The year as a ten-year-old used to go on forever, especially in those winter months when there was no end in sight, the thought of sun and summer seemed a distant dream. How I looked forward to spending time with my mates and cuzzies down at the river, going to the pools over the holiday period, and just hanging out.
Well what can I say – is that this year has certainly flown by. So I guess that circle of life keeps on turning and now I’m becoming my parents!
Yep, what a year it has been.
In early February I was out mountain biking with a mate when we crashed in to each other. He broke his collar bone, I got banged up, bikes got damaged, helmets cracked. What a start to the year I thought. Little did I know that in a week or so, life in Hawke’s Bay was going to change forever and the spill on the bikes would seem insignificant in comparison of what was to come.
Cyclone Gabrielle hit Hawke’s Bay and other parts of New Zealand with a vengeance. The water started rising around our property at about 6.30am on February 14th and by 7.30am (the timeline is a little bit sketchy) it was about 6 feet deep at the back of our property. We were fortunate, our section slopes up slightly so by the time it came into the house it was only about 6 inches high. Little did we know that in the early hours of the morning torrents of debris, water and silt had smashed into properties across Hawke’s Bay sadly causing death and mayhem.
Eskdale, Puketapu, Dartmoor, Pakowhai, Awatoto, Omāhu (and many other areas), places that I associate with green trees and sunshine, had been devastated. As the waters receded the sight was apocalyptic. Even now I struggle to comprehend what had happened and if you didn’t live near the affected areas, it is really hard to fully understand the impact of the weather Cyclone Gabrielle brought.
Hawke’s Bay is a small place and I’m sure most of us know people who were affected, some losing everything to that dirty floodwater and silt. Then others, like us, affected but not so much. But out of adversity comes strength. The community rallied, there were acts of heroism, some that we’ll never know about, then the clean up started and we all tried to make sense of what had just happened.
As we learnt after the GFC (if you can recall back that far), Covid and all the other things that have been thrown at us in the past 12-15 years, business continues. It must. People keep doing what they do well, they deal with issues and get on with delivering whatever it is they do for their customers, their people, their community.
And in the coming months, hopefully folks will get the chance to recharge over the summer period and if you’re lucky also get a break away from work. Give a thought though to all those that are working while you’re chilling in the sun.
So as we head into 2024 it does in fact feel like the year has flown by. As I take the time to reflect on the year that has been, it is also time to look ahead. I’d encourage you to do that with your business in the new year. Review that strategy, look into using good information and data to help guide your decision making, support the people you work with, think about how you spend your time, both at work and outside it, keep reviewing your plans, progress and enjoy every single day as best you can.
See you all in 2024!
Kind Regards, Hutch.
