WHAT CAN ONE SAY?

New Zealand is shocked and saddened by the earthquake and it's aftermath in Japan.

My heart goes out to all those who are waiting and watching for news of family and friends.

The film footage and photos are horrifying. In the midst of it we had our own little drama.The Tsunami advisory had many people on edge. We knew the risk was minor, our officials confirmed this was so, but we still kept watch. In the event it was little more than minor tidal surges with minimal damage to one or two moored boats.

We were well informed and we received phone calls and texts from so many people it was almost embarrassing. It's so nice to know that we look after each other.

It seems petty to complain about our lot but if you're living without running water and sewerage in an urban area, as so many are in Christchurch, you are either deeply affected by this tragedy or you are numbed by the sheer scale of it. Panic is not far away as we discovered when one family member became almost hysterical when we refused to evacuate my mother. We have discussed this many times and our choice is always to wait and see, if that's possible. We had 10 hours to decide on the level of danger and 15 minutes gets us to safety, with emergency supplies, if necessary. We were prepared.

We are not blase or careless as some told us. We are very aware and alert, just as people on the West Coast of America were, but we had a lot more time. Having said that our emergency kit is not ready to grab in an instant. That's something we need to work on. In the past I haven't worried because we have all we need in the bus ...... but it's not mobile right now. The brake line is severed and we haven't wanted to spend any money on repairs. I think we need to re-consider this decision.

I am 'kind of' glad our TV is on the blink. Something wrong with the aerial connection and we are waiting for the 'man who fixes' to have another job in the area. He will take approximately 10 minutes to fix if last time is anything to go by. We are reduced to the internet, isn't it a marvellous tool, and a smal screen TV in the old bus. This gives us a very poor snowy picture on one channel. Because we rarely use it we haven't worried about setting up a better system.Why spend money on something we rarely use. I don't miss it very much but John grumbles a lot. I find I'm in overlaod from disaster news. I don't want to bury my head in the sand but I don't want to watch that Tsunami of water turning cities inside out and upside down.

We have a glorious sunny day with a bit of an autumn feel. I love these clear blue skies.