Monthly Archives: Jan 2022

“Be Sure Not To Fizzle When The Summer Starts To Sizzle”

Travelling home in Eureka or to work in the City of Hamilton through the daily commute. I love looking at and admiring the wonder of landscape in the rural. I realised and recalled the past years – green to brown colour of the lands and the lack of rain even showers throughout Summertime. What a brunt harsh reminder of the longest drought this year – 2022!

The Greater Auckland city borrows our Waikato River despite their pleas to use it for the last two years. Yes, undoubtedly, the people of the Greater Aucklander facing their own problems by using too much water, not enough to conserve water through daily lives, and the lack of education to new residents from other countries or cities. Their other main problems are the lack of planning, e.g. reservoirs, the lack of finances to build plenty of reservoirs outside the suburbs, and the fast-growing population due to unexpected growth and inability to keep updated population growth. Yes, Auckland Council is in shambles and in the economic crisis through Lockdown and hard times losing businesses. 

“A change in the weather is sufficient to recreate the world and ourselves.”- Marcel Proust, ‘The Guermantes Way’, 1920.

Waikato is approximately two hours-one hour and thirty minutes by car travel from Greater Auckland. Our regional is farming for businesses, horticulture, and agriculture. The Waikato River runs from an ancient lake (Lake Huka) in the centre of the North Island to Port Waikato, located outside the Auckland boundary. See the map where the Waikato River (Owned by the Waikato-Tainui) runs.

See the quote from Wikipedias about our Waikato and the River here.

 “After widescale droughts in 1994, the use of the Waikato River to supply drinking water for Auckland was first considered. In July 2002, a water treatment plant was opened at Tuakau which was expanded in 2021 after major droughts in 2020.[31]“ “the deed of settlement signed by the Crown and Waikato-Tainui in August 2008 settled the raupatu claim to the Waikato River, although other claims for land blocks and harbours are still outstanding. Waikato-Tainui now have joint management of the River with the Waikato Regional Council.”

Our surrounding area is a wide range from farmings to orchards and the hive of businesses such as Fonterra, farms such as cows, emus, and orchards such as blueberries, strawberries, apples, apricots and many parks, the walkway by the River. I took several photos of our surrounding farmlands and mountain ranges where there are many colours of brownish and a few plots of lands which green for cows to eat and hays. 

 “Here comes the sun, and I say it’s all right.”- The Beatles, ‘Here Comes The Sun’.

Our neighbourly have been talking about conserving water through rain tanks, limiting watering the gardens every year. We regularly check in the water storage tank, which feeds from the largest reservoirs linked to the Waikato River. Please note we do pay water rates through the Regional Council. Also, to make large water ponds like this one. This pond is about 10 meters by 10 meters, and 3 meters deep is ideal. The water ponds should be at least 6 feet deep but no more than 12 to 15 feet deep. The pond should have an inlet and an outlet (as shown in the picture) lined with rock to prevent erosion. The water level should have a control mechanism, such as a sleeved standpipe fitted with a cut-off valve at the bottom. See the photo here. 

Do you know or are aware that the food prices have shot up very high? Many people live in poverty homes with low incomes or are homeless, and they cannot buy food on the tables for their families. We grow vegetables in the garden for our meals or give vegetables and fruits to the FoodBanks. We sell produces to other people on the roadsides to pay the mortgage, rates, and household bills. We visit our local supermarket, and sometimes we go to Pak n Save in the city of Hamilton for our basic groceries. 

Yes, there has been a comprehensive claim of Global weather warming over many years. Does anyone have learnt this or not? Does anyone notice our Waikato farmlands and the Waikato River is low?

The first short, brief shower was last Thursday during our family friend’s funeral. It lasted approximately 5-10 minutes, and Waikato people received water just under 5mm of rainfall. The last time we have had rain was 12mm on December 28th 2021. Did we receive heavy rain through Autumn and Winter? Nope! Let’s see – we received rain from May 2021 to the current date; January 22nd was 713mm. That was not precisely the heaviest rain so far, like in the past we used to have an opulence rain from Autumn to Spring, but not now. The Summer heat has gone up to 31oC-32oC in Waikato for the last three years. 

“New year—a new chapter, new verse, or just the same old story? Ultimately we write it. The choice is ours.”

May the Lord keep you in the palm of His hand, and never close His fist too tight!

Happy New Year – Athbhliain faoi mhaise duit

One of our earliest resolutions back in 2015 was to have the old second house wholly gone, and finally, we have nailed this resolution on the last day of 2021. Yes, it took us a long time to do this job by tearing, pulling down the house by two of us. What was left was the concrete porch and part of the fireplace base.

First, we thought about what to do with the old second home and is it impossible to turn it into a bed and breakfast business or use a part of the house into a studio as my office. We had a look at the plan and the finances for our long term. In the end, we decided to pull down. There is a bed and breakfast business across the main road from us, and I learnt they charge nearly $200.00 a night for one bedroom along with rules such as no animals like the dog in their property.

My partner keeps the good woods such as mahogany, rimu and oak and the rest of the woods goes into the barn to store as firewoods. The good woods will turn into something like a frame, replacing the rotted wood in our house, toys, outdoor chairs.

We thought about using heavy machinery such as tractors, bulldozers and paying someone as a demolition team. What is the point of spending a lot of money hiring or paying someone with extra labour and hours of using the machinery? We have the skills of labouring and using the pieces of equipment and tools, and we went ahead to do this job. Hip hip, hooray!

Our works and course led us away from this project over COVID-19, Lockdowns between 2020 and 2021, bad weather through many seasons, garden jobs such as tree fellings and health issues, and two surgeries. We are grateful to have entirely and made away with the final garden project except for a battle with wild rabbits. What is next to come?? Who knows? There is a never-ending idea or something to do around our home here, for we love this place and enjoy our time away from the city of Hamilton. 

Mmm, entering the new Year 2022 made us no different in our lives by living each day and night. 

Note – you may notice the first two aerial photos of our current property. There were three houses in the first photo and in the second photo left two houses standing until we bought. In the earliest days, the property belongs to one of the families, including my late great granduncle’s wife – Joy Hinton’s granduncle, his wife and children. It was a farmer’s owner, and the men used the first original house, which we pulled down as a farmhand house, while the young family used the second house where we live now. The family member sold to Hooper’s family, and they ran a business as Eureka Transport around the 1920s in Hooper Road until no room to run the depot as they took the contract from Horotiu. The depot grew in Hinton Road in 1949. This business was to cart fat cattle to Horotiu and back to Eureka. One of the family members of Eureka was Charles (Bill) Edwards, who married Minny Hooper and took charge of the business by 1949. Unfortunately, Eureka Transport Business which you see in the aerial photo, was sold, and the company folded a few years later. We have no idea what happened to the third house, which sat in the field we owned a sizeable vast land.