Now for a little more recent history. This architectural sketch has Ngaio Road in the left foreground.  Of course, it didn’t happen exactly like this.   The biggest omission from what happened in reality was the civic hall towards the right background.

The library saw realisation more as less as envisaged, but both the Woolworths supermarket (now Countdown) and the Mahara Gallery were truncated, in the latter case quite substantially.

As can seen by comparing this with the photo from circa 1900, there is no road visible so there probably wasn’t a road bridge either.

The Wellington and Manawatu Railway began operating on 3 November 1886 between Wellington and Longburn south of Palmerston North. It was a private business until taken over by the government in December 1908.

In a post earlier this year on the latest public sculpture in central Wellington, we said there weren’t any sculptures in Waikanae. Of course, that isn’t really the case as there is this artwork outside the library in Mahara Place, originally commissioned by the Mahara Gallery.

The problem is that being positioned where it is under a permanent awning, it isn’t very noticeable.  Whenever the council gets around to giving Mahara Place the makeover it badly needs, a more central location in the middle and in the open would be better for it.  OK, it will get some bird droppings there, but they are easy enough to clean off.

Another possibility is in the rose garden next to the parking lot, the second photo.

Many people were outraged about an American hunter killing a beloved and protected lion in Zimbabwe earlier this year (see earlier post), now a story from Australia:

Confronting photos of millionaire car dealer Tony Azzi, with a rifle over his shoulder, smiling and pointing at a wombat he had just shot, and another of a wombat bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound to the stomach, led to a flood of angry emails and calls to Mr Azzi’s Larke Hoskins car dealerships.

Fairfax Media revealed that Mr Azzi is being investigated over allegations that he used a high-powered rifle and semi-automatic pistols to kill wombats and other native fauna.

The investigation is being conducted by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) after a referral from the NSW Police.

Full article in the Sydney Morning Herald

Last May saw impressive flooding in Kapiti and an extra-swollen Waikanae River.  But it’s happened before.

The top photo shows the Reikorangi Creamery in a rather watery state in the middle of the river.  Presumably this is the same building which featured in the second photo of its opening in 1902.

Cr David Scott has sent us this article on the BBC website.  This has been an issue in Kapiti as the council has the power to allow or refuse completely these establishments in its territory.

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A shop selling legal highs in Taunton, which police said was responsible for serious nuisance and disorder in the town, is closing permanently.

Avon and Somerset Police temporarily shut down Hush in Bridge Street under the Anti-social Behaviour Act.

The force has been in contact with the owner who said he would not be reopening the shop when the order expires on 16 June.

A police spokesman described the closure as a “good thing for Taunton”.

full article

Looking north from about where the river is.  Both the railway station and Elizabeth Street in the medium background are easily discernible.

A scene in our garden. The tree in the centre above the birdbath is a putaputaweta or marbleleaf, another valuable native tree.  A native flax bush is on the left.

When going around the streets last January, we noticed a lot of dry lawns and probably equally dry flowers and shrubs.

Unfortunately, the effect of the Rowan and Dougherty water meters imposed on Kapiti people in 2014 has been to install a mentality of ‘the council is going to punish us for using water’.  Well, the council’s own propaganda claims there is enough underground water to last 50 years at the present rate of growth, and even if you don’t believe that (we don’t), there will be enough to last some years until a reservoir is built, so don’t feel guilty about it.  As for cost, you are only paying $1 per 1,000 litres — and if you don’t use the water, the council will hike that rate so that you’ll be paying the same anyway (see the post from June).

Gardens need water to survive and given the amount of time and expense many Waikanae people devote to them, adequate water in the hot dry months is one essential ingredient that you should not economize on.

As has been stated in previous posts, the Kapiti Coast gets plenty of rainfall, except between January and March, sometimes April, and this is when you need your irrigation in place.

The roots of plants need water, not the leaves.  Pouring water on the base of the shrub with a bucket will work, or if it’s an established tree use a hose.  There are ground level irrigation systems for vegetable and flower beds available at hardware stores.

Another method which we use are Watering Spikes. These release a controlled amount of water that reaches deep into the soil. You simply screw them onto any 1.5 or 2-litre soft drink bottle filled with water, turn them upside down and then insert them into hanging baskets, potted plants, garden and vegetable beds.  These only cost about $1 each.

With the Waikanae River mouth and estuary further south. A photo from August 2007 on the Waikanae Estuary Care Group website

A copy by T. W. Downes (as a book illustration) of an original artwork by J. A. Gilfillan of the mouth of the Waikanae River showing a fenced pa (Kenakena) with several buildings. The large building with peaked roof is believed to be the first Maori Missionary church built by Bishop Octavius Hadfield. Kapiti Island is in the background.

According to evidence given in the Native Land Court (Otaki Minute Book 10, Ngarara Hearing. 1890) the Kenakena pa, which stood at the mouth of the Waikanae river, was built by the Ngati Toa chiefs Te Rangihiroa and Te Hiko o te Rangi after the tribe consolidated their position on the Kapiti coast following their historic migration from Kawhia. The Ngati Toa later settled Te Ati Awa at Waikanae and it was during this period that the Kenakena pa and surrounding district was associated with Wi Kingi Te Rangitaake (aka Te Whiti).  (National Library)