Nothing much to warm the heart so far this November

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

THE furore in Parliament and some other major national and international issues should not be allowed to disguise the great question of the moment: who stole our Gisborne summer?

Seldom has a summer been so eagerly awaited in the district after a winter that was about as bleak as it can get, topped off by a flood as it drew to a close.

We shivered through that and then got ready for a brighter November. The beaches were cleared, the sun belatedly appeared and everything seemed ready for lift off . . . . Now we have been greeted with a cold southerly and forecasts of more rain at the weekend and next week.

The Gisborne public can justifiably feel cheated. Isn’t this supposed to be an El Nino summer with a high drought risk?

Certainly there is still concern for agriculture, but there has been enough rain in the meantime to allay that.

In case the weather gods have forgotten, November is supposed to be a pleasant month with average temperatures in the 20s and about 53mm of rain. Many of us actually enjoy the start of summer, and autumn, as being more pleasant than the actual heart of summer.

Outside the landslide victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s party in Burma, there is little to lighten our mood in the current news cycle.

The Russians have succeeded in casting a blight on the purest of sports, athletics, leading for calls that they should be banned from the Rio games. Good idea, we did really well in 1984 when the Eastern Bloc was absent.

Our Parliament is hardly an edifying spectacle at the moment. The Prime Minister’s ill-advised accusations and the walkout on Wednesday by women MPs made international headlines. The Christmas Island situation has not worked well for the Government.

Elsewhere there was the tragic death of three Wairoa men and a court appearance for a young Levin man accused of murdering his 10-year-old brother.

The glow of the All Blacks world cup triumph is now behind us . . . we need something to brighten our mood, and soon.