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Weather
Dec 15, 2022 8:06:47 GMT 12
Post by ComfortZone on Dec 15, 2022 8:06:47 GMT 12
well the very long range forecast is looking OK for a Xmas eve departure to Gt Barrier, being mindful that a forecast this far out involves some crystal ball gazing and tea leaf reading on the part of the models  question is will that approaching low turn into the blow around 28th that has previously been speculated. Watch this space I guess |
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Weather
Dec 15, 2022 9:32:47 GMT 12
Post by em on Dec 15, 2022 9:32:47 GMT 12
well the very long range forecast is looking OK for a Xmas eve departure to Gt Barrier, being mindful that a forecast this far out involves some crystal ball gazing and tea leaf reading on the part of the models View Attachmentquestion is will that approaching low turn into the blow around 28th that has previously been speculated. Watch this space I guess Was looking at that this morning . If you look at the Indian Oceanon the 24th there’s 3 lows in a row that might be the madden Julian oscillation on its way through . Could be a dodgy week between Christmas and new year . Edit: it’s now only one low west of Oz |
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Weather
Dec 15, 2022 20:30:44 GMT 12
Post by GO30 on Dec 15, 2022 20:30:44 GMT 12
Ah the joys of farming. What a bloody mugs game. I do it for a living and you do it for fun so I have my thoughts on who is the bigger mug... Not so much for fun as it does have to generate an income and will shortly, as something we've wanted to do for a long while and now have the ability to do so. It has snowballed a bit by the beefies in addition to the trees and the 130 acres more than we ever had in mind, but that's OK.
Basically we were unexpected beneficiaries of the bullshit NZ housing market and were to the point it made us both feel a bit icky, we decided to leave the rental market and spend the unexpected and significant proceeds on something that's fascinated me since a lunch stop during a motorsickle ride down the Vietnam Laos border in 2004, which then morphed into an even bigger desire with the bird flu freak-out of 2006.
By rental market it was really a house we got for D1 and her mates to use while at Uni. They paid $100 a week on the proviso they did not get student loans. Once D1 left the others hung in but we'd become landlords and we didn't really wannbe one so we bailed. But while we had it the Welly real estate market kicked off and 2 significant changes by the council meant our location jumped up an estimated 50K over night, twice. Basically it went up 85K ever year we owned it. Hence we can afford to go rural and get on developing without having a huge need of instant income. But again it appears we may have unintentionally jagged the timing of our purchase. 2 months ago a place very similar, a hint smaller, to ours pre our development so far, 3km down the road sold for twice what we've put into ours to date, that includes all costs even the tractor. The price of land around us has just gone bananas, possibly that whole north West coast has judging by some comments heard. Not that we have any intention of selling, nor the kids judging by their desires to swap places with us.
But all of the above aside, I am very VERY much having fun doing it. Even today in the 1000% humidity while cleaning up the stinking sloppy dross left by the flood. Banged some posts in and fixed a key fence so the wild bunch is now contained.
When it comes down to it what is there about hydraulic fluids, diesel, motorsickles, cordite, what is there not to love about all those. I can assure you it is way more fun than being an employer and shuffling paper from one side of the desk to the other. If it wasn't for helping pissed off (by someone else not us) punters get sorted and just helping punters in general, I'd have bailed years ago.
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Weather
Dec 15, 2022 21:14:38 GMT 12
via mobile
Post by sabre on Dec 15, 2022 21:14:38 GMT 12
Ah the joys of farming. What a bloody mugs game. I do it for a living and you do it for fun so I have my thoughts on who is the bigger mug... Not so much for fun as it does have to generate an income and will shortly, as something we've wanted to do for a long while and now have the ability to do so. It has snowballed a bit by the beefies in addition to the trees and the 130 acres more than we ever had in mind, but that's OK.
Basically we were unexpected beneficiaries of the bullshit NZ housing market and were to the point it made us both feel a bit icky, we decided to leave the rental market and spend the unexpected and significant proceeds on something that's fascinated me since a lunch stop during a motorsickle ride down the Vietnam Laos border in 2004, which then morphed into an even bigger desire with the bird flu freak-out of 2006.
By rental market it was really a house we got for D1 and her mates to use while at Uni. They paid $100 a week on the proviso they did not get student loans. Once D1 left the others hung in but we'd become landlords and we didn't really wannbe one so we bailed. But while we had it the Welly real estate market kicked off and 2 significant changes by the council meant our location jumped up an estimated 50K over night, twice. Basically it went up 85K ever year we owned it. Hence we can afford to go rural and get on developing without having a huge need of instant income. But again it appears we may have unintentionally jagged the timing of our purchase. 2 months ago a place very similar, a hint smaller, to ours pre our development so far, 3km down the road sold for twice what we've put into ours to date, that includes all costs even the tractor. The price of land around us has just gone bananas, possibly that whole north West coast has judging by some comments heard. Not that we have any intention of selling, nor the kids judging by their desires to swap places with us.
But all of the above aside, I am very VERY much having fun doing it. Even today in the 1000% humidity while cleaning up the stinking sloppy dross left by the flood. Banged some posts in and fixed a key fence so the wild bunch is now contained.
When it comes down to it what is there about hydraulic fluids, diesel, motorsickles, cordite, what is there not to love about all those. I can assure you it is way more fun than being an employer and shuffling paper from one side of the desk to the other. If it wasn't for helping pissed off (by someone else not us) punters get sorted and just helping punters in general, I'd have bailed years ago.
Good on ya KM.. you have certainly jumped in boots n all and it sounds like a nice part of the world. For me I couldn't imagine living in town and avoid it like the plague. Have to say I can't recall this many rainy days ever before though. We have cracked 3m of rain for the calender year to date. Certainly makes things a bit challeging. I just finished my dinner tonight and I got a phone call from a neighbour asking me to come and clear a slip that had blocked both lanes. I was quite pleased to get a lane cleared without the big old man pine above the slip coming down and flattening me. |
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Weather
Dec 15, 2022 21:39:50 GMT 12
Post by fish on Dec 15, 2022 21:39:50 GMT 12
Good on ya KM.. you have certainly jumped in boots n all and it sounds like a nice part of the world. For me I couldn't imagine living in town and avoid it like the plague. Have to say I can't recall this many rainy days ever before though. We have cracked 3m of rain for the calender year to date. Certainly makes things a bit challeging. I just finished my dinner tonight and I got a phone call from a neighbour asking me to come and clear a slip that had blocked both lanes. I was quite pleased to get a lane cleared without the big old man pine above the slip coming down and flattening me. Did you say plague? We've got one of those, you can have it for half price if you want ;-) PS, it was made in China though and might be defective. Here in Whangaparaoa we've had 263 mm of rain in November and already 65 mm in Dec. Calendar year to date is 1,610 mm, which is kind of average, but the last couple of months have been soggy. Last Monday was the only sunny day we can remember. We saw a sunset, very interesting. Today, with this misty clag, my body clock is totally out of whack. At 7pm it felt like 3 or 4 pm. Can't see the sun, but can't even see how bright it is, its just clag. You know on a cloudy day you can still get a gauge on how late it is by how bright it is. Currently there isn't really any sunny days in the forecast. Next Monday might have a break in the cloud, but not a proper sunny day. Starting to go a bit doo-lally. I've had better weather in London. Does anyone record sunshine hours? They must be very low for Dec averages. Most of our veges are going gang-busters with the warmth and damp, but we aren't getting any actual sun for the photo-synthesis part. |
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Weather
Dec 16, 2022 11:10:43 GMT 12
Post by muzled on Dec 16, 2022 11:10:43 GMT 12
well the very long range forecast is looking OK for a Xmas eve departure to Gt Barrier, being mindful that a forecast this far out involves some crystal ball gazing and tea leaf reading on the part of the models View Attachmentquestion is will that approaching low turn into the blow around 28th that has previously been speculated. Watch this space I guess Was looking at that this morning . If you look at the Indian Oceanon the 24th there’s 3 lows in a row that might be the madden Julian oscillation on its way through . Could be a dodgy week between Christmas and new year . Edit: it’s now only one low west of Oz More predictions on the MJO. Possible that whatshisname (Ken Ring) that predicted the weather event towards the end of the yaer is correct. www.swellnet.com/news/swellnet-analysis/2022/12/15/get-your-mjo |
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Weather
Dec 17, 2022 7:15:40 GMT 12
Post by GO30 on Dec 17, 2022 7:15:40 GMT 12
Good on ya KM.. you have certainly jumped in boots n all and it sounds like a nice part of the world. For me I couldn't imagine living in town and avoid it like the plague. Have to say I can't recall this many rainy days ever before though. We have cracked 3m of rain for the calender year to date. Certainly makes things a bit challeging. I just finished my dinner tonight and I got a phone call from a neighbour asking me to come and clear a slip that had blocked both lanes. I was quite pleased to get a lane cleared without the big old man pine above the slip coming down and flattening me. I put in a rain gauge, constantly full. Dried out OKish after last Sats rain but the ground is still pretty wet so takes not much to fully saturate it again, even on some slopes. Word is it'll be a wet summer.
The neighbours have a big dam someone built years back. It's holding a lot of water and last week we noticed a big slip/slump in the dam and signs around the slopes around it. The whole things moved quite a bit. If it blows it'll make a hell mess and possibly take out a pile of sheep but no houses or structures. Just hope no one is working downstream if it does, that could get nasty fast. It'll run down by our boundary but shouldn't touch us.
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Weather
Dec 17, 2022 20:05:22 GMT 12
Post by fish on Dec 17, 2022 20:05:22 GMT 12
I'm starting to understand what it must be like to live on the West Coast.
Will it ever stop raining?
The sunshine hours are so low I'm starting to supplement with vitamin D...
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Weather
Dec 17, 2022 20:24:00 GMT 12
Post by em on Dec 17, 2022 20:24:00 GMT 12
I'm starting to understand what it must be like to live on the West Coast. Will it ever stop raining? The sunshine hours are so low I'm starting to supplement with vitamin D... It’s been like this in northland for months , driveways poked , pasture is pugged and strawberries are sour ! And boat keeps getting mouldy |
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Weather
Dec 17, 2022 20:26:05 GMT 12
Post by Deleted on Dec 17, 2022 20:26:05 GMT 12
I'm starting to understand what it must be like to live on the West Coast. Will it ever stop raining? The sunshine hours are so low I'm starting to supplement with vitamin D... Have a friend living in Hokitika,Yes its rain but no as bad as other parts of the west coast.She loves it.ex Devonport girl,sold up and moved south 5 yrs ago |
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Weather
Dec 17, 2022 21:44:13 GMT 12
via mobile
Post by Fogg on Dec 17, 2022 21:44:13 GMT 12
When we were in drought we had constant news stories about the problems and what we should do.
So how are things now? What are the reservoir levels?
Anyone talking about building more reservoirs to capture all this rain to avoid future drought scenarios over the next 50-100yrs?
Oh no, wait. That would require a long-term vision..
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Weather
Dec 18, 2022 8:27:15 GMT 12
Post by sloopjohnb on Dec 18, 2022 8:27:15 GMT 12
and ratepayers build a dam and it will be given away.
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Weather
Dec 18, 2022 8:39:10 GMT 12
Post by GO30 on Dec 18, 2022 8:39:10 GMT 12
Good on ya KM.. you have certainly jumped in boots n all and it sounds like a nice part of the world. For me I couldn't imagine living in town and avoid it like the plague. Have to say I can't recall this many rainy days ever before though. We have cracked 3m of rain for the calender year to date. Certainly makes things a bit challeging. I just finished my dinner tonight and I got a phone call from a neighbour asking me to come and clear a slip that had blocked both lanes. I was quite pleased to get a lane cleared without the big old man pine above the slip coming down and flattening me. Did you say plague? We've got one of those, you can have it for half price if you want ;-) PS, it was made in China though and might be defective.  Just noticed the sales pitch, nice. Yes I think 50% off is appropriate considering the wobbly nature and questionable abilities of your product.
I'm putting in a good weather station that collects sun hours, or what they call UV radiance or something too big for this time in the morning. Just have to chat with Elon first cause it hooks to the interweb so I can watch from afar.
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Weather
Dec 18, 2022 9:15:52 GMT 12
Post by GO30 on Dec 18, 2022 9:15:52 GMT 12
When we were in drought we had constant news stories about the problems and what we should do. So how are things now? What are the reservoir levels? Anyone talking about building more reservoirs to capture all this rain to avoid future drought scenarios over the next 50-100yrs? Oh no, wait. That would require a long-term vision.. reservoirs, like most northland dams are chocker.
Our place is not soggy wet but the ground is soft wet. Weather seems to miss us a lot of the time, it was something to local told us about when we brought it. Some geographical quirk where we can see shower/rain in the distance all around but we get bugger all of it. But after last week I think when we do get it we get it biggly. If we turn to dry we'll be OK I reckon, especially after I've finished the Lilly Garden, that'll add around 7000 cubic metres of H2O.
If it goes dry Akl should be OK for a while with full dams now.
But with the wet and the warm things are growing and growing very very well so I've had to buy a topper to knock the grass back as the self propelled mowers just aren't keeping up with it. The neighbour still has silage from 3 seasons ago...but then he's made a pile more this season and when I offered he cut and took the growth off the back 10 hectares of our place he was keen as. He seem sure he'll need it later summer. I am tempted to regard his comments as worth listening to and remembering, these long term rurals do keep good weather records and are far better at knowing the micro-climate for the area.
Which is one reason why I have so many questions around the CC debate, none of the farmers around us I have spoken to see much difference to weather patterns now than they had 50 years ago. As they say 'things cycle around and always have'.
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Weather
Dec 18, 2022 10:52:52 GMT 12
Post by fish on Dec 18, 2022 10:52:52 GMT 12
When we were in drought we had constant news stories about the problems and what we should do. So how are things now? What are the reservoir levels? Anyone talking about building more reservoirs to capture all this rain to avoid future drought scenarios over the next 50-100yrs? Oh no, wait. That would require a long-term vision.. The boring answer is its a combination of too boring for MSM, and beuarcatic incompetence. Basically Watercare has run out of places to put new dams. That and the consenting process makes it impossible (country wide comment). Watercare have been looking at the Riverhead forest for a new dam for a while though. There is an urgent need for a water source or storage to cover the population growth in the north of Auckland. Even Rodney District Council was working on that, as best they could. For example, an options assessment and costing exercise was done to build a water main from Huapai to Helensville. There are a couple of bores around, but they don't have the volume to make an impact. There aren't any rivers of note, and the rivers that are used are deemed "insecure", meaning when its dry, they dry up. Warkworth and Wellsford have that problem. In the case of Warkworth, they found a bore on Hudson Rd that has enough volume, have stopped taking water from the Mahurangi River and decommissioned that old treatment plant (the one on SH1 in town). That is an example of a problem that Rodney DC was trying to solve for ages, and Watercare actually got it over the line. For Northland, this time 2 years ago there was a made panic to do a design build tender for a massive irrigation scheme in Northland. Te Tai Tokerua Water Irrigation. A massive Provincial Growth Fund funded project, that actually made huge economic sense. When the request for tender dropped I got a call from a trusted contractor, while I was out sailing, Christmas holiday stuff (probably early January I think) needing a full design done for pricing purposes. We got a sizeable team together and dropped everything to meet the tender deadlines which covered the January holiday period. It was a shambles. The way the tender staging was set out increased the cost 8 fold. They wanted 8 different designs for inlet structures and pump stations. We were like, "it will be loads faster and cheaper if you let us do standard specimen designs". also simplify construction and ops costs, cause you'll have standard gear across the District. Shock horror, TTT Water spat the dummy when they got the tender pricing, way over budget. But wouldn't let us do anything that would reduce costs. I still don't know if they got any construction underway. Very difficult client to work for. They wanted everything done on comedy short timeframes, wouldn't give any forewarning of big jobs dropping. Would ask for resourcing for either 8 or 1 stages, meaning we had to tool up to do 2 km of pipe, or maybe 200km of pipe, but with no notice as to lead in. Oh, then they'd chuck on liquidated damages in the contract if any of the 1 or 8 stages were delivered late... It would have been a fantastic scheme, a number of dispersed dams around the District, from Kaikohe to Dargaville. Would have majorly diversified income for Northland, dairying, cash crops other than weed, Avo's, citrus etc. But the people in charge just couldn't get out of their own way. I'd love to see that scheme going... |
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