Somewhere over the rainbow

Anne and Doug's barbecue seemed to be a great success and a good bunch of people turned up and everyone seemed to contribute some interesting food and drink to complement the grill. It was a truly international event too with friends and colleagues from, at least, NZ, USA, The Netherlands, Germany, UK, Asia, Chile and Finland, of course. Doug was the wizard of the barbecue, and later donned his wizard's cape, although probably just to keep warm after having completed his marathon. The grill was strategically placed under the car porch to protect it from wind and rain. Memorable specialities (apart from my braised cauliflower à la Singh) were the chocolate, chili with cinnamon flavoured ice cream and the Pisco Sour, provided by the Chilean delegation.

Anne and Doug's place is a typical, ageing Wellington wooden house on a hillside. The rainbow picture is from the balcony out back. But they are moving out very soon, to more modern place with a downgrade in the view and an upgrade in insulation, heating and comfort in general. Conversation here often brushes on the subject of people's houses it seems, and the standard of them in the context of the New Zealand climate. Two weeks here has already taught that the wind here in Wellington is a challenging factor, that's for sure. It seems that the pioneering spirit that brought people here from Europe in the earlier days of this nation lives on in the culture of the housing. In the old wooden places, I've heard that there is typically no central heating, no double glazing, no heat retaining fireplaces and very little insulation. When one colleague, newly arrived from the UK, had complained to his Kiwi colleagues about the cost of electricity to heat his place in the winter, they had laughed and told him to 'put on another woolly jumper'.

Well, I guess as an ex-Brit I can understand the attitude. Even in the 1960s when I was a kid in the eastern reaches of Greater London our house was pretty chilly on winter mornings, no double-glazing, no heat retaining fireplaces, no proper insulation in the loft and not even an electric refrigerator until sometime around 1963 (because for most of the year the kitchen pantry was about 10 deg.C anyway). Having escaped the post-war austerity of the 50s the late 60s and 70s were a time for mass home

improvement in the UK. Even as I kid it was pretty obvious that people weren't happy with their homes and, from what I remember, attempts at improvement included adding good insulation (like fibre glass padding in attics and asbestos in construction leading to massive problems with increases of lung disease), pumping wall cavities with polystyrene foam (which increased insulation but effectively removed the chances of damp escaping inner areas like bathrooms, leading to mould, decomposition of materials and related diseases), replacing windows with fitted double-glazing which is an ongoing practice and rather notorious industry dominated by poorly trained 'cowboys' and which, of course, has limited effect on energy loss anyway if the rest of the construction is not insulated. Then, for those who could afford it, there was the possibility for installation of central heating systems based on gas or electricity using the cheaper 'night rates' for heating water and heat retaining radiators.

So, listening to the complaints here, and remembering the tragic comedy of errors of the UK home improvement boom I think Anne and Doug are making a wise move. Because, despite the commonly repeated old adage that when you come to New Zealand from Europe you should adjust your watch 10 hours or so ahead and 25 years back, I have a feeling that, from what I've seen so far, the standard of building is improving here despite the inheritance of the pioneering culture. Well, it's all a long cry from Finland where, when it's minus 25 outside, we're apt to complain about (and suffer from) the plus 25 degrees or more inside our homes. And, from the sustainability and ecological points of view we're surely forced increasingly to consider the real costs of all the heating (and cooling) and the Eco footprint of modern-day house production materials and other factors of our modern day comfort.

I've heard the New Zealand sheep farming business is in crisis. There are a lot of sheep here, and a lot of farmers. Maybe it actually would be better just to put on another woolly jumper and stop complaining?

(House pics on Mount Victoria with Nikon D300)