12 minute read
Devonport News
By Shaulyn van Baaren Devonport Business Improvement District Manager
Summertime in Devonport
Shaulyn van Baaren.
Happy New Year and cheers to a fantastic 2021! I’m still getting used to summer Christmas, but celebrating under blue skies with crystal clear waters lapping warm golden sand is growing on me. A perfect destination to get away from the city, while still in the city, our charming sea-side village has everything an Aucklander (or anyone for that matter) could want for a glorious, relaxing, picturesque summer getaway!
Already a favourite getaway for many families and community groups, Devonport has plenty of space and no shortage of beauty for all to enjoy. And, of course, the best live viewing locations for that “little yacht race” taking place this and next month. This month I’d like to share some of my favourite Devonport 'to dos' so that as you finalise your summer to do list, Devonport makes the cut! • Boutique shopping along Victoria Road: Victoria Road has one of the most intact collections of Victorian and Edwardian commercial buildings in Auckland, a spectacular and picturesque sight from the minute you drive in or jump off the ferry.
Devonport offers a variety of unique, beautiful, bespoke boutique shops and businesses that hold gifts and treasures for everyone! • Authentic gastronomy: With over 40 restaurants, cafés, bakeries, sweet shops and more, there is something to tantalise any palate.
Believe me when I say plan for a full day of fine eating as part of your Devonport experience. Start with brunch then grab coffee to go as you explore the village. Grab lunch on one of our many patios and round out the day with dinner at one of the local favorites or award winning restaurants. • Take a Scenic Segway Tour: A unique Devonport experience,
Magic Broomstick Segway Tours has packages to suit your sightseeing goals and budget. Whisk away on a ride that showcases vista views from Maungauika/North Head,
Takarunga/Mt. Victoria, the stunning gold sands of Cheltenham beach, and the heritage streets of Devonport. • Learn & Play at the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum: The National
Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy is an interactive and thought-provoking museum, nestled at the base of North Head, a perfect place to visit on it’s own or as a stop on your way to watch the racing. Your inner historian will be awakened and inspired. Boasting stunning city-views, it has a café and nauticalthemed playground for children. This museum is a real treasure and can be explored over and over again. • Watch the America’s Cup LIVE: If you’re even the slightest bit curious about watching those top-speed, world-class yacht races live, don’t miss this opportunity. Make your way along King
Edward Parade and up Maungauika. Strategically located on a headland at the entrance to Auckland's harbour, Maungauika, commands sweeping views over the Hauraki Gulf and is the best viewing site for three of the America’s Cup courses. Or visit us on
Windsor Reserve in March for ace Days by the Sea. With family friendly activities being planned the first two weekends, you’ll also be able to watch the racing on our 20m big screen. • Still in summer mode, on any given afternoon you’re likely to find me enjoying one of our stunning beaches, with lagoon-like waters, golden sand and stunning views that help slow time! Isn’t it time that you scheduled a little escape from the hustle and bustle of city life? Plan your escape to one of Devonport’s pristine beaches today; because, after all, beach life is a good life!
Until next time, Shaulyn
Visit: www.devonport.co.nz Devonport Community News for this month with Maria Teape, Devonport Community Coordinator, Devonport Peninsula Trust
Happy New Year
Maria Teape.
- hopefully 2021 has started in a good way for you!
Raumati/Summer Fun Preschool Play mornings are back up and going again after the Christmas break and will continue until the end of March.
Play sessions are on every Tuesday at Windsor Reserve, and Thursdays at Bayswater Park – weather depending. Both sessions run from 9:30am to 11am and are a great way to get out and about with little ones, having fun and making new friends. Follow our Facebook page to keep up to date with our events.
Starting up on Tuesday 16th February is our Kids Athletics Series, held at Vauxhall Sports Reserve a.k.a. the North Shore Rugby Club grounds. Kids Athletics is a six-week programme, running on consecutive Tuesdays, 4pm-6pm, until 23rd March. Primary school aged kids can have a go at a variety of athletics activities in a non-competitive environment. Free registration takes place each session. Visit our website for more information: www. devonportpeninsulatrust.nz
The first of our quarterly community network meetings for the year is taking place on Thursday 11th February at Devonport Yacht Club. The meetings are held to promote networking amongst residents and community groups, with guest speakers joining us to talk about topical happenings. This month Jeanne Clifton from Devonport Library will talk about planned new programmes at the library and Ruth Jackson of Devonport-Takapuna Local Board will talk about the Local Board’s aspirations for the second half of their term. Meetings commence at 10am with morning tea and informal networking then guest speakers start from approximately 10:20am.
Devonport Folk Music Club hosts its annual outdoor music concert, Folk in the Park, on Sunday 14 February. Bring your picnic gear and join us at the band rotunda, Windsor Reserve, 1pm-4pm for an afternoon of great folk music from around the world!
An exciting week of programming to help celebrate America’s Cup racing is being planned for Devonport. Running from 6th March to 14th March at Windsor Reserve, ‘Race Days by the Sea’ will have something for everyone, including a big screen for you to watch the racing on! On Sunday 7th March, Devonport Peninsula Trust is getting involved and organising some family fun entertainment from 12pm-3pm, including bouncy castles, face painters, preschool play zone and live music. Devonport Market will be there too with an outdoor market, plus there will be a sausage sizzle and cake stall. There will be further entertainment after the races in the park in the evening.
Noho ora mai Maria
Local Life Local Life
In Channel Magazine we love highlighting people in our community who make a difference. Two local Devonport Peninsula people, Kate and Lauren, have created ‘Local Life NZ’ a social media entity doing similar online. We love what they do, so we’re now collaborating with them to include their content in print – monthly in Channel Mag. These are recent pieces they’ve done on Kwan from Five Loaves Cafe, Linda from Depot Artspace, and The Clay Store.
Kwan
“During the first lockdown, we had zero income for the café and we had to think about how we were going to get back into business and how our staff were going to survive. These were things we could never have predicted.
“In situations like this, you just have to adjust. On the bright side, we’ve had a chance to plan some new menus and think about how we could do things differently. We’ll move on.”
Things have changed for Kwan. Over the past few months, she’s been doing Thai takeaways from the café - her Beef Massaman curry is a hit with locals. Her dream is one day to have an evening café specialising in Thai food. “Covid-19 has made us think along different lines,” she says. “And anything’s possible.” — Kwan Limcharoen, Five Loaves cafe
Depot Sound
“When we first saw this space back in 1994 we thought it would make a great arts centre and because there were a lot of bands in Devonport at the time, we thought we’d start developing a recording studio,” says Linda Blincko, creative director at the Depot and passionate supporter of many of the artists and musicians to have come out of Devonport.
“It was in a really bad state of repair when we took it on – we were standing ankle deep in water because the roof was half off. We didn’t have much funding back then so the cheapest way to build was using plastered, packed hay bales for the walls and community corrections guys to help us.
“It’s recorded some pretty well-known names — a young Gin Wigmore, the Checks, Graham Candy and the Warratahs. What I love most about the Depot is its diversity and uniqueness. We have student bands here and we value them just as much.
“During Covid-19 we worked really hard to keep our community connected. Creative people are often working independently, and they were finding the vacuum of support a lot harder to deal with.”
— Linda Blincko, Depot Artspace (Depot Sound is part of Depot Artspace)
The Clay Store
“We fix everything, including broken hearts,” says George, who’s been a member of the community workshop known as the Clay Store for nearly 20 years. Originally the site of an old gasworks, the Clay Store takes its name from the clay that was brought in to make the pipes for all the gasworks around the country. It was started in 1982 when local dockyard workers who’d taken early retirement needed something to occupy their days. A band of brothers tinkering with wood and metal working machinery in a disused factory seemed like the next best thing to a man cave. OUR PLACE Stories of Local Life The Clay Store is run on donations and staffed by a team of 20 volunteers, who include former environmental scientists, airline pilots, solicitors, sailors, wood turners and chemical engineers ranging in age from 70 to 99. The community workshop is a haven of bench saws, sanding machines, drill presses and lathes – some of which have been lovingly restored from their dockyard days. Anyone can come in and use the machinery for a small fee, although the volunteers are only too happy to lend a hand.
If you have a story you would like to share or know of a local hero, contact Kate Dobbin & Lauren Lulu Taylor at hello@localifenz.com Follow Local Life NZ on Facebook and Instagram – @LocalLifeNZ OUR PLACE Stories of Local Life “We’re all in this together. Laura Foote u are a bloody legend!! Oh Hannah you really are wee shining light in this dark time for many. Keep glowing n growing you special woman you. Thank you Sam for your welcoming smile, a joke or song. You cheer up my day. Sam is such a delightful and special human being who goes out of his way to be helpful to everyone. Poems, politics, saving the world are but a few of his attributes. Love the Patriot, guess that makes me a Patriot! We as a family have been going there for around 25 years. Amazing how little we need and how much we have. Ron- I know this man and what a privilege that is. I have many happy memories of this lovely Vic theatre, used to visit in the late 50’s - early 60’s. I’m a big fan of Devon on the Wharf. Nigar is very welcoming and warm hearted. Nilesh & Dosa- They are just lovely human beings, love them. LOVE Paradox books! A wonderful selection of books and great service always and ambience. It’s not what you do that’s important ...It’s the passion you do it with! Thanks so much for the yummy croissants Alan. Can’t wait to claim the table again on Wednesday mornings. Sam is wonderful and my dog Ivy is absolutely besotted with him. Sam, you are a legend ... such a star and we hope you keep on shining your bright light. Thank you for being you.We love Whites. Legends. Brilliant ♥ lovely! Amazingly inspirational. Laura- a very special uniquely gorgeous being ♥ One of Devonport’s unsung heroes! Laura’s positivity is inspiring. Just simply the best! Love this all the way! The Pub looks (and is ) Amazing. Well said Ken. You’re a good man ♥ Some of my favourite people right here! Kate Walden Ben Walden Bill and Gerri, two big hearts. Making a huge difference and changing lives. ♥ ♥ Thank you Kashish & Sam, you’re both so friendly and helpful, every time I walk in I feel so welcomed. Wonderful...there are some great people out there… It just goes to show how valued you are in the community Josie. You provide us a happy place to come to.” OUR PLACE – STORIES OF LOCAL LIFE DEVONPORT LOCAL LIFE NZ Late in 2020 we published a book “OUR PLACE” featuring 50 Local Life stories from our community. The interest saw us sell out of the first two print runs so we did a third run. We still have a few copies left that can be purchased. If you missed out and are interested in a copy then email us at hello@locallifenz.com. The book is available for purchase at Paradox Books, Devonport for $30.
Dune above ground unit in solar.
Coverstar.
Roll Out, Roll Under fully automatic Slattered Cover system.
An automated pool cover will make your summer!
Overseas holidays are out, but you can still invest in an automatic cover from Covers4Pools to turn your pool into your own resort pool for summer 2021
A swimming pool spells summer fun for everyone – and after the year we’ve had you will want to use it to its maximum this summer. Installing an automatic pool cover makes things super easy: maintaining, keeping it warm, clean and affordable.
Covers4Pools is a family business, run by Charles, Paulene and Shayne Olliver. They offer one of the most extensive range of automated pool covers in New Zealand, being the sole distributor for the internationally popular Coverstar Eclipse brand.
“Coverstar Eclipse covers can take the weight of an average sized person, offering complete peace of mind that your family is always safe around your pool,” says company manager Charles Olliver.
“Our new ‘Roll Out Roll Under Slatted Cover’ has quickly become a big seller for us. These covers feature a polycarbonate profile that actually heats the pool via the sun’s rays throughout the summer months and retains heat during the colder months, therefore extending your swimming season and substantially reducing your heating costs. We are proud to assemble these covers here in New Zealand.” Charles explains that automated covers also play a big part in reducing cleaning and maintenance by keeping unwanted items out of the pool. “They really are a game-changer. Our advanced covers keep dirt and leaves out of the pool and also eliminate up to 90% of evaporation. This avoids wasting thousands of litres of water and reduces chemical use by up to 70%.” Covers4Pools has good stocks of both Coverstar Eclipse Covers and Roll Out Roll Under Slatted Covers so will have one to suit your pool. They will come to your property and do a free measure and quote and provide advice on the best solution for your requirements. Do it today!
