Boo

Been taking it easy in Paraparaumu so far but some big things are coming up in the next week or so.

I will be travelling to Napier and possibly New Plymouth within the next couple of weeks, but in the meantime I've got myself a volunteering post with the Kaptiti council in their environment department.

They are going to get me involved in the local climate change schemes which are quite active along the Kapiti Coast, especially in Paekakariki.

The schemes involve local people and the council working together to come up with strategies that will decrease the effects of the coastal erosion of the Kapiti coast which risks severely disrupting communities in the next few decades.

This volunteering also ties in well with natural hazards as Paraparaumu and Paekakariki are in danger of being affected by severe liquefaction, this is when the strength and stiffness of underlying soil weakens due to being shaken by, for example, an earthquake.  

Liquefaction can cause the collapse of buildings and the destruction of bridges and roads.  Due to climate change and the rising water table, the severity of liquefaction following earthquakes will dramatically increase posing a risk to most of the inhabitants of the Kapiti coast.