Most of you will know my story already. For those that don't, briefly, OH and oldest son moved out to ChCh in Oct 2010. My youngest son and I returned to the uk after validating our visas, to sell our house. They went through the Feb quake, which was awful for them and me and then my youngest moved out in April, days before his 18th birthday.
I eventually sold the house and after a last minute trauma, got our dog booked to join us.

So, I arrived, in the rain on 7th December. My husband cried and it was big hugs all round, with both sons also meeting me at the airport. It was a quick drive to our rented house in Parklands, which I had only seen photos of. The house is great (a few cracks here and there ) albeit a bit of a man cave, complete with full size pool table in the kitchen/dining room! My husband went back to work on the Monday, and with the boys in and out I spent quite a bit of time on my own. Apart from family/friends the first thing I missed was BBC Radio 4 - I love the comedy programmes on it!
My husband was supposed to be working from 4pm until midnight (as was my youngest) on 23rd Dec in Westfield Riccarton. That is where we were when I experienced my first ever quake. My youngest was in New Brighton and phoned me to check I was ok, saying that he thought the car was going to flip - turns out, New Brighton was not the place to be for the 5.8 that day! Once I met up with my oldest son I relaxed a bit. We were on our way to my youngest, in the car, when the 6 hit. The road was bucking and twisting and the lamp posts swaying.
As we got closer to home, we were dreading what we were going to find. We parked several streets away, took our shoes off and waded through the liquefaction, trying to avoid the sink holes. We live in Bower Ave - it's been on the news and in the papers quite regularly! To coin a phrase, our road was munted. However, we were one of the lucky ones. Apart from some more/larger cracks and doors/windows being more difficult to open/close, we had no damage . The tv was still upright, the fridge/freezer had moved forward about a foot and everything in the pantry and fallen over but that was it! We had no power until later that evening and no water until around 8pm on Christmas Eve. We all slept in the lounge that night and the following one too!
Christmas Day was a walk to the beach, to paddle in the Pacific. We ate mince pies and pulled crackers as well as playing a game of touch rugby (lots of cheating!). Back home, a spot of lunch then a drive to Hanmer, where a dairy was open so we ate ice cream cones in the sunshine, shake free, before arriving home that evening for dinner. Boxing Day my OH and I went to Timaru - the sea was so much warmer there and we had a lovely day wandering around.
We have also been to Kaikoura with the boys and loved the seals, just lying around in the car park and on the beach. The owner of the Craypot Restaurant has offered us a couple of nights free accom if we want to escape the shakes.
Yesterday, we went to collect our dog from quarantine. It is 15 months since he lived with my boys and a month since he was with me, so a joyous reunion. He is loving the space and was totally underwhelmed by his first walk to the beach .
So far, everyone I have met has been lovely - gifts from my son's bosses for Christmas, the novelty of picking when I want goods delivered (none of that 'well we are in your area a month on Thursday between 7am and 11pm' that I'm used to). I have no doubt that I will not always have such a positive experience but I am making the most of it while I can.

Thank you for sharing such a positive post. Sounds as though you have the attitude to make 'can do' wherever you go..... Best of luck for you and all of the family.

Hi. We live not far from Bower Ave. I just wanted to say welcome to ChCh and I enjoyed reading your positive post

Lovely update Chippy ~ I'm really pleased you are back where you belong with your boys Wonderful to have the dog with you too. All the very best to you and your family xx

Chippy64 - lovely to read your post. What's Chch actually like now? Obviously I can read about it in the papers but what's it like living there day-to-day? Considering a move there but seems so much against it.

its like a city with no centre, which makes it not disimilar to Auckland

Spent our first year in Christchurch always loved the vibe...hope it returns fingerscrossed:

Two months in and still loving it!