Serendipity, I’m pretty sure its called. Right place, right time & all that sort of stuff.
There I was in the middle of town just before lunch today, and notice a large bunch of students gathering.
Turns out I didn’t have to wait long to see what it was about…..having traveled only about another 5 ~ 10m down the footpath, I heard this noise, turned around….
and….well here’s the video. Quality I agree is wanting, but only had my mobile phone with me at the time. So it was either take it or not….I decided to film it.
For the last few weeks I’d noticed some newly constructed / assembled expensive infrastructure adjacent the ferry departure point…
….nearby where the Sealord Rescue unit is based on Wakefield Quay.
At first glance, it appeared to be the sort of structure that wouldn’t give you much change out a few hundred thousand big ones.
And sure….it got me thinking, what is this all about?
Now Fush & Chups is something I have about once every 5~ 6 mths, and tonight….well…. time was up….I informed my wife that was exactly what I felt like. So after searching on the Samsung Galaxy this evening (“no I don’t have them on fastdial!”) I gave the Fisho’s down at the Quay a call, and booked up a takeaway meal for 20 minutes hence.
Arriving down there after the sun had just gone down, (’twas tempted to send a pic into Jim) it always looks good…..but when I got there…..something else caught my eye.
Unusual visitor to the Quay I thought.......
In the waning evening dusk light, I could make out quite a few extra people, and that much activity down here on a Tuesday night certainly isn’t usual, not withstanding a large ship coming in to dock. No…this Vanguard Rescue boat certainly stood out. It had me doing maths too……printed on its side it said “60- persons.”
Looking around further….no it certainly didn’t appear that any container or logging ship had lost its rescue lifeboat unit either.
Well by now my curiosity was well and truly ………seriously pipped. (Wasn’t helped by the fact that 5 other humans were running around, trying to get “best angles” to take photos) including at least one of those aforementioned folk’s in respective “dayglo’s”…
Although those folks flying on the jet above to Chch didn't realise it....I think this was an important moment for Nelson
So cue the obligatory video……
…and other photos taken tonight…..
…and await the Nelson Mail to report back in the coming days what this is all about.
Sure I could have asked around….but hey, I had a meal of F & C’s waiting….and I could smell it!
But to me….it sure looks like this was going to translate into good news for local folk.
My suspicions are that NMIT have another course, or an extension to a current one planned. One that requires just a bit more “in depth” training.
Ok…but whats the real estate relevance of all this stuff?
Well….actually it comes down to people really.
If you aren’t aware of this, then it probably because just you haven’t read any of my previous blogposts here, where I’ve attempted to try and show outsiders a perspective to the three local, and crucial industries that are said to drive Nelson…….the three “F’s”…..Fruit, Fishing and Forestry.
And employment.
Those with jobs, ones with future prospects, those ones are always keen to “lay down some roots” and in that scenario….real estate is at most times, one of the first, at least some where down the chain ….. the de-facto winner.
UPDATE – AUGUST 11th 2011
As predicted the Nelson Mail has helped me out, and updated the story, turns out it is part of an official NMIT sponsored course, and that Nelsonians will become accustomed to seeing it, (the orange vessel that is) as;
“……..it will soon become a regular sight in Nelson Haven as it is used to train students so that lives will be saved.”
….and just to show that I wasn’t too far off on my costings mentioned above in my blog post….
The boat and davits, made in China and supplied by a Singapore company, have cost the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology about $180,000.
….and regarding the fact that Tuesday night was important down at the port in Nelson….
The boat was lifted on to the davits on Tuesday night. Once its commissioning was completed it would probably be seen in the water about once every three weeks as groups of students went through their training, Captain Walker said.
Nelson is the Centre of New Zealand….. [officially it’s not actually at the hilltop point in town itself, but at, as Wikipedia puts it, “a patch of unremarkable dense scrub in a forest in Spooners Range near Tapawera, 35 kilometres south-west of Nelson”]
[2nd] Nelson is the 2nd oldest city in New Zealand [1841]
TNL Nelsons new transport depot adjacent the MDF factory in Richmond is also pioneering the way with the same LVL construction for its structure.
[1st] world first in Nelson’s new NMIT Arts & Media Building for utilizing laminated veneer lumber (LVL) primary structure in a multi-storied building [major advantage being its timber earthquake resistance design. NMIT state "The building is sustainable, environmentally sensitive and local, with the design and resources all being sourced within 100 kilometres of Nelson."]
[2nd] Stoke School [Primary] is the second oldest continuous public school both in Nelson and the whole country.
[3rd] Nelson College is New Zealands third oldest[preceded only by Christ’s College and Wanganui Collegiate. Two New Zealand Prime Ministers, Sir Wallace Rowling, and Sir Geoffrey Palmer were educated here and the College’s most famous old boy is Nobel Prize winner Lord Ernest Rutherford, who was also born in the region]
[4th] Nelson airport is the fourth-busiest airport in New Zealand
The One Ring™ featured in Peter Jacksons The Lord of the Rings™ movie trilogy, was crafted by a local Nelsonian jeweler, Jens Hansen and replicas can actually be purchased from his store in Nelson.
