The 9 oases

UPDATE: We are currently installing our first five water fountains!

It was over four years ago that I started running. A brutally honest doctor weighed me, took some measurements, shook her head and told me “You’re at the age when it gets really hard to lose weight – and you have too much. You need to exercise.”

Like I said, brutally honest.

I tried the gym, but there’s something about being stuck in a room full of people on a machine that completely turns me off. So I thought I’d try running. This was a pretty out there choice at the time, I had a fair few bad habits and was more likely to see 6 am as the ‘end’ of the night then the beginning of the day.

Yet, something stuck. It’s a cliche to talk about ‘the runner’s high,’ and to be honest I’ve probably only felt anything approaching that a couple of times. But there definitely is something to the ability to get up and run for hours, exploring new routes, seeing the seasons change in a way you don’t when just travelling from place to place. You get to know your neighborhood very well.

Now, four years later, I know my area well. And one thing I know – is that we have a distinct lack of water fountains. We have a very oppressive heat here in summer and failure to hydrate properly sucks all the joy out of running. So, you plan your run around water fountains.

So I made a map.

You can access the map here: http://www.tinyurl.com/puketapapamap

As you can see, there’s a lot of distance between taps here. All that green stuff in the bottom left corner? That’s the beautiful Waikōwhai coast, with 8km of trails, and not a drop to drink. Sure, there are a lot of public toilets around, and one can drink from the taps (trust me, I definitely have) but for many people the idea won’t wash. So – people buy drinks from shops.

I want to focus on getting more into our rohe (area). A fountain at the shops, returning one to Waikōwhai park, installing another along the SW cyclepath, and getting some into Monte Cecilia.

Check back in three years. Hopefully Wai has become a far ‘easier’ choice for the people of Puketāpapa.