Lagoon walk precious

How are you all coping with the heat? Personally, I find it difficult. As the temperature rises, so my inclination to move falls, which is not a good thing, given my age.

We are constantly being told that exercise will do magic things for us – save us from Alzheimer’s, reduce cholesterol and high blood pressure, keep us from acquiring too much adipose tissue, and so on.

Many people pay huge amounts and get locked into unsustainable contracts at gyms around the country, and I have to ask sometimes: for what?

Here in Porirua, we are so lucky.

We have many, many bush walks and green spaces to enjoy if we choose to go walking.

And by far the jewel in the crown is the Aotea Lagoon. What a gem.

We go down there most days before the sun gets too high.

By walking round the lagoon three or four times, you cover between two and three kilometres, which is a good, brisk 20-minute walk.

A bonus is the exercise machines planted at intervals around the perimeter.

Who needs to pay to use such commodities in a gym when they are there for free at our own back door?

By far the most pleasant side of a daily walk around the lagoon, however, is the people you meet. If you go at a fairly regular time of day, you meet some of the same people every day – some struggling round the 732- metre track on arthritic joints, some running in athletic fashion, others walking the dog(s), still others, like me, walking briskly and using the machines as they go.

Everyone greets the others as they pass, creating a pleasant way to start the day.

As you go round, of course, you can watch the ducks, shags and the occasional heron plying their trade.

On a still morning, fish, for which the lagoon appears to be a breeding nursery, can be seen jumping from the water.

I can’t help wondering what will happen to all this wildlife when the proposed cable way is installed.

And as I look around the lovely environment, I try to envisage what the advent of a cafeteria, changing sheds and the inevitable machinery for said cable way will do to the whole setup of the lagoon, to say nothing of the increased invasion of this peaceful space by the users of the water ski ramps, and so on. A downside of the lagoon is the amount of litter left around the grounds. Why is it that some people simply cannot walk a couple of metres to one of the many litter bins and drop their rubbish in them instead of simply tossing it on to the track or into the water?

Council staff and concerned users of the area find it hard to keep up. Personally, I would like to grab the perpetrators by the scruff of the neck and drop them in the litter bin.

Last month we were greatly enlightened on the machinations of power companies and the effect on our pockets of the power companies, which seem to think it their God- given right to continue to put up prices inexorably while their executives and boards cream off mega-bucks as salaries.

This month, mayor Nick Leggett will join us to give some insight into how the movement towards amalgamation is progressing, or not, as the case may be, and maybe some details about consultation on that subject with us, the ratepayers.

If you have questions, you need to be there.