Issue 10 2011
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Is this the next world women’s surfing champion?
Charlie’s Story: A ‘60s surfing flashback Jay and Ashley’s wedding Graham Collier remembered Tale of Two Islands Lots of other stuff!
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PUBLISHING EDITOR
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Gray Clapham 90 Moana Road, Okitu Wainui Beach, Gisborne Phone 868 0240 Fax 867 7010 .................................. CONTRIBUTORS
Kelly Ryan, Cory Scott Norman Weiss, Maryanne Egan, Tess McCormick, Richard Smythe .................................. ALL LETTERS, ARTICLES & CORRESPONDENCE TO
info@beachlife.net.nz .................................. ADVERTISING
Gray & Sandy Clapham Phone 868 0240 Fax 867 7010 info@beachlife.net.nz .................................. COVER
Wainui Beach surfer girl Sarah Mason before she and her family left on a quest for the world women’s surfing crown.
Sarah Mason takes on world’s top women surfers. Jay and Ashley’s wedding pix.
community news 9-10
News from the Wainui-Okitu Community Group.
beach news 10-15 Dog control issues. Friends of Makorori. 1940s surf mishap revisited. Flashback to the 1950s and 60s when life centered around the Wainui Store.
the big story 16-21 CHARLIE’S STORY: Former Gisborne man and long-time surfer Richard Smythe gives us an unabashed memoir of what life was like before wetsuits and legropes.
beach life 22-27 Tamati’s visit to the Wanui surf club. A new batch of beautiful babies. Marg Hansen’s arty project. Bobby’s big snapper.
beach history 26-30 A TALE OF TWO ISLANDS: The story of Tuamotu island and it’s little sister Puakaiwai that was destroyed in the name of progress.
more beach life 31-33 Residents get together to protect our sand dunes. Sadly, an obituary for Graeme Collier.
beach people 34-38 Rachel King – stunt woman and actress. The Walker family enjoy business and pleasure. Richard Ralph – the man who saved so many lives.
beach travel 39-40 Dick and Prue Coates go offshore. Chrisse Robertson says kia ora aross Europe. Kim and Christine Gunness have a Mediterranean jaunt. Lynne and Malcolm Sheilds get high in Borneo. The Solomons go French in Quebec.
surfing 42 Historical photographs and assistance courtesy Tairawhiti Museum
Wave Rave with Kelly Ryan: Surf stories, big waves and other items of interest.
All BeachLife pages can be viewed online at www.beachlife.net.nz
BeachLife | 5
BEACHLIFE MAKES 10TH ISSUE ten issues in four years. surfing, history, celebrations and condolences. heaps of weddings and, amazingly, 50 new babies born.
IT BEGAN ONE DAY WHEN I HAD NOTHING ELSE TO DO. Why not see if I could resurrect BeachLife Magazine, the local newsletter I had orginally set up and published on-and-off in the early 1990s. Nothing to lose, even if I achieved just one issue, it would be a fun exercise. Unbelievably in hindsight I printed the first two issues on my office-sized Xerox printer. It took 24 hours of non-stop printing. Then followed six hours of collating and stapling. But when I realised I had really solid support from advertisers, I was able to justify having the magazine printed commercially. Over ten issues I’ve told a few stories. The first ‘big story’ was a comprehensive history and study of surfing in our local beach community. That went well, so I followed up with a 13-page general history of the beach area, right back to pre-European times. That was an incredible journey of discovery. The toughest nut to crack was the history of the Chalet Rendezvous where I went from knowing virtually nothing, to a further 13 pages of colourful revelation. And, of course the babies. In BeachLife’s short time we have welcomed 50 new babies into our small community. And we’ve tried to champion a few local issues – the cycleway, lowering speed limits, saving trees, the Makorori Monstrosity – with varying rates of success. The Wainui-Okitu Community Group carries on this work admirably and the rise of the Friends of Makorori was democracy in action. Thanks must go to Kelly Ryan who each issue has delivered on-time a well-informed, chatty round up from the surfing scene, backed up with New Zealand Surfing editor and photographer Cory Scott’s great photographs. Thanks must go to my daughter Heidi who helped me out while home from her travels recently but has now left me to it to live and work in Paris. Most of all, thanks must go to my wife Sandy who has been a ‘publisher’s widow’ through all ten issues. The last couple of them while bravely and uncomplainedly dealing with the ravages and uncertainties of breast cancer, from which she is only now recovering her health and fitness. I also need to say how real this publication became when people in this community, that I knew and admired, died on ‘BeachLife’s watch’. It was sad to see old ‘Salty’ Hawthorne fade away, and Graeme Collier in this issue – but none more so that my good friend Ian ‘Snow’ Francis who died while surfing in Aussie just over a year ago on August 3, 2010. If nothing else has been achieved, BeachLife is in his memory. G GRAY CLAPHAM/PUBLISHER 6 | BeachLife
Surf girl aims high sarah mason (16) eyes the global surf crown after a 3rd place in a star event. SHE’S IS LITERALLY THE GIRL NEXT door and she has a plan to be the women’s world surfing champion in the very near future. Little Sarah Mason from Wainui Beach – she stands just 152cm high – is already the 10th-rated female surfer in the world after a successful autumn campaign in Europe. On June 4 she won the Swatch Girls Pro France Junior 2-star event and then backed that up a week later by coming third in the ASP 6-Star Estoril Surf and Music Billabong Girls Pro in Portugal. This was her best ever career result in an ASP Star (6-star) event. She was knocked out in the semi-finals by event winner Courtney Conlogue who is currently No.1 in the world rankings. Receiving 2080 ranking points Sarah is now within contention to qualify for next year’s elite ASP Women’s World Tour. “It’s the best result I have had in a Star event so I am quite happy with the result. The conditions were really tricky so it was just a matter of who got the waves.” In the quarter-finals Sarah defeated Sage Erickson (USA) who is currently ranked at No.2 in the world. With a determined plan to assist Sarah into the elite of women’s surfing the Mason family have gone back to live in Coolangatta for the winter so dad Chris can work at shaping surfboards to help fund Sarah’s travels to contests in Sri Lanka, Spain, France and Portugal to gain more valuable points. On the day we went to print (September 2) Sarah was in the quarter-finals of the Sri Lanka Airlines Pro, ensuring a place in the elite seeded top 17 of the Women’s Star tour for next season where prize purses of up to $US35,000 are on offer. It is within this group that the women’s world championship is decided each year. Do you really believe you can be the world women’s surfing champion? BeachLife asked Sarah: “Yes. Why would I doubt myself,” came the quick response. RIGHT: SARAH MASON ON THE BEACH AT OKITU.
BeachLife | 7
A Perfect Match nz surf champ jay marries tv presenter ashley cheadle in aussie. baby on the way. living at culbarra. jay doing well on the asp.
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THE NEW MRS ASHLEY QUINN, FORMERLY CHEADLE (SURFER LUKE CHEADLE’S SISTER), SAYS SHE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER AT THE MOMENT: “We are so happy, he is my best friend and a wonderful partner and of course the love of my life. Our wedding was beautiful, a perfect day! We kept it quiet, only close friends and family as we both know so many people. We kept it intimate. But we are going to have a second wedding celebration in Gisborne this summer for our friends who couldn’t come plus all my family are coming which is very exciting, so everyone will be together – and yes, I’m (six months along as we went to print) pregnant.” TOP LEFT: JAY AND ASHLEY WITH JAY’S PARENTS GARY AND PIP QUINN. BELOW: THE NEWLY WEDS OUTSIDE ST MICHAEL’S CATHOLIC CHURCH AT NOWRA, NEW SOUTH WALES
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AT TA C K O F T H E BOLLARDS II MOST OF US HAVE BECOME ACCUSTOMED TO THE BOLLARDS LINING the road and dune edges along Moana Road. They are not as offensive as the Makorori Monstrosity over the hill. Some feel that they add a nice visual touch to the area. Others do not like them at all. When all is said and done, they do help to keep cars, vans and trucks off sensitive parts of the dunes. But in so doing, they restrict access. Bollards II is now in the making. This phase is intended to run all the way to the surf club. Council staff want to avoid the negativity generated by the lack of community notification of the work on Bollards I. They are happy to do any or all of the following: Meet with interested residents en mass. Talk with you individually about your concerns (Peter Higgs or Jenny Allen at Council – 867 2049). Put a flyer in all Okitu letterboxes that detail the plans. Anything else any of you think might be helpful. Contact Norman (867 2790) or Peter (867 2049) with your preferences.
V I S I O N I N G F O R WA I N U I/O K I T U HOW DO YOU SEE WAINUI-OKITU 10, 20 EVEN 50 YEARS FROM NOW? Do you really care or are you happy just to “go with the flow?” The question has been asked before and some of you might say “not again!” However, the answers have never been put into a working plan. Do you remember Council introducing Plan Change 37 around the same time as the reticulation proposal? There was lots of community input, and most people liked what they saw. PC37 was aimed at recognizing the special character of Wainui/ Okitu, and how Council could put policies in place to preserve that character. But this plan was never adopted. We have been informed that PC37 is to be revisited by Council staff during 2012. There is also the proposed Wainui/Okitu Project. Any plan could and should be much broader than what has been proposed in the past. The Wainui/Okitu Residents and Ratepayers Association would like to get the plan process started. We want to do this with input from the whole community, not just our members. The aim is to develop a community plan for the future in partnership with Council. To provide some inspiration we have looked at other community plans – the Coromandel Peninsula Blueprint (www.coroblueprint.govt. nz/) and the Plimmerton Village Strategy. Porirua City Council have a partnership programme between council and communities to develop action plans to improve each community/village – see www.pcc.govt. nz/Community/Community-Projects/Village-Planning-Programme/ Plimmerton. The process starts by getting ideas and issues from the whole community. So, how to do this? Here are a few options: Small community brain-storming sessions – eg, a street BBQ or activity with a facilitator/recorder. A large community workshop with small groups similar to the Wastewater WOF meeting.
A short questionnaire in everyone‘s letterbox Pop your ideas down and email to info@wainuibeach. org.nz What sort of things should we be looking at? Well everything really: • Protection of outstanding features like Tuahine Point and Makorori Headlands • Identification of other features of local significance that need protecting • Roading, footpaths, street lighting, curbing etc • Section size, building height (close to the beach, away from the beach) • Zoning and development – location, intensity, open space, etc • Interface between coast and rural • Cycleways, walkways, reserves • Stream management • Vegetation – native verses exotic, landscape guidelines • Transport options • Making visitors and tourist welcome • Commercial development – where and what type if any • Public toilets • Beach access • Dune care/planting and beach protection • Storm-water management • Waste-water management • Dog control • Rubbish You might like to think about what attracted you to Wainui/Okitu in the first place and whether that still exists. What would you consider as non-negotiable if someone threatened to take it from your current environment? What other things would add to the special character of the area? If you thought of leaving, what would make you stay? What might put you off living here? So get those thinking caps on and we will be happy to receive any ideas. If anyone is keen to facilitate a small group in their street, let us know by emailing info@wainuibeach.org.nz or phoning Norman (867 2790) or Robyn (868 6669).
WA I N U I B E A C H M A N A G E M E N T IF YOU ARE A BEACHFRONT RESIDENT, YOU KNOW FIRST HAND THE issues around beach erosion. Some of you have also felt the pinch of Council’s targeted rate to fund beach protection works. A good portion of that money has been spent, but no actual works are in place. This has proved to have a polarising effect, with some for and some against. In 2004, Council put in place the Wainui Beach Management Strategy. It is intended to address all aspects of beach management south of the Surf Club. It is badly in need of updating and revision. Council staff deserve some credit. They want to do it right, with significant community engagement. They want our involvement in identifying and addressing the issues. The engagement process will start in September. Look for a flyer in your letterbox telling what the WBMS is, what the issues are and how you can be involved. You may contact Peter Higgs (867 2049) at Council directly if you want.
Supporting the Wainui–Okitu Community BeachLife | 9
Information on these pages provided by the Wainui-Okitu Community Group
www.wainuibeach.org.nz
Wainui-Okitu Community Group news continued: AGM AND MEMBERSHIP
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WE WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR MEMBERS FOR SUPPORTING THE Wainui/Okitu Community through their continuing membership in the Residents Association. It is that time of year again when $10 per person subs are due. You can pay in one of two ways: place it in the letterbox at 32 Douglas St or 37 Lloyd George Rd; or make a direct deposit to the Association ANZ account number 01-0641-0215837-00. Be sure to include your name with your subs. If you are not a member, we encourage and welcome you to join up. Phone Robyn (868 6669) or Norman (867 2790) for an application form. Our AGM is scheduled for Sunday 18 September at 4.00pm in the Wainui School Hall. We would love to see all of you (members and non-members) there.
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JO CALLIS AT COUNCIL SAYS HER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ONsite wastewater monitoring will go to the Environment and Policy Committee mid-September. It will include funding options – how to pay for retro-fits and inspections. It will be publicly notified late September and then opened for community consultation and submissions. This is something that will affect everyone out here. So pay attention. Joss Ruifrok at Council has been working on a catchment study of the Wainui Stream and says the report should be out soon. The main issues so far appear to be: the need for a flood hazard map to protect against inappropriate development; the lack of adequate drainage in parts of Lloyd George Road; the need to restore original stream capacity between Murdoch Road and Heath Johnson Park; and the need to regularly clear obstructing vegetation to increase capacity down stream of SH35. If you would like a copy of the report or its summary, phone Norman (867 2049).
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10 | BeachLife
CRAIG FROM THE RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION AND DAVID FROM THE Wainui Dairy are working on reinstituting the Surf Swap events. These were very popular last summer. There are a few kinks that must be worked out so that good relations with neighbours can be assured. If all goes well, look for Surf Swap this summer.
T-S H I R T S (W E A R W I T H P R I D E) THOSE CLASSY WAINUI/OKITU COMMUNITY T-SHIRTS WILL BE available for ordering at the Association’s AGM. Come along and have a look at the choices. Order a few in time for the summer. Kids sizes will also be available for order.
NEW CURBING WELCOMED DOUGLAS AND FRANCIS STREETS WILL GET A MAKEOVER TOWARD THE end of this year. It will include flush curbing and resurfacing of the streets. The edges of these streets deteriorate badly during wet weather. Some of the pot holes are huge and can be dangerous. They are definitely unsightly. There are times when Douglas and Francis Streets have a third-world feel and look to them. All of that is soon to be a thing of the past. Residents will also have the chance to get their driveways up graded by the contractors. Council will pay for the street and curbing, but not the driveways.
gisborne district council says wainui-okitu dog owners are the worst at ignoring bylaws
Dog control an issue that needs an airing MANY RESIDENTS ARE VOICING CONCERN over dog control – or lack of it – at Wainui Beach. One resident, who’s children have been attacked by local dogs, has asked for more education to make sure dog owners undertand their obligations under local laws. “My concern is regarding the lack of responsibility and understanding many dog owners appear to have in relation to their animals at Wainui Beach,” he writes. “Dogs are wonderful companions to many people, but there is a corresponding obligation and responsibility that comes with owning a dog which many owners seem not to understand – both in Wainui and the wider community. “I have two young daughters aged 8 and 11 years. Regrettably, both children have been the subject of attacks from local dogs in Wainui. In both cases, I was with them and was able to deal with the dogs. “In both of the above cases, the owners were adamant that their dog was a “safe dog” and they couldn’t understand what had happened. “I would like to see an article in BeachLife to help educate people regarding the inherent nature of their pet dog and their obligations under the law. “I would also consider it a part of being a good neighbour not to allow your animal to wander the neighbourhood ripping apart rubbish bags, defecating on the beach, parks and people’s properties.”
Beachlife asked the Gisborne District Council for the latest on dog control bylaws. GDC sent us the following information: “The law requires dog owners to keep control of their dogs at all times. Many problems arise because people do not manage their dogs properly. If at home the dog must be confined to your property. There are many reasons why this is important. “One of those reasons is territorial aggression. Dogs not confined to their property might think they “own” the footpath in front of their house or street they live in and will defend this area accordingly. This means that a child riding past a gateway or a person walking up the street could be rushed at by an Wainui Beach is an “leash free zone” where dogs can be walked unleashed at any time of the day or night – except on official school and designated public holidays, when they can be off leash only for the three hours between 6am and 9am. Weekends are not designated public holidays. aggressive dog; this is not safe. We know dogs naturally defend their territory so we need to make sure they know where their territory stops, “ GDC says, “If you are walking your dog it must be on a lead in most public places. There are some areas designated for off lead exercise. In these areas you must still carry a leash and your dog must be under verbal command (comes when you call it). It must be well socialised and not dog or person aggressive. “Wainui Beach is one of these areas – except during school and public holidays – where dogs can be walked unleashed.” A recent Sunday News article reported that last year, more than 2500 New Zealanders lodged claims with ACC after being bitten by dogs in the Auckland region. Canterbury was next worst with more than 1200 claims. ACC has paid more than $10 million to just under 50,000 dog bite victims in the past five years. Its figures are believed to give a more
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accurate picture of dog attacks, because only a quarter of such incidents are reported to authorities. In about 75% of attacks, the dogs are known to the victim. Babies were most at risk with the most admissions, followed by under-five, the Sunday News said. Wainui-Okitu Residents Association’s latest report also calls for better dog owner responsibility at the beach. “Out for a twilight walk in your garden or for a morning run on the beach? There is nothing worse than that squish under your shoe and the accompanying pungent aroma of doggie poos. It spoils everything,” reports chairperson Norman Weiss. Recently, there have been complaints about dogs doing their business on the beach and in any garden except their owner’s, he says. “This, along with the issue of uncontrolled dogs, has long been a sore point for many Wainui and Okitu residents. It is easy to be a dog lover and still not like dogs running freely and pooping where ever they choose. “The dog control officer at Council says that Wainui-Okitu dog owners are the worst in the district when it comes to keeping their dogs at home or on a leash when out walking. “They are also the most neglectful about picking up their dogs’ poops. In fact, some dog owners take their dogs for a walk so that they can poop anywhere other than at home. “Not only that, but most will not carry a baggy and a scooper along to pick up the poop and dispose of it. Many will just let it lie where the dog deposits it. “According to the man at Council, there are by-laws about owners controlling their dogs and picking up their poops. He said that if a local reports a dog owner for doing one of the above misdeeds, he will have a chat with the offender. And there would be no mention of who reported it. “But it is really all about consideration for others and taking responsibility. Most dog owners are considerate and responsible,” he says. G
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Barristers | Solicitors | Notary Public BeachLife | 11
Friends rally to the call a show of community spirit as enthusiastic crowd lends a hand at makorori point MAKORORI BEACH HAS MANY FRIENDS! THIS WAS PROVEN with a huge turn out of over a 100 people for a public planting and beach clean-up day in early August. The event came about after the installation of a guard rail safety fence along Makorori Hill caused a public outcry and saw the fomration of a concerned group of beach-users. This volunteer group, Friends of Makorori, has been working with the New Zealand Transport Association, Gisborne District Council and Maori landowners to improve and beautify the area, starting with the planting behind the guard rail and a general beach clean-up. Throughout the Saturday, volunteers cleared a massive 1.63 tonnes of rubbish from the area and planted around 750 plants down the hillside along the guard fence, the Gisborne Herald reported. “It was fantastic – an amazing day,” said Friends of Makorori spokesman Brent Mitchell. Local businesses donated their products and services to help with the clean-up and planting, as well as providing food for a barbecue lunch prepared by Wainui Lions. The clean-up went throughout the day while a near ‘perfect’ surf broke relentlessly and teasingly along Makorori Point and associated breaks. New Zealand Transport Agency staff were on site for the clean up to manage the highway with ‘stop-go’ signs so the area could be easily accessed. Principal asset manager Gordon Hart said he was delighted the NZTA and the community had reached such a positive and constructive solution, following public concerns about the appearance of a safety barrier that was installed earlier this year. “This is a real win-win outcome that will help to keep this road safer while still maintaining the natural beauty and heritage of this nationally significant surf beach,” he said. Mr Mitchell said following the success of the first event, the Friends of Makorori would plan more working bees in coming months. “It was such a successful day, people were really enthusiastic and into it. Now we want to keep the momentum going.” The safety barrier has been removed from the lookout area at the top of the hill and will soon be replaced with a ‘natural’ stone structure. G
INGRID SEARANCKE AND JUNE WADE REPRESENTED THE TANGATA WHENUA.
ROSS CHALMERS, HAYDEN NOTTINGHAM, PETER BEUTH AND MARK SALISBURY WERE AMONG THOSE KEEN TO LEND A HAND.
MARK HELLESOE WITH JOHN THORESEN AND JUSTIN FERRIS.
DARRYL MALLETT WITH 19 MONTH OLD CHLOE GOT INTO THE GARDENING. 12 | BeachLife
KEN HUBERTS, EVAN BOWIS, JIM MILNE AND GREG HARMON ON THE BARROW.
Old poem recalls Wainui surf mishap
PA I P O B O A R D R E V I VA L
EMAIL TO BEACHLIFE MAGAZINE FROM TIM BAYLEY OF Nelson: “I was just doing some research into our family history. My dad joined the NZ Air Force in 1939 at the outbreak of WW2 and was shipped out to be based at Gisborne in the early ‘40s, so mum lived there for a while and my eldest brother Mike was born there in ‘42. Our granny, Kathleen Anderson, went up to visit her daughter (my mum) in Gisborne in early ‘43 when dad was away in the Pacific islands and apparently went to stay at Wainui Beach. The poem below was written by granny after a nasty accident she had while “surfing” at the beach which saw her needing care in Chelsea Hospital.” Have you heard of little Kathleen and of how she came to stay, In a cottage at Wainui on a breezy summer day. The waves were looking lovely and she thought that she would take, A surf board in the water and the grade be sure to make. But alas the waves came pounding and sent Kathleen up on high, With the surf board diving downwards and her bottom to the sky. I’ve heard tell of many colours and the wearing of the green, But they’re nothing to the colours that on Kathleen’s legs were seen. So they took her up to Chelsea in an ambulance so fine, With a Scotsman for a driver and a V.A.D. devine. And she lies there like a lady and the sisters passing through, Take her temperature so kindly that she’s far from feeling blue. Her many friends in Gisborne sent fruit and lovely flowers, And Mrs Kahlenberg a book case to while away the hours. She has visits from her husband and Joan and Michael too, Dr Kahlenberg is kind as kind though his pencil’s rather blue. The nurses come with cups of tea and offers of a pan, And Matron offers chocolate if she’ll eat up all she can, Faith she’s sorry she went surfing and can’t now lie in the sun, But Chelsea has her grateful thanks for all that they have done. “Granny travelled home by ambulance I think. However I’m having trouble seeing my Granny who was a 6’ 1” Irish lass on a surf board! We were wondering what kind of surfing this would be in 1943? Not stand-up I guess as that didn’t really start until the late ‘50’s?” wrote Tim. BeachLife’s team of researchers and historians (yeah right!) has made rigorous enquiries. Women’s surf life saving stalwart June McGregor cannot recall the incident itself but suggests ‘Granny’ could have been surfing on one of those wooden ‘body boards’ that were all the rage at the time. The design was a flat piece of wood rounded and curved upward at the front and scalloped where it snuggled into the rider’s stomach. About a metre or so long they provided buoyancy and helped swimmers launch themselves down the face of the waves which were surfed prone with the board held out in front. Chelsea Hospital staff, while intrigued by the enquiry, could find no records dating back to 1943 that could shed any more detail on the incident. Our research into the history of the early surfboards led us to the Museum of British Surfing in North Devon. The photograph above was sent to us by Pete Robinson who founded the museum in 2003. The Museum of British Surfing has the most extensive and historically significant collection of vintage surfboards, literature and memorabilia on public display and for academic research in Europe.
PHOTO SUPPLIED BY MUSEUM OF BRITISH SURFING
how granny ended up in chelsea after wainui wave dumped her on the sand
NOT GRANNY ANDERSON HERSELF, BUT A COUPLE OF EQUALLY PLUCKY LADIES SHOWING THE DESIGN OF THE SURFBOARDS POPULAR IN THE ‘40S. Pete Robinson wrote: “The picture shows the late Pat Chadwick (left of photo) with a friend on the beach in Newquay in 1955. Pat was my wife’s grandmother and was a London showgirl who used to travel with her colleagues to Cornwall to surf on their wooden boards.” The Museum is a registered charity and has established itself as the national body responsible for looking after Britain’s rich surfing heritage that dates back more than two centuries. The museum has a magnificent website at www.museumofbritishsurfing.org.uk. We also thank Sally Parkin for her assistance in tracking down a photo to illustrate this article. Sally runs The Original Surfboard Company, based in Devon, which spearheads a huge revival of interest in the original wooden boards. More at www.originalsurfboards.co.uk where boards can be ordered online and shipped to New Zealand. “At The Original Surfboard Company we’re on a mission to preserve and revive the traditional British-made wooden surf boards and the art of surf riding,” says Sally. The World Bellyboard Championships, held each year at Chapel Porth in Cornwall, has helped to revive a nostalgic interest as a sport. An inaugural event was held in 2002 with about 20 entrants and in the last few years it has attracted international media attention and more than 150 competitors from across the world to each event. The revival is based on the ancient Hawaiian ‘paipo’ (paipo meaning short or small board). In Hawaii people learnt the art of riding prone on these short wooden boards before they attempted to stand up on the longer ‘alaia’ boards. FOOTNOTE: If any readers have photographs of an old wooden ‘body board’ as described above, please let us know. The editor has a vague memory of wooden body boards being made as part of the woodwork classes at either Gisborne Intermediate or Boys’ High schools. G
BeachLife | 13
annie’s place: a nostalgic review of life at southern wainui in the 1940s and 50s
The night old Annie’s store caught fire and other stories from those ‘good old days’
IN I968 A FIRE WAS A SOCIAL EVENT IN GISBORNE, SO WHEN ANNIE HODGSON’S WAINUI STORE CAUGHT FIRE HALF THE TOWN TURNED OUT TO WATCH. NOTE THE CONSTABLE LOOKING OUT FOR POTENTIAL LOOTERS. A KEROSENE HEATER STARTED THE FIRE IN THE SHOP’S LIVING QUARTERS.
Looking back through an archived issue of the first incarnation of BeachLife Magazine from 1996 we read with interest and amusement an article written by BEV CARSWELL of Murphy Road about her early memories of the south end of Wainui Beach during the 1950 and 60s. The story paints such a colourful picture of life at the beach 50 years ago that we asked Bev to continue the story to provide us with more memories on the early days. BeachLife has edited the two articles together to paint a rare and descriptive picture of Wainui Beach with its center, the Wainui Store. Beverley Bodle arrived at Wainui Beach as a toddler in 1945 when her father, Hugh Bodle, came from Havelock North with his wife Bunny to open the Gisborne branch of Reliance Tyres. ONE OF MY FIRST MEMORIES IS SITTING on an old form and swinging my tiny feet outside the old Wainui Store waiting for the rickety ‘Peanut Bus’ to deliver my siblings from school. Old Rollo Hodgson would come and check that I was still there, offering me the odd sweet from the shop’s lolly jar, while behind him a caged parrot screeched as customers entered the premises. Across the road was a sandbank and on the corner was a corrugated tin shed facing the old Stock Route, from where Mrs Firth sold ice cream in the summer months. On the beach side of the old shop was a solitary petrol pump which stood in front of a sand hill which hid a car shed and a sort of store house. The shop was owned by Annie Hodgson, an English woman in her 50s. Annie lived at the back of the Wainui Store premises with a stream of cats and her husband Rollo. Her skinny sister, Mary Wilson, would come each day to visit Annie. She would bike from Tamarau, where she lived with her oversized husband, who was always perched on his seat on his verandah with its lop-sided roof. Annie’s regular customers were Winnie Lysnar, accompanied by her Alsatian dog in her white Morris van; Arnold Butterworth, a tall willowy man with his grey beard who drove an old wooden truck. And the Cook brothers, Bill and George, who walked by tilting their hats in acknowledgement with their sugar sacks 14 | BeachLife
thrown over their shoulders. Also her friend Hazel Stevens from Cooper Street. Winnie Lysnar’s little van would pull up, her Alsatian dog in the back, with no one daring to get too close to it. She would be on her way to the riding school in the paddock next to the hall. Later on, one Sunday a month, Miss Lysnar organised a youth group for us high school students. It would start at 5pm with tea – bring a plate – and then a couple who ran a dance studio in Gisborne, Charlie and Doreen Fitness, would teach us how to waltz. On Monday nights Mrs Paddy Tonkin from the Okitu Store, who was a nurse based in Fiji during the war, would teach us St John’s first aid. The paddock next to the hall paddock sometimes hosted the Wainui sports and gala days with the old army barracks becoming an ice cream and soft drink kiosk for the spectators, at the back of the hall. Rows of long-drop toilets were on the left hand side of the hall, and the cats’ and pets’ graveyard under the trees. Annie and Rollo Hodgson had no children but there was a nephew and a niece in England, who visited later down the track. I can remember when I was about eight years old, being shown to my horror, Annie’s mastectomy scar – from bust, shoulder and down the length of the arm. “And I am still here eighteen years later,” she retorted. She was a darling lady, always cheerful and
always with a story or a yarn to spin. Her legs were always bandaged, the reason I do not know. At the shop entrance was a showcase window, where the odd cat slept. Once, at Easter there was a huge, faded chocolate Easter egg about a metre round, brought out from England, surrounded by smaller Easter eggs wrapped in coloured tinfoil. At the entrance of the shop on the left hand corner was the post office. The shop‘s counter surrounded the room, with the post office and bank on the left, with it’s wall of shelved compartments where she sorted the mail. The ice cream counter was situated at the front of the shop with shelves of tin products behind. Directly opposite the entrance was a glass counter full of liquorish sherbets, marshmallow eskimos, coloured jubes, liquorish straps, peppermints, spearmint leaves, pineapple chunks, liquorish tar babies, candy cigarettes, barley sugars, orange cushion lollies and blackballs. Then down the right side a counter held a roll of white paper to wrap the bread in which was delivered straight from the bakery. At the back, (where the take away area is now) fresh farm eggs in trays were set aside. Down the aisle were sacks of flour, potatoes and sugar – with cats sleeping on top of them. Annie’s specialty was her home-made, delicious, hokey-pokey iceblocks. And I believe Rollo had his own secret home-made side line. On Saturday nights, dances were held at the
Wainui Beach Community hall, (now Saint Nicholas Church). Early on Sunday mornings the local children would rise early and gather all the empty beer bottles and sell them to Annie so they could buy an assortment of sweets and ice blocks. The beer bottles were stacked at the side of the store and sometimes were pinched and resold back to Annie for more treats. She was onto this racket, but she loved kids and never let on. A dare game, which someone created, was to see who could get into the shop and pinch a packet of chewing gum from the front counter, before the pet parrot screeched: “Shop Annie!” Of course no one succeeded. Next to the shop were empty paddocks and then Phelps’ house, and over the road the Settlers’ Hall where 21sts and dances were held. On the corner of Oneroa and Murphy roads, Des Phelps’ logging trucks would be parked on the grass verge. Murphy Road had long grass and lupin bushes growing along both sides till Cooper Street. Nan Phelps’ little house was set back in the next paddock, surrounded by lilies and fruit trees. The rest of the blocks were empty paddocks where the children rode their horse, Whitiwhiti, and where there was the odd sheep or two. On the opposite side was our own home surrounded by a large ditch and boxthorn hedges. Next to us was Mr Chong who drove a green wooden truck to take his veges to market. At Cooper Street, the right hand block was Mr Stevens’ with his large vegetable garden that almost went to Pare Street. Then there were the Peppers, Hopkins and Bill and May Ferris with their gardens on the right of Murphy Road, down to King’s Creek. This was named after the King family who lived on the left of the bridge. Costains were on the right of the bridge – where the ducks wandered. The creek was clean enough to play in and catch eels. Over the bridge was where Miss Jackson’s horse slipped and staked itself and had to be destroyed. The Cook brothers used to walk their cows down Murphy Road to be milked where Cleary Road is now. Chooks roamed there too. After they had sold their cows the Cooks would walk their sheep to graze there for the day. Across the road the Brights lived in the twostoreyed house where Sutters now live. In Lloyd
ANNIE HODGSON AT THE SCENE OF THE WAINUI STORE FIRE. NOTING THE PORTRAIT OF WINSTON CHURCHILL THAT SURVIVED THE FLAMES, ANNIE SAID “IF HE CAN OUTLAST THE FIRE, THEN SO CAN I.” George Road at the beach end were baches where the Holdsworth and Swindell families stayed. On the other side of the road was where Timmy Kiwi’s little house stood in the far paddock. The Ferris family had strawberries, and at the end of Lloyd George Road, on the right hand side, lived tall Nana Ferris with her white mop of hair, always pleased to see you and ready to offer milk and cookies. There were only baches on the beach side of Murphy road – some made from old army huts – paddocks and the Maori cemetery. Tuahine Crescent had houses – Rhodes’, Mrs Brooks’, the Milliner’s, Gully’s, Cave’s. Mrs Bellerby was in the big red house armed with binoculars ready to tell you off if she saw you talking to the boys instead of delivering the papers. In those days groups of us children would rise at 6am to wander to the old lighthouse, passing caves and the old lighthouse base, exploring the rocks then returning home with paua and kina. Our mums knew where we were and never worried, as they knew we would never venture where we shouldn’t. It was safe in those days because everybody knew each other. One night, at about 7pm, in the late 1950s the Annie’s store caught on fire, The cause, a kerosene heater. In the usually quiet
neighbourhood, everyone came to witness the excitement. As they rushed to save things my brother Rodger was handed a heavy bag. (Rodger today admits he checked the contents and to his amazement it was full of hundreds of gold sovereigns. The whereabouts of the sovereigns became an unsolved mystery after Annie’s death.) A bath was carried out full of newspapers and magazines. While all this was happening, there sat Rollo on the form outside, downing a bottle of rum. All recorded in the Photo News. Annie sold her shop and on June 15, 1959, and was given a farewell party in the community hall. Many years later I visited Annie in her Stanley Road home over the way from the Gisborne Girls High School. We shared a cup of tea and she showed me her collection of coins. There on her table were crowns, shillings, pennies, half pennies and farthings. Some dating back centuries. Crowns with Mary and William of Orange, Queen Elizabeth the first, Queen Anne. I believe she left the collection to the Wellington Museum. I was fortunate in that she gave me a gift to remember her by – an ancient Roman coin. Sadly I can’t recall when Annie or Rollo died. But you can be assured that all who met them have their own fond memories. G
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WINTER DAYS AT THE POINT. THE WATTIE’S NIGHT SHIFT. EGG FIGHTS AT THE COSY CORNER. THE ‘68 NATIONALS. FIRST TRIP TO NOOSA HEADS. LOOKING BACK ON A SURFING LIFE.
THE PHOTO THAT STARTED IT ALL. ‘CHARLIE’ (LEFT) AROUND THE FIRE AT MAKORORI IN 1966 WITH ‘PROTO’ AND BILL CAREY.
CHARLIE’S STORY WORDS BY RICHARD SMYTHE
THE PHOTOGRAPH ABOVE OF THREE young men huddled around a winter fire on Makorori Beach has been used several times to illustrate the early years of surfing in Gisborne. Such is the reach of the internet these days that one of the trio – Richard ‘Charlie’ Smythe (on the left) spotted the photograph on beachlife. net.nz.
now. I’ve lived in Noosa Heads since 1974. The photo would have been taken around ‘66 or ‘67 – we were probably 16. Yes, it was damn cold without wet suits, that’s where the fire on the beach came in. Sometimes we camped out there and the fire went all night but we got the first waves at dawn.”
“I’m the guy on the left with the rippling six-pack that I’m sure is still under there somewhere waiting to burst forth again. The guy in the middle is Ian ‘Proto’ Steed. On the right is Bill Carey, who lives in Mooloolaba
Inspired, BeachLife asked ‘Charlie’ to continue his story – providing a rare account of long-lost days at our local beaches and an insight into the beginnings of our local surfing culture.
16 | BeachLife
BEACHLIFE HAS ASKED ME TO PUT down a few memories of the early days of surfing in Gisborne. The editor asked me a lot of questions – when we started, who did we surf with, how we travelled, camping at Maka, any mischief? So this tale will sort of follow his line of questioning. I was part of the second wave of Gisborne surfers. I started in early 1964, a few years after the older guys like Kevin Pritchard and John Logan, who featured in the surfing history story in an earlier issue of BeachLife. After a year or so, around 1966, the older and younger surfers pretty much blended. With the small number of surfers back then
WITH THE SMALL NUMBER OF SURFERS BACK THEN EVERYONE KNEW EACH OTHER AND THERE WAS NO AGGRESSION IN THE WATER. everyone knew each other and there was no real aggression in the water – although somehow Allan Byrne always caught the biggest and best waves – his water sense was uncanny. We all surfed amicably and had a lot of good times in, and out, of the water. If you weren’t on the receiving end, I guess raw egg ambushes down by the Cosy Corner (beach end of Grey Street) constituted a good time. Naively we thought the girls would be attracted to us given this attention. We thought the same about beer fights at surf parties. We were young, with “maturity” a vague, inconceivable concept to be confronted a long way in the future. Perhaps one example of surf-related deviousness back then was the daily, early morning radio broadcast “Surf Report” phoned in to Radio 2ZG. This job was loosely delegated to whoever offered to get up the earliest, travel to all the local breaks at dawn and phone back a summary to Dave Burns of the Boardriders Club or directly to the radio station. Being able to tell outright lies with a straight face also helped. It took quite a while for the rookie surfers to twig – “Roberts Road is the best surf going today” actually meant, to those in the loop, “Wainui and Maka are pumping”. On obtaining my driver’s licence on my 15th birthday the surf horizon widened significantly. I would pick up Allan Byrne from Awapuni Road – he was then 14 – and we would drive down to Mahia and paddle out to surf breaks that then had no names and no other surfers within a hundred miles. A particularly memorable day back then was surfing The Island (Tuamotu off Sponge Bay) with Chris Ransley and Bob Clay. The swell had to be big for the breaks to work. We didn’t have leg-ropes then, so if you fell off your board would wash up a long way ahead as the wave petered out over deep, dark water. Scary stuff given the legend of giant octopi dwelling down there (presumably started by the first guys to surf the island). Plus mako sharks were
also supposed to be prevalent. After a long and enjoyable session on great waves we started paddling back to Sponge Bay. Two sharks began circling us, getting closer on each circuit. I clearly recall Bob furiously paddling, burying his arms in above his elbows. Chris was barely making a ripple as his hands quickly flicked the surface. Sensing their fear, I selflessly positioned myself between the two so as to be able to assist either should there be an attack. After a couple more loops the sharks lost interest and we made it back. EVEN WHEN I WENT OFF TO UNIVERSITY in Auckland in 1968, every holiday break was spent back in Gisborne surfing with my old mates. Working the night shift at Watties cannery from 6pm to 6am, seven days straight, meant I got a lot of surf time. After knocking off work at dawn I’d often be the first on the waves at Waikanae, Roberts Road or The Pipe. Or I’d go out solo at Stock Route or Makorori. Dumb in hindsight but we were all bulletproof then. And times were more innocent – my board sat on the car’s roof racks outside the canning factory all night and never once got pinched. One summer Brian Harrison came, stayed at my parents house and also did the night shift at Watties with me. Several times we finished work at 6am, surfed all day down at Mahia, then, without sleep, put in another 12 hour shift. We’d often camp overnight at Makorori, under the trees near The Point, below the steep face running up to the road. Four, six, ten in number – it varied with the surf prospects of the morning. We would sit around a fire, drinking Lemon & Paeroa, singing Ten Guitars, then lapse into deep philosophical discussion until wearily retiring to our sleeping bags around 8pm. One night (or morning) Bob Davie found a dead cat in the bush and put it on our fire. End of camping weekend!
Being well underage for drinking in pubs, it was good for our budding characters that the nearby Tatapouri Hotel would never let us in, nor sell us beer. But once we were of age (seventeen I believe it was back then) the Tata took on a different appeal. For a start, we were allowed on the premises and were actually served drinks. How many pubs are there that you can (or could) sit out on the lawn, step off onto sand and gather crayfish for supper from the shallows. The Gisborne Photo News of December, 1968, has a cover illustrating how easy life was back then. You could even haul them up pre-cooked. (See page 43.) Circles of wisdom, almost a brains trust, would form out there on the sunny lawn in front of the bar, as we deeply probed the mysteries of life and the universe, surrounded by wholesome family activities. Some of those less chaste amongst us graduated to buying whole jugs of Lemon & Paeroa. Sometimes sugar levels from the amount of all that soft drink got a bit high for some and wayward cars behaved erratically on the way home, resisting all efforts to keep out of hillside ditches. Much later, around the summer of 1980, I came over from Australia with my family and camped at Pouawa for four weeks in an uncle’s caravan. With our then two little ones it was a fantastic time. Unfortunately one day I had to go to the Tata to get milk for the kids. Bill Brown happened to be there, having stopped in for light refreshment to sustain his arduous business run up or down the coast. After three hours of catching up with “Brownie”, and many L&Ps later I returned to camp without the milk, but somehow my marriage survived. In 2002 we came back again and I visited the site of the then gone Tatapouri Hotel with our eldest son and his lovely Australian fiancé. Explaining the Tata to her, and the way of life that went with it was difficult – how do you convey what the Tata was to us back then?
BeachLife | 17
BUT LET’S GET BACK TO available in New Zealand. So, the ‘60s where we were all using Surfer magazines from evolving as “surfers” and where, California as a guide, she made from 1964, Gisborne individuals pretty cool shorts for many of and teams began winning at the guys. national championships. As a She also, with Jan Bull, result, the rest of the country crocheted bikinis for the girls, came to know that Gisborne with risqué results even by had great surf, a variety of today’s standards – the good old breaks and a consistency of days. (Perhaps they should have swell. The influx began. Surfers stayed at it – they’d be as big as came from all over. Surfing Billabong now). changed a bit – for both better Our cool custom boardshorts and worse. were unfortunately offset by Australian surfers started the striped football jerseys or arriving – mostly they were woolly jumpers we wore in okay guys and we learnt much winter to avoid being totally from them. Others were pushy, frozen. The only wetsuits believing they were better available were for diving and surfers (some were, many too thick for paddling. weren’t). Our cruisy wavePretty much every morning sharing attitude was subjected before school I would cycle to aggressive dropping-in and from Elgin to Midway with my wave-hogging. Animosity crept “10-ton” board (5-stringer, plus in. nose and tail block) towed on Incidents occurred – tyres a home-made trailer my dad were deflated, boards on car had made for me that attached roofs discretely untied, hubcaps to the back of my bike. The filled with malodorous matter. first roll under icy whitewater At my advanced age I cannot crushed your skull, then you recall the locals who were became numb and surfed on responsible for these heinous auto. reprisals. I rang Terry Byrne to A few months before turning see how his memory was on the fifteen I inherited a motor subject. After a wry chuckle, he scooter. The run to the beach SOMEHOW ALLAN BYRNE ALWAYS CAUGHT THE BIGGEST AND BEST WAVES ... HIS also remembered no names – I and back was much faster but WATER SENSE WAS UNCANNY. suspect senility has taken hold. also colder with the wind chill. I remember one more My loving mother would have uplifting sort of incident with an Aussie surfer. Shangri-La. a hot bath waiting for me and twenty minutes We’d been out at Roberts Road and this guy In time, quite a few of the Aussies (the immersed would elevate the blood flow (can’t remember his name) came over from his “okay” ones) stayed or came back, married sufficiently to enable me to head for school. car, plonked a crate of beer on the grass for all locally and became stalwarts of the Gisborne I bought my first surf wetsuit (O’Neil to share. He’d just been drafted for Vietnam, surfing community. Just as many of us went sleeveless) in Australia in 1969 and also one for was about to head home and wanted to say over and settled into the Australian surf Geoff Logan (plus Led Zeppelin LPs) – as you goodbye. community. still couldn’t buy them in NZ, or maybe they A few days later the newspapers were full of were too expensive. the story of this same guy leaping the barriers LOOKING AGAIN AT THAT PHOTOGRAPH Which leads to another editorial query at Ellerslie and racing the horses down the of the three of us boys on the beach at relating to “bunking” school to go surfing. final strait. The authorities were lenient given Makorori, BeachLife’s editor asked if we were Never! Well not for whole days. In the 5th and the circumstances. About twenty years later wearing school sports shorts to surf in back 6th form I had an extremely accommodating I recognized him at a pub in Noosa. He’d then.The answer is no. My girlfriend, Maria maths teacher, Neil Moss, who had us for the survived the war obviously, married a Balinese (and still my wife) started making boardshorts period before lunch. Many a time I would girl and was living there in his personal back then from sailcloth. There was nothing arrive at the mid-morning break with hair Laser Electrical thanks the many homeowners at Wainui Beach who have supported and trusted our electrical and air-conditioning services
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18 | BeachLife
still wet and sand on my feet (in jandals – as I in was on fire. We raced outside, saw the with Peter Goodwin who was then living in couldn’t wear shoes due to my board bumps) flames and thanked the lord we were not part Manly. Goody was one of the early Gisborne and all he would say was: “So you’re here – the of the debauchery. surfers who had developed his own smooth surf gone off has it? Done your homework?” The return trip to Wellington was and relaxed style, which reflected his laid-back I thanked him for this lenience at some stage uneventful, although we heard later that some attitude that I am told continues today. and he explained that if we went to university rival teams had egg-fights on the way and From here we set of on the Great Australian no-one would be making us attend classes sneaked onto the ferry hiding in car boots “Surfari”. Allan and I, Froggy and his and that at our age we were in control of our and on back seat floors covered with blankets, girlfriend, and a nomadic American surfer futures. Top advice and I thanked him again at trophies on top. Not us - we, the Gisborne (can’t remember his name) piled into Froggy’s a reunion ten years ago. team, had finally gained maturity beyond our panel van and we headed north. Also, in those senior years we were allowed years. We encountered flat or onshore conditions afternoons to take part in sports that were The ‘69 Easter Champs were held in New at every renowned break until we hit catered for outside the school. It started with Plymouth. There were again many interesting Angourie, just south of Yamba on the New golf and soon a few of us got surfing on the moments but one especially comes to mind. South Wales north coast, where it was six foot agenda. It was quite revolutionary for the day I’d been knocked out in whatever round and but lumpy. The editor raised an interesting point about long-time friend Jimmy Croskery (later of As we were checking it out, a black FJ the photo that started all this reminiscing – Surfboards Gisborne) turned up at the pub Holden pulled up and out stepped a short Proto, Bill Carey and I went to Campion, Boys’ that night. He’d been shaping for Gordon guy wearing a poncho and broad-brimmed High and Lytton respectively. That’s the way Woods in Sydney and had just returned home. black hat with a feather in it. It was Bob it was in the surfing McTavish, who had mix – the sledging and shaped for Bob Davie rivalries that used to back in Gisborne. We go on in the street and all went for a surf and at inter-school sports afterwards just watched faded away once we got as McTavish gave into surfing. an exhibition of the While free surfing capabilities of his latest took most of our time, shortboard design. the annual Easter We continued north weekend trips to the through Evans Head, New Zealand surfing Lennox, Byron then champs (when not in arrived at Coolangatta Gisborne) were usually where we pulled into eventful. We always the Kirra Surf Club did well as a team, and carpark to – no surf. individually, but things As we attempted occurred onshore that to leave the beach to THE GISBORNE CONNECTION REMAINS STRONG! CATCHING UP WITH TERRY BYRNE AND GEOFF LOGAN were also memorable. drive north we had a IN NOOSA THIS WINTER. (THE AUTHOR ON THE LEFT). mechanical breakdown, IN APRIL,1968, I travelled by train from Auckland to Wellington to join the team, who were driving down from Gisborne for the champs in Christchurch. A monster storm hit the area and the Cook Strait ferry “Wahine” tragically went down. The very next day we caught the ferry to Picton and sailed by on the “Aramoana” close to the “Wahine” which was stranded its side on Barrett’s Reef. We could see suitcases and other wreckage bobbing around in the water. It was terrible. On the way down from Picton the convoy stopped at Kaikoura for a surf at the point. It was freezing (no wetsuits then), with seals around us in the water. Most of us lasted about five minutes. Jim Carney from Auckland stayed out for about an hour! On the night before the comp began, four of us had our boards stolen off Dave Burns’ Volkswagen – Dave’s, mine, Terry Byrne’s, the other I can’t remember. We were riding Bob Davie trackers then, custom Allan Byrne models, and easily identified. In the morning we had to borrow boards for the first round. Miraculously our boards turned up in the dunes later that day. When the comp was over, we – holders of the team trophy and several individual titles – were quietly sipping our habitual evening L&Ps in our motel, when news came that the pub the other immoral teams were carousing
He decided to drive back to Gisborne that night and offered me a lift. We fully fueled up his parents’ red Mini Minor van – enough to get all the way back to Gisborne – and set off from New Plymouth around 10pm. I went to sleep, only to wake up at dawn still in sight of Mt Egmont and the car with an empty fuel tank. Jimmy had driven a full circuit around the mountain through the night and, still in Taranaki, we still had to drive all day to get back to Gisborne. (Jimmy later stayed with us in Noosa for several months in the early ‘70’s). A COUPLE OF WEEKS AFTER THOSE ‘69 champs, Allan Byrne (then 18) and I (19) made a trip to Australia and surfed from Sydney up to Noosa staying up there for several weeks. We first stayed at ‘Froggy’ Byrne’s parents’ house in Cronulla, South Sydney (no relation to Allan). Froggy shaped for Jackson Surfboards and was the current NSW Open Champ – hence we got to surf some great breaks and checked out some that were unridable and quite scary, like Voodoo and Sandshoes. Allan was entered in a contest at Palm Beach (North Shore of Sydney). It was tiny, just 1 to 2 foot surf, however Midget Farrelly showed his class and won. Nice guy. We also met up
the van’s steering was shot. Seeing our trouble, the head lifesaver came over from the Kirra clubhouse to see what what wrong. It was Ray ‘Greendags’ Greenway, who was one of the original Aussies who had lived in Gisborne for quite a while in the ‘60s. No mechanic shops open until morning, he told us. Five people sleeping – or endeavouring to – in a panel van in the Kirra car park was ‘intimate’ to say the least. Whatever sleep we had was rudely interrupted just after dawn by loud shouts and thumping on the roof and windows of the van. We had been warned to be careful once we hit Queensland that the cops were different up there, particularly one notorious individual based on the Gold Coast. Sure enough, there he was with a number of other uniformed policemen toting pistols surrounding the panel van. We were all frisked – Froggy’s well-endowed girlfriend receiving extended attention – then the van and all our luggage thoroughly searched. Being the clean-cut athletes that we were, they found nothing other than Allan’s 6-pack of L&P which was confiscated as a suspicious alien fluid. As we all had money in bank accounts, proving we were not vagrants, the frustrated head cop told us “surfy bums” to “get your car fixed and get out of my town today”. Welcome to Queensland! Obviously he BeachLife | 19
When we finally arrived in Noosa Heads the points came on from day one and held “ consistent at 4-6 foot for two weeks. Froggy and the American left after a few days and Allan and I had Ti Tree and National Park mostly to ourselves for hours every day. ” hadn’t graduated to planting evidence yet. Some years later someone with a grudge set a trap for him at a house in Maroochydore (Sunshine Coast). The bomb missed him but killed a little kid nearby. In the ‘87-‘89 Queensland Corruption Enquiry he was found guilty of significant corruption. When we finally arrived in Noosa Heads the points came on from day one and held consistent at 4-6 foot for two weeks. Froggy and the American left after a few days and Allan and I had Ti Tree and National Park mostly to ourselves for hours every day. When the “crowd” (another three or four surfers) arrived we would retire to the shore and come back to surf again on the next halftide. Meeting up with Allan a few years ago we realized that it was almost exactly 30 years since that trip and he still held that time in Noosa as one of the best surfing episodes ever. Having limited money, we would paddle over to uninhabited mangrove islands (now the super expensive Noosa Sound canal development) and catch fish for our meals. Inspired by the session at Angourie with McTavish, Allan made himself a new board while we were in Noosa. It was well over a foot shorter than what we had been riding and was at the time considered very radical. I tried it at National Park – it was as if you had stepped onto a circus tightrope. But after a while the board’s maneuverability gave a strong indication that waveriding was entering a new era. After setting up a deal with Hayden Kenny to export his foam blanks to New Zealand for Bob Davie, Allan headed home. I hitchhiked back to Sydney with an Aussie friend, fortunately surviving a very scary night ride with two maniac drunks on an inter-town pub crawl. Staying with an ex-Gisborne schoolmate, Andy Davy, I worked for three weeks to get money for the airfare home. My job – carton
unfolderer and stapler at the end of the Vok liqueur production line – totally convinced me to get back to studying for a vocation. ON RETURN FROM AUSSIE IN MID-‘69, everything fell back into place. After I had made an ‘honest woman’ of Maria in Gisborne in early December 1971, we lived for a time in a tent on Paul and Jan Bull’s lawn right on the beach near Roberts Road. I’d walk to Watties, do my all night stint, then walk back and get the early waves with Paul. A few weeks after Maria and I married in Gisborne we moved to Adelaide (January ‘72), as part of our plan to roam the planet, stopping for work as needed. Before leaving Australia I wanted to show Maria the Noosa I had told her about. We arived in mid ‘73, she fell in love with the place (it was a dot then compared to now.) We bought a block of land high on a hill overlooking Laguna Bay and moved to live there in January ‘74, intending to give the place five years before moving on. That plan was dashed by the pitter-patter of little feet. Our own itchy feet became nailed to the floor – it must have been something in the fresh Noosa air and water. We were trapped in paradise. Bugger! I started my own building design business on arrival (still going) with Noosa just starting to boom with the beginning of the great southern migration to the sun belt. I could surf at the best tides, work in between and into the night. Clients, many escaping the big cities, would turn up at my office barefoot in boardshorts or bikinis, and I was the same (in boardshorts). There were a few things missing that city life afforded but on balance the idyllic existence won out easily. Great for our kids growing up and now our two sons are back living here, giving their kids the upbringing they had, albeit not quite so
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laid-back and unpopulated as what they had experienced. I sense that Gisborne’s eastern beaches have much the same history and atmosphere. Without progress and building we couldn’t have lived here – I guess you can’t have it both ways. There is a Gisborne Day each year on the Sunshine Coast and it is amazing how many ex-Gisborne people live between Brisbane and Noosa, and also the Gold Coast. We went until about six years ago when we realised that, after over 30 years living here, we actually knew or had a connection with so few of the people now turning up. We used to get back to Gisborne every year or two, but now it seems mainly for weddings or funerals. While every now and then we see ex-Gisbornites who live in or around Noosa – usually out shopping, music events or the rugby when our younger son played, everyone is living their own lives, most with kids and grand kids like us. We see Terry and Di Byrne fairly often, enjoying significant birthdays, nice meals together and a few L&Ps that nowadays come with fancy labels. We don’t reminisce too much about the old surfing days but we do remember that we had it damn good. G
The writer Richard Smythe is an ‘almost published author’. A novel he wrote 20 years ago was favoured to be published by Collins until Rupert Murdoch bought the company and declared there would be no new authors. He is currently working to have a sequel to this book self-published on the internet. BeachLife has previewed the action-packed work of fiction and is highly impressed.
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A song for Makorori Toby White – also known as the “Mayor of Makorori” – was a colourful identity who played a big role in the life and times of Makorori Beach for several decades. Mr White and his wife Ruth lived in an equally colourful beachside bach, festooned with crayfish pots, and other flotsam and jetsom, overlooking the lagoon along the middle section of Makorori village. As president of the Makorori resident’s association he had a great interest and enthusiasm for the well-being of his community. He kept a siren on his balcony to alert residents of swimmers or boats in distress and in case of fire. At Christmas, dressed as Santa Claus, he would arrive at the beach in Keith McCullough’s boat from the Tatapouri ramp, to start the annual Christmas party to the delight of local children. Toby died in 1997, sadly to soon to see the eventual completed restoration of the Gisborne steam train Wa165, a project in which he was one of the original enthusiasts. In the April 1997 issue of BeachLife we noted Toby’s passing and published this song he wrote about his beloved Makorori, which was sung at many parties and barbecues along the beach before the turn of the millennium. We print the song here again in the hope it will be remembered – and maybe sung again. It appears to be to the tune of the Irish folk classic “Galway Bay” by Dr. Arthur Colahan (1947).
From my cottage on the hill at Makorori, I gaze upon the sea spread out below. And I think of the wonders of nature, From early morn until the sunset glow. The crayfish pots are bobbing in the sunlight, While fishing boats go gliding slowly by. The children on the beach are building castles, And surfers on their boards are riding high. At night I see the lights of far Wainui, A-twinkling in the sea across the bay. And I thank my lucky stars that I’m a dreamer, And have this paradise in which to play. For there are folks in far off bustling cities, Who think our eastern coast is out of reach. They should take the time to truly sample, The lazy days at Makorori Beach.
BeachLife | 21
tv one’s breakfast’s roving weatherman tamati coffey drew a huge crowd to the surf club.
NEW ZEALAND TELEVISION WEATHERMAN AND PRESENTER TAMATI COFFEY AND THE RUGBY WORLD CUP ROAD SHOW HAD HUNDREDS OF LOCALS UP BEFORE THE SUNRISE IN JULY FOR A FESTIVE MORNING AT THE WAINUI SURF CLUB.
JUNIOR LIFEGUARDS ASHLEY DONALDSON, JASMINE SMITH, JACK VIRTUE, JOSEPH PUDDICK, BEN MCCULLOCH, JONTY LOW AND ADAM GRIMSON BRAVED THE WINTER WATERS.
“MUMS” JENNY VIRTUE, ANNA THORPE, TRACEY LOW AND LISA COLLER KEPT THE BBQ GOING.
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22 | BeachLife
GOOD MORNING FROM STEPHANIE COLLIER, ISABELLA COLLIER, STELLA SMITH, REBECCA COLLIER, LILY ALTON, NOAH COLLLIER AND GEORGE THORPE.
Robbo’s birthday celebrated in style
RAMA ROBERSTON WAS AT HAND TO HELP HIS MUM CHRISSE ROBERTSON CELEBRATE HER 60TH BIRTHDAY IN LATE AUGUST WITH A BIG GATHERING OF FRIENDS AT HER MOANA ROAD HOME.
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WELCOME AND bienvenido TO OUR NEWEST BATCH OF BEACH BABIES!
SIMON HENDERSON (FROM HAMILTON ORIGINALLY) AND PARTNER MARIANA OXILIA (FROM ARGENTINA) ADDED TO THE WAINUI MELTING POT WITH THEIR 7LB 13OZ BABY BOY FELIX JOAQUIN OXILIA-HENDERSON ON JULY 6. THE SURFING COUPLE, WHO MET IN THE UNITED STATES, HAVE BEEN LIVING AT WAINUI BEACH FOR THE PAST FIVE YEARS.
JAGO (PRONOUNCED JAY-GO WHICH IS CORNISH FOR JACOB OR JAMES) RIVER GANDER WAS BORN ON EASTER DAY, APRIL 24 AT HOME ON MURPHY ROAD TO PHOEBE AND TIM GANDER, RATHER UNEXPECTEDLY, 2 MINUTES AFTER THE MIDWIFE HAD JUST LEFT! HE WAS 6LB 11OZ. ALMOST A POUND LIGHTER THEN HIS BIG BROTHER SENNEN.
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SAFIA ISABELLA GIBSON WAS BORN ON MAY 26 TO FIRST-TIME PARENTS MARTY GIBSON AND ANUYA DESHPANDE. A SEVENTH GENERATION GISBORNE GIRL, SAFIA HAS ALREADY DONE HER O.E. IN LONDON, WHERE SHE MET ANUYA’S FAMILY AT HER BROTHER’S WEDDING, THEN STARTED A RIOT AND CAME HOME. ANUYA CAME TO GISBORNE FIVE YEARS AGO TO DO A LOCUM FOR MARTY’S FATHER BRIAN AND ENDED UP HAPPILY SETTLING HERE. MARTY IS THE EAST COAST CANDIDATE FOR UNITED FUTURE IN THIS YEAR’S ELECTION. 24 | BeachLife
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CARL CAIRNS AND ROSIE HANSEN.
MARG HANSEN WITH THE PAINTINGS OF HER AUNTIES.
marg hansen unveils the artistic fruits of a family research project FRIENDS AND FAMILY GATHERED TO SEE WHAT MARG Hansen’s invitation to a “Nunties” afternoon was all about. As it turned out Marg was unveiling an artistic triptych tribute to her two aunties – her father’s sister and her mother’s sister – who coincidentally were both nuns. “This set of three paintings began because both my father and my mother had sisters who were nuns. So I called these aunties, “nunties”,” says Marg. “They were amazing people and had very interesting lives. But of course, as nuns, they had no children or grandchildren to remember them. I kept thinking that we knew them as our aunties, our kids know about them, but their kids won’t know them at all. I wanted to honour them in some way so they wouldn’t be forgotten. “As well, the orders of nuns they belonged to are dieing out. Most of the nuns remaining are very old and new people aren’t joining, so the world will not see their like again. “In my mother’s house, their photographs kept looking at me. So I decided to make portraits of them and to do it in a Catholic influenced icon style. “This work is very different from what I usually paint. I am usually interested in light, especially as it works in my environment of sea and sky. I don’t do realistic, I don’t do portraits and I don’t paint using photographs for reference or to copy. But I did for the nunties.” “One of my nunties, Marie, spent a lot of time teaching in Tonga, so for her I’ve used Pacific icons. For Elizabeth, I’ve brought out our Irish heritage, including a shipwreck on the Hokitika Bar as her grandmother came from Ireland in the Gold Rush. “Making portraits always affects the artist carrying out the work. The act of making these portraits led me to explore many aspects of our family story, the Catholic church, adoption laws, guardian angels, the politics of hair and gender, and many other small researches that informed the work. “It’s taken a good six months and has been all consuming. I could write a book about what I’ve found out. And I might.” G
26 | BeachLife
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RO DARRALL CELEBRATED HER 60TH BIRTHDAY RECENTLY IN GOOD COMPANY WHICH INCLUDED HER CHILDREN, DARNELLE AND ROBSON.
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PROOF THERE’S LIFE IN THE BAY YET BOBBY HANSEN AND BEN GALBRAITH PULLED UP THIS GIANT SNAPPER RECENTLY. IT WAS MEASURED FROM TAIL TO LIP AT 890CM AND ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN 27 AND 30 POUNDS (AROUND 13KG). RESPECTING THE OLD FISHES’ RIGHT TO AN EXISTENCE THE BOYS RELEASED IT BACK TO THE SEA.
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BeachLife | 27
PHOTOS COURTESY TAIRAWHITI MUSEUM
A TALE OF TWO ISLANDS
P
eople are often fascinated to find out there were originally two islands at Sponge Bay. For there was once an island known as Puakaiwai between Tuamotu Island and the shore, which was completely obliterated in the late 1890s. As usual, thanks to the proclivity of turn-of-thecentury photographer, William Crawford, there remains some black and white evidence of the lost island’s existence in local historical archives.
WILLIAM CRAWFORD’S TOP PHOTO SHOWS EARLY QUARRYING UNDERWAY AT PUAKAIWAI. THE INSET SHOWS THE DIMINISHING SHAPE OF THE DOOMED ISLAND.
A BRIEF ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE AREA WAS undertaken in 2005 by the Department of Conservation which tells us existing Tuamotu is a small Island of approximately eight acres on the western side of Sponge Bay, standing as a sentinel at the northern entrance to Poverty Bay. It comprises a single principal ridge rising to 36 metres above sea level and two secondary spurs extending to the north and west. The original shape and size of Tuamotu was significantly modified in late 19th and early 20th centuries by quarrying to provide landfill for the then developing Gisborne harbour. On Tuamotu the quarrying work has left a steep exposed face on the northwestern side of the Island and a low scrape on the north side of the Island. Nothing remains of the landward second island, Puakaiwai (also known as Papawhariki). The two islands were once connected to the mainland by a rocky shelf which was high and dry at low tide. This smaller island was quarried completely away. The rocky shelf that was once its base still provides walking access to Tuamotu at low tide. The demise of the tiny island began 1872 when Gisborne was officially gazetted as a port and plans were sought for the construction of a deep water harbour. By 1882 a plan was adopted to create a breakwater to provide a sheltered deepwater entrance to the Turanganui River. The plan called for Tuamoto and Puakaiwai islands to be quarried to provide the necessary building materials. After the Native Land Court awarded ownership of an area of land, known as the Papawhariki Block, to Hirini Te Kani and Edward Harris in 1886, the Gisborne Harbour Board obtained from the owners some 28 | BeachLife
three acres in Kaiti, five acres at Papawhariki (the mainland opposite Tuamotu) and the eight acres of Tuamotu Island itself. The land was taken under the Public Works Act 1882 and the Gisborne Harbour Act 1884. In December of 1886 a 6km rail line was constructed connecting a storage, or block yard, at Kaiti on the east bank of the Turanganui River to Papawhariki and across an embankment over the reef to Tuamotu Island. Contractors began the job of quarrying the two slands, separating the hard rock from the softer material on the surface, and shunting wagon loads back to the Kaiti yard. It is thought the tramway to Tuamotu went underwater at high tides. On Tuamotu the rail line branched to quarry faces on both sides of the island. Puakaiwai Island was entirely removed from the face of the earth during the early stage of the operation. It is estimated that some 67,895 cubic metres or rock was removed and transported to the port over a nine year period. Fortunately, for the sake of generations to come, the quarrying stopped in the mid-1890s. The locomotive and wagons were withdrawn from service, the tramway was dismantled at Papawhariki with the old railway lines dumped on the foreshore to rust. The lines were removed from Crawford and Wainui roads in 1895. However, respite was short-lived, for in 1905 the harbour breakwater was extended by a further 60 metres with the bulk of the stone coming from renewed quarrying at Tuamotu. This time a jetty was built on the island with the quarried material being transported by sea to the port in barges. The extension was completed in 1914 but further wharf development saw quarrying continue on Tuamotu in the early 1920s. Remnants of the jetty used in this era can still be seen at the island.
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MAP ARCHIVE COURTESY GRANT AND COOKE SURVEYORS
A diminished and scarred Tuamotu was then left alone for several decades, visited only by intrepid rock fishermen and adventurous day trampers taking advantage of the low tide reef connecting the island to the mainland point, which reverted to a marshy wilderness. However its peace was shattered yet again when, during the Second World War, it was used as a convenient target for bombing practise from the gun emplacement atop Kaiti Hill. Today we can look at Crawford’s early pictures of the area with a certain sense of loss. Islands of any size touch something spiritual and primevally sensitive in most of us. But our nostalgia today must be insignificant compared to the loss the original Maori inhabitants of the area would have felt and their descendants still may feel. Tuamotu was an occupied island in pre-European times, established as a defensive pa. At the time of Captain Cook’s arrival, there was a stronghold on the island with a palisade seen atop its summit. Structures on the island were noted in Joseph Banks diary in 1769. Cook’s artist, Sydney Parkinson, included the two islands in a sketch of the area. A Gisborne District Council report says at the time of Captain Cook’s visit the Ngati Oneone chief Rakaiatane’s son, Tuapaoa, lived on Tuamotu. It was his nephew, Te Maro, who was killed by THIS PLAN DRAWN IN 1887 SHOWS PUAKAIWAI ISLAND AND THE ROUTE OF THE RAILWAY FROM THE QUARRY Captain Cook’s sailors. STORAGE YARD ALONGSIDE THE RIVER HARBOUR AT KAITI VIA CRAWFORD, WAINUI AND SPONGE BAY ROADS. An archeological survey of the island THE LAND THE RAILWAY CROSSED HAS SINCE ERODED AND IS NOW THE SEA. carried out in 2005 states: “The defended summit is relatively small in area and likely served as a citadel-type defensive position during times of threat, woman of high rank related to Ngati Oneone chief, Rawiri Te Eke, and however extensive shell midden eroding from the southern terrace Te Eke’s son, Hirini Te Kani, who eventually saw the land pass into the suggests it was permanently occupied. Probable storage pits and house ownership of the harbour authorities through the native land court floors are evidenced on the summit.” machinations of the 1880s. The area was famous for its seafood, notably crayfish caught from the After the port abandoned its quarrying of Tuamotu in the 1920s the reefs, and paua. The coastal verge between what is now Gisborne and point at Papawhariki and the nearby island, although close to Gisborne Wainui was a coastal thoroughfare utilised by several local hapu. city, became a neglected wildland due to lack of easy access. As the By the time the early European traders and colonists arrived, it is stretch of hills between Kaiti Beach and Tuamotu eroded, as did the thought the island had become unoccupied. Trader J.W. Harris took beach from Sponge Bay to Papawhariki, steep cliffs fell directly to the sea control of the mainland at Papawhariki when he established a whaling and beach access became difficult. How much the removal of Puakaiwai station there in 1838. It is believed (J.A. McKay’s History of Poverty Bay) accelerated erosion in the area can now only be guessed at. that he traded the land from its Maori owners for a “mare in foal”. Adventurous Gisborne children found the wilderness of Papawhariki It was Harris’s son Edward Harris, from his marriage to Tukura, a magnetic and this writer can remember a time when the flat land on
IMAGE COURTESY GRANT AND COOKE SURVEYORS
A RECENT GOOGLE SATELLITE MAP OF THE SPONGE BAY-TUAMOTU ISLAND COASTLINE OVERLAID WITH THE BOUNDARIES OF LAND PARCELS FROM A SURVEY MAP FROM THE 1890s. THE WHITE LINE SHOWS THE SHAPE OF THE LAND AREA THAT WAS ONCE KNOWN AS PAPAWHARIKI POINT – AND THE OUTLINE OF THE ISLAND THAT DISAPPEARED DUE TO QUARRYING. the point was a jet skis, means the series of marshy location has become ponds which accessible to a wider were explored by group. It has also rafts built from received its share of driftwood. Seabirds publicity in surfing built there nests magazines and has there and children become a “mustset up makeshift surf ” destination huts nearby. The for travelling world reef, which was surfers. exposed at low The surfers tide, was a mine for generally limit Fools’ Gold. Sadly, a themselves to the CAPTAIN COOK’S ARTIST SYNDEY PARKINSON CAPTURED THE SHAPES OF THE TWO ISLANDS IN THIS huge storm washed island’s edge, mostly SKETCH HE MADE WHILE ENTERING POVERTY BAY IN 1769. over the point in focused seaward the 1980s and the wetland disappeared forever. watching for a lump in the ocean before it rears up from the deep to By a coincidence of nature the southern tip of Tuamotu forms a throw itself over the reef to slide steeply into the deep bowl behind. shallow, underwater, hammer-shaped, reef plateau with deep coves on The steep land area of the small island is overgrown and wild, with each side. Ocean swells, on reaching the square head of this reef, rise a well-worn walking track over the southern plateau to the southern out on the deep to create a cresting wave face that is second-to-none point where the surfers paddle out. Along this track is a life-size, carved in this country. It was discovered by surfers in the early 1960s. Macho wooden sculpture of a surfer, placed their by Wainui local and artist, waterman of his day, Kevin Pritchard, is credited with being the first to Clayton Gibson, in the 1990s. ride the steep left-hand barrel that is today world famous and known as In 2005 Ngati Oneone, Tairawhiti Polytechnic, Gisborne District “The Bowl”. Council, Eastland Infrastructure and the Department of Conservation Since then it has become a Gisborne surfer’s rite-of-passage to surf attempted to create a trust with the intention to reforest Tuamotu “The Bowl” in a big swell. There are other waves that break around the Island and provide a safe place for threatened plant species. However island including a right hander, “Outside Island”, on the other side of the the project did not get off the ground for various reasons. The island reef that works in very big swells, and a fast left hander, “Inside Island”, remains in the legal ownership of the Gisborne Harbour Board. that rifles down the rock-strewn side of Tuamotu adjacent to the former Tuamotu is Gisborne’s only (remaining) true island. It has survived quarrying site on its western shore. despite man’s best efforts to wipe it off the planet. It may be small but The long walk or paddle to get there, the size and steepness of the it has huge meaning to those who are attached to its pre-European take-off, the dangers of the reef and a certain understanding that this past and also to those who appreciate its modern qualities as a surfing was an arena set aside for “serious surfers only” kept The Island remote treasure. For these, and other reasons, The Island deserves some latterand almost mystical for decades. day love and respect. G More recent affluence, whereby surfers now often own boats and 30 | BeachLife
The primary aim is to combat coastal erosion by encouraging the physical restoration and protection of the coastline’s natural dunes eco-systems. INITIAL MEMBERS OF THE NEWLY-FORMED WAINUI BEACH COAST CARE GROUP COMMITTEE ARE KORO KEEPA, PAUL DOBSON, PAUL ERICSON, JOHN LOGAN (COORDINATOR), RON AMANN, JENNIE HARRE HINDMARSH AND CLARE ROBINTSON. TONY OGLE MADE THE SIGNS.
Residents set up Coast Care initiative LAST MONTH A SMALL BUT ENTHUSIASTIC number of people joined with Bay of Plenty Coast Care representatives, Wayne O’Keefe (Environment Bay of Plenty) and Chris Dohrman (volunteer, Coast Care Bay of Plenty), to walk the beach from The Pines to Wainui Stream and hold a workshop at Wainui School. As a result it was decided by those present to form a coast care group for the Wainui beach area. The coast care concept originated in Australia and is now working very successfully in various locations around the New Zealand coastline and in particular, in the Bay of Plenty. Its primary aim is to combat coastal erosion by encouraging the physical restoration and protection of the coastline’s natural dunes eco-systems. A secondary aim is to educate and raise awareness of the importance of dunes and their vital role in providing an erosion buffer between the beach and the land. Coast care groups are made up of people who care about their coastal environment and want to actively participate in protecting and managing that environment. Local residents, holiday home owners, schools, beach users, developers and conservationist, etc, should all be represented on coast care groups.
The coast care concept is based on a collaborative approach where communities and Council work together to carry out the tasks relating to restoring and protecting the dunes eco-systems. The Council supports the volunteer efforts of the Group with advice on reducing erosion and dune restoration and with assistance in providing resources that might include native plants, fertiliser, signage and fencing etc. Initial members of the newly formed Wainui Beach Coast Care Group committee are John Logan (coordinator), Koro Keepa, Jennie Harre Hindmarsh, Paul Ericson, Paul Dobson, Ron Amann and Clare Robertson. Their intention is to divide the length of the beach into lots of 300-500 meters and to have a committee member take responsibility for organising a sub-group to look after each lot. Anyone interested in joining the group or committee and organising a sub-group, preferable in their local vicinity, is invited to contact John Logan, phone 868 8266 or email John.Di.Logan@xtra.co.nz. An example of a successful dunes restoration project can be seen to the south of Hamanatua Stream. This was commenced last year by a group of ten beachfront residents who formed an informal coast care group and planted over one thousand spinifex and pingao plants along
the front dunes in front of their properties. They have also fertilised and weeded the dunes and erected signs to ask people to keep off to avoid damaging the plants. The signs also double as datum markers to monitor the gain or loss of sand and to date the dunes accretion has been very positive. This season the Wainui Coast Care Group will be planting 1750 spinifex and pingao plants in an area to the north of The Pines and in suitable spots between Hamanatua and Wainui Streams along with 185 native flaxes at the back of the dunes to the south of Hamanatua Stream. The Group also intends to develop a comprehensive three year budget and work plan to forward to the Council for inclusion in the up-coming Council’s draft 2012-2022 Ten Year Plan. It is also intended to make input into the review of the Wainui Beach Management Strategy that will commence soon. It is hoped that by following the successful example of the Bay of Plenty Coast Care Groups, of combining participation of local beach users with support from their local Councils, the Wainui Coast Care Group can provide a model for other similar groups in the Gisborne / East Coast region. G
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CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GRAEME COLLIER. A MAN OF THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1969.
WAINUI’S GRAEME AND RAEWYNNE COLLIER ON THEIR CELEBRATION OF 25 YEARS IN BUSINESS IN 1994.
The life of a salesman IN GRAEME COLLIER’S ALBUM OF MEMORIES, A PHOTO OF HIS marriage to Raewynne James carries the hand-written caption – “This was the start of it, 7th November, 1959.” It does appear Graeme Watkins Collier, a long-time Okitu resident who died on June 15 this year, aged 75, measured the true beginning of his life from the time he married his wife and partner of 40 years. Sadly Raewynne predeceased her husband in 2000, aged 62. Her own life underscored by a dedication to her family, the family business and Gisborne sporting interests. She was a life member of both the local YMCA and the squash club. Sons David and Phillip watched with sadness as their father continued to pine for his wife more than a decade on. In recent times, when a rainbow would appear over Wainui Beach, he would remark: “There she is – won’t be long till I am with you my dearest.” The sons believe there father is now happy, reunited with their mother in the great beyond, but they also look back with satisfaction on the 75 years Graeme Collier lived a full and generous life. Graeme was born in Wellington on August 27, 1935 – the eldest son of Ron and Daph Collier who had a butcher shop in Karori. Graeme had a younger brother Brian who died in 1992. Graeme grew up and spent his school days in Karori, working after school and during the holidays, firstly for a Chinese greengrocer and then in the menswear department of James Smith department store in the city. His brother Brian had a long-time managerial career with James Smith. On leaving school Graeme went to work as a sales trainee for the then bustling Petone Woollen Mills. [During its 80-year history Petone products were often presented to royalty and shown off at world trade exhibitions. Fabrics, flannel, tweed 32 | BeachLife
and knitting yarn were regarded as superior to their English equivalent. In early 1963 the company merged with Kaiapoi Woollen Manufacturing Co and was known as Kaiapoi-Petone. The Petone operation struggled on for a further five years before its inevitable closure was announced. The mill was demolished in 1970.] In August of 1959 Graeme Collier left Wellington to start life’s great adventure, transferring to take on a sales position in the Auckland area, based in Tauranga. His arrival “up north” made headlines when his brand new company car, a Hillman, was written off in a car crash while parked outside the Commercial Hotel in the main street of Hamilton. Not in any way to be blamed of the accident Graeme survived the embarrassment and eventually settled into his new position. After marrying his Karori sweethheart Raewyn James later that year the couple bought a house in Tauranga and from here Graeme travelled around the North Island as a menswear salesman for the, by now merged, Petone-Kaiapoi company. In Tauranga Graeme made a name for himself as a sportsman, winning the local men’s tennis singles championship and the men’s double championship in 1966. He also played hockey. Son Phillip was born in 1964 and David in 1966. In 1963 Graeme started a life-long friendship with Gary Bowrey, another salesman with Kaiapoi-Petone, who was based in Rotorua. The two salesmen covered the same central north island territory – Graeme selling men’s wear and Gary women’s wear. Graeme made his name as a top salesman for the company while he and Gary enjoyed the “fringe benefits” of their work. Often while away on sales trips, staying at hotels in Taupo or wherever, they would meet up to go hunting or to play golf between appointments.
Gary remembers one such sales In 1971 the family moved further along trip where they stayed at the Wairakei the beach after building their own new Hotel and arranged for the night home at 53 Moana Road, where Graeme porter to wake them at 4am. They lived out his days. headed bush for several hours of Over the years Graeme expanded his pre-dawn hunting (pigs and deer) premises to accommodate demand by and were back in time for a cooked buying the shop next door – and Colliers breakfast at the hotel and to be Menswear wrote its own chapter in the showered, shaved and ready for their history of Gisborne central city retailing. days’ appointments. He also became even more involved in In 1966 Graeme was seconded to the community through the Lions Club, the Petone-Kaiapoi Auckland head later forming Wainui Lions. In 1996 he office where he was appointed general was awarded a Melvin Jones Fellowship manager for the area. Graeme and Award for humanitarian service. Raewynne, now with the two little During his early years in Gisborne he boys in tow, rented a house in St formed a long-lasting friendship with Heliers, while renting out their own Kevin Boyle, a travelling salesman for home in Tauranga. Ambler and Company, the New Zealand In 1967 his friend Gary Bowery left distributor for brands like Summit and the company and set himself up as a Aertex. Kevin, who is now retired and men’s wear retailer with his own store living in Havelock North, says: “Graeme in Howick. Here Graeme was able to was a great guy. Easy to get along with see that the real money in men’s wear and a great organiser. An affable man who was to be made at the retail end, not enjoyed a lot in life, and a few drinks at in wholesale sales and management. the end of the day of course.” Graeme went home to announce to His other good mate Gary Bowrey Raewynne they were selling the house commented: “He was an extremely kind in Tauranga to invest in their own person who spent a lot of his time helping retail men’s wear business. other people. He was honest and sincere Graeme – and Raewynne, though but stern when it was needed. Sometimes unhappy with the concept of giving he could be a little too severe, and a up their lovely home – began looking stickler for the rules – but people usually around the North Island for a suitable recognised his good intentions.” business to buy and eventually Graeme was also an outspoken discovered the Gisborne firm of Ben GRAEME COLLIER ON WINNING THE TAURANGA MEN’S TENNIS advocate for the local retail trade and Dudfield Tailoring and Menswear SINGLES CHAMPIONSHIP IN 1966. worked hard for inner city revival. He was for sale. This long-serving local was a strong force behind the push for an business was founded in 1909 and taken over by the original owner’s upgrade of Gladstone Road that resulted in the eventual pre-millenium son, Dick Dudfield, in 1950. makeover of the CBD. They decided Gisborne ticked all the boxes – as a progressive regional While Colliers Menswear prospered, ‘the times they were a-changing’. city with ‘warm summers, lovely beaches and a relaxed lifestyle’ – a great A general, world-wide trend towards more casual dress – and the advent place to bring up their two sons. On Queen’s Birthday weekend of 1969 of specialist jeans stores and franchised boutiques – saw the demise of the Colliers bought the Ben Dudfield business at 107 Gladstone Road many of the local, old-school men’s wear specialists in Gisborne during (now Trade Aid) which was to become known from then on as Colliers the ‘80s and ‘90s. Menswear. After moving Colliers location to the former Melbourne Cash When Graeme, Raewynne and their young family arrived in Gisborne menswear frontage at 110 Gladstone Road the store survived to be the from Auckland in ‘69 they were full of optimism for a prosperous life last of the true men’s wear specialist outlets selling suits, sports coats and ahead. Gisborne was booming, with at least 16 local retailers dealing in general high-quality men’s attire in Gisborne. men’s wear and several specialist men’s wear stores. Bazil Adair, Charlie At a time when a new generation of young men in Gisborne were Brown, Melbourne Cash, Fitzmaurice and Butler, Rab Neilson, Rosies shopping for casual clothing at the local surf shops and national chain were all established men’s wear specialists. stores, Colliers maintained a certain dignity and earned a vote of loyalty While he was “walking in” to the long established firm of Ben from the rural and more conservative male dressers of the region. Dudfield, Graeme knew he needed to provide “top service” to ensure the Colliers was, and still is, the place to go for Aertex shirts, polo shirts, business retained its prime position in the marketplace. Cambridge suits and Canterbury casuals. Graeme was a sociable sort of ‘bloke’, with sporting interests and an The business is the last of its type in Gisborne, now managed by opinion on most things that were topical for the day – yet at first he Phillip Collier, since Graeme officially ‘retired’ in 2000. However found it difficult to gain access to what appeared to be a very ‘cliquey’ Phillip says his Dad never missed a day at work during his 11 years Gisborne society. In those days joining local establishments, like the of ‘retirement’ – always turning up dead on time at 8.30am, working Gisborne Club, required some degree of local sponsorship. through to 4.30pm every day. Son Phil says at one stage his parents almost decided to pack it in and Phil does put his father’s enthusiasm for work down to the fact he move back to Tauranga but by chance their first home in Gisborne was missed his wife Raewynne so much he couldn’t bare to stay at home in a rented ‘pink bach’ (later owned by Owen and Llewellyn Williams) at an empty house. Wainui Beach, and their next door neighbour was influential Gisborne The community turned out in large numbers to farewell Graeme identity, Win Ellis. Collier, the 1960s ‘blow-in’ from Tauranga who persevered and stayed to Win and his wife Ruth took the Collier family under their wing and create his own local dynasty and make his mark as a true local identity. they were introduced to the ‘right people’ – and slowly Graeme himself Graeme leaves behind his sons and daughters-in-law Phillip and became a well-known social and business identity. So much so that half Lynda, David and Lisa and grandchildren Isabella, Noah, Rebecca and a decade on he was the charter president of the Wainui Lions Club and Stephanie – all who live at Wainui Beach. G later went on to serve as president of the Gisborne Club. BeachLife | 33
What’s become of ...
R A C H E L
K I N G 34 | BeachLife
rachel king (23). daughter of sue and steve. sister of michael. born in lysnar street 1983. currently working as a film industry stunt woman/actress, theatre actress. studying to be a teacher. lives in auckland. IS ACTING AND STUNT WORK FULL-TIME OR DO YOU HAVE ANOTHER CAREER? I am currently in my second year (of four) studying education at AUT’s North Shore campus – so all my studies, acting and stunting have to fit around each other. It can be very full-on with a lot of late nights and early morning starts, learning lines or acting in plays when uni assignments are due or I am on placement at a school. But it all works out in the end! I love my acting work but know it will not last forever. HOW DID YOU GET INTO IT? In 2008 I studied full-time at a film school in Auckland called South Seas Film, Television and Animation School. It was an eye-opening, intense year doing 12-hour days quite frequently. Through the school, I made industry contacts in all areas of film and television that I have gone on to work with. I have a Diploma in On Screen Acting. I have also attended numerous acting technique, theater and voice workshops. I was in a play that required us to fly through the air in harnesses where professional riggers from the Stunt Guild of New Zealand came to help. I got chatting with them and before long I was training at the NZ Stunt School learning to sword fight, run up walls, fall convincingly and safely from all heights and much more. I have always been a sporty person but had no fighting background so found this aspect of the stunt school very challenging to start with. WHAT MOVIES OR JOBS HAVE YOU HAD SO FAR? I have done a number of short films, NZ feature films and plays over the 3-1/2 years I’ve been living up here, as well as lots of random acting jobs. I’ve also worked on the American TV series “Legend of the Seeker”, which was filmed mostly in west auckland. MET ANY FAMOUS PEOPLE? I have worked alongside lots of top actors in New Zealand, but I don’t think of them as being famous. I guess it’s because you know them for who they are, not who they are acting. WHAT SKILLS DO YOU NEED TO GET THIS SORT OF WORK? Skills for this type of work are endless. The more skills you have the more opportunities that will come your way. You need to have a good strong voice with clear diction and if you can sing that is a bonus! You must have excellent people skills so that directors, cast and crew want to work with you again. For stunting work you need to be fit, flexible, have any kind of trained fighting knowledge and have a strong sporting background that will enable you to develop new skills quickly if needed on set. You really need to be passionate, determined and prepared to put in a lot of hard hours! HAD ANY ACCIDENTS? I am very lucky to not have had any accidents at this stage but I have days after working where my muscles are so sore that I can hardly move! There are some pretty nasty stories of people hurting themselves or others out there. I’m just happy it’s not been me! In saying that, safety is a major part of our job and is taken extremely seriously. I guess I am putting myself in more risk of having accidents but they can happen to all of us at any time and any place.
HAVE YOU ANY INTERESTING ACTING WORK COMING UP OR CURRENT? At this stage of things, I am currently working on a stage combat play with the Outfit Theater Company call ‘A Formidable Contender for a Prodigious and Notable Endeavour’ that will be part of a theater festival up here in Auckland. I have been asked to do some stunting work in a big NZ feature film towards the end of this year which will be really exciting but, I don’t really want to say what it is in case it falls through at the last minute, you never know with this industry! Ill be keeping my fingers crossed until then! WHERE DO YOU LIVE NOW? I am living on the North Shore close to the beaches. (Can’t take the beach out the girl.) WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING SINCE YOU LEFT SCHOOL? I have spent a lot of time studying and developing my skills as an actress, stunty and teacher. In this highly-demanding, forever-changing, cutthroat industry there are always new skills I need to develop and maintain in order to keep my career moving. DO YOU STILL KEEP UP YOUR INTEREST IN HORSE RIDING? I have ridden horses from almost the first time I could sit up. My mum (Sue King) use to take me everywhere on the front of her horse when I was really young. I did my first equestrian competition when I was only 5 years old! Went on to win many champion prizes. Although I do not have the time to compete these days I still love to ride whenever I get opportunities and will compete again one day. Part of the criteria to get into the Stunt Guild of NZ is that you need to have specialist skills and one of mine is horse riding, so yes, it is now part of my career. There’s not a lot of people in this industry that can both act and ride horses well, so I was really lucky to be able to combine my two favorite things and get paid for doing them. WHAT OTHER SPORTS TO YOU DO? I took part in surf lifesaving for many years with the Wainui Surf Lifesaving Club. Having knowledge and skills around water is another good skill to have for stunt work. I played competitive netball all through school in Gisborne and am now playing for a club in Auckland. HAVE YOU TRAVELLED MUCH? I have been to Oz, Raro and the USA. The US trip was for a modeling stint I got asked to do. But am so not a model. Love my food to much. WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER MOST ABOUT GROWING UP AT WAINUI BEACH? Growing up at Wainui was the best! It’s such a safe community and we could pretty much do what ever we wanted to. I spent most of the time on the beach, surfing, riding my horses – at the Wainui Dairy (buying as many lollies as I could with only 10 or 20c) and sliding down the hills on cardboard boxes! The best hills are the big ones off Lloyd George Road. DO YOU COME HOME TO WAINUI ANY MORE? Yes I still do, Wainui is my home. Spent the whole summer (2010/2011) on Wainui Beach lifeguarding. I always stay with family – my brother Mike King and my dad Steve King, and my sister-in-law Cate and my niece Tilly. When I’m home and love to spend time with my friends out there. Sometimes mum and I keep our horses out there so we can go riding down the beach. I love to come home to get away from the rat race in Auckland and just relax with friends and family!
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lots of grand children, a wedding and a new business plan for local couple
THE JUNE WEDDING IN RAROTONGA OF James Walker and Kate Chapman capped a major year for Wainui couple Neil and Julie Walker. The wedding united two families with Wainui connections. Kate is the sister and sister-in-law of Nick and Louisa Chapman who have been living in Lysnar Street since 2007. Jimmy is the last of the Walker children, all who grew up at the beach, to get hitched and the marriage further strengthens a rapidly expanding extended family. To date the children have provided Neil and Julie with five grandchildren and another is expected early next year. Heidi (34) and Mark are soon to return from JAMES AND KATE’S WEDDING ON THE BEACH IN RAROTONGA. EBAN AND STEWART STEVENSON, JULIE Sydney to live in Tauranga. They have two children, WALKER, JAMES AND KATE WALKER, NEIL WALKER, CLAIRE WALKER WITH LITTLE MAX STEVENSON. including twins, and another on the way. The couple are both doctors, Heidi an anaesthetist and Mark a surgeon. Sarah (33) and Ben, who have recently returned from Sydney to live in Ohope, have one daughter. Sarah continues to works in human resource management for a large Australian firm and Ben is a sales manager at the Whakatane mill. Claire (31) and Stu have two boys and remain living and working in Sydney. She was a research scientist for the Cancer Foundation and Stu manages a chain top end of the property boom and quickly established the new company of fitness gyms. James (28) and Kate live in Gisborne. James is the head brand in the Gisborne marketplace. greenkeeper at the Poverty Bay Golf Club and Kate is a new entrant Through Neil’s drive and tenacity the Walker logo, due much to the teacher at Te Wharau. creative work of designer Rees Morley, became prominent in the city, Neil and Julie Walker first came to live in Gisborne in 1977 and competing against the well-known brands of the major franchises. bought a house in Douglas Street, Okitu, in 1989. Walker Real Estate brought a fresh, uncluttered style to real estate The couple met at teachers training college in their hometown of marketing in Gisborne – a style that has since been emulated by others Auckland and were married in 1975. After a year teaching in Auckland, setting up new agencies in recent times. the Walkers decided to strike out for Gisborne where Julie found a job At its peak, Walker Real Estate had 16 people working for the teaching at Te Wharau and Neil at Waikirikiri. company, which prompted a bold move to buy the former “Redstone’s” At 22, and a surfer, Neil was “in love” with Gisborne, having travelled building in Reads Quay and establish the firm in a high-profile, inner here, and also to Mahia, on many surf trips during the 1970s. The city office space. decision to come here was primarily about the surf. Soon after this move the company’s early buoyancy was about to be They first rented in Cooper Street then bought a house in Darwin compromised and sorely tested as the entire world began facing up to Road where they lived for 10 years, working as teachers and where they what was to become the global recession of recent times. saw the arrival of all four of their children. Records show that at the height of the property boom in the twelve After a couple of years away teaching in a two-teacher country school months of 2006-7 there were 900 residential property sales in this in the Hokianga, and a few months in Hastings, the Walkers returned to district. In 2009-10 there were only 390 and the trend continues today. Wainui Beach after buying their 59 Douglas Street home in 1989. The businessman in Neil Walker confronted the challenge of the Julie returned to Te Wharau while Neil managed the YMCA. downturn and realised – as much as he loved the company that bore his Neil was working on a change in professional direction at this stage name – he would have to align with a major franchise, and like-minded and in 1995 he was offered the opportunity of joining Jim Osler’s First people, to remain alive and growing in the rapidly changing market. National as a real estate salesman. This move started an eventful journey After much negotiation and planning, the Walkers partnered with in real estate and business that may have been prompted by certain George Searle and his team at Harveys and merged the two businesses genetics in his family background. Neil’s late father, Doug Walker, was a into a new company, Quay Real Estate, under the flag of a renewed local prominent and much-decorated New Zealand business leader. He was L.J. Hooker franchise. best known as the CEO of New Zealand Forest Products and also had Based in the Reads Quay building the company now has a staff of 22, numerous directorships in other major companies. with residential, commercial, rural and property management divisions. Neil spent four years at First National, then joined Philip Searle’s While Neil and Julie are genuinely a little sad to see their family name Harveys Real Estate for a further seven years. During this period Julie brand disappear, they are both determined to ensure the success of the gave up teaching to work full time as Neil’s person assistant. While at new venture while staying true to the “Walker” business culture. Harveys, Neil gained a post graduate Diploma in Business Studies from Neil says while the green Walker “swish” may have disappeared Massey. from the local market, the refreshed L.J. Hooker brand has gained new In 2006, after 11 years in real estate, the Walkers activated a plan to prominence. start their own business and the company Walker Real Estate was born. “While we are now moving forward within a large Australasian First based at 447 Gladstone Road, the business caught the wave at the franchise, it’s still the Walkers behind the new signs.” G
Mergers a feature for the Walkers
36 | BeachLife
The man who saved a thousand lives
FORMER ST JOHNS PARAMEDIC RICHARD RALPH – BACK ON THE BEACH AFTER A SUCCESSFUL BATTLE WITH CANCER.
RICHARD RALPH COULDN’T ESTIMATE A GUESS AT THE REAL number of people’s lives he’s saved in his time. As an ambulance officer and St John’s paramedic for over 40 years he is well-known, and well thought of, by literally hundreds of Gisborne people to whom he gave life-saving assistance in their times of most desperate need. It was therefore ironic and a major shock when Richard found himself in a battle for his own well-being when cancer appeared in his life suddenly in March last year. Now retired, and living in Ocean Park since 2001, he and wife Lynne had just returned from celebrating his 70th birthday with a trip to Fiji when cancer intruded into their lives. He collapsed suddenly with pain in a hotel in Auckland and, for the first time in his life, he ‘called an ambulance’. The pain subsided and he resisted being taken to hospital that night but when he returned home – and after a visit to his doctor, and a referral to a specialist – then began an 18 month ‘medical adventure’ that he is now recuperating from. Today, after several major operations, which ultimately saw the removal of his bladder, the cancer is gone. He is looking forward to getting back his fitness and getting on with life. But it was a harrowing time with many weeks spent in both Gisborne and Auckland hospitals. “Cancer sneaks up on you with little warning,” agrees Richard. “I never thought it would happen to me. I’ve spent my life looking after other people in all states of injury and illness. Prior to this I was as fit as a fiddle. I couldn’t believe that I would end up as the patient.” Richard Ralph was born in England in 1940 and emigrated to New Zealand as a boy of ten in the company and care of his grand parents, who brought him up. They had a daughter and a son-in-law already in Gisborne, Claire and Arch Hollands, who talked them into making the move in the aftermath of the first world war. Richard went to Central, Gisborne Intermediate and Gisborne High schools, leaving school in 1955 to work in as a photographer and in the darkroom at Kandid Kamera Kraft. After a year he decided to undertake an apprenticeship as a letterpress machinist at the Gisborne Herald where he worked for six years before
starting an new job with the Gisborne Photo News running its new colour printer around 1964. He returned to the Herald to work in its commercial print department in 1970. He married his first wife in 1963 and they had two girls, Tina and Vicki, who both now live in Melbourne. After attending a St John Ambulance first aid course in the early 1970s he signed on as a volunteer and for five years he was one of those vigilant St Johns volunteers who manned the district’s sports fields with their first aid boxes every weekend. He then left the printing trade, became qualified medically and started a 35-year stint as a full time ambulance man and professional paramedic with St John. It was a challenging, sometimes exhausting career, rostered to 12 hour shifts, four days on and four days off, with four other full time local paramedics. He married his second wife Lynne (Parker) in 1985. Over the years he attended many of this region’s most gruesome accidents and taxing emergencies and became well-known for his clearheaded, good-natured and efficient emergency skills. He saw carnage at road numerous accidents, one in particular where 15 people were involved and six were killed. He was on the fishing boat Janet D, ten hours off the Gisborne coast, when Glen Sutton made his famous rescue swim. He flew by helicopter into the eye of Cyclone Bola to give medical aid in the worst affected rural areas. Policeman Nigel Hendrikse credits Richard for his still being able to walk due to the care he gave him while he lay partially paralysed on Wainui Road after he had been stabbed in the neck by John Gillies in 1993. He also gave up much of his time to teach first aid and give education courses around the district. Retired in 2003, although he went back helping out as a part-time printer when needed at Printing House, he most of all loves living at Wainui Beach. He said his worst thoughts during his cancer scare was that he might not ever be able again to walk with Lynne along the sands of Wainui. Good luck Richard – from all those who owe you big time. G
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Warmth from the cold of winter! THE OKITU STORE EARLY SPRING UPDATE: I struggle in the freezing cold at what to write for this edition – total mind freeze! Nationally across the country it has been bitterly cold, very quiet business wise, at least every second person has had a cold and not a lot of surfing going on in the unpleasantly cold seas. Personally however in the Quinn-Egan household we have been experiencing a lot of warmth and extra business in our lives. After the rush of the Cold Water Classic we packed up the campervan and went on a leisurely journey and camped around our beautiful East Coast, a reminiscing trip of our youths and had some beautiful weekends at Nuhiti. Without cellphone, internet coverage or television the kids found it a challenge while Gary and I settled with our fishing rods, dive gear, novels and wine and totally relaxed. Easter saw a number of family relatives from abroad coming to stay and visit. The shop was humming along nicely as the weather turned out perfect. I also threw myself back into my passion of Photography after the family surprised me with a new upgraded digital Camera. May saw us flying to Culberra Beach just out of Sydney for the beautiful wedding of Jay & Ashley, who have also announced their pending arrival of another Quinn early December. Jay has been doing extremely well on the World Surfing Tour, gaining a 2nd place in Scotland, being Knighted “Lord Quinn” and gaining a piece of heritage land as his prize. Ashley and Jay are currently travelling around Europe. Deciding to escape the winter blues, we then embarked on our annual journey to Bali for sunshine over July-August. A month of bliss, decisionmaking, swimming, eating too much, catching up with family and complete warmth. Forgot to email the snowman to leave before we arrived back though – note to self for next year! Maz has just had a couple of months surfing in Mexico and Cooper (who has just turned 2) continues to brighten up our days with liveliness – unfortunately Cooper now knows what lollies are and has Poppa wrapped around his little finger very easily! Several trips to Wellington are on the cards later in the year organising accommodation etc for Kimberley as she has been accepted into the Sir George Seymour Travel and Tourism and Flight Attendance Course. October sees Karyn heading to Sydney and a number of birthday celebrations and graduations in the family. December brings the excitement of Holly returning to Gisborne from London for her and Jackson’s wedding. Karyn begins the exam process at school shortly on her way to attaining more merits and excellences towards her goal of becoming a Paediatric Oncologist. So a huge amount of travelling this year and a lot going on in the QuinnEgan household like I said – for now it’s time to get our heads back into the Okitu Store for the upcoming Summer period and settle down for a bit. After that we’ll need another holiday!!! Thank you to our wonderful staff that keep things going in our absence!!! On those cold evenings when you don’t feel like cooking don’t forget to ring in your takeaway orders (8677013) and we’ll make it easier for you. Come in-store soon and check out our summer range of bags, beach towels, jewelry and be prepared for the Spring Show, Labour Weekend, Xmas and R&V and that other thing everyone keeps talking about – the RUGBY WORLD CUP! All the best for summer – from Maryanne and Gary, family and staff at the Okitu Store. 38 | BeachLife
OPEN HOURS Monday to Saturday: 7.00am to 7.00pm Sunday: 7.30am to 7.00pm
Phone 06 867 7013
TRAVEL: WAINUI LOCALS WHO ESCAPED THE COLD THIS WINTER. COMPILED BY TESS MCCORMICK HELLO SAILOR! DICK COATES SETS A COURSE FOR D’URVILLE ISLAND.
EVERY AUTUMN DICK AND PRUE COATES, ALONG WITH THREE other couples, holiday together – each of them taking it in turn to choose one of New Zealand’s more unique offshore islands as their destination. Past years have seen trips to Stewart Island, Great Barrier Island and Moturoa. This year it was Prue Coates’s turn to choose – and she came up with D’Urville Island, just off the coast of Nelson. Details were quite sketchy and information on the island was minimal – to the point where they turned up and the manager did not know that they had wanted catering during their stay! This proved no problem as the manager, (who was also the water taxi driver, fishing guide and chef) had been chefing at the famous Boatshed Café in Nelson for some years and he happily disappeared into the kitchen each night – producing banquets with the catch of the day – largely fish, paua and crayfish. The fishing was great, the water warm enough to swim in, and some good hard climbs up the hills were in order to take in stunning views of the sounds and to work off the daily gourmet calorie intake. Apparently D’Urville gets very popular in summer, so the best time if you want to escape the crowds is in the off season. Prue’s 2011 island choice was rated up there with the best of them. Next year its the Chathams!
CATCHING UP WITH AINSLEY IN ANTIBES. KIM AND CHRISTINE GUNNESS AND OLLY TILLEY SPENT FIVE weeks in Europe this winter. Rome, and the Vatican, was the first port of call. Christine says: ‘Olly and Kim went to an evening soccer game Lazaro versus Genoa, excited Italian crowds with everyone letting flares off. Then it was off to France to catch up with Ainsley Gunness in Antibes. Ainsley works on a super yacht (see picture). Had lots of fun and lots of great food. Lunched at an exclusive restaurant on the beach at Juan Les Pins where gorgeous girls were sunbathing and swimming topless, drinking cocktails. Then it was back to Italy to Florence and Venice. The most interesting meal was in Venice at a back street local eatery where you had no choice about what to eat - it just came out - all five courses. Then over to Croatia, sailing for a few days and sunning ourselves on lovely islands and eating more food. Back to Rome for a bit of shopping before flying home.’
NA ZDRAVÍ! CHRISSE ROBERSTON ENJOYS A COLD ONE IN PRAGUE.
START OF THE CLIMB TO THE SUMMIT OF MT KINABALU.
CHRISSE ROBERTSON HAS RECENTLY RETURNED FROM A NINE month stint living in Greenwich, London, with her daughter Ila and Ila’s partner Tim. While there she did some relief teaching in South London, mainly teaching primary school aged Muslim children, At school she tried to impart a bit of “Kiwiana” onto the young children, greeting them with “kia ora” in the mornings and sharing stories of the Land of the Long White Cloud. On her last day teaching, she was delighted when one of the kids came up to her and said: “How’s it going cuzzie bro!” Chrisse also travelled to Berlin to support Ila in the Berlin marathon, spent time soaking up the architecture in Prague, walked the Cinque Terre in Italy, took a two-seater flight over the countyside of the southern Czech Republic and did a number weekenders around Scotland and England. While she loved her ‘late in life OE’, she says there’s still no place quite like home and a big stroll along the white sands of Wainui Beach.
LYNNE AND MALCOLM SHIELDS EXPLORED BORNEO IN JUNE where their adventure included a stay at Bako National Park where they were close and upfront with proboscus monkeys, deadly snakes and oversized insects. They experienced orangutang in relative wilderness as they were being rehabilitated to the wild and stayed at a communal Iban Longhouse, inland up a crocodile infested river encountering blowpipes, rice wine and hanging heads. They flew to Mulu National Park (not accessable by road) with its amazing huge caves (one is 142 kms long, which blows Waitomo away). There they saw the bat exodus which is one of the wonders of the world. Three million bats stream out at dusk and head to the coast in search of food. The stench of bat poo in the caves is indescribable! On to Kota Kinabalu in Sabah where they climbed 4092 metres (341 metres higher than Aorangi, Mt Cook) to witness a stunning sunrise from the summit. On route home the Chilean ash cloud created a 5-day, 5-star unexpected stopover in Singapore – but as Lynne says “a bad day stuck in Singapore is better than a good day at work!” BeachLife | 39
TRAVEL: WAINUI LOCALS WHO ESCAPED THE COLD THIS WINTER. COMPILED BY TESS MCCORMICK
ZOE AND KYA SOLOMON MAKE FRIENDS WITH A CANADIAN A LOCAL WHILE SHOPPING IN QUEBEC. THE SOLOMON FAMILY, DEREK AND NICKY, AND THEIR daughters Zoe (5) and Kya (3) – recent additions to Wainui – left our shores for a month in Quebec, Canada. They rented a loft apartment on the outskirts of the old city and with 100kms of cycle paths, explored much of the 400-year-old city on two wheels. They took seats that fitted to the front of their bikes for the girls and said these were a huge hit over there. On one of their cycles rides they came across a performance by the Quebec School of Circus Performers. They were also no match for the ‘Pure Black Racing’ Kiwi cycling team who they got to watch ‘kicking some Canadian butt’ around the city during their stay. When asked what the highlight of their stay was, Nicky said: “I loved the language thing (French) – I just felt that really added a cool dimension to the holiday and I think it was great for the kids to really understand about different languages – Kya now always asks to watch her Mickey Mouse DVD in French.” Keep an eye out for Derek in the surf and Zoe when she starts at Wainui School this month. And love that ‘Wairoa’ t-shirt Zoe.
CHARLIZE AND CHASE WILLSON (ABOVE) WENT LOOKING FOR THE COLD WHEN SNOW FELL ON THE WHARERATAS IN AUGUST.
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SHARON AND CASEY WILLSON (WITH SCOTT TAKING THE PHOTO) ESCAPED TO THE COLD AS WELL – WITH A TRIP TO THE WHAKAPAPA SKIFIELD ON MOUNT RUAPEHU RECENTLY. Gisborne’s coastal lifestyle magazine is now available for sale at the Wainui Store, the Okitu Store and Pharmacy 53.
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BeachLife | 41
RODGER BODLE IN HIS BACKYARD. THE BODLE BANANA HYBRID TOP LEFT.
BODLE’S BANANAS BEAR FRUIT after 60 years growing bananas as a hobby murphy road’s rodger bodle believes he has bred the perfect new zealand variety. HOBBY HORTICULTURALIST RODGER Bodle of Murphy Road is well on the way to achieving his lifetime goal of breeding the perfect banana for growing in New Zealand. Rodger, now 73, and wife Janet have spent a lifetime growing bananas at Wainui, trying to find a commercial variety that will thrive in New Zealand’s cool climate. Rodger’s affair with the banana began in 1948 when, as a boy of 10 in 1948, living in Murphy Road, a neighbour who was a retired Fiji banana grower, gave him a plant to take home. After importing cold-resistant cultivars from all around the world over the past 40 years, Rodger thinks he has found the answer. “I’ve picked up varieties that are grown in highlands of the world, and that gives them a better chance of survival in New Zealand when they come to our cooler climate,” he said. Bodle’s creation, the ‘Bodle’s Wainui’ banana, is a hybrid cross between the Pisang Awak variety and the Blue Java. The Pisang Awak grows well in mountainous regions of Indonesia, even near the snow line, while the Blue Java from Fiji is popular for its ice cream-like flavour. There are hundreds of banana cultivars grown worldwide, but the only variety sold in New Zealand supermarkets is the cold-sensitive Cavendish, imported from the Phillipines and 42 | BeachLife
Ecuador. The absence of commercial banana plantations in New Zealand is due to cold temperatures and competition with cheap imports. Banana importers say no matter how well you grow them in New Zealand, you’re never going to get them as big as Ecuadorian ones. However, Rodger has managed to grow bananas that are 20cm long and thicker than the Cavendish imports at the supermarket. Cavendish bananas are imported green and stored in special rooms where ethylene gas is used to ripen them, and the fruit tends to lose flavour. Bodle is still perfecting his banana cultivars, and accepts that he may never end up getting them commercially produced. “I’m getting on to 73 now. I tried with government to come on board, but I don’t think they’re interested,” he said. Bodle’s quarter acre section at 11 Murphy Road belies its compact size. Inside the front gate it’s a fascinating tropical paradise. Not just bananas – but mangos, pineapples and paw paw trees fight for space with a plethora of stately palms and lush succulents. Banana varieties from India, Israel, Malaysia, central American and the Pacific shade impeccably groomed nursery plots of palms and shrubs. Orchids with giant flower heads line the driveway.
Each plant is carefully labelled with a plaque detailing its species and place of origin and often a photo of the fruit or flower in bloom. Paradoxically after taking years to reach a verdant maturity the property is currently for sale. Age has caught up with Rodger and Janet and they are eyeing the convenience of town living. What Rodger will do without his beloved tropical oasis if the house eventually sells is a dilemma he doesn’t really want to face. G
THE BODLE’S MURPHY ROAD TROPICAL OASIS.
THAT FAMOUS COVER, THOSE INFAMOUS COOKED CRAYS? surfer boys, bikini girls, huge crayfish, summer days. it really doesn’t get much better. THE PHOTOGRAPH ON THIS page which appeared as the cover of the December 1968 edition of the Gisborne Photo News must be one of the most celebrated local images from the last 50 years. From a BeachLife point of view it’s classic! The photo was taken on our “patch” on the reef at Tatapouri. The two chaps who supposedly caught the crayfish in their bare hands are the famous surfing brothers Allan and Terry Byrne. The ‘bikini babe’ on the right is long-time Wainui local Fleur Ferris. And the photograph was taken by former Photo News publisher John Logan, who is these days a retired resident of Wainui himself. The picture also provides a nice prologue to our feature story, Charlie’s Story on page 16 which remembers the days when men were men, girls wore bikinis and crayfish came pre-cooked – an amusingly but embarrassing fact that has long haunted all parties involved in the famous photo opportunity. John Logan admits the photographic concept was his. Using the Byrne boys as the male models was an obvious choice as they were well known local surfers and watermen and friends of John and his brother, Geoff Logan, who was the ‘talent scout’ for the shoot. Fleur Ferris remembers it being the summer holidays and she had just turned 16. Geoff Logan turned up at her parent’s house where she was roused from a morning sleep-in and persuaded to putting on a pair of bikinis. “I didn’t really want to do it LOOKING BACK ON A GOLDEN ERA WHEN CRAYFISH CAME OUT OF THE OCEAN READY TO EAT. ALLAN BYRNE, CILLA at first,” say Fleur, 43 years down MEREDITH, FLEUR FERRIS AND TERRY BRYNE NEVER QUITE LIVED THIS CLASSIC COVER SHOT DOWN. the track. “But I was still half asleep and was talked into it. The other girl Geoff had rounded up part of their catch taken at Tatapouri. While it of Gisborne. There was no getting away from for the picture, Cilla Meredith, didn’t have a is an enjoyable sport, care must be also taken it!” bikini of her own for some reason and I had to as you never know what you are going to meet The caption goes on to say: “Incidentally, lend her a spare pair of mine.” down there.” Allan Byrne, who went to the World Surfing “Both pairs were latest fashions from Day It seems like ‘down there’ the water must Championships in Puerto Rico recently, and Dance and I remember choosing the white have been close to boiling for it was obvious was placed twelfth. During the contest Allan ones for me as I thought they would make me to Photo News readers that the crays were outpointed Fred Hemmings in the mid-finals. look really tanned. Duh! It turned out to be the definitely not long out of the cooking pot. Hemmings went on to win the world title.” wrong choice.” All involved in the shoot say they have been The only thing none of the people involved The caption accompanying the cover photo continually teased about the ‘cooked crays’ can remember is where the crayfish came from. stated: “Part of the fun of living on the East since the day the photo was taken. But Fleur says they were typical of the size Coast is going to the beach, swimming and “What added to it,” says Fleur, “was that of crays caught off our local beaches in the fishing for crays. Allan Byrne, Cilla Meredith, the photo was used for some years later in an 1960s. G Fleur Ferris and Terry Byrne are shown with airline brochure on the NAC planes in and out BeachLife | 43
Big waves, cold water and a seat at ‘swell of the decade’
P 867 1684 W www.surfboards.net.nz
SURF REPORT BY KELLY RYAN
HI AGAIN BEACH RESIDENTS AND LOCAL SURFERS, WELCOME to another edition of Wave Rave. Winter tightened its icy grip during August after a settled opening winter period of June and July. The lengthy southerly blast of midAugust saw the isobars stretching right down to hell itself. With the gates to Antarctica well and truly open, the real value of a heat pump was realised. Ours worked hand-in-hand with the log fire most nights to keep the chill at bay. Snow-coated local ranges, closed roads several times. One dump in the second week of the school holidays and another with that weeklong southerly blast helped release the child in many, as family’s flocked to various ‘east coast ski fields’. I haven’t touched the water for a couple of weeks but am sure it’s probably as cold as it’s going to get. We should all be in for a pleasant surprise next month because; although you probably haven’t noticed the sun has been steadily getting closer since June. The next nice day will send a shiver of happiness down your spine and the spring warmth will go a long way to easing any winter blues. Lucky winter escapees this season included Ronnie Amon and Damon Gunness. These two top surfers from different generations
spent 21 days in Fiji. The pair stayed with their families at Plantation Island Resort, which is a short boat ride from Tavarua Island. Tavarua is home to the famous Cloudbreak and Restaurants surf breaks. The Fijian name for Cloudbreak is Nakurkurumailagi and means Thundercloud. This July a very large, very powerful and perfectly positioned storm in the south Tasman Sea produced 12-15 foot waves (or 20-25 foot faces!). This was easily one of the largest and cleanest swells seen in the last decade. The likes of Bruce Irons, Kelly Slater, Nathan Fletcher, Reef McIntosh, Mark Healey, Dave Wassel, Dane Gudauskas and more dropped everything to be there too. Slater actually failed to appear at one of the best stops on the ASP Dream Tour, the Billabong Pro at Jefferies Bay to catch this swell in Fiji. The Gisborne pair spent their time surfing flawless 6-foot Restaurants. This is a fast, hollow and very perfect left close to the Island of Tavarua. “Damon and I witnessed spectacular surfing at Cloudbreak, waves up to 15 Feet, with the world’s best big wave riders out, including Kelly Slater,” says Ronnie. “We were happy to motor around to Restaurants for fun 6-foot waves on July 12. Some surfers are now calling that big swell
IMAGING TAKING THE FAMILY ON A HOLIDAY TO FIJI AND ARRIVING THERE TO FIND THE “SWELL OF THE DECADE” BREAKING NOT FAR FROM YOUR RESORT AND A CREW OF THE WORLD’S BEST BIG WAVE SURFERS PUTTING ON A SHOW OF EXTREME FREE SURFING. LOCALS RONNIE AMANN AND VIRGINIA GUNNESS, WITH DAMON GUNNESS, JADE AND CHINA, WERE TREATED TO A SPECTACULAR SHOW AT CLOUDBREAK IN EARLY JULY WHERE WAVES WERE BREAKING PERFECTLY WITH WAVE FACES UP TO 25FT.
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PHOTO BY CORY SCOTT/CANON
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at Cloudbreak the ‘swell of the decade’. All in all a good time had by all.” With the strong New Zealand dollar at present and low airfares, Fiji is an obvious winter escape for the cold Kiwi surfer. Four young surf starved Christchurch Grommets were lucky enough to find families in Gisborne willing to accommodate them during the recent school holidays. Billy Harmon 16, Jack Hawke 17, Harrison Whiteside 14 and Max Cooke 16 had all been landlocked since the first big earthquake in February this year. The beaches in Christchurch are considerably polluted with raw sewage flowing from a damaged city system. Some local surfers found out the hard way contracting dysentery, and guardia after initially ignoring the warnings. The Craft family put up Billy and Jack for a week while Pom and Geraldine hosted Harrison and Max for a week before the Ryan’s took over for the second week. All reports were favorable on the behavior of the boys and, to be honest, it felt good to see the stoke present after five months off. The boys surfed anything that resembled a wave every day, all day. As we went to press the Billabong Pro was finishing up at Teahupo’o, Tahiti. The event started on Saturday, July 20. Event No 5 of 11 on the 2011 ASP World Title season, the Billabong Pro Tahiti got off to a flying start but despite substantial swell on offer each day for the venue, the promise of solid 10’ to 12’ surf in the coming days, prompted the world’s best surfers to go on hold and wait for even better conditions. This event really highlighted for me how much the internet has improved and enhanced the sport of surfing for both competitors and spectators. The event organisers privy to the impending weekend swell put the whole event on hold for three days as Teahupo’o pumped at 4-6
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PHOTO BY CORY SCOTT/CANON
DAMON GUNNESS AT WAINUI BEACH THIS WINTER.
foot. For the last three years the whole event has been plagued with marginal to poor conditions. Organisers would have been more than willing to trade the lay-days of this year for any of their competition days for the previous few years. So the Pacific served up a monstrous 10-foot swell for Tahiti on Saturday, our time, and the event ran its 2nd and 3rd rounds of competition in very heavy conditions. Another great thing about the decision to wait was that every surfer in the event got to taste the extreme conditions. There was some talk about the younger less experienced guys and their chances of progression but as a general rule they all stepped up. Standouts for me were Australian’s Adrian Buchan, Josh Kerr and Owen Wright, French surfer Jeremy Flores, Brazil’s Raoni Monterio, and American’s Brett Simpson and Kelly Slater. The Heat Analyzer has been added to the event website for the first time in Tahiti and allows you to watch the entire heat if you missed something or skip to each scoring wave including slow motion replays. The swell continued to rise and the event was forced into a lay-day by Tahiti’s coast guard on Sunday when the swell reached 15- foot plus. The whole coast was closed to all watercraft and was placed under a ‘Code Red’ alert. However, a handful of the world’s top tow-in surfers went out and I couldn’t believe some of the rides these guys were getting. The waves were huge, glassy, warped and unnatural. Ladies may be interested in viewing one woman charger, Maya Gabeira, from Brazil who was towed into a few before being caught inside and rescued by the Tahitian water patrol – plus Bruce Irons loosing his pants in one particularly extreme wipeout. The competition wound up Tuesday our time and Kelly Slater snatched a narrow victory from Owen Wright in perfect 6 foot waves. If you don’t know already, all the ASP events can be viewed live from your living room if you’ve got a computer and high speed internet. Just go to www.aspworldtour.com and click on the box to the right
advertising the event that happens to be on at the time. If the event is underway, you can watch the action in real time, complete with commentary and live score updates. Richard Christie managed a ninth placing in the Nike US Pro at Huntington Beach, Califorina last month. Richard has achieved better results than this in the past but what makes this result significant is that many of the current ASP World Tour surfers were present, attracted by the US$100,000 first place prize. Richard is currently sitting in the best position out of the Kiwi boys. He is holding down 42nd place and is within striking distance of the magic top 32 where he could win a place in the elite ASP World Tour. The new system is quite complicated with a mid-year cut looming for the bottom rated of the elite. This cut allows for fresh blood from the tour as our boys (Jay Quinn, Richard Christie and Billy Stairmond) compete on to join the elite ranks in September. Although Richard is 42nd he is still a hefty 4818 points away from the 32nd rated surfer. A win in a 6-star event can earn you 3500 points and a 6-star Prime event is worth 6500 for the win. This means is that Richard and Jay both need to place in the finals to really make some headway on the tour this year. It is not really possible for any of them to join the elite at the mid-year stage this year. As we go to press all the boys have had two disappointing round 2 eliminations in the first two events on the European leg in England and France. Some things to look forward to next month are the before work dawn surfs again and the Rugby World Cup kicking off. The National Scholastics Championships are on in October 10th-14th and the venue is Ahipara in the far north. The Maori Nationals are also held in October on the weekend of 22nd-23rd but I am unsure of the venue for this event. This time, my call is the All Blacks winning the World Cup final against Australia 21-20. G
p 027 432 6180 e cozza@ihug.co.nz 46 | BeachLife
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