Living in New Zealand: Fire Danger Signs and Warning Wheels
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Fire danger signs are commonly seen around New Zealand, particularly in rural areas.
They have been around for so long they have passed into popular culture and/or and have been adapted for other uses.
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We saw this checking in for the Interislander ferry (I did pay attention to this - I get sea sick easily!)
Unfortunately this means that they probably don't have the impact they once had. We were away when the Port Hills fire happened in 2017, but the images we saw (the following are from the Christchurch City Council website) were horrifying. We are having another hot, dry summer and it is worrying to look around the Port Hills and see so much tinder. Though I am sure any response would be managed better this time around.
Living in New Zealand: Feilding - What Can I Say?
Maybe I’m being unfair. We were in Feilding just after New Year and it seemed most of Feilding had left town. Or maybe it is always like that.
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Living in New Zealand: Herbertville, I So Wanted to Like You
When we were looking to break the journey north from Wellington to Gisborne, I wanted to stop somewhere I'd never been before, Ideally somewhere on the coast. I found Herbertville on the map, and wondered why I had never heard of it.
Now I know.
It is old New Zealand there, which is great when you are talking with people at the pub, but not so great when you look around. The Tararua countryside was in stark contrast to Marlborough Sounds where we had stayed before. It is scarred by intensive forestry with conifers and bare, eroded hillsides. The valleys are dotted with cattle standing about and shitting in the lifeless rivers. On the road from Dannevirke to Herbertville, we saw few native trees and fewer native birds.
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Herbertville is boatie heaven as the locals complain of being able to catch nothing but blue cod (something fishermen would love to be able to do near where we live). The campground is well equipped, but battles the prevailing wind. Our tent was buffeted despite having hedge windbreaks on three sides. And the sea looked too vicious to do more than dip your toes in.
Please leave a comment if you have had a better experience of being in Herbertville!
Living in New Zealand: Crossing the Cook Strait by Ferry
Bluebridge are a lovely company, but we bought the cheapest tickets way in advance to travel at Christmas. So when their ferry broke down and we had to get home, it cost way more to come back on the Interislander. Bluebridge refunded what we had paid, but not the extra $200 it cost to buy last minute tickets on the other ferry from Wellington to Picton. At least it was the only bad thing that happened on our Christmas holiday (let’s not mention when the boyf power-washed the Land Rover and shorted the electrics).
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