Well, what a crappy place Wellington has become?

 Hi there

Its bad enough that the Wellington CBD has become a ghost town with so many empty shops ... and that the hardly-used and hated bicycle lanes are breeding ... and that many of my beloved cafes have closed in the last six months ... and that the Reading picture theatre has been shut down for years, since the earthquake ... and that the road around Hataitai Beach has been surrounded by roadworks for well over a year and probably will be for another year ... and that the weather has been pretty atrocious this summer...

... AND THAT the sewage plant at Moa Point will probably be discharging a huge and varied amount of sewage waste for months to come. Right into the Wellington coastal sea.

Since the catastrophe a week or so ago, when the plant's discharge pipe got blocked and the building flooded, south coast beaches have been closed for swimming:  no scuba diving, no fishing, no seafood gathering, no dogs on beaches ...

The hazardous water hasn't reached the inner harbour and Hataitai Beach yet.

 For daily information about the state of Wellington beach swimming, you can look up LAWA (land air water info).  You can follow the situation through the online news outlet Stuff.co.nz.