In Baltimore we walked around their waterfront. Baltimore is reminisant of Wellington in a couple of ways- the CBD overlooking a harbour, the busy waterfront-cut off by a major road, their smart green and growing vision and transport planning from a state entity inconsistent with surrounding patterns, size and streetscapes.

Outside the aquarium there are neat little planted areas showing the different types of wetlands and marshes representative of  the area- all explained by information boards- again like Wellington; Waitangi Park is a demonstration of natural  coastal vegetation in Wellington, we don’t have the explaination boards though…. Enhancing this in a small corner of the harbour are floating islands. Floating vegetated islands (www.bluewing-env.com) create habitat, restore and balance ecology, have water quality benefits, and are generally aesthetically pleasing. They are part of the green technology movement.  ARC/ NIWA have trialled them in NZ for their urban stormwater treatment abilities.

The Rotorua lakes have huge nutrification problems. These floating islands could be part of the solution.  The picture shows a design idea for an island proposed for one of the Rotorua lakes-

Really!! Which is more cheesy a Wellywood sign or a floating Rotorua banner??