A bit of a ramble this time...

Is there no end to the Council’s plans to encroach on our beautiful Waitemata Harbour.  Just after we thought it had all gone away with the plans to move the container wharf further into the harbour, but no, just like the saying “Rust never sleeps” here they go again.

The plan is to put two obstacles 90 metres off Queen’s Wharf called dolphins.  These are the size of two large cars, anchored to the sea bed and to be used to as stern line moorings for the super large cruise ships.  These will only be used 3-4 times per year, according to my men at the coal face.  This is all very well, and may have been alright but no, Health and Safety requirements are now saying that there must be a walkway between the two dolphins to ensure the safety of workmen while these dolphins are in use.  So, this means these will be a permanent fixture in the Harbour, two 90 metre floating pontoons,  that will forever curtail the navigation for sail boats or any other craft in that area.

While we are on about cruise ships, I do wonder when I see three arriving per day, docking, and the thousands of passengers unloading into our city, whether there is any connection between these tourists and the recent finding of fruit flies in Devonport and Northcote.  We know at the airport there are stringent rules about bringing food into the country.  But there are thousands pouring off these cruise ships, for some it’s only a 12 hour stop, and I wonder if there is the same strict screening of these people.  One of whom might just have an apple in their handbags and unwittingly throw the core into the rubbish in a bin in Devonport and thereby unleashing a tiny unwelcome visitor.

Sometimes I wonder if we are overselling ourselves in this country, with regard to tourism.  We have thousands arriving in our country and we don’t have the infrastructure to support this avalanche of tourists.  A striking example is the carpark opposite the Wakatere Boating Club on Narrowneck Beach.  Every night there are at least half a dozen campervans and old cars camping there as there are public toilets and barbecues in the reserve.  There was a very expensive volleyball court on that reserve just over from the carpark, if I remember correctly some $35,000 was spent on the construction, including a $500 net.

The local Body elections are this year, and I suppose the same tired old has beens will be standing again.  We really need a rocket in the Super City and Mayor Goff with his nose in the trough is certainly not the answer.  I see John Tamihere may be putting his hat in the ring, but I hear he’s been chucked out of the Labour Party – that might be a badge of honour.  I hear also that the Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was speaking at a luncheon on the North Shore in very early March, and the people who organise these lunches had a great struggle selling the tables.  This could have been fallout after the announcement of the Tax Working Group’s Report on the Capital Gains Tax.

So much has been spoken recently about this Capital Gains Tax, it’s so depressing I don’t even want to talk about it.

I don’t know what to think about this North Harbour Rugby plan to disestablish Junior Representative rugby and Roller Mills Tournament.  I will never forget the excitement of travelling to Cambridge and playing Roller Mills rugby in the mid 1960’s, I still have the photograph of my team in my office.  In some ways this is just numbing down of society, that nobody can rise to the top and everybody has to be equal. 

While I am on this, and please don’t get me wrong but I’m actually sick of these women commentators at sports matches, when some of them have little or no idea about what is involved as they’ve never played at this level of cricket and rugby.   I know I’m going to get a bit of flak about this.  I saw in a recent article about the top rugby players in New Zealand and the third one was a woman – ranked above Sam Whitelock the great Cantabrian and All Black lock.  Spare me, it’s political correctness gone too far. 

Don’t get me wrong here, my mother was a Pioneer in the newspaper industry and the first woman editor of a major newspaper.  She was a fine journalist and did not suffer fools gladly.  I have a deep respect for women, but not commenting on the front row behavior of a tighthead prop, which is a black art at the best of times.  I’ll leave it at that now, before I get lynched.

A bit of a ramble this time, there’s a lot on my mind and a lot of issues going on that need to be dealt with.  Again, I have to say we need to stand up for ourselves about what is being shoved down our throats.

What a wonderful summer it has been, enjoy it all while you’ve got it.  See you next month.

From the Publisher:- Sorry Mr G., but the bit about the PM’s lunch being hard to sell is not correct. There was a full house and seats sold like hot cakes!

From the Editor:- I couldn't disagree more strongly with these comments on women and sport - astounding. It's 2019, not the 1950s! 


By: , Gundry's Grumbles

Issue 96 March 2019