Your stories: My water commute – Jenny Wigley

We all have our stories and we’d like to share them here on the Nest if you have a yarn that you think other staff would be interested in. It could be about your unique commute to work like Jenny Wigley from the Marketing team (her active commute negates the need for a gym session at the end of the day!), something you are passionate about, or work you’re doing at Unitec or out in the community.

Jenny on her way down to the creek from B028 where the Marketing team is currently based

You don’t always do things because they’re easy, you sometimes do things because you need to do something a bit different…

When we moved from Wellington to Auckland, a friend told me that in order to enjoy the city, you need to embrace the water. Otherwise you end up on land too long, hating yourself for the choices you’ve made.

I was not made to regret things, so I have followed this friend’s advice to the letter… Working at Unitec has meant that I can get to and from work on the water, depending on the tide. So when I got a surfboard that I can easily carry, I thought I would try paddling to work.

If you want to try this, you need to check the tide chart or you may end up stuck on the side of the North-Western motorway.

Heading off along Oakley Creek

Aside from that general warning, the creek and mangrove part is nice and calm and there’s a surprising amount of wildlife around. If you like birds, fish, eels and the odd rat. I often think of crocodiles but I am starting to realise that what I imagine are small crocodiles are in fact medium-sized carp. Spring tides are great because there can be half a metre more water to work with, and the carp are harder to see and therefore less frightening.

Once you get under the motorway (the water here is choppy – make sure your phone is in a waterproof pouch) and out onto the harbour, it’s a different story. If the wind is with you, it is faster than walking and it can be quite beautiful. You can find yourself going (smugly) faster than the traffic at a standstill which is receding into the distance behind you and it’s a piece of the proverbial (Home already? What a champ!).

Jenny’s route from Mt Albert campus to home (click the image for a bigger pic)!

But if the wind is against you, the traffic will be pointing and laughing at you. You will need to tack through the wind and you can end up furiously paddling for quite some time just to stay in the same spot, thinking about sharks and having the following internal battle:

Body: I want to stop now. This sucks. We’re going nowhere. You’re stupid. Let’s lie down.
Head: We’ll end up in the mangroves.
Body: Yes, then we will lie down. We won’t get blown back under the motorway, I’ll hold onto a tree. Sorted.
Head: But the tide will go out and we’ll be stuck on top of a mangrove tree holding a surfboard.
Body: Oh all right then, let’s get on with it.

It can be quite hard work, but you get there in the end and it feels bloody great. And let’s be honest, you don’t always do things because they’re easy, you do things because sometimes you need to do something a bit different.