Ready Rainbow

A great jet of water pouring over the river and Oxford Terrace prompted me to investigate.

It turned out to be a Fire Brigade Training exercise.  They simply lift up the cover of a fire hydrant and plug into the water main.  The bright sunlight provided a rainbow in the water.

The firemen assured me they were kindly washing the road.  When I inquired what might happen to any car coming down Oxford Terrace from Hurley Street they demonstrated how they could change the direction of the water flow.  It’s good to know the brigade is prepared for all kinds of fires.

“I went across to see because
I wondered what the water was.”

 

 

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Hazards in the ‘Hood

After nearly four years CERA have put up signs pointing out hazards in our area.  Apparently there are holes in the road surface, the surface is slippery when wet, and there are tripping hazards.  Did they think we hadn’t already noticed these?

The grass on the riverbank is freshly mowed (except where the ground is too uneven), and in-river works are underway to improve water quality so the Otakaro/Avon River can support a more diverse natural habitat.  In the red zone, vegetation has been removed and the land levelled.  Grass has been sown, and there are sprinklers to keep the dust down and water the grass seed.  Fence posts are in and fences should be up by Christmas.  The slide show gives you an idea of current progress.

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“The Loop has drastically changed
with red zone land now re-arranged.”

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Shifting Shore

We saw a different fungus among the tussocks at the beach yesterday.

Basket fungus

It’s a basket fungus, native to New Zealand.   Apparently it’s edible while immature, but the mature fungus is foul-smelling and covered with a slime layer containing spores on the inner surfaces.  We didn’t examine it closely (or consider eating it).

The tide was high, and there was hardly any room to walk between the waves and the driftwood.

Narrow beach

The sand up here was soft, the going was hard, and we had to be careful to avoid the encroaching waves.

Waves coming closer

The sea has eroded much of the cliff and removed some of the sand under the boardwalk.  Every week the beach looks different.

“The sea is creeping closer and
it strips the cliffside of its sand.”

 

 

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Imminent Infrastructure

This month they’re repairing the wastewater main right outside the cottage.  Part of Nova Place is expected to be closed for about three weeks.  Our section will be done using trenchless technology (i.e. pipelines), but further down the street the wastewater pipe will be replaced through open trenching.  We’ve been warned to expect increased noise, dust, and vibration, and we’re not allowed to use our usual parking space.

They started by cutting a section of our footpath

Then they lifted up the slice of footpath

A big sucker truck was used to remove the earth

They sprayed water in the hole to make a sludge, then they sucked all the earth out.  This way they can see where all the pipes and cables are.  They don’t use shovels to dig things out any more because lines may have moved in the earthquake and there’s a danger that a shovel might cut something vital.   We’ve been assured “There will be no expected interruptions to your existing water, wastewater, power, or telecommunication services while we undertake this work.”  Does this mean there may be unexpected interruptions?  I just hope they get it finished before Xmas.

“My feelings re all this are mixed.
I’ll just be glad to have it fixed.”

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Perilous Pool?

Our garden pool is an antique meat safe.  Around the year 2000 we added a waterfall at the back and filled it with water.  When we did this we were careful to make the depth of the pool less than 40 centimetres so it wouldn’t need to be fenced.  Last week new regulations were announced that require “paddling” pools containing water to a depth of 30cm to have a secure fence around them.  I’ve emptied our pool and measured it, and the depth is 38cm.

Our empty pool

Filling it only partially might be an option, but it looks much better when it’s full.  We’ll need to buy some concrete and make it 9cm shallower to ensure we are legal.  That will mean covering the tiles at the bottom.  It all seems a nuisance, especially as our section is fenced and we rarely have toddling visitors.  Sometimes I wonder what happened to individual responsibility, but I certainly could never forgive myself if a small child drowned in our pool.

“We want to have a legal pool
and so we will obey the rule.”

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Barely Beach

A high spring tide had just turned when we got to the beach around 10am yesterday morning.

Narrow beach at Waimairi

There was little firm sand left for walking, and several times we had to scramble away from encroaching waves.

“The limits of a narrow beach
meant we were just within waves’ reach.”

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Patterns and Pools

The outgoing tide had formed pools and left patterns in the beach.

Patterns in the sand

The holes where sand-dwelling creatures breathe were covered over.

How do they breathe?

A lagoon had formed, safe for children to play in.   Some people were planning to fish.

Fishing by the lagoon

If you have a small child, a boogie board, and other paraphernalia to take to the beach, a wheel barrow can be the ideal transport.

Infant transport

“A weekend morning at the beach
brings lots of fun within our reach.

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Dreary Day

The rain has well and truly set in, and this is not a day to venture far.  I’m glad I managed a couple of hours in the garden yesterday.  This morning I’ve been down to the library, but took the car rather than walking.  Having baked biscuits, written a blog post, and played the available moves on Wordscraper, I now have to decide whether to sit down with a book, or do something more worthy like cleaning out a cupboard.  What are you doing this Sunday?

“Sunday should be a day of rest
so maybe reading would be best?”

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Permanent Pipes

Fletcher’s have started work on a project to make permanent repairs to our wastewater network.  We may expect to have traffic disruption in Kilmore Street for the next two months.

Kilmore Street Diversion

Yesterday they cut the traffic down to one lane each way with lots of road cones.  Phase one involves working in each of what they call manholes but I prefer to think of as personholes (not that I’ve seen any women working there yet). 

These must be the liner pipes

In phase two they will insert pipe liners into the existing wastewater pipes.  These are then treated with hot water to make the liner harden and adhere to the existing pipe surface.   This process, called ‘cured in place’ pipe will restore structural integrity to cracked underground pipes.  While they are doing the lining local wastewater will be diverted to another catchment downstream, and we may be asked to minimise water usage.  We’ve been warned that there will be noise, but most of work will be done during the daytime.  There’s always something going on around our Cottage.

“Wastewater pipes will be renewed
for which there should be gratitude.”

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Kitchen Kaos

An ominous pool of water in a corner of the kitchen led to the discovery that our hot water cylinder had terminal rust.  Luckily a plumber and a handyman were quickly available on Saturday morning.  The cylinder lives behind a kitchen cupboard where pots, baking pans, potatoes, etc are stored, and the whole cupboard had to be carefully deconstructed so the cylinder can be removed.

Cylinder ready for removal

Consequently the kitchen and dining room are full of sundry items and pieces of wet wood.  We decided the easiest thing would be to get takeaways for dinner, something we haven’t done for a very long time.  These days the nearest takeaway shop is a couple of kilometres away, at the north end of Colombo Street.  They were doing a roaring trade and their food is good, but their spelling leaves something to be desired.  I offered to buy Stephen a “wanton”, or even six (only $4.20), but he diplomatically declined.

The new cylinder should be delivered Monday morning, and in the meantime we have no hot water.  This hardly seems any disadvantage when we’re so aware of others who had no water or sewage for many months.  I keep going to turn on a hot tap, and then realising there’s no point.  By the time I stop doing that the new cylinder should be in place.

“The kitchen was in such a state
that takeaways were what we ate.”

 

 

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