The tree has gone

On my way home I went into Photo Warehouse and ordered a Pentax KP. Unfortunately, the fix suggested by Craig gave me only one good photo before rapidly failing again. As I got back on my bicycle I saw that the big pine tree outside the Northern Defence Headquarters had been cut down and was in the process of being loaded into a big truck to take away.

This is a tree I have blipped with reference to wire being used to hold the large spreading branches from breaking off (my guess). Perhaps the wire broke with the strong equinoxial winds we have been experiencing. The extra shows the cut cross section and it does look like the core is not in good condition.

A neighbour is very distressed as she had admired the trees (a couple of smaller Norfolk Pines have also been removed she said). Perhaps the army wants to build on this bit of land. Or perhaps it just was that the tree had become dangerous. If it had fallen towards the road it would have crushed any pedestrian in the wrong place and any car passing on that side of the road.

We are officially out of lockdown as of this morning; after six weeks.There were three new cases reported today, but they related to a charter flight some time ago from Christchurch, and they were known contacts of previous cases. The Ministry apparently feel pretty confident that the Auckland Clusters have stopped spreading.