So glad to hear you are doing okay, Rob. We were in Christchurch, and also in Sumner, for a few days last December.

Our thoughts and prayers are with all the folks whose lives have been devastated by this. Do hope that Le Petit Hotel in Sumner escaped the damage -- we had such a great visit there.

Aussie tax relief for disaster aid

AUSTRALIAN TAXPAYERS who donate to disaster relief funds for Christchurch earthquake victims and survivors will be eligible for tax relief for their generosity.

Australian Assistant Treasurer Bill Shorten has announced that the earthquake that hit Christchurch on February 22 has been recognised as a disaster for tax purposes, allowing Australian taxpayers to claim an income tax deduction for donations.

"So far this tragic event has claimed the lives of many people and there have been numerous reports of injuries,” he said in a statement.

"The sympathies of the Australian Government and all Australians are with the people of Christchurch and New Zealand at this time."

His declaration means that public funds established and maintained by a public benevolent institution solely to provide money for the relief of people in New Zealand, who are distressed because of the earthquake, can be endorsed as “developed country relief funds”.

Funds still need to apply to the Australian Tax Office for formal endorsement, and the ATO has established a fast track process for this purpose.

"The Red Cross and the Salvation Army have advised that they are establishing disaster relief funds to help the people of Christchurch. Further information on how to make donations will be available from their websites," Mr Shorten said.

Donations to such funds are tax deductible for a period of two years from February 22 2011. Taxpayers should ensure they retain a receipt for their donation.

Rob:

So happy to hear you are OK. We loved our visit to Christchurch, and back here in the US we were appalled to see the pictures and video.

I hate to bother you but...

I've sent money to Red Cross and Salvation Army efforts, but do you have another organization in the area that you see as taking on huge responsibility and could use some funding?

Let me explain why I ask. We live in an area that floods a lot, so when disaster strikes, our money is immediately sent to Salvation Army (our local chapter is excellent). But there is also a little local church in the area that has the most AMAZING congregation. People adopt entire families; others form teams to pump water out of houses, reinstall electricty; they create make-shift dining halls for rescue workers. We've learned to make sure they get some of our monetary backing too.

Is there a local organization you think fits that sort of description of which we should be aware?

And I wanted to add this article, which was given to me by a friend who knows the writer quite well. He's an American now living in Auckland who just happened to be in Christchurch. Not only does it describe his experience, it's a salute to Kiwis--

http://kiwiscots.blogspot.com/2011/0...ent-kiwis.html

Alessandra, that is so kind of you. I've just been watching the tv coverage and they interviewed a local Pastor, and talking about help etc his organisation was giving, but unfortunately I wasn't paying too much attention at the time. Here is a link though I've taken from our breakfast show on how to donate if you or anyone else is interested.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/dona...ppeals-4038581

That a great blog of your friend's - and its nice to hear. There have been some pretty sick stories of people stealing from homes of missing people, thieving, looting, people impersonating building inspectors, etc, but without a doubt there there are so many more acts of random kindness happening. Kiwis rock !!!

We have close friends who spend half the year in their lovely house (now destroyed) in Christchurch and half the year here in Illinois, US. I had begun to despair that anyone was even paying attention. So glad to see all these posts. Plus NBC did lead off with a story this morning about the devastation. I just wish I could be there to help.

They have just now reported on the news that the central city will be closed for several months !!! I feel so sorry for all those that have jobs there that are now no longer.

Just talking about this to DH. My SIL is manager of a Trust that deals in housing for the mentally ill, her offices are within the CBD, not sure how she is going to manage, I guess it will mean shifting offices to the suburbs.

We live in Richmond a suburb of Nelson about 5 hours from Christchurch. When we were at the supermarket this afternoon it was packed. A lot more people around as a lot have shifted from Christchurch for a few days or even longer for a bit of respite. Also the supermarket shelves were getting rather empty as the main distribution centres are in Christchurch.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Christchurch.

We are scheduled to leave this weekend for a one month visit to NZ's north and south island. Family have encouraged us to cancel, but we hope we won't have to.

On March 23, we are scheduled to fly from Rotorua to Christchurch, staying three nights at Hotel SO Christchurch. Then, on March 26, we are scheduled to take the TranzAlpine train to Greymouth.

Melnq8, mlgb and others: would you kindly email me to discuss options? I do not wish to take up this thread with such details. Thanks. woodyfodors [at] yahoo [dot] com

Woody
Los Angeles

woody, don't cancel, you will have a wonderful time once you get here. Christchurch airport is up and running as per normal. The only thing you may need to alter is the three days you are planning spending in Chch itself, everything else will be fine.

Woody I will email you but I also think others will be in your shoes, so why not post a new Thread about this topic.

We are due to take a 3 week tour with Grand Pacific in NZ at the end of March - all such tours are going ahead with change of location when it comes to the Christchurch leg - we are quite happy to continue with the plans and feel in a small way we are helping.

I'll see if this has been covered on a newer thread, but in response to Woody's question, here is the latest news regarding Christchurch rail:

--KiwiRail is assessing resumption of scenic passenger trains operating from Christchurch before announcing a date for the restart of services.

The TranzAlpine and TranzCoastal were suspended immediately following the earthquake in Christchurch on 22 February.
The Overlander, which operates in New Zealand’s North Island, between Wellington and Auckland, is unaffected, and is still operating daily.

“We had originally planned to start South Island tourist focused train services again on the 1st of March, however we have pushed that date back and we will make a further announcement by the 4th of March,” says Deborah Hume, KiwiRail’s General Manager Rail Passenger.--

So it looks as though we'll have rail status within a few days.

I posted about Akaroa, which is largely intact, open and able to handle visitors. It would be a good substitution for anyone who wanted to retain their domestic flights to Christchurch. There are shuttle services between Chch and Akaroa.

Good, mlgb. I added another new post to this forum, mlgb, about rail status. If you hit reply and post, adding your suggestions, that should help push it up so we can signal "wavering" tourists to stick with the program!

I feel so bad that I can't travel back to NZ to pour some tourist dollars into the kitty (working does tend to get in the way).

Well I reconfirmed our reservations at 3 B&B's (Catlins, Te Anau, and Queenstown); then was notified that another B&B near Dunedin had cancellations so we were able to add that to our itinerary.

We have decided to go forward with our trip to NZ. We leave this Sunday.

Thank you to everyone who provided information and support -- especially Melnq8 and mlgb for the emails. We would have canceled this trip if not for you.

We are keeping our flight to Christchurch. Instead of staying in the city center, we will rent a car to go to Akaroa for two nights. Although there are buses to Akaroa, they would not work for us since they leave before our flight arrives.

After Akaroa, we will return to the Christchurch Airport and stay at a hotel near the airport for one night. The next morning we will go to Christchurch and, hopefully (fingers crossed!), take the TranzAlpine train to Greymouth. Our tickets are prepaid and non-refundable. If the train is not running by then, InterCity is offering temporary bus service to Greymouth.

Some information to hopefully help others:

1. Some hotels near the airport have said they will honor prior reservations, but encourage people to stay only as long as necessary as they are also trying to accommodate people whose homes were destroyed.

2. Rental car agencies have a glut of cars at Christchurch Airport, and are offering free or low price rentals (I've seen prices ranging from $0 to $15 NZ) to drive vehicles from the airport to other cities.

Again, thank you for your help.

Woody

It sounds like a good plan Woody, I hope you have a wonderful time here, I'm sure you will. Please let us know how you get on. Safe travels.

Have a good trip Woody. That info posted about the car rentals and Christchurch accomodations will be helpful to others in your situation.

I posted this on another thread this a.m., but for those of you checking in on this thread for transport news:

The latest (3/4/2011) is that TranzAlpine (Christchurch to West Coast) service will resume 3/7/11 at 8:15 a.m.

The TranzCoastal (Christchurch to Picton) is still iffy. However, KiwiRail is running a bus on the same route in the meantime.