We ran a party 🏳️‍🌈

Just a little party we pulled together…

Deuxième dîner d’adieu avant de partir pour Vanuatu

@ Shepherd Restaurant

#dinner #farewell #billhastings #vanuatu

Premier dîner d’adieu au Vanuatu #farewell #dinner #vanuatu 🇻🇺 at Concord Restaurant www.concordrestaurant.co.nz

Blue sky day. #bluesky #blueskyday #pōneke #streets

Walk in the sun with my sister Louise, visiting from Brisbane #family #sister #sun #walking

Sparkling #evansbaymarina #evansbay #pōneke #marina #sun #water #sea

Pre-dinner drinks for dad’s 82nd birthday #birthday #82 #82nd #82ndbirthday #family

Mōrena Pōneke. #mōrena #atamārie #pōneke #evast #hannahslaneway

That green light, we want it. #pōneke #mōrena #morning #light

Today Pōneke was sublime #pōneke #wellington #sun #light #sublime

Riding into the future. #wellington #pōneke #cycling #trees #sublight

Two cyclists on Willis St Wellington. Sunlight through trees. Blue sky on a winters day.

Mōrena.

Even on the hard days, keep at it.

Fire in the Sky #mōrena #morning #sunrise #pōneke #wellington

Just a little party. 🌈🎉 #CubaDupa #HouseParty #EvaSt # HannahsLaneway #Pōneke

A Night to Remember

Fantastic party for Mayor Tory Whanau's 40th. Wonderful party, great people, and a chance to recover and catchup the day after. #party #wellington #pōneke #torywhanau #billhastings

Pōneke - a collage #tepapa #toiartgallery #stjohnsbar #goldings #pōneke #sun #autumn #sammckay

If anyone in Pōneke needs an in-depth guide to the Scythians and other historical steppe peoples I can probably help 😂. I actually did not set out to create this collection… but now that I have it I love it 😍 📚 #books #history #scythians #steppe #collection #serendipity

Storm on the way…. #CycloneGabrielle #storm #Wellington #Pōneke #Aotearoa

Early morning Pōneke #Pōneke #Wellington #EvaSt

Bougiest chickens - got their own holiday home… #chickens #hokio #wellington #holiday #HolidayHome #VisitingForTheWeekend

Te Aro Park, early morning. #TeAro #TeAroPark #pōneke #wellington #mōrena #AtaMārie

Happy New Year! Had a fabulous evening partying with a wonderful and eclectic group of people. Such fun :)

New Year’s Day walk, Mākara Beach. #Mākara #walk #nyd2023

Today I drove on the new Ōtaki Expressway from Pēka Pēka bypassing Ōtaki township for the first time. It was a great road to drive on, and despite it being only two days until Christmas there was barely any traffic. There was a very short slowdown as traffic merged back into the single lane highway beyond Ōtaki.

There has been a lot of debate about the expressways being built north of Pōneke (Wellington). I wish that these had been matched by similar investment in rail. But these roads are replacing very unsafe single lane highways, and provide resilience through a second road north out of Wellington.

Ōtaki township can now become its own centre, rather constantly jammed with state highway traffic.

The final stage of the expressways will take the modern road past Levin, where two state highways head off in different directions.

I strongly support upgrading rail between Pōneke and Palmerston North. But these expressways are also critical.

Here are some photos from traffic cameras on the new road today: