Enough!

Just when you think things are pretty bad south of the city........

I wanted to go to town today to get a few small jobs done.  All good until about 2kms down the road when the traffic seemed to grind to a halt.  I saw an ambulance who seemed to be tending to someone on the roadside - a cyclist maybe - and thought that could have been the cause.  Even when it moved on though, still the traffic seemed almost gridlocked.  My (usually) 7 or 8 minute drive to town was taking forever.  Later, a fire engine, sirens and lights blazing, roared past the traffic which struggled to get enough forward movement to be able to pull over.  Over the hill I began to see the cause of the delay - another fire but this one on the northern side of town.  Eventually, after over 45 minutes, I made it to town, crawled to just one or 2 places to get jobs done then decided to give up on the idea and headed home.  More gridlock.  I snapped this shot as I passed along the road - a view to the second fire which, if you look closely, you may be able to see the scarred and burnt hillside on the distant hill.  Passing the SH6 roundabout intersection the traffic suddenly became much more free flowing (which made sense......they were stopping traffic heading along the road right alongside the fire).  I eventually arrived home almost two and a half hours after I left on my 'quick dash to town'!  Again, thoughts are with firefighters, homeowners and anyone affected by this second - possibly suspicious - fire.