Activities to do in Halswell

1    We loved the 100 days of summer which provided 100 options of things to do around Christchurch and then got thinking about some of the things to do around Halswell.  This list is the result of that thinking.  If you can think of some more options then leave a message in the comments below.  

1.  1. Visit the model railway at the Halswell Domain on a Sunday afternoon and for a small fee, ride the trains.  You might also be lucky enough to see model yachts on the lake or you could hang out and enjoy the skate park, pump track and playground.

2.       Exercise your body and test your map reading skills:  Go orienteering at the Halswell Quarry. You can buy maps from Te Hāpua or download them online.

 
3.       Visit the community garden at St Marys or from the soccer clubrooms in the Domain. 

4.       Take a friend and a ball to the domain and kick or throw it around.

5.       Ride a bike on the Quarrymans Trail cycle path from Te Hāpua to the Sparks Road Wetlands and have a picnic and/ or a walk or ride around the wetlands.

6.       Camp in your back yard and look at the stars while you are out there.

7.       Make a tin and string telephone (look here if you can’t find anyone to tell you how) and check out how well it works with a friend.

8.       Walk around the Crater rim track in the Quarry. Paint some of your own rocks and hide them somewhere on the way.

9.       Walk up Kennedys Bush Track to the Summit Road and see what you can see (it takes 60- 90 minutes to get there).  Start your walk just past the roundabout at the top of Kennedys Bush Rd.   If you like walking, then cross the road at the top and find the tracks leading to the Sign of the Bellbird and Kennedys Bush where there are heaps of other tracks to explore.  Check out views of Whakaraupo/ Lytttelton Harbour.  Can you see Aoraki Mt Cook from the top?

10.   Visit the playground in Kennedys Bush Rd at the end of Quarry Hill Terrace or across the park from Rock Hill Drive. 


11.   Learn to ride your bike at the Knights Stream bike park.

12.   Play on your scooter skateboard or bike in the skate park in Halswell Domain

13.   Visit Halswell Pool and swim a few lengths or play in the water or on the hydroslide.

14.   Check out activities at the Halswell Hub to see if there is anything you’d like to do there.

15.   Check out holiday activities at the Library in Te Hāpua

16.   Explore Country Palms (off Halswell Junction Road or Sabys Road) to see how you can design a great walking or biking route using all the little parks and bridges.

17.   Ride on the Little River Rail link cycleway from Dunbars Rd to Hagley Park.  

18.   Visit the sister city gardens in Halswell Quarry.  What is a sister City and which Sister Cities have gardens in the Quarry?

19.   Forage for fruit and nuts in Halswell (best in late summer or autumn!). 

20.   Read a book, or do some painting under a tree in one of your favourite green spaces. 

21.   Using Google maps, Find all the playgrounds that you can around Oaklands and Westlake.  Play in them.  Walk or scooter to get between them.

22.   Walk or run around the whole Halswell Domain.  Try drawing a map of it!  

 23.   Make a map of Westlake Park.  How many entrances are there?  Where is the lake?  What are the names of all the streets that have entrances to the Park?  How many buildings are there?

24.   Visit Kaituna valley nature reserve.  What trees can you identify? Pick one to hug!  

25.   Walk around the Wetlands on Quaifes Road opposite Murphys Road –  Check out the ponds and bridges and the native plants there.  Wander further down the road towards Saby's Road and find another wetland area you can walk or bike around.

26.   Visit the skate park at Knights Stream Park and see what you can do there – what is the sculpture there called?

27.   Walk around Awatea Basin (wear gumboots if it is wet)

 

2  28. Go for a bikeride using only quiet streets  and see if you can find shortcuts and walkways to make your route easier.  You might find a good route by looking on google maps then testing it out. 

29.   Park in McMahon Drive and Walk or bike around Canterbury Park/Nga Puna Wai – What tracks can you find? what buildings are in Canterbury Park – what else is there?  Can you find a route out onto the cycleway along the motorway?

30.   Find the Creamery ponds in Sabys Road opposite Candy’s road and check them out.  

31.   Take a dog for a walk around Halswell on the Park using as many of the smaller streets and greenspaces as you can find.

32.   Visit Tai Tapu Domain and walk right around it.  Find the walking bridge across the creek. 

333.   Walk the length of Talbot Reserve in Country Palms through the long grass and back and have a play in the playground.

34.   Follow the Creek from the tunnel under the motorway though the greenspaces of Aidanfield or using the same tunnel to get to some of the green spaces in Wigram.  See if you can find your way through to the shops in Wigram from the tunnel - be careful crossing Wigram Road.

35. Spend an afternoon biking out to Prebbleton or Lincoln on the cycle path starting at Dunbars Road on the Wigram side of the overbridge.

t
36 Check out this post for more local walks

World Sleep Day

Chrys Horn

I wonder how many people know about World Sleep Day.  It is celebrated on the third Friday of March each year (this year it is on the 20th) and it’s a good time to ponder the importance of sleep.  

We all know about it when our kids don’t get enough sleep, but good sleep is also really important for adults. 

Sleep researchers have found that good sleep protects us from obesity, diabetes, colds, heart disease, strokes and depression.  It also increases our concentration and productivity, and our athletic performance. 

As an example, studies have shown that sleep is surprisingly strongly related to obesity.  A lack of sleep increases the levels of ghrelin a hormone that causes hunger and decreases the level of leptin, a hormone that suppresses appetite.  As such, people who don’t sleep enough eat more.

A good night’s sleep increases immunity to the common cold.  In an experiment where people were given nasal drops containing cold viruses, researchers found that people who slept less than seven hours were almost three times more likely to develop a cold than those who slept eight hours or more.  

If you are not getting a good night’s sleep, then it is worth experimenting with ways to increase it.  


Some links to find out more:

5 tips to calm a restless mind going to sleep

The new science of sleep

Wiki How on how to sleep better 

The Sleep Foundation 
 

The Commons – What are they?

I’m hearing more and more these days about the concept of commons.  Commons seem to me to be something that is important for communities to understand and to get involved with. 

What are they?  

Commons are resources shared by communities.  Once upon a time, the common was the place where people grazed their animals.  They were managed or regulated collectively by the community that used the common.  The community ensured that the common did not get overgrazed and that all villagers got equal access to the resources that the common provided.

A bloke by the name of Garret Hardin wrote an interesting,  paper called The Tragedy of the Commons.  He imagined a situation where there was no collective oversight of the use of the commons and talked about how a common would collapse as individuals try to maximise their gains from the free common. As some have pointed out this is actually a problem with open access rather than with the commons

In reality, of course, communities worked together to look after their common, so that it kept looking after them (Hardin talked about this as mutual coercion, mutually agreed upon).

The critical elements of the commons are shared resources and a community that works together to control their own access to them so that their commons continue to provide for the needs of everyone. 

So what?  
Well, our wellbeing depends upon a wide range of commons, so we need to be aware of them, of how they work best and what they provide.  Another important aspect of commons is that they must be cared for.  We all need to participate in building, managing and maintaining them so that they function well in the long term and we can get our collective needs met, fairly,  from the use of them.  

More about this another time.

A Tip for Trapping Rats

Predator Free Halswell is a group of Halswell Locals who are working to remove predators like rats, possums and stoats from around the Port Hills and eventually this will be taken out to wider Halswell.   Rats, possums and stoats are a major issue for our native birds and they are also not good for our native insects and lizards.  Keeping their numbers down with trapping is a big help for these species and many groups are working to do this across the Port Hills.

In Halswell we have a number of people who are trapping in their back yards and a number of people are also helping to check and maintain traps in Halswell Quarry Park.  If you are interested in getting involved then check out our Facebook page and get in touch via that.

For more of these kinds of tips and information about predator control work in Halswell, check out our Facebook Page at https://www.facebook.com/PredatorFreeHalswell

Pre-baiting for rats.

Rats are clever and cautious and need to feel safe, and it is possible to lull them into feeling safe.

Try setting up a 'rat cafe' by putting your rat tunnel out unset and baited. Put your bait (eg peanut butter) all around the trap including in front of the entrance way.

Repeat every few days.

This teaches the rats that your rat tunnel is an excellent source of food. It also establishes scent trails which other rats will follow.

After a couple of weeks, rebait the trap and entrance area and set your trap. You will have more success with this method than going straight to a baited and set trap. If your trap goes quiet, start again but change the bait e.g to nutella.