Thousands take comfort from quake memorial service

Audio, Radio New Zealand

We look back at the first anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake.

Earthquake family tries to comfort traumatised children

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The days of aftershocks have got too much for the Wingfield family who are getting out of Christchurch in an effort to calm their deeply distressed children aged two and five.

Finding Jeremy: finding comfort amid the aftershocks

Audio, Radio New Zealand

On the day when the second Christchurch earthquake struck, Andy and Amber Cleverley were trapped at the top of the Grand Chancellor Hotel with an American man they only knew as Jeremy.

Ethnic migrants displaced by quake find solace in Auckland

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Ethnic migrants from Christchurch displaced by the earthquake are being given some much needed cultural and spiritual comfort from a centre in Auckland's Waitakere district.

Hardest winter for Christchurch hospitality since quakes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch moteliers say this has been the hardest winter since the Canterbury earthquakes - and they are blaming both AirBnB and a lack of events. RNZ Christchurch reporter Logan Church spoke with Comfort Inn motel owner, Bob Cringle, about the state of the sector.

Checkpoint Top Stories for Tuesday 7 September 2010

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Canterbury schools to stay closed until Monday, Earthquake family tries to comfort traumatised children, Christchurch welfare centres start filling up, Independent Australian MPs back Labor, Universities raise fees to maximum, MPs in Parliament pay tribute to people of Canterbury, Prime Minister speaks from Christchurch, and Julia Gillard speaks about the newly formed government.

Rosie Belton - Wild Cook

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Former drama teacher and casting director Rosie Belton (right) has a motto she lives by: "When all else fails - cook!" Her new book Wild Blackberries explores her life through food. It's about how food enhances the feeling of celebration, and comforts in times of sadness. Having lived through nearly four years of earthquakes in her hometown of Christchurch, Rosie tells Wallace Chapman about why the kitchen and dining table provided so much solace in such unstable times.