GUYS. I NEED TO ADDRESS THE KARORI HAIL SITUATION

Guys. Guys. I never thought I'd have to make this video. deep breath But here we are, and I owe my community the truth about what went down in Karori on Tuesday.

So. The hail came through Karori and the local Facebook group called it "aggressive peas". And look — pauses — I've been doing a lot of reflecting. When my mate Macca rang me from a job in Phillipstown and said the Karori lot reckon the hail's aggressive, I laughed. I said something I'm not proud of, which was "bloody Wellington, mate, harden up." That wasn't the energy my community deserves.

Here's the thing, and I'm being really vulnerable right now. I grew up in Canterbury. Nor'wester town. We get hail that'll write off a Hilux and we go back on the tools after smoko. So when I heard "peas," my first instinct was to minimise. And minimising other people's weather is a form of harm. I see that now. I'm doing the work.

A spokesperson for Karori, Bronwyn off the Facebook group, told me the peas were "properly aggressive, Dave, not your nor'west bullshit," and honestly? She's right. Wellington hail is its own lived experience and it's not my place as a Cantab chippie to gatekeep frozen rain.

To the people of Karori — every dented Demio, every shredded silverbeet, every nana who had to leg it in from the washing line — I am so sorry. I've let you down. I've let Macca down, and Macca's a good cunt who did not deserve to be associated with this.

I'll be back on the tools Tuesday. Or the Tuesday after. Links below for my new course on accountability, my pie sponsor, and a Givealittle for Bronwyn's tomatoes.