Christchurch Earthquake 22 February 2011

There a thousand stories of Christchurch 12.51pm 22rd February 2011 now itched in History of the worst day in NZ history but this is ours.

Early afternoon we were all working as normal and I was talking on the phone to my brother Bill as the Insurance Assessors were coming in two hours time for damage from the earthquake of September 4th of the size 7.4. Bill said “shit it’s an earthquake” I said in a joke will I stop doing this report but he was gone. Then it got nasty and the noise was deafening as everything in the hotel flew of the walls and glass breaking everywhere. We stayed in the building as we didn’t realise how bad it was, so we stayed where we were. Tava was by the keyboard, Debbie and Matty were in the door coming out of back office and me on the other side of front desk. The lights on front desk got a great swing on and came off their wire supports went through the end wall and the hole 8m of them landed on the floor still going just missing Tava, she started screaming. Then the funniest thing happened (if you can make a joke out of anything of this.) Debbie sort of moon walked over top of all this broken stuff on the floor and gave Tava a hug with the look on her face you would use to comfort a child and then moon walked back to her under the door position. So as the shake slowed down we went out through the front doors.

I run inside got the camera and started snapping off shots of the inside of the inside of the Hotel it looked real bad but the big fish tank was still in place. But then it started to shake again so I ran back outside. The staff were holding on to anything to give them support on their feet. When it stopped I headed back inside to finish the photos and the fish tank was smashed on the floor with live fish gravel and broken glass everywhere. Everybody had moved to the street front of the building where the bar came out on to the street. We grabbed chairs and blankets for people in shock. The bar door was open and bottles all over the floor so I just picked out the good ones Debbie got a table to put them on and told everybody to help them self. Then hundreds of people flowed past the Hotel as the people walked out of the destroyed city. I managed to get all the staff together (what had not run) and told them we have to clean up fast as the Hotel was in working order and would be needed right away. Our staff where dazed but got on with the job. Debbie set about making the front desk work and the computers in order. We had no water, but the hotel was running again by 6pm with a big buffet and fed 200 people by 8pm that night.

We knew people were dying in the streets of the city but we had to keep going as the 70 staff we had only 20 showed up all shell shocked. Maureen was in Nelson but got a ride back driving as fast as they could to get back to her family and hotel. Ang and Brain came from Nelson with a trailer load of water. Aaron Broderick (Ron’s son) arrived from Nelson and me old mate Gary Broderick with Ryan Rollinson a friend of Debbie’s just made the hotel work.

There was a spring at the back of one of our houses on the site so we run a hose around to the kitchen so we had cooking and with gas stove we could heat water for washing dishes. The Hotel was full of Police, security and media with big names like Ray Martin from channel Nine 60 minutes Aust. How Debbie stayed awake to work I will never know only sleeping about three hours a day. Running the computer day and night to keep a track of thing, people sleeping in conference rooms anywhere they could.

Within a couple of days we set up a temporary hot water system in front of the kitchen. Then as the days went we bought a pump and filled the tanks on one block of the Hotel that gravity feed some units so people could go and have hot showers in the Gym and use flush toilets.

My heart goes out to those that lost their loved ones friends and workmates as we know what a loss can do to you and your family. As the days have past the enormity of the situation has evolved and will continue to evolve as one of the biggest disasters of New Zealand history.

Buller Marathon

We made our annual trip to Westport to the Buller Marathon where we do a promotion for the Pavilions Hotel. This is the town where I started work; I get treated so well there as they appreciate us spending money back into the town. The business we get out of that West Coast town is incredible. For you people that haven’t been to that part of the world you don’t know what you are missing. The marathon is run down through the Buller Gorge with the Buller River winding its way to Westport Harbour on its way to the coast. Rainforest either side of world class beauty. The town has work everywhere with Solid Energy, Holcim Cement and Dairy Farming it is not taking part in the troubled times that has affected the rest of New Zealand. Have you seen the Westcoast?

The Joke
One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot
as a Christmas gift.
The next year, he didn’t buy her a gift.
When she asked him why, he replied, “Well, you still haven’t used the
gift I bought you last year!”
And that’s how the fight started…..

Introducing Graeme Horncastle’s Daughter

GH FAMILY PHOTOAnd has this been a topic of conversation here at the Pavilions Hotel this week. Well Graeme has suggested we all need our own profiles in life and that perhaps we should be known as our name rather than Graeme Horncastle’s Daughter – (GHD as referred to from here on in), Graeme Horncastle’s son (GHS), Greame Horncastle’s wife (GHW) and so it goes on.

The thing about this is it’s quite an old but funny way of referring to people from small town’s or large families in small towns, however the internet seems to reinvent this whole purpose.

As we were having this whole discussion I asked the question – who is Brooke Wilson (my daughter), to which my father answered that’s easy she is Graeme Horncastle’s Grandaughter – GHG. Well its funny because I always thought of her as Debbie Wilson’s daughter.

We are wondering here if we should now while we are in Jimmy’s bar be introducing Graeme to people (if it was me doing the introduction) – this is Ryan Horncastle’s Father.

Then there is a whole other issue who am I….. am I Debbie Wilson, Deborah Wilson, Debbie Horncastle or Deborah Horncastle so it makes it quite difficult to know or be aware of who I really am and which identity I should be trying to discover….. and although this may seem all very strange as it does to me – the humour in it and the reality are quite similar…. What are you thoughts which direction should I be taking here and should I just be sticking with GHD?

Paradise Proven

Back on board with the blogs, I have just come back from a cruise ship through Asian country’s ending in Shanghai a city of forty million people. It was okay for a couple of days but when we arrived back in good old NZ we appreciated what a country we live in with the big open wide open spaces and streets you can drive down without a fear of your life. Footpaths we can walk down without hundreds of people coming out to push theirs wears on you. We don’t have police every fifty metres. So forget the small troubles you have with the paradise we live in at the bottom of the world, look at the positives forget the negatives and be thankful to be a citizen of New Zealand.

The Joke
English, Scotch and Irishman, are having a drink not to be out done with each other. The Englishman says he drinks at a great pub the Governor shouts them a drink every Friday. The Scotchman says we get that every day. The Irishman said this pub in his town gives you free drinks all night and later you go up stairs and have as much sex as you want. They said do you go there much he said well I haven’t been there myself but my sister has been.

December update

We have been so busy been putting up a lot of memorability in our bar and just installed a phone made in the 1940s it rings and Jimmy comes on and talks to you even though he’s been gone 30 odd years. We are doing lots of other stuff so come and stay and check us out. I agree it sounds like a bit of madness but it a lot of fun.

The roses are out and place looks great even though I say it myself. Have a great Christmas remember its family time and the little ones love it so make this a Christmas they will remember forever.

The Joke
My wife complained that I wasn’t romantic so for her birthday I booked a table for two that’s when I found out she’s not very good at snooker.

Christchurch Show Week

What a great place Christchurch is and we have seen it all this week with the show and horse racing. The weather was great, summer days hot and the people loved it. The hotel was so busy 24 hours a day with people coming and going happy in a party mood.

We get bogged down with work and the grind of daily living, these times remind us to enjoy life, our family and friends. Christmas is coming up fast and this is the time for the children and to enjoy the main things in life, the family because, where would we be without our family.

So play and work hard in this wonderful country we live in so we can be proud to say we are New Zealanders.

The joke
Two men fishing with very little talking, then one says “I am thinking of leaving my wife as she hasn’t talked to me for two months” nothing is said for some time then the other one said “I don’t think you should leave a perfectly good wife like that”.

Keeping Up to Date…

Sorry not keeping up with the blogs back on track now it has been so busy as people don’t want to stay in high rise hotels with earthquakes of the past few months and we are four star only two story so they want to stay with us. Once they stayed the once and see our hotel and service they want to come back.

We have just repainted the out side of the building it looks great and all the roses are out this time of the year. I think we have about 300 rose plants around the property. Ryan our son has sold his shops in Brisbane and will be at the hotel full time. This will be good for Maureen and myself as I was 59 the other day even though I still think I am 40 it gets harder to put those 16 hour days in when we are busy.

The Joke
Two blonds nailing up boards on the side of there house, one of them was throwing away every second nail the other one asked what she was doing she said the “sharp end was on the wrong end.” The other one yelled at her “you silly bitch they are for the other side of the house.”

Better Times at Last

All we have done for the last few years is spent money on the Hotel. A lot of years running at a loss knowing that it would come right one day. Well this is our time being one of the only 4 star hotels in the central city people are filling us up.

There is so much going on from the earthquake stuff (things like inspection of houses using Engineers, Police, Security, demolishing, rebuilding) and we are going into the start of our busy season.

Its times like this it is good to be an older man and have the faith that good service good product will pay off like it did in the past for me, but this was a long one I put money away for a rainy day but we got it all earthquakes, financial disasters, over supply of rooms and more but with our family we came through.

The Joke
A horse goes to a bar, orders a beer the bar man gets him one, not used to serving horses he started up some small talk “why the long face”

From the Mind of the Young

As I have said before it is hard to get staff in the season so we rely on people on overseas holidays or other hotel staff from other hotels. But the rate of pay is not good and the hours are late at night or early mornings which is not good for young people so the days turn into 16 and 18 hour days for the family in the 6 months of the season, grabbing sleep during the day as somebody must be there to make sure the young ones keep up the service.

Brooke my Grandaughter 17 is a great worker and can do most things, but I don’t like to make her work too hard as she is doing great at school and later I would like her to start work with us to learn from her mother and the rest of the family before she goes out in to the big wide world.

Some of her mates already work here so I said to her last night is there anymore out there and she said “I can only give you the ones that will do the job Grandad.” This girl is well ahead in life she thinks like the rest of the family at 17 years of age.

The Joke.
A man wakes up in a hospital. He says “Doctor, I can’t feel my legs!” The Doctor responds “Of course not silly, we amputated your arms.”

The Hotel Trade

I would like to give you an insight in to the operation of a hotel.

It starts as the old season finishes which is for us the end of April. This is when we start to get ready for the season starting again in September. We look how much money we have to spend and check everybody’s want list which is always more than the money we have. Then we decide which is the most important, working our way back to the money available.

Over the last three years I have spent more than $700,000 on the hotel more than we have made but of cause this can not go on for ever as your rainy day money is gone. This year we have replaced beds and new flat screen TVs in all rooms. These are high value things that last a long time. But the main work can be done with a paint brush as the saying goes “paint can hide multiples of sins”. The gardens can also make the place look good as we have 300 rose bushes of all different colors and variety. Then as this work comes to a finish at the end of August staff have to be hand picked to take us through the season. This is so important to get the right ones and if they don’t work out how to get rid of them negotiating around NZs stupid work place laws to move them on.

All this is done by Debbie and myself like putting a jig saw together and seeing the picture at the end. Of cause all business have similar problems but this gives you insight how hotels operate.

The Joke
A notice in a room in USA.
You are invited to take advantage of the housemaid.