The old part, not the recent extension into Waikanae North.  The pic is obviously taken at the Awanui Drive intersection.

by Roger Childs

The annual Kapiti Joggers and Walkers in the Footsteps of the Marines charity event will take place on Sunday 26 May at Whareroa Farm.  You can run, jog, race walk or stroll. It is a challenging experience with plenty of ups and downs, but manageable for anyone with a reasonable level of fitness. To provide hydration along the way there are two drink stations up in the hills manned by the Raumati Scouts.

The two courses (12.2 km and 10.3 km) are in Whareroa Farm and on Campbell’s Mill Road where the U.S. Marines trained in 1942 and 1943. The views from the top are stunning. There is a variety of terrain including unsealed roads as well as clay, grass and bush tracks.  Most of the climb is in the first half, and the final 4km comes down through Whareroa Farm, where the Marines’ Camp Mackay was situated.

The courses are well marshalled, taped and coned.

Entries and categories

People can enter for $30 through the enter online site http://www.enteronline.co.nz  up until 11.55 pm on Friday 24 May. Entries are also accepted on the day for $35. Registration opens at 8.15 am on Sunday morning at the Whareroa Farm Shelter.

Race Walkers, Social Walkers and Slow Joggers start at 9.30 am, and Runners at 10.00 am.  Runners and Race Walkers do the full course, while Social Walkers and Slow Joggers do the shorter course.

Competitors under 12 need to be accompanied by an adult.

The entries have passed the 100 mark, and coordinator John Granville is expecting a final field of over 150. The forecast is good with fine weather and a maximum of 17 degrees expected.

Refreshments, spot prizes, certificates and donations

After the event there is hot soup and a roll for all competitors at the Ramaroa Centre in Queen Elizabeth Park, and as well as picking up a race certificate, they have a good chance of winning from the large pool of spot prizes which have been generously donated by a range of local businesses and members of the Kapiti Joggers and Walkers.

The event is sponsored by The Print Room, Cityfitness and Pak ’n Save.

Money is being raised for various local groups and this year the major recipient will be the Life Education Trust.

For further information, check out the Kapiti Joggers and Walkers new website kapitijoggersandwalkers.org.nz  or contact John Granville: johnerg@gmail.com or Jill Hammonds: jill.hammonds@gmail.com

That clear space marked by a white line isn’t a cycle lane — rather an extra way of telling commuters from Otaki going to the station across the road not to park there as it is a truck entrance area.

This has been done in the past few weeks, and fortunately the car lane narrowings aren’t as great as was feared from the early concept illustrations provided by the NZTA (see the earlier post).  The NZTA hasn’t bothered to paint the cycle lanes green either (at least not yet).

Now lets await the legions of cyclists to show up.

What’s going to happen to the Main Road Town Centre section isn’t yet known with certainty, but is very likely what was decided in 2017 by the NZTA-KCDC, despite the objections of the two local councilors and the Waikanae Community Board.  A concession announced to the WCB/Friends of the Waikanae Town Centre group meeting with NZTA/Beca/KCDC reps last November, however, was that cycle lanes in this section were being dropped.

Note that if you object to the retrofitting of cycle lanes in streets where there is no room for them, or in places where they make no sense, you’re now a “car fascist” according to this Minister in the Jacinda government:-

How she would describe this cyclist (a photo obviously taken in America)?

If David Seymour’s assisted dying bill gets knocked out, hopes of a referendum at the election die with it.

by Graham Adams

The Second vote in Parliament is coming up

We will soon find out which of our MPs believe in participatory democracy.

The vote on the second reading of the End of Life Choice Bill is likely to be held on either 19 June 19 or 26 June.

Most New Zealanders want assisted dying to be legalised. Many supporters also believe they don’t have to pay too much attention to how MPs will vote because they will be able to have their say in a referendum at the 2020 election.

But that’s simply not true. At the moment, there is no referendum scheduled or guaranteed. In fact, if the End of Life Choice Bill is defeated at its second or third readings, that’s the end of it.

As David Seymour said when I asked whether there was a fallback provision for a referendum even if his bill failed: “Sadly all three votes [in Parliament] are sudden death. If we don’t get a majority at second reading, it’s all over.”

A Referendum in the offing?

Winston Peters has made a referendum a condition of his party’s continued support and consequently Seymour has suggested amending it to include that requirement.

NZ First MP Shane Jones made his party’s case for putting it to the people on TVNZ’s Breakfast show in April. He said that he was raised as an Anglican and implied he found assisted dying uncomfortable as “a tapu sort of subject”.

Nevertheless, he believes that “temporary occupants in Parliament should hand it over to all New Zealanders who should decide”.

But this can only happen if Seymour gets 61 votes at both its second and third readings.

The earlier select committee process

At the bill’s first reading in December 2017, a big majority of MPs voted to send it to the Justice select committee. It was understood that some voted in favour simply to give the committee the chance to assess it, without making any commitment to further support it.

But, in April, the select committee recommended only technical changes and passed it back to Parliament. So it’s hard to see why any MP who thought it was a good idea to vote for the bill at the first reading wouldn’t vote for it again because it is the same bill.

Many don’t seek a referendum

The unfortunate truth is many opponents don’t want it to go to a referendum.

In April, Renee Joubert, from Euthanasia-Free NZ, wrote on Facebook: “The problem with a referendum is that the euthanasia issue is very complex and nuanced… There are multiple options for each eligibility criterion and proposed safeguard. There are wider implications and unintended consequences to consider. The issue doesn’t really lend itself to a yes/no question.” No one could plausibly argue that voters haven’t had the chance to acquaint themselves with the concepts involved in legalising assisted dying.

If MPs genuinely care about democracy, they’ll vote for Seymour’s bill to ensure voters can decide for themselves through a referendum.

The King of Clay is back in the groove — is he hitting top form?

For me …winning titles is important but the most important thing is feeling competitive and feeling healthy. I’m very happy for the victory, I played well. –Rafael Nadal

by Roger Childs

The Spaniard has the most clay court titles in the Open Era, however, for much of this year he has given the appearance in crucial matches of having feet of clay. Going in to the recent Italian Open in Rome, Rafa has failed to reach the final in the previous three big tournaments on the orange dust — in Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Madrid.

However, he was in the semi finals at each of the venues losing to

Fabio Fognini 4-6 2-6 at Monte Carlo
Dominic Thiem 4-6 4-6 at Barcelona
Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6 6-2 3-6 in the Madrid Open.
Then over the weekend he peaked in Rome demolishing world number one Novak Djokovic (The Joker), 6-0 4-6 6-1.

Beating the best

It’s always a special match against Novak, he’s having a great season, winning in Australia, Madrid and (being) in the final here. –Rafael Nadal.

Nadal was on fire for this match-up with the world number one. Djokovic couldn’t win a serve in the first set and it looked as if the Spaniard would cruise through in straight sets. However the Joker fought back with some excellent serving and powerful, superbly placed forehand winners.

It’s not easy to get past Nadal who is probably the world’s greatest retriever. However there were some unexpected lapses from Rafa and Djokovic took the second set 6-4. However normal service resumed in the third set and the Joker was blown away. Nadal’s service was fast and accurate, and he backed this up with powerful winners, especially cross court forehands, tightly placed deep and wide.

The pressure told on the top seed and he ran out of ideas. He tried several ridiculous drop shots which consistently went into the net. Nadal’s power and pace were too much for the Serb, and the man who is normally calm and collected, at one point destroyed a racquet – or in the parlance, was guilty of “racquet abuse”.

Still the King of Clay

So Rafa remains the king. In Rome he peaked at the right time so expect the Spanish master to triumph again at the second grand slam of the year at Roland Garros in Paris.

However, the French Open which starts next weekend, will be not be a pushover. The Joker will be smarting over his humiliation in Rome and will be keen to show why he is currently the world’s top ranked player.  Both Tsitsipas and Thiem are very impressive clay players and have both beaten Nadal on the dust this year.

And then there is Roger Federer. The Swiss maestro was narrowly beaten by Thiem in Barcelona in arguably the best match of that tournament. Then in Rome he pulled out after qualifying for the quarter finals. Rain delays had forced him to play two matches on one day and he suffered a minor muscle strain. Nevertheless, he is confident of being fit for Roland Garros.

But it will not be easy for the challengers, as Nadal practically “owns” the tournament, having won the event an extraordinary 11 times!