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Where did the summer go?

I can’t believe how fast this season has gone. It was only a few months ago that I was writing about all the things we hoped to do this summer. In fact, it’s gone so fast that we didn’t do half the things we had planned.

This weekend saw us cramming in the Kiwi Water Park before it closed its doors for the year. Tobias had so much fun splashing around and I spent half the time wishing we had gone more than once.

Not that we didn’t enjoy our summer. I had just planned to do a lot more. More barbecues, more holidays, and more time at the beach. We also thought we’d go to festivals and events but none of that really happened.

We have friends who go biking, tramping or climbing every weekend and in a place like Wānaka it can feel like you’re falling behind if you’re not doing something adventurous.

When people ask what we did over the weekend, my answer always seems a little boring in comparison. It usually involves going to the park, spending time in the garden, or going for a swim.

But when I’m playing with Tobias, it doesn’t matter where we are. I’ve realised that digging mud in the garden can be just as fun as some big adventure. And it can be far less stressful too.

We didn’t do any big tramps or get out on the paddleboard much, but we did spend heaps of time filling up buckets of stones at the lake.

So even though our summer wasn't filled with huge trips, it was still a special one.

Tobias went from walking to running. He learnt how to climb up the slides in the park and started to help us in the garden.

I actually preferred our days chilling in the sun rather than planning big trips away. This year, we were able to relax a little more and enjoy Tobias.

So instead of looking at all the things we didn't get to do, I'm going to look at this summer with lots of happy memories.

With autumn here, I have learnt to go with the flow a little more and to stop making so many plans. Let’s see how that pans out.

– By Daisy Watford

Crimeline

Hello all, I hope the first week of autumn has been a relaxing one. Great to see the Paralympic team continuing the success of the Olympic team in Beijing. Here is a bit of what has been going on the past week.

The week began with police receiving several driving complaints around the area, one resulting in a positive breath alcohol result of 807mcg/L. They will be off to court and will more than likely be spending time on their bike in the coming months. Speaking of which, as it is starting to get darker earlier and lighter later, please spend a few dollars on front and back lights for you bike. Whilst you are there spend a few more dollars and get yourself a helmet. A friendly reminder that helmets are designed for your head and not your handlebars.

There was a spate of burglaries and damage done to property in several locations around the Anderson Road, Mt Iron area. Vehicles and boats parked in private driveways were entered into and items from car batteries to scooters were taken. Several tyres and safety strops were slashed and wingmirrors broken. The Good Spot was broken into, and their tip jar emptied. We do have CCTV footage of the offender but if you live in the area and have road facing cameras, we would love to hear from you. This offending occurred last Wednesday night into Thursday morning.

Police attended several Family Harm episodes throughout the week, please seek help if things are getting tough at home.

It is the time of year where the stags (Deer with the big antlers) like to find their female friends. This often means coming down from the hills and onto our roads. Please be extra careful and call Police if you do spot any wildlife on or near the roads.

Our great friends from Wānaka Rotary had planted out the car park and rest area beside the Glendhu Bay camp ground. We were disappointed to hear that over 20 plants have been dug out and stolen, some of these plants are five years old. If you have been offered cheap plants or know of who might have done this, please let us know.

Lastly a cautionary tale about some boaties on a multi-day trip up the lake but unfortunately told their family they would be back on Thursday, when in fact they meant Friday. For those heading out into the wilderness, it’s great to share that information with your family in case a rescue is required, however be clear with the message. Save distressing family members and involving search resources. On this occasion the mystery was solved before volunteers were deployed.

Have a great week everyone.

– By Michael Coutts

Constable, NZPD

LETTERS

PHOTO: Wānaka Sun

Dear Mr Burglar…

Last week we had a prowler. Somebody who brazenly broke into people's property and took things and vandalised property enough to annoy and inconvenience people. This person had a knife. They proceeded to stab multiple tyres on their walk around Mt Iron area and cut straps and vandalise property for no apparent reason.

This letter goes out to that person.

Mr Burglar, you may be angry, struggling and annoyed at the world but to wreck people's property is not the way to win friends and influence people.

My concern mainly is for you, what happens if you are confronted by a person whilst you are poking around wrecking someone's car, or slashing the straps on a hard-earned roof tent? Are you going to lash out with the knife? Do you want blood on your hands?

The slashing of the three tie-down strops on my truck could have had disastrous consequences had I lost that pallet off the side of my truck. My work is 24/7 highway call-outs, accident emergency, had I not checked my load... I don't even want to contemplate the possibilities of a two tonne pallet landing on the road in oncoming traffic.

Pointless vandalism.

Stabbing the brand new tyre on my van could have stopped me taking my wife to hospital for upcoming surgery... it was our isolation plan against the viral threat.

All the people you inconvenienced, annoyed and pissed off have done nothing to you. We slept on…

Mr Burglar, you just cost people money in a time we're all struggling to make ends meet, making us feel a little less secure in our homes.

Mr Burglar, sneaking around in the shadows, if you're going to take stuff… take it, (or get a job and buy it like working people do) but don't just wreck stuff for the hell of it!

If you feel the world owes you something or you have suffered abuse and are striking out, then look to get some help or talk to a good friend. Right now, there are people angry and want retribution that we probably won't get. Do you want people to not like you? Want to hurt you? Put you down? Maybe people already do and your way of getting back is to wreck other people’s live?

Mr Burglar, change your ways. There are better ways. I hope the hard earned money from the tip jar you took buys you bitter fruit.

The Bible says we should forgive those that trespass against us.

Bloody hard when it costs you.

Irate.

Bart Nicol

Wānaka

*Editor’s note: This column is for letters to the editor column. An exception has been made in this case. See Crimeline on this page for further details about the vandalism.

Hāwea heroes to the rescue

A sets of grebes which have set up home for the last two season on Lake Hāwea have been taken under the community’s wing.

A sheltered inlet near the Hāwea Dam hosts the pair who have enjoyed a floating platform near Anzac Peninsula, near Lake Hāwea township. Watched over by the Guardians of Lake Hāwea, and much of the local community, the pair has built several nests on their own little piece of paradise, and raised five clutches of chicks – two last season and three this summer.

“Their most recent breeding attempt almost came to a sad end, though” reported Jane Forsyth, a member of the Guardians.

“After diligently sitting on their eggs for almost a month, their habit of adding more wet weed and sticks to the nest overloaded the platform. First it began to tilt, but we thought it would keep floating until the chicks were hatched – which seemed to be imminent.”

But on February 25 an alert engineer from Contact Energy, Joe Wheeler, noticed the tilt had gone all the way and the platform had tipped right over. The grebes were very distressed and frantic, trying to reach their nest.

Others had also noticed their plight and posted to social media, and a small group gathered at the inlet. One local – known only as Alex - brought his paddleboard down and managed to get out to the platform, reporting that the eggs were still trapped underneath.

“We agreed we couldn’t make the situation any worse,” says Jane. “Alex retrieved the eggs, they felt very cold to the touch, and righted the platform by taking a lot of the heavy nest material off it. We built a new nest with dry material and put it all back on the platform, which was floating level again. Within a few minutes the grebes checked it out and one hopped back on. They really are amazing birds.”

Advice from John Darby of Wānaka, the region’s grebe expert, was to leave the birds to it for at least another week.

“And so, on March 1, the Guardians were thrilled to announce that a chick had hatched, followed by another two days later,” Jane said. “The family can be seen in the inlet most days, where the tiny black-and-white chicks ride on the back of one parent while the other dives for food.

“We think this is a pretty exciting outcome and a successful finish to a second productive season for grebes on Lake Hāwea.”

Perhaps a cold-water dunking is not a big problem for the eggs of a water bird - but without the quick thinking of the engineer and the paddleboarder, the outcome would have been very different.

Before the drama the Guardians spotted the nest was reaching a tipping point.

PHOTO: John Langley The Central and Lakes zones in the Otago Fire District will moved back to a restricted fire season on Monday.

During a restricted fire season anyone wanting to light an open-air fire must have a permit and follow the conditions of the permit.

Otago District Manager Phil Marsh said while the fire danger has reduced, the risk of wildfires is always present. "Heading into autumn we will have more wet weather, helping to reduce the fire risk, however, this also means we will have strong winds which can cause fires to get out of control," he said.

Several places in the Lakes Zone are always subject to a total fire ban, as they are in prohibited season year-round. They include the Queenstown Red Zone, Coronet Forest and several islands on lakes Wānaka and Hāwea.

“We encourage all people planning on lighting a fire to check the current weather conditions on www. checkitsalright.nz and if it is windy, please don’t light a fire,” Marsh said.

Shuttle plan updated

Plans are underway to trial a shuttle connecting Albert Town, Hāwea Flat, Lake Hāwea and Wānaka.

The “What’s happening in Hāwea this week” digital news reported the lack of public transport had increasingly emerged as a topic of conversation.

An unattributed statement said: “in our community development role, Community Networks/Link have been developing an approach to test the anecdotal demand for transport.”

“We are now in the final stages of procurement for the Community Shuttle Trial having received and assessed proposals from interested providers.

It was suggested the Omicron outbreak could delay the launch.

Community Networks/ Link told the Sun it was not ready to make an announcement on the project yet.

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