parks in Hagley Park.(View PDF map of designated parking areas). The car parks will be open from 9am and are situated at:

• North Hagley Park – enter off Riccarton Avenue (left turn only, heading east)
• South Hagley Park – enter from Deans Avenue (left turn only, heading south)

The usual car parking area for North Hagley Park events is NOT available (this is where the memorial service will take place).

Mobility car parking

People with mobility restrictions will be directed to reserved car parking within the North Hagley car park (off Riccarton Ave).

Road closures

There are no road closures in addition to the cordons already in place. Harper Avenue will be made narrower but there will still be two way traffic. With this in mind, please allow plenty of travelling time.

Pick-up – drop-off

If you are dropping off and picking up family and friends, please consider carefully your agreed meeting place.  Obviously you will not be able to meet within the Red Zone area, and if meeting too close to the memorial venue, you may have difficulty given the expected volume of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Taxis

There will be a drop-off and pick-up taxi area on Harper Avenue around the Fendalton Road intersection.

What Do I Take?

The National Christchurch Memorial Service is a community and family event.  Please respect that a total alcohol ban is in place, which will be enforced by the police if necessary.

• Do bring a picnic lunch, drinking water and other non-alcoholic refreshments. Limited water will be provided.  Please also bring your own bottle or cup where possible.
• Do bring rugs and cushions to sit on.
• Do bring items to protect against the weather. The memorial service will go ahead rain or shine, so come prepared with an umbrella for sun or rain protection, sunscreen, poncho and/or hat.
• Do bring a rubbish bag with you and take your rubbish home. Volunteer services are stretched making it difficult to clear the park of litter quickly.
• Please do not bring alcohol.

What will be on site?

Only limited toilet facilities will be provided.  These toilets will be in the form of a movable toilet block, different to what is suitable for the communities in need. Please be advised that we may not be able to provide the usual number of toilets for such an event.
Limited litter bins will be provided. But please take your rubbish with you when you go.
A large police and security presence will be on site.  High-visibility police patrols around the rest of the city will continue as normal.
Support from social agencies will be available at the park on the day, based at the two information areas.
St John will be on-site to provide first aid assistance if required.

How Do I Get Home?

Firstly, please be patient and take care crossing roads as you leave the park.

Homeward Buses

For timetable and route information about Friday bus services for your homeward journey, visit www.metroinfo.co.nz or call 03 3668855 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              03 3668855      end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
Homeward bound buses will leave from two existing stops:

1. On Bealey Avenue between Montreal Street and Durham Street for buses going to eastern or northern suburbs.
2. On Hagley Avenue across the road from Hagley Community College for buses heading to the western or southern suburbs.

Shuttles will run between these two stops.
Check Friday’s Press for the full service programme.


LIVE COVERAGE WILL TAKE PLACE ON THIS SITE. VIA LIVE VIDEO STREAM. Thanks to Lani Hepi Media & Skype. -From 10.00am. (This will be a live feed via internet / webcam and will be an live- uninterupted coverage. 

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Death, Names Released (Confirmed Dead) by Police.

Names Released (Confirmed Dead)  24/02/11 -  1800hrs (follows)

Info: With hundreds still missing, and 75 already confirmed dead, rescuers struggled to find survivors on the second night after a devastating earthquake struck Christchurch, New Zealand's second largest city Tuesday. Buildings crumbled into the streets after the 6.3 magnitude earthquake, which geologists consider an aftershock to a 7.1 earthquake that caused no casualties in September. Tuesday’s temblor was more devastating and deadly because it was centered only six miles from the city's center and hit during the middle of a workday. The Government has declared a national state of emergency. Officials estimated there could be 100 people trapped in the CTV building alone. -- Lane Turner
NAMES AS FOLLOWS:

______________________________________________________

Follows:                                              Source: New Zealand Police

Nine-month-old, Jayden Harris
Five-month-old, Baxter Gowland
Jamie Gilbert, 22
Joseph Haiu, 40


More names are to come. as they are released by police.

Media Advisory:

Media Access to Central Christchurch city restricted area

24 February, 2011 - 15:23

This policy on New Media access will apply until further notice.
1. The primary location for news media is the staging area at the ART GALLERY, Montreal Street.
Access to the Art Gallery for media will be through the Police cordon on the corner of Bealey Avenue and Park Terrace. Media reporting to the cordon will be transported in to the Art Gallery by bus. You may be required to wait for the bus.

News Media must not leave the Art Gallery area except on an authorised Police escorted bus.
2. Police will provide a shuttle bus service to give controlled access to three central city locations. The shuttle will operate on the following route:

- Cordon on the corner of Bealey Avenue and Park Terrace
- Art Gallery
- Cathedral Square
- CTV building
- PGC building

... then exiting the central city cordon and returning to the Bealey Avenue/ Park Terrace cordon and continuing on the same route.

News media will be able to get off the bus at a viewing point at each location but MUST stay within the designated area. This will be controlled by Police. Media must not go to any other area.
The bus will remain at each location for approx 15 - 20 minutes then proceed to the next location.
Media may remain at each location but must stay at the location until another circuit of the bus.
The bus will operate as a continuous shuttle between these locations until approx. 7pm, then on a limited basis until 11pm. It will recommence at 5.30am.

3. MEDIA MUST NOT BE IN OTHER AREA WITHIN THE CENTRAL CITY CORDON.
Any media operating in locations outside these designated points will be in breach of the central city restrictions and will be instructed to leave the city cordon. This will be strictly enforced.

Contact Details Christchurch media team, Lani Hepi 00 642 7763 6666 (24/7)
Media Comm Centre.

Christchurch Earthhquake, News on Bodies and Persons.

Info: Lani Hepi, Assistant Director for Mediaworks and also NZPA Corespondent.

Lattest on Christchurch earthquake;

   


     PM Declears Nation State of Emergency

• 15 People Alive after being found, in pocket at the CTV Building.
• Over 300 reports of missing persons, In CHCH
• Over 180 Persons Dead, But only 70 Have been confirmed after identification.
  
  More to come.. > NZPA LANI HEPI LIVE IN CHRISTCHURCH

Breaking News: 100 Confirmed DEAD

BREAKING NEWS:  Death TOLL @ 100 and may climb to more then 400.

OFFICIAL SOURCE: NZPA & CHCH CITY COUNCIL

 major search and rescue operation is underway in Christchurch tonight where at least 100 people remain trapped under rubble. Construction workers and search and rescue specialists toiled under floodlights in a cold and wet to dig out survivors and the dead from buildings flattened by the earthquake that ripped the city apart today.
Dozens of search and rescue and medical staff have arrived in the city to continue with the frantic recovery effort.
Today's earthquake in Christchurch has claimed at least 65 lives and scores more are injured in what Prime Minister John Key says "may well be New Zealand's darkest day".
At least 65 people are dead after the shallow 6.3 earthquake hit 10km southeast of the city, just before 1pm. There have been constant aftershocks, as powerful as magnitude 5.7. The latest significant aftershock measured magnitude 5.0 and hit at 7.43pm.

The death toll is already the second highest from a New Zealand earthquake - outranked only by the 286 people killed in the violent 7.9 1931 Hawke's Bay quake, whose 70th anniversary was marked earlier this month.
Police have reported "multiple fatalities" at several locations in the downtown area, including in buses crushed by falling buildings.
Buildings have been destroyed with at least 100 people believed to be trapped inside. Rescuers warn some people will remain trapped overnight.
More bodies are likely to be pulled from the rubble of the Canterbury Television building which collapsed in today's Christchurch earthquake, a man involved in assisting rescue teams in their hunt for survivors said tonight.

The Southern Demolition employee, who did not want to be named, told NZPA rescue personnel pulled bodies from the rubble while he was assisting in the recovery effort.
"We were working on one side of the building and on that side we managed to pull one person alive but we also pulled out a body. On the other side they pulled out four or five - I don't know if they were dead or alive.
"It was awful," he said.
He said rescue personnel were risking their lives to jack up parts of the building allow members of urban search and rescue to look for survivors.
"Those guys are brilliant. They get in there where they shouldn't be and if they hear anything everything is turned off while they locate where the sound is coming from," he said.

At a press conference after 8.30pm today, Deputy Prime Minister Bill English said Cabinet had made available emergency funds for the recovery operation.
The Government was willing to throw every effort at the recovery, English said. "Time is now of the essence."
English said the scale of destruction and loss of life in Christchurch "is becoming obvious".
A large number of people were simply too traumatised to get themselves home tonight, he said.
TOLL COULD RISE
Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has told TVNZ the death toll could double.
It could be tomorrow morning before the number of missing is known.
The next official update is expected at 5.30am tomorrow when Civil Defence will hold a press conference in the Beehive bunker.
Up to 31 Japanese students from a foreign-language school are believed to among those trapped under collapsed buildings in the city.
The students, from Toyama city, were eating lunch when the earthquake struck. There are reports three of the students have been taken to hospital, one in a serious condition.
According to the Yomiuri Shimbun's online Japanese edition, responses have been heard from nine of the trapped students.

The Pyne Gould Guinness building has tilted at an awkward angle and slumped to the ground with 30 people thought to be inside, while people are trapped under desks in the Christchurch Press building opposite Christ Church Cathedral.
Fatalities have been reported in the Canterbury TV building, while the Forsyth Barr Tower has lost its stairs, so those trapped high above ground had to be lifted out by crane.
People are also feared trapped in hotels, Civil Defence Minister John Carter said.
"What we don't know is whether they were out looking around the town or were in their rooms."
Christchurch Hospital is operational but people are being asked to keep the Emergency Department for major casualties only.
A generator has been brought in to maintain power supply at Christchurch Hospital Riverside Block. "If power is not fully restored this evening patients at Christchurch Hospital's Riverside Block may need to be evacuated," a statement said.

SUPPORT ARRIVES FOR LONG NIGHT
 
A Royal New Air Force Boeing 757 was due to land in Christchurch from Whenuapai Air Force Base at 10.30pm carrying 54 search and rescue staff, plus 20 St John's medical staff.
More than 200 soldiers are assisting NZ Police with cordon duties and the Navy's vessel Canterbury docked in Lyttelton has offloaded around 160 persons for cordon support duties.
Two Iroquois helicopters from Ohakea have arrived to assist with rescue efforts in the city. Other Navy ships are also on the way. 
 
The NZ Army's medical teams are at four different locations around Christchurch with military officers working with the Police. NZ Defence Force firefighters are working with local fire brigades. 
 
DEVASTATING FORCE
English said the force of the earthquake was above the limit modern buildings were designed to withstand.
An estimated 1200 people are in a shelter in Addington tonight, while nurses with specialist intensive care skills are being flown to the city. 
Schools are closed until further notice.
Residents have been told to stay at home and save any safe water for drinking, including rain water which could be collected as rain falls tonight as the city's reservoirs have been shut down. Toilets should not be flushed and water should be boiled as sewage systems have failed, Parker said.
"If you're frightened about spending the night by yourself I completely understand that," Mr Parker said.
"Stay at home. Go to your neighbour's house. Do the things you did so well on September 4."
He predicted residents would be "very depressed" about the level of devastation that would be revealed tomorrow. "It's not going to be good news and we need to steel ourselves.
"We are all in this together so you have to be as responsible as the next person.
"Get together with your neighbours tonight. Share that warmth of human company.
"We are in the middle of a major disaster on global terms."
He said the recovery operation would continue overnight. "We're going to get them out in the next few days, but we have to be realistic. "This is unprecedented."
A helpline had been set up for "welfare inquiries". The number is 0800 779 997.



Thirty five military personal are on the ground providing first aid and support to the city's most affected areas. Another 250 will arrive in Christchurch tomorrow to boost support.
Parker said up to 25 buildings of significant size in the city were probably damaged beyond repair.
Hospitals around the South Island were being cleared to take the hundreds of casualties expected, while makeshift hospitals were being set up in parts of Christchurch.
Emergency triage centres for the injured are operating at Latimer Square, Canterbury University and the Sanitarium Building in Papanui - not South City or the Spotlight Mall, Sydenham, police said.
"This is a big problem. Far worse in casualties than the 4th of September, largely because it happened at a different time of the day," Civil Defence director John Hamilton said.
"Everybody was at work, it was lunchtime and people were in the streets and we've got to be realistic about it, but we don't want to go over the top at this stage. I think we've got to be prepared to accept that there is going to be quite a heavy toll."
Up to 500 people have set up for the night in Hagley Park, where they will be spending the night.
The park had now closed, the Mayor said.
He told people instead to go to Addington Raceway or Burnside High School.
"It's a day like we never wanted to contemplate," he said.
The central city business district has been cordoned off and police are warning people to stay away from the areas within Madras, St Asaph, Montreal and Kilmore Streets. People who try to get into the cordoned off areas will be turned away.
The suburbs of Lyttleton and New Brighton are reportedly badly hit.
SCREAMS FROM COLLAPSED BUILDING
Pyne Gould Corporation has confirmed that staff from the building are missing, but would not say how many. The company was working to account for each staff member.
People died when buses were crushed under falling building facades, Radio NZ reported.
At the building's cordon, Labour Party leader Phil Goff said earlier this evening that at least 30 people were feared trapped inside and at least one person was killed. Families were congregating at the cordon, he said.
Parker said: "There are people fighting for their lives at the moment but there are also people fighting for them."
"We're in the middle of an extremely serious situation. We're preparing ourselves for what I think will be a really sad, bleak day for our city but be reassured everybody is doing what they can."
Parker said there were currently people still trapped in cars and buildings, with some being able to phone to say they're trapped.
Defence Forces have been called in to assist with the earthquake recovery and were going door to door checking on residents.
The airport was closed to all but emergency flights and Lyttelton tunnel was shut.
Christchurch Hospital remained open but was also damaged. It asked that only seriously injured people come to the emergency department. It had a full emergency plan in operation.
Power should return to half of Christchurch tonight, with most of the city back on in the next three to four days, lines company Orion said.
St John's Ambulance had run out of ambulances and was using four wheel drives to get the injured out.
The New Zealand Blood Service has been flooded with calls from people wanting to donate blood.
The service said it presently had adequate blood stock, but would advise through its Facebook page and website if that changed.
COLD, WET NIGHT FOR RESIDENTS
Thousands of homeless Christchurch residents are tonight bracing for a long, cold, wet and worrying night in welfare centres.
The Christchurch City Council said a welfare centre at Addington Raceway had closed due to high umbers, believed to be about 1200.
People were instead asked to go to Burnside School, Papanui High School, the Lyttelton Recreation Centre, Brooklands Community Centre or Akaroa Senior School.
WeatherWatch.co.nz said the temperature was expected to fall to 9-10degC overnight, compounded by light rain. Many more aftershocks were also expected.
However, the showers should clear in the morning and a high of 18degC was expected.
An Urban Search and Rescue team (SAR) from Australia would arrive after midnight.
Two New Zealand SAR teams were on their way as well as ambulances from around the South Island.
The SAR teams would go "hardout" for the first couple of days but it was likely that some people would be stuck in buildings overnight.
"There could well be people that are stuck in a building overnight. I would expect that is in all probability the case."
Some critical patients had been flown from Christchurch to other hospitals around the South Island.
Military personnel were being coordinated to make areas safe.

CATHEDRAL, HOTELS DAMAGED
The spire of Christchurch Cathedral, the heart of the city, has collapsed.
Dean of Cathedral Peter Beck said they tried to get out who they could but it was now in the hands of emergency services. "It doesn't look good".
He had "no idea" of how many people were inside.
Power was out in a significant portion of the city. While some parts will have power restored overnight it could be fours days till power was restored across the city.
A significant number of hotels have collapsed and it was not known how many people were inside, Civil Defence Minister John Carter said earlier this afternoon.
Bodies were seen being taken out of the damaged YHA hostel in the city.
On the corner of Lichfield and High Streets, a block of shops had completely collapsed and rescue services believed four or five people are trapped in the rubble.
One body had been pulled from the wreckage.
People trapped in the CBD have put signs up at the windows saying 'HELP'.
Helicopters were being used to put out fires in the central city.
EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS
Amber Armitage said people were wandering around central Christchurch trying to get out but all exits from the city were blocked.
There was a strong smell of gas and clouds of dust.
A bus on Colombo St was "completely trapped under bricks" and people were working to free passengers trapped in it.
She said the quake felt much stronger than the 7.1 quake on September 4, 2010 and believed the city was "irreparable".
Former Blenheim woman Joh Bloomberg was working in Ballantynes department store in central Christchurch when the earthquake struck.
"I was clinging to this cupboard next to my desk. I thought it was going to be fine, but it got worse and worse, and went on for so long. It's the worst one I've felt."
She walked outside to nearby Lichfield St and saw a car flattened by a fallen section of building.
"I'm normally pretty calm with things like this but when I saw a huge concrete slab on top of that car ...
"It's squashed down to zero. You never think you'll see anything like that."
Everyone was screaming as they left the store.
A colleague of Miss Bloomberg's walked outside to Cashel St mall and saw people lying on the ground who she thought had been hit by falling rubble from a nearby cafe.
Kay Cowlishaw said there was destruction everywhere.
"There's just water pouring out and sewerage, the whole garage is filled with water. There are cracks in the road.
Sally Blundell lives in Opawa and said their whole house shifted on its piles.



"We have no water, no power. We are really shaken. Most of us do not know what has happened to the inner city. We are just hearing reports on the radio and it sounds really frightening. The ground is still like jelly, a low level shake all the time."
Malcolm, a policeman from Darfield, was driving in the city when the earthquake hit.
"I thought I had a flat tyre, then the place was shaking like hell."
He said oak trees in the Hagley Park had been uprooted and fallen across tents.
"I'm shaken, I'm at Christ College now and the school is a shambles - there's a lot of damage to the buildings.
"All of the water pipes are burst and it looks like a tsunami coming across the park."
"It's just unbelievable - just the sheer power."
His daughter was at Rangi Ruru school and she said students were running around screaming.
HOSPITAL INUNDATED WITH WOUNDED
A patient in Christchurch Hospital, who was in the riverside block when the first quake hit, said things were falling down and some elderly people were injured in the stairs.
"It was just a lot of panic. The nurses and doctors were quite calm but I think just like the first time, it was all quiet, then all of a sudden there was panic."
Christchurch Hospital is operational but people are being asked to keep the Emergency Department for major casualties only.
The hospital, along with most other hospitals in the region has suffered infrastructure damage, a Health Ministry statement said.
A generator has been brought in to maintain power supply at Christchurch Hospital Riverside Block. "If power is not fully restored this evening patients at Christchurch Hospital's Riverside Block may need to be evacuated."
Large volumes of patients are being triaged through the Christchurch Hospital ED, many with serious injuries. Patients with non-life threatening injuries are being assessed and treated in Christchurch Women's Hospital and the Outpatients Department.
Patients from the top two floors of Christchurch Hospital have been evacuated to lower floors. There is some water damage throughout the hospital but staff are awaiting further assessments.
St John district commander Tony Dowell said they had been seeing a range of injuries from serious to minor.
Mostly of the injuries were from crushing. St John was mobilising resources from West Coast, Dunedin, Nelson and South Canterbury.
The National Crisis Centre in Auckland had also been activated. 
FELT MORE STRONGLY THAN SEPTEMBER QUAKE
Today's 6.3 earthquake would have felt more powerful for Christchurch residents than the original quake on September 4.
GNS duty seismologist Bill Fry said the acceleration of today's earthquake was larger in Christchurch city than the magnitude 7 earthquake last year.
"Instantaneously, they would have felt the greatest amount of shaking today. But the duration would not have been as long."
The earthquake happened at a shallow depth of five to six kilometres below ground.
In the city, the acceleration measured the same as the force of gravity.
In September, the largest acceleration felt around the city was on its eastern side, and this measured 0.8 times the force of gravity.
Today's earthquake did not last as long as the September quake, but Dr Fry said its duration had not been confirmed yet.

Results for Te Matatini 2011

Results As follows:

Catagory:                                                    Roopu:     

Top 3 of Te Matatini o te Ra 2011

#3 Te Whanau a Apanui

#2  Te Waka Huia

#1 Te Matārae i Orehu


                        

Manukura Wahine:                                      Te Matārae i Orehu            

Manukura Tane:                                          Te Matārae i Orehu             

Waiata tira:                                                  Hatea
 

Whakaeke                                                  Te Pou o Manga tawhiri

Mo Teatea                                                   Te Matārae i Orehu

Waiata a ringa                                              Te Waka Huia

Poi                                                               Te Matārae i Orehu
           
Haka                                                            Te Matārae i Orehu   

Whakawatea                                                Te Hoko Whitu a Tu

Next TeMatatini to be held Feb 2013 Rotorua.