THE POWER CUT AND MONDAY'S WALK

Our thoughts have been confirmed.  The major outage that cut power to about 100,000 people was caused by a team removing the nuts from three of the pylon legs at the same time during routine maintenance.  I can just imagine their faces when the pylon started to fall.  (It was lucky no-one was injured or killed).  

We had some power restored that evening and by the following evening had full power when one of the 220 kV circuits was re-livened, it is hoped to have the second circuit  sorted by the end of the week.  The pylon landed on it so it is a more difficult job.  There will, of course, be several investigations and lots of calls for compensation.

Meanwhile, we were lucky, once again, with the weather for Monday's walk.  The weekend was very wet (although most of the rain was at night) Monday dawned fine but cloudy.  We had a very pleasant walk from the Information Centre to the Raumanga Falls.  

The waterfall is always very hard to get a photo of but, after all the rain, it was in full flow yesterday and could easily be seen through the trees.  (we walk to the top of the falls)

After the walk we met at the home of one of our walkers for a mid-winter get-together.  Everyone brought a plate of food and I fully intended to take a photo of the spread but completely forgot about it.  Anyway,  it was enjoyed by all and we sat chatting for a couple of  hours.

 

A BAD DAY

Yesterday, at 11 a.m. our power went off.  When we lived in the more isolated Far North this used to happen from time to time but since living down in Whangarei power cuts are usually for planned  maintenance.

It took a while before the extent and cause of the cut became apparent.  It seems that work was being done on the alternative power line to Northland when a pylon on the line in use fell over.  Presumably, someone was having a bad day as it looks as though the bolts holding the pylon down had been removed and the pylon fell over.  This cut power to just under 100,000 people.

We are on fibre so were without a landline and only had intermittent cellphone coverage.  Luckily, our wood burner has a removable top giving a hot surface and we were able to boil water and heat a casserole and rice for lunch.  

The power eventually came back on at about 5 pm although full power is not expected until after the weekend so everyone is asked to conserve power and water in the meantime.  

Of course all the traffic lights were out and police were on duty at major intersections.

                                           photo of fallen pylon from New Zealand Herald

Several large businesses including the milk giant, Fonterra, and Portland cement have stopped using power until the emergency is over.

WAIMAHANGA TRACK

The Parkinson's walk today was the Waimahanga track, another favourite and, once again, after some heavy rain at the weekend mostly at night we had a glorious day for our walk.  There were 15 of us and we all enjoyed a catch up at a nearby cafe after the walk.

The view of the mangroves from one of the bridges

• 
  
  
  from the other bridge a view of ducks on a small island with the mangroves in the background
  
  
  
• 
  
• 
  
the lovely track.


 

THE LOOP

We had a miserable weekend weather-wise.  It wasn't cold but was cloudy/misty with drizzle and no sun.  The forecast for this morning's Parkinson's walk wasn't much better but, luckily, the clouds lifted early and we had a lovely walk with warm sunshine.  

We do the larger part of the walk before we get to the cafe leaving just a short stretch back to the cars.  The walk is 4.2 kms long .  While we were waiting for our teas I took some photos.

After the cafe we go past the Rolling Ball Clock.  I can't remember whether I have posted about it before but I find it fascinating.  I find it quite hard to get a good photo because of the reflection from the glass.  The top two photos are mine and the bottom one stolen from the internet.  If anyone is interested you can see more about it here.

Mexican marigold bush

 With the start of winter there is not a lot of colour around and we have had a lot of comments on our Mexican Marigold Bush which is flowering in all its glory at the moment.  We bought the cuttings for these plants from the Monarch Butterfly Society in September 2020 and now have plants spread through the garden.

SUNROOM

It was 2018 when Doug built the sunroom where there used to be an unused deck.  It is a very narrow room (I don't know why the original builders (the State as this was the local Constable's house) didn't just make the lounge larger.

Anyway, all the work was well worth it as it is warmer on cold days.  It is also the ideal place for our rowing machine.  Several days a week I do 100 rows and am sure it must help with my fitness.

The chair is a nice place to sit while having a phone call. and at the other end a useful bookcase.

KING'S BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

Today is a Statutory Holiday for King's Birthday.  We went for our Parkinson's walk as usual.  15 of us enjoyed a walk in perfect weather followed by a caffeine fix at a nearby cafe.

The path will run from the suburb of Kamo to the city centre when it is finished a distance of 5.6 kms.  It goes past several schools so is ideal for children to walk, bike or scooter to school.

FINALLY BACK TO GARDENING

 Life and busyness has got in the way of gardening for a while but, yesterday, we finally got back into it.  The bananas were starting to look tatty with some yellow leaves.  The two stems from our recent bunches of bananas also needed cutting out.  I did this and cut them into short lengths to put as mulch around the plants.

Doug in the meantime  removed the blackberry and raspberry plants that were to the left of the banana as well as the trellis and posts supporting them.  A difficult job as he discovered he had cemented the posts in the ground.  

It was hard work but we are pleased with the result and will now encourage the bananas to spread to that area and may even transplant one.

Today, Doug emptied the worm farm and pruned the peach tree while I cut back one of the crepe myrtle bushes, Doug having cut the other one back a couple of days ago.

There are six flowers on the banana and I see several new plants growing on this side.