Kia ora Wānaka.

Time once again for the blue team round up of what’s been happening in your patch this past week. We’ll kick off with property, both lost and found.

People have been taking advantage of the awesome weather, getting out and about leading to quite a bit of property being handed into the station. So, if you lost it, we may have it. Pays to call in and check.

And speaking of the weather, just looking around will tell you it's very dry out there. Please don’t go lighting any fires or being careless with any outdoor cooking facilities or we could have a major issue on our hands.

Working Saturday night, I could see some fireworks being set off. I’m sure for the sake of a few 'oohs' and 'aahs' you don’t want to be responsible for a fire if one of them sets off the tinder dry grass.

Traffic matters are a major issue round the area with multiple complaints of poor driving, of not only visitors, but locals who should know better. There were a couple of crashes this week where both vehicles rolled.

One person thought the Albert Town campground was a great place to do a burnout only to end up on his roof, and a second, during the brief rain, lost control of a small truck out at Hāwea Flat and rolled after hitting a grass area. He was not sure if the truck had rolled but once pointed out it was the only way he got grass on the roof of the cab, concluded it must have. Luckily neither were injured except for a bit of pride maybe.

We appear to have opportunists roaming around now with items such as garden furniture being taken from a property at Northlake. Now I know its not the Wānaka way and I’ve banged on about this before, but please try to be a bit more security conscious out there. Unlocked doors and cars are just an open invitation to unscrupulous individuals who believe they have more right to your property than you.

Online scams are still happening and can vary from straight out identity theft to selling fraudulent or non-existing items via social media sites, to out right blackmail of individuals via the internet. When you are online take all safety precautions and don’t expose yourself to be taken advantage of no matter how plausible someone may seem.

The weather is a great incentive to get out and about in nature, but if you are getting out on the lake, in the hills or swimming in the rivers please be careful. There have been a few search and rescue (SAR) callouts this week for people who have gotten into trouble or injured while enjoying recreational activities out there. So, take that extra second to think your activities through for safety’s sake and make sure everyone has an enjoyable time and get to go home.

The long-range forecast seems to say we may get some rain later in the week. If we do, please remember it will make the roads slippery, so caution will be needed. We do need it but not as much as Auckland has had this past weekend. West Auckland is an area I know very well and it's sad to see so many people losing so much to flooding up there.

Until next time Wānaka, stay safe, enjoy the weather and to parents yeah school starts up again.