#otaki air force

[vinylburns]

Samantha from Otaki

Samantha was a sexy DJ with a passion for horses and funky music. She spent her days riding through the rolling hills of Otaki, New Zealand, and her nights spinning sick beats at the hottest clubs in town. But Samantha wasn’t content with just being a solo act. She wanted to share her love of music with the world, so she formed a group called Otaki Airforce. Together with a talented group of…

[arathoonabroad]

Chapter 3

In which Katie battles the wilderness, and then all her relatives flee the country.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

"What are these lumps in the bread?" "I think they're seeds, Biddy." "What seeds? The seeds of destruction?"

Biddy and I escaped the weeding and spent five days at Uncle Biv and Aunt Mo's beautiful house in Levin--five days marked by peace, tranquility, and delicious food. There was, however, one moment of peril, from which I was glad to escape with my life. On a pretense of "showing us the farm," Biv lured Biddy and me into the heart of the Otaki wilderness. High up a mountain we went, on a long windy road, to view his collection of trees--pine trees, to be specific; more than 85,000 of them, to be even more specific. After lulling us into a false sense of security by giving us a tour of his woolshed and dutifully plucking a few feathers for Biddy off of some rather indignant guinea fowl, Biv casually suggested that we might like to go and see a little bit of the bush. Of course, we foolishly assented; what could possibly go wrong?

When first I came to this country, I was under the impression that, as far as flora and fauna were concerned, New Zealand was like Australia with the poison removed--a harmless, defanged wilderness. I was about to be proven wrong. We were happily trundling along the windy lane, taking pictures of Not-Quite-Silver-Ferns-But-Jolly-Similar, when suddenly Biv screeched to a halt and leapt out of the car. "Do you see this?" he asked, wrapping his sweatshirt sleeve around his hand and carefully pulling a branch of something prickly over to us. Biddy and I leaned back. "This plant is called Bush Lawyer, and it's a devil," Biv explained. "The thorns stick into you and it's impossible to untangle yourself. It's an awful beast." And that was not all, for as we continued on our way Biv pointed across the road and said, "Can you guess what that is?" We gazed up at the plant, a six-foot tall bushy green thing, and could not. "That," said Biv impressively, "is a stinging nettle! People have died from falling into stinging nettles in this country!" He spoke with pride, as if scorning all lowly English stinging nettles for merely providing mild agony to the shin regions.

There was more. "Lupines," said Biv gloomily, pointing. "I'm so allergic to them they've put me in the hospital, and they're everywhere." And, when I jumped out of the car, "That's a deadly nightshade by your foot." I looked down in horror at the terrifying little plant that towered almost a full centimeter above my ankle. "They're everywhere too."

Then, with a distinctly mischievous look in his eye, Biv announced: "Oh dear. It seems I have forgotten the code to the last gate. You two stay here while I just pop over this mountain and ask the neighbor what it is."

Off he strode. Biddy and I leaped back into the safety of the car. The sounds of twittering birds and sadistically swishing plants filled the air. I rolled up the window. The sun sank a little. The air in the car got hot and stuffy, but we did not dare open the doors.

"What happens if he doesn't come back?" asked Biddy.

"I'm afraid we'll have to chop off your leg and roast it," I said sorrowfully. Biddy didn't seem to mind, as her ankle was swollen and causing her grief anyway.

After about half an hour Biv returned. Clearly, his plan to dispose of us had failed, so he had to drive us home, hopes shattered. Still, I now have a healthy respect for the New Zealand outback.

Proving that New Zealand has not changed me too much, I've approached my new- non-vegetarian lifestyle with a typically complete lack of moderation. I am outrageously carnivorous now. I can scarcely go two days on end without bacon, and have tried all manner of other charred animal flesh: cows, sheep, chicken, quail, and deer have all fallen into my mighty maw. The concept of being able to eat everything on a menu--rejecting things only because I don't like them--fills me with a new delight. I feel no guilt, I feel no squeamishness. In Wigs's field there gambols the fluffy white sheep Butter, whose former friend Einstein I eat on a regular basis without the slightest compunction. Sometimes as I look at Butter, sweetly munching on grass, I think happily, "Oh, sweet little sheep--if I wanted to, I could rip your head off its neck and feast on the gory innards that leak out." On my gloomier days all I have to do is remember that this Thanksgiving (if I'm back home) I will get to eat Real Thanksgiving Turkey, and I cheer right up.

Biddy's last week in NZ was spent back at Wigs's house. Together we stripped a little wallpaper and avoided weeding, and generally did Not Much aside from complain about how much work we were being forced to do. Jemma—my sophomore year roommate, and the only person in the world who can look sexy while wearing a combination of socks, sandals and shorts—and her boyfriend Kyle, showed up to keep us entertained (and take me out for St. Patrick's Day debauchery). In the final days, Wigs threw a few lovely tea parties so that the people who had met Biddy could come and enjoy her company one last time. At one of them, Biddy was handed a glass of one of her favorite drinks, Campari with soda. The rest of us had tried Campari early on in her trip, and found it to be possibly the most bitter and revolting stuff ever devised by human hand. I'd rather drink pigswill, frankly. Much to our surprise, Wigs's friend Glenda had not only heard of the drink but liked it. Biddy waved her glass magnanimously at Glenda and announced, "When I go home, I'll leave you a present: a half bottle… well, a quarter… well, an eighth of a bottle of Campari!"

She is a frequently maddening woman—picking away for hours at wallpaper, for example, to clear a space that could be cleared in a few minutes if she would just allow the removal solution to sit for long enough. Her cigarette butts litter the garden, and, while she did eventually stop calling Wigs "Joan," her nickname for me stuck, and we all took to calling me "That Girl." Still, as Wigs, Brian and I clung to the chain-link fence and watched her little form climb up into the aeroplane and away, tears streamed down my cheeks without the slightest regard for avoiding cliché. My constant companion of the last month is gone, and the gods only know when I'll see her again.

After Biddy's departure, the rest of us dispersed. Brian took off on a business trip. Wigs packed for Kenya. I myself am currently hitching a ride to Wellington with Kyle and Jemma, sitting in the backseat of their wonderfully derelict and now somewhat overloaded Mazda. I'm not sure what I'm going to do in Wellington, and I still haven't told cousin Cleo that I'm coming; I have no place to sleep lined up, no idea of how long I'm staying in town, and no idea what I'm going to do with myself during the day.

I guess the traveling part of my trip has finally begun.

[lewlewbell]

Te Horo Junction

LewLewBell vision

Te Horo Junction is a major transport hub located in Te Horo, Kapiti Coast.

The facility operates as an International airport, railway station, shopping center, and freight depot, designed to serve New Zealand’s lower north island, including the capital city of Wellington.

With the high costs associated with expanding Wellington airport, and a struggling Kapiti airport, it was decided that a new and bold plan was required for Wellington to truly thrive as an international location.

The lower north island required an airport capable of sustaining long-haul flights alongside domestic routes, this would need to be an airport with excellent accessibility, transport options, seamless freight transfer, an airport-friendly climate and have plenty of room for possible runway extensions in the future.

It was at this time Te Horo Junction was born.

Air

With demand for air travel spread across Wellington, Manawatu and Whanganui, Te Horo Junction soon found itself connected to every corner of New Zealand, alongside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Nadi.

A few years later came the “long-haul flight boom”, with direct long-haul flights opening to Singapore, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with rumours of Houston joining the party soon.

The larger aircraft’s had no trouble landing on the shiny, new runways.

Passenger rail

The Capital Express (operated by TranzMetro) operates a high-speed express service frequenting every thirty minutes between Te Horo Junction and Wellington City, with a journey time of approximately 38 minutes.

The Manawatu-Kapiti link has replaced the struggling Capital Connection with a new, modern, electrified service operating hourly between Te Horo Junction and Palmerston North. This service allows Palmerston North rail users to travel directly to the airport, or connect to Wellington via the Tranz Metro service.

The Overlander operates a daily service between Auckland and Wellington, via Te Horo Junction.

Road

With Te Horo Junction sitting conveniently alongside state highway 1, the Kapiti Expressway is readily accessible to car users heading northbound, or southbnound towards Wellington City via the new Transmission Gully motorway.

The facility features multi-story parking for car users, several EV charging stations, and an integrated freight depot.

Bus

Local Kapiti bus services operate frequently, connecting Te Horo Junction to the surrounding towns of Paraparaumu, Waikanae, Otaki and Levin.

Express bus services run between Porirua, the Hut Valley and Te Horo Junction.

Freight

An integrated freight depot allows freight to be swiftly transferred between air, rail, and truck. Rail lines allow freight to be transferred directly to and from CentrePort Wellington, and north towards the wider regions of Manawatu, Whanganui, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay and Wairarapa.

Shopping

Not everyone treats Te Horo Junction like an airport or a train station, the truth is the facility rivals some of Wellington’s largest shopping malls when it comes to stores. eateries and entertainment, with curious shoppers ranging from passenger’s waiting for their next plane or train, to locals looking for a bargain.

Designed for expansion

With plenty of surrounding rural land, the architecture of this facility is designed with expansion in mind. Picture a facility made from Lego blocks — designed to expand with ease as population and demand change, meaning the facility can start off relatively small, and expand over time.

Disaster response

In the event a state-of-emergency is declared, such as after a major earthquake, Te Horo Junction and its trained staff are equipped to rapidly transform the facility from a civilian transport hub, to a fully operational, disaster response facility. In such a scenario, Te Horo Junction can coordinate with disaster relief agencies to distribute supplies to a disaster zone, operate as a NZ Air Force base, and temporarily house disaster victims and government officials. The facility itself is constructed to modern New Zealand building codes, with many sections of the facility built on base isolator’s.

Questions?

What happened to Kapiti airport?

The Kapiti airport stayed for a few more years, but was eventually freed up for much needed housing. Paraparaumu residents saw it as a win-win; they no longer had an airport in their back yard, but had a brand new airport just twenty minutes away.

What happened to Wellington airport? It was removed. The staff were all offered new jobs at Te Horo Junction, meanwhile the land was freed up for high-density housing, alongside a new park and cricket stadium.

How did Wellingtonian’s feel about all this?

Initially there were mixed feelings in Wellington about Te Horo Junction and the removal of Wellington airport. Some were concerned that we had swapped a convenient airport journey for a long, drawn out one, but when people began to discover the new and efficient high-speed rail system to Te Horo, those fears were soon quelled. Lyall Bay, and Kilbirnie residents threw a party and a private $200,000 firework display.

Te Horo Junction is so much more than a new Wellington airport.

it’s a multi-regional airport, a transport hub that will significantly increase the relevance of passenger rail in New Zealand, and a disaster response facility.