Some 30 men are still employed in cleaning out the bed of the Leith, building concrete walls, etc. This work has been going on for the past eight months, and the total expenditure will be very heavy.
Moon and wind join forces
The unusually high tide on Monday night swamped some of the low-lying harbourside, and the weekend township on the Spit was practically marooned until the tide ebbed yesterday morning. The road from Taylors Point to the cutting was submerged and converted into a bog, the deep ruts on the road being turned into lengthy pools of muddy slush as the tide receded. Beyond the cutting the road was submerged for a distance of about 200 yards, the roadway emerging from the harbour at the commencement of the portion of road recently formed by the Harbour Board. In some cases the water was up to the doorsteps of weekend cribs. As a result of the exceptionally high tide the Otago Harbour Board’s tide gauge registered 8ft 3in yesterday, which is a record for the port. The last occasion when the tide was abnormally high was on August 4, 1922, when the gauge registered 8ft 3in. These high tides are difficult to account for but they can be associated with unusual disturbing factors elsewhere. Lunar attraction and heavy gales may synchronise, and the pull is affected to the extent of giving unusual heights to the rise and fall.
New Wānaka hotel lures visitors
A noticeable feature of the holidays just past was that large numbers of people visited southern resorts in preference to going to the North Island, as has been the case previously. The new hotel which has been erected at Pembroke, and the fact that the motor services have been extended, has persuaded tourists to visit these resorts. The overseas traffic is commencing earlier this year and, as is usual, inquiries are being made in regard to Otago and the Te Anau-Milford Track. Most of the tourists at present in the dominion are Australians.
Our cup runneth over ...
The southern reservoir is practically full as a result of the recent rains, despite the fact that it is being drawn on daily to supply the city.
... with tea to fill it
The people of the dominion are noted tea drinkers, and the returns of imports of tea, which have come to hand for the 11 months ended November 30 last, give an indication of the amount which is brought into the country. During that period 8,595,031 pounds of tea arrived in New Zealand, cost being £543,089 — Lyttelton 2,283,658lb, Dunedin 2,146,139lb, Auckland 2,006,663lb, Wellington 1,722,672lb; other ports 435,869lb. The four main ports it will see that the South Island received 700,492lb more than the North Island.
— ODT, 9.1.1924 (Compiled by Peter Dowden)
