Living in New Zealand: Lyttelton's Dry Dock

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We went on a tour of Lyttelton’s dry dock recently. It was fascinating, as much of it dates back to the 19th century and survived the 21st-century earthquake. 

Old chainsaws

They’ve only recently replaced the pumps

Victorian brickwork

I was really happy to find out that they treat the water that comes out of the dry dock after cleaning and painting the boats. The room where they do this looks very Heath Robinson, but it does the job so well that the pollutant levels are lower then permitted leaving the sewage works in Bromley.

Cleaning these grates is a nasty job, as young crabs get in and enjoy living in the space, but then get too big to get out…