Wahine Day...

Forty four years ago a very nasty bit of weather hit wellington, NZ. The day became known as Wahine Day. The inter islander ferry called Wahine struck Barretts Reef just outside the entrance of wellington harbour and sank. At that time in 1968 it was the worst storm I had ever heard of. The media had a field day with it, providing us with images of distraught passengers finally getting their feet back on dry land. Fifty one people lost their lives in the water that day.

The wind was so strong that I thought the huge Norfolk Pine across the road was going to be pulled out of the ground. The tip of it was being whipped from side to side so far that I was sure it was going to touch the road. Power lines fell, roofs were lost and much damage was done to people and property. Eventually the top mast of the ferry was recovered and now stands at the Wahine Memorial. Somewhere at home in NZ we have a very small piece of the ill fated vessel.

  http://www.thewahine.co.nz/

It was a bit chilly walking down to the station this morning so it was out with the gloves. Within the station grounds workers have been erecting a barrier fence made of metal stakes with a rather nasty point on the tip. Obviously to prevent people from getting onto the platform without paying. When the work was first begun a week or so ago we wondered why it was being constructed so far away from the boundary fence, about 4 metres away from it. Without a gate between the two it would be a difficult area to keep tidy. Well late last week there was a lot of negative construction going on and the fence has been re-located within foot or two of the boundary wall. Much more logical.

Went for a walk to take some equipment to the other site just before lunch and saw two women with about 5 -6 toddlers between them all on leads. It reminded me so much of dog walkers out with multiple charges. These littlies were all over the place and one even managed to get herself tangled around a display board. Even though it was a clear day the wind was quite cool and they were all well rugged up. Seeing them reminded me of some of the little girls I used to see when I was working at an NHS trust. These little ones, young though they were, had their heads covered with scarves. It must be hard in the summer to not feel the cooling breeze against your neck especially when your friend’s heads are uncovered. Some of the women accompanying then were almost totally covered, with only their eyes showing.

I checked on the sitting birds on my way, the grebe and the Canada goose. On my walk and there they were snuggle down on their nests, heads tucked under wings protecting their precious eggs from the chilly wind. I will have to look up how long it takes for the eggs to hatch. 

Family story....

When my parents were children there weren’t any well-constructed  playgrounds with grass and climbing frames and swings to play on. The cobbled street was their playground. When my aunt and her friends were playing skipping games with the long rope that stretched almost across the street. “All in together girls, never mind the weather girls.” Much of Mum’s childhood was spent in and out of hospitals. Her sister said it was with diphtheria and pneumonia as well as asthma.  She remembers being taken out of school a lot to go and visit he little sister. There was a convalescent home in Buckinghamshire that Mum spent a long time in. It was here that the nurses would walk Mum around outside so that  Nan and my aunt could watch her from behind the trees, because they weren’t allowed to see her to talk to. I suppose this was because the belief back then was that it was better not to upset the child by seeing the parents and having them leave again at the end of visiting time.  Perhaps it was when she came home from this hospital that my aunt remembers.

“She was always having illnesses. First of all it started when she was just a baby. After she came home from hospital one time, I can see our Mum pacing up and down with her and  your mum  saying `I want my mum’ and Nan saying `but I am your mum’, she’d been away for so long that she’d forgotten her ...later she just seemed to grow out of it, she still had the asthma but it didn’t seem to be so bad.”