On the the other hand – Rimutaka Road ahead of schedule.
The Manawatu Gorge may be stuffed, but the work on the Rimutaka hill is storming ahead – and is due to finish months early – in March next year. I cant wait. It’s impressive as it is – but right now its little better than driving on a 4wd track. Which in a low 2 seater sports car is – um – fun.
Not a road you can drive right now with the hood down!
Im still really grateful to all the crews working up there – especially over the winter.
Thoughts go out to the Rimutaka Digger Driver
The other day, one of the trucks working on the Rimutaka hill plunged down the hill. Miraculously (its a VERY steep bank) the driver managed to jump out of the cab. Unfortunatly he was taken to hospital having broken some bones.
Worse, it seems that once there, he suffered a heart attack and was taken to Intensive care. The last report says he is in a serious condition.
I don’t think there is really much I can say accept that I truly hope he will be OK. I have long been in awe of the way these guys seem to cling to the mountainside – I suppose in some ways its not surprising that on such a long project, in such a difficult place that an accident would occur. I just hope this guy makes a full recovery.
I Also hope the guys still working up there are OK.
Snow??? Whadaya mean snow???
Ok, it’s snowing. It’s unbelievably cold. Colder than a southerly blowing through. Freezing. Thermals and 5 jumpers cold.
When I said my quarters were cold, I did not mean, ‘Oh, I think it’s a little chilly in here, perhaps I’ll throw a blanket on the bed.’ No, I said it was cold, as in ‘Oh, my left arm has snapped off like an icicle and shattered on the floor!’
Londo Mollari, Illusion of Truth
Babylon5
And because this is New Zealand, and we are highly charming, this means that the motorways are closed. In fact, we drove back to Wellington last night from the Wairarapa through a fairly heavy snow shower. It was quite spooky really given that at 8pm on a Sunday night, the rimutakas are virtually empty.
Apparently it was a good job we came back to the city last night – as the road is closed today. So if you want to go north through the Wairarapa from our Capital City – you have to go via the Kapiti Coast and across at Palmerston North.
You can see some photos at the Dom Post.
One of the reasons that this is such big news is that we are living in a relatively warm country. The Wairarapa is actually very mediterranean, which is why the are is known for its olive oil and wines. In fact our house is actually in line with somewhere 2 hours south of Madrid, and New Zealand as a whole is on a par with Portugal. So while we frequently get blasts of cold wind from the Antarctic in the lower North Island, snow is very rare.
We did have a blast of snow not long after I started this blog – and a friend of mine took some stunning photos.
Domestic Executive has now uploaded a blog with her usual wonderful photos.
Cutting through the Rimutaka Hill Road
The progress up on the hell between Wellington and The Wairarapa is remarkable. Yes – its taking a long time – but the sheer amount of work being done up there is such that I am actually surprised it isn’t taking longer to be honest.
This week, the work crews have actually cut through and allowed traffic on to the “new road” at Muldoon’s corner. This was the main reason for all the work – as it is the sharpest bend on the hill and can cause havoc when 2 trucks try to pass at that point.
This is what it looked like back in October:
And now:
Progress on the Rimutaka Hill Road.
It’s scarily impressive to be honest. Diggers are perched high up on the hill, cutting a way through the sharpest bends. Sometimes it really does look as if they are about to go hurtling down the hill and end up somewhere in the valley.
These photos were actually taken a few weeks ago:
These are taken from the summit looking south towards Wellington.
This is looking up towards the summit, traveling from Wellington (The weather was crap that day!):
And a Closer view of what they are doing – not that it makes much sense to my untrained, un-engineering eye.
Sorry the photos aren’t the greatest – they are taken on an iPhone !
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Rimutaka Upgrade is on the way (apparently).
Well – what do you know. Apparently we are going to get the next upgrade on the road starting anytime now. It will be a pain with the roadworks, but after the last lot of upgrades, and how much better it has made the journey into Wellington – I am personally more than happy to put with the delays for a few years to get a straighter road.
Just take a look at the plan!
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Wellington, Wind and nutters on the roads.
There is no doubt – it’s bloody windy in Wellington. You just get used to it, and get used to the fact that your house can shake and rattle even without a earthquake. It’s also a fact of life that the Rimutaka Hill road can be “interesting” to drive over. And it’s also the case that many Kiwi drivers are really bad at driving!
Put all those together and you can have a potentially bad situation.
A bit like the one we were in this morning.
We know it was going to be a tough drive over the hill when we got to Featherston and the signs were on warning of gusts. The weather was actually fine in the Wairarapa, but then its not unheard of for the weather to be completely different on each side of the hill. It doesn’t take long on the way up, to start getting buffeted by the wind, and the car started moving to one side. Given that there ain’t always a huge amount of room between the driving line and the cliff face (and on the other way over, between the driving line and a sheer drop down into the bush through the hopefully named “crash barrier”) you need to pay attention and keep a firm hand on the wheel.
So it was a bit scary when at one point we got a sharp shove towards the cliff, while going round a blind right hand bend, and some bloody idiot overtook us! At this point , we were already driving at about 55kph, and this guy shot past us. In itself – that is unusual, as often “overtaking” consists of someone drawing up along side you, and staying there till the end of an overtaking lane when they suddenly realise that two cars don’t actually fit into the same space and someone is supposed to slam the breaks on. We estimate he was doing over 70kph, in strong gusting winds, on a blind bend, in an overtaking manoeuvre. Twit.
I mean – you have to be bad driver to overtake like that anyway: this is not a road where you want to overtake anywhere without a passing lane – let alone in bad weather. Life is just going to end one day in a splat if you do it – and there are enough people who crash on the road as it is. It was more luck than skill that stopped him shoving us into the hillside. I would personally prefer these people did not try and take us with them.
You know – a lot of people won’t move into the Wairarapa because of the need to travel over this road. But on a good day, the drive can be a whole lot of fun. You always need to be really careful, its not an easy drive – but assuming you can actually drive a car properly – it can be great! The views are stunning (though don’t stare if you are the driver – take turns to drive!)
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