The end of summer (but not of the golden weather)

I am sure I am not alone in noticing how the length of the days is fast diminishing. I am still surprised by the streetlights coming on soon after eight, and, while I can still rely on the sun to dry the sweat on my horse following our afternoon rides, this will not be the case for much longer, as we lose a couple of minutes of light each day.

The temperature has definitely dropped in the last few weeks. As the days shorten and the temperatures decrease my horse has started growing in his winter coat. His summer-sleek lines looked distinctly fuzzy yesterday, and by May most of my finger disappear into his ample winter hair. The oldest of the horses I look after is already chomping through a full 20 litre bucket of hard feed each night, and this will increase to at least twice that amount each evening. 

The apples on the apple tree are nearly ready, and the birds and the dog have consumed the majority of the plums. I am sure that the plum tree welcomes this, as it is no longer bent over by the weight of fruit. My pumpkin patch on the horse manure pile is going slightly ballistic. Some of the pumpkins are so heavy that they have started sinking into the pile (we won’t tell that to the people who will hopefully be eating them!) so they have been propped up using bits of firewood. The dog thinks that this is a great game, and (un)helpfully drags the bits of wood back over to me once I have finished putting them in place. I am starting to hear the occasional ‘crack-crunch’ of walnuts as I walk under the trees, but it will be a few weeks yet before it sounds like I am letting off fireworks as I walk along because of the sheer amount of nuts.

The rain last week was much appreciated, but like almost everyone with stock, we would like more please!

Hope that you all have a good break this Easter.

Sabys Road Bridge and beyond

I was delighted to see the Sabys Road bridge finally opened.  Considering the mentality and the quality of our benighted council it was quite an achievement to see them actually repair this little bridge only two and a half years after it fell down in the first earthquake.  Of particular interest was the expert production planning which resulted in a neat illuminated sign which first assured us all that the bridge would be repaired by 18 November, then the sign changed to 18 December.  A few days later it read 21 December, a week later 18 January. At last it said "SOON".  I am so glad these clowns are not running a bus service ! Being a regular traveller over his bridge I frequently trotted by to see progress and I am pleased to inform local residents that my new book " Variations on the Theme of Leaning on Shovels - Illustrated" will be coming out shortly.

Anywhere else in the civilised world this work would have been done in a couple of weeks, but in The Peoples Republic of Christchurch, Marxist Leninism thrives.

Has anyone any one idea what the ****** is going on with all the long dragged out road works on the main Halswell- Tai Tapu Road ? I only wish I could make my "work" last so long, get paid, no doubt handsomely, and stay "employed" so securely. Or am I just a little bit cynical?    

Does anyone else feel, as I do, that earthquake recovery actually means mindless vandalism of beautiful heritage buildings, repair of roads that are serviceable while really ruined roads are ignored, badly planned disruption to traffic, construction of ugly concrete boxes and an end to any character or history of what was a shining example of British Colonial achievement?

 Thanks to Ron for this piece

Summer: Fruit and flames

Cut grass being turned ahead of baling.
Photo credit: L. Hawke

Recent grass fires around Canterbury have led to an increase of unease among those who are all too aware of the flammable nature of grass over summer. It was therefore a great relief to me to get the paddock topped in early January (topping is when the grass is cut, as if for hay, but left to lie on the paddock instead of being baled). While the grass is still very flammable, the shorter length reduces the fuel available to any fires. It also makes the fire more survivable for any stock, indeed, in the Victorian bushfires those stock that survived were often on well eaten out paddocks.

The various fruit and nut trees around the paddock are in full swing, with plums and elderberries ready to be harvested (if the birds don’t get them first). The four walnut trees have started producing nuts, and I expect that I will soon hear the chatter of feasting possums. The apple trees are also producing fruit, though it will be a while before the apples will be ready to eat. I have experimented this summer with growing pumpkins on the horse manure pile. I was worried that the only thing I was going to get from them was leaves, but they have just started flowering, so watch this space!

The welcome swallows that I mentioned in my last article are doing well. At least one pair managed to successfully raise a handful of chicks, so we now have nine resident swallows zipping around the paddock, snapping up insects as they go. I have resumed feeding one of the horses oats ahead of winter, and it is difficult to tell who is more enthusiastic about this development: the horse, or the sparrows! Every evening a crowd of sparrows now perches patiently on the fence wires, waiting for the horse to either move off, or tip over her feed bucket. As the days start to shorten this will become less of a feature, as these opportunistic birds will have retired for the night by the time the horses are fed.

The Little River Rail Trail

Piece of trail coming up to Kaitua Quarry beside Lake Waihora

If you are at a loose end one day over the holidays, and you have a mountain bike- then a great holiday activity is to ride some, or all, of the Little River Rail Trail.

Stilts near the Rail Trail

Whilst a new section of the trail opened just  before Christmas, this post will focus on a popular section of the trail which runs 22km from Motukarara to Little River.  It is a gravel pathway that follows the old railway line between those two places, passing lakes Waihora (Lake Ellesmere) and Wairewa (Lake Forsyth).   Drive or bike to Motukarara and turn right at the big corner a few hundred meters before the Gebbies Pass Turnoff at the Blue Duck Cafe. Soon after you have turned off you will find the entrance to the rail trail at the old Motukarara Railway Station, signposted with DOC signs.  You'll be pleased to know that the cycle way is significantly shorter than the road between Motukarara and Birdlings Flat because it cuts off many of the big corners in the road.


After a few kilometres, you reach the edge of Te Waihora/ Lake Ellesmere, one of New Zealand’s most important wetland systems.  It is a brackish, shallow lagoon, covering around 20,000 hectares, with an average depth of 1.4m.  It is New Zealand’s fifth largest lake and is internationally significant for the large amount of wildlife found there.

A royal spoonbill gathering

 A wide range of birds, fish, insects and eels are found in the lake, which was considered the foodbasket of the South Island by Ngai Tahu.  Birds that we noticed as we biked past include black swans, grey ducks, pied stilts, oystercatchers, royal spoonbills, blue herons, and possibly a white heron (certainly I've seen one of these on other rides on the cycleway).  In fact 167 different species of bird have been recorded on this Lake!  You can find out more about the Lake at the Waihora Ellesmere Trust website.

The Kaituna Quarry makes a nice stop for a drink and then it's on towards the beach at Birdlings Flat.  If you want to see the sea, then you will have to take a side trip for perhaps a kilometre along a quiet stretch of road to check it out.  It makes a great spot for a family picnic, particularly if you don't want to go any further. 

Birdlings Flat beach

 For those with a bit more go, it is about another 10km up the valley to Little River, following for much of it along the edge of Wairewa/ Lake Forsyth. This lake also has many eels in it and at some times of the year, you can see eel traps in the gravel at the lake's outlet at Birdlings Flat dug by local Maori fishers.

Track alongside Wairewa/ Lake Forsyth

Little River is a great place to stop for a coffee or some lunch at one of the local cafes before you turn around and bike home again.

What do you think is unique or interesting about Halswell?

Lake in Quarry Park

Halswell is a growing area and sometimes I'm left with the feeling that it is a bit of a 'nothing' place, even though I grew up here and I returned here a few years ago.   But is it a nothing place?

When I look around the first thing that I think makes Halswell interesting is the Quarry Park.  I also really like and value the Kennedys Bush Track up to the Summit Road and that connects with the Quarry via a few different routes.

Many people I've spoken to about this tell me that the Quarry is something that they regard as unique to Halswell and something that makes it a special place.

Over the last few years I have spent some time wandering around Halswell and thinking about the question of what is interesting here.  One of the the things that I've noticed is how "watery" the place is.

Westlake

Halswell is the place where the Heathcote arises (and runs out to the Estuary) and it is also the place where the Halswell River arises (and runs out to Lake Ellesmere).  Nottingham Stream starts near Westlake and runs through the Westlake and Oaklands areas before heading down behind Junction Rd and Halswell Road before emerging again at Muir Park.

There are lakes and retention ponds all over the place when you start looking.  There are the new retention ponds being built in Sparks Rd. and around Awatea Road in Wigram.  There is a Lake in the Quarry (that also acts as a retention pond).  There are lakes in Curletts Reserve out the back of Aidanfield.  There is a Lake in our Domain out near the Model Railway, and there are retention ponds on either side of Halswell Road around Aidanfield.  There is Westlake in Westlake park which is pretty big.  Even though Christchurch has 100s of named waterways (yes, really.  Hundreds!), how many other parts of Christchurch have so many lakes and retention ponds around the place?

But this is just me thinking this.  What are the things that YOU think make Halswell interesting and unique?

Would you like to see Farmer’s/ Craft market in Halswell?

Would you like to see a regular farmer’s market in Halswell?

A few attempts have been made to get a Halswell Market off the ground.  So far none have succeeded.  Why?  A number of reasons, probably.

1) Halswell faces some issues in having State Highway 75 running through the middle of it, and you can't run  markets on or near this without being required to have traffic management (which costs thousands of dollars every time).  

2) there is quite a bit of time and money involved in getting consent to run a market from the CCC.  They have to be convinced that there is adequate parking and that the market will not represent a nuisance to the neighbours, wherever it is held.

3) it is not easy and is even more expensive to get consent to run a market on publically owned land.  

As you can see there is quite a bit of work in sorting out these issues and on top of that getting consent as easily as possible is likely to cost in the region of $4000-$5000, so, if we are going to have a go at this, we really want to know if the market will fly and what sort of interest there is amongst Halswell residents.  Of course our funders will want to know this too.  

So, at this stage we are trying to get an idea of what people think about the idea, when the market should be and what people would like to buy there but running a short (5-10 minute) survey asking those kinds of questions.  The survey is also a place where you can offer help or indicate your interest in having a stall.

 

If you would like to see a market in Halswell, then you can help by clicking here and filling in the survey.  Do it soon!  

Ideas for stuff in Halswell?

A group of us got together recently and thought about the sorts of things we might like to see around Halswell that provide fun ways for people to get together and get to know each other.  Some of these things are already happening in small pockets but could we make them happen more broadly.

• A regular  Halswell farmers and or craft Market 
• Swap-a events similar to the ones we have already run!
• Fix-it days where people bring stuff along and get help with fixing it from bikes to clothes to electrical gear
• Local barbecue events/ Christmas parties
• A Timebank
• A Community garden.
• Competitions between different subdivisions in Halswell - eg in potato growing!
• Community-built Habitat House projects
• Community Art projects 

Our biggest question is what do other people in Halswell think?   

What do you think of these ideas? 

Have you got any ideas for what you'd like to see?