The Terrace, Wellington, March 1, 2011, 12.55 p.m. Most of the country, I imagine, observed two minutes’ silence today at 12.51 p.m., to pay our respects to the victims of the Christchurch earthquake.
This is what the Terrace in Wellington looked like toward the end of four minutes’ silence. As no one was 100 per cent sure of the hour, we stayed silent for longer to be on the safe side.
As a matter of fact, when I reached the Terrace at 12.49 p.m., I noticed one lady had already pulled over to the side of the road to begin her two minutes. Office workers from some buildings came out, notably the St John building, where I imagine a lot of their colleagues are involved in the rescue and recovery. One cabbie pulled over for around a minute across the road from me.
Not everyone observed the silence. As I stood there, quite a few people still walked by, probably unaware of the time or the relative silence around the neighbourhood. But I would say the majority of us observed it, and that was heartening.
Right after I took these pics, I got back in my car. The St John’s crowd wandered back inside as I drove past. It was a great moment of solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christchurch.
