State of Emergency

 We rose this morning a little before 7am and as soon as we looked out of the bedroom window noticed the river was much higher than usual. A few minutes later the river and surrounding hills were shrouded in mist as the sun began to warm the air. After we had emptied the dishwasher and were drinking our first cups of tea I discovered a local State of Emergency had been declared in Ruapehu, the district up-river from us. Heavy rain had caused flash flooding.

As the mist cleared we could see the river was also moving very quickly. At around 8am the council announced a local State of Emergency for Whanganui, noting particularly the low lying areas in town, along Anzac Parade, and down to Putiki. Nicky got ready for church and I set off for my amble heading for the railway bridge. The bridge pillars give a good idea of the speed of the river and also carry depth indicators:

The morning was bright and sunny so I decided to take advantage of our new Sunday bus service to go into town. I naturally gravitated to the wharf where the water was already inundating the boardwalk. Half an hour later it was over the wharf:

In addition, there was also the excitement of the tram being craned onto a low loader so that it can be fitted with new wheels:

Nicky arrived home from church shortly after I had returned on the bus. We had a bite to eat and then popped back into town to see how things were progressing. The river was higher at the railway bridge by about a foot (assuming the scale is in feet) and there was more inundation by the wharf. Whist we drove home Civil Defence issued an update that the State of Emergency was still in place, but implyed that the water level had peaked. We hadn’t expected to have such an eventful Sunday.

Our new bus serviced started this week, on Friday. We now have a service that goes past our house every 20 minutes, six days a week, and once an hour on a Sundays. The whole bus system is going to be free to use for the first month. We have noticed the increased frequency of buses which is great. It couldn’t come at a better time with the dramatic rise in petrol prices. We are also aware that our lovely little car is 21 years old and we may have greater need for the bus service.

Our other highlight of the week was Eleanor and Jack coming over for dinner last night. It is ages since we have had a good catch up and we had a lovely evening together. Nicky had spent the afternoon producing Thai chicken soup, smoked tuna and cheese with veg and spuds, and apple and damson flummery. She had spent yesterday morning at a working bee in Williams Domain in East Whanganui again. However, this time there were lots of locals lending a hand too, so much was accomplished.

The rest of the week has been pretty routine. We have had some periods of heavy rain enabling us to finish the jigsaw. On Tuesday evening we enjoyed the remaining episodes of The Other Bennett Sister on TVNZ+. At the quiz on Wednesday evening it was just Mike, Nicky and I until Pete the quiz master brought us two newbies (Bruce and his daughter Tracy) who wanted to try out the quiz. We came 11th with 85 points, which meant we won $30. We also won $25 on the Wheel of Fortune spin, so it was a lucrative evening.

Mike is also in the process of getting his driving licence again. He hasn’t driven for a number of years, so he asked if I would help him get some practice in our car before he sits his practical test. We had our first session on Friday and it went pretty well. I only had to shout at him once.

Take care, Rick and Nicky.