The joys of the beach and river

After a cool and rainy morning, the afternoon came out sunny and warm, bringing folks flocking to the river mouth and river. It was great to see so many people, some of them very young indeed, out there paddling, fishing, body boarding, kayaking.

Plenty of people enjoying the beach.
Busy beach.
A fleet of kayaks on a very low river.

9 thoughts on “The joys of the beach and river”

    1. The risks were too high, the organisation too complicated, the capacities of the human beings on the Committee too limited to be able to run them.

      Usual residence: Waikawa

  1. Well, you’d have to forgive some of us for not having “The Joys” or a “Wow Waikawa Xmas And New Year”, especially if you live at the top of Manga Pirau Street!! We have had our lives forcibly changed forever by the ignorance of the Council , The Ratepayers Association, the attitudes of some of the Waikawa Facebook Group and the people who use or should I say abuse the recycling station. Not to mention drunken morons around at night , dogs wandering willy nilly barking their heads off, motorbikes and quads asunder and straight out selfish people. It’s an absolute noisefest of the the most unpleasant kind. Never thought it would come to having to lock your gate in Waikawa but that’s the way it is here now. Easy to think everything is great if you don’t live near any of that I suppose. It shows the difference of our respective realities. A few of us here in Manga Pirau St who have been here a long time have got together and we’ve had enough. We feel we are being taken over by a new group of self serving people who grandstand kindness and consideration when in truth we get none of that and we are ratepayers too. If this was 1800’s America there would be people ridden out on horseback and told never to return. This is the last year that we will tolerate particularly that recycling station. When I see a neighbour so down because of the assault on our tranquility and peace and you feel the same as them, you know something is very wrong. The peasants are revolting! And the sign on the reycling station saying “Shhhhh people are napping…..Keep the noise down….Pathetic! Is that the best that HDC can come up with?? Tell me exactly how throwing glass bottles into a metal container is going to keep the noise down? How about doing the right thing and removing it! Richard Walker offered a good spot for that a little out of town on his own land. That’s a million times more joyous than the churlishness of our inconsiderate agenda driven council have ever shown. To add to the whole farce is that monday is recycling day…..go figure

    Usual residence: Waikawa

    1. This is really offensive you don’t like people or families having fun you don’t like dogs enjoying a chance to get out for a walk what actually do you like if you can’t deal with people enjoying family time over xmas and New Year in a beach community maybe it’s time for you to sell up while the markets hot and leave i’m sure there are other places you could go that would suit your life style better as nothings going to change here it’s probably going to get even busier once the express way is finished.

      Usual residence: NZ

      1. Don’t put words in my mouth Sue Levien! I never said anything about families having fun. I have never been against people enjoying themselves. This is about the inappropriateness of the recycling station and lack of consideration to the permanent residents who live nearby. It’s about irresponsible dog owners and people using our streets as a race track for their trail bikes, quads and other vehicles. The wanton destruction of our flora and disrespect for those people that have kindly provided their land to access the beach. The fact that we now have a sign at the entrance to the beach at the end of Manga Pirau street telling people to respect the landowners is nothing short of shameful and has never happened before. Any civilized human being would find these issues a concern in their neighbourhood if they cared. There are quite a few of us living here that are tired of the repugnant behaviour being exhibited in our village. Should we all just leave to appease the ignorant? Like hell. We will fight back because certain people around here have crossed the line. The fact that you couldn’t care less about these issues says a lot about your attitude. There is a big difference between people who are here enjoying a holiday, having fun and walking their dogs responsibly and respecting our streets and those who simply have no consideration for others. Those who are behaving in such an entitled and arrogant fashion are offensive beyond compare!!

        Usual residence: Waikawa

        1. “We will fight back, because certain individuals have crossed the line”… words that have come out of your mouth. What an arogant comment. If I want to cut down “flora” on my private land, you and your ilk can whistle.

          Usual residence: NZ

    2. Re the Recycling Station β€” as a private person (not in my WBRA Committee role) I’ve suggested to Horowhenua District Council that in future the Recycling Station could be put in the Rec Ground near SH1, far away from the already less nearby residents up there. Everyone at Waikawa Beach has a vehicle anyway, including visitors. They could just drive their crates of noisy bottles up the road if they can’t just hang onto them for a couple of weeks over Christmas.

      Usual residence: Waikawa

  2. Jeepers that response is actually the offensive one. I don’t see anything in Chris’s post that says he doesn’t like to see families enjoying a beach community. The recycling station was put there without any consultation with nearby residents. Uncontrolled dogs are an issue at Waikawa. Have been for about 3 years at least. An uncontrolled dog killed my elderly cat. Ask the permanent residents who have lived here for a very long time and had no issues until 3 or 4 years ago. To tell Chris who has been an owner of a property here for a very long to move highlights the arrogance of the new people who are showing little respect for what Waikawa was. As Wellington people ‘ need’ a beach get away and Waitarere is too expensive then what used to be lovely peaceful Waikawa with trees (god forbid) will continue to suffer the new regime of quads and arrogance. Just my thoughts, used to be able to amble around on the horses safely, now we have quad and motorcyle riders who have no clue or desire to learn how to work in with the permanent residents who have ridden at Waikawa for years. Sad but true. Never mind the snarling barking dogs running freely at the bridge daily – dog lead anyone??

    Usual residence: Other

  3. The general tone of most of these comments is unpleasant. I’ve now closed the commenting.

    Usual residence: Waikawa

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