Remembering Christchurch six years on

One Tauranga man went from supervisor at a construction company in Christchurch to working the graveyard shift at a servo in Tauranga after the 2011 earthquakes rattled Christchurch and killed 185 people.

Today, six years ago, Mr Hilliam was driving in Christchurch when he felt the magnitude 6.3 quake.

"I drove home to Harewood, the TV was on the floor, the bookshelf was knocked over and everything from the pantry was on the ground," he told The Bay of Plenty Times.

He rushed to his sons' primary school to find the children assembled on the school field, crying.

Paul Hilliam moved his family to Tauranga after the Christchurch earthquakes. Photo/John Borren

After waking up to the September 2010 quakes, and all the aftershocks between the two big blows to the city, it was enough for his wife at the time, Tania Hilliam, to want to move her family.

She left Christchurch with their two children, Oliver and Isaac, and moved to Tauranga while Mr Hilliam stayed behind to sell their home, and tie up loose ends.

It broke his heart to see his the city in which he was born and lived most for his life, in ruins.

"I really loved Christchurch - it was almost like a relationship break-up. My heart was broken, the city that I loved ... all the buildings I loved, all the places I used to go to in the city were all gone. All destroyed. It was really sad."

It took them about six months to adjust to life without earthquakes.

Every time he heard a bus or a truck go down a road, he thought it was an earthquake, he said.

"What people in the Bay need to appreciate is after going through the Christchurch earthquakes - you know earthquakes can literally happen anywhere at anytime. That's how random they are."

Although he had now settled in Tauranga and loved living in the Bay, it had been a rough journey.

I really loved Christchurch - it was almost like a relationship break-up. My heart was broken, the city that I loved ... all the buildings I loved, all the places I used to go to in the city were all gone. All destroyed.

Paul Hilliam

"I wouldn't solely put it down to the earthquakes but I was on a sweet salary, a phone and car, the whole nine yards in Christchurch but when I came up here at the time, Tauranga was completely different to what it is today construction wise. It was dead.

"I couldn't get a job banging a roof on, let alone supervising. I went from a sweet manager position to bum boy down at the servo. They were going to pay me minimum wage so I said jeez can you pay me a bit more, they said 'we pay the graveyard shift worker an extra $1 an hour'. So I ended up doing it for about a year. I really struggled."

Mr Hilliam said with his parents and two brothers still in Christchurch he visited every six months and pleased with how the city had progressed and the rebuilding which had taken place.

Although the earthquakes were a huge catalyst for change in his life, he was happy to make the changes for the stability for his family.