Marlborough Weekly 11 October 2022

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High (kick) achiever

Our new mayor

Highway hell

Seven weeks of closures planned for main Blenheim to Nelson route

The main road between Blenheim and Nelson will shut for seven weeks for emergency repairs.

Waka Kotahi - NZ Transport Agency have revealed SH6 be tween Hira and Ronga Road near Rai Valley will be shut to all traffic between 1 November and 18 De cember.

The detour on SH63 through to Kawatiri Junction will add more than an hour onto the journey time.

Road bosses ruled out night clo sures as it would have seen repairs carried out for up to 30 weeks.

System Manager Top of the South Andrew James says five road sites were substantially damaged in the August floods.

He warned a delay to repairs could potentially see the road shut for months.

“Now that we have completed the repairs on State Highway 63, we need to get back onto State

Highway 6 to fix five substantially damaged sites where there have been underslips.

“Three of these will require us to significantly cut back the road be fore it can be built back up again.

“We realise this is a substantial amount of time, but the route is currently vulnerable, and another serious weather event could seri ously damage it and see it closed for months.

“We must get this work done as

quickly as possible.”

Andrew says contractors will work as quickly as possible to get these sites repaired, but ongoing work will be needed after the clo sure ends.

“When State Highway 6 reopens on 18 December, we plan to have two traffic lanes re-established for the holiday season. We will need to return to complete further mi nor repairs in the next year, but we are not expecting to close the

road for this work.”

Andrew says Waka Kotahi un derstands the closure will cause inconvenience for people, par ticularly those living in or around Rai Valley.

“This is the best option on the table, and we appreciate their pa tience while this crucial transport link is repaired. We are making every effort to get the route re stored before the busy Christmas period.”

Twist in fight for final council seat

PAULA HULBURT paula@topsouthmedia.co.nz

The fight for a final seat on coun cil has taken a surprise twist as special votes make the result too close to call.

Early indications had put Blen heim Ward candidate Cyril Daw

son as the winner for the seventh seat.

But as the 200 plus special votes are being counted, would-be councillor Jonathan Rosene has just pulled ahead.

Election officials say the re sults are very close, with the fi nal declaration expected to be

announced on Wednesday or Thursday.

Electoral Officer Dean Heiford says the special votes could go ei ther way.

“It really is too close to call at this point. The final declaration will come later in the week, on Wednesday or Thursday.”

Special votes are those that are not on the printed electoral roll or are not taken at a voting place.  Cyril, who also stood last time, campaigned on putting people before luxuries and changing how council prioritises spending.

Former police officer Jonathan

wants to see a community that attracts and retains skilled peo ple and supports and encourages young people into jobs.

Voter turnout across Marlbor ough reached a record low in this year’s local council elections.

Alex Wearne

Yes, definitely. We need to keep up with the kids having their holiday. I think it’s the main gripe of adults, now. Wishing they were kids again to get the holidays.

Tracy Landon-Lane

Yes. Kids need the right care and the right people looking after them, rather than tak ing them somewhere they’re unfamiliar with. It’s about the kids – they should have quality time with their family.

Craig Hobbs

No, the cost to the economy would be huge. There are al ready plenty of public holidays and annual leave. With more flexibility built into work plac es now, people can negotiate with their employer terms that suit their circumstances.

I haven’t really given it much thought, but I guess not. I don’t want children, so I don’t need extra time off to look af ter kids.

Much Ado about Top South show

PAULA HULBURT

A rock-style retelling of Shake speare’s Much Ado About Noth ing is coming to Marlborough –thanks in part to the pandemic.

The Barden Party was born in the height of Covid-19 restric tions to help keep theatre alive by bringing shows directly to audiences in their own back gar dens.

Now, after a sell-out 50-show season in New Zealand and a successful US tour across six states, The Barden Party is set to take place at Forrest Wines next month.

Director Laura Fish says return ing to the Marlborough venue is a great way to begin their new tour.

“We can’t wait to bring our take on this to gardens, public spaces and theatres around the country.

“There’s no better place to start that than at Forrest Wines which was such a great venue last sea

son.”

After restrictions eased, the concept ballooned with the

cast travelling across the Top of the South and then the whole country performing in a range of venues including castles and gardens.

“It was such an incredible ex perience and we had so much support from back in Top of the South. It was exhilarating and exhausting but such an amazing time with some wonderful per formers.”

Calling it a ‘rockabilly retelling’, Laura says the show features re imagined songs from Beyonce, Billy Joel, The B-52s, Bruce Springsteen and Harry Stylesall arranged by Nelson-raised musical director Jake Robinson.

Much Ado About Nothing will be at Forrest Wines on 5 and 6 November at 4pm. Tickets avail able at www.asbtheatre.com/ events/much-ado-about-noth ing/

Mackezie Gardner, Molly Wilkin and Aimee Borlase all return

season. Photo: Supplied.

Kittie McIntosh

New Marlborough Mayor Nadine Taylor on the ‘really lovely phone call to

and new blood,” the former depu ty mayor said.

Marlborough has a new mayor.

Based on a count of about 90 per cent of voters, Nadine Taylor will take the top council seat for the coming term.

Speaking from her parents’ house on Saturday afternoon, Taylor said she was “honoured and ex cited” to be voted in by the people of Marlborough.

“Waiting for that phone call, you start to think ‘have I done enough’. The chief executive [Mark Wheeler] rang and said ‘congratulations’, and the work starts now, it was just a really lovely phone call to get,” Taylor said.

Seeing the preliminary election results list for the first time, Tay lor thought Marlborough had been very sensible in their voting.

She added it was good to see some younger councillors and wāhine around the table – with Raylene Innes elected in the Marlborough Sounds ward for the first time, Deborah Dalliessi in the Blen heim ward and Allanah Burgess taking the new Māori ward seat. “There's a good mix of experience

“I'm pleased we got that balance of experience back, we were al ways going to have the new blood and new ideas because of the number of councillors retiring, so there was no danger in not having the freshness, which is important.”

She said the rest of the day would be spent celebrating with friends and family, before kick-starting into the term.

“The next three weeks are going to be very busy internally,” she said.

“Meeting with the new council lors, understanding what areas that they're interested in, what's driven them to stand for council, what they think they would like to achieve, and making sure that I understand that.”

She was already talking about tweaking the committees to make sure there was an emphasis on climate change.

“Particularly the [climate change] adaption work that we are going to have to do as a province for the next 10 or 20 years, but I would like this council to be the council that sets up a good foundation for

that,” she said.

“So I see the next three to four weeks being very much about getting the structures right, and building that team feeling be cause we do have a lot of new councillors coming in, and I want them to feel supported and inte grated into the team.

“I talk about them as new coun cillors, but by the end of the year I don't want to have a sense of new and old, I want to have a sense of a single team.”

She said she had given some

thought to who she wanted as her deputy, but wanted to wait for the election results, and until she met with all councillors before mak ing a final decision.

Meanwhile, she added the big gest challenge for this term will be bringing Marlborough’s roads back up to standard following the latest weather event.

“It needs to be our major focus. The community that lives out there, and is living with uncer tainty at the moment, needs it to be our major focus, and it will be.

“I am really well briefed on it, hav ing been assets and service com mittee chair. I fully understand everything we need to achieve. I just now need to get that work in and follow that work through.” She wanted to thank the Marlbor ough community for voting, and her husband, Graham Taylor.

“You can't do this sort of thing on your own, it takes a huge sup port around you, and I just feel like I've had that support at every level.”

Nadine Taylor, pictured with her husband Graham Taylor, is Marlborough’s new mayor. Photo: Brya Ingram/STUFF.

Fight for final council seat

FROM

Latest figures on the Trienni al Election return show vot er turnout across the region reached just 40.94 per cent –the lowest ever.

When voting closed on Sat urday, 14,511 votes had been returned.

Prior local elections showed a higher percentage of people had voted, though numbers have been declining since 2013.

In 2013 returns were at 54.68 per cent, 53.64 per cent in 2016 and 48.37 per cent in 2019.

Dean says there is no magic fix and the lower turnout can be contributed to a “myriad of reasons.”

“People don’t always under

Cyril Dawson, shown here campaigning in 2019, could lose his spot on council as special votes are counted. File photo.

stand what council do and think it’s all just roads and public toilets, but local gov ernment is the most accessi ble part of government.

“You can literally walk in off the street and often get a meeting with the mayor in half an hour.”

Low voter turnout across the country has seen Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) bosses call for an independent review, saying nationwide turnout was “ex tremely concerning.”

Dean says in Marlborough, demographics could be par tially to blame.

“Older adults have been brought up voting while younger people, if they don’t vote first time, then they don’t develop that habit.

“If LGNZ do discover any thing significant, will they do anything about it?”

The new council will be sworn into office on 27 October.

Marlborough District Council election results

Nadine Taylor has been elected as the new Mayor of Marlborough based on vot ers’ return of about 90 per cent.

In the Blenheim Ward (7 seats), the successfully elect ed Councillors are:

Jamie Arbuckle

David Croad

Deborah Dalliessi

Brian Dawson Cyril Dawson Matt Flight Thelma Sowman

In the Marlborough Sounds Ward (3 seats), the successfully elected Coun cillors are: Barbara Faulls Raylene Innes Ben Minehan

In the Wairau-Awatere Ward (3 seats), the success fully elected Councillors are:

Scott Adams Gerald Hope Mike Insley

In the Māori Ward (1 seat), the successfully elected Councillor is: Allanah Burgess

Pensioner’s surgery hope

PAULA HULBURT

A pensioner facing a painful wait for hip surgery is hopeful his operation will go ahead soon.

The 74-year-old from Marlborough has been on the waiting list for a new left hip for 15 months.

But after seeing his GP last week, the man finally has an appointment to see an orthopaedic surgeon again. He says the move is a step in the right direction.

“Hopefully this will be the start of the process,” he says.

“I have an appointment to see a locum as two of the surgeons are away on leave.”

The patient, who asked not to be named, told the Marlborough Weekly earlier this month that he had under gone extensive preop tests.

He had hoped that surgery was im minent, he says as his condition had worsened considerably.

“I’m in pain every day. Every step I take I get that jar of pain; it’s bone on bone.”

Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand Nelson Marlborough District Direc tor Lexie O’Shea says staff are working hard to manage under considerable ongoing pressure.

“We are fortunate to have been able to

continue to undertake planned care, albeit at a reduced level.

“However, we apologise to those who have had their planned care deferred and we understand how hard this is for members of our community.

“This isn’t a decision we have made lightly, but it is the way we can contin ue to deliver safe care to those who are very unwell.”

Planned care has been postponed for a variety of reasons including staff sickness, patients testing positive with Covid-19 and job vacancies.

Ongoing high occupancy rates for acute patients also impact capacity for delivery, Lexie says.

“Daily operational reviews of our hos pitals’ capacity to undertake cases de termine our ability to provide planned care within available capacity. Priority is currently given to patients with the highest clinical need and urgency.

“At this stage it is difficult to predict when pressure will ease. In the mean time, we are working regionally to manage capacity and demand across the South Island.”

Latest health figures show that as of the end of May, orthopaedic inter vention delivery is 334 joints against a plan of 486, which is 152 under plan. There are currently 320 joints waitlist ed for surgery.

BY @YEEHAWTHEBOYS

Our tragic family harm statistics

RUSS SMITH Senior community constable

New Zealand is ranked number one as a developed country in the OECD, but this is not a good thing.

The claim to our fame is that we are the worst developed country in the OECD for reported family violence.

This is the case even though it is estimated that only about 33 per cent of all family harm incidents are actually reported.

Nearly half of all homicides and reported violent crimes are family harm related.

New Zealand ranks significantly above countries like Canada, Aus tralia, the U.K. and USA for its in cidence of reported family harm.

On average police attend a fami ly harm episode in New Zealand every four minutes. Family harm events have increased 60 per cent over the past five years and are predicted to increase by a further 35 per cent by 2025. In 2020, there were over 165,000 family harm investigations recorded by police which accounted for 16 per cent of all police frontline activity.

Children are present at nearly two-

thirds of all family harm incidents police respond to. If this increase continues police anticipate they will be responding to a family harm incident nationally every two and a half minutes by 2025. There are a large number of groups, agencies and individuals in New Zealand working hard to support the victims of family harm, change the behaviour of perpetrators, ed ucate and bring about the raft of changes necessary to lower these disturbing statistics, but we all need to take some responsibility for this epidemic of harm.

I encourage everyone who witness es or hears family harm to contact the police AT THE TIME on 111. This intervention usually stops the harm from continuing for the time being, and an inter-agency re sponse after the matter is reported will usually wrap support around those involved.

If you are aware of family harm that has already occurred, and po lice were not involved, consider reporting what you know by either calling police to report the matter using the non-emergency number, 105, or you can go to the NZ Police website at www.police.govt.nz.

Getting to know the azalea families

Deciduous and mollis

These are an often overlooked member of the Rhododendron family.

They are usually a basic upright vase shape with unremarkable foliage.

During late Spring their flower display is jaw dropping, bursting forth in reds, oranges and pinks, although their colours aren’t lim ited to these.

Many varieties are fragrant and if mass planted the perfume is breath taking.

Every season, when flowering, these plants are snapped up in nurseries by middle-aged to el derly gentleman; I have no idea why.

They can be said to be tough and

easy care plants which need some sun to bloom well and to bring out the depth of colour.

Prune straight after flowering to prevent cutting off next year’s flower buds.

For pruning think thinning and shaping only.

Give deep watering in hot and dry periods.

Heights range between 1.0 – 1.8 m high and the width is similar.

EVERGREEN

Again members of the Rhodo dendron genus.

The main type of evergreen azal ea’s in NZ are the indica’s and the kurume’s.

The indica’s tend to be larger

growing with larger leaves and flowers.

They will tolerate more sun and can repeat flower through the year, but are less frost hardy.

The Kurume types are smaller and more compact with flowers being either single or double. They are very frost hardy. Azalea time is generally late win ter till early summer.

For all azaleas know that:

• They dislike wet feet and heavy clay soils.

• Add some peat or plain com post when planting.

• Mulch with a layer of pine bark or pine needles to keep the moisture in.

• Fertilise with an acid fertiliser,

but this is not usually needed for established plants.

• Aphids, mites and thrips may be a problem, if planting con ditions are not right.

• Azaleas can be grown in pots, but you will need to keep the soil moist.

They also make a nice gift as an indoor plant, but do plant outside after flowering finishes. Some va rieties are fragrant.

Karen Hall is a local grower of ev ergreen azalea’s in Blenheim. Visit her at Islington Gardens, 35 Rowberry’s Road.

Clouds on the horizon? Or time to look for Silver Linings?

PETE COLDWELL Chamber of Commerce GM

When you list the problems in NZ and the world, it’s a frighten ingly long list, pandemics, floods, communities cut off, raging in flation, unaffordable housing, a cost-of-living crisis, war, possible use of tactical nuclear weapons, climate change, the list goes on and on. It’s more than enough to explain why so many of us feel a growing level of unease.

When you look at how the busi ness sector is at the moment, what their confidence levels are like, it’s a mixed story.

Some businesses in Marlborough are going gang busters and fore cast that they’ll grow in terms of staff and profits in the coming year, but many others feel that the headwinds they face mean that their profits will be hit and it will be hard to grow their businesses.

So it’s fair to say that it’s a mixed

picture, but for businesses seeing potential additional costs from more government policies com ing to fruition, such as ‘Fair Pay Agreements’, and the Income In surance Scheme, it just feels like it’s one thing after another hitting their business and their confi dence.

Across a number of business sec tors constant problems of retain ing and recruiting staff, increased costs, difficulties in logistics all back up that feeling of unease.

But as a region, a bumper vintage in 2022 for the wine industry is helping, following on the back of two tough vintages, and aiding the wine sector and the business es who service them.

For the many exporters in aq uaculture, wine and forestry the NZD dropping against many other currencies helps, bringing in more NZ dollars for the same products, but on the other hand it also makes imported goods more

expensive and hits other sectors. Although we have tourists com ing back, we have no way of knowing how the coming season will go.

Now that we have the local elec tion results it’s great to see that with the election of Nadine Tay lor as Mayor we have someone

with proven leadership abilities and continuity in our council and crucially someone who get’s the challenges and opportunities in the region and is focussed on making Marlborough a better place to live and do business. Our outgoing Mayor John Leg gett has done a great job through

some very trying times and I’m sure that Nadine will build on that good work.

Looking on the bright side of life may have got harder, but we have do have some significant factors in our favour as a region and the next few years should be good de spite the challenges.

It’s that focussing on the ‘Silver Linings” that can be difficult, but we need to try and look at what could be, rather than focussing on those feelings of unease.

The Chamber have an amazing set of businesses who’ve done just that, and entered our Business Excellence Awards and we’ll have a brilliant gala evening to cele brate the best of Marlborough businesses at the Omaka Avia tion Heritage Centre with some incredible food put on by Feast Merchants.

It’s time to focus on the future, what can be and to make the most of it.

Experimental vineyard to grow wine sector

Development of a new $3.3 mil lion experimental vineyard is planned to be built at the newly opened New Zealand Wine Cen tre Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa on Budge St.

Funded by the Ministry of Busi ness Innovation and Employ ment’s Provincial Growth Fund, the experimental vineyard is tipped to enhance the supply of quality grapes for New Zealand’s wine sector into the future.

Plant & Food Research science group leader viticulture and oe nology Dr Damian Martin says

they’re excited to be a part of the new facility.

“We know climate change will add to challenges facing wine production in New Zealand, with warmer days and more insect pests and diseases able to estab lish here.

“We also know that consum er expectations will continue to evolve, with increased focus on sustainability credentials.

“Being able to understand how best to grow excellent grapes that allow winemakers to meet their environmental, financial and so

cietal requirements will ensure our wine sector can continue to grow.”

The new facility will be based within a 600m2 shelter, allow ing researchers to control the vineyard environment and build knowledge that will ensure the wine sector is prepared for fu ture challenges. The facility will enable research to be conducted within the vine and beneath the soil, and allow researchers to con trol aspects of the environment such as soil type and temperature and water availability.

Plant & Food Research scientist says Julian Theobald says the fa cility will allow them to develop new research programmes for the future.

“This facility will allow us to de velop new research programmes that might not be applicable im mediately, but very much look to the future, helping the wine sec tor navigate potential production risks, protect the environment and mitigate the impact of cli mate changehe says.

“We are also anticipating that technology developers may

co-locate and conduct their de velopment alongside the research team, creating new tools that improve efficiency of wine grape production long-term.”

Plant & Food Research will op erate the facility and develop research programmes in collab oration with the Marlborough Research Centre, national and local government and the New Zealand wine industry, as well as provide student opportunities through the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) Te Pūkenga.

Marlborough Chamber of Commerce general manager Pete Coldwell. File photo.

Better

Do

Valley, Celtic open with wins

PETER JONES peter@topsouthmedia.co.nz

The opening salvoes of the 202223 cricket season were fired on Saturday, with both chasing teams grabbing the first points on offer.

At a sun-drenched Horton Park, Wairau Valley took on Wairau in the SBS 40-over championship, winning by eight wickets, while Celtic beat Renwick by seven wickets.

Both pitches played well for such an early stage of the season, offer ing some reward for bowlers who found line and length, plus being firm enough to provide comfort for batters prepared to go for their shots.

Batting first on the No 2 ground, Wairau scored a handy 215-8 from their 40 overs, a 100-run

third wicket partnership between Andrew McCaa, who finished on 64 from 70 deliveries, and Tim Petrie, who hit 78 from 94, pro viding the bulk of their runs.

Both Sam Boyce and Matthew Stretch bagged three wickets from their maximum eight overs, Boyce 3-26 with his medium pace deliveries and Stretch 3-22 with his off spinners.

Facing a target that was eminent ly achievable, but testing in the first hit-out of the season, Valley went about their business in fine style.

A quick 39 from opener Rikki Bovey set the ball rolling, then Luke Pannell, 48 from 57, and Boyce, who finished unbeaten on 63 from 102 deliveries, pushed the score to 134.

At the fall of Pannell’s wicket Stretch joined Boyce and the ex

perienced duo guided their side to victory for the loss of just two wickets, Stretch unbeaten on 48 from 34 when they reached their target of 216 with two overs in hand.

Weaver and Hunter Ruffell were the wicket-takers for Wairau. Celtic put Renwick in to bat on

the No 3 ground, and would have been a tad nervous when their ri vals were 5-164 and heading to a score well in excess of 200. How ever, Renwick lost top scorer Kirk Nicholas, who slammed 64 from 77 balls, and struggled after that, registering just 186 before being dismissed in the 39th over.

Earlier opener Pier Landon-Lane scored 34, while Daniel Karena chipped in with a handy 23 from 32 balls.

Jaden Adams and Liam Young picked up two wickets apiece as part of a steady Celtic attack. Celtic made short work of the chase, opener Ben Holdaway slamming 37 from 29 balls before Josh Poole and Ben Blackman joined forces, combining for an unbroken 102-run fourth wicket partnership that ended the match in the 27th over, their side 187-3. Poole enjoyed the early-season wicket, smashing an unbeaten 76 from 49 balls, while Blackman registered 35 not out from 30.

Nick Wilder, Mike Anstis and Eden Pettigrew each picked up a wicket but could do little to curb the attacking intent of the Celtic batters.

Marlborough girls scoop football title

PETER JONES

Marlborough emphatically claimed the girls title with six wins from six games when the three-day Gavin Roberts 12th grade football tournament was staged at A&P Park last week.

The local lasses proved unbeata ble in their round-robin competi tion, overcoming Waimak United Black and Nelson Suburbs to em phatically claim the title.

Marlborough player Hayley Gal lop was named tournament MVP in the girls’ section, with Giana Chen, the tournament’s leading scorer, being voted the team’s

MVP.

Halswell Hawks United took out the boys’ title, from fellow Can tabrians Cashmere Tech Blue.

Tournament MVP for the boys was Halswell Utd Hawks play er Josiah Grieve while top scor er was Nomads Utd Red striker Luca Millward.

The Fair Play team award for the girls went to Waimak Black while Cashmere Tech blue claimed the equivalent award for the boys.

Zac Bridgen was the team MVP for the Marlborough boys’ team, who finished seventh.

Tasman champs

It has been a busy week at foot

ball HQ, with the Gavin Roberts event immediately followed by the Tasman Club Reps Regional 11th/12th grade tournament. The three-day tournament, run ning from Thursday to Saturday, culminated in a thrilling final

between local side Rangers Drag ons and Nelson Suburbs Rockets, who came away with a 3-2 victo ry, earned in the final moments.

Tournament awards Fair Play Team Award - Suburbs Steamers

TEAM MVPs: BV Devils – So phie Campbell; Rangers Geckos – Charlie Clark; BV Cheetahs –Aimee Griffiths; Renwick Rang ers – Caleb McAulay; Rangers Dragons – Reuben Rofe. Tournament MVP: Sophie Campbell (BV Devils) Golden Boot: Rueben Baker from Suburbs Steamers (13 goals)

Final placings: 10th – FC Nelson Raiders; 9th – West Coast; 8th –Rangers Geckos; 7th – Suburbs Speedies; 6th – BV Cheetahs; 5th – Renwick Rangers; 4th – BV Devils; 3rd – Suburbs Steamers; 2nd – Rangers Dragons; 1st –Suburbs Rockets.

Celtic keeper Jack Holdaway stumps Renwick batter Nick Wilder at Horton Park on Saturday. Photo: Peter Jones.

Marlborough player Giana Chen takes on the Nelson Suburbs de fence during the Gavin Roberts tournament. Photo: Peter Jones.

Mixed fortunes for Saints

PETER JONES

The Saints Marlborough senior men’s softball team opened their 2022-23 season with a win and a loss in Nel son on Saturday, October 1.

They played a double-header on a notable occasion for Nelson softball, the home association celebrating their 60th anniversary with a series of matches, followed by a function later in the evening at the Saxton Softball Park and Pavilion.

Saints have assembled a talented line-up for the forthcoming sea son but went into their first fixture, against reigning Intercity champs Stoke Eagles, without a game under their belt, and it showed.

The visitors made a slow start, Ea gles scoring four runs, two earned and two on Saints’ errors, and were immediately “behind the eight ball”

according to coach Daren Aldridge.

An in-the-park home run to Braden Healy gave Saints some hope in the fifth inning but ultimately Eagles, led from the mound by the highly-rated Riley Power, prevailed 4-1 to draw first blood in what will be an intrigu ing series of match-ups this season.

Saints employed Will Macdonald and Blake Wisdom on the mound with Tyler Bird handling the catch ing duties, the new combinations taking some time to adjust.

Saints second match was against United Cardinals and they came away with a comprehensive 10-3 vic tory.

This time young Willem Hayton was on the mound and took some time to find his groove in his first hit-out this season. Again, Saints made a slow start, down 3-0 after three innings. A rousing team talk by assistant coach

Denham Wisdom saw the visitors respond in the fourth, levelling the scores, before their bats began to fire in the fifth, six runs added.

Coach Aldridge said although it took time for the boys to find their range, they produced some solid hitting in the middle stages to come away with a handy victory. Leading the way with the bat were Drew Roberts, Healy, Jason Bird and Blake Wis dom, while newcomer Joe Timms showed his potential with a safe hit.

“A slow start was to be expected,” said Darren, “we tried players in different positions and a experimented with a few new combinations.” Saints had no game this weekend but will be in action at home on Lans downe Park for the first time this season on October 15 when they will play an Intercity double-header, the first game starting at noon.

Sutton overcomes slow build-up to impress in Tauranga

PETER JONES

Marlborough athlete Nat Sut ton surprised herself with a very creditable second placing in the female section of the recent Tau ranga Marathon.

By her own admission, Nat said she did not travel north with high hopes of conquering the gruel ling 41.20km course.

“Having had an average year with COVID twice and a couple of injuries, I wasn't expecting too much of myself.

“In fact my longest run going into the 42km run was 24km. Nor mally I would have had about three runs of 34km in the bank before race day. Let's just say I

was well rested!”

The course was changed in the week leading up to the race due to the cost of traffic management and the lack of volunteers, mean ing it was to be a two-lap event

“The course was flat and fast, the sun was out and it was a great temperature for running,” said Nat.

“I had guessed I was in 3.20-3.30 marathon fitness so was pleasant ly surprised to see my 10k split way faster than that. I continued to run to feel and at halfway I was feeling good, sitting on pace for a 3.05 and third place. Then the fun really began as I caught the sec ond-placed runner place and we caught the leader together.

“A bit of cat and mouse ensued for about 15km before the even tual winner slowly pulled away

with 4km to go.”

Nat was happy with her second placing in the women’s section,

only 30 seconds behind the win ner with a time of three hours eight minutes. She won the women’s 30-39 sec tion.

“I was more than a little bit stoked with [the overall placing] although of course the win would have been nice. I finished with a smile, a few blisters and some chaffing. Man, I love racing!” she added.

The Tauranga event was the be ginning of a 12-week build-up for Nat as she prepares for a shot at IronMaori, an Ironman distance triathlon, in Napier at the start of December and a year of rac ing towards the world champs in Kona, Hawaii next year.

Saints’ batter Braden Healy heads for home plate. Photo: Shuttersport.

Nat Sutton in action. Photo: Supplied.

Māori rugby on display

PETER JONES

Physicality and friendship were to the fore when the Te Waipounamu Māori Rugby Ahurei 2022 was staged at Lans downe Park on Saturday.

Teams from throughout the South Is land gathered in Blenheim for the annu al tournament, which featured spirited haka and lively competition across three grades – tane, wahine and colts.

Waitaha [Canterbury] teams dominated proceedings with some free-flowing at tacking rugby, unbeaten in all three di visions, including downing the local Te Tauihu [Tasman] men’s side convincingly in the final.

Results:

Waitaha

FREE RENTAL PROPERTY HEALTHY HOMES CHECK

The

plus

perform their haka on the main ground at Lansdowne Park.

Renwick TKD siblings shine

PETER JONES

The Renwick Taekwondo Club was particularly well represented at the recent Taekwondo Union NZ Open in Porirua.

Eighteen-year-old Bill Jo sephs and sibling Erin Jo sephs, 16, competed in kyorugi (fighting) in a tour nament which was open to all clubs in NZ.

The Joseph siblings repre sented the Renwick club superbly. They prepared by sparring together prior to the event - good practice for Erin since Bill is bigger and doesn't go easy on her.

This preparation helped Erin win her division with two convincing victories fol lowing good headshots and she was awarded top female black belt fighter of the tour nament.

Bill competed in two divi sions, winning both. He was awarded top male colour belt

fighter of the tournament. In his first final, after losing the first round to a strong competitor he made a good comeback to win the next two rounds and the bout. His second final saw him score a convincing win when the fight was called in the second round due to a points gap of 12 points.

Both fighters started Taek wondo as seven-year-olds with Erin prompted to join after seeing her brother com pete. Bill recently returned to the sport after a two-year break and is preparing to grade for his black tip in De cember. Erin graded to black belt last year.

They are now preparing to compete alongside the rest of their club at the Top of the South tournament being hosted by Blenheim Olym pic Taekwondo Club at the Marlborough Lines Stadi um on October 22(Labour Weekend).

Erin Josephs in action at the Porirua Taekwondo Union NZ Open. Photo: Supplied.

Peter

Allied Health Professions Day

This Friday we will be celebrating Allied Health Professions Day, a chance to recognise the people working across more than 50 professions that make up the Allied Health workforce in Aotearoa and to show our appreciation for how these professions contribute to our health and disability sector.

What is Allied Health?

you or your whānau have used the health system in Aotearoa, it’s likely you will have come into contact with

Allied Health team. This remarkable group includes

diverse range of roles covering more than 50 different

making up roughly a third of our health and disability workforce. Quite often, they’ll be the first point of contact for patients or others using our health system.

examples of Allied Health professions

Physiotherapists

Step into Spring

Promoting the benefits of walking for wellbeing

Throughout the Nelson Tasman region during October, a monthlong collection of safe, guided walks will take place covering a range of themes and purposes for a variety of audiences. Walking is easy and fun! We hope Step into Spring will spark interest, foster community spirit, and support people in developing meaningful connections. Events and activities will be hosted by community groups, organisations and individual experts. We want to make it easy for the community to get involved, so there will be a variety of activities for various activity levels, durations, and in various places. Find out how to get involved at www.stepoutnelsontasman.co.nz

encourage you to take a moment this Friday to say thank you to your Allied Health Professional

all they do to support the health and wellbeing of our community.