Hibiscus Matters_Issue 227_1 November 2017

Auckland’s waste mountain grows despite Council’s zero waste target

As Auckland Council focuses on an ‘aspirational’ target of zero waste to landfill by 2040, figures show that the amount of waste heading to the dump is actually growing substantially, increasing by 40 percent from 2010–2016. Turning Auckland’s waste problem around will require stiffer measures from Council and central government,

including higher charges, and targets to reduce the waste produced by Council CCOs such as Auckland Transport, and the construction industry.

Council is reviewing its Waste Management and Minimisation Plan and recently sought feedback from local boards.

A report presented last month to the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board says

that there have been reductions in the volume of residential waste, as well as that produced by Council’s offices. The increase, the report claims, is caused by commercial waste – particularly from construction and demolition, organic waste and plastic. It is proposed that these areas are a focus for the revised plan.

Glucose Testing

McConnell Property’s development manager Matt Anderson, front, and general manager Nigel Richards try out the Coast’s newest playground, in Link Crescent, Whangaparaoa, which they officially opened last week. (see story in the Outdoors feature, p17–21).

Co-author of the report, waste solutions acting general manager Parul Sood, says Council’s Waste Management and Minimisation Plan, which has been in place since 2012, aimed to reduce what ratepayers put out in their rubbish bags by 30 percent in six years through recycling and user pays rubbish schemes. While Council offices have already met that target, a reduction of only 10 percent has been achieved in domestic waste to date.

She says while waste streams within Council’s control are being reduced, it is frustrating to see the massive increase overall.

However, Ms Sood believes that things can be turned around.

“There is a lot of work to be done as Auckland grows,” she says. “We need to work with the construction sector to set waste reduction plans, which initially will be voluntary, monitor those, and then, if needed, consider regulation.”

She says the updated Waste Management and Minimisation Plan will not initially set waste reduction targets for the work done by CCOs such as Auckland Transport, but those will be set after the plan is adopted by Council.

Council is also hoping to convince central government to substantially increase the Waste Levy that it charges per tonne of waste at landfills. Currently this is $10 per tonne;

Council is seeking an increase to $140 per tonne. Government distributes 50 percent of this revenue to Councils, which amounted to $6.1 million for Auckland Council last year. The money is used for waste minimisation. Ms Sood says that further domestic waste reduction measures are also coming in. The pay-as-you-throw kerbside refuse system, already in place on the Hibiscus Coast, will be extended to Auckland and Manukau where ratepayers currently pay via a targeted rate. On the Coast, wheelie bins will replace rubbish bags “in the next couple of years”. Instead of buying a plastic rubbish bag from the supermarket, residents will purchase a paper tag to be attached to the bin; this system was introduced in Waitakere last month. There will also be food waste collection introduced in urban areas, which includes the Coast.

Ms Sood says that technology could also play a part in future, such as waste to energy schemes and that discussions are underway about ‘producer responsibility’ – the idea of products having a circular lifecycle, and companies that make products taking responsibility for that.

The updated draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan goes before the Council’s Environment and Community Committee next month, seeking approval to publicly notify the proposed plan.

Former Rodney council boss in Aussie corruption raid

The Australian Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) has raided the council offices run by former Rodney District Council chief executive Rodger Kerr-Newell.

Mr Kerr-Newell moved to Halls Creek Shire, a remote region in northern Western Australia, after being demoted while on secondment to the Auckland Transition Authority, the forerunner of the amalgamated Auckland Council, in 2010.

Former Rodney director and planning development manager Lloyd Barton joined him on the Halls Creek council shortly afterwards, serving as Mr KerrNewell’s corporate services director.

The CCC is conducting a serious misconduct investigation, involving several local councils, and will only say at this stage that it has executed search warrants to secure evidence that will contribute to its investigation. Shortly after the raid at the end of

last month, The Halls Creek Herald newspaper reported that it had been threatened with legal action by a legal firm working for the council.

During his last 12 months with Rodney, Mr Kerr-Newell received in excess of $700,000 as chief executive. He was in the job for only two-and-ahalf years and his termination package of $349,000 was the highest of any of the outgoing council chief executives.

At its dissolution, Rodney was one of the most indebted councils in the Auckland region.

Auckland Councillor John Watson, who served on Rodney District Council, says it will be very interesting to see what emerges from the commission investigation in Australia.

In 2010, Cr Watson tried to get Auckland Council to recover $42,000 paid to Mr Kerr-Newell by former Mayor Penny Webster during the last days of the Rodney council – $35,000

in lieu of ‘untaken professional development’ and $7000 for ‘not having an opportunity to receive career transition advice’.

While Council admitted that Rodney was, “... not contractually obliged” to pay Mr Kerr-Newell the money and agreed with the Auditor-General that these payments “…breached the Transitional Provisions Act”, it said it had no power to require repayment.

Two former Rodney council transport managers under Mr Kerr-Newell and Mrs Webster were found guilty of bribery and corruption in the High Court. Murray Noone is serving a five-year prison sentence after being found guilty of receiving $1.1 million in bribes and Barry George was given 10 months home detention on similar charges. A number of other Auckland Transport staff who had worked for Rodney were dismissed from their jobs. Cr Watson says that there will be many

Rodger Kerr-Newell

people throughout Rodney who will be following these latest developments in Australia with much interest.

Mr Kerr-Newell still has business interests in NZ as the chair of Palmerston North-based NZ Windfarms. The NZ Herald reported in August that the company is estimated to be worth nearly $26 million.

Time and cost overruns for Nautilus apartments repair work

Damage to the structural steel of The Nautilus apartment building in Orewa is more serious than previously thought, which has led to time and cost overruns in its repair.

Prendos NZ is project managing the work and contractors began repairing the 12-storey leaky structure a year ago. The project, which includes completely re-cladding the structure and repairs to the roof and podium, was expected to take two years.

Prendos director Philip O’Sullivan, who has oversight of the repair work, says once cladding was removed at the rear of the building, it became clear that the damage was more serious than initially thought.

“Even though the damage was assessed, until you get the cladding off it’s hard to know the extent of the problem,” he says. “There has been extra work that we didn’t expect, mainly more corrosion in the structural steel than

was expected. It’s just as well we’re doing it now, because the building was losing structural integrity.”

He says that the company’s best estimate at this stage is that the repairs will take another 18 months – six months longer than anticipated at the start.

A further complication is that the cladding originally used on the building was the type that was in the news earlier this year after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in London where many lives were lost.

As a result, Auckland Council is now working with Prendos to ensure appropriate safety measures are put in place during the re-clad. Mr O’Sullivan says the existing, fire prone cladding is aluminium coated plastic and this is being replaced with laminated aluminium to ensure it is up to the standards of the Building Code.

“The additional work has put us behind and we are taking steps to

change the process – doing more things at the same time, rather than sequentially to speed things up.”

Prendos will also have to apply to the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board for an extension of time to use a portion of the Orewa Library’s carpark.

“Naturally as more time and work is needed, this means it will cost more too,” he says.

The High Court ordered Auckland

Council to pay around $25 million to repair the building. It was hoped at the time that this sum would be sufficient to cover the work.

Mr O’Sullivan says that the Nautilus body corporate has been kept updated. The work at the south western end of the building (the rear/tail) should soon be complete and more scaffolding should go up on other parts of The Nautilus shortly.

off the record

Missed connections

the recent

along with many others,

coming in

the NEX

straw please’ when I buy a drink. I get some funny looks from staff, but the more people that do that, the more the message might get through. It means taking the lids off some of the drinks, as they’re designed with a hole for the straw.

we strongly recommend composting. There may be a way to go, but we believe compostable food packaging is the most sustainable single-use packaging solution.

the city

forward to our long weekend. The bus was caught at the traffic lights turning right to the bus station when, to our horror, we saw all the feeder buses leaving the station. This meant a 20-minute wait for the next set of feeder buses to arrive. The timetable

terminus states clearly that

you are on the 3pm from Wellesley Street you will be able to catch the 3.50pm – we were about two minutes late. I raised this with the driver of my connecting bus who told me they are instructed now to leave on time and not wait for the NEX if it is late. Is this true? Who knew this? If indeed this is now the new rule they should sort out the regular lateness of the NEX from the city? I think this is caused by passengers alighting at intermediate stops up to Albany, as by the time we leave Albany the bus is empty and late!

Wendy Cohen, Arkles Bay Auckland Transport spokesperson James Ireland responds: When the new bus network is launched on the North Shore this will provide shorter routes that operate more frequently. This will have a positive flow on effect for those in the Hibiscus Coast. Bus drivers do have to leave on schedule in order to make sure the stops along the route are met in time. AT is aware that sometimes connections get missed, and we are always working to improve reliability of public transport. We thank readers for bringing issues like this to our attention as it helps us find the best solution.

Not a sucker

After seeing information online about the amount of plastic straws (used just once) that go to landfill every day in the US, I have been asking for ‘no

Lucy Miller Hatfields Beach

Compostible cups?

I try to avoid unnecessary plastic packaging wherever possible. One of my favourite haunts is Charlie Cocos in Orewa which makes awesome smoothies. However, I wonder whether their takeaway cups, made of plant material, are really recyclable. They are number 5 plastic which Auckland Council does not currently recycle, so I presume that any put in the recycling still go to landfill?

Also I see most people put them in the bin after finishing the drink, so I doubt many get recycled. Is this greenwashing? Would be interested to know.

Diana Belham, Millwater Charlie Coco’s and Ecoware Packaging responds: We do not recommend recycling. Recycling is a well-established and developed industry, and NZ has efficient municipal and national systems to organise and process most recycling waste. Although “reuse” is a good thing, it is also misleading as some products can only be recycled a finite number of times before it can no longer be used, and the end destination is landfill. As you correctly point out, our cups are made from plant-based bioplastic, resulting in significant fossil fuel savings and less greenhouse gas emissions during production, when compared to traditional oilbased recyclable plastics. This also means our cups are commercially compostable, a claim which requires adhering to rigorous global standards and testing. Disposal is equally as important and whilst we can’t control where they go (nature of takeaway)

Editor’s note: We are seeking a definition of ‘commercially compostable’ for this reader as we understand you can’t just put these in a garden compost.

Missed opportunity

With the land at the corner of Stanmore Bay Road and Whangaparaoa Road becoming surplus to the needs of the Ministry of Education I can’t believe that the proponents of Penlink have not been vocal about securing this land for Auckland Council and AT use. As far as I can see, Penlink’s effectiveness will be null and void unless the shambles of intersections that currently exists with three sets of traffic lights within 400m from Link Crescent to Wade River Road is addressed. Even now it is a bottleneck that creates ‘rat-running’ motorists who avoid Whangaparaoa Road, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realise that it is only going to get worse. The Ministry of Eduction’s land provides the perfect opportunity to reduce the number of lights controlled intersections to one set and deliver a smoother journey past the plaza while securing safer access onto Whangaparaoa Road with future growth in mind. There has been considerable land purchase investment in securing the penlink route and it’s interchanges but just 1.5km west of its terminus on Whangaparaoa Road will be traffic queuing chaos if this piece of land and some serious planning is not implemented. Come on councillors, AT and Council planners, let’s do something to fix it now by securing this parcel of land asap.

Claire Tierney, Stanmore Bay Claire’s full plan of how the land could be used is linked to this letter at www.localmatters.co.nz

Hibiscus Coast Garden Club trips are always exciting for garden lovers, but last month reached a new level, ending with the police involved. The bus transporting club members got wedged turning into the driveway of Sarah O’Neil (aka Sarah the Gardener blog) in Karaka. The bus blocked one lane of the rural road and many people were keen to get it out, while club members took a look around the garden. A tractor snapped a chain trying to drag out the bus and police arrived. Eventually a large tow truck pulled the bus out, while the police stopped traffic at both ends of the road.

Police get slip slop slap

Included in the police report on last year’s Crate Day on the Coast was the statement: “Three apprehensions were made, but broke free from officers because they were covered in sunscreen”. Is that why they call it giving police ‘the slip’?

Snug name

A sure fire winner for the cutest name of the year must be Snuggery Loop, which was recently given to a road in Orewa Developments’ subdivision Aurora Views in West Hoe Heights.

Walking yesterday I noticed the bar and channel along the whole length of Orewa Beach. Haven’t seen that before, no one else in our group recalled seeing it either, Wonder who else spotted it?

John Boland Manly

No satisfaction

Viewpoint (HM October 18) asked about the Council’s performance. When Mr Goff was running for Mayor he said, ‘Satisfaction with the Council is at rock bottom’. Seventeen percent of those canvassed trusted the Council to make the right decisions; 47 percent did not. The problems are: cumbersome administrative procedures, too little delegation, duplication of staff duties and ‘teams’, so no individual is responsible for results. This picture is consistent with most bureaucracies. The bigger they are, the worse they usually perform. Local government should be devolved to the lowest practical level. Another article that caught my eye was about tsunami sirens. In fact there is a helicopter tsunami warning system in place. I asked Civil Defence why it wasn’t advertised and was told, ‘because people may rely on it’. Yes, it made me chuckle too!

John Clements, Orewa Tag correction

Your article about Brayden Bayer (HM October 18) was good but the info supplied is wrong. I was one of three guys who spent exhaustive hours creating the NZ Tag game to the level it is at today. Claude Istifini, Todd Price and I took Tag from a Rugby League Club format to a nationwide sport overtaking Touch in NZ for numbers and participation. We created with the help of ATEED and sponsors many World Cups, national and regional tournaments and the major development throughout Rugby League clubs in Auckland first then nationally. I introduced Tag Football at the Raiders League Club with great success after a couple of our administrators and members of the Raiders Club decimated our hugely popular Touch numbers and competitions to create the Sharks organisation. To say “Tag 20 is NonContact/non-Tackling version of Rugby Sevens.” is wrong as it was developed at a Rugby League Club and adapted from US Flag Football to suit Rugby League trainings. Rugby has sat on our coat tails and done nothing to develop the game other than take it, convert the rules to

Rugby and for their own interests not in the best way forward for NZ Tag Football Assoc or the original game League developed. As Rugby gets huge funding at the expense of many minority sports, I believe it unfair to those who created it and worked tirelessly to grow the game to what it is today, in an almost volunteer capacity. Having been a player, coach and development agent of NZ Tag I wish Brayden Bayer the greatest future in this wonderful game. The hard work by all those Rugby League volunteers over many years is paying off because our youth like Brayden are reaping the benefits of our visions and goals. Good Luck boys and show those Aussies what you’ve got! Kia kaha.

Brandon Baker, by email (abridged) Editor’s note: We apologise for the error and thank Brandon for clarifying this.

Dairy Flat transport options

Orewa resident Bryce Pearce hopes that the blog post he wrote for Greater Auckland will be considered by Auckland Transport planners as they look at infrastructure for Dairy Flat’s transition from rural to urban. The blog post went up last month and has received a lot of comment from readers. It suggests creating a ‘transit corridor’ walking and cycling route to link with bus stations right through the Diary Flat Future Urban zone, where the development will happen, making it central to future homes and easy to access public transport without using a car. Hibiscus Matters put the idea before Auckland Council’s planning manager north/west, Warren MacLennan, who said all transport options, such as those shown in the blog, will be considered through the structure plan process. “We welcome interested parties making comments on the draft structure plan when it is released for consultation,” he says. Cr John Watson has passed the information onto Auckland Transport for its planners to consider. The Blog post can be found at www. greaterauckland.org.nz under Dairy Flat Future Urban Zone planning transit.

Local recreational fisherman Karl Hall seized the opportunity to have a day off work last week. This not only saw him treating the family to a fresh fish dinner, but he was treated himself with a close up look at some Orca. A pod swam past the boat while they were anchored up on the inside of Moturekareka Island, near Kawau.

Not many people say thanks for local board grants, but Orewa Surf Lifesaving Club showed its appreciated for the $20,000 given to it by the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board. The money was given to the club in July (HM July 19) to fund a feasibility study for its new clubrooms. Pictured making a presentation to the local board last month are, from left, president John Chapman, Terry Craigh from the building committee and Zane Taylor, building committee chair.

‘

After seeing Hibiscus Matters’ story on the “ploughed reserve” at Stanmore Bay last issue, a reader sent us this photo taken recently in a reserve in Tiri Road, Manly when contractors on a ride on mower ploughed up the grass and then had to be towed out by a truck. Residents who live near Weiti Views Reserve in Whangaparaoa have also made numerous complaints to Council about damage caused by mowing wet ground. Seems Council can’t win – if they leave the long grass they get unhappy residents, when they mow it, despite the wet ground, they annoy others…

Police cat Snickers missing in action

Snickers, the cat who has been at Whangaparaoa Police station since he was a kitten, is missing and police are seeking information from the public to find him.

The friendly moggie, who has his own Instagram page, is popular with the community and frequently wanders. He is often seen on his ‘beat’ which includes Coast Plaza, Whangaparaoa Hall, the library and Hoyts Cinema as well as residents’ homes.

has disappeared twice before, on both occasions without his collar; once he was found near Vipond Road after four days and more recently he was located in Tindalls Bay after a two-day absence. However, as this paper goes to print he has not been seen for almost two weeks and police are concerned.

Whangaparaoa Police Watchhouse Officer and Snickers’ chief carer, Charlotte Jones, says the cat was last at the station on Monday, October 16 at 8am and there have been no reported sightings since.

She says he should be wearing a red collar and name tag however it is likely that this has been lost or removed. “He has been known to hop in cars so it is possible he got into a vehicle at the Plaza and travelled home with someone,” Charlotte says. She asks if anyone has seen him, or has him in their care, to please message or call the number on his collar.

He is also microchipped so if someone finds Snickers keep him inside and contact Whangaparaoa Police on 424 6500, Charlotte Jones on 021 0278 1478 or take him to the nearest vet, who will notify police.

The search is on for Snickers, the popular police cat, who went missing two weeks ago.

Police try crushing Crate Day

Local police have come up with a new scheme to take on the might of social media, attempting to quash an event that is largely organised online.

Crate Day gatherings, where people get together in a public place to drink alcohol on the “first weekend of summer” have resulted in increasing disorder, since they started on the Hibiscus Coast in 2013.

This summer police hope to nip it in the bud and convinced the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board to help them by placing a temporary alcohol ban on all beaches and adjoining reserves from Hatfields Beach and Orewa Beach around the whole of Whangaparaoa Peninsula on December 2 and 3.

In the past the event has been held at Manly or Stanmore Bay beaches.

Rodney Area Commander Inspector Mark Fergus told the board that last year 29 arrests were made for disorder such as fighting and assault. One young woman was seriously assaulted and another had severe alcohol poisoning after consuming “several litres of hard liquor”.

Inspector Fergus said that as well as the obnoxious behaviour such as urinating and swearing, there was damage to private property, particularly in Manly, and wine was stolen. A massive cleanup was required afterwards with what one Manly resident described as “a mountain of rubbish, broken glass,

Martin becomes Minister

empty bottles and wrecked gazebos” left behind.

The liquor ban will enable police to stop the gathering before the disorder begins because people will not be able to bring alcohol to those locations during the ban.

Inspector Fergus said Crate Day could potentially shift to an alternative location or date but police think that is unlikely. He said it could still take place if someone wanted to hold it on private property but that the public should not have to put up with it on reserves and beaches any longer.

Police are also speaking to local liquor store owners and the promoters, The Rock radio station.

The event is held nationwide and the local board was told that recently Queenstown Lakes District Council instituted a similar alcohol ban to try and prevent it, but over a far smaller area.

Local board chair Julia Parfitt described the police’s request for such an extensive ban as “unusual”. However, the board agreed to it because it was only for one year while police assess how successful it is. Ratepayers are covering the cost of around $3500 for signs to advise of the temporary ban – Council staff say these need to be placed at every point of access to a beach or reserve, so many signs are needed.

Warkworth politician Tracey Martin has stepped up the political ladder to become a cabinet minister in the new Labour-NZ First-Greens Coalition Government. Her new responsibilities have both ends of the age spectrum covered: after being sworn in on October 25, she is the Minister for Children, Minister for Internal Affairs and Minister for Seniors, as well as the Associate Minister for Education. Tracey is a NZ First list MP who entered Parliament in 2011. She says she is both honoured and humbled by her appointments, and appreciates the importance of her new roles.

Ice cream van gains local licence

A mobile ice cream vendor has been granted a licence to sell ice cream in the Orewa Reserve car park and Stanmore Bay Reserve car park this summer. An ice cream vendor has been seen operating occasionally in the Orewa Reserve car park on previous occasions but this is the first time one has been granted the licence that is required from the local board as land owner. At its meeting last month, the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board granted Super Kool Ice Cream’s application to operate its ice cream van for a trial period of three months, from November 1, 2017 to January 31, 2018. The van is only allowed to operate at the specific sites mentioned for approximately 30 minutes at any one time, between 12noon and 5pm on weekends and during school holidays. After the trial period, a longer-term approval may be considered by the local board if requested by the applicant. At the meeting, Council staff told the local board members that previous applications had been turned down because of competition with local ice cream sellers. However, a High Court ruling has since established that competition cannot be used as a reason to decline such an application. The local board does however have the power to decline a licence application, without giving a reason, if it chooses to do so.

H E

U M B E R S

A M E

Model making a healing gift

A meticulously crafted model of The Bounty takes pride of place in Gloria Atkins’ Red Beach home and the story of how it was made makes it a treasured heirloom for her family. Gloria’s husband Daniel, a draughtsman by trade, purchased the pieces for the model ship. Unfortunately, he only got as far as building the base before he died in 2007.

Daniel had made many models in the past, but gave them all away.

Gloria wanted to see The Bounty finished but it was not until eight years after Daniel’s death that she approached Derek Hall who she met by chance when he purchased a small model ship from the Orewa Hospice shop – Gloria has worked at the shop for many years.

She told him about the ship and after taking a look, Derek said he’d be happy to complete the model for her. The idea was for the model to be auctioned and the funds donated to hospice.

Although he’d made other models, this was Derek’s first ship and he said the project took him more than 400 hours to complete. “My eyes aren’t the best and so there was a lot of work with a magnifying glass,” he says.

During the process, Derek had a stroke and his wife Sylvia says that getting back to work on the ship while recovering was therapeutic, helping him relax and getting his brain back into gear.

Derek would not take any money for his work, which he finished recently.

Gloria and her family were so impressed with the completed model and it meant so much to them, that they decided to keep it, and make a $100 donation to hospice. Gloria also presented Derek with an artwork made of photos taken while he worked on the model.

“Derek and Sylvia are such lovely people and we will treasure this special gift,” Gloria says.

Derek Hall works on the model ship.

Gloria and Derek with the completed model of The Bounty

Whangaparaoa Lodge comes out on top

Whangaparaoa Lodge in Little Manly was named Supreme Award Winner and Best Motel at the Hospitality NZ Annual Awards.

The awards were announced at a gala dinner held in Wellington on October 19.

Lodge owners Troy and Tomoko Clarry say winning the the awards was overwhelming.

“We are especially proud of our small operations team,” Troy says.

Judges applauded Whangaparaoa Lodge as an example for other moteliers to follow and Hospitality NZ chief executive Vicki Lee, said that

the judges all agreed the 46 finalists and the 19 winners were of a notably high caliber this year which made judging especially difficult.

“Whangaparaoa Lodge, however, excelled when it came to genuine Kiwi hospitality,” she said.

The judging process by independent industry professionals considered many aspects of the finalists’ businesses, including staff training and human resources, customer service, food and beverage offerings, marketing and promotional activities, and the demonstration of business growth.

A difficult year in 2016 has seen Sign Solutions of Stanmore Bay earn a David Award in the Triumph over Adversity category. The difficulties faced by Sign Solutions owners Karen and Keith Browne were detailed in a story in Hibiscus Matters March 1 issue and included a long recovery for Keith from a serious illness, as well as having to find a new location for the business. The David Awards recognise small businesses throughout New Zealand and are awarded annually. Judges commented that the Triumph over Adversity entries captured the essence of the awards – small businesses punching way above their weight in the face of major challenges.

Boom time for reusable shopping bags

move by Countdown and New World supermarkets to go plastic bag free by the end of next year has galvanized the local branch of Boomerang Bags, which launches its reusable cloth bags this week.

Australian initiative has gone global with a simple and effective scheme of making and supplying bags for shoppers that can be used and returned, reducing the use of one-trip plastic bags.

Boomerang Bags Hibiscus Coast volunteers have been sewing cloth bags with donated fabric since February and originally planned to offer the bags locally when they had made 500 bags (HM July 5).

The supermarket announcement brought their plan forward and they will begin putting 200 of the 250 bags they have made into circulation on November 4.

Orewa Library will be the first to be given a pile of 50 bags, and the Whangaparaoa Recycling Centre as well as Orewa businesses Animal Natural Health and Bulk Bin have also signed up to take part.

Stephanie Baird of Boomerang Bags Hibiscus Coast says public sewing sessions will continue, as she anticipates demand from more businesses. She says the team still has a large quantity of donated fabric to use

make the bags.

businesses interested in having a supply of Boomerang Bags can contact Stephanie, email hbcboomerangbags@ gmail.com or look for Boomerang Bags Hibiscus Coast on Facebook.

Freeman

Manager

Boomerang Bag ladies Stephanie Baird, left and Kara Nagle are distributing their reusable bags around the Hibiscus Coast this week.

Brothers-in-law Mathew Sturge and Baffin Wong are the directors of Kiwi Assist, formerly located in Albany, but now based at Tindalls Bay.

head a team of 10 advisers, spread around the country between Auckland and Dunedin, with another two advisers joining the company soon.

“We believe most people have very little understanding of what financial advisers do, so they don’t know how some sound financial advice can save them money and take a lot of stress out of their lives,” Mat says. “Plus, our service is free.”

Mat sharpened his financial skills while working in Australia for five years, mainly in the high-end corporate market. On the other hand, Baffin studied finance and minor economics, but then worked a range of jobs from importing to hospitality – he owned the Ra Cafe & Bar in Dunedin for a number of years.

What they have in common is a shared interest in helping everyday kiwis make smarter financial choices. As an example, they say a couple with a $460,000 mortgage over 30 years, whose combined income is around $135,000 gross, could potentially

save $220,700 in interest and pay the loan off in 16 years with proper loan structuring.

“You start with a budget and proper restructuring of their financial affairs including KiwiSaver and insurance, and it is absolutely achievable. Even a one per cent increase in KiwiSaver returns will net a 30-year-old on $55,000 a year, $100,000 more when they reach 65.”

Mat says it is not uncommon to come across people who have good resources, but who feel like they don’t earn enough.

“It’s not until you start working on a financial plan that you can identify where the money is going and how to best optimise it. It is often a real surprise to the client – especially if they find they are spending $2000 a month on takeaways!”

While many of us may have an opinion about US President Donald Trump, the new owner of The Good Home in Stanmore Bay can talk from first-hand experience.

Originally from Scotland, Tom Gethin worked on three occasions in the US during his university summer holidays. While in New York once, he and three fellow students were employed to work on the gardens in the Trump Tower in mid-town Manhattan.

“We worked on Trump’s own private garden and I have to say, there is only one side to the man,” Tom says. “He is just as pooh faced and pompous as he appears on TV.”

After university, Tom worked in IT security for 20 years, a job which took him all over the world. But just over eight years ago, he visited New Zealand for a friend’s wedding and, after an eight-day stay, decided to emigrate.

“It just felt like this was the place I wanted to be,” he says.

Since taking over The Good Home bar and restaurant, he has spent almost every waking hour getting to know customers, re-designing the menu and hiring new staff including a chef.

The 350spm space includes a bar and restaurant, atrium dining area and generous function room.

Tom says the menu has been expanded a little, but the real change has been in

Tom Gethin

quality and affordability.

“We’ve gone for local suppliers and homemade dishes, and we’ve added in food that will keep people interested such as the homemade Yorkie Slider. There is more seafood on the menu and the burgers will take a bit of beating. The desserts are top restaurant quality but at local prices.”

The addition of live music on Sundays is proving popular and Tom has plans to introduce a monthly Ibiza-styled DJ session for the 25-year plus age group.

“This business is my hobby, my passion, my family, my life,” he says.

“I want Coasties to know the business is under new management and they should come down and take a look.”

KiwiSaver

Baffin Wong (left) and Mathew Sturge

n INTRODUCING

Smith & Sons Hibiscus Coast

After more than 40 years experience in the building industry, John Jensen believes the Smith & Sons’ threestep build process – design, plan and construct – is the best concept he has seen.

John, who is the new owner of the Hibiscus Coast franchise of Smith & Sons, says he spent more than six months researching the company, its reputation and processes before deciding to join it.

“The building industry is pretty buoyant at the moment and most subcontractors are busy,” he says. “This is good for the industry, but it means that anyone thinking of building a home or renovating needs to be careful.

“Unfortunately, in NZ, price dictates everything.

“You may pay a little more for reputation and experience, but what you get in return – at least from us – is a budget that you can rely on with no surprises.”

The Hibiscus franchise covers from Albany to Warkworth and west to Helensville, and has a pool of 30 staff.

John says he started his first company when he was 25 and then took a few years off in his mid-30s to gain a diploma in quantity surveying.

“I love the building game – I was never going to be a person who could sit at

John Jensen

a desk all day.”

He says his experience has taught him that understanding the future homeowner’s lifestyle is an important step in the pre-design process.

“Setting a realistic budget is important, but understanding how the people living in the house will use their home helps us get the design right, right from the beginning.”

Support the businesses that support Hibiscus Matters

Plea for support doubles grant

The latest round of grants from the Hibiscus & Bays Local Board for 2017/18 saw 52 applications, requesting a total of $448,308. In total, $138,700 was granted to 33 organisations.

The Hibiscus Coast Youth Council received one of the largest single grants, of $10,000. Originally the organisation, which runs the Youth Centre in Orewa, applied for $20,000 and was granted $5000. Intervention by local board member Caitlin Watson saw this doubled, when she made a plea for the good work done by the Youth Centre, and its need for support.

Local groups that received grants are:

y Sport Limited, $1200 towards costs of hockey project at Orewa College

y Centrestage Theatre, $5000 towards lighting for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

y Hibiscus Petanque, $5000 towards costs of building a petanque terrain at 214 Hibiscus Highway, Orewa

y Coast Youth Community Trust, $5000 for youth worker programmes in Whangaparaoa

y Stage 51 Ltd, $5000 towards costs of Christmas event at Western

The perfect bach

Reserve, Orewa on December 23

y Harbour Sport Trust $5000 for costs of Shore to Shore Fun Run/Walk

y Hibiscus Coast Youth Council Inc, $10,000 for costs associated with youth development, mentoring, health and safety approvals and operational support

y Whangaparaoa Tennis Club, $4000 for court lighting upgrade

y Love Soup Hibiscus Coast, $2500 for transport and operational costs

y Eave’s Bush Appreciation Group, $1500 for educational signs

y Rodney Aphasia Group, $2000 towards an administrator

y Estuary Arts Charitable Trust, $2000 for volunteer training and facilitation costs

y Hibiscus Coast Softball Club, $1000 for secure equipment storage and IT upgrade

y Okura Forest Festival, $5000 for event running costs

y Hibiscus Rodders, $10,000 for traffic management at Beach Festival

y Beach Series, $5000 towards costs of managing water safety at the Orewa Beach Series

An apartment in Arkles Bay is in the running for the title of NZ Bach of the Year after winning gold in the Hospitality section of the regional competition. The regional winners were selected by public vote. All gold winners go forward to the Supreme Bach of the Year Award, to be judged by two Kiwi home design experts – interior stylist LeeAnn Yare, and host of Our First Home, Goran Paladin. The apartment was built this year.

WE MAKE IT EASY WITH OUR THREE SIMPLE STEPS...

Pinc Ltd

The desire to add a bit of impact, glamour and twinkle to items such as wedding invitations and business cards paid off for local design and print company Pinc.

Creative director Margriet O’Reilly says her company took over some foil printing equipment two years ago thinking it would make a nice addition to the already established home business.

Foil provides a delicate and sophisticated finish, but Margriet says it comes via a very industrial heat transfer process using metal plates. The foil comes in almost any colour you can name – including rainbow. It proved immensely popular and within six months the volume of work had increased to the point where Margriet’s husband Conan left the airforce to become Pinc’s fulltime printer.

Before too long, more staff were needed and along with that, relocation from the O’Reillys’ home in Red Beach to an office in Silverdale Village.

The move to Silverdale was in September and Margriet says she is really enjoying the walk-in business that it has brought.

Margriet has almost 20 years design experience, having decided while still at school to focus on graphic design.

She studied at Unitec and then started her own business, specialising in pocketfolds, envelopes and packs of

paper, while in her early twenties.

As well as the foil printing, Pinc offers a full design, copy and digital printing service as well as selling paper stock.

Business cards and wedding invitations are a speciality. “We love making pretty things and using beautiful paper stocks,” Margriet says. “We often work with people planning special occasions, including items for corporate events, and we can of course print anything – including very practical things such as forms and rosters for businesses and saddle stitched booklets.”

Margriet says the business also enjoys working with local charities, such as I Got Your Backpack to give back to the community.

n CHANGING FACES Barker & Associates

Ever considered sub-dividing your property? Perhaps you would like to add a granny flat or chop a tree down. Maybe the retaining wall the neighbour is building next door looks a little high to you. Is there anything you can do about it? And what about that big development nearby? Should you make a submission to council about it?

These kinds of questions often require the services of a good planning consultant, who can help secure appropriate consents for your projects and advise on what is and what is not permissible.

With Mahurangi’s rapid growth, everyone from private homeowners to major developers to local councils have been beating a path to Warkworthbased OPC consultants to seek out the firm’s expertise. That heavy workload posed a challenge for director Burnette Macnicol – a difficulty that became more acute when a senior staff member resigned, leaving a big hole to fill. Burnette’s solution was to sell her business to Barker & Associates but continue to work as an employee of the enlarged firm from the same offices in Lilburn Street.

She says the move will be a huge boon for clients, giving them greater access to a broader range of expertise and resources, and at the same time allowing her to respond more quickly to clients’ needs

Burnette is also looking forward to working as part of a bigger team.

“You are in a stronger position professionally if you have a team of people you can bounce ideas off, and it allows you to peer-review each other’s work,” she says.

Burnette has lived in Warkworth from the age of 11 and is passionate about seeing growth in the area that is well planned.

To this end, she spurred the development of a communityled spatial plan to inform broader Auckland Council planning and has engaged in pro bono work for Warkworth Wellsford Hospice and various community groups.

She says the secret to good planning is having a high degree of common sense and a nose for finding solutions.

“And a lot of it is about knowing your local community really well and building relationships,” she says.

Planning & Urban Design Specialists

Burnette Macnicol

Margriet O’Reilly

Honours awarded to longstanding firefighters

Honours night on Labour weekend was celebrated by firefighters from Manly and Silverdale, although according to Waitemata Fire area manager adviser and Silverdale Station officer Ted Fuller it may be the last time that the two stations celebrate this event as a single unit. A recent review of the NZ Fire Services Act resulted in the merger of urban and rural services. Mr Fuller says that during that process, feedback from Chief Fire Officers was that they wanted a level of autonomy so that each brigade could develop independently.

The process of turning Silverdale and Manly into fully independent units is currently underway and will influence how many events and activities, such as training, they undertake together in future.

Previously they operated under the same Chief Fire Officer, with Manly as an auxillary brigade to Silverdale. Mr Fuller, who has been a volunteer at Silverdale for 15 years, says that the change will mean Manly should have its own Chief and Deputy Chief fire officers appointed in around 18 months.

He says it is likely that the two brigades will still train and mix professionally and socially together on many occasions but that will be up to them to decide.

Honours given

The brigades’ Honours night took place at Whangaparaoa Golf Club on October 21 and included around

20 presentations of medals to brigade members.

Station officer Adrian Rice, who has earned a Gold Star for 25 years’ service, was given star treatment, with a guard of honour. He arrived at the wheel of the same fire truck that he drove at the very start of his career. In presenting the medal to Adrian, Nigel Lilley of the United Fire Brigades Associaiton said that only 4 percent of firefighters achieve 25 years’ service.

Adrian is the 25th firefighter in the Silverdale Volunteer Fire Brigade’s 65year history to receive the Gold Star.

Snr Firefighter Jason Carn-Bennett, who has completed 14 years as a volunteer firefighter at Silverdale, receives his Long Service Good Conduct Medal from Rodney MP Mark Mitchell. Jason recently commenced training as a career firefighter. Right, Retired Chief Fire Officer Frank Mackereth is congratulated by Deputy Chief Shayne Kennedy on his 2-year Gold Bar, representing 58 years’ service. Frank stepped down as Chief Fire Officer at the end of September and will be officially farewelled next February.

A Guard of honour welcomes Silverdale Station officer Adrian Rice and his daughter Jaimee. Right, Adrian receives his Gold Star medal from Nigel Lilley of the United Fire Brigades Association.

Ag days bringing country to Coast

Dozens of animals, including sheep, goats, calves, chickens and miniature horses gave Wainui School a farmyard atmosphere for its annual Ag Day and Country Fair on October 20.

The school community, and many visitors from around the Hibiscus Coast came to enjoy the stalls, food and entertainment – but the most fun was had by the children.

This year a total of $7500 was raised which principal Gillian Bray says will go towards learning resources. She says the school’s Ag Day blends tradition with some of the students’ latest technology studies.

“We have the traditional elements of raising animals and bring in farmers from the district as judges. Classroom displays include arts and crafts, sand saucers and vegetable animals.

Intermediate students tie the Ag Day into their Tech programme –a wooden toolbox carrier and an iPad case made from recycled jeans are among the items they made this year.”

The FOWS (Friends of Wainui School) group organised and ran the market day, the café and all the fun activities.

Silverdale School, Dairy Flat School and Waitoki School held their Agricultural-themed galas last weekend (Oct 28).

Painting your own pot to fill with impatiens was popular with the young ones including Year 2 Wainui School student Milly Dixon.

This kid, Sooty, was considerably smaller than the rest, which owner Lexie Atkinson says is because the breed is part Arapawa and part Saanen.

This lamb, named Lucy, was found with a broken leg and her umbilical cord still attached, alongside the motorway by Joanne Quartermain. Joanne looked after her, including bottle feeding and sleeping alongside her. She tried to find the owner but was unsuccessful. The lamb, which has the spotted markings typical of the Jacob breed of sheep, was put through her paces at the Ag Day by Joanne’s daughter, Ellena.

Tripp and Milla Glasgow of Waitoki earned a big bunch of first and second place ribbons with their Hereford cross calves.

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Coast’s newest playground officially open

The Hibiscus Coast’s newest playground was opened officially last week by McConnell Property, the developers of Mariner Rise subdivision in Link Crescent, Whangaparaoa.

McConnell Property general manager Nigel Richards said that the development of 60 house sites that surrounds the playground is 100 percent sold. Building of homes could begin before Christmas. Mr Richards said that design constraints are in place for the homes in the subdivision.

Speaking at the opening, on October 25, Hibiscus & Bays Local Board chair Julia Parfitt said that the development was a mark of a successful collaboration between the local board, Auckland Council, Panuku Development Auckland and McConnell Property.

“We were disappointed with how the site opposite, Link apartments, were developed and we worked with Panuku to make sure that didn’t happen again,” Mrs Parfitt said. “We didn’t want to destroy views, and green space is important.”

Work began on the formerly Auckland Council owned Mariner Rise site in August last year. McConnell Property development manager Matt Anderson

said that the project had been delivered pretty much on time, “if not on budget”.

He thanked Council, the local board and the contractors involved including Boffa Miskell’s Aynsley Cisaria, who designed the playground. “It’s good to see an adventure type playground for the kids that is not the typical plastic fantastic,” Mr Anderson said.

The playground has been designed to have pieces added over time in collaboration with the community. A site next to the playground is set aside for the building of a Family Centre and potentially another small play area.

A family fun day was held at the playground last weekend, on October 28.

The next piece of sports equipment that Orewa Lions will donate to a local reserve will be a bike repair station, to be erected in Western Reserve, near the public toilet. It includes a stand to hang a bike from with tools and a pump attached. It is hoped that the bike repair station will go in within the next month. The group will also add a third piece of exercise equipment to Orewa Reserve – a recumbent cycle with lat pulldown, which will hopefully go in this summer.

Smoking stubbed out Auckland Council adopted an updated smokefree policy this month, which will see public places such as beaches and areas around sports clubs smokefree from May next year. The smokefree public places plan was first rolled out in July 2013 at playgrounds, pools, skateparks, sports fields and parks and reserves and in May 2015 at plazas. The policy is promoted by signs and Council is relying on “social pressure” for compliance.

The official opening included speeches from McConnell Property development manager Matt Anderson and Hibiscus & Bays Local Board chair Julia Parfitt, as well as the planting of a totara tree.

Fresh challenge for oyster farm

A surge in prevalence marine pest eudistoma elongatum will prove a headache for Mahurangi oyster farmers unless it can be successfully curbed.

Auckland Council warns the pest, which breeds in clusters of slimy white tubes, poses a serious danger to marine areas.

Eudistoma grows on sand and mud and can attach itself to hard surfaces, including rocks and shells

The pest has been spreading through North Island and is now in three known locations in Auckland, including Mahurangi Harbour and Sandspit.

Local oyster farmers sometime dub it Bob Marley weed because of the tubes’ resemblance to dreadlocks.

President of Mahurangi Oyster Farmers Danny Addison says the pest creates a bigger labour cost for farmers because they are obliged to scrape it off the oysters.

And regional bio-security manager for Auckland Council Jonathan Miles says the pest has the potential to displace native marine species should it get out of control.

A rash of eudistoma covering rocks could see the loss of native sea urchins, limpets and crabs.

A major mechanism for eudistoma to spread is through attaching itself to the hulls of boats, particularly moored boats in marinas that may not get cleaned or taken out regularly.

With summer looming and more

Eudistoma elongatum popularly known as Bob Marley weed. Photo, Samantha Happy

boats moving about, Council is urging boaties to be on the lookout for the pest and check and clean their hulls.

Thoroughly cleaning hulls will also help prevent the spread of another pest, the Mediterranean fanworm, which competes with oysters for food.

Mr Miles says Oyster farmers and the Council are hugely dependent on the boating community to keep their boats clean and join the effort to keep these marine pests at bay.

Fishing

Finding a good spot

November typically heralds the beginning of the spawning season with warming sea temperatures, and the buzz around town being about the good snapper fishing. The Hauraki Gulf is the perfect spawning ground for snapper being a relatively shallow basin with numerous feed sources and not many predators. The snapper generally hang out in large schools in about 25-45m of water throughout spawning and will keep spawning so long as the water temperature remains fairly stable. During November it is well known that huge snapper schools form around the Motuora Island area and down the channel between Tiri and Rangitoto. With the ease of access to these areas it’s no surprise that they are well frequented and get pretty busy. If you want to get away from the crowds there are plenty of other areas to find good numbers of fish ready to take your offerings. Try south of Flat Rock in 45m, across the other side of the Cable Zone in 50m, North of Waiheke about 5-6 miles and good old Whangaparaoa Bay. The Bay of Whales, as it is historically called, can provide fantastic fishing. Work ups are frequent and the bait schools vast during spring and summer. We have even had small tuna in the bay too. You can either use your sounder to find fish on the bottom or bait schools that fish will shadow. One of the methods that has treated me well over the years is prospect drifting. Look for birds working, surface activity or indications like a slight change of depth, a change of water colour or a current line on the surface, and drop small jigs (28-60gr), soft plastics or inchiku and kabura jigs. Work the whole water column often schooling fish will hang in mid-water. They might not be hungry enough to eat traditional bait but this is where lure and jig fishing comes into play. Snapper are scavengers and can switch food sources in a heartbeat and will aggressively strike at moving lure or wiggling soft plastic.

Good colours that should be a staple in every tackle box are orange, pink and green. Lure shapes too can matter and jigs that will flutter on the drop seem to work as well as anything else. When it comes to inchiku and kabura style jigs then both lure and skirt colour are your choices. If one colour doesn’t work then switch it out after a few drops and the old rule applies: Whoever is catching – copy them!

Bait fisherman will excel with the use of a good burley trail and pilchards, mullet, squid and bonito baits. Evening and early mornings are great at this time of year to head out, lay a good burley trail and float lightly or un-weighted baits back to the fish. Fresh mackerel works very well in this situation too.

Keep safe, don’t exceed the limits and consider other anglers.

with Damian Clayton whangaparaoa@topcatch.co.nz

Spring fling for garden club

For the past 50 years, the Hibiscus Coast Garden Club (formerly Whangaparaoa Horticultural Society) has celebrated Spring by filling a hall with homegrown flowers and produce.

There are 70 categories in this year’s Annual Flower Show at Whangaparaoa Hall with roses expected to be the largest, filling the hall with scent.

Fruit and Vegetables is also a big category.

Show secretary Annabelle Guthrie says the show is a lot of work for a group of around 20 of the club’s 88 members –but well worth it.

“We look forward to it, because on the day with all the trestle tables covered in flowers, it makes everyone feel happy,” she says.

One of this year’s judges is begonia grower Graham Milne, who Annabelle says will have his work cut out for him; while some members just like to

take part, for others, competition can be fierce.

Annabelle will enter some of her irises and is hoping there are no storms to damage the blooms in the week before the show. “The idea is to enter even if the blooms are not perfect,” she says.

One of the club’s biggest winners is longstanding member Jackie Mitchell who has a beautiful garden in Whangaparaoa and has kept every one of her prize certificates Annabelle says she must have hundreds, having won a whole range of categories including vegetables and various flower types. Info and schedule, phone Annabelle, 424 8873. Entries are taken the day before the show, and must be phoned through to Annabelle by 12 noon on November 9. Entries are welcome from any local gardeners (including children) – you don’t have to be a member of the club.

The show is open on Friday, November 10, 1.30pm–4pm. Entry $3.

Gardening

with Dee Pignéguy mikedee@clear.net.nz

deserts and people picture dry sandy desolate, wind-blown stretches of endless sand. But today, as we continue to pave over and eliminate our natural landscapes and expand our acres of lawn grass, we are slowly creating an urban desert incapable of sustaining a real diversity of nature. Even parks and school grounds with large grassy football fields cannot be considered natural habitats.

restoration is not just something you do with groups on conservation weekends as wild spaces can easily be recreated in your own garden area.

natural habitat area needs to provide four essential elements; food, water, shelter and places to raise the young. They will also improve the environment, not only for the birds and insects, but also for children to see and experience nature. Once I had established our vegetable garden, a small orchard and housed the chickens, there was little room left for an area of habitat restoration, so I set about creating it on the verge. Nature abhors a monoculture, so I planted a diversity of herbs, flowers, unusual sub-tropicals, shrubs, and what some people would call ‘weeds’ like dandelions and plantain.

One great reward for creating this riot of vegetation was the mix of people who stopped to observe and comment on the unusual plants. The kids from the local kindergarten had a positive outdoor experience when they encountered the highly scented peppermint pelargoniums on one of their outings. I even met a local Frenchman who asked if he could harvest some of the artichoke heads for a family gathering he was cooking for.

One plant that always attracts attention is the Cardoon (Cynara cardunculus). An architecturally stunning member of the thistle family with its silver grey serrated foliage, it is similar to the globe artichoke in appearance. You will need plenty of space for this Mediterranean native with its spiky purple thistle-like flowers. It can grow up to 2 metres tall and expand to become a permanent garden resident. Left to seed, cardoons can easily become a weedy pest, so once the bees and butterflies have finished gathering their pollen, the flower heads can be cut off. Cardoons form perennial clumps, and can be propagated by the lateral offshoots. Habitat restoration on the verge continues to provide a glimpse into nature’s wild world and a relief from the constant hum of lawn mowers. The peace and quiet is simply stunning.

The dramatic cardoon

best shot

This shot won Honours for Sean Campbell. Sean joined the club with a camera that he needed help with – and he wanted to learn how to get good shots with it. He has since gone on to taking some stunning photographs. He took this shot at the Muriwai gannet colony on a very blustery day. “The gannets were making the most of the windy conditions by soaring for an extended amount of time. This enabled me to get clear crisp shots of the birds, eventually!” Sean says.

Rotary Satellite Club of OrewaMillwater got behind the local Pink

Appeal

ran a hugely successful sausage sizzle at Pak ’n Save Silverdale on Saturday October 14.

volunteers, raised $1034

and friends, assisted by Pink

appeal. President of the Rotary Satellite Club, Tracey Johnson, said this was the most successful sausage sizzle

an exceptional result for the

the organisation has held to date

from left

Tracey

with Hibiscus Coast Photographic Club, www.hcpc.org.nz

Orewa Beach gets Big Cleanup treatment

Brittany Owens says that she hopes her Big Cleanup of Orewa Beach this weekend will not only remove litter and rubbish but also be a chance for like-minded people to get together and share some fun and a sausage sizzle.

This is the third Big Cleanup that Brittany has organised – the previous two took place in July on the North Shore and a total of 300kgs of rubbish was collected.

Brittany says the success of her The Big Cleanup Facebook page is due to the members of the public who turn up to help her clean their local beaches.

“It’s so important for all of us to take responsibility for cleaning up the land that we take so much from,” she says.

“People often look at beaches with rose tinted glasses, until they take a closer look and see what’s actually there.”

Among the most common items found are lollypop sticks and cigarette butts (the filter does not break down) as well as plastic of all kinds, especially straws. Much larger items, including a pallet, road work barriers, treated timber and standing sign weights have also been found.

Envirowaste will supply a skip and recycling bins at the Orewa Beach cleanup on Saturday, November 4. It runs for just one hour, from 10am. Brittany provides reusable hessian

sacks for participants to use, and everyone unpacks what they collect to place in the recycling bins or landfill skip. If possible, bring your own gardening gloves.

She says the clean ups are especially popular with families with young children but that people of all ages take part.

“There has been torrential rain at other clean ups and it’s always surprising to see how many people still want to be part of it,” she says. “It’s fun – we don’t preach on about it; it’s a chance to get out there and do something and meet likeminded people.”

The meeting point is likely to be by Orewa Surf Club, but this will be confirmed on the Facebook page The Big Cleanup.

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Brittany Owens says that her Orewa Beach clean up will, first and foremost, be fun.

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Trekking tales

My fellow trekker Eric staggered into Gorak Shep about two in the afternoon. This was the last staging post before Everest Base Camp and he was determined to make it. But he was feeling sick and had taken twice as long as the rest of us to get there. Nobody had told him that he should have turned around and gone down. He went straight to bed with body aches, nausea, diarrhoea and abdominal pain, and suddenly I had a real patient on my hands. Fortunately I had a small pharmacy with me, so I treated all the symptoms I could and gave him some oral rehydration, but by night time he was no better and his insurance company arranged a Medevac. He spent a couple of nights in a Kathmandu hospital recovering from altitude sickness. Quite sad for a guy who was looking forward to celebrating his birthday at Everest Base Camp.

He wasn’t the only one to struggle. I saw a very unwell female tourist being piggybacked down the mountain by a Sherpa, going as fast as they could to get her to a lower altitude. And at one lodge some of the younger trekkers had just given up, saying they couldn’t walk any more and wanted to go home (by helicopter).

All this made me very aware that trips like this are not a trivial undertaking. I was shocked at how little mental and physical preparation some people had put into it. Many had not had any vaccinations or taken Diamox as prevention for mountain sickness. Some hadn’t even trained.

I would like to say that it was my meticulous preparation that got me there and back, but really there was an element of dumb luck. Eric had hiked at 14,000 ft in Colorado, but still got hit harder than anybody on the trip. In the end my elaborate strategy of putting one foot in front of the other, and the constant encouragement of my guide, made it a successful expedition.

But I was glad that I had had advice from a travel health specialist and got vaccinated for everything I could think of. And to be fair, Mt Everest has been my passion and interest for forty years. I had “virtually” done this trip many times. When I actually saw the mountain in person I just about fainted, and it wasn’t from lack of oxygen. was so excited that I used up my whole store of adjectives in about five minutes. Even though the initial view is quite distant, the distinctive shape of the summit is instantly recognisable. And all its mystique and history, all its triumph and disaster, all its significance to New Zealanders in particular, came flooding back to me. I really felt I was walking in Edmund Hillary’s footsteps. I’d taken one of his books with me and found it fascinating in two ways. The trekking route has huge ups and downs topographically, and I came to realise that building a school or a hospital in those conditions was a real feat of ingenuity and determination. And also I could begin to understand how far the Sherpa community has come in the last sixty years, from a medieval society with terrible disease and poverty, to quite a slick and well resourced (and locally owned) tourist enterprise.

In honour of Sir Ed one of my patients gave me a pack of Kendal mint cake, the energy snack that the British Everest Expedition used in 1953. It went all the way to Everest Base Camp with me and did the job as I was gasping in the thin air, which has 50 percent less oxygen than sea level.

I have to say that I left my heart in Dingboche. This pretty little village sits on a plateau at 14,000 ft and we had an acclimatisation day there. Some refer to this as a rest day, but it involves a four hour side trip to higher altitude to help the body adjust. Dingboche possibly has the highest snooker parlour in the world and boasts a surprisingly good bakery. But local customs are still preserved. It was the beginning of the yak dung collecting season and the villagers were out on the hillsides collecting this useful product for winter fuel. It is fashioned into patties and laid out to dry in the sun, still with the hand prints on. I had bravely washed my hair in the chill alpine water and was just recovering from the worst icecream headache ever, when a yak wandered in to the courtyard to meet the newcomer. I don’t speak yak but we exchanged a friendly nod, he had his breakfast and then moved on, apparently satisfied.

Travel is a series of memorable moments. And this little walk in the hills was full of encounters like that. I loved every minute of it.

With Kendal mint cake

Halloween theme for ball

Lions Club members descended on Orewa in force last weekend for their annual district convention.

More than 170 Lions from 80 clubs were hosted by Orewa Lions.

The convention was held at Orewa College Arts & Events Centre and included a Halloween themed Spooktacular Ball on Saturday October 28.

Orewa Lions convention chair Mandy Hebben says a huge effort was made to ensure this ball was super scary, with a fake electric chair among the ‘decorations’. The Banned, dressed in Halloween costumes, provided live music.

The convention also included a remembrance service and flag ceremony as well as a business session.

Chloe learns fundraising ropes

Six-year-old Chloe Conza appears to be following in her mother’s footsteps and being proactive about raising money for good causes.

Chloe’s mother, Claire, is the woman behind Make Give Live – a group that makes beanies under a ‘buy one give one model’ – for every one sold, a beanie is given to a person in need through Age Concern and Lifewise.

As well as helping Make Give Live, Chloe has chosen her own charitable groups to support and these include local ones such as Gutter Kitties. So far she has sold artwork, jewellery and iced tea to raise funds.

Last month she also gave a talk to her Year 1 class at Whangaparaoa School about sustainability and what children can do to help the planet. This included challenging the class to

Gala photos online

Gulf Harbour School’s Gala, which featured a Halloween theme, took place last weekend, on Saturday October 28. Another outdoor event, the Westie Walk for dogs around Te Ara Tahuna (Orewa Estuary) was on Sunday, October 29. Photos of both these events can be found at www. localmatters.co.nz

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“Even though we are small, we can change things too and help make the world a better place,” she told the class.

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contact us on 09 424 4900 to pre-book.

58 Rawhiti Road, Manly, Whangaparaoa

technicians, 5 days a week.

& Julie Cameron, (centre) with Affordable Dentists owner, Mayank Dewan and Hygienist, Sharon Boutell.

Orewa Lion Clive Hebben tests the ‘electric chair’ before it is put in use at the Spooktacular Ball.

Chloe Conza puts her talents towards good causes.

Love Food Hate Waste

www.lovefoodhatewaste.co.nz

Eat your cupboards clean

This month is a good time to clean out your fridge, freezer and pantry in preparation for Christmas. Not only will you be making space to store a turkey or ham, and lots of leftovers, you can also save money in the process.

Go through the kitchen and make a list of things that have been hanging around a bit too long. Make the effort to eat your way through the list over the next couple of weeks.

Fritters and pancakes are a great way to use up odds and ends. Whether it is leftover roast vegetables, an old tin of corn, or peas that have been in the freezer forever, the beauty of the fritter is that they can be adapted based on what you need to use up. This recipe takes inspiration from Japanese savoury pancakes –Okonomiyaki means ‘grilled as you like it’.

Okonomiyaki

Time: 30 minutes. Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup water or liquid stock

2 eggs

¼ teaspoon salt

2 packed cups cabbage, finely sliced (or any other vegetable)

2 spring onions, finely sliced

2 tablespoons oil

Toppings: (opt): Sweet chilli sauce, Aioli, Green part of the spring onion Method: Measure the flour, water or stock, eggs, and salt in a bowl and mix together using a whisk or wooden spoon until there are no large lumps. Mix through the sliced cabbage and white part of the spring onion, reserving the green parts for the topping.

Heat a large, 28cm frying pan on medium-high heat, add the oil and swirl to coat the pan. Add all the batter, spreading it evenly across the pan.

Turn the heat down to medium and let it fry for about 5–8 minutes. Occasionally

check the bottom of the pancake to make sure it is not browning too quickly – lower the heat if it is.

Flip the pancake once the top looks set, then turn the heat down to low and cook for another 3–5 minutes until it is golden.

Top with your desired toppings and serve warm.

Tip – these pancakes can be cooked on a barbecue

Bird watchers wanted

Hibiscus Coast Forest & Bird’s annual Peninsula Bird Count takes place this month. The survey has been running four years and, with the help of many people, the organisation is starting to build up a good base of data. Bird counts can be done anytime during the month of November and you don’t have to be a bird expert. If you’re interested in doing a count or would like more information before you decide, please contact Richard Chambers on 021 212 7101 or email r.chambers@orcon.net.nz

Australian artists Lucy and Barry McCann are sought after as painters and art teachers, so their workshop at Estuary Arts Centre in Orewa next month is exciting for the artistic community.

The McCanns are both fulltime professional artists who work largely on commission, as well as teaching and judging.

Participants at the three-day workshop, on November 10–12, will be shown the way that the couple use

paint to create an “oil-like look” and the McCanns will also share tips to make painting in acrylics easier.

step-by-step method of creating an artwork will be demonstrated.

Barry and Lucy have conducted numerous workshops in New Zealand, mainly in the medium of watercolour and oils. This will be the first time they have been on the Hibiscus Coast and also the first time they have shown their acrylic method.

Barry McCann

Vinyl sales all about the bass

A Labour Day sale of vinyl records at Silverdale Hall drew people of all ages to browse through boxes containing thousands of LPs.

Christiaan Els of Millwater, who has been buying and selling records for almost a decade, says the resurgence of popularity that vinyl is enjoying is all about the bass.

“There’s no bass on an iPod or iPhone, the lower frequencies are lost and young people, including my daughter, are surprised to hear what music is supposed to sound like, when you pay an LP,” Christiaan says.

He likes to keep prices affordable, at around $15, but there are also some highly collectable items that go for

double that.

He says Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits and Pink Floyd are popular with young people, while older record hunters are buying the things they enjoyed in the 50s, 60s and 70s such as Elvis Presley, ABBA, David Bowie and Elton John.

Christiaan was a musician in South Africa and is now retired; buying and selling records is a hobby which he has enjoyed since he was a small boy.

Among the items he offered for sale was the entire collection of a friend of his from the UK, and another from Nelson.

“There’s a network of LP collectors in Auckland and most of us know each other,” he says.

Info: 021 0225 2396

Christiaan Els and his son Jason

Airmen’s stories uncovered by Army Bay historian

Uncovering the stories of New Zealand’s World War I pilots has been a fascinating journey for Massey University history lecturer Adam Claasen of Army Bay. He took on the task of writing a book on the subject as his contribution to the First World War Centenary History Programme’s official history series; next year marks the anniversary of the end of World War I.

More than 800 Kiwi airmen (and a few women) served in the airforce, flying in operations over the Western Front, North and East Africa, London and the British Isles yet little has been written about their contribution to the war effort.

Adam spent three years immersed in the research and writing for his recently published book Fearless, drawing on primary materials such as letters, diaries, flying logbooks and official documents. His family also got in on the act, with wife Sandra taking more than 13,000 photographs of documents at the British National Archives at Kew – much of which has not yet been digitized.

Adam says that many men saw the airforce as a chance for adventure, and, in some cases, as an escape from the trenches. The airforce was seen as the glamourous one, with great prestige and higher pay and had no trouble with recruitment.

“Discipline was more lax and they had freedom of action and movement compared with the ground based forces,” Adam says.

The seat of the pants flying of the day saw around a fifth of all aircorps losses happen in training. High numbers were also taken as prisoners of war. Adam says he called the book Fearless because the airmen knew of the great dangers that lay ahead, yet they flew anyway.

Women are few and far between, as reflects the times, but one, Madeline Rankin from Stewart Island was a motorcycle dispatch rider, heading between airfields and enjoying many flights with daring young men. The book also tells the story of Harriet Simeon, who was New Zealand’s highest ranking woman in the Women’s Royal Air Force.

Wellington solicitor Alfred de Bathe Brandon became the toast of London for two spectacular attacks on German Zepplins.

The officers of 85 Squadron with their collection of animals, acquired in France.

This is Adam’s third book. He specialises in the NZ military experience, German history and World War II and says his fascination with war came from reading commando comics as a boy as well as watching A World At War and Colditz on TV.

He says as a specialist in the Second World War he knew little about the World War I airmen to start with but leapt at the chance to write the book as the topic hadn’t been done before.

“As soon as I started I was taken by the people, the drama of the stories and the sacrifices they made,” Adam says.

Hibiscus Matters has one copy of Fearless by Adam Claasen to give away. To go in the draw, message us on Facebook or write your name, address and daytime phone number on the back of an envelope and post to Fearless, Hibiscus Matters, Unit G, Tamariki Plaza, 18 Tamariki Ave, Orewa 0931. Entries close November 17.

ToTalspan

of THE scor E B oA r D

a Roundup of spoRTs acTiviTies in THe disTRicT

Badminton Orewa Badminton Club, Victor Eaves Park, Orewa. Play 7pm to 10pm Tuesdays. Info: www.ezybook.co.nz or Noeline Kingston 426 3370. Casual Badminton, Victor Eaves Park, Orewa. Play 9am to 11am Tuesdays and Thursdays. Info: Gill Hollows 427 9936 or 027 564 4597.

Petanque

Hibiscus Petanque play Tuesday and Wednesday mornings 9am to mid-day and on Sundays, 1pm to 4pm. We play next to the Leisure Centre on Brightside Road, Stanmore Bay. All welcome.

Croquet

Orewa Croquet Club are holding a “Have a Go” Day, Sunday November 26, from 1.30pm–3pm. Free event, so find out how this great sport keeps mind active and body exercised while having loads of fun. Held at Orewa Croquet Club, 43 Hatton Rd, Orewa. Please wear flat soled shoes. To register, with no obligation ph 426-4228 or visit our website www.orewacroquet.co.nz

To list sports news for FREE email: terry@localmatters.co.nz

ToTalspan Rodney 229 sTaTe HigHway 1 waRkwoRTH pHone 09 422 3149

Adam Claasen found the stories of World War I pilots fascinating.

COMMUNITY NOTICES

BADMINTON PLAYERS wanted at the Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre, Wednesdays, 9am till 11am. Beginners most welcome. Friendly atmosphere.

BOWLING CLUB FOR PARTIALLY SIGHTED. Every Wednesday 9.30am–11.30am, St. Andrews Church Hall, Centreway Rd, Orewa. New Members very welcome. Ph. Virginia 09 426 8454

CAR BOOT SALE St Chad’s, Corner Centreway & Florence Ave, Orewa. 8am–11.30am. Nov 4, Dec 2, to book a site Ph Shirley 027 244 2832. $20 per site, Tables avail. for hire $5.

COMBINED RODNEY SENIORS invite you to come and enjoy the show. Thurs Nov 9, $42 pp includes return coach fare, light brunch, entrance tickets and show, Ice-cream stop. Payment ph Dot 426 6212 before 10am or after 5pm or Stan at the Orewa Community Hall on Tues/ Thurs at 11.30am or Ph 424 7545. Depart Red Beach 9 am.

ENJOY AND AFTERNOON OF BINGO (Housie) at Bowls Orewa every Friday at 1 pm. Play $20 Houses for only $2. 50 prizes available from $20 to $1000. All Welcome. Info: 426 2138 or 426 1424

FRIDAY ART GROUP, Friday 10am - 1pm @ Orewa Community Church. Exercise your artistic abilities and meet with like minded people in a relaxed and friendly environment. Ph Alan Smith 09 962 4929.

HIBISCUS COAST MARKETS the last Saturday of every month at Whangaparaoa Hall from 10 til 2pm showcasing Local Handmade Arts, Creations & Entertainment! Free entry!

HIBISCUS COAST BASED SOCIAL GROUP for over 50’s meeting for Coffee, Outings, Lunches, Walks etc. All welcome Ph Margie 021 051 0230 or Caz 426 3958.

HIBISCUS COAST GARDEN CLUB Friday November 10, Huge Annual Summer Show, Whangaparaoa Hall. For schedule contact Annabelle 424 8873, classes in foliage, flowers, veggies, fruit, children’s, floral art. Viewing from 1-4pm. Entry $3, refreshments avail, trading table, raffle.

HIBISCUS COAST TOASTMASTERS

CLUB Meet fortnightly Tuesdays, Bridge Club, Edith Hopper Park, Ladies Mile, Manly, 7.30pm. Ph Simon Franks 027 431 2020 or Google Hibiscus Coast Toastmasters for info.

HIBISCUS ROCK ‘N’ ROLL CLUB, Tuesdays, Whangaparaoa Hall. Lessons 7pm, $25 Adults for the course, $10 school students. Plus fun dancing after the lesson. Ph Noelene 021 244 3852.

OREWA LADIES GARDEN CLUB

MONTHLY MEETINGS 2nd Thursday of the month, with guest speaker or garden visits. Trading table, competitions, afternoon tea. 12.30pm at Orewa Catholic Church Hall 180 Centreway Rd, Orewa. Ph Ann 427 8377

SENIOR MOMENTS is looking for a volunteer to drive clients to and from their homes to our centre in Red Beach, Mon/Thurs mornings. If you have a clean driver’s license ph Senior Moments 027 518 0518 or Monique 027 253 5557.

SMART DEVICE FREE CLASSES: Whangaparaoa Library, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11.30am–12.30pm. Ph 427 3710 or email whanglib@ aucklandcouncil.govt.nz for more info.

SUNDAY SOCIAL DANCE - ballroom, Latin American, new vogue, Modern sequence. All welcome. 4th Sun of month, 5pm-8pm. Silverdale Hall, Ph 427 5542. Next event November 26.

THE HIBISCUS MEN’S SHED coffee morning get-together with rugby league legend Graham Lowe of the Lowie Foundation, 11am, Wednesday December 6, RSA, Viponds Road. All welcome.

APPLIANCE REPAIRS

A SMART REPAIR

021

7349.

F&P

F&P/Simpson

423 9660

BAY APPLIANCE REPAIRS

09 947 0333

major

EWRB

022 600 9919.

ACCOMMODATION

BEACH FRONT

clean

Seeking long

Starting from $225 p/w.

021 244 5669

PUBLIC NOTICES

CENTRESTAGE THEATRE Annual

November 27, 7.30pm Centrestage Theatre, 20 Centreway Road, Orewa,. Final date for

– November 20 2017. All

Enquiries 426 7282.

RECORDING

HOME & MAINTENANCE

2 ECE Roles: Management & Preschool Teacher

Preschool are looking for a

GARDEN MAINTENANCE

New gardens, clean ups. Specialising in maintenance & improvement. Phone Dave 021 950 154

HANDYMAN AVAILABLE decks, fences, painting, foot paths or any other odd jobs. Phone Dennis 021 115 5233.

5 star

weekly

in

spring or

WANTED TO BUY

a

09 415 0028 or 0800 297 253 www.minthomecleaning.co.nz

SECURITY ALARM SERVICING $99 (+parts & GST). Local technician, 20 years experience. Ph 027 553 3032 or 09 428 5887

A PUMP DOCTOR will keep you pumping. Ph 0274 430 654.

BUILDER SEMI RETIRED – General property maintenance & small jobs. Good rates. Phone/txt Rob 021 167 2155 or 09 426 2960.

HANDYMAN AVAILABLE for all those odd jobs. Ph Nev 021 399 226 @ Nev’s Odd Jobs. Great rates. Local & reliable.

SMALL FLAT SECTION WANTED suitable for a 2 bedroom house. Hibiscus Coast area. Contact Kevin or Pat on 07 5779505 or email kevinandpat@xtra.co.nz

FOR SALE

FIREWOOD: Pine – $175, Hot mix –$200. 2 cubic metre loads. Ph Chris 09 425 8575 or 021 0256 4273.

TRANSPORT

DRIVING MISS DAISY Reliable, safe, TMS Registered Ph 428 4490 or 0800 948 432. hibiscus@drivingmissdaisy.co.nz

AIRPORT Comfort shuttle Ph 022 136 8490, comfortairportshuttle@gmail.com

HEALTH & BEAUTY

HANDYMAN Carpentry, decks, fences, rubbish, removal, landscaping. Ph/txt Dave 027 420 5155.

OREWA MAINTENANCE SERVICE 30 years exp. You name it, it can be done. Ph Greg 0210 856 8656.

PAINTING – INTERIOR / EXTERIOR, Free quotes. Phone Jef 021 164 9709.

PLASTERING, GIB STOPPING All aspects of stopping. No job too small! Ph Karl 0210 42 42 96 or 428 7127.

PLASTERING, GIB STOPPING, Repairs/ small jobs. Keith 424 8841/022 682 4760.

WATER FILTERS - Underbench, Whole house, UV & water spotting, Work Guaranteed. Ph Steve 027 478 7427 steve@aquafilter.co.nz

WATER PUMPS - no water? old cast iron pump? Sales Service & Installation. Work Guaranteed. Ph Steve 027 478 7427 steve@aquafilter.co.nz.

WINDOW CLEANING 30 years exp, local owner operator, reasonable rates. Ph David 426 2253.

BOWEN THERAPY

SPRING SPECIAL! HANDS & FEET

Nails cut & filed, includes hand & foot massage. $30 each – $50 for two. I will come to you. Phone 424 0676.

SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT GROUP, 7.30pm–9.30pm,

027

13.

6668 www.

4

Klassic Trax play at the Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, Vipond Road, Whangaparaoa, from 7.30pm.Tickets $5. Info: ph 424 9026.

Orewa Beach Big Cleanup, Orewa Beach, 10am. Meeting point to be confirmed. Come and help remove litter and rubbish from Orewa Beach. All welcome Info: The Big Cleanup on Facebook (see story p23)

4

4

Weiti Fesitval, Te Herenga Waka o Orewa, off Tavern Road, Silverdale, 10am–2pm. Market and entertainment. All welcome.

Annual Remembrance Service, Hibiscus Hospice, 2a John Dee Crescent, Red Beach, 2pm. This is a time to reflect and remember loved ones who have died, but are still very much part of our lives. All welcome, please bring a plate for shared afternoon tea.

6

10

Annual Flower Show, Whangaparaoa Hall, 1.30pm–4pm. Floral and produce show. All welcome. Entry $3 (see story & ad p20)

10–12

Art workshop with Lucy and Barry McCann. Focused on painting with acrylics. Estuary Arts Centre, Western Reserve, Orewa, from 9am to 5pm (see story p27)

10

Steve Tulloch Band plays at the Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, Vipond Road, Whangaparaoa, from 7.30pm.Tickets $5. Info: phone 424 9026.

11

Eagles Tribute Motel California Show, Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, Vipond Road, Whangaparaoa, from 7.30pm. Tickets $20. Info: phone 424 9026.

11

Armistice Day service, Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, Vipond Road, Whangaparaoa. Assemble 10.40am. All welcome.

Coast Kids Got Talent Grand Final, Hibiscus Coast Community RSA, Vipond Road, Whangaparaoa, from 5pm.Tickets $5. Info: phone 424 9026.

12

Polio Support Group. Coffee gathering for polio survivors, family and carers, Whangaparaoa Library, 9 Main Street, 10am–12 noon. Info: Anne, 027 283 1763 or annemacenz@gmail.com

15

18

Pre-loved Kids Market, Orewa Community Centre, 9am. Clothes, toys, furniture and accessories.

Orewa Baptist Church - Garage/Carboot Sale, 2-4 Loop Road, Orewa, 8am start. $15 per carboot, spaces limited. Info: 021 0737 026.

18

European Christmas Market, Silverdale Hall, Silverdale Street, 9am to 2.30pm. Free entry. Raffle drawn at 2pm. Gifts and gourmet food. This year’s beneficiary is St John’s Ambulance, Silverdale. Info: email helene@sailaway.co.nz or phone 021 913 488.

19

21

Silverdale and District Historical Society Show and Tell Coffee Group, Silverdale Pioneer Village, 15 Wainui Road, Silverdale, 10.30am–12.20pm. Bring objects to discuss or review mystery objects from our extensive collection over coffee. All Welcome. Gold coin donation.

24 & 25

Raiders Fishing Competition, briefing on November 24 at the Hibiscus Coast Raiders Clubrooms in Stanmore Bay from 6pm. Tournament day November 25. Competition from 4am till 4pm. Prizegiving from 4pm till late. Fun Family Event Info: www.raidersfishingcomp.co.nz. Tickets from Fishing Direct, 28 Silverdale Street, or via the website.

25

New World Orewa Beach Santa Parade, followed by Orewa Surf Sounds concert on Orewa Reserve. Parade starts 4.30pm from Alice Ave, goes along Hibiscus Coast Highway and ends at the Orewa Beach Reserve car park adjacent to the Surf Club. Surf Sounds concert to follow, ending with fireworks.

26 Orewa Croquet Club Have a Go Day, Orewa Croquet Club, 43 Hatton Rd, Orewa 1.30pm-3pm. Free event, so find out how this great sport keeps mind active and body exercised while having loads of fun. Please wear flat soled shoes. To register, with no obligation ph 426 4228 or visit www.orewacroquet.co.nz

Will You be Killed by Your Sofa?

Will You be Killed by Your Sofa?

not a question I think to ask myself very regularly but over 225,000

Zealanders live with either type 1 or 2 diabetes and every day 50 more people are diagnosed. As Diabetes New Zealand

sitting on your couch and munching a doughnut instead of being active and eating healthy could literally allow diabetes to take

life. It’s an epidemic! If you are not already directly affected, you will know someone who is.

Certainly not a question I think to ask myself very regularly but over 225,000 New Zealanders live with either type 1 or 2 diabetes and every day 50 more people are diagnosed. As Diabetes New Zealand reports, sitting on your couch and munching a doughnut instead of being active and eating healthy could literally allow diabetes to take your life. It’s an epidemic! If you are not already directly affected, you will know someone who is.

Diabetes is diagnosed if you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood. Diabetes is the result of the body not creating enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels in the normal range. The good news is that whilst it cannot presently be cured, it can be controlled and you can lead a full and active life.

Diabetes is diagnosed if you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood. Diabetes is the result of the body not creating enough insulin to keep blood glucose levels in the normal range. The good news is that whilst it cannot presently be cured, it can be controlled and you can lead a full and active life.

Type 2 diabetes is the more common form. It tends to occur in people over 40 years old. Most people don’t even know they are at risk of developing diabetes, but there are things which may increase your chances, such as being overweight, smoking or having a family history of diabetes. Because you don’t actually feel symptoms from diabetes even while it is doing damage, if you have these risk factors it is best to have a your blood glucose measured. If left untreated, type 2 diabetes can cause long-term damage to your blood vessels, eyesight, kidneys, heart and feet.

Type 2 diabetes is the more common form. It tends to occur in people over 40 years old. Most people don’t even know they are at risk of developing diabetes, but there are things which may increase your chances, such as being overweight, smoking or having a family history of diabetes. Because you don’t actually feel symptoms from diabetes even while it is doing damage, if you have these risk factors it is best to have a your blood glucose measured. If left untreated, type 2 diabetes can cause long-term damage to your blood vessels, eyesight, kidneys, heart and feet.

If you are living with diabetes, simple lifestyle choices can be key to controlling your blood glucose levels. For example, research shows that losing weight can help you to reduce , delay or for some, even do away with your diabetes medications. However dieting with diabetes can be complex and so needs to be done safely with a qualified health professional.

If you are living with diabetes, simple lifestyle choices can be key to controlling your blood glucose levels. For example, research shows that losing weight can help you to reduce , delay or for some, even do away with your diabetes medications. However dieting with diabetes can be complex and so needs to be done safely with a qualified health professional.

If you have been recently diagnosed as having pre-diabetes, you’ll be pleased to know that a recent study found that dropping your body weight by 10 percent within six months of your diagnosis dramatically reduces your risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes. Even moderate weight loss shows positive effects. Losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight still reduces your risk of developing diabetes by 54 percent*. If you are 80kg, this means losing 4 to 6kg.

If you have been recently diagnosed as having pre-diabetes, you’ll be pleased to know that a recent study found that dropping your body weight by 10 percent within six months of your diagnosis dramatically reduces your risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes. Even moderate weight loss shows positive effects. Losing 5 to 7 percent of your body weight still reduces your risk of developing diabetes by 54 percent*. If you are 80kg, this means losing 4 to 6kg.

Well, my sofa doesn’t look that scary, but maybe I’ll skip the dessert and go out for a walk tonight!

Well, my sofa doesn’t look that scary, but maybe I’ll skip the dessert and go out for a walk tonight!

Manly

Pharmacy Talk with Tania Adams

Pharmacist at Unichem Manly

Pharmacy Talk with Tania Adams

Pharmacist at Unichem Manly

Hibiscus cricket joins Rodney comp

two Hibiscus Coast

cricket in Rodney a boost this season.

teams

A Saturday hard ball tournament will be introduced, on top of the usual Friday night social sessions, to attract juniors.

Rodney Cricket chair Kevin Forde is excited about the prospect of developing a strong junior competition.

“The Saturday tournament is all about creating a framework for those juniors who want to play some competitive cricket and transition into a senior team later,” Kevin says.

“If we can get teams from Years 4 to 13, we will have a complete pathway from junior to premier cricket in place.”

So far, clubs from Warkworth, Kaipara Flats and the Rams at Whangateau have expressed interest in fielding teams.

“We are still gauging the interest for this tournament, but hopefully all the clubs get on board and having Hibiscus Coast enter a team will be a great addition.”

The new competition will be split into three age groups – Year 4, Years 5-8 and Years 9-13.

Matches will be in a shortened format with 24 overs and eight players on each team.

“We’re hoping that less travel and a short format will appeal to parents.”

Hibiscus will enter one team in the Year 4 section and one in the senior competition.

Club manager Tony Naidu says travel is a big factor behind the move.

“The Rodney competition requires less travel than playing in Auckland-wide tournaments,” Tony says.

“Ex-Black Cap Martin Snedden helped facilitate the move through the work he is doing to make cricket more accessible nationwide.”

Tony says entering the Rodney junior comp will be

a pilot for the club.

“If parents are happy with the competition we will look to inject junior sides into all of the grades in the future.”

Meanwhile, the addition of a men’s side will take the senior league up to eight teams this season – three more than in the 2014/15 season.

“Eight teams will mean that no team has a bye round during the season,” Kevin says.

Tony says he isn’t sure how the Hibiscus team will fair in the Rodney competition as they are unfamiliar with their new opponents.

“Our focus has been to work on an understanding of the game followed by fitness and then refining skills, but at the end of the day the team wants to just enjoy its cricket,” he says.

The team lost its opening round match to Warkworth last month by 86 runs.

Kevin says the growth in the sport will mean the club will need to look at employing a full-time manager.

At a school level, Rodney Cricket has taken on Brendon Bracewell this year, father to Black Cap Douglas Bracewell. He will work with local primary schools to deliver a coaching programme coaching delivering basic cricket skills.

Speedy students

The Year 12 team from Whangaparaoa College, pictured, raced the two-wheeled electric vehicle that they built from scratch to second place in three events in the EVolocity Auckland regional finals and won the Report/documentation category. Mahurangi College dominated the two-wheeled category, winning six races, but who will go forward to the nationals in Christchurch is yet to be decided. EVolocity spokesperson Brent Bielby says this year an overall winner was not awarded. “Given this is the first year with Auckland, Wellington and Nelson on board, we would rather try to support as many of the race category award winning teams as possible to attend the finals in Christchurch,” Mr Bielby says. He says they are currently working through the logistics of that.

The EVolocity programme has been running since 2014 and is about inspiring students in the fields of engineering, design and sustainable technology. Students design and build an electric vehicle with 2–4 wheels, which they race in competitions such as a drag race, street circuit and economy run. All teams use the same 12-volt battery and kit of components.

The Auckland regionals were held at Unitec last month, on October 14, and 19 schools competed. Whangaparaoa College’s Year 12 team (HM September 6) came second in the drag race, slalom race and the six lap endurance race. Their vehicle, which was made from bike components, got up to the speed of 24kph over a short distance.

The Rodney Cricket senior competition may be in for a blockbuster season with the addition of a Hibiscus Coast team.