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Outside The Square

Chris Hyde is a journalist and a Manawatu outsider. Follow his journey as he navigates a land of strange weather and bucketheads, students and strange spellingz.

I like Feilding... in a roundabout way

03:45pm 15 May 2013

Every time I drive through the centre of Feilding town I marvel at its glorious traffic light-free landscape.

It's as if the powers that be listened to 14-year-old me. feilding clocktower

Back when I was in Year 10, living in Timaru, I had a crazy idea to change the world.

I would find out just how good roundabouts were in comparison to traffic lights so future planners would know which one to install at intersections.

I'd do the groundwork and enter my research in the region's science fair.

A road worth rallying on

02:51pm 29 Apr 2013

There's a special gravel road in the hills behind Shannon.

It's definitely my favourite road I've come across in the region so far, but at times on Sunday the car tyres were spinning too fast to fully appreciate it.

Mangahao Road is tarsealed as it winds its way up to the historic power station and nearby whitewater canoeing centre.

If you haven't been there, that place is definitely worth a day trip. But things get even more interesting just 200m on from the station when the tarseal turns to gravel.

Once a year the winding, narrow 5km stretch of road to the top of the Tararua Range is shut off for some competitive Levin Car Club rallying. rally blog

Mining for platinum on the Tararua Range

08:57am 02 Apr 2013

Platinum was once found by a German in the Tararua Range. Now the mines that German carved out of the hills in his crazed search for wealth are there for everyone in search of a decent daywalk, to check out.

In 1903 Alexander Menesdorffer travelled from Melbourne to Palmy and set off with a rucksack (perhaps not) and a pickaxe (I am guessing here) to Hardings Park in the Tararuas.

He was searching for something to feed either his family or his ego. platinum ridge

He found it.

Platinum.

Is Hokowhitu all it's mapped up to be?

09:50am 27 Mar 2013

It's now been more than four months since I first arrived in Palmerston North and about two months since I started this blog.

Time has been stolen by an albatross.

It's amazing how experiencing and writing about your surroundings can increase your knowledge of an area so quickly. Driving around town is now a lot easier. My Palmy mapping IQ has picked up immensely. hokowhitu map

It's now about a 1:1 ratio as to whether I need to check Google Maps before rushing off somewhere.

But one thing I'm struggling to get my head around is the layout of Palmerston North's suburbs.

Bring on Manawatu Anniversary Day

10:22am 11 Mar 2013

I'd like to start this blog with a disclaimer. I need a holiday.

The shades of blue cascading over 180 degrees of Manawatu's surroundings since the beginning of 2013 are horrible for farmers, but they are also torture for those of us behind computers, unable to bask in their full glory.

In my humble opinion Manawatu is in need of a holiday. The entire region. horowhenua sunset

But we cannot have one. Because we already celebrated Wellington's.

As a lad from South Canterbury - a smaller region than Manawatu that manages to enjoy its own holiday - I'd like to suggest we change this. Instead of riding on the coat-tails of Wellington Anniversary Day, we should have Manawatu Anniversary Day.

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