bob_the_engineer
5th June 2007, 11:08 PM
I spent a year in Hawke’s Bay and now the end of the summer and the autumn in Welly. I have to say I love both places, but they are remarkably different.
I’ve lived all over the UK and didn’t really mind moving about the various UK cities, all had their merits, but I didn’t feel attached to any one place, and was never particularly sad to leave.
That’s the funny thing, I miss Hawke’s Bay terribly, but you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Welly! I love both places, they are both astonishing. It’s just hard to believe they are both on the same island, let alone the same country.
I’m going to visit the south Island in a few months, and I think that’s a bad thing, the kiwis in Welly rave about the place, what if I fall for that place too!
Anyway lets talk about Hawke’s Bay. One big draw back for me, work, there simply isn’t enough Hi-Tech stuff going on there. Don’t get me wrong there are astonishing companies there, the problem is in the word “astonishing”. You see these little companies are just that, astonishing, they scare the big boys so much that they buy them out and close them down (flipin kiwi ingenuity, it can go too far LOL!). Seriously two large engineering employers in Hawkes Bay closed because the French bought one and the Americans bought the other, then swiftly shut them down because the competition is easier to control if you own it. No disrespect, a sensible business move, I guess it’s just bad timing for me.
Well that’s why I had to leave the Bay, but a little about the place. For the gardeners out there, you spend the summer pouring water over the garden trying to keep it alive, and the winter hacking it back to try and stop it from growing. The winter brings the occasional frosty night (you get to watch the farmer running around in a panic at 3am). HB is brown, summer arrives and the entire place turns from green to brown. Evenings can be spent outside, and the weather is great once you get used to it. A recent visit taught me just what you get used to. I couldn’t sleep because it was too hot, I hadn’t noticed before, and you can’t go outside at lunchtime. I put my big floppy hat away when we left the Bay and I haven’t had much call for it since. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. If your from India (lol heard some complaints) HB is freezing, if your from Scotland its far too hot (lol again heard some complaints there too). It is an odd place the weather forecast seems to portray it as not so different to anywhere else in the country, compared to Auckland it can be tortuously hot. The other thing is it can also be miserably wet and cool. It can rain heavily (really heavily) for a week without stopping. Then the sun can come out and cook the place to the point that the only insects you see moving are flies, the lawn dries and the floor cracks open, then dogs throw themselves in the ornamental fountains and refuse to get out. I’m not exaggerating I’ve seen this happen. You have to spend all four seasons there to form an opinion, it’s a strange strange (but beautiful) place.
Wellington, well that’s a completely different kettle of fish, at times it’s so cold that it reminds me of England, but if you built a house in the UK they way they build them here, well you probably wouldn’t survive the winter! It greatly skews your perception. You feel really cold and then find yourself peeling your coat off as you walk along the beach in very very late autumn. Wellington is stunningly beautiful, we walk our dogs in a place its Titahe bay. This particular place is of historical interest to the Mouri and was placed in trust by NZ broadcasting, so its open fields with 2 giant antennas on it, but trust me it’s stunning and a pleasure to visit. The cows wonder around the dogs and people, you can watch the ships sail in the bay, its an amazing place. Occasionally the wind picks up and then my favourite pass time is to open my jacket (with my hands planted firmly in my pockets) jump as high as I can and see just how far the wind can blow me!
Wellington is beautiful, utterly beautiful, and when you’ve had enough of being astonished then you can take a five min train journey (for less than the price of a bag of chips in the UK) and pop out in the middle of the city. If your don’t want o be astonished by more extraordinary views, well you can always half close your eyes. Head for Borders, and buy some French chocolate cake, and a bowl (yup a bowl LOL) of coffee and bury yourself in a book.
Laughing at the Wellingtonieons is always an amusing pastime. You see the thing is they have shelters that run along most of the pavements (to shelter if it rains, and god forbid it rains and the wind blows!). anyway the shelters extend right up to the road crossings, and quite honestly I’ve seem middle aged folk who deserve an Olympian gold for the speed they will dash across the road to get to the next shelter.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I understand the weather can go insane here, I’m sure the Welly folk have seen it all before, and all this is good practice for when those monsoons hit, but for a Yorkshire lad wondering around in a t-shirt laughing at the Welly folk who have tied their entire head up in a scarf (and I’m not convinced that anyone has told them they are actually water proof) well its just all amusing. I know I’m going to be the sorry one when it really hits the fan and I’ve only got a t-shirt on.
Well that’s my impression of Welly and HB, the plants are completely different the insects are completely different, the weather is completely different, but the people well they aint so different (sweet as bro, you’ll here the same and get a smile in both places) but the terrain, plants and just stuff is enough to convince you that you’ve moved countries all over again!
Bob
I’ve lived all over the UK and didn’t really mind moving about the various UK cities, all had their merits, but I didn’t feel attached to any one place, and was never particularly sad to leave.
That’s the funny thing, I miss Hawke’s Bay terribly, but you’d have to drag me kicking and screaming out of Welly! I love both places, they are both astonishing. It’s just hard to believe they are both on the same island, let alone the same country.
I’m going to visit the south Island in a few months, and I think that’s a bad thing, the kiwis in Welly rave about the place, what if I fall for that place too!
Anyway lets talk about Hawke’s Bay. One big draw back for me, work, there simply isn’t enough Hi-Tech stuff going on there. Don’t get me wrong there are astonishing companies there, the problem is in the word “astonishing”. You see these little companies are just that, astonishing, they scare the big boys so much that they buy them out and close them down (flipin kiwi ingenuity, it can go too far LOL!). Seriously two large engineering employers in Hawkes Bay closed because the French bought one and the Americans bought the other, then swiftly shut them down because the competition is easier to control if you own it. No disrespect, a sensible business move, I guess it’s just bad timing for me.
Well that’s why I had to leave the Bay, but a little about the place. For the gardeners out there, you spend the summer pouring water over the garden trying to keep it alive, and the winter hacking it back to try and stop it from growing. The winter brings the occasional frosty night (you get to watch the farmer running around in a panic at 3am). HB is brown, summer arrives and the entire place turns from green to brown. Evenings can be spent outside, and the weather is great once you get used to it. A recent visit taught me just what you get used to. I couldn’t sleep because it was too hot, I hadn’t noticed before, and you can’t go outside at lunchtime. I put my big floppy hat away when we left the Bay and I haven’t had much call for it since. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. If your from India (lol heard some complaints) HB is freezing, if your from Scotland its far too hot (lol again heard some complaints there too). It is an odd place the weather forecast seems to portray it as not so different to anywhere else in the country, compared to Auckland it can be tortuously hot. The other thing is it can also be miserably wet and cool. It can rain heavily (really heavily) for a week without stopping. Then the sun can come out and cook the place to the point that the only insects you see moving are flies, the lawn dries and the floor cracks open, then dogs throw themselves in the ornamental fountains and refuse to get out. I’m not exaggerating I’ve seen this happen. You have to spend all four seasons there to form an opinion, it’s a strange strange (but beautiful) place.
Wellington, well that’s a completely different kettle of fish, at times it’s so cold that it reminds me of England, but if you built a house in the UK they way they build them here, well you probably wouldn’t survive the winter! It greatly skews your perception. You feel really cold and then find yourself peeling your coat off as you walk along the beach in very very late autumn. Wellington is stunningly beautiful, we walk our dogs in a place its Titahe bay. This particular place is of historical interest to the Mouri and was placed in trust by NZ broadcasting, so its open fields with 2 giant antennas on it, but trust me it’s stunning and a pleasure to visit. The cows wonder around the dogs and people, you can watch the ships sail in the bay, its an amazing place. Occasionally the wind picks up and then my favourite pass time is to open my jacket (with my hands planted firmly in my pockets) jump as high as I can and see just how far the wind can blow me!
Wellington is beautiful, utterly beautiful, and when you’ve had enough of being astonished then you can take a five min train journey (for less than the price of a bag of chips in the UK) and pop out in the middle of the city. If your don’t want o be astonished by more extraordinary views, well you can always half close your eyes. Head for Borders, and buy some French chocolate cake, and a bowl (yup a bowl LOL) of coffee and bury yourself in a book.
Laughing at the Wellingtonieons is always an amusing pastime. You see the thing is they have shelters that run along most of the pavements (to shelter if it rains, and god forbid it rains and the wind blows!). anyway the shelters extend right up to the road crossings, and quite honestly I’ve seem middle aged folk who deserve an Olympian gold for the speed they will dash across the road to get to the next shelter.
I haven’t seen it yet, but I understand the weather can go insane here, I’m sure the Welly folk have seen it all before, and all this is good practice for when those monsoons hit, but for a Yorkshire lad wondering around in a t-shirt laughing at the Welly folk who have tied their entire head up in a scarf (and I’m not convinced that anyone has told them they are actually water proof) well its just all amusing. I know I’m going to be the sorry one when it really hits the fan and I’ve only got a t-shirt on.
Well that’s my impression of Welly and HB, the plants are completely different the insects are completely different, the weather is completely different, but the people well they aint so different (sweet as bro, you’ll here the same and get a smile in both places) but the terrain, plants and just stuff is enough to convince you that you’ve moved countries all over again!
Bob