It's officially a drought

Hawke's Bay and Waikato were officially declared in drought today. Soon it will be the entire North Island.

http://www.weatherwatch.co.nz/content/drought-zones-extend-across-north-island-map

This means that farmers in drought regions may qualify for support from the government.

I am not too sure about the industrial farmers with their massive dairy farms. These farms are based on assumptions of continual grass growth and stocked accordingly. They never plan for the poor years. Why support them?

ON the other side of the world this could be good news with a shortage of NZ milk in the marketplace. The milk market should improve in Europe.

changes in Central Hawke's Bay

I went for a 15km walk at the weekend through bush and high-country farmland. The walk was one of three organised over the weekend by the Waipukurau Rotary Club under the name 'Sea Sky Bush'. They use the walks to promote Central Hawke's Bay and encourage more visitors to the area.

Check them out on: http://www.seaskybush.co.nz/

My walk passed over the area that is proposed to be covered by the new Ruataniwha Dam that is proposed to irrigate Central Hawke's Bay in summer. The cost of building is likely to be in excess of NZ$200M.
Check it out on: http://www.hbrc.govt.nz/Hawkes-Bay/regional_development/hbric/Pages/rws.aspx

This photo is taken where the dam wall is to be sited. The wall will run 500m across this valley. All the light-coloured land to the right will be under water.

About 370 hectares of current farmland will be lost to store 90 million cubic metres of water. The valley behind this tall tree will not be seen again.

 

We had a presentation from the regional council and local landowners who will be impacted by the dam. All the locals see the benefits but the rest of us see the costs and the likelihood of more industrial dairy farms coming to the area with accompanying pollution.

 

As you can see the area is suffering like the rest of Hawke's Bay with no significant rainfall since October. They usually have rain here at least once a week even in summertime.

 

This is one of the local farmers showing the likely high water mark for the lake at the top of the valley.

 



As we walked the valley we could see the likely water level marked on both sides.

Plenty to think about. Huge change to the area. Much more benefit than a golf course!

I was wondering about the new golf course

New Zealand has the highest number of golf courses per head of population for any country in the world.

Ireland is in second place.

Northern Ireland on its own has the highest number of golf courses per head of population in the European Union.

New Zealand has much better weather than Ireland. New Zealand is not developing any new luxury golf courses. They do not make a profit.

Northern Ireland has some of the most beautiful golf courses in the world.

Why does Northern Ireland need a luxury golf course on the Causeway Coast?

Surely it would be much better to market the existing courses?

Tuesday 7th February - the whistle-blower's table

Some time ago, an organisation I worked for was having difficulties with their IT systems and news of this leaked to the press in the form of internal emails over a period of weeks. The ensuing coverage by the press ensured embarrassment for our management and my colleagues. It also placed us all under suspicion of causing the leaks.

Some time after I left, a former colleague admitted to me that he had been the one who leaked the emails to the press. A pretty low act in my opinion. He would have been prosecuted in the UK or US if he had been doing the same there.

Anyway, my former colleague (and whistle-blower) commissioned me to make a table for him. It has been a struggle to complete the table because of the history.

I have embedded a whistle within the table which will only be found if the table is totally dismantled.

Those of you who know the whistle-blower can tell him that his table is ready for collection.

The table is made from American white oak and is finished with danish oil.

This is the table:

Election day - 26th November

The law in NZ is that all election posters and placards are removed by midnight of the day before polling day. All electioneering must stop by midnight. This is to be recommended for Northern Irelanders!!!!

It's refreshing to have a day without politicians!

24th November 2011 - five years achieved

We are now in NZ for five years.

How time flies!

31st August - Kaweka J

Kaweka J is the tallest mountain in Hawke’s Bay. Climbing to the top of Kaweka J has been at number one on my bucket list for the last few years.

Kaweka J stands at 1724m tall and is the 8^th highest mountain in the North Island. Check it out on Peak-bagging NZ:

http://www.peakbagging.co.nz/index.php?title=Kaweka_J

I decided years ago to only go in the serious backwoods with a group and went out on 31^st August with Napier Tramping Club. Kaweka J was still covered with snow so it was a real alpine adventure as well.

The serious trampers headed on and left me to follow the path alone to the summit. At least they knew approximately where to find me if anything went wrong! It was a nearly perfect day with only light clouds hanging round the summit.

I found two geocaches on the way to the summit and when back at base learned of a third geocache near the War Memorial cairn at the summit. I left trackables at both found locations and will be observing their travels on the geocaching.com website.

Walking on/in the snow was challenging at times. It was far deeper than the experienced trampers had been expecting and several times, I dropped through at least 1m of the white stuff. I had two walking poles with me which was useful to work my way out!

Having done the climb in winter I am keen to return in summer!

I still have not decided what the new number one on the bucket list is going to be…

(For the record, Knocklayd is 514m, Slieve Donard is 850m and Carrauntoohil is 1,039. More information at mountainviews.ie)