Christchurch earthquake: Baker picks up the pieces

Damaged shops on Clarence St. Photo / Getty Images

Janine Kenyon had her week all planned out, she was going to bake wedding and birthday cakes and stock her cafe opposite the CTV building with lunchtime treats.

That was until 1pm on Tuesday when she was thrown from her desk on to the floor, and massive industrial ovens and mixers bounced around "as if they weighed nothing".

"We were stunned. Those heavy things moved so easily. Now there is liquefaction bubbling up [outside in the driveway]."

Kenyon, a baker, a wife, a boss and a businesswoman, thought her day had come.

"It was terrifying. I didn't know what to do. I thought this was it."

Kenyon had four cake shops, Divine Cakes & Desserts, and a cafe in central Christchurch.

The store on Blenheim Rd in Riccarton is still open and a bakehouse is still operational, but the rest "is devastated", in piles of rubble and liquefaction.

All of Kenyon's staff and customers who were inside the stores and cafe survived. Some suffered minor injuries.

Kenyon has no idea when her other three cake stores and when her cafe, Devine, will reopen.

At the moment she is focused on helping her staff and family through the trauma and making sure those brides get their wedding cakes.

"They're going ahead this weekend, which is brave. A range of customers still want cakes, I'd say 70 per cent [who placed orders for yesterday and today ]. One bride said her family would cater the wedding.

"All the customers I have spoke to are really sad, really devastated. It's just going to be difficult for some time. People are lost. People are missing," she said.

Kenyon said buildings can be rebuilt, but parts of the city and their history will be gone forever.

Her cafe had a chandelier that survived the quake in September.

"All the glass shattered out of it this time. It was massive. Massive. Everyone was quite fond of it. It was 6m by 3m. It's just a big mess now, a wall has fallen in. There are broken drinks and glass everywhere. Everyone got out safely. People just ran and left everything."

The cafe suffered minimal damage during the first quake but "this is tenfold worse".

"The difference is amazing. Last time there were smashed drinks. Some food went off. There were cracked glasses, not a wall falling in. It's worse this time. It's more emotional. It was very scary."

The quake hit during lunchtime, so it was packed. But it could have been busier, there was a slight lull just before 1pm, she said.

"Our store in The Palms was completely devastated. One of the girls texted me and said she had 'forgotten' to put the lid on the till before she ran out of the store - that was of course the least of our worries."

"Brides are still intending to have weddings this weekend, I thought the weddings would have been cancelled but I called around and most are going ahead with their plans, so now I need to bake," Kenyon said.