Kaikoura quake destroyed couple's home, now they have a new one

The summer holidays are for many, a favourite time of year. But for some, this holiday season is more special, or a bit different, than usual. Or both. In a Herald series, Our First Summer, we are profiling people who are celebrating their first summer with a change in their lives.

They woke to "a bit of an earthquake", which then became a really big earthquake and before they knew it they were climbing through rubble in the moonlight and looking at their flattened 90-year-old home, the ground still rumbling below.

For the next year, a 30 square metre double garage was home for Dave Buick and Leah Gill.

The first festive season after a magnitude 7.8 thumper cut a path of destruction across the middle of the country 14 months ago would be manger-like for the rural Marlborough couple.

Dave Buick and Leah Gill outside their new home in the Ure Valley, Marlborough. They were among many to lose their home in the 2016 Kaikoura quake. Photo / Supplied

This 30 square metre garage was home for Dave Buick and Leah Gill, and their dogs, for more than a year after the Kaikoura quake destroyed their Ure Valley home. Photo / Supplied

Gill made Buick put up a Christmas tree in their makeshift home in the Ure Valley, near Ward, they hung stockings and everyone piled in.

And they mean everyone.

"It was actually quite funny, because we had about four retired dogs and a young dog [in the garage] and Leah's sister came over from Canada just after Christmas with her son," Buick told the Herald.

"It was actually quite a good Christmas."

It was one to remember, Gill said.

"We just kind of made the most of it really."

Dave Buick and Leah Gill were lucky to escape the collapsing house with their lives. Photo / Supplied

This festive season was quite different.

For one, the ground wasn't moving so often. And, just metres from their garage home, the couple have been watching their new home slowly appear.

They moved in last month.

Buick, a sheep and beef farmer, said it wasn't "that bad" living in a garage — his barbecuing skills have improved so much the couple joke about writing a recipe book of barbecue recipes.

"We should give a solid shout out to Masport, because our barbecue was worth every penny," Gill said.

"That's all we've cooked on. Dave's the barbecue master now."

Dave Buick points to the kitchen of his quake-destroyed Ure Valley home in November 2016. Photo / Supplied

But garage life wasn't so good when trying to run a business.

Or when you want to stay cool in summer or warm in winter, Buick said.

"It will just be nice to relax. Like, we haven't got a couch, we haven't got a lot of luxuries in here. It will just be nice to sit down and relax and have family there and not be worried about being in a garage."

A big party is planned sometime this summer to thank everyone who has helped them, from their insurance broker Stuart Speirs to family, friends, neighbours and building contractors.

And the gratitude doesn't stop there.

The couple, who are both aged in their mid-30s, even added an extra bedroom to cater for anyone passing through the area, which just off State Highway 1 45 kilometres south-east of Blenheim.

Gill, a trainee sonographer who emigrated from Canada two months before the quake, said she wanted to offer a bed to anyone who had helped put a roof back over their heads.

"I'd like the opportunity to host everyone that's been so instrumental in the rebuild, to helping Dave and I ... to be able to repay them and put on a feed and just welcome to our new home, and thank them for all their hard work."

Dave Buick and Leah Gill's new home, pictured nearing the end of construction in early December. Photo / Supplied

They urged anyone who found themselves in a similar situation to be proactive about getting their life back — in their case that meant booking a builder before the end of the year, before they had even drawn up rebuild plans, Buick said.

"You can't dwell on the bad things. You've just got to pick your lip up and carry on. It happened, so you've got to deal with it."