Our neighbourhood has turned into a rubbish tip. For one weekend each year, residents of the North Shore can dump their rubbish on the footpath and have it collected the following week. Rubbish can include fridges, washing machines, sofas, old carpets, broken toys, etc. Each area gets a turn and the entire North Shore is done in 6 months. This weekend was our turn so we spent the weekend putting our junk on the footpath.
Moving house is a great opportunity to clear out stuff that’s broken or that you don’t use or need. This usually happens prior to the move but because I abandoned Christchurch all our stuff was packed by the movers and brought up here for sorting. They even packed a couple of broken tiles from the fireplace in our old house that had fallen off during the earthquake and would no doubt be wanted by the new owners. I posted them back.
The previous owners of our new house also left stuff hidden beneath it which we took the opportunity get rid of including plastic pipes, a broken table, an old fireplace and lots of hoses. While people dump their rubbish on the pavement, other people drive round picking through it and looking for things to take. At one stage I noticed our own pile getting smaller as I continued to add stuff. In great demand was metal of all kinds. Hopefully all the rubbish will be gone in the next few days and the neighbourhood will return to its boring neighbourhood status once again.
We decided to escape all the rubbish for a picnic lunch today at Onepoto Domain. This is yet another volcano, an explosive one, which left an enormous crater some 30,000 years ago. It is now has a sporting field, a lake, two playgrounds and a terrific cycling circuit for small children. Some photos:
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