15-05-15 A River Runs Through It

Today we have one of those UK/US friendly dates -Friday 15/05/15. It has nothing to do with this post,merely an observation.  The weatherman has promised some more downpours in the afternoon, so I suggest to Jeanette that we stroll down to the Kents Road bridge over the Ngatiawa/Waikanae river to see the flow rate and state of the water.

For those readers who do not know, (or did not pay attention to previous blog posts), the Waikanae River at the bottom of our street, is not one of the country's major waterways, although it must be said that it is a major supplier of drinking water to the town of Waikanae as it winds its way through the valley and enlists the services of other streams. We are, so to speak, fairly close to the source of the river, so its flow is naturally erratic and responds to rainfall quite dramatically.

Looking up Kents Road towards the S-bend corner.

On the way down to the bridge, the soak-water was flowing with fair gusto, making a serene babbling sound, with the sounds of the fast-flowing river and fluttering poplar leaves completing the rest of the symphony of natural silence.

The gutter is generally dry, covered with leaves and twigs, but I was now able to see what happens to the water at the crossover pipe. It flows under the road and flows across a paddock belonging to neighbour Gerard.

A pond has developed in Gerard's grazing paddock.

   

If you look very carefully in the photo above, you will see a gang of ducks who had just been for a morning dip in the pond. 'Gang?'  What do you call a group of ducks, then?  I looked it up, just in case you need to know: they say  'a raft, or a bunch, or a paddling of ducks on water' and 'a safe of ducks on land.'

Another pond in the making in neighbour Shayne's field. Being closer to the river, it will
probably drain away within a day or two...

A small flock of sheep stood quite lifeless, wondering what these two odd humans were up to on a cool drizzly morning... The sheep have nothing to do with this post, either -- I simply though they looked pretty enough to deserve a mention.