Waimea Weekly - 7 December 2022

Waka Kotahi ‘sorry’ for chaotic SH6 closure

MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter

Nelson mayor Nick Smith grilled Waka Ko tahi’s Emma Speight on the chaotic closure of State Highway 6/Whakatu Drive with Tasman’s deputy mayor agreeing an apology was warranted.

The stretch of highway was closed for reseal ing last month, and during the first meeting of the joint regional transport committee on Friday it, at times, felt like a trial by fire for the transport agency’s representative.

Emma, Waka Kotahi’s director for regional relationships for Wellington and the Top of the South, says the closure of the main link between Richmond and Nelson on 5-6 No vember was a frustrating and difficult time for drivers.

“What we discovered in the weekend was that the delays were absolutely beyond… what was acceptable for the community.”

She added that while a full closure of the highway over the weekend was the right de cision when compared to three to four weeks of stop/go traffic management, it was clear the communication regarding the road’s clo sure was insufficient and coordination with local organisations during the closure need ed to be stepped up.

However, the admission didn’t seem to en tirely satisfy Nelson’s mayor. SEE PAGE 2

Marina Bukovcak couldn’t quite believe it when she got the phone call on Thursday to say she had won $5000 as the

The 22-year-old third-year medical student, whose lucky entry was from shopping at Raeward Fresh, says she’s nev

er won anything in her life. With the passing of her moth er just days before, the news came as welcome respite.

“Mum passed a week ago, this is her last gift for us. I’ve never

won anything in my life, we think it was mum’s doing.”

Marina and her father left for Slovakia on Monday to spend

PAGE 2

SARA HOLLYMAN

winner of Shop Richmond n Win.

Shop n Win winner Marina Bukovcak with her $5000 cash. With her is from left; Waimea Weekly publisher Andrew Board, Raeward Fresh owners Lou and Mark Paton. Photo: Sara Hollyman.

News

Sara Hollyman sara@topsouthmedia.co.nz

Jenny Nicholson jennifer@waimeaweekly.co.nz

Jo Kent jo@waimeaweekly.co.nz Advertising

Jeremy Focas-Turk jeremy@waimeaweekly.co.nz

shelley@waimeaweekly.co.nz

Mum (me) says the 1st of December. Dad says it’s too soon so about now. We use traditional decorations of gold, red, blue and gold. Some are heirloom, others not.

Waka Kotahi ‘sorry’ for chaotic SH6 closure

FROM PAGE 1

“To see the mums in tears who thought they were doing a ten-minute trip to the super market and didn’t get out of traffic for five hours and feeding babies on the side of the road; medical doctors who did not get to the hospital for operations… it was totally unacceptable what occurred that weekend,” he said. “I personally believe that Waka Kotahi owes the Nelson com munity an apology.”

Tasman’s deputy mayor Stuart Bryant said it wasn’t only Nel son city that was affected with people as far away as Tapawera and Murchison adding hours to their already lengthy journeys into town.

“It made for extremely long days,” he said. “It certainly it needs to be done better next time.”

Emma said she was “more than happy” to apologize.

“We’re sorry that people were impacted in that way. That is certainly not what we set out to do.”

Now the ordeal was in the past, Emma hoped residents would appreciate the work that was done.

“I do hope people are able to en joy the fact they have now a road that is fit for use.”

State Highway 6/Whakatu Drive shouldn’t need to be resealed again for about 10 years.

Emma was, however, able to give a positive update on the

SH6 closure through the Whan gamoa Saddle.

“We’re seeing some really great progress,” she said. “The teams are working day and night.”

The road is still “very much” on track to fully reopen on 18 De cember, though she added that the agency is keeping an eye on an incoming weather system that’s due to hit the region mid way through the week.

“That’s a big risk for us… but otherwise we’re currently track ing to have it fully open then.”

Local shopper wins $5000 cash

FROM PAGE 1

time with family.

The former Garin College student says it was the only form she filled in through-out the competition’s six-week lifetime, with her dad filling in many more across town.

“When I was growing up, Mum al ways used to make me fill in these entry forms when we were shop ping, so I think it was just habit. We were getting fruit, mandarins and strawberries [from Raeward Fresh], dad was trying to rush me off becasue we needed to go get some other things sorted, I was like ‘just let me fill out this form’, so I did it and we won.”

Raeward Fresh owners Mark and Lou Paton say they are thrilled the winner was one of their customers.

“It’s so nice to have a meaningful prize right before Christmas, and local too. It couldn’t have gone to a more deserving family,” Mark says.

Marina says the money will go towards Christmas presents, gifts for family overseas and a little bit towards the student loan.

Waimea Weekly has run Shop n Win in Richmond since 2007 and has given out $75,000 to lo cal shoppers since its inception. This year it partnered with Rich mond Unlimited and Richmond Mall, along with local retailers.

Publisher Andrew Board says the competition is a fantastic way to encourage people to support local and says it was a massive success. More than 90,000 entries were col lected during the competition. six week competition.

When you work with Goldpine, you’re joining the rural community in building a sustainable future. Visit goldpine.co.nz/careers

Janet Growcott

Storm Constable-Carter

My Mum puts the tree up on the 12th of December and has since I was a kid.

Aleigh Jordan

We usually do the first of De cember or the second. We dec orate it as a family with heir loom decorations. Sometimes we use a real tree, sometimes one we have had for a couple of decades.

Demelza Gilchrist

What is your Christmas tree tradition?

$87k upgrade for Great Taste Trail

Tasman’s Great Taste Trail (GTT) is set to be upgraded with an $87,425 funding boost from the New Zealand Cycle Trails Fund.

Trail use continues to increase year-on-year and usage of the Lower Queen Street section of the GTT is up 25 per cent com pared to this time last year, and 40 per cent since 2019.

Annual funding is available for maintaining, developing and promoting cycle trails. Some of this money is contestable and Nelson Tasman has been successful in obtaining fund ing for the projects that were submitted.

Trail manager for Nelson Tas man Cycle Trails Trust, Belin da Crisp, says, “We are thrilled to receive funding to upgrade the Great Taste Trail. One proj ect for attention is the Waimea Inlet section, which is one of many wow factors of the trail.”

Coastal pathways and board walks take you around the eco logically significant Waimea Inlet. It is ideally done a few hours either side of high tide for the best scenery, although bird spotting is best when the

tide is out.

“The Waimea Inlet is the larg est enclosed estuary in the South Island and home to wad ing and sea birds including the bar-tailed godwit, white her on, royal spoonbill, little egret, Australasian bittern, and band ed rail.”

This section of trail is the first impression that riders get when starting their journey on the GTT from Richmond. Un fortunately, it is an industrial and slightly “messy” section.

“Funding will be used to im prove the environmental con dition and local value of the trail and will include the con

struction of screening and planting.”

The screening has been de signed to soften the industri al impact by using recycled wooden materials and sympa thetic estuarine plantings to connect the user of the trail to the estuary rather than the in dustry.

The Nelson Tasman Cycle Trails Trust and Tasman Dis trict Council will also contrib ute money towards the project to enhance the user experience of the Waimea Inlet. Other lo cal businesses and community groups will be approached for in-kind involvement.

The Waimea Inlet section of the Great Taste Trail will get upgraded to make it more environmentally pleasing around the industrial sites. Photo: Supplied.

‘Embarrassing’: Waka Kotahi defends weed problem

KATE RUSSELL

More ‘out-of-control’ weed growth on some of Nelson’s most prominent roundabouts has seen Waka Kotahi come under fire once again for their handling of the issue - but it’s not an easy fix, the traffic agency says.

Waka Kotahi manages mainte nance along State Highway 6 in and out of the city, while local councils are responsible for their respective city streets. The weed growth on the Annes brook Dr roundabout and sur rounding traffic islands was first brought to light in February this year, and then again in April when the former mayor and dep uty mayor slammed Waka Kotahi on the lack of maintenance. But regulation changes made last year for the safety of work ers have affected their ability to control weeds in high-speed and high-exposure traffic environ ments - including these 70kmh zones.

Nelson drivers vented their frus tration on Facebook last week, with one person labelling the

weeds “embarrassing” while an other has compared them to “a scene from ‘I am Legend’” - the post-apocalyptic thriller starring Will Smith.

“Looks terrible and not safe for drivers of small cars, you cannot see the other side,” says one com menter.

“I struggled to see over the over grown weeds and I’m a fairly tall person,” agreed another.

“I thought I saw a stag living in there the other day,” joked one driver.

However, Mark Owen, Waka Ko tahi regional manager for Wel lington/Top of the South Island, says they “cannot take shortcuts on safety”.

“While we appreciate the con cerns road users and residents raise, our contractors’ safety is vitally important, and we have to follow the health and safety rules for this sort of work.”

He says the higher a road’s speed limit, the greater the safety mea sures required.

“Works in a 70kmh zone require more safety measures than those in a 50kmh one.”

Some of the weeds on State Highway 6, closer to the Mitre 10 roundabout, were dealt with when resealing work took place from 4 - 7 November, Mark says.

“Where possible, we try to time weed and vegetation control with planned roadworks.”

The matter was also raised at the inaugural meeting of the joint Nelson Tasman regional trans port committee on Friday.

Emma Speight, Waka Kotahi’s director of regional relationships,

said weed maintenance was not an urgent priority for the agency and that it was being performed after longer intervals due to it now being less cost-effective.

“The aesthetic state of those roundabouts is not a safety risk for the travelling public, and so we can’t prioritise that over other projects that may have a greater safety risk for the public.”

However, Nelson Mayor Nick Smith says the issue isn’t just an aesthetic one but damages Nel

son’s reputation as a tourist cen tre. “We’ve had our guts kicked out of us for two years, we’re try ing to get back into business. The first thing [you see when] you drive out of Nelson Airport as a new visitor arriving into the re gion are weeds that are taller than me now.

“I don’t accept that it’s a non-safe ty risk when I can’t see across to the traffic in the other lane com ing in the other direction.”

Nick also raised concern about the fire risk that large, dry weeds could pose. Emma confirmed that Waka Kotahi has begun pre liminary investigations into hard (concrete) and soft (landscaping) options to address the problem and reduce ongoing upkeep costs.

Nelson councillor Mel Courtney said concrete would be an un popular option with Nelsonians while Tasman councillor Jo Ellis suggested that local art be incor porated into the concrete if that is the solution that is decided on. A decision on the weeds, which are a nationwide problem for Waka Kotahi, is expected to be made in the New Year.

Firefighters support Movember

JENNY NICHOLSON

For Richmond volunteer fire fighter Tim Westenra, Movember is personal.

“I lost my dad to prostate cancer five years ago and this is like a memorial to him,” Tim says. This was the first year Tim has participated, and he and other firefighters growing moustaches last month were hoping to raise

awareness around mental health and suicide prevention, prostate and testicular cancer.

Josh Ratcliffe says promoting that it’s okay for men to ask for help is important.

Support amongst fire fighters is vital, according to Richmond’s chief fire officer Craig Piner. “Sometimes after an event or multiple events that have a cumu lative effect on people, people can

go through a rough time,” Craig says. “We have really good sup port systems in place.”

Craig says while they don’t de brief after every call out, there are times it is made com pulsory.

“If there are children involved or it is par ticularly traumatic, we debrief.”

John Kingsbury works

in mental health and says people are more open to seek support than in the past. Matt Riordan grew a moustache to support others in the brigade. “I’m look

ing forward to getting rid of it,” Matt says. “It’s itchy.” Movember is a fundraiser for mental health and suicide prevention, and pros tate and testicular cancer.

Richmond firefighters Tim Westenra, Matt Riordan, Bryan Parks, Joshua Ratcliffe, Sam Oliver, Craig Piner and John Westenra participated in Movember to raise awareness for men’s health. Photo: Jenny Nicholson.

Christmas came early to Brightwater School last week at their annual pet day. Porter and Alaska Flintoff dressed their miniature Dachshunds Huxley and Juniper up as Santa and his elf and took great delight in showing them off in the parade. “We walked round and they showed off their costumes, then we let all the kids stroke them which they loved.” Other pets that took part were a goat, chickens, tree frogs and a plethora of rabbits, guinea pigs, cats and dogs. Principal Glenda Earle said the day went smoothly, despite having to move the pet parade inside as torrential rain hit just as it was about to start. Photo: Jo Kent.

Weeds on the Annesbrook Dr roundabout and the neighbouring traffic island have once again sparked public outrage. Photo: Kate Russell.

Snowden’s Bush surprise ceremony

The Friends of Snowden’s Bush held a special ceremo ny last week to honour the long-time efforts of Janice Gibbs, who worked tirelessly with her late husband Lyne to maintain the reserve over the last 12 years.

Head of the group, Alison Pickford, says, as part of the Te Uru Rakau grant they were asked to nominate someone who has made a notable con tribution.

“Janice has cared for and pro moted the reserve alongside the Department of Conserva tion for over a decade and had a leading role in the Snowden’s Bush Trust, which is now dis solved.

“The fundraising she did to se

cure the additional land to the reserve is a rather bigger than notable contribution, which will now never be forgotten as we’ve installed a plaque com memorating her work.”

Janice was invited to unveil the plaque and was subse quently moved to tears when she read the plaque was actu ally dedicated to her.

“I had no idea any of this was happening,” she says. “It’s so lovely that Lyne and I have been memorialised in this plaque. What a wonderful surprise.”

Tasman District Council councillor Christine Macken zie says phenomenal things are achieved when communi ties come together.

“Snowden’s Bush is flourishing thanks to the efforts of Janice

and those of the community.”

Throughout the year, Bright water School and Pinegrove Kindergarten have been in volved in plantings and they will be carrying on with the project in 2023-24.

“We are also filling in a rear paddock with an annual pub lic planting day starting next year, looking ahead for sev eral years, and a picnic table donated by Waimea Garden Club is to be installed too,” Al ison says.

“A new information board is underway, as is some work around the toilet block. Tidy ing up the entrance driveway is planned for next year. It’s somewhat astonishing how quickly it is coming together, so thanks to everyone who has helped.”

came from the government’s

$1.57 million

on

involvement

pin

Black Friday retail spending down

on last year Black Friday sales made for another busy week this year amongst Kiwi re tailers, but spending was down on last year. Nelson Tasman experienced a five per cent drop in spending in the seven days to Cyber Mon day (November 28), with a total of $6.5m being spent through Worldline NZ’s payments net work. In terms of retail sectors, the data shows a mix of spending gains and declines amongst merchants, but the declines outweighed the gains, especially amongst merchants selling big ticket purchases for the home. A broad group ing of furniture, floor coverings, houseware, textile goods and hardware merchants record ed an annual spending decline of 20 per cent over the seven days. In contrast, another broad grouping of clothing, footwear and personal ac cessory retailers saw spending go up by 5 per cent this year over the Black Friday week.

JO KENT

There were celebrations on Saturday when the new Appleby Fire Station was officially opened. This is the first time in its 33-year history that the Appleby Brigade has had a purpose-built facility. Its first base was the Tasman District Council’s forestry headquarters on Rabbit Island, before moving to a former pea shelling factory built in 1944 and known locally as “The Pea Viner”. Money to build the modern

station

Covid Recovery Fund, while the land on the corner of Redwood Road and the Moutere Highway was donated by Ted and Clare Ford. The Appleby Volunteer Fire Brigade also bestowed an honoury life membership

Clare, in recognition of her

with the brigade since 1989 and support of her husband Ted, who is a founder member. Appleby fire chief Paul Eggers presented her with a

and bouquet at the opening ceremony, thanking her for her dedication over the past 33 years. Pictured are Fire and Emergency deputy chief executive Piki Thomas (right) with Appleby Volunteer Fire Brigade rural controller Paul Eggers and deputy controller Bella Clark. Photo: Supplied.

Janice Gibbs had no idea the plaque was dedicated to her and her late husband Lyne. Photo: Jo Kent.

Teen turns fishing into successful career

SARA HOLLYMAN

Most kids dream of turning their hobby into a career, but for Nel son teenager Flyn Jack, the dream is already becoming a reality.

Flyn, who turned 16 just last week, is building a successful career do ing what he loves; fishing.

He has picked up major global sponsors who now supply him with his boat, engine and fishing gear.

Flyn travels around the country, and now the world, with his spon sors, while they film him fish ing with professional film crews for their content used across the globe.

He also does research and devel opment for international elec tronics company Simrad and carries out on-water testing for Huntsman products.

His current boat, which will like ly be upgraded in the next 12-18 months, is a 7m fibreglass Hunts man Centurian named ‘Double Trouble’ that Flyn describes as “a beast”.

Flyn started fishing when he was just two-years-old when his fam ily used to spend three to four months in Okiwi Bay every year.

After a short stint of not owning a boat, during which time he took up river angling, he missed get ting out on the water.

“When I was 11 we bought a bigger boat and I started fishing again. We started catching some decent fish and getting a bit of publicity.”

He shared some of his catches to Instagram and Facebook.

“Flyn was a little tacker and Huntsman Boats said ‘hey, we’d love you to wear some of our tee

shirts and get some photos’ and that’s where it all started,” says Flyn’s dad, Paul Jack.

Paul now manages the business side of Flyn Jack Fishing. While the life he is building could be the envy of any recreational fisher, Flyn is humble and puts his success down to an incredible team of people supporting him.

He says a key moment in his ca reer was meeting Taiwanese fish erman Edward Lee, when he was hosting a fishing seminar in Nel son.

“He really is one of the best fisher men on the planet,” Flyn says. So, at the seminar, he introduced himself to Edward.

“The next day I saw him down at the Glen Beach and I messaged

GO BY BIKE DAY BREAKFAST

PARTY

him and said ‘hey, do you want to go fishing’.

“That afternoon we went out in the bay, he taught me so much in such a small bit of time.”

Edward taught Flyn about tech nique and understanding tides and current, as well as how to fight fish.

He gave Flyn some fishing gear and, as their friendship grew, in vited Flyn to go to Malaysia, fish ing.

Flyn was just 12-years-old.

“That friendship has really grown and he’s pretty much my mentor now, he’s taught me a lot of what I know, his involvement helped me get my name out there and help me catch more big fish.”

He says over the last year and a half the business has re ally started to grow and sparked ideas for the fu ture.

“That’s where I started to understand there’s a few paths I can take with this, I’m still trying to figure it

all out. I would love for it to grow even further but I do also have other dreams that are very much fishing related,” he says.

“My end goal is to be a profession al sport-fishing captain on a 90-ft sport-fishing vessel out of some where like Mexico or Cabo.

“That’s my dream, to be on a sport-fishing boat travelling the planet.”

He’s already working on the goal, starting to sit the tickets required to make it happen. Working on a charter boat in the Abel Tasman helps him gets his hour count up so that when he turns 18 he’s ready to start taking the tests and getting the licences he needs.

He says there’re a lot of catches that he has celebrated over the years but the one that stands out most was a fish he caught on a three-day fishing charter out of Tauranga in June 2021. It was a 65kg southern bluefin tuna.

“Every year we get a run where the tuna come really close to the coast of New Zealand, one of the

techniques I use is jigging, which is using an artificial lure kind of shaped like a fish.

“On the second day of the trip it was glass-calm conditions. We were about 100km off-shore, so a long way out and we decided to stay the night off-shore.

He says at around 9pm they began picking up a strange sign on the sonar so he decided to chuck a jig over to see what it was.

“I ended up hooking a bluefin tuna on my kingfish gear, so I was very much under-gunned. About an hour and a half later I landed what we believe to be New Zea land’s first southern bluefin tuna caught on a jig.”

Flyn has recently returned from five days filming at D’Urville Is land and after Christmas will have two weeks filming in the North Island.

In April he will head to Oman for two weeks on a trip targeting 100kg-class yellowfin tuna on top water gear.

“But all these work trips are fan tastic, I love it, I couldn’t think of anything else better to do.”

He says he gets a lot of people ask ing for tips on how to land the big one, and his one piece of advice; be patient.

“People say ‘don’t leave fish to find fish’. If you’ve found a school of fish and you’re fishing it, the chances are there’s going to be a big one around, you just have to be patient, don’t rush it, because eventually the time will come when that fish bites.”

“We’ll go up to D’Urville and fish from 8am to 8pm in one spot, Flyn would’ve cast 1000 casts and we’ll stay there and stay there and we always catch a big one, it’s only one but it’s massive,” Paul adds.

Both Flyn and Paul say they are proud of the partnership they have built with their sponsors –Huntsman Boats, Honda Marine, Simrad, Hella Marine Lighting and the most recent addition, Jap anese brand Sea Falcon.

Jump on your bike and head down to the Countdown Richmond car park, corner of Salisbury and Champion Roads. Grab a bite to eat and find out more about our exciting Streets for People programme.

Flyn Jack with his personal best snapper measuring 83.5cm caught in Tasman Bay this season.

Photo: Supplied.

A pink 1957 Cadillac Coupe De Ville was one of 38 classic cars to take part in the annual Cambusters Retirement Village Christmas cruise on Sunday. Residents at Oakwoods, Olive Estate, Ernest Rutherford and Summerset were treated to the festive procession complete with rock ‘n’ roll dancing by some of the crew. Organiser Kim Quint says it was a great day for a drive. “The sun was out and most of us were in Christmassy costumes. It’s one of our most popular events of the year and we love showing off the cars to people who may not normally get to see them.”

Photo: Jo Kent.

The fun house on Fairose Dr

so I ended up using the frame to put my Lego on instead.”

Not content with creating hun dreds of fairy houses in her front garden, Penny McPherson has now transformed her Fairose Drive garage into a Christmas vil lage made of Lego for children to enjoy throughout the holidays.

“I’ve always had a garage full of Lego, but this year is the first time I’m opening it up for people to come and look at.”

Her fairy garden attracts hoards of children each week and she hopes the Lego village will prove just as popular.

“The garage door will be left open when I’m at home, and people can stand behind the barrier to stop little fingers touching the dis play. I have a working train going around and it doesn’t take much for it to get derailed.”

The village is on three levels of a self-built wooden frame and houses an array of Lego sets that Penny has been collecting for de cades.

“I originally built the multi-level frame to make a miniature railway for some vintage trains I’d brought back with me from Germany. But they were a bit too intricate to be played with by my own children,

With six grandchildren aged 4 to 15 living locally, Penny says they have also helped in the construc tion and often give her ideas of what new themes of fairy house to put in her garden.

“I used to teach so I’m always in volved with kids in some way.

“I love bringing them joy and sparking their imagination, so I really hope this gives peo ple something to do during the school holidays.”

She’s raising money in support of the Big Brothers Big Sisters char ity and welcomes coin donations of appreciation.

“I know times are really hard for everyone at the moment, so it’s not compulsory, but if people have some loose change to leave in the donation box, I’d be thrilled.”

The house is on the bottom end of Richmond’s Fairose Drive and Penny says if she happens to be out when you pop by it won’t be a wasted visit.

“I’ve got so much to look at in the garden that even if the garage door is closed, the kids will still be able to have a wander round.

“I generally add something new each week.”

Penny McPherson has opened her Lego display up for the public to enjoy during the Christmas school holidays. Photo: Jo Kent.

Port Nelson welcomes back bigger ships to the region

Port Nelson has welcomed the first large vessel since a major redevelop ment to its Main South Wharf.

On Saturday, 3 December, the con tainer vessel MSC Langsar visited Port Nelson, the first vessel over 260m in length to visit since the re development, and berthed on Main Wharf South.

The $20 million dollar investment to upgrade the wharf was completed in November 2021 and involved re developing the main wharf’s north ern section, increasing the port’s earthquake resilience, moving main wharf container operations further away from residential neighbours, and future-proofing the port to ac commodate larger vessels.

The trend towards the use of larger vessels has continued to grow over recent years as container shipping lines seek to optimise the environ mental and economic efficiency of sea freight.

Port Nelson has previously been able to routinely receive vessels up to 250m in length.

A Port Nelson spokesperson says the arrival of MSC Langsar is part of a process to normalise the arrival of

vessels up to 265m in length. This increase in operating param eters comes following the invest ment some years ago in a new tug, the increase in the operating length of Main Wharf South and detailed modelling and planning for larger vessel movements.

The spokesperson says, with the in creased vessel capacity Port Nelson will be well-placed to sustain in ternational vessel arrivals for many years to come.

Along with the visitation of larger vessels, Port Nelson will also benefit from new and existing shipping ser vices coming into or back to the re gion, including the commencement of a new trans-Tasman service from Move Logistics, starting next week.

Move Logistics will operate a vessel between Tasmania in Australia and a number of New Zealand ports, including Nelson. The new route provides a more efficient process, streamlining coastal freight links and enabling direct delivery of fish feed from Tasmania, reducing costs for the industry. The planned in creased capacity will improve reli ability and hopefully reduce costs.

Adele’s journey to find her identity

JENNY NICHOLSON

Adele Keefe says her moko kauāe is part of stepping into her authentic self.

“I am a believer. I am a Māori,” Adele says. “My moko kauāe is a symbol of my restored iden tity. I’m not one or the other. I am both.”

She says at the start of her faith journey she thought she had to be either Christian or Māori, and that she needed to lay down her culture. Now she sees that there is no separa tion between the two and says knowing that runs really deep in her.

“Jesus was created as a Jew. He kept the culture. God created me as a Māori so I could ex

perience him as a Māori, and he could experience me as a Māori.” Adele sees everyone as individuals with different gifts that set them apart, with no one person better than an other. The parts of her moko kauāe that flick out are likened to a bird that was caged and is now free. Adele has expe rienced prison, but says the worst prison is the prison in our minds.

“At the start of my journey with Jesus I still had trauma to deal with and thinking pat terns that needed to change,” she says. “God’s love was my safe space to start dealing with trauma.” Adele calls some of the thoughts that can bom bard a mind, ‘Mrs or Mr Neg

ative’. She has learned the im portance of changing the way she thinks. “If you can heal the mind, you can heal the heart,” Adele says.

She says she did the initial work on her thinking before she got her moko kauāe , and that work is ongoing. Part of that was unravelling trauma including generational trau ma, and “stepping into who I was created to be”.

Having found healing from some tough years, Adele wants to share what she has learned with others. She recently fin ished writing a book on over coming trauma and last week finished running a course helping others find freedom after trauma.

Thursday

Tuesday

Burning

Tuesday

Tuesday

McCashin

Tuesday

Ta moko can represent many things for those who receive them: whanau, leadership, whakapapa and status. The series Moko Kauāe: Symbol of Identity shares stories of strong wahine who have received their moko kauāe to mark a new phase in their life journey.

Adele Keefe is Māori. She also loves Jesus and reads her bible. Her moko kauāe celebrates being both a Māori and a Christian. Photo: Jenny Nicholson.

Summer tourism looking healthy

JENNY NICHOLSON

Foreign accents are returning to the region, according to Unique ly Nelson general manager Simon Duffy.

He says, while it is nice to see tour ists coming from overseas, the numbers are still not back at preCovid 19 levels.

Local tourism operators agree, say ing numbers are picking up with both New Zealanders and interna tional tourists coming to the Nel son Tasman region.

Two waves are expected to come, with the first being over the Christ mas and New Year period.

Simon says things then drop off a bit before the second wave of those who worked over the holidays and are taking their break later. There are also more internationals in the second wave. He says having the first cruise ship back into Nelson was a “shot in the arm” for local businesses.

Principal economist for Infomet rics, Brad Olsen, says that South Island areas with the strongest economic gains in the September quarter have been those with a greater international tourism fo cus.

“The recovery of internation al tourism continues, with rising tourist arrivals, strong tourism ex penditure, and more guest nights. Tourism activity has come back stronger than first expected,” Brad says.

Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park and Motel bookings are looking very strong for summer, according to chief executive David Pattinson. He says that summer looks like it will be a bit longer with bookings looking strong further into the sea son.

Although, traditionally, interna tional tourists tend to book during the February to May period, David says they are seeing some booking now, particularly from Europe and

Australia.

He says those looking at last-min ute accommodation in a unit may find it difficult.

“Some motels traditionally there for tourists and holiday makers are still being used as emergency hous ing, so they take stock out of the market.”

Along with tourists, over the past few months Tāhuna Beach Holiday Park and Motel has accommodated school sports groups, and contrac tors working on the highway be tween Nelson and Blenheim.

Bella Vista Motel owner/operator Bruce Hunter says bookings have been off the charts, but it is from the corporate sector rather than tourism.

“International tourism is not what it was, but motels are way ahead with corporate clients,” Bruce says.

“You can’t get a room Tuesday to Thursday.”

However, looking forward to Jan uary to March they have a lot of international tourists coming through, particularly from Europe.

Abel Tasman Kayaking operations manager Craig Moore says they are seeing a few more overseas tourists coming through.

“There are more internationals than locals,” Craig says.

With huts and camp sites heavily booked in the Abel Tasman, those wanting to kayak are now having to book day trips rather than to stay in the park.

Owner operator of the Lake Roto roa Water Taxi, Charlene White, says they are starting to get busy now and beginning to fill up for the Christmas New Year period.

“The Blue Lake is what is drawing people. It’s the main point of inter est.”

The water taxi ferries people from Lake Rotoroa to Sabine Hut and there is then a one or two day walk into Blue Lake. Charlene says there is a mix of New Zealand and inter national tourists.

The Blue Lake region is one of the local attractions drawing visitors from overseas as local tourism operators see numbers of international tourists increasing. Photo: Jenny Nicholson.

Alison Pickford, Janice Gibbs and Gillian Bishop

Chris Wheatley and Ross Cullen

Rex Hunt and Ellen Tilley

Riley and Pete Slotemaker

Amanda Field, Susan MacAskill and Trish Sullivan

Debbie Paish, Kathy Ruffell and Chris Dunn

Donald McMenamin, Mary Willett and Matthew McMenamin

Libby and Di MacAskill

Rebecca Bird and Shena Wallace

Local group helping people through loss

JENNY NICHOLSON

Grief struck Rhonda Ratima’s world when she lost her young adult son Rangiwhero in Novem ber 2021.

She was in shock and trauma tised, struggling with her own grief even as she tried to help her other children who were also grieving.

“I didn’t know how I was sup posed to grieve.”

In February this year Rhonda joined GriefShare, a group of fering help and support after the death of a loved one. She says the group helped her understand grief, supported her, and gave her a path through to healing.

GriefShare facilitator Marcia Malthus says, in grief, some peo ple feel they are going mad as a tangle of emotions more intense than ever before hits them.

“They may have problems with their memory or cannot think straight or cannot sleep.”

Rhonda says it was good to know those symptoms are all normal stages of grief. Along with gain ing insight, GriefShare was a safe space where she could grieve.

“I could really cry,” Rhonda says. “I broke down heaps. Everyone was respectful. You don’t get

pushed; you go at your own pace.”

GriefShare stopped her from iso lating herself and helped her to slow down decision-making. It hasn’t taken the grief away. Rhonda still gets triggered, and often unexpectedly.

“Grief comes in waves, but you learn to manage it and keep mov ing forward,” she says. “I didn’t want the kids to be carrying me. I wanted to bounce back. Grief Share gave me tools to move to ward healing.”

Marcia says the grief journey is unique for each person, but there are some commonalities that make GriefShare work for many.

Keely McGillicuddy’s husband of nearly 20 years, Bevan, had a heart attack and passed away four years ago. She says it still feels like yesterday.

“It’s the worst thing that ever hap pened to me. I still get upset,” she says. “I guess that’s why my friend suggested GriefShare. I told her if it’s to do with church, then it’s not for me.”

With a lot of encouragement, Keely attended GriefShare and she found it so helpful she is plan ning on going back to the next course, saying she needs it.

“I’m glad my friend pushed me into it,” Keely says. “The people I

met on the course are completely different from me, but they are such nice people, and the facilita tors are so kind. We all bonded.”

Lynette Chambers and her hus band were nearing their 25th wedding anniversary and in the middle of booking their first trip around the world when he was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. They hoped he would have two years to live, but he passed away just 12 weeks later. Lynette de scribed the loss as catastrophic.

“I wasn’t coping with loss, loneli

ness, and the grief of my children and grandchildren,” Lynette says. “GriefShare was absolutely won derful. I made new friends who helped me deal with my grief.”

While things are less raw now, birthdays, Christmas, or a mem ory from a song can drag it back up. She says the course has given her skills to deal with that.

Lynette says GriefShare has a Christian base, but no faith or be lief is needed to get a lot from the course.

“When you lose someone, you

can be angry and frustrated and ask why. GriefShare softens that.”

Adrian Wardrop, one of the facil itators, says the course taught that we don’t rank our losses.

“Dad was 90 and Mum was 96, so I’d thought that wasn’t as trau matic as someone losing some one young, but the emotions are still there.”

He says Kiwi men often try to just battle through, but the course can help, and he would love to see more men attend. Email griefsha renn@gmail.com for information.

GriefShare facilitators Adrian Wardrop along with Rhonda Ratima and fellow facilitator Marcia Malthus recommend the course for those who are facing grief. Photo: Jenny Nicholson.

Author talk: Chris Long

Thursday 8 December, 5.30pm

Richmond Library, Queen Street

From isolation to the world beyond, Chris Long is ‘The Boy From Gorge River’. Free event.

Pak ‘n’ Save Richmond

Santa

Parade

Sunday 11 December, 1pm-3pm

Queen Street, Richmond

Come and see Santa lead the procession of floats through central Richmond for an af ternoon of festive family fun.

Art in the Park

Sunday 11 December, 10am-12pm

Washbourn Gardens, Richmond

Free family-friendly event led by the parks team at TDC. Come along and be inspired by nature to create something artistic to take home with you.

Remembering Roger Ledingham

He was such a lovely man, a great teacher.

Kate Hislop

Ahhh Mr Ledingham! I remember him telling my mother *Kate has no sh** show in hell of passing school cert his tory! And he was bloody right, however I enjoyed it and he was a great teacher, very dry but to the point! RIP Mr Led. You certainly were a character!

Kate Nichols

‘Natalie, you will have to really knuckle down and stop distracting your peers if you want to smash history this year’ ... thanks Mr Ledingham, I always valued your ad vice.

Natalie Ewing

Grease is the word for young actor

Exciting Chey, well done, looking forward to the show. Lynette Ewers

How exciting! Can’t wait to see everyone in action. Well done to all crew who have spent hours putting this show together.

Shelley Illingworth

This is going to be one electrifying show!

Alexei D’Ath

Super excited to go see this.

Peter Blasdale

Have your say: sara@topsouthmedia.co.nz facebook.com/waimeaweekly

Just a thought...

ANDY LUDEMANN Richmond Community Church

Words are powerful. Many agree with the state ment that in fact words are containers of ‘power’ and we choose what kind of power they carry. The power that builds up, or the power that pulls down.

I can still hear to this day, people of influ ence in my schooling years reminding me of the importance of thinking before I speak. This is sim ply the practice of consider ing our words before we say something or respond to an other person’s comments.

In the writing on the Prov erbs, it says that “the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit” (Proverbs 18:20-21).

We reap what we sow, in cluding what comes from

our tongue. So, the challenge for me is this, what kind of world am I creating with my words? In my home, my place of work, even at the petrol station or supermarket. Yes, there is the ‘Kiwi banter’ we tend to accept as part of our fun relaxed culture.

But are we considering wise ly the use of our words in and be yond those fun times and realis ing the incredible power of a kind and loving word. Perhaps even pos itively changing someone’s outlook on what might be a challeng ing day for them.

We ourselves are the ones who choose and are respon sible for our words, and with those words we choose the world we are creating around us, life or death. Give it a go today, find someone to speak words of life and be amazed at the change you will see, even in yourself.

Garin College turning 20-years-old

JENNY NICHOLSON

When Garin College opened twenty years ago it was known as a small school with a big heart.

On 28 January 2002, 300 stu dents started at Garin. Trudie Walter and her husband Graeme Sims were teachers, while two of their sons, Joe and Damian, were day one pupils. They had moved the family from Wellington and Trudie remembers a sense of ex citement for her family.

“Starting a new school is a huge privilege,” Trudie says. “Being part of establishing the culture of a new school is special.”

She says all the staff were in the same headspace of not wanting to be the same as every other school. “They were such a passionate group of people who were all very dedicated to making a success of this new Catholic school.”

Graeme says, those who were there from day one were risk tak ers. Students left the familiarity of the colleges they were at to attend Nelson’s first Catholic college.

The day started with an assem bly led by principal John Boyce themed ‘the impossible dream.’

The school had opened just two years after the first planning

meeting. The site had been a pad dock of cows just a few years be fore, and had been transformed into a modern, colourful school.

Boarding director Robert Booth says they could make their own destiny and traditions.

“We weren’t bound by those who came before us,” he says. “The first principal, John Boyce, spoke

to the school of how they were setting traditions that everyone else would follow.”

While some parents of the orig inal students were unsure about sending their children to Garin, the college developed a reputa tion for being a school with a good academic record.

“We were a little unknown at the

start but became a viable option,” Robert says. Current principal John Maguire arrived at Garin seven years ago and says the years since have been a time of build ing on the strong foundation set by the team of 2002. He says Garin has continued to grow in academic, sporting, and cultural achievement and participation,

as well as in numbers.

Going into 2023 the role will reach 600 students and is work ing toward the maximum role of 670 in 2025. Building projects over the next two years will pre pare room for more students.

In its second year, Garin College’s NCEA Level 1 results were the best in the Top of the South. In 2005 Jenah Shaw won the Sun day Times National Short Story Competition, which was the first of many varied national titles for students at Garin.

Along with many academic suc cesses and sporting and cultural wins that have been celebrated in the life of Garin students, the col lege has played a significant part in many lives. Kelsi and Jonathan Hardiman were day one pupils who met at school and later mar ried. Their children are now the first second-generation Garin students. Kelsi had also been a day one pupil at St Paul’s when they opened in 1999. Kelsi says, while the school has more stu dents than when she attended, it has felt right to have her children attend Garin.

“The programme is wholesome, and I couldn’t be happier with their education.”

Jonathan and Kelsi Hardiman were day one students when Garin College opened 20 years ago. With Cassidy and Tyler now students at the college they are one of the first second-generation Garin families. Photo: Jenny Nicholson.

From tragedy to prosperity – the Hunt story

until his death in 1936.

Thomas Hunt Snr came to New Zealand via the ship, ‘Harkaway’ in 1858 with wife Ellen and two children, Thomas Jnr and Mary Ann. Also on board was his brother, William Burdett Hunt, his wife Sophia and one child. The family settled in Wakefield where Thomas purchased the Forest Inn. His hospitality was well known, and many great din ners were held at the inn. Unfortunately, tragedy struck the family in 1862 when the couple lost their son, John Raymond, to drowning and then a year later lost their daughter Sarah to peri carditis.

In 1862 Thomas purchased land in 88 Valley and called the home stead ‘Highfield’. However, he did not immediately go onto the farm. Instead, he put his oldest son Thomas Jnr, a boy of around 11 or 12, on the property with a companion to commence the work of clearing the land. This was a lonely life for young Thom as, but he showed great resilience as he tackled the work of plough ing with a team of six bullocks, cutting scrub, digging ditches, and clearing away the fern to pro duce clear land for grazing. The Hunt family also planted large numbers of trees that were seen to bring beauty and character to

the countryside and continued to do this for many years.

In 1863, 191 sheep were pur chased and owing to the diffi culty and cost of erecting fences the sheep were for some time grazed on the roadside. Thomas Snr later joined his son on the farm but when a butchery busi ness was bought in Wakefield,

he took charge of that until son William became proprietor. In 1875, Thomas Snr purchased 224 Romney ewes and this became the beginnings of one of the first stud flocks to be established in New Zealand. Thomas Snr died in 1889 and his properties were divided between his four sons, Thomas Jnr, William, George and

Albert. Thomas Jnr took over the homestead block together with a portion of the Romney flock. His flock became prominent in many parts of New Zealand and during 1907 and 1909 over 520 rams and ewes were exported to parts of Australia. Thomas retired in 1915 from active farming but contin ued to take an interest in the farm

George, fourth son of Thomas Snr, was born in April 1865 at Forest Inn. He later took up 1200 acres of land, also in the valley, which had been purchased in 1886 by his father. The property was named ‘Wantwood’ because there was originally only one lone tree on the land, and the lack of wood was of great concern. After clearing the fern, tutu, manuka, flax and raupo, the land was sown with English grass and seeds, while more than 200 acres were cropped annually with Algerian oats, rape, clover, peas, turnips and swedes.

By 1936 the flock numbers were more than 1000 sheep which were registered in the New Zea land Flock Book. George went into business with brother Al bert, forming the firm of Messrs G and A Hunt. Together they commenced the breeding of stud Romney sheep in the district. Un fortunately, Albert, while visiting Patea, became unwell and died of peritonitis in August 1905 at the young age of 35. George also died suddenly while on a visit to Blenheim to inspect some sheep in February 1934. After his death, ‘Wantwood’ was sold to Mr Jack Shuttleworth. Some of the next generation continued the work of their fathers and grandfather in breeding Romney sheep.

ROBYN PARKES

Hunts Butchery, Waimea South Collection, Tasman Heritage, Date Unknown.

Union pickets after ‘insulting’ pay offer by Te Whatu Ora

MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter

Union disability support work ers picketed outside the Nelson Hospital after they say they were offered an “insulting” pay of fer during negotiations with Te Whatu Ora Nelson Marlborough. The Public Service Association (PSA) union represents 230 dis ability support workers and is seeking a greater pay increase than the 3 per cent rise given by the Government due to the high cost of living and difficult condi tions they work in.

But union members are frustrat ed with Te Whatu Ora’s conduct during the ongoing bargaining process.

“I’ve done quite a few rounds of bargaining and I’ve never met such actually disdainful resis tance,” says PSA delegate and support worker, Amanda Gor don.

The union recently rejected a oneoff $400 pro rata payment, with the promise of another $1,500 pro rata payment next year.

“It’s insulting and disgusting,” says Michael Corcoran, anoth er union delegate and support worker.

“I was appalled by the offer.” “[Te Whatu Ora] are making

what I do out to be a joke,” Aman da agreed. “I don’t feel like we’re asking for a lot.”

PSA organiser Kate Davis said workers want both of those pay ments now, which she said would “nearly” keep their pay up with inflation.

Disability support workers do almost everything for their charges, including helping them dress, bathe, and go to the toi let, alongside cooking, cleaning, medicating, providing emotional

support, attending appointments, and cleaning up blood, vomit, and faeces when needed, while sometimes being subjected to violence in the complex-needs’ houses.

“Anything to do with running their life, you are doing because they literally cannot do it on their own,” Amanda says. “And you do this all with kindness and with good humour because you’re car ing for a human being.”

All these pressures are also exac

erbated by being “horrendously” understaffed.

“The excess of hours some of our people are working at the mo ment are dangerous to them and, to an extent, for the people they care for,” Michael says.

For Amanda and Michael, the Friday picket was held to demon strate to Te Whatu Ora that dis ability support workers were underappreciated and deserved better remuneration.

“Te Whatu Ora, you’re making us

poorer,” was the chant favoured by the picketers.

Currently the entry-level pay for someone in disability support is $22.49 an hour, Michael says, just $1.20 more than minimum wage.

“Why would you do this job if you had an alternative?” He asked.

“It’s a great job in many ways… but it’s grossly underpaid, under appreciated, undervalued, and underacknowledged.”

Te Whatu Ora district director Lexie O’Shea said the agency wouldn’t comment on the ongo ing negotiations with the union but applauded the disability sup port workforce.

“Our valuable staff do amazing work in our community, offering care, support and compassion to people with disabilities.”

Amanda says it’s important for disability support workers to get adequate remuneration.

“One trip, one car accident or knock on the head, and you could be in a care and support service. Do you want those people to be paid at a rate that makes them feel valued?”

Kiley Vedder, Alicia Lasenby and son Brock

PSA union disability support workers did a lunchtime picket outside Nelson Hospital on Friday after receiving a pay offer one delegate described as “insulting.” Photo: Max Frethey.

Coming home to play a special part in the community

After a brief stint away, the oppor tunity to come home was too good to pass up for Brendon and Vicky Rae, the new owners of New World Stoke. Growing up in the region, Brendon’s love for retail was ‘locked in’ while studying for his Bachelor of Commerce at the age of 18. Working part time at Fresh Choice Richmond, while attending Polytech, it was there that he realised his passion for the industry and the dream to be a business owner was born. Doing the hard graft, Brendon worked his way through the ranks and was quickly promoted to grocery manager be fore working on the supplier side of the business.

“Matt and Gary Watson provided me with a fantastic grounding and understanding for this sector. From then, I knew this was the industry I

wanted to be involved in. After ten years I jumped back to the super market side, but this time under the Foodstuffs cooperative at Pak'nSave Richmond. I worked for Andrew Howard as store manager for eight years and during that time Andrew became a real mentor for me.

"He helped me work my way through the Foodstuffs Development Pro gramme which allowed me the op portunity to become an approved owner/operator.”

One of the country's youngest New World owner operators, Brendon says it is the spirit of the brand that aligns with their family's own values.

“New World is an amazing place to work no matter where in New Zea land you are located. It's a super market that offers something that no other supermarket can, an incredible

shopping experience!” Offering an amazing range of products, quality fresh goods, customer service that is second to none, and a heavy commu nity involvement, the couple are over the moon to be delivering the ‘New World experience’ back on their home turf. Eleven months after leav ing Nelson, the couple took over the Stoke store on August 15.

“Nelson is our home and the goal was always to settle back here at some point. We had recently moved to Christchurch to purchase New World Kaiapoi, but when New World Stoke came on the market it was far too good of an opportunity to pass up, particularly because our fam ily and friends were all based back in Nelson.”

“I love the retail industry, its fast -paced and there's always something new and exciting happening, but for me it's all about the people! I love the social and interactive aspect of our industry. Whether it's working close ly with our incredible team, assist ing our valuable customers, working

With four locations across New Zealand, Anderson Lloyd is able to bring local knowledge as well as a national team to any situation.

With four locations across New Zealand, Anderson Lloyd is able to bring local knowledge as well as a national team to any situation.

Congratulations to Brendon and Vicky on your new business venture. We wish you well for the future.

Congratulations to Brendon and Vicky on your new business venture. We wish you well for the future.

With four locations across New Zealand, Anderson Lloyd is able to bring local knowledge as well as a national team to any situation.

Congratulations to Brendon and Vicky on your new business venture. We wish you well for the future.

collaboratively with our suppli ers or being out and about in our local community, that's where my passion for our industry de rives from.” Navigating their way through the Covid pandemic, Brendon says it was a tough time for everybody, presenting some unique challenges.

“We faced staff shortages, major supply issues, panic buying and levels of stress and anxiety that I have never seen before. It was amazing to see how everyone ral lied together to do what was re quired! Supermarkets were a re ally important part of the Covid pandemic response, and I was unbelievably proud of how our industry handled the past couple of years.”

Never compromising on quality, Brendon says his exceptional staff members help to make the local store unique and are the key to its success. “New World Stoke has an amazing team culture which translates through to our excep tional customer service.

"Our staff are professional, friendly and always willing to go the extra mile. Whether it's a greeting at the front door, being

assisted to help find a product, having a chat at our checkouts or having your groceries delivered, our customer service is what we are famous for.

Our customers can expect an awesome shopping experience every time they shop with us.

"We will continue to challenge the norm by implementing new ideas, consistently look to im prove our range and our stand ards and provide the best cus tomer service. Customers will see

a family that is enthusiastic and passionate about our industry, and who want to be an essential part of their community.”

Brendon, Vicky and their two children, Bridon and Harlo, look forward to further developing the special role that their store plays in the community. “We will look to communicate with our cus tomers regularly via social media channels and look for new inno vative ways to assist our custom ers' busy lives with meal solutions

and our online shopping service. I also hope to develop and grow our business to service a much larger part of our region. We are a supermarket first and foremost, but we want to be more than that, we want to be a part of the community, be involved with lo cal businesses, sports teams and schools. This is where I believe we can make our biggest im pact.” Bringing fresh, qual ity products to their custom ers every day, whether it be delicious, hand crafted sausages from the butch ery, beautifully made salads and spinach and feta fritta tas from the deli or mouth-wa tering brioche buns and cream donuts from the bakery, the quality of their products are ex

ceptional. “We offer convenient meal solutions, fresh department products of the highest qual ity, fantastic customer promo tions such as ‘Little Garden’, and our current ‘Spiegelau Premium Glass giveaway’, and to top it off we can deliver your groceries to you with our new online shop ping service!” newworld.co.nz

Stoke New World Managers: From back left to front right; Selwyn, Kath, Julie, Mandy, Charlie, Wayne, Brendon - Owner, Neil, Dianne, Rashitha, Jenny and Chelsey. Absent, Mo, Jamie and Gary.

Gadgets and Gizmos take over Nelson Museum

A skeletal mariachi band clatters through a spooky tune. A dinghy crew rows vigorously through rough seas. A man eats spaghetti in the bath. They perform the same action again and again and are just three among dozens of gadgets and gizmos that make up the new exhibition opening at Nelson Provincial Museum this summer.

On tour from London, Curious Contraptions explores small, sur real worlds through fantastical, of ten amusing, mechanical sculptures known as automata.

These whimsical flying, sailing, and cycling machines are brought to life by intricate arrangements of hand made cams, cranks, and other simple driving systems.

Exposed inner workings and low-tech mechanisms invite the viewer to un derstand how each one comes to life with just the push of a button or a crank of a handle. It also includes an ‘ensemble workshop’ for visitors to build their own contraptions.

Not just a play-based experience, this exhibition also encourages fun STEAM (Science, Technology, Engi neering, the Arts and Mathematics) learning opportunities for children, families and adults.

Nelson is the first South Island venue for this touring exhibition.

Museum chief executive Lucinda Jim

son says Nelson Museum has a proud history of bringing international shows to the region.

“We are thrilled that we were able to secure this fun and interactive exhibi tion for summer.”

Curious Contraptions is developed and toured by Cabaret Mechanical Theatre.

Director of Cabaret Mechanical The atre, Sarah Alexander, says some of her all-time favourite automata are in this exhibition.

“Look out for Peter Markey’s Big Wave Machine, with it’s vibrant colours and ingenious mechanisms.

“This piece was one of the first ma chines that my mother bought for her tiny crafts shop, Cabaret, in 1980.”

“This vibrant exhibition is sure to de light children of all ages with its echoes of Pixietown and Santa’s workshop,” Lucinda says. “We know this exhibi tion will be popular with families and hope that Curious Contraptions will spark an interest in our tamariki – the innovators, artists, scientists, engi neers, and fabricators of the future.”

The exhibition is proudly supported by Munro Dental.

It runs from 16 December 2022 until 19 February 2023 at the Nelson Pro vincial Museum, 270 Trafalgar Street, Nelson.

Entry by donation for Nelson Tasman residents.

Photos: Supplied.

A man eating spagetti in the bath and a skeletal mariachi band (below) will feature in the exhibition.

YOUR SKILLS

A group of Brightwater residents have been recognised for their service to the local fire brigade. An awards ceremony was held recently to present Fire and Emergency New Zealand Long Service, Good Conduct medals for 14 years’ service to the five men in recognition of their outstanding service to their community as volunteer firefighters.

Robert Cole, Steve Foote, Stuart Health, Bruce Waddell, and Mark Donaldson were presented their medals by FENZ fire region manager Paul Henderson and FENZ group manager Craig Davies. Both Paul and Craig passed on their congratulations to all of the recipients, and also their thanks for the commitment shown to Brightwater and its people. “It really is a huge achievement to dedicate yourselves to your local community, and the local Fire Brigade, for such a long time - not just for these firefighters themselves, but also their families whose support made it possible,” Craig says. “Those 14 years represent a lot of missed dinners, cancelled engagements and plans that needed to be changed, so thanks team, for all of your hard work.” Photo: Supplied.

ALLIANCE – SEASONAL TEAM MEMBERS

Are you looking to earn some good money while you learn new skills? Right now, our Nelson plant is gearing up for a big 2022- 2023 season with a number of opportunities available. If you’ve got experience doing the mahi - awesome, give us a shout, but if you’ll be coming in fresh and just keen to learn and earn - that’s good too, we can train you up! We’re recruiting Butchers, Boners, Halal Slaughterers, and Labourers.

Ngā painga - what’s in it for you?

• Butchers: potential to earn an average of $1,365 based on a 40-hour working week, exclusive of overtime

• Boners: potential to earn an average of $1,374 based on a 40-hour working week, exclusive of overtime

• Halal Slaughterers: potential to earn an average of $1,353 based on a 40- hour working week, exclusive of overtime

• Labourers: earn a minimum of $26.50 per hour across a day, inclusive of allowances

• Minimum of 30 hours a week, usually 45 hours a week

• Up to 7 months of full-time seasonal employment

• Upskill yourself with an opportunity to gain NZQA qualifications

• Receive ongoing training and support

• Access to free onsite health services including a nurse, physiotherapist, counsellor

• Access to our free employee assistance programme

Ō pūkenga - about you

• You are eligible to work in New Zealand

• You will pass a pre-employment drug test and medical assessment

• You are willing and able to follow and respect workplace health and safety

• You enjoy working within a team environment

• You are physically fit, committed, and reliable

Apply online at www.alliancejobs.co.nz, by emailing nelson.botas@alliance.co.nz, or visit us at the Nelson Plant, 910 Main Rd Stoke, 7011.

Find out more at www.alliance.co.nz

LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED

Family-oriented chiropractic and natural health centre, Loveday Clinic on Collingwood Street, are committed to working with people on their personal journey to wholeness and wellness. The oldest running chiropractic practice in Nelson was first established in 1971.

In 1992, Dr John Loveday took the clinic to new heights. Dr Loveday then handed the practice to Dr Adam Mokhtar in 2016. Adam will stay on as a director and now leaves the practice in the very capable hands of his colleague Dr Abdullah Jaber (AJ), saying, “We are constantly evolving and expanding to become further immersed in the Nelson community.”

Canadian-born, AJ has a wealth of knowledge in the chiropractic and science fields and looks forward to bringing his skillset to the practice. With the handover already underway, AJ says the feedback from the community has been wonderful.

“The people of Nelson have been so warm and welcomed me with open arms. I’m excited to play my role and serve the community. I just love to see people get better. There’s nothing more rewarding than that.” Contact on (03) 548 0998 to book an appointment.

At VEGA mortgages we help you to arrange finance. We work with people at all stages of their property life cycle, from getting first home buyers on the property ladder, to reviewing mortgage rates and refinancing loans, through to helping property investors build their nest eggs. Our local team has extensive lending experience inside banks and know just what each of the 26+ lenders that we deal with is looking for in a mortgage application. We will work closely with you to create a ‘Yes’ application, which we’ll submit to the lender(s) we believe will be most receptive. With so many mortgage options, it’s essential that we understand what you’re trying to achieve and over what timeframe. Choose commercial finance with Vega and let our expert team tackle your financial needs for both development and investment. Whether it’s residential development, commercial projects or land subdivisions, whatever your commercial finance needs our local advisers will help finance it. Get us in your corner and let us help you get your finances sorted. Contact Residential & Commercial Mortgage Adviser, Toby Hoebergen on 027 928 0391 or Gavin Frampton 021994639. Or email Toby.Hoebergen@vegalend.co.nz for more information. vegalend.co.nz

Servicing the Nelson region's telecommunications industry for 35 years, Tasman Comtech deal in all areas of telecommunications. Based in Richmond, technician and director Julian Toon offers all types of telecommunications installations, security camera installations and cabling, and servicing of cabling within the domestic, commercial, retail and public sectors.

From telephone lines, internet cabling, PABX systems, data cabling, satellite TV, WIFI networks, TV aerials, and fibre networks, to Broadband and tv installations, Tasman ComTech does it all. “We also maintain, fix and install Panasonic telephone systems, internet and data cabling, television aerials (satellite and terrestrial), wireless networks and analogue copper telephone networks, and sort out broadband adsl connection problems in domestic and commercial applications.”

"We provide friendly, reliable and efficient staff with prompt service and competitive rates." For technical installation advice, call Julian on 027 5444203 or 03544 4203 or email julian@tasmancomtech.co.nz

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Airport welcomes new fire truck

JACK MALCOLM

Nelson Airport’s fire service welcomed their new $1.4 million truck on Thurs day, which was highlighted by a demon stration of its firefighting capabilities and a water salute.

The Rosenbauer Panther fire truck, named Flick, is a state-of-the-art ma chine that meets the specialist nature of airport firefighting operations.

Flick is set up to deliver foam and water within seconds of arrival at an incident, features that are not standard for other emergency firefighting vehicles. The truck can carry up to three times as much water and two-and-a-half times as much foam as their previous truck, and it can all be controlled from the driver’s seat.

While training will be required for the crew before the new truck comes into full operation, Nelson Airport chief ex

ecutive Mark Thompson says Flick will give Nelson Airport’s Rescue Fire Ser vice state-of-the-art specialist airport firefighting capability, as well as provid ing greater protection for the firefight ers if responding to events.

“Our airport firefighters are an essential component of ensuring safe operations for every operator and traveller using

Airport, and they can respond within minutes in the event of any inci dent requiring emergency support.”

The truck will also be used as an emer gency response asset for the entire Nelson-Tasman region when required, working with FENZ on making Flick available for regional emergency re sponse without compromising the safe

ty of airport operations. Flick’s name came from a public com petition which was judged by the Tas man Mako and representatives from the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programme.

To reduce costs, Flick was purchased as part of a bulk order by several collabo rating airports.

Snapshot of port, airport and museum

MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter

Port Nelson, Nelson Airport, and the Nelson Provincial Museum gave their six-monthly strategic presentations to the joint committee of Nelson City and Tasman District Councils last week. Here’s a snapshot of how the three or ganisations are performing. The port’s revenue for the first quar ter of the 2023 financial year, ending in September 2022, is $20.2 million, 5 per cent down on budget. This is large ly due to the port’s volume of exported logs being down more than 50 per cent. About one third of the port’s revenue comes from the export of logs, main ly to China. However, the quarter was buoyed somewhat by stronger than ex pected export of apples and MDF.

Log exports were up come October, and the port expects this trend to con tinue, though not to initially budgeted levels and inflation will also have an impact on revenue in real terms going forward.

“We are facing some headwinds,” ad mitted chief financial officer Daryl Wehner. “Having said that though, we are still forecasting to pay the dividend to the shareholders [the councils] what we said we would pay, which was circa $4-5 million.”

Meanwhile, at Nelson Airport, things are looking up.

“Lots of people are travelling at the mo ment,” chief executive Mark Thompson said. “We are now back at those [preCovid] levels.”

Operating revenue is up 15 per cent for the financial year to date at $5.2 mil lion against a budgeted $4.5 million.

Passenger numbers are also up, reach ing 289,000, 15 per cent higher than expected.

But with more passengers come some “growing pains.”

The airport’s carpark is running out of space and customers are “scrambling” for more services, but Thompson isn’t too concerned, viewing these as “good” indicators of the post-Covid recovery.

Tasman Bays Heritage Trust, which runs the Nelson Provincial Museum, has a number of exhibitions lined up for the current financial year, with ‘Cu rious Contraptions’ on tour from Lon don opening on 16 December.

“Keep your eyes on this space,” said chief executive Lucinda Jimson.

She also expressed her intention to shake off the impact Covid-19 has had on visitation and reported positive trends seen so far.

169 international adults visited the mu seum in the 2021-2022 financial year.

“That total was broken within a couple of weeks this financial year,” she said.

Covid-19 disruptions haven’t seemed to impact the Trust’s financial position either, with the organisation ending the last financial year with $2,334,000 in revenue, exceeding budget by 2 per cent.

Nelson Budget Service to double in size

TRACY ALLAN

The Nelson Budget Service is doubling the size of its team in preparation for a dramatic increase in mort gage rates.

Manager Tessa Bell says the service is once again getting really busy around Christ mas. The Ministry of Social Development-funded ser vice provides budgeting ad vice to everyone, with most clients self-referred.

Tessa says they are finding people are having to use buy now, pay later to pay for ne cessities.

This Christmas her message is clear.

“Rather than spend less or save more, talk more to the people around you. What a lot of people do not un derstand is the amount of mental energy that is spent figuring out how to resolve financial issues. We do a lot of advocacy and education,” she says.

But with the Official Cash Rate, OCR, currently set at 4.25 per cent and set to rise again in 2023, Tessa says the service has concerns about the increases in mortgage rates on locals.

“You can’t tell people to spend less if everything costs more. If you have got spare cash, it can be okay to reduce the amount of dining out you do, but even the cost of takeaways is rising. Fish and chips used to be a cheap way to feed the family. But an increase of 5 per cent can take away the fun of life.”

Her takeaway tip for the Christmas period is to en courage people to complain.

“If your bank won’t play ball, make noise, raise your voice, but we all need to do it to gether to get the industry to change.”

Nelson

The new firefighting truck, named Flick, shows off its capabilities in a demonstration as part of its welcome to Nelson Airport on Thursday. Photo: Jack Malcolm.

Nelson Budget Service manager Tessa Bell says they are getting busy. Photo: Max Frethey.

Fa’avae is sportsperson of the year - again

JACK MALCOLM

Twenty-three years after he was first awarded Nelson Sportsper son of the Year, Nathan Fa’avae has again been recognised for his continued success in adventure racing.

He was announced as the winner of the supreme award at the TSM Nelson Sports Awards for his third time on Tuesday evening, after earlier being named as the Nelson Sportsman of the Year.

Nathan’s achievements were stacked up against all the award winners, but also surpassed the achievements of successful ath letes like Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Val Smith.

“I don’t believe my achievements are any greater than the nomi nees, it’s not easy for the judges to choose a winner, I’m just lucky they chose me this time.”

It was a surprise when he was told he was the winner of the award, saying he didn’t even know he had been nominated.

“When Sport Tasman told me, I was legitimately blown away, humbled and grateful.”

Community Trust Sportsman of the Year, his previous wins were in 1999 and 2006.

Nathan is the captain and creator of New Zealand’s top adventure racing team, AVAYA, and the organiser of the world’s largest adventure race geared purely for women alongside his wife Jodie, the Spring Challenge.

He says his passion for the sport came from a thirst for adventure and exploration but his motiva

Other winners...

Basketballer Maia Jones was awarded the Nelson City Coun cil Junior Sportswoman of the Year.

Maia was a key member of the New Zealand Basketball U17 Women’s team where she was their top scorer with an average of 9.4 points per game.

Maia, the daughter of Nelson Giants legend Phill Jones and Nelson Sparks great Kat, says she wouldn’t be where she is without the support of her family.

““I’d have to thank the people involved, especially my mother and my dad. My mum’s been my coach for forever, she’s coached all the teams I’ve been in.

“Dad has helped me with his shooting, as we all know he’s quite a good shooter himself.”

Maia was also a member of the inaugural year of the Tauihi Basketball Aotearoa competi tion, playing for the Mainland Pouakai while still in school.

She also played in their 3x3 team, where she finished as one of the competition’s top scorers,

tion comes from a desire to continue being the best.

“The main thing that made me fall in love with adventure racing was the opportunity to travel around the world to some amazing places.

“What keeps motivating me is the challenge to keep performing at that level.”

In 2022, Nathan teamed up with Simone Maier, Chris Forne and Stu Lynch to continue their win ning streak with a sixth con secutive world title, this time in Paraguay, after being unable to

compete in the previous three scheduled editions of the event.

A win earlier in the year in the 710km GodZone adventure race with a time of 5d 23h 55m had shown the team were still in dominant form as they finished ten-and-a-half hours ahead of second place, but they were still a long way away from the world championships.

The team had set the standard in adventure racing by winning the world championship title five years in a row between 2014 and 2018, with teamwork and naviga tion their key strength, but an un fortunate accident to one of their team members in the lead-up saw them have to regroup.

Nathan says their achievement in overcoming the lack of competi tion, as one of the few countries to miss out on last year’s world championships due to border re strictions, was one of the reasons why the win was so special.

“It felt like we had a number of obstacles to overcome to win the title.”

He wanted to thank his family for their loyal support, as well as the award sponsors for the event, the category sponsors, and the judg es.

Niamh Fisher-BlackSportswoman of the Year

Despite thinking it was coming up short, Niamh Fisher-Black’s U23 world title saw her awarded the Nel son Bowater Group Sportswoman of the Year award.

Niamh, who comes from a family of accomplished cyclists with younger brother Finn also riding profession ally, came 12th place at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Australia and was the fastest U23 finisher, but hoped for more as a part of the lead pack for the majority of the race.

Made even sweeter was the fact that Niamh had backed her self to compete at the event, having paid for her own way be cause Cycling New Zealand could not afford to.

Niamh says her results have been very special in the last 12 months, having also come first in the junior rider category of the Giro d’Italia world tour race, finishing in fifth place in the general standings.

“I also took a top five in the world tour race called the Giro Donne earlier this year, so that also marked my progression and my development this year. A world title and a rainbow jersey is very special to have in cycling”

playing against some of the best female basketballers in the coun try.

Riding with a professional team, SDWorx, her goal is to con tinue on the track she’s been following.

“I love what I do, riding my bike, and I’m very determined and competitive when it comes to racing.”

Above: Nathan Fa’avae, left, and his team AVAYA won their sixth world championship title this year. Photo: Supplied. Right: Nathan receives the Nelson Sportsperson of the Year trophy from Ryan Edwards. Photo: Klint Vicedor.

Maia Jones - Junior Sportswoman of the Year

Zefa Fa’avaeJunior Sportsman of the Year

Zefa Fa’avae has been awarded the Tasman District Council Ju nior Sports Man of the Year for his success in orienteering.

Following in his father’s foot steps, with Nathan having won the supreme award this year, Zefa has carved his own space with a string of impressive results.

Earlier this year he was a member of the New Zealand team at the Australian Orienteering Cham pionship Festival, where he went on to post a string of impressive results.

Day one of racing saw him finish second in the Victorian Middle Distance Championships, be

fore he topped the podium the next day in the M20E grade of the Australian Middle Distance Championships.

After a second place in the sprint race for Senior Boys, he was back on the top perch by winning the Australian Schools Long Dis tance Championships in the se nior boys division.

A third place in the Australian Long Distance Championships was then followed by a second place as part of the M20E NZ re lay team.

Zefa also travelled to Portugal for the Junior World Orienteering champs, where he finished 14th in the long distance and 17th in the middle distance.

Alongside his impressive perfor mance, Zefa has continually im pressed at minor events through out the year as a leader of the strong young contingent of local orienteerers.

He says his training predomi nantly consists of running from home or in the hills, with a little bit of practice on map reading. “It’s really good knowing that you have people supporting you and it helps you keep pushing on.”

Mike Fitchett Coach of the Year

Nelson Rowing women’s senior coxed eight - Junior Sports Team of the Year

The Junior Sports Team of the Year are Nelson Rowing Club’s women’s senior coxed eight team.

The young group won gold at the 2022 New Zealand rowing championships earlier this year and have all gone on to be awarded scholarships to America.

Brooke Pitchford, Emily Bowden, Meg Flanagan, Kyla Otway, Lucy Munro, Macy Kappely, Nicole Campbell, Orla Fitzgerald and cox Hamish McCulloch dominat ed the A final to win by five seconds over Waikato. Speaking on the awards show, Lucy says they had grown close as a team throughout their training to gether and to see everyone get a scholarship was an exciting prospect for the future. “We just got in the 8 a couple of times and it just went flying, we all clicked.”

“Leading up to nationals you’ve got to be peaking, so i guess it was a lot of hard training, early mornings and long k’s on the water,” says Orla.

“When you get a really cool result at nationals like we did, it definitely is worth it and makes all those tough mornings just feel a lot better.”

Nelson Giants head coach Mike Fitch ett was awarded the Sport New Zealand Coach of the Year.

Under his steward ship, he has created a team culture at the Giants that they were able to bring to the court that saw him also awarded the New Zealand NBL Coach of the Year Award. He has also been a Tall Blacks assistant coach under Pero Cameron since 2017.

The Giants fell just short in the playoffs, after having regularly been at the top of the regular season leader boards, but Mike’s attention to detail saw them hold their heads high despite not reaching their ultimate goal.

As a 13-season veteran of the NBL with the Giants as a player from 1999-2012, Mike has the experience as a player that his squad respects and responds to in kind. He says he always wanted to be a coach, having grown up around the game with his dad, Steve, a long term contributor to Nelson basketball since the 1980s. “Coaching the Giants after playing for the Giants for so long is just a massive honour.”

Nelson Giants - Sports Team of the Year

The 2022 New Zealand Community Trust Sports Team of the Year are the NBS Nelson Giants.

Selling out Trafalgar Stadium week in and week out, the local basketball team fell just short of a national title with a loss in the semi-finals after coming into the playoffs as the team to beat.

They had led the regular season leaderboard on the back of strong performances from the whole team, who band ed together to create a strong bond that was expressed on court. With local Tom Ingham sidelined for the season with a knee injury it was the imports who impressed, with Trey Mourning, the son of NBA Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, having a 35 point and 14 rebound introduc tion to the NBL

He was joined by fellow Americans feisty defensive point guard Jarrod West and big man Sam Thompson to put on a show of highlights for local fans.

The team’s New Zealand players also came to the fore, with local hero Sam Dempsters, the 2022 NBL Most Improved Player, getting experience in a Tall Black jersey after 15 years in the league and young Alex McNaught having since been picked up as an injury replacement by the Breakers.

Joeline Jones - Masters Sportsperson of the Year

Track and field ath lete Joeline Jones is Sports Tasman Masters Sportsper son of the Year for the second year running.

She says it all start ed with the South Islands, where an elderly lady came up to her and said, after watching Joe line compete last year, that she was the person who would break her records. “She thought if anyone was going to beat her records it was going to be me.

“This lady was now in her 70s and I was only five years old when she set these records 35 years ago.”

This year Joeline travelled to the Gold Coast for Pan Pacific Masters Games, where she earned four gold medals from the four W40 events she entered.

Racing in the 60 metre, 100m, 200m and 400m, Joe line asserted her dominance over the field in winning by over a second in several of her races.

She won her 60m sprint by 1.05s with a time of 8.31 and cruised over the finish line more than five seconds in front of her opposition in the 200m with a time of 27.17. Joeline has big aspirations for 2023, exploring options of how she might travel to compete at the World Indoor Games in Poland and improve on her records.

Sports Awards full coverage, winner interviews and videos

Five decades of coaching comes to an end

JACK MALCOLM

A gymnastics coach, who for the better part of two decades has travelled from the West Coast to continue coaching sessions, has stepped into the gym for the last time.

Nelson Gymnastics Women’s Ar tistic Gymnasts (WAG) head coach Karyn Brown says she doesn’t know what the sport will look like in Nelson with the absence of Howard Hill.

The veteran of the sport made his last trip to Nelson to host a coach ing session over the weekend with the WAG group, finishing up over 50 years of involvement with the club.

He says it was a bittersweet mo ment but knows he’s leaving be hind a strong legacy of coaches he’s helped to mentor who will be able to fill his absence.

Karyn remembers him as her coach and later as the one pulling her out of the parents’ seating selection to give coaching a go.

Now, as she imagines what the fu ture holds without Howard’s influ ence, she says it’s not going to be the same without him around.

“They’re big shoes to fill. I’m just really lucky because I’ve got good support from our coaches.

“I don’t know what it looks like. If I can step up and be that person for my coaches that Howard’s been for me.”

Howard says his introduction to the sport came out of pride, having been hospital-passed the gymnas tics programme as a teacher at Nel son Central School in 1969.

“I made such a mess of it; my ego was shattered.”

Not wanting that to be the end of it, he went to Stuart and Joan Hughes at the YMCA and learnt the basics of the sport under them before be ing given his own squad of kids to

train.

“Little did I know that group had two girls who would go to the 1989 World Cup, (Kirsty Strong and Mi chelle Davies).

“We learnt together. I was one day ahead of them the whole time.”

Howard has been all over the world coaching with the New Zealand team, but says his highlight was watching those he coached suc ceed, like Kirsty winning the New Zealand Elite championship for two years running.

Howard was also instrumental in the construction of Nelson Gym nastics’ purpose-built facility at Nelson Intermediate, as the deputy principal of the school.

“I went to the principal and asked if we could use that little bit of land out the back.

“It made a huge difference. When we were doing workouts at the YMCA you’d have to put the gear in and out every time.”

The facility has become a jewel in the crown for local gymnasts, with Karyn saying there’s not a day that goes by where it isn’t buzzing with activity.

Howard retired from work and coaching in 2004, moving to the West Coast where he could focus on his hobbies like trout fishing and cycling, which he hopes to get back to in retirement this time around.

“The area said you’re not gunna get out that easily. I still come up here four times a year and help develop the talented young gymnasts.”

Howard travelled the country holding workshops, with Karyn saying she doesn’t know a coach who wouldn’t say he’s played an in fluence on their lives.

“Howard has been in my life for a long time. He’s had a huge influ ence over so many people. I have no idea what the gym looks like without Howard in it.”

Balerion marches on to top 3

Local marching team Balerion topped off a terrific weekend at the South Island Marching Championships at Trafalgar Park, finishing third in the dis play march.

Both Marching Nelson’s club president Nicki Rillstone and secretary Leigh McCrorie say it was a huge success with more than its fair share of surprises and successes for teams from all over the island.

“Nelson has put it on,” says Shaun Dowers, who was the music controller and announc er at the event. Shaun, who sits on the com

mittee for the Canterbury Marching Association, travelled up from Christchurch for the weekend.

Marching Nelson hosted teams from Southland, Otago, and Canterbury who competed in the under-12, under-16, Mas ters and Senior categories.

It was a strong performance by the Eclipse Club from Can terbury who won the Masters display and also took out the overall team prize in the Mas ters Grade.

“The beautiful weather added to what culminated in a mem orable weekend for teams, offi

cials and volunteers, who came from all districts to assist the Nelson Association in running an amazing competition,” says Nicki.

“What I love about marching is the team spirit, and the culture and camaraderie of the sport is so brilliant,” Shaun says. “Just like any sport, it wouldn’t exist without volunteers. Coaches, managers, judges, as well as the kids themselves, perfecting all of these moves.”

Both Nicki and Leigh thanked all those involved in bringing the event to Nelson, including supporters and volunteers.

Balerion team took third place in their category at the South Island champs. Photo: Tracy Allan.

US Sprint Car teen sensation Joel Myers Jnr headlines Sunshine Classic

JODY SCOTT

The Collision Centre Sprint Car Sunshine Classic returns to Mile stone Top of the South Speedway this Friday and Saturday night. Headlining the show is 16-yearold United States Sprint Car driv er Joel Myers.

The young driver is already an 11-time karting champion and races around the States having recently competed in the famous Outlaw Series.

Joel is here with the support of Te Anau’s Sprint Car driver Daniel Anderson. They met while Dan iel was crewing for Doug Rutz over there. Joel will be racing in New Zealand over the next three months. His first major meeting is here in Nelson, after a run at Ruapuna to test out the car. He isn’t here for a holiday, he lives and breathes motorsport and is determined to chase the check ered flag.

Joel will have plenty of compe tition, with War of the Wings Champion Connor Rangi return

ing home having already won two feature races this season.

Ex 1nz Jamie Duff ran the fastest ten laps at Ruapuna two weeks ago and backed that up by win ning the South Island title in Cromwell last weekend.

Defending club champion Ste phen Taylor makes his first trip south for the year, while leading lady Alicia Hill will be keen to go one better after her 2nd placing at the last Sunshine Classic.

Cromwell-based Nelson driver Slamin’ Sam O’Callaghan makes a return to the Nelson club, while former South Island champion Daniel Anderson makes the trip from Te Anau to race and sup port Joel.

Current NZ Modified GP cham pion Brandon Parkinson from Greymouth returns to Nelson with his Sprint Car, while it will be a debut for Cambell Mc Manaway at his home track.

He was looking good at the pre-season practice, and this will be his biggest test to date in front of family and friends.

Invercargill’s Jacob McIntyre and Jack Brown will make the big trip up from the deep south, while Dave Kerr and Caleb Baughan will wave the Canterbury flag. Caleb was runner-up at the South Island title last week.

The format for Friday night will consist of time trials, with two 23lap feature races in honour of the late legend Paddy North whose race number was 46. It was decid

Rep cricket gives premier grade a chance to test their depth

JACK MALCOLM

It was a mixed day of results in premier-grade cricket action as the Nelson Pine Griffins representative squad took on Canterbury Country in the Hawke Cup over the weekend.

Nelson ended the first day trailing by 31 runs and three wickets but fought to a draw after being bowled out bat ting first for 163, with Can terbury making 349/8 after 97 overs.

The representative game saw premier grade teams forced to draw on their re serve pool to front a play ing 11, with Stoke-Nayland, being a victim of their own

success as the table-topping team, bowled out for 91 in their game with Wakatu New World Nelson City.

While Wakatu easily chased down the total, reaching the total in the 24th over, Nel son College gave Waimea Toi Toi a good test after posting 153, and Athletic College Old Boys found some form in posting a full innings total of 287/7 to beat Wanderers/ Motueka Wolves.

In WTTU’s game against Nelson College, NC’s Sam John (44) and Lucky Singh (48) were able to put runs on the board but could not find a batting partner to create a strong total to defend. Their 153 runs did give them

a chance and WTTU’s bat ting performance wasn’t con vincing as they chased down the total with three wickets to spare in the 37th over. Despite a strong 59 runs from Will Alridge, their slow and methodical approach to the run chase saw them struggle to make starts.

Nelson College’s Ben Ne ale also had a strong per formance with the ball that stunted their run-scoring potential. He opened his spell with four maidens in a row, also taking a wicket. Ultimately though, the WTTU stocks held strong and they were able to see out the game with a boundary to finish.

Nelson Griffins 163 (Nic Clark 38, Thomas Zohrab 38; Blake Coburn 5/43/15) trail Canter bury Country 194/7 (Harry Chamberlain 55; Sean Neal 3/33/8, Thomas Zohrab 3/39/21) after day one.

ACOB 287/7 after 50 overs (Patrick Wilson 73 not out, Greg Chitty 53; Lachlan Bartlett 2/36/10, Joseph O’Connor 2/65/10) defeated Wanderers/Motueka Wolves 136/9 after 26.3 overs (Andrew Beatson 77 not out; Hamish Blomfield 4/28/10).

Nelson College 153/10 (Sam John 44, Lucky Singh 48; Brad Norris 4/33/9) lost to Waimea Toi Toi United 156/7 (Will Alridge 59; Ben Neale 2/18/10).

Stoke-Nayland 91/10 after 24 overs (Tim O’Connor 23; Damian Aitken 4/12/6.4, Lochie O’Hara 3/16/5) lost to Wakatu 91/4 after 24.4 overs (Dustin Emms-Healey 43 not out; Tim O’Connor 3/31/7).

ed to split his race number into 2 races, the winner getting 100 points, 2nd 90, etc. These points carry over into Saturday night, a time trial, then three groups hav ing two races each, 20 points for 1st, 19 for 2nd etc.

The driver on top points can then run off the front or choose to drop back a row for the feature, for at $1000 a row, up to $5000 (row 6), with the race winner pocketing

$3000, a possible total of $8000 is on the line for the feature race in a very competitive field.

The Street Stocks provide a bit of “Bash and Crash” with their Lift n Shift Teams event.

Former NZ title holders Dave McSherry and Don Garthley are coming up from Christchurch, the Street Stocks drivers having a last big hit-out before their NZ Championships in Blenheim in the new year.

The Pam Nixon Memorial tro phy will be contested on Friday amongst the Production Saloons, Pam passing away earlier in the year.

The T.Q.’s run both nights with some top drivers expected to front, while the club welcomes Six-Shooters as an invited class for the weekend. The Quarter Midg ets run their Mike Greer Homes series on Friday night, along with Stock Cars. Gates open at 5pm, racing starting at 6pm, tickets can be pre-purchased online via the Nelson Speedway website or gate sales.

16 year old Joel Myers will headline this weekend’s speedway event. Photo: Supplied.

Waimea Toi Toi captain Sam Baxendine had nothing to scoff at as his team beat Nelson College over the weekend while he had prior representative commitments with the Nelson Griffins in their draw with Canterbury Country. Photo: Chris Symes/Shuttersport.

Lighthouse Spiritual Awareness Centre. Mon day 12 December Trafalgar St Hall 7.30pm. 19 December BBQ Tahunanui Beach @6pm.Bring a plate. Ph Carolyn 5474613

TUESDAYS

WELLBYTALKING CAFÉ: 10am – 11.30pm,Tues day 20th Dec. ‘22, McCashins, Stoke. Wellby Talking Cafés are about social connection and finding out about groups, activities and services. www.wellby. org.nz 03 5467681.

NELSON PHILATELIC SOCIETY Meeting Tues day 13th December Doors Open 6.30pm - Meeting Starts 7.00pm At Stoke Baptist Church. ChristmasFun evening Mitchener Cup – “Pre-WWII BiPlanes” Contact Robin 0275442518

WEDNESDAYS

COMMUNITY SING A LONG Wednesday 7 Dec. 1.30 pm Stoke Methodist Church lounge 94 Neale Avenue Gold coin donation for Nelson Hospital Chaplaincy. Afternoon tea. AllWelcome.

WAIMEA HARRIERS SHARLAND CYCLES 5K fun run and walk from ClubWaimea everyWednes day until December 21st. Registration from 5.30 pm. Everyone and all abilities welcome. See website for details. Queries 0223729432.

TASMAN TRACKIES CYCLING SAXTON VELO DROME - Champion Rd, Richmond. Track racing Wednesdays 10am -11.30am through Summer. Track bikes free of charge, road or mountain bikes can be used. Riders at all levels & ages, Social coffee &

chat after at local café – ZINK, Contact: Murray Cam eron 0276450033. murray.r.cameron@xtra.co.nz

NELSON NEWBIES, COFFEE MORNING every Wednesday 10:30 - 11.30 a.m. at Deville’s Cafe, 22 New St. Want to get out and meet people? Join us for coffee and chat. New people are always wel come. Phone Clive 021 205 4731.

WELLBY TALKING CAFÉ: 10am – 11.30pm, Wednesday 21 Dec. ‘22, Motueka Library Wellby Talking Cafés are about social connection and find ing out about groups, activities and services. www. wellby.org.nz 03 5467681.

mem

THURSDAYS

WELLBY TALKING CAFÉ: 10am - 11.30am, Thurs. 8 Dec. Nightingale Library, Tahunanui. Wellby Talking Cafés are about social connection and finding out about groups, activities and ser vices. www.wellby.org.nz 03 5467681.

WAKEFIELD ART GROUP All levels of interest welcome. Meet Thursdays at Wakefield Commu nity Hall, Supper Rm. 10 Whitby Way, Wakefield. 9.30 – 12.00, $4 session tea/coffee provided. Ali son 5418822

NELSON BAYS HARMONY CHORUS, our friendly group of women barbershop singers meets every Thursday evening at Club Waimea. Check out our website www.nelsonharmony.org. nz and/or phone Carole, 027 436 0910. Annual fundraiser giant garage sale Saturday 26th No vember Waimea College bus bay 8.30am.

RICHMOND LADIES FRIENDSHIP CLUB: meet monthly 9.45am 1stThurs. of month Church of Christ, Croucher St. Welcome all ladies looking

DEADLINE: MIDDAY FRIDAY - 30 WORDS OR LESS BY EMAIL ONLY -

PLEASE SEND TO: events@waimeaweekly.co.nz

for friendship, fun & fellowship with other women. Cafe lunch optional Interesting guest speakers & outings Ph Marion 544 4833 or Joan 544 1854.

TAICHI IN RICHMOND: Thursdays 10am12.00. Stillness, breath, movement. Quiet Heart Tai Chi, Holy Trinity Church, Dorset Street. Do nation. Contact Merrick. Email; quiet.heart.tai. chi@gmail.com Ph 0210636620. All welcome

WAIMEA COMBINED FRIENDSHIP CLUB: 3rd Thursday each month, Hope Community Church Hall, Ranzau Road, 9.45am providing interesting speakers and social opportunities for friendship through its special interest groups. Contact Margaret 022 010 6850.

RICHMOND WELCOME GROUP Want to make new friends join a friendly group of people for coffee & a chat.10am on the 1st and 3rdThurs day of each month at Paragon Cafe Langdale Drive Richmond Ansley/Phillip 5410 350

FRIDAYS

CAKE DECORATORS Christmas stall 9 Decem ber at Stoke New World on Friday 9 December. Come & see what the ladies have made for Christmas. Contact Desiree 0276302359

SATURDAYS

CHRISTMAS CAR BOOT MARKET Richmond Church of Christ , Darcy street. Saturday 10 Dec. ‘22 9 am- 12pm . Sellers stalls after 7:30 am - $5.00 each. Anyone looking for Plants, dvd ,clothing, large book sale ,Children toys, BBQ food plus more treasures . Contact : Richard 0276180547.

REMEMBER DECEMBER DOUBLES TENNIS

TOURNAMENT at RichmondTennis Club, Saturday and Sunday 10th and 11th Dec. A fund-raising event in support of the Mental Health Foundation. Contact Liz@tennisnelson.nz RICHMOND TENNIS CLUB - Gladstone Road Social hit for members and non-members Saturday afternoons All levels of ability welcome. 1.30pm onwards. Contact 0274872480

SUNDAYS

WAIMEA MUSIC CLUB meets at Methodist Church Hall Neale Ave Stoke on 11th Dec for Christ mas/End ofYear function. Bring share plate for lunch 12.30pm Ph Jim 544 9446.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL ‘WRITE FOR RIGHTS’ Saturday 10 December Join us at NMIT (Room S106, 75 Nile St) to write letters of support for victims of human rights abuses world-wide. 2-5pm. Ph 548 6241.

IN GENERAL

NELSON TASMAN HOSPICE TREES OF RE MEMBRANCE. Trees located Nelson & Rich mond Farmers until 24 Dec, Nelson & Stoke New World, Richmond Mall, Motueka House of Travel & Mapua Wharf 2nd – 9th Dec

FREE RICHMOND LIBRARY EVENTS at 280 Queen St, Richmond · Contact 03-543 8500.

Table Top Gaming Group. 9-13 year olds are invited to come play board games with Sophus. Every Friday, 3.30pm-4.30pm,. Wriggle & Rhyme for 0-2 year olds - Come & explore music & songs, movement & rhythm, instruments & stories with your child. 10.00am-10.30am, everyTuesday during

term time. Storytime for 2-5 year olds - Join us for fun & exciting stories & songs.10am-10.30am, Wednesdays during term time.

NELSON CATHEDRAL CHRISTMAS TREE FESTIVAL until 15 January 2023. Open daily 8.30 - 7pm. Weekday lunchtime concerts 1pm. Late night Fridays 9,16,23 & 31 December.

ARE YOU GAME? Want to play games with out technology? Real games and real people. Contact Genie text only 0212141270 or email magicdancer54@ gmail.com

FEELING SAD, STRESSED, DEPRESSED, OR STUCK? Identify & explore new ways to move forward with a Life Linc Counsellor. Up to 10 face to face counselling sessions available for individuals & couples. Ph: 548 2400 lifelinc.co.nz

NEED A BIKE? Bike Hub Nelson fixes up do nated bikes & gives them away for a small koha. Mondays 5.30-7pm. Location & other opening times on www.facebook.com/BikeHubNelson, email BikeHubNelson@gmail.com

ASTHMA? COPD? NELSON ASTHMA Phone your medical centre for a “Pulmonary Rehab course referral” or contact asthma. nel son@xtra.co.nz.

IS FOOD A PROBLEM FOR YOU? Are you suffering from anorexia, bulimia, obesity and/ or compulsive eating? Overeaters Anonymous works, Ph: 022 673 0237 .

FEELING SAD, STRESSED, DEPRESSED, OR STUCK? Identify & explore new ways to move forward with a Life Linc Counsellor. Up to 10 face to face counselling sessions available for individuals & couples. Ph: 548 2400 lifelinc.co.nz

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

Nelson Rose Society Raffle draw

1st - 14Heart - Evelyn 2nd - 97Heart - Kylie 3rd - 3Club - Gordon All winners have been notified.

Delivering now for fire wood. Douglas, beech, gum, Lawson Cypress. Good Wood supplier Bay Firewood 027 769 6348.

WANTED

DENTURES

New

SITUATIONS VACANT

WANTED

Do you want to be part of the award winning Top South Media team? We are looking for reliable, hard working people to deliver our paper every Wednesday. Position is perfect for after school work, stay at home parents or anybody wanting extra income.

Alcoholics Anonymous. Is alcohol causing prob lems for you in your life? Want to stop drink ing but can’t? Maybe we can help. Support meetings every day. Call 0800aaworks 0800 229 6757.

HELLYER

John Andrew (John Boy) 22.8.1970 - 17.11.2022

Son of the late Murray and Diana Hellyer, Brother to Lynda and Jennifer. John the truckie, prankster, trail bike rider and firewood gatherer.

John has signed off his final logbook. Ten four buddy. “You’ve got your self a convoy”.

To the dedicated team at Hospice, Access support staff, specialists and everyone in between. Please accept this as a personal Thank You, as you walked alongside John on his journey with motor neurone disease. A celebration of John’s life has been held.

Always Lynda and Jen.

SILKE

Alan 5/12/12

Ten years since you passed, still miss ya old mate, and Remem bering all the wicked good times we had here and in Aussie.

WANTED TO

WANTED TO