Comment: Our beautiful country New Zealand is caving in and breaking down

COMMENT:

We should all agree, New Zealand has seen better days.

The past month, our beautiful country has suffered, by either our failing public transport systems, waterways or weather.

Today, thousands of Wellington commuters have been warned not to travel as no trains would be running because of a derailment.

Oh, and also there’s not enough replacement buses.

But that didn’t stop Wellingtonians making their way into work, because not everyone can afford a day off. So, commuter chaos has ensued with an added 20,000 workers possibly driving to work, causing major delays on the motorway.

Of course, Auckland has suffered from many train cancellations and delays in the past month as well, adding traffic to our outdated motorway layouts.

But don’t worry, a light rail to Auckland Airport should help ease traffic…

Public transport is not the only way New Zealand is breaking down, as the current weather has affected our country in many ways.

Even though the lack of rain has been nice, the downside is that Aucklanders are being warned of a looming water shortage.

Watercare is urging residents to use water wisely, the city’s total water storage is 59.2 per cent, which is 25 per cent less than normal for this time of year.

However, in Napier they have plenty of water to go around, but it is brown.

In the past year, photos of baths, sinks and buckets filled with the dirty water have been shared on local social media groups.

The substance that turns Napier’s water brown is biofilm, which is organic and inorganic, living and dead material which builds up in pipes.

But don’t worry, a Napier City Council spokesperson said it’s safe to drink … other experts disagreed.

Taupō residents are also having a crappy time after a huge discharge of raw sewage poured into Lake Taupō from a burst wastewater pipe.

Residents have been told not to flush their toilets, take showers, and any other unnecessary water use.

Looks like Aucklanders and Taupōers are in the same boat.

The lack of rain hasn’t only just affect Auckland’s waterways as because of the great weather, our country has a major rat problem.

Huge “cat-sized” rats have been spotted across the country, with an explosion in rat numbers in both forests and urban areas.

A mega mast means our native trees are fruiting really heavily, therefore rats are getting a mean feed.

This is not only bad for Kiwis who are trying to keep the massive rodents away, but our native animals who might face local extinctions in forests as they are being attacked by rats.

If you think the act of God hasn’t broken our country enough, spare of thought for the Rotorua residents whose property is collapsing after a mud pool opened up last week.