Speaker Peter Meredith - New Zealand
Wed, Aug 17th 2016 at 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
Our very own Peter Meredith told us about his house in New Zealand. --------------------- Speaker Finder M Atif, Visitors Host Grace and Banners Keith Brown, Cash Desk Peter Meredith
Peter said that his house is located in Mangawhai which is 80 mile noth of Auckland at a point where North Island is just 20 mile wide. He said New Zealand has a population of 4.3 million compared to 30 million sheep and 10 million cattle. The population of Mangawhai wa 1,309 at the last census. The area does have earthquakes but these tend to be fewer and smaller than those on the South Island. They are also subject to tsunamis but these tend to be very small.
Peter's house is on the second row back from the sea (the houses in the first row suffer from erosion) so the gutters tend to get filled with sand blown from the beach.
There is no running water and fresh water supplies are from rain water harvested from the roof into a large underground tank. As the time of year when Peter and Bridgette go to their holiday house is the dry season their supply of water is limited and has to be used sparingly. Also there is no mains gas supply so they either barbeque or use LPG to run the house cooker.
Also food seems to be a problem - nobody sells fresh fish as they all do their own fishing and despite the large number of sheep and cows it is hard to get either lamb or milk as it all goes to China.The local policeman lives at the end of the street so Peter feels his property is pretty secure even though he is not there for 9 month in the year. Lots of the houses are owned as holiday cottages by Aucklanders (known locally as Jaffas).
The local supermarket is a 40 minute drive away as is the nearest Rotary Club. Petrol stations are few and far between so it is best to fill up when you get down to half a tank.
A typical day is out for golf at 8:15, play bridge and sleep. The sea is generally too dangerous to swim in although there is a safe place to swim on the beach. If you are invited to dinner you take food and wine. Dinner starts at 6pm and everyone is expected to leave at 9pm prompt.
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