Participant in History

“I am in the midst of a living, pictorial history as it is being etched into our nation’s collective memory and into the core of this unstable but stunning landscape of Canterbury,” Jacqueline Monkman describes for the Telegraph’s Expat Life column. “We have just experienced an earthquake of immense proportions. It measured 7.1 on the Richter scale. In Akaroa the community spirit was quickly evident. Our rural fireman was out early with his farm digger clearing up landslides which blocked the road ways. Friends from our local supply store ten miles away popped in to see if we were alright. Their store was awash with wine as many bottles had crashed down onto their wooden flooring. We have had over sixty aftershocks already, and I am still counting. It is as though we are being warned by the earth itself to stay vigilant. I will never forget 4th September 21.”