Observation of the day: Far North - Kaikohe

Today I had to venture into Kaikohe for some business and in between, whilst killing time, managed a pleasant walk in the sun along the maindrag.  First time on foot in the town in a couple of years - Covid and all that - you'd catch something with all those gangs / ferals around doing Mr Plod's job in the early days with their illegal roadblocks.

The town is terminal.  Shuttered shops everywhere, businesses that are barely open look like they're one foot in the grave.  Most present poorly, at the minimum being in dire need of a coat of paint / waterblast / weeding.    Covid killed this town.  A couple of necessary gas stations, cafes and dairies seem to be doing OK and the resident council is still fleecing ratepayers with zero road maintenance in the area.

The growth business that is very noticeable are the multiple 'gyms' complete with their blacked out doors and windows with the odd noisy flash / showy motorcycle outside.  Complete with well kept suitably flash signage to maybe entice the local nephews off the couch.  However I'd suspect that little gym workout would actually occur except for 'training' in the errands of the day.

The other growth industry is in WINZ type of offshoots no doubt ever ready to dispense mine and your hard-earnt taxpayer dollar to the less well off.  Judging by the number of the hoardings on the main drag, ex NZ First MP "Tugger' Jones must have splashed a wad of the $3bn cash around these agencies a couple of years ago.  BTW, the Shane Jones Waipapa roundabout over Keri way works great, especially the western exit road.   Attempts at vote buying for his home turf failed for him, only to end up with a utterly useless and invisible Labour MP - the one independent Matt King is trying to displace this year - two shows.  

As I said, this town is terminal.  One day I might venture to the murder capital of the Far North on the northern slopes of the Mangamukas.  Haven't been there since a couple of weeks before the SH1 road closed over 18 months ago.  Like Kaikohe, I'd expect a similar outcome.  Their lifeline to the outside world is even worse, a tenuous link is still just open via SH10.  Dodged a bullet with rain from ex-tropical cyclone Gabrielle, but one decent rain event and everything will be permanently cutoff.

At least Kerikeri appears to be still open for business.