Hard News: Floating the idea
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Couple more 1920s pics of the Chev, because they buzz me out.
The Dixieland cabaret from the sea. Calling Chris Bourke!
And people taking camping holidays there.
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Sacha, in reply to
found this absolutely amazing picture of the beach in the 20s.
Popular spot - and some of Ben's uninterrupted mangroves in the distance
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Islander, in reply to
And look! Lotsa babies/toddlers right in there, learning about water - and swimming-
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Russell Brown, in reply to
And look! Lotsa babies/toddlers right in there, learning about water – and swimming-
It certainly looks that way.
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Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
all that sand just washes out into your estuary, then out to sea somewhere.
Are you talking about the Balina Bay experience? The residents imported some fine white sand for their little cove, but when last sighted, it was out in the channel somewhere. All this happened many years ago, when I lived in Wellington. You might be far too young to remember :)
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Jacqui Dunn, in reply to
I discovered for myself an unconventional backstroke – which was great, but which was basically hauling myself through the waters with my strong young arms & quite powerful shoulders
Snap. Couldn't do overarm to save myself, but won races with my backstroke. I could also do breaststroke quite well, but wasn't very fast.
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Here's a painting by Tyrone Layne. Certainly getting full usage in that picture,
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Lilith __, in reply to
And I did an image search and found this absolutely amazing picture of the beach in the 20s.
What well-dressed beachgoers in that picture! Especially that chap centre left who appears to be both wearing a bowtie and carrying a handbag.
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Alastair Jamieson, in reply to
To clarify, I wasn't referring to Pt Chevalier as a location where a sandy beach never existed - here it is looking sandy (and grainy) in 1940.
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Popular spot - and some of Ben's uninterrupted mangroves in the distance
Aren't they simply beautiful? You could travel the length and breadth of NZ and not see or smell finer.
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I also love this evocative photo including a fairly unmodified Mission Bay beach in 1860.
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In response to Sacha.
I seem to remember that someone did a cost/benefit assessment of Manukau's policy (after some councillors wanted to go back to charges).
They worked out that the benefits included not only the swimming lessons for children (and adults), and the recreational benefits for all ages, but for older adults having a warm pool for exercise meant improved health and mobility, leading to less use of the health system. The Council ran special classes with aquatic exercises for elderly folk.
As for being a social meeting place, over several years, I have met numerous families from Onehunga, Otahuhu. Hillsborough, Royal Oak, and even Epsom at the Mangere and Papatoetoe pools.
Papatoetoe stopped charging entry when its parent council merged with Manukau. I support free entry, with payment for the "extras" such as hydroslides. -
Alastair Jamieson – couldnt raise the photo…
Ben W – I have had a totally irrational love for mangrove swamps, & baobabs, since I was very young. No reason for it – I just loved the pikkies I saw on sight. And yes, I dont believe in reincarnation! One brain-body complex, one person, one life – that’s it.
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Alastair Jamieson, in reply to
Blast – here, hopefully this link will stick.
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Islander, in reply to
Thank you, it did (& I haz magnifiers!)
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BenWilson, in reply to
But I was quietly glad to stop going -- it seems less fun when you're not there with young children, and it's certainly not as relaxing as jumping on my bike and riding down to the beach for a dip
For sure, on your own as an adult, living only what? 2km from the beach? that's gotta win most days. It's a much stiffer ride for me, particular with Marcus on the back of the bike. But still well worth it. The pool's just a different experience - he has certainly got in the water much more readily in the pool, and has taken an interest in the other people there. He's been squat walking in the pool, with its sure bottom and lack of waves. At the beach he'd be lucky to get in up to his waist.
For me alone, on those rare occasions I get leave :-), beaches are where I swim, unless it's low tide.
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Alastair Jamieson, in reply to
Oh, and here's a bigger version.
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James Butler, in reply to
It appears that there used to be a hell of a lot of natural sand there. Far, more, indeed, than there is now. What happened? Or were they re-sanding 90 years ago?
I vaguely recall reading once that the original sand in Oriental Bay, at least, came from sailing ships dumping sand ballast in Wellington Harbour. I now can't find any reference to back me up.
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Joe Wylie, in reply to
Couple more 1920s pics of the Chev, because they buzz me out.
The Dixieland cabaret from the sea. Calling Chris Bourke!
And people taking camping holidays there.
Both links seem to bring up the camping pic.
Looks spookily like Freddie Krueger standing at back row centre. -
I would prefer if the Council looked at a combined Auckland City / Auckland Schools programme to get all primary and intermediate school-age kids learning to swim. In some cases, this might include re-opening or building a school pool. If the goal is to reduce drownings, then this would be money better spent than on free entry to council owned wave pools such as West-wave, where there is never any actual swimming going on.
The never-ending drownings of adults whilst fishing in the Manukau in small tinnies without life-jackets, or fishing off the rocks at Muriwai, is just Darwin's law of natural selection in action, I'm afraid.
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Russell Brown, in reply to
To clarify, I wasn’t referring to Pt Chevalier as a location where a sandy beach never existed
No, it was more that I was startled to see quite how sandy it once was.
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West-wave, where there is never any actual swimming going on
Slander! Our family spends lots of time at West Wave. There are also big, well-utilised lap pools in that complex AND a little warmer pool for the babies and kiddies to do their lessons. (And the wave pool - which doesn't run all the time, incidentally - is quite deep at one end and does require some dextrous floating, at the very least.)
I like Pt Chev beach because my other closest beach is Piha, and it's a little intimidating for me: although I love ocean swimming, I'm a poor swimmer. At Piha I just stand at about thigh-level and get thwacked by the surf (like James Mason at the end of A Star is Born, but without the suicidal bit), but at Pt Chev I'm brave enough to lift my feet off the ground and paddle about a bit.
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So far as I recall from growing up all the rural primary schools in North Otago had small swimming pools of some description. I don't think all of the Oamaru ones did, but then they had access to the main Council pool. Of course this was before the late 1980s -early 1990s closure of a lot of smaller rural schools - so I do not know what has happened to those pools
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Depending on where you live in West Auckland, is Piha or Muriwai really the closest ocean beaches? If you live at the Avondale end surely Takapuna beach or Mission Bay are really short, easy drives. And if you live closer to Westgate, then Mairangi Bay is just straight along Upper Harbour and Constellation drives. All three usually have some waves and far less likely to kill you (except for sewerage outflows after a storm!)
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Danielle, in reply to
I live at neither the "Avondale end" nor the "Westgate end" of west Auckland. I live, in fact, on the road to Piha. :) (I did grow up in Mairangi Bay, incidentally, but escaped.)
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