Moon over Martinborough

Last week we were on the bus on the way home when Graham, the bus driver, called out to us. “Sign says the bridge is closed. Should we get closer and see?”

Image from freefoto.com

There were seven or eight Martinborough commuters in the back of the bus. (Although I  admit referring to that little beige shuttle van as a ‘bus’ is a bit generous. You may as well refer to our tiny Nissan Pulsar as an off-road utility vehicle.)

Everyone nodded to Graham or called out a hearty “yes,” and we drove on toward the possibly washed out bridge.

Rick, who was sitting next to me, reached over and squeezed my knee.

The residents of Martinborough are used to the Ruamahanga River flooding. It happens at least once a year. When the river is very high, the aging Waihenga Bridge is closed for safety. The piles supporting the bridge are shallow and risk collapsing under the force of raging waters.

If the flood’s not too bad, the Waihenga Bridge stays open, but State Highway 53 sometimes becomes submerged at a place in the road called Jenkins Dip. If that happens, there’s a little one lane emergency bridge you can drive over.

There’s never a dull moment around here, at least not when the spring rains come.

Fellow commuters

As we drove forward, some passengers craned their necks to see what was up ahead.

Like Rick and me, most of the people on that bus live in Martinborough and work in Wellington. Over time, we have learned small details about each other. This one owns an olive grove. That one owns a vineyard. Another one lives out past Hinakura, toward the coast.

The camaraderie we share makes it feel more like a school bus than public transport. Although I don’t know these people well, I have a real fondness for the group, for the way we happily take up this commute together. We are people with one foot in the city, and one foot in paradise. (Although even in paradise, rivers flood.)

The total commute is a 55 minute train ride from Wellington to Featherston, and then this 20 minute bus ride from Featherston to Martinborough. Trains don’t go to little, out-of-the-way Martinborough.

The bus pulled up to the ‘T’ in the road that has a panoramic view out over Martinborough’s hill-rimmed basin, and Graham chuckled.

“You think he’ll let us past?”

The 2006 flood - image compliments of The Old Winery Cafe

There was a large truck blocking the road down to the village, and a red sign with ‘Road ahead closed’ written across it.

“Tell him we live just down the road!” somebody shouted from the back of the bus, laughing.

Graham rolled down his window. A man in a bright yellow safety vest stood nearby.

“Will she open up soon?” Graham said, nodding in the direction of the bridge.

“Well, if you want to wait,” the man said. “The river’s supposed to peak around nine tonight.”

It was not quite six o’clock then. Only out in the country would waiting in a bus for over three hours while the river dropped be seen as a viable option.

“Hmm,” Graham said, as though he were considering it. “Need to get these people home. Thanks, mate.” Then he turned the bus in the opposite direction.

Although Martinborough was just 5 minutes down the road, the river was in the way and we now had an hour’s drive ahead of us. We were going further north, out towards Carterton, where the land is a bit higher. You can usually head back into Martinborough on dry land.

“Make yourselves comfortable, people,” Graham said. There were calls on cell phones to tell loved ones we’d be late.

Martinborough swamped

When the rains are really bad, Martinborough can virtually become an island. Even the back way floods.

Toward the end of July, there was such a bad rainstorm that on Friday morning the bridge out of town was out, the mountain road over the Rimutakas was closed, and the trains were down because a train had actually been derailed.

Needless to say, I didn’t make it to work that day.

Darailed Wairarapa train - image from Stuff

The train derailment happened when a wall of mud and rock had fallen down the night before, blocking the exit to one of the tunnels through the Rimutaka range. Fortunately for me, it happened after the train I was on made it through.

But the train behind me hit that wall of mud so hard that passengers were jolted and drink bottles flew onto the floor. Luckily nobody was hurt, but 300 people were stuck inside that dark, claustrophobic tunnel for hours. Eventually the carriages were pulled out the back way and the people carted home by bus.

It took all weekend for the KiwiRail to get the locomotive unstuck and back on the tracks. They basically had to build a road in order to get cranes to it, since it was in such a difficult place in the mountains.

Like I said, never a dull moment around here.

The long way home

As Graham drove the bus, I looked out the window at the pastures and hills rolling by. I turned around and chatted with our neighbor Jim, who was sitting behind us. Rick and I talked about the gardening work we wanted to do that weekend. There are worse ways to pass the time.

People on this bus never ask each other if we think the commute is worth it. We all know it is – in spite of the spring rains, the road closures, the occasionally derailed train.

This gives you some indication of how great it is to live out here. It would have to be pretty incredible to make up for all that.

When the bus finally pulled into Martinborough, everyone was relieved.

Rick and I got out at the little greystone church, where we park our car in the mornings.

“Thanks, Graham,” I said as I stepped down off the bus behind Rick. I meant it. I appreciate him getting me home safely.

“See you tomorrow, mate,” he said. The bus door closed behind us, and Graham drove away.

How about you? What’s your commute like? Any flooding rivers and derailed trains?

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Read my other posts about the commute.

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 5th, 2009 at 6:30 am and is filed under Commute, New Zealand, River & sea, Roads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.