Mystery message

After the 6.0 hit yesterday afternoon a friend phoned to say she’d heard on the radio that a building on the corner of Kilmore and Barbadoes Street (OUR corner) had collapsed.  We’d just walked past that corner without noticing anything amiss.  After her call we walked down, and still couldn’t see any new damage.  Apart from the half of Piko’s still standing there’s only one building left on the corner, and that’s the hairdresser’s.

Later that evening a daughter in London told us she’d also seen news that a building on our corner had collapsed.  I then googled, and found this on Yahoo and Stuff: “A partly demolished building on the corner of Barbadoes and Kilmore streets has collapsed”.  We’ve been down for another look this morning, but still can’t see any sign of this.

Our Xmas Eve plan had been to go to the Supermarket early for last minute grocery shopping.  At 7.30am we headed to South City New World which is usually open then.  We could see people inside, but doors all around the Mall were locked.  Eventually someone came out to tell us and a number of other hopeful shoppers that they were waiting for engineers to come and check the buidling and it would open “sometime later”.  We went on to Countdown in Moorhouse, where we heard that won’t be open until 9.30am.  New World Stanmore had a large “closed” sign.  Luckily, Gordon Smith in Victoria Street was open and we were able to get fruit, vegetables, milk, bread, and eggs.  We’d still like cooking cheese (planning cheese puffs for Xmas lunch), so may brave the supermarket crowds later.  Otherwise we won’t be venturing far from home today (well, maybe a drink at Pomeroy’s if they’re open again). 

This morning’s chores are re-shelving books, and resetting the answerphone and other devices which went offline during yesterday’s power outage.  We are SO lucky not to have liquefaction or flooding.

“Reports our corner fell in quake
appear to be a news mistake.”