A photo on the Kapiti Coast Facebook page showing the damage done to Te Atiawa park in Paraparaumu by motorised ‘donut’ makers.  This isn’t far south of the Waikanae River.

Before we moved to Waikanae in 2006 we had a boy racer household behind us in Wellington, and apart from the awful noises, one of them loved making rubber tyre marks on the road. After a while of putting up with this we got a security camera which proved its worth when he decided to make a donut as above on a neighbour’s lawn.  We gave the recording to the police who prosecuted him.

This is a detail from a map — click for a larger view — produced by the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company in 1886 after it had completed its line from Wellington to Longburn south of Palmerston North.

It had stations at Paikakariki (now Paekakariki), Waikanae and Otaki, but not Paraparaumu as there was no settlement there then.  In fact there was very little at Waikanae, either, but there was some development at Otaki.

The only road linking the Kapiti Coast towns then was the beach. The hill roads to Paekakariki and to Waikanae through the Akatawara range existed, but would have been elementary.

The waters along this 5 km were quite turbulent today, and there were several places where waves were hitting the wall next to the road causing brief ‘eruptions’ of foam, and other places where waves had strewn gravel across the road.

We didn’t have time to get a better photo than this, but keep an eye on Facebook pages for them!

Something to mark on the calendar.

Apparently this was all it consisted of.  Most of the attendees seem to be visible.

We asked the NZ Fire Service about this badge and the response was:

“It looks to be a genuine badge, but is an assumption based on the info below. The best estimate here is that it is from some time between 1975 and 1985. Prior to 1976, all fire brigades were individual entities, and had their own badges similar to the photo you sent, but it would most likely have said ‘Brigade’ rather than ‘Service’. In 1976, all brigades were amalgamated into the New Zealand Fire Service (New Zealand Fire Service Act 1975). Some chose to keep their individual badges, and this is most likely when the word ‘service’ was introduced. In the mid-eighties, another badge was produced, depicting a phoenix, and most brigades adopted that, hence the assumption that it was produced before this time.”

Red brick isn’t a construction material you notice a lot of in NZ, but here’s an example, which was renovated a couple of years ago.  In summer the rose bushes will be in bloom.

It has since renovation housed the hairdressers and next to them, the Suzie Mills law office.  Suzie has a gallery in the reception of photos taken by her brother John Mills, mostly nature and landscapes, and they’re worth a look, too.  As well as the block-mounted ones the TV monitor on the left has a constantly changing ‘slide show’.  There are also some glass artworks.

A postcard from the early 1900s.  Exactly where this is escapes us, but it’s obviously a bend on the Waikanae River and well upstream into the Tararuas.

Some of the decorations were done by Kiss and Bake Up in Otaki.  They also have a shop in Mahara Place.

We’re Whittakers chocolate fans, one of the products we miss most when outside NZ.  America’s Hershey’s is a poor substitute.  Our friend Joanna of Poland was so impressed with Whittakers she took a few dozen blocks back to Poland. 🙂

According the Whittakers site: “To celebrate our founder James Henrys’ birthday 148 years ago, we’ve done a bit of baking to thank all our staff for keeping his passion alive. Hip Hip Hooray”

Only 15 km north of Waikanae, but obviously a rather different view to what you get from the rest of the Kapiti Coast. Taken on 10 July by Terena Crawford, from the Kapiti Coast Facebook page.