A 12 cylinder, Bristol Fighter, F2B type (ex RAF) based at Wigram, had to make a forced landing at Waikanae Beach on 7 February 1929. The fighter was given to the New Zealand government by the British after World War I.

What it would have looked like before the misadventure — an example seen in Palestine in 1918.

“The Waikanae Pool is open now for the 2016/17 summer season, following works to maintain and upgrade the outdoor facility’s 33.3-metre lane pool, smaller toddlers pool, hydroslide and aquatics equipment.

“Recreation Services Manager Brent Harvey says the Council has spent around $160,000 getting the outdoor facility ready for the busy summer period. “Works included resealing and repainting the pools, building new storage facilities, hydroslide maintenance and updating equipment to control chemical dosing.”

“The pool will be open for 20 weeks over the summer and more than 40,000 people are expected use the facility during this time.”

The experience of a Sydney community, but some things we can relate to in Kapiti, particularly the fake “community consultation” and the threat to natural beauty by over-development.

The goods wagon it was being carried in is obvious, it seems that friction in the axle boxes while it was part of a train caused sparks which set fire to the gas cylinder.  The goods shed lasted for a long time and was probably in use until the 1970s.

Travel with Steam Incorporated north from Kapiti via the spectacular Manawatu Gorge to Woodville for an easy day out.

The train will be hauled by our steam locomotive Ab 608 “Passchendaele”, and we will be using our fleet of classic red heritage carriages.

Passenger stops will be Paekakariki, Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Otaki, Levin, Shannon and Palmerston North.

The train will include a buffet car selling hot food, drinks and snacks, and our souvenir counter for all sorts of railway and steam memorabilia.

En route to Woodville we will be making a special stop at Shannon to allow you to explore some of the boutique shops. Such as Legacy Antiques, Gorgeous (beautiful handmade clothes), Shannigans (small mall with a variety of boutique shops), Oosh, Oosh La La, For Frocks Sake (a range of amazing gift and clothing stores by Suzy Q), Nikiz (handmade clothing and craft) and much more.

The shopping area is directly over the road from the station. Also plenty of options for a coffee. The Station Museum will be open.

There will be a one-hour stopover at Woodville while the loco is turned and serviced. You will be able to watch it running around a special “balloon loop” track to turn.

At Woodville, we hope to have some food and craft stalls set up at the station showcasing local produce and crafts. Included will be the local Rotary group offering a range of hot snacks. If you want some exercise it is a 15-minute walk from the station to the town centre.

On the return journey, we intend making a stop at a suitable location for you to photograph the train in action.

We also offer group discounts for 8 to 15 passengers and for 16 or more passengers. It is also possible to book your own carriage. These range from 40 to 55 seats.

Prior bookings essential and all seating is pre-assigned.

It leaves Paekakariki at 9:10 am and returns there at 5:40 pm. Tickets from the Kapiti stations are $99 (adult) and $69 (child)

Buy Tickets – 0800 783 264

One of the artists on the Kapiti Arts Trail whose work we were most impressed with was Jane Santos (number 24 in the booklet).

Fragments of tile in different colours are painstakingly pieced together to create tableaux; not just NZ nature as above, but also old houses and other themes — further examples are here. Worth a look.

Just like Kapiti, America needs new infrastructure and it was what Trump made a big focus of during the last 12 months, although it was ignored by the media which almost exclusively concentrated on his personality.

Of course, that’s going to involve a lot of government spending and how much money the Congress is going to give him for it remains to be seen.  Some can be got from reforming government, particularly from reducing the huge amount spent on the Pentagon.  Again though, how much the Congress will let him do remains to be seen.  Like Kapiti, America needs fewer bureaucrats and more people doing things in the field.

Someone in Dairy Flat now has $44 million (near to what the KCDC spends on salaries and Auckland-based consultants a year) to build or buy a Trump style mansion.  Did we contribute to that by buying a ticket?  No.  Like newsreader Peter Williams, we think Lotto tickets are a tax on stupidity.

I thought you might want to know that public speaking time at the beginning of the meeting is not recorded, no minutes are kept and it is not live streamed.
So — how does one go about getting important issues on public record?

— Salima Padamsey

Extending the live streaming and minute taking to the public speaking time would seem an easy thing for the council to do. The council’s statement is below – [Eds]

That’s because GST at 15% is added to the KCDC amounts and gets passed to the central government.

There has been protest about this tax on a tax raised by some politicians before, but generally politicians at both the local and central levels like lots of tax money coming in so they can spend it for you.

So long as the central government does collect this money from local government areas, then we think it perfectly legitimate to expect the central government to assist with local projects.

In our response to local MP Nathan Guy’s questionnaire, we mentioned three things that the central government could assist with in Kapiti — the reservoir dam, the Waikanae level crossing underpass and extension of electric trains to Otaki (see earlier).

Will he take any notice?  We’ll see.