Lower Hutt, Hutt Valley,Wellington,NZ...

Lower Hutt, Hutt Valley,

Wellington, New Zealand. This is where I live. The home of the Hutt River.

View video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyzc9egtrSc

NZ wins Wellington Sevens - unearths new star......

Three tries to speedster Declan O'Donnell ensured New Zealand landed the Wellington sevens rugby tournament crown with an emphatic 29-14 win over England tonight.



The Waikato teenager had earlier scored twice against Australia to send the hosts into the final and it was his blistering speed and the team's defiance after the loss of captain DJ Forbes early in the match that saw them claim their fifth Wellington title and a share of the world series lead.

Forbes, playing in his 38th sevens tournament, left the field with a knee injury following Isoa Damu's try that handed England, winners here in 2009, a 7-0 lead.

But New Zealand drew inspiration from old hands Tomasi Cama, Lote Raikabula and Forbes' replacement Solomon King to score 29 unanswered points to deny England.

Cama provided the first try for the busy Toby Arnold, before 19-year-old O'Donnell sparked into life in wet conditions.

He fended off Dan Norton twice to score under the posts and give New Zealand a 12-7 lead at the break.
From the restart, New Zealand pounced on an England error and Arnold repaid the favour for Cama who sold an outrageous dummy to scoot over next to the posts.

O'Donnell, who overcame an ankle injury to play in the tournament, then showed why he is being tipped for big things with a 80-metre dash to the line after New Zealand had soaked up concerted England pressure.

He had his third try and his 10th for the tournament with 90 seconds left and despite a minor melee near the close the final say went to England with substitute Simon Hunt scoring their second try.

New Zealand had earlier beaten Australia 17-0 to make the final, while England, who held the outright world series lead heading into the final, beat Samoa 7-5.

In addition to O'Donnell's two tries in the semi-final, Tim Mikkelson scored from 50 metres out and New Zealand withstood the sinbinning of playmaker Cama midway through the second half.

A conversion was all that separated England from Samoa in the other semi-final. The leading points scorer in international sevens, Ben Gollings, dinked over the extra points to give England a two-point lead but they then had to dig deep to deny a late surge from Samoa.

England, down a man after repeated infringing, were almost undone with time up on the clock.

Reupena Levasa opted for the kick and chase and it looked to have paid dividends only for his third kick to slide dead in goal with the try line begging.

Samoa, who struggled on the first day and had been thumped 29-5 by Australia in their final pool match, had made the semi-final after a surprise defeat of the in-form Fiji.

They led at the break after an unconverted try to Ofisa Treviranus, but England's John Brake capped a 95-metre move by England to give Gollings the chance to put them into the lead.

Elsewhere, defending champions Fiji won the plate final after beating South Africa 26-12, Kenya won the bowl after downing Tonga 19-0 and United States beat France 19-12 to claim the shield.http://huttsblogespher.blogspot.com

The Hutt River flows down the Hutt Valley to Wellington Harbour...

The Hutt River flows through the southern North Island of New Zealand. It flows south-west from the southern Tararua Ranges for 56 km, forming a number of fertile floodplains, including Kaitoke, central Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt.

The headwaters in the Kaitoke Regional Park are closed to preserve the quality of the drinking water drawn off at Kaitoke to supply the greater Wellington area. Below Kaitoke is the Kaitoke gorge, a popular destination for Rafting. Below the gorge is Te Marua, where the Mangaroa River joins the Hutt from the east. Further down, just above of the Upper Hutt floodplain, the Akatarawa River joins the Hutt from the west. The Upper Hutt floodplain contains the greater potion of Upper Hutt city. At this point the river starts to flow along a virtually straight geologic fault. At the lower end of the Upper Hutt floodplain is Taita Gorge, which separates Upper Hutt from Lower Hutt, this gorge is significantly shorter and less constricting than Kaitoke gorge. The river's outflow, at Petone, is into Wellington harbour. The geological fault which the river previously followed continues as a steep bluff at the edge of the Wellington Harbour.

For most of its length, the Hutt is a shallow and sometimes braided river in a wide rocky bed, but in the Kaitoke gorge the river flows directly over bedrock and approaching the mouth at Petone the river is narrower and the banks steeper. The larger populated areas in Upper Hutt and Lower Hutt are protected from flooding by stopbanks and introduced willow trees, as is common in New Zealand. The regular flooding of Lower Hutt resulted in high fertility land and prior to the building of state housing by the Labour Government starting in 1937, there were many market gardens in Lower Hutt.

The Hutt has moved significantly since European settlement, due to a major earthquake. The pre-earthquake river emptied into the Pauatahanui Inlet (an arm of Porirua Harbour on the west coast). Pauatahanui Inlet is now slowly silting up.

State highway two follows the course of the river for most of its length, with the exception of the Kaitoke gorge and the head waters, before crossing the Rimutaka Ranges into the Wairarapa.

The Hutt River in photos

Wellington earthquake risk overestimated for years...

Wellington earthquake risk has been over-estimated for years...

The Wellington, New Zealand, earthquake risk is less than previously thought. The experts have been telling us for years that the next big one is just round the corner. But now our fears have been alleviated just a little.

GNS Science says the likelihood of a major quake on the Wellington fault line in the next century is fifty percent less than thought.

The risk of a big earthquake flattening Wellington may have been overestimated for years.

The study from GNS Science has found that the likelihood of a major rupture on the Wellington fault line during the next 100 years is fifty percent less than previously thought.

GNS scientist Russ Van Dissen says the study could provide some relief for Wellingtonians.

"Big one might be less likely but smaller or more distant earthquakes can still have a significant impact on the city. And the extra good news is those smaller or more localised impacting events are the ones that we can do the most about."

Mr Van Dissen says should a big one strike, Wellington's hospital could be damaged, the water system could go down and roads out of the city could be blocked. He says this could alter the basis on which Wellingtonians make business and investment decisions.

Fred McCoy from the Wellington City Council says despite the lowered risk, residents should remain prepared.

"Frankly that's what worries me - that people will say that they no longer need to be as prepared so they stop being vigilant about keeping water and food and having a plan and knowing what they're going to do."

Mr McCoy says the risks still exist and the council will not be changing its earthquake response. The bang just may not be as big as expected - but how big is big?

Acknowledgements: 2009 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

Read here