Damaged city too much for Wizard
BLAIR ENSOR
The Wizard came to the rescue of St James of Avonside Resthome Manager Sue Milligan and dog "Molly".
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The Wizard has quit Christchurch after the earthquake, but not before wading through knee-deep water to help a rest home and rescue a dog.
Ian Brackenbury Channell is taking his 91-year-old mother to Oamaru and plans to leave the city for good.
''I'm very unhappy about what has happened to my lovely Christchurch.
''I'm heartbroken.
''I love the buildings and the place, but so much of it has gone,'' The Wizard said.
Fixing the town had ''gone too far''.
''It's beyond my wildest powers,'' he said.
For nearly four decades, The Wizard of New Zealand has been donning a pointy hat and robes and spouting forth his many and varied views on life, love and religion to crowds in Cathedral Square.
The 78-year-old, who moved to Christchurch from Australia in 1974, said the earthquake was the last straw and it was time to retire and leave town.
''It's probably the end of an era for me. The town I love so much is gone.''
An arson attack on his home in St Alban in 2003 and a lack of support from the council and tourism operators were factors in his decision to leave, he said.
On Tuesday he was at his home in Avonside preparing to go and perform in Cathedral Square when the quake struck. It was like being in a ''cocktail machine'', he said.
However, his house was largely undamaged.
''I couldn't believe it there wasn't a single crack. Perhaps there's a bit of magic.''
After checking on family he waded through water to get to St James of Avonside, a rest home, which cares for about 50 elderly people.
While there he rescued Molly, a brussels griffon dog, from drowning in water, which had bubbled up from the ground.
The dog belonged to the rest home's co-owner Sue Milligan.
''It would have broken my heart to lose her. I can't bare the thought of it. She brings a lot of enjoyment to residents.''
Milligan's business was badly damaged in the earthquake and is still without power and water.
Chefs had to cook on gas, she said.
The business' repair bill from September's shake was about $1.5 million. She estimated the new damage would cost double that to repair.
''We are only just coping. We can't keep on like this.''
The rest home desperately needed volunteers to help clear away liquefaction. Water, paper cups, plates and sanitary wipes were also needed, she said.
- The Marlborough Express
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The Wiz was never there when I was there...maybe because I was there in 2003 or thereabouts and maybe he was tending to his house. I salute him though. Anyone at 78 should have a mind to do as they please. Its not like he's leaving the country. Why,he's not even leaving the S.Island. Surely we need to cut him some slack and wish he and others in this amazing 1st world tragedy good luck.
@Matt &@Otto- should be mother-in-law
The "wizard" iconic has benefited the city but he has also benefited from it. This news is unhelpful and disgraceful. He owed it to the city to stay and be a source of inspiration, togetherness and hope. Like the rest of New Zealand is doing. If he didn't want to take the bad with the good and abandon the city he should have just left quietly - rather than allowing his fame to be yet another aftershock for Christchurch. His announcement is not helpful - he should be ashamed of his actions.
My wife and I visited Christchurch just a few months ago, and were utterly charmed by the pleasant people, the buildings, the cathedral through which we wandered, and of course the Wizard. We had experienced the 1989 earthquake in San Francisco, and live ourselves in the daily peril of such things today. So it is with a real sense of recognition and sorrow that we see all these terrible events, and now hear of the end of this unique experience in Cathedral Square.
All things come to an end, and so these buildings, this wizard, and all other things must pass away in one way or another--which is part of what makes them beautiful, because they cannot be eternal. And yet the Cathedral spire is not in the dust for me, but remains as it always was in my mind. My video of the wizard is intact, as are the videos and memories of thousands and thousands of other people, and Christchurch is intact, and always will be--even as it struggles through the burden of this time. We feel the loss with you but we give you our prayers that Christchurch may emerge from this time of sorrow into a new form that we may not see, but that others will know and love.
So farewell Wizard; yet there is no leave-taking. And though the thoughts are far away from an alien land, know that our thoughts are with you in sympathy, as your memory lives in us with gratitude.
Hi Jack. The papers got it wrong again? I would have believed them if they said you were fleeing to Carcassonne, but not just down the road, but do come back when the census is over and the Cathedral fixed. DON'T LET THE BASTARDS GRIND YOU DOWN !!! Capt Compass
PS: Say "Hi" to your 'Mum'.
The Wizard will be sorely missed, he was cool. I remember he used magic to keep the shield from leaving Canterbury on many occasions through the 1980's. Its disgraceful that someone tried to burn down his house.
The Wizard is 78 and his mum is 91? Express reporters did check these details before printing.
Wait, he was born when his mother was 13?
We owe Ian enough to stand by his choice and we wish you well in your retirement wizard TC.
Farewell venerable Magus, I wish you well. You have been a bastion of fun-ism for many years, and an inspiration to many (myself included) citizens of our nation. Toodle-pip old chap.