Ankle-deep gardening no fun
Once an enjoyable leisure activity, gardening has become more of a ‘‘nuisance’’ than anything else for one Blenheim woman.
Since the 7.8-magnitude earthquake in November 2016, Laurel Rockliff, 70, has been forced to do her gardening in ankle-deep water.
Rockliff, whose property backs onto an unnamed creek near Pollard Park and connects with the Taylor River, was lined with an embankment between her garden and the creek. After the quake caused the riverbed to rise, her only option for maintaining her garden is to get her feet wet.
‘‘It’s a nuisance because I made a lot of use walking along there. I don’t really like getting my feet wet to do the gardening,’’ she said. Rockliff who had lived at the property for six years said the path had been ‘‘consistently’’ underwater since the quake, apart from on the odd occasion.
‘‘For the last year it’s been underwater. A few months back it was actually dry, it did come out of the water.’’
Rockliff said because of the water underfoot, she felt like she could easily fall backwards into the creek as it was hard to tell where the embankment stopped and the river started.
‘‘I very reluctantly got in the water [on Thursday] because it desperately needed to have some of the weeds taken out.
‘‘You should have seen me, I was pulling the weeds out and thought ‘I’m going to go backwards in the water’,’’ she said.
She said she would have to invest in a good pair of gumboots for gardening now.
Blenheim man Steve Beaumont, whose property backed onto a creek in the Opawa Loop, said the wharf at the back of his property now spent a lot of time underwater.
‘‘We can have quite a dry spell and the wharf will be out of water, then we get not a huge amount of rain over a short period of time but the river stays high for so long,’’ he said.
Marlborough District Council rivers and drainage engineer Geoff Dick said the flooding and higher river level wasn’t solely to do with the earthquake, however it did play a big role.
Dick said the average water levels were 200mm to 300mm higher than they were pre-quake.
‘‘There is a very large sediment build up in the estuary where it meets the Wairau River, an unusual one, which we also think is earthquake related ... We think that’s actually holding the levels back up into town.’’
Dick said the council was clearing weed from about the lower Opawa Loop to half way down Dillons Point Rd. The council was planning to dredge areas of the Taylor River in the spring.
Drink-driving
A man who crashed his car, broke his collarbone and broke his passenger’s arm had been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis. Logan Russell Mcleod, 23, was driving a Subaru on Onamalutu Rd at Onamalutu, northwest of Blenheim, with his 15-year-old friend in the passenger seat, about 7.30pm on June 8. Mcleod and his friend were taken to hospital, where Mcleod was treated for a broken collarbone and his friend for a broken arm. Mcleod gave a blood alcohol test result of 126 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood. The legal limit is 50mg. When spoken to by police, he said he was just going to pick up some eggs. Mcleod was initially charged with careless driving causing injury, and drink-driving causing injury. But police withdrew the careless driving charge and Mcleod pleaded guilty to the remaining charge at the Blenheim District Court on Wednesday. Judge Tony Zohrab ordered a pre-sentencing report ‘‘to look at alternatives to prison’’, and an alcohol and drug report, and remanded Mcleod on bail to June 11 for sentencing.
Sunniest spot
NIWA National Climate Centre summary for March shows the sunniest four locations in 2018 so far are Blenheim neck and neck with Richmond on 708 hours, Napier 697 hours and Lake Tekapo on 688 hours.
March spending
Marlburians went to the shops in droves during March. Figures from electronic payments provider Paymark showed the region had the highest annual underlying growth rates across New Zealand compared to March last year. Shoppers spent $67.6 million in Marlborough, up 17.6 per cent. That is a total of 1.6 million transactions. Kaiko¯ura was included in the Marlborough figures.
Scholarship available
Are you, or do you know someone who shows passion and commitment to helping their community, and is 18-26 years old? Scholarships are now available for Outward Bound’s 21-day classic course. The scholarship pays up to 75 per cent of the full course fee. In addition the participants need to cover the cost of a medical appointment and travel to and from Picton. Phone 0800 688 927 for more information and closing dates.