The bird mural you looked at was actually a kereru ( wood pigeon ). The tui is black with a white throat tuft & iridescent body feathers of greens, blue & brown. But yes a beautiful bird song.
Lower Hutt was awesome in the 80s & 90s, full of the coolest shops. Now it’s a tired, sad dump. The empty City Plaza once had a cinema, arcade and restaurants.
It was a lot better in the 60's and 70's more activities and the streets were loaded with people and then they decided to build a big mall and the council back then said it wouldn't effect High Street patronage like hell it destroyed the High Street . Now today its more a ghost town then a city and still run by idiots in council who think inside a box.
The "Ghost Mall" used to be a focal point of the Huttas its where the movie theatre used to be. The big mall pretty much killed the surrounding streets.
High Street used to be hustle and bustling, but then the mall was built and everyone shopped at the mall and eventually all the shops on High Street lost business and closed up shop.
The obvious highlight is Glen and the stag party guys. They picked the wrong person to test their upper body strength with. Glen smashed them. What I notice in many of your inner-city videos is the slow 'death ' of main street shopping. You describe this always as 'more cars than people' but young people only shop in the large shopping mall like Queensgate with the cinema complex or they shop online. Then as the retailers leave the main or high street more pie and pastry shops open.... I never knew of such a large Japanese store in Lower Hutt. Thanks guys.
hey mike! whats going on! hope your day is treating you well buddy :) Yeah that kinda made the video abit more exciting actually so spiced things up haha. My pushups aren't as good as a few years ago but my strength is very good these days in the gym! Totally true with the ghost town vibes that we only see cars these days which is sad but the reality. we would love for the towns to come back to life but unfortunately your right online shopping has destroyed that :(
opposite the kereru mural (back where you came thru the walk through - is a beautiful 2nd hand shop. called she loved. worth just popping into in one day. iv never seen a displayed op shop so well done.
The additional security around Queensgate Mall is for youth crime\violence especially near the bus stop. Homeless living on the street have appeared around the mall area as well .. they are relatively new.
Most of 70 80s 90s generation moved away for better lifestyle/future, hutt used to be a awesome lil city, definitely not what it used to be when i return to visit, still big love to da hutt, keep up the great content glen n mado ❤
I live in Lower Hutt and remember all the businesses closing the ones that moved into the mall had a chance at survival but not all. RIP Devine House of Majik
I wish you had gone to see the Hutt City War Memorial Library less than a 5 min walk from where you were. There's a nice garden area around there, and just down the road, also from where you were you could have gone along the bank to see a bit of the river. Not much left to the Hutt compared to what it used to be some 35 years ago though. It really died after they opened the expansion of the mall back in "88.
Moved to Lower Hutt from Singapore in the 1980s and the town still looks the same 😂 Wish they had a Japan mart back then. The stag do challenge made us laugh.
My god how this place has. Changed I use to visit my relations there in the early 70's good and bad memories but good to know it's survived and is still a buzzing and upgraded to a modern and hopefully a safe area for the community
The Hutt Shops peaked in the 70's with nearly every shop door open and doing good business. My mum worked at a nice big furniture store next to the King George Theater. Grattons Jewellers with Thomas Menswear Shop next to them. Loads of good store's no one had to go into the city (Wellington) because The Hutt was where it was at. The mid to late 80's was the beginning of the end for everything with the introduction of Queens Gate which was sold to or over taken by the giant Westfield chain . The small privateers almost completely vanished within five or so years after. The small locally owned family businesses with their personal touch and friendship we're gone. There wasn't the need for large neon lights and gaudy sign written shop facades, we all knew where to go for what we were looking for and if you did have a personal connection with the retailer sometimes you could mabey do some barter or black market deal. No it's a crying shame . The LHCC Central Business Community was gone. R.I.P
So how far back do your recollections go? I agree that Queensgate set the demise going. Do you remember DIC? Woolworths? Allan Newbolds? the Riddiford Baths? the VIC. Is the Hutt News also a victim? We had such fun then, but now even the school buildings I attended are exchanged for others. I still have some views of the Hutt valley taken from the west hills around 1965. Oh sigh!
@@kiwikeith7633 Yep there was Wollies and McKenzies were across the road. How the money went upstairs in the DIC in a cannister through tubes was a treat to watch as a young fella. I spent a good amount of summers at the Riddiford Baths and in later years looked down on the baths from my office window when working as a chainman for the LHCC. The Hutt is ferked now. Do you remember the Madi Gras they used to hold in High St?
The event centre was rebuilt an opened in December 2022, due to the big Kaikoura earthquake in 2016, it was unstable so had to be pulled down an rebuilt, when down south go gold panning in Goldsborough camp or moonlight creek, lots of fun but dig down don't just skim the surface, golds heavier than stones, cant wait to see where you go, you'll love it, cheers!
such a good idea! would love to go gold panning honestly haha, but I don't have any experience maybe you can show us 😂 we will be passing moonlight creek at one point so saved it on the map :)
Hey, I would love to come with you but I have just got back from England/Scotland for 6 1/2 months, 3 months ago, an sold our campervan before we left NZ, I am doing a friends house up at mo, not sure if your going through nelson but they sell gold pans there at (out post supplies) 53 Quarantine Road, Tahunanui, Nelson for $23 a pan, pick up a cheap spade, an watch a couple of youtube vids on how to pan an look for river bends etc, if you have something gold to go by to recognize gold colouring, an remember gold is heavier than rock so sinks to the bottom of ya pan, test an area an if no good move to another, you'll love the south as long as its not hosing down, happy gold panning, theres quite a few free camping spots down south, cheers!
Suggestion for yous explore Titahibay in Porirua we have a lovely beach walk ways whitireia park the mount you could walk up walk ways around whitireia park spectacular views very nice place friendly people welcome much, I watched your vlog when yous came to cannons creek Porirua and saw my niece and cousin walk past yous whilst yous walked out the island food shop 😊
that will be in our next video actually haha whats the chances! and wow its such a 😂😂small world and everyone seems to know someone in our videos, it's insane!😂
@8:15 .. its not a tui,.. I think its a Kererū, a native NZ wood pigeon. (Tui are black with a white pouch on the neck) -- they both have nice but very different calls :)
I feel like you're looking for bustling interesting towns/cities....there's probably not a lot of those in nz. The average kiwi doesn't go to town to hang out usually. They might go to a fav cafe to meet friends/family and stop at a shop to pick something up but then its off home. On the weekends in big cities people might go do the club thing but during the day its grab and go.
It’s about time you went there, I grew up, went to school and worked to attain my apprenticeship, I lived in “the Hutt” and in Normandale on the hill, it was a wonderful place to grow up, now it’s been absorbed into Wellington and has lost its identity, very sad
Landlords in many high streets need to massively drop rents to allow non chain shops to survive and compete on the basis of having interest shops, not sterile 'every town" shops malls.attract. ...maybe replace shops with indoor facilities for kids...malls don't cater for kids at all really.
Biker gangs usually go in flocks, like a group, and have their own uniform showing which gang they are from. So i don't think the pair on the bikes could be from a gang (necessarily)
I notice how argumentative he is towards her benign observations at the beginning... "Not sure if shops are open because it's afternoon time..." "Ah, it's a reasonable time, it's only 3" "The weather's a bit dull..." "Well you don't want it too hot"
That empty mall been like that for years. Maybe 10 plus years. I can't see business's wanting to lease any of those vacant spaces Lower Hutt's too dead.
Its called the cost of living. Should have gone to Pak n Save - that's where we all are,we ain't interested in affording anything down the Hutt no more. Otherwise, go to Petone thats where all the yuppies go now. Should have been there 20 years ago before Jackson St was gentrified and the locals got pushed out, the pubs were full of characters, now its expensive and the pubs and patrons are square and boring asf.
Have you forgotten about Covid? So many businesses just couldn't continue. My own sons business in Auckland had to close. Landlords increased rents and leases, all over the country and it has killed so many places.
That is dead. I was raised in Lower Hutt. Back then, the shops were in High street and Queens drive. There were no malls, and it was thriving - buzzing with activity. It looks like it is suffering capitalist globalist disease. I don't see in videos, or my last visit, the variety of services or products available. Isn't it a sign of decay when the broad range of main commerce is replaced with ethnic restaurants and Starbucks? The place you noted the bus, used to be the commuter bus hub for Lower Hutt. We actually had a panoramic view of the whole valley across a foreground of native bush with native birds - It is a developed sub division now. Depressing really.
