Waimea Weekly - 8 January 2025

Nate nearing Young NZer of the Year

GORDON

PREECE

Speaking from a wintry German residence, former Garin College student Nate Wilbourne is warmed to be one step closer to

a prestigious New Zealand gong.

He’s one of 10 Young New Zealander of the Year semi-finalists and the first person from Nelson Tasman to reach the penultimate round of the awards which rec-

ognise Kiwi youth bursting with potential to build a bright future for Aotearoa.

The Zoomer on a quest to better the environment for young generations is currently based in southern Germany where he has been studying at Robert Bosch United World College since August 2024 after picking up a $120,000 scholarship five months prior.

The

young

Ulysses Club coordinators, Vicki McGhee, left, and Lorraine Lindsay with club members and their motorcycles at a weekly gettogether in The Meadows. Photo: Anne Hardie. Full story page 2.

What

are your 2025 plans?

“Finally getting to go on a holiday out of town… we have a wedding to go to in Queenstown, so we can’t miss that.”

“A visit to Brisbane to see our daughter, she came over to visit us earlier [in 2024] so it would be nice to return the favour.”

“A lot more quality family time and trying to achieve new goals.”

“More travel, possibly some more study of a language, and possibly a new job.”

Growing old disgracefully with Ulysses

FROM PAGE 1

Every Saturday morning, an assortment of motorcycles park up beside Alioke Eatery in The Meadows and a bunch of “baby boomers” talk bikes and their next ride together.

From a heavyweight 1,700cc Harley Davidson to Can-Am Spyders, road bikes and scooters, the 100-or-so Ulysses Club members in Nelson Tasman have a national motto of “growing old disgracefully”, but they’re doing it in style if their bikes are anything to go by.

Lorraine Lindsay is the local co-ordinator, and she has been a Nelson branch member for 34 of its 36-year history. There’s no age limit for members and the eldest

at the moment is 87-year-old AJ, who rides a Can-Am Spyder.

“There’s a few of us riding them because we’re a bit decrepit now!” she laughs. “I had to admit defeat and get one.”

The Ulysses Club was formed in Australia in the 1980s for motorcyclists aged 40 years and older. The concept appealed to New Zealand riders who formed a club a few years later with branches springing up around the country. Now there are a couple of thousand members who Lorraine says are all getting older.

“It started for all us baby boomers. We were brought up in that era where bikes were often our only form of transport. We just love the bikes.”

Though riders under 40 are now allowed to join, she says it

doesn’t have the same appeal for the younger generations who haven’t had that connection with motorbikes and the bond between riders.

“It’s good camaraderie and every region has a club, so when we see each other on the road, we’re good mates.”

Every week members ride out together, and vice co-ordinator

Vicki McGhee says they have some pretty imaginative rides that can be anything from ‘passes and saddles’ to mystery rides with clues to follow. Sometimes they are longer distance of several hundred kilometres and in the past that could be up to 1,000km to ride in 24 hours.

“Someone said that Ulysses’ just ride and eat!” Vicki says. In Nelson Tasman, the Ulysses Club is known for its toy run in November where bikes are decked out with Christmas decorations and members ride a circuit in convoy, collecting toys and games from the public they pass on the street. Those toys and members’ donations are then distributed by the Salvation Army to families in need. The toy run began in Nelson in the 80s under the Bronz organisation, with the Ulysses club taking it over in 1997.

Sometimes there’s a mid-week ride as well and, of course, meeting for coffee on Saturday mornings.

In 2026, Nelson is hosting the Ulysses New Zealand AGM and a rally, with about 300 bikes and their riders are expected to take part. The visitors will explore the region on rides that will be designed for out-of-towners.

ANNE HARDIE

Lance Kenyon Brightwater

Megan Sutherland-Berkett Wakefield

Mike Locke Richmond

Libby Ferguson Richmond

Nate nearing Young NZer of the Year

FROM PAGE 1

enamoured with, and his graduation is set for May 2026.

Nate was “pretty blown away” to learn of his Young New Zealander of the Year nomination in December.

“It’s obviously a pretty big achievement for me knowing that my work is recognised at this level and that it is actually making a difference to the community,” he says.

“I’ve had a passion and a curiosity for nature and the outdoors, and then as I learned more about how humans have negatively-impacted our environment over many decades, I thought it’s up to my generation to make a difference.

“So, in 2024, I developed a passion for wanting to do something for the environment, and wanting to do better than those that came before me, while at the same time ensuring that my generation can have a sustainable future.

“What comes with that is how can we protect our young people’s well-being and create this future that every young person in New Zealand deserves.”

Nate’s activism for environmental and social change in Aotearoa includes spearheading a 50,000-person protest in Auckland in June 2024 which opposed the government’s Fast-track Approvals Bill.

Nate Wilbourne is a Young New Zealander of the Year semi-finalist. Photo: Supplied.

The contentious bill, which passed into legislation in mid-December, allows the government to accelerate the consent process for major infrastructure projects.

Critics of the bill believed some of those projects posed environmental risks, including the likes of mining permits. Nate has also volunteered with Forest & Bird, helping to translocate pakahā fluttering shearwater chicks to the Wharariki Ecosanctuary at Cape Farewell and boost other shorebird numbers in the area.

He is the brainchild of GEN-Z Aotearoa which educates and empowers youth to grasp issues like climate action and

social justice through social media and grassroots activism.

Nate also delivered an inspirational speech titled ‘The Importance of Connecting Youth to Nature’ at TEDx Nelson and travelled the country in May and June last year as a National Young Leaders Day keynote speaker to inspire rangatahi to create change.

His citation reads that his mahi epitomises the Māori whakataukī (proverb), “Mahia te mahi, hei painga mo te iwi” – “Work for the benefit of the people.”

The finalists for Young New Zealander of the Year will be revealed on 26 February.

of what

Gardening tips for January

Gardening Column

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. The rain we had before Christmas was glorious, giving our gardens some relief after very hot weather. Our summers are becoming increasingly hot and dry so it is a good idea to look for plants that will tolerate these conditions.

Whether you are looking for shrubs, ground covers, perennials or annuals, we have a good range of drought tolerant plants to choose from.

Native Pachystegia insignis or rufa; ‘Marlborough Rock Daisies’ are wonderful for a dry, difficult spot. Both have leathery green foliage with a rusty brown underside. Stout stems of white daisies are produced in summer.

Juniperus virginiana ‘Blue Cloud’ is a longlived large shrub with attractive grey-green foliage. It is perfect as a lone specimen or planted along a fence line. Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘White Ice’ or Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Red Rubicon’ are two beautiful compact varieties of conifer. ‘White Ice’ has white tips and ‘Red Rubicon’ has blue-green needle-like foliage that turns plum-purple in autumn. Both also thrive in partial shade.

Grevillea are native to Australia and are incredibly hardy. We have shrubs and beautiful ground-cover varieties to choose from. Their bottle-brush flowers are very attractive to tui,

bellbirds and silvereyes.

Protea and Leucodendron are valued for their use as cut flowers. They are also extremely drought tolerant. The main thing to ensure they stay happy and healthy is to starve them. Feeding them can cause imminent death. Very hardy perennials cannot be beaten when it comes to dry conditions. Gaura lindheimeri ‘Sparkle White’ is a firm favourite. Growing to 60x60cm approximately, it is perfect for garden beds or containers. Pink buds open to white flowers that look like butterflies, wafting gently on the breeze.

Gazania are worth their weight in gold. Large colourful flowers are produced over a very long period. Dead-heading them regularly will encourage flowers right throughout the year. We have a good range available now.

Lavender, Federation Daisies, Gaillardia and ice plants such as Lampranthus are also great options. Portulaca is a wonderful annual that grows well in hanging baskets or as a garden edging. It flowers for months and will tolerate the driest conditions. Marigolds will also thrive. Come in and check out our fabulous range of landscape supplies, our ‘pick your own’ vegetable and flower seedlings, a great range of perennials and so much more. We would love to see you.

Business Update. Adv.

‘We’ve got you’ – Nelson stands with police

SARA HOLLYMAN

Police say the outpouring of support from the community following the death of Senior Sergeant Lyn Fleming on New Years Day means “more than you will ever know”.

Fleming died after she was allegedly run down by a car while on duty in Buxton Carpark early in the hours of New Years Day.

Nelson resident Shelley Bishop saw an “outpouring of grief” on

social media and decided to organise a vigil for Lyn in Nelson on Friday.

“People were feeling helpless, they wanted to do something,” she says.

Nelson Bays Police area commander Steve Collins described Lyn as the cornerstone of the Nelson police.

“She’s frankly irreplaceable. She was experienced, dedicated, intelligent, genuine,” he told the crowd of more than 1000 that

gathered at the Church Steps on Friday.

No stranger to tragedy herself, Shelley says police were “incredible” after her grandson Lochie was killed by a drunk driver on Waimea Rd in 2018 while her daughter was 30 weeks pregnant.

“Where would we be without them? They’re vital in every aspect,” she says of emergency services.

Initially Shelley thought maybe 50-60 people would attend the vigil, that’s what she told the Nelson Police Station when she popped by the day prior.

But everyone quickly realised it had grown to be

a show of solidarity for Nelson’s frontline.

Since the vigil, Shelley has been receiving messages of thanks for allowing the community to show their support for police and emergency responders.

“A lady stopped me in the street and thanked me because her husband was a former police officer, and she said it had humanised police.

“One message said [Police] were feeling really low and just yuck and to stand up there and see the compassionate faces was very humbling.”

Wakefield constable Jamie White shared his thanks following the vigil.

“Nelson is an incredible community and to see everyone unite and stand together in solidarity was something I will never forget. It was an incredible honour to Lyn’s life and legacy,” he said. “The support of the wider Nelson/Whakatū community for Police and emergency services means more than you will ever know.”

Shelley says she is “stunned” at how the vigil turned out and thinks it was the perfect way to honour Lyn’s life.

“It’s us showing the police ‘we’ve got you’.”

A 32-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murder and multiple other charges.

Info requests up 44 per cent

MAX FRETHEY Local Democracy Reporter

Tasman residents made significantly more requests for information from their council in 2024 than they did the year before.

During 2024, 738 requests were made under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act (LGOIMA) for Tasman District Council last year –an increase of about 44 per cent from the 512 requests made in 2023.

Leith Townshend, the council’s general counsel, says the requests cover “a real range” of areas and often relate to active areas of council work.

For 2024, areas of particular interest included cycleways, dogs, and the Waimea Community Dam, but the “bulk” of requests were made to the environmental assurance team which handles the council’s resource and building consents.

It’s not possible to say how many staff hours are used to respond to the LGOIMA requests because staff time isn’t currently tracked in that way.

“But if I was to ballpark it, I would say that a really simple LGOIMA [request] – of which probably about 70 per cent are relatively simple – probably takes about

three or four hours of staff time,”

Leith says.

That time involves staff receiving, acknowledging, and cataloguing the response, as well as subject matter experts who compile the information needed to answer the request.

“It’s a significant amount of council time across the board.”

Leith adds that it is important residents are aware that “each LGOIMA request costs the ratepayer some money” due to the staff time taken responding to them.

“If we get 1000 requests about roading, that pulls our roading team away from being able to do their other work.”

If a request was going to take a

“considerable amount” of time and couldn’t be narrowed, the council could charge a fee for the request which equates to $50 per half hour of work after the first hour. Before submitting a LGOIMA request, Leith urges that people check the council webpage titled ‘LGOIMAs and information of public interest’.

That page contains links to major council documents such as the Long-Term Plan, annual reports, and meeting agendas and minutes, as well as to policy documents, plans, environmental data, and other sources of information.

On that same page, the council has also begun to upload responses to other LGOIMA requests on

various topics of public interest like water fluoridation and chlorination, the eBuses, CCTV cameras, and the dam.

The LGOIMA requests are being published primarily to increase the council’s transparency, something Leith says councillors are “very interested” in.

However, “at this stage” the published LGOIMA requests don’t seem to be reducing the number of requests received.

“What we’d like to do going forward is do more in that proactive release space,” Leith says.

“There’s a couple of other councils who do it quite well that we’ve been liaising with, so we’re looking at publishing more. Whether that actually reduces the number of requests, I’m not amazingly

Start The Year Fresh

confident about, but what it does do is increase our transparency.” If an area of council work appears to be getting a lot of interest from requesters, the council will often proactively publish some more information for people to access.

Of last year’s 738 requests, 276 were made by just 10 requesters, one of which is an organisation. Leith says that people should “absolutely” seek the information they need and that the council was open to suggestions on how it could improve its transparency.

“But the LGOIMA process is not a way to get your point across or target council.”

Hundreds of staff hours were used responding to more than 700 requests for information over 2024. Photo: Max Frethey.

New chapter at Bridge Valley Adventure Centre

ANNE HARDIE

After living a life on the road with a young family in a bus, James Worthington is putting down roots at Bridge Valley Adventure Centre as its new general manager.

James, his wife Maddy, and their six children have transitioned from their custom-built house bus to the ‘white house’ at Bridge Valley, to begin a new chapter after travelling for two years around the South Island.

It came after three-and-a-half years exploring Israel in a bus, where their fourth daughter was born in Galilee. Their journey, from civil engineering in North Canterbury to volunteer work in Israel followed a passion for building community and fostering relationships.

“I’m a man of faith and went to volunteer support and service, but also explore the land of the bible,” he explains.

Back in New Zealand they wanted to continue their bus lifestyle.

It was during Covid-19 and the tourism industry was offloading vehicles, which meant they were able to buy a luxury coach to convert into a house bus.

“We had four children, then had a baby during the build, so we

added an extra bunk into the bunk room. Then the day we moved into the bus, we found out number six was on the way. It was a bit of a head-in-the-hands moment. So, we put the baby in a baby hammock over our bed until she climbed out of it.”

Part of their bus journey was based at the Kaiteriteri campground where James had the job

of after-hours duty manager and he says it was a great playground for the kids for a few months.

Now they have an adventure playground at Bridge Valley.

Out of the bus, he admits it is “quite nice spreading out and doing some stretches on the carpet”.

While living in a bus, James worked online as digital project manager for Derek Prince

Ministries, which offers bible resources, and he says he will use those skills to bring innovation to Bridge Valley.

“We don’t want to be just up-todate at Bridge Valley; we want to be at the forefront of camping facilities around the country.”

At the same time, he is enthusiastic about embracing Bridge Valley’s rich legacy.

“It’s humbling to stand on the shoulders of giants,” he says, acknowledging the countless hours and resources poured into the centre by its founders and supporters during the past 40 years.

Stephanie Moore, one of the centre’s founders, tells how her late husband, Allan, established Bridge Valley Christian Ranch in 1982 with a dream of creating a place where city youth could experience country life and encounter Jesus.

She says their initial vision faced numerous challenges, from funding hurdles to council opposition, but their determination and faith ultimately turned the dream into a reality.

“Allan and I couldn’t have done it alone. It was a community effort, from trustees and lawyers to builders and cooks. Seeing the impact Bridge Valley has had on generations of young people has been worth every struggle.”

Over the years, the centre has expanded and now serves as a venue for school camps, conferences, retreats, and family adventures. Activities such as laser tag, rock climbing, and high ropes provide physical and mental challenges, while she says bible-based teachings and life skills programmes help participants grow.

James and Maddy with their six children meet with one of the centre’s founders, Stephanie Moore, left.

Photo: Supplied.

Careers mapped out for Waimea academic duo

ANNE HARDIE

It was a busy year for both Waimea College’s proxime accessit winners, Mia Piggon and Jess Spurgeon, who are now focused on forging their careers as a veterinarian and a lawyer, respectively.

Both grew up in England, with Mia and her family moving between the two countries in the past few years, while Jess is planning to move back this year for study. For Mia, who lives at Brightwater and was an academ-

ic captain at school, her goal has always been a veterinarian career because of her love of animals, and this year she heads to Massey University for the pre-selection course. “I’ve wanted it my whole life - as long as I can remember - to be able to work with both animals and the people connected with them to improve their lives. It makes up such a big part of society and their well-being affects our life.”

Her focus at this stage is to get through the pre-selection course as only a third of students are

accepted for the degree course. Ultimately though, she sees herself working with both small and large animals, especially equine due to her love of horses.

The past year she has worked at Spring Grove Kennels and Cattery where she does everything from picking up dog faeces to watering and exercising dogs, which she says is a good learning environment for animal behaviour.

Richmond-based Jess was a head student at school last year and a buddy in the Big Brother Big Sister (BBBS) mentoring

programme. She worked three shifts waitressing for a Richmond restaurant through the year and played netball for her Eve’s Apples-sponsored team, Eve’s Angels, which went to Fiji for a tournament prior to Christmas. In amongst all that was considerable fundraising for BBBS and netball.

“The amount of baking I’ve done this year has been insane. I’ve never baked so many brownies in my life,” she remarked of 2024.

Her first choice for studying law is Oxford University and she will be heading back to England in

February for an interview, as well as looking for a full-time job until the start of the university year in September.

“I really enjoy the ethical and physiological discussions around law. People think about law as a set of rules, but in reality, when you’re studying it, there’s lots of things to be taken into consideration. There’s almost no right or wrong.”

Jess says she will likely work in England after her degree as there are more job opportunities for starting a law career.

Mia Piggon, left, and Jess Spurgeon are Waimea College’s proxime accessit winners. Photo: Anne Hardie.

A time in Damascus under al-Assad rule

ANNE HARDIE

The deposed Syrian president, Bashar-al-Assad, is known for his dictatorship, but in his early years as president he once praised Ewan and Valerie Crouch’s community service work with young people.

That was back in 2006, when Wakefield-based Ewan and Valerie headed to Syria for a twoyear teaching stint in Damascus. It was not the first country where they took up teaching positions with Volunteer Service Abroad and wouldn’t be their last. They had taught in Zimbabwe and Malaysia, with Pakistan still in their future. Beforehand and in between, Ewan had teaching roles at Waimea College and Valerie at Nayland College.

A week before heading to Syria they had no plans to teach there, but a phone call one morning lured them over to teach in an international school and, just like that, they went, not knowing if they were going for a month or two years.

“We were there for two years; Syria is the most wonderful country because it is so full of history.”

Though, in his first week in Damascus, he looked out a school window to see a bomb exploding

at the American Embassy and the school went into lockdown.

Despite that, he says Syria was safe, partly due to the secret police and Moslem rules. So safe, that Valerie would walk from their apartment to the school at midnight because it had far better internet.

The couple were at a fair one day with school students, running a stand promoting community service when al-Assad and his wife came along for a look.

“He spent time at the stall and came and told them later that he was impressed that these young people were being trained to volunteer.”

At that stage, Ewan says al-Assad was still reasonably respected as a leader, having returned from England where he was training as an ophthalmologist and raising hopes his leadership would differ from his father’s brutal rule.

Things were changing though, and just a few months after they left Syria for their next teaching post in Pakistan, the international school where they taught in Damascus was evacuated.

“We left in July and the school was closed in October. Teachers went to school one day and the intercom in the classes said ‘this school is in lockdown and you are

no longer allowed to go back to your house’ and ‘we will pick you up and take you to Jordan’.”

Ewan says everyone they knew in Syria fled during al-Assad’s regime, escaping to Jordan or Lebanon as the country’s leadership became more rigid.

“It’s all about the army and what the army wants to do,” Ewan says. “They wanted their hands on the money at the international school.”

Now that al-Assad has been top-

pled by the rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and its leader Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, Ewan says there is again hope that Syria will find peace. But time will tell, he says.

“I think now, democracy may not be the answer. If you can get a benevolent leader who can look after his people, then that’s perhaps the way to go.

“But he has to work with the army and the army controls the country, really.”

Ewan says he has never seen wealth like he saw in Syria, while in Pakistan where they spent the next three years, 17 families controlled 70 per cent of the country’s wealth.

In Zimbabwe, Syria and Pakistan, they left countries that were “in a mess”.

“People have got no idea how well off we are in our own country.” In Zimbabwe, their first teaching post back in 1989, they took their kids with them for two years. Then in 2019 they returned with two of their grandchildren aged nine and 11. That time they couldn’t fly into Zimbabwe, so flew into Zambia, hired a vehicle and arranged petrol top-ups with people they knew, because by then it was impossible to buy fuel.

“We got to our old school and this whole community came out to see us! They were excited we had come back, and this young teacher came to us and said: ‘you taught us agriculture under a tree!’ There were classrooms back then, but you couldn’t get all the kids in the classrooms.”

Ewan says their joy has come from the children they have taught in difficult countries. “We taught kids all over the world and they’re beautiful kids trying to change things.”

Ewan Crouch says al-Assad was once impressed by youngsters being involved in community service. Photo: Anne Hardie.

One of life’s good guys

ANNE HARDIE

Eric Peterson is described as “one of life’s good guys” by those who know him because at 85 he is still busy helping people around him.

The Arvida Oakwoods retirement village resident drives the van on outings for residents, picks up prescriptions every weekday, goes grocery shopping for those who are not able to do it themselves and he also drives the buggy at the hospital to get people to and from the carpark. Up until last year, he was still a marshal for the Waimea Swim Club, organising young swimmers at competitions around the South Island.

To stay fit for his busy schedule and keep mobile, he goes to a Richmond gym three times a week.

“I go to the gym to keep me active enough to keep going. That’s why I do the drug run; it gives you a purpose in life. I enjoy what I do and the people appreciate it, so that’s what it’s all about.”

The ‘drug run’ started during Covid-19 when residents needed prescriptions and couldn’t pick them up. Someone from the pharmacy would deliver the prescriptions to the gate and Eric put his hand up for the job of bring-

ing them into the village. After Covid-19, he picked them up from the pharmacy and delivered them to the village to hand out because so many residents were not able to get to the pharmacy to pick up their prescriptions.

For four years now, he has been bringing a trolley of prescriptions from the pharmacy five days a week.

On Tuesdays, he is a casual van driver in the village to take residents out and about, usually stopping at a café for a coffee.

“Many are from the apartments and it’s about company for them.

I just asked if they needed a driver. Been doing that for ages - a fair number of years now.”

On Thursday, a vanload of residents heads out to Rabbit Island, including some from the village’s care facilities, with Eric on hand to drive a second van if needed.

The same day, he gets a few grocery items for any residents who need them.

“There’s quite a few who don’t have cars, so I do the shopping for anyone who needs something.”

It suits, because he’s “been in grocery” all his life, starting out in an after-school job at the local grocer in Stoke and ending up as a buyer for Foodstuffs in Nelson.

Then, twice a month he heads to the hospital to drive its buggy, picking up people who need help getting to and from the carpark. That’s a role he has now had for 16 years, though he says he is not doing another winter as it’s getting too cold for him.

“It can be quite busy sometimes –the busiest morning has been 22 people. I had a very good friend in Rotary which sponsors the cart and he asked me if I would drive it and I said yes, of course I would.”

Though he marshalled for the swim club for the last time last year, he is still involved with the club and says he will keep going to the carnivals. He has been with the club since 1984, travelling throughout the South Island with young swimmers and enjoying their success, while creating life-long friendships. Eric says he likes to be busy – and he simply enjoys helping people. Like they said, he’s one of life’s good guys.

At 85, Eric Peterson is busy helping others. Photo: Anne Hardie.

Abbey, 3, Ashton, 5 and Kirsten Polglase Adriana and Eric Koch

Jodie and Jez Lodge

Kapil Rathilal and Danielle Steenkamp Kiara and Tommy Moffitt

Lisa Yelverton, Jasper Whelan, Stella Pugh and Nicola Pugh

Lynne Musgrove, Jenny McArthur and Shirley Stacey

Nal Ariyawansa, Lilly Millie, Ananya Arybeth and Pas Wije

Rachelle and Benjamin Whimp

Rahera Marsh and Christian Samuel

• Buy a bigger boat

• Buy a bigger boat

a head start on your New Year’s Resolutions Some resolutions are easier to tackle than others.

• Tidy up the garage

• Tidy up the garage

• Throw out my collection of fleecy jackets

• Throw out my collection of fleecy jackets

• Be a better communicator

• Check out getting some hearing aids

• Check out getting some hearing aids

Some resolutions are easier to tackle than others.

• Be a better communicator Contact our audiologists 0800 737 662 resonatehealth.co.nz

If you want to know how to really improve your hearing, in a helpful and affordable way, put Resonate Health on your list before the new year starts.

If you want to know how to really improve your hearing, in a helpful and affordable way, put Resonate Health on your list before the new year starts.

Or pop into one of our studios from Whangārei to Invercargill, all open over the summer break.

Or pop into one of our studios from Whangārei to Invercargill, all open over the summer break.

Speed limits test Mayor’s patience

The story on the reaction of our Mayor and Councillors to the Govt speed limit rules is a perfect example of how decisions made by those above can affect those below them. Now the Mayor and Councillors know how it feels to be “bullied”. The cycleways imposed on the residents in Richmond is the perfect example, “Such a load of s---” especially Queen St where the lack of cyclists becomes more and more apparent everyday.

Lyn McKeown Richmond

Lowering limits outside schools is great idea but the rest of these stupid places - now that’s a load of sh#%.

John Jenkins

I haven’t changed - my country has

New Zealand has always been a country that prides itself on doing the right thing. I find myself questioning how our national identity and democratic fabric has shifted. I haven’t changed— my country has.

At the heart of my belief is a simple

truth: We are all New Zealanders.

If history teaches us anything, it’s that democracy, while not a perfect system, is far superior to any alternative. Why now do we want to embrace separatism? Putting some groups of people ahead of others based on race?

It’s now time to seriously consider what it means to be a New Zealander. The Treaty Principles Bill is a reflection of shared commitment to democratic principles. It deliberately favours no particular group of peoples.

It’s about building a society that respects and acknowledges its history without being constrained by it.

We have all moved forward a lot in the last 150 years! The huge input of the Western civilisation over those 150 years means we must stop diminishing and downplaying those contributions, some quite significant.

Why discard the legacy of a classical past for a divisive vision of the future?

And most importantly, who is going to pay for this proposed double up of services based on race? This bill is not a step backwards but a deliberate leap forward.

Together, we can create a resilient, inclusive nation where what defines us is not the colour of our skin but the content of our character and our real abilities to show all the good Kiwis offer.

Keith Griffiths

Wakefield Catholics build their church

Such interesting history. But the church does have a name. It’s called St. Joseph’s. A lovely old church.

William Patterson

Sliding into a Quinney’s Bush summer

Wonderful place, spent many years taking the kids up there Christmas to New Year’s, great fun.

Jude Biggs

Santa delivers tailwagging Christmas

Merry Christmas, Charlotte and Grandad, thankyou for your kindness and care looking after Alfie.

Raewyn Currie

The best kennels and team.

Rachael Fraine

Merry Christmas, Charlotte and Grandad, thank you for taking such good care of Ziggy.

Jo Eden

Merry Christmas, SpringGrove Kennels and Cattery. Thank you for looking after Charlie. He’s so lucky to get chicken for dinner - his favourite!

Jo Gibson

A year of connection, community and celebration

Loved this -was president of Waimea young farmers for a time, travelled all across the South Island to young farmers comps, met great ppl and learnt a lot!

Wendy Leaning

The demise of Richmond’s railway station

Bring the trains back, that would be great.

Hayley Neal

Tapawera’s top of the class

I was lucky enough to have met this young lady at Area Schools Tournament and it’s well deserved. What a lovely young lady Cheyenne is. Best of luck and enjoy uni.

Theresa Shepherd

So proud of you Cheyenne, hope you’re doing well. Zara Bryan

Well done on achieving this milestone. Best luck for your future studies.

Rosemary Lee-Oldfield

Fantastic, Cheyenne. You are amazing, carry on being you.

Anna Weeks

Solly hauls a New Year Honour

GORDON PREECE

If you’ve been a road user within the past 97 years, you’ve probably caught sight of an emerald freight truck labelled ‘Sollys’. The family company’s third generation driving force, Merv Solly, has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to the transport industry and business.

It’s been a long journey for the working-class bloke who’s lived in Collingwood for 76 of his 77 years, and who was already driving Bedford 5 ton trucks at age 12 at Sollys’ recently defunct transport yard in Rockville. He contemplated “quite hard” whether to accept the royal honour but says Sollys’ service and his other ventures which have steered the course for a prosperous rural sector was the clincher.

Merv’s grandfather Ken started up Sollys in 1928 and it grew to have more than a dozen operational vehicles carrying out traditional rural carriers’ work

for the farming community and local dairy co-op.

With Merv at the helm since 1978 after delivering freight in Golden Bay with the company, he has revolutionised the small rural transport operation to a national heavyweight.

Sollys today comprises 130 trucks and 180 staff, with its head office in Tākaka and depots in Richmond, Blenheim, Christchurch, and Greymouth.

It has acquired marine shipping, farming and coal distribution companies, and provides nationwide freight services, construction and earthmoving services, road maintenance, coastal protection, and supplies raw materials from its quarries to support New Zealand’s agriculture and infrastructure industries.

Merv was inducted into the New Zealand Road Transport Hall of Fame in 2016 for his outstanding contribution to the road transport industry.

His plaudits also include the purchase of the Dolomite Quarry in Golden Bay in

2007, commencing soil testing, and creating calcium and magnesium and other biological mixes for New Zealand and overseas farms, vineyards and orchards.

“We saw it as a great opportunity… [the fertiliser] is a very good animal health product, and the magnesium in the soil is really important for photosynthesis and it makes phosphate available as well to plants.

“When we bought it, we were doing 4000 tonnes [of fertiliser] a year, and now we’re probably somewhere way over 25,000 tonnes.”

Merv is also a staunch advocate for natural nitrogen mixes as an alternative to chemical fertilisers.

“More sustainability into farming is what we’re driving for, we’ve got two farms operating here in Golden Bay which have not had nitrogen on them for like 17 years, and production from those farms just gets better for the animal health,” he says. “It’s going to be interesting because next it will be towards biochar or something like that as well.”

His other business interests include DX50, a Tākaka-based nationwide provider of water treatment chemicals, and Fernbrae Farm at Collingwood, which is a sheep and beef farm set on biological farming systems. Merv has also supported the Historic Transport Museum at Higgins Heritage Park, Collingwood Volunteer Fire Brigade, and offers gateway programmes for budding truck drivers to Golden Bay High School students through Sollys. “I would like to thank all the people that have supported us to get this far because without good customers, you wouldn’t have a business at all,” he says.

“My partner, Ann McNabb, she has been a great contributor to the success of Sollys and family members have also been really important to the company’s development. I’m looking forward to February 2028 when Sollys will be 100 years old, there aren’t too many private family companies that get that far and stay together, so that makes you proud.”

Highly skilled migrant advocate recognised

GORDON PREECE

Priyani de Silva-Currie has adroitly supported migrants pursuing engineering and asset management careers in Aotearoa for the better part of three decades. The current strategic asset management technical fellow at Trafalgar St multidisciplinary consultancy Beca has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours for services to multicultural communities, civil engineering and netball.

Priyani, who migrated with her family from Sri Lanka in 1974 when she was three, says she thought she was in trouble when she got the email, but was quickly “blown away” upon realising what it was actually for.

“You just never expect that these things are going to happen to you… we came here to New Zealand 50 years ago and if you’d said to us then that 50 years later I’d be receiving a King’s honour, my family wouldn’t have known how to take that,” she says.

After her Greymouth upbringing, Priyani studied commerce and competed in netball in Wellington and Nelson before taking

up an asset management position at Nelson City Council in 1996, a field she has been enamoured with since.

She is patron of an annual $5000 scholarship, which is named in her honour, for emerging asset management professionals who come from under-represented and minority backgrounds.

Priyani is a life member and previous president of Āpōpō Infrastructure Asset Management Professionals in which she spearheaded a strategic transformation of the organisation and was the brainchild of uniquely New Zealand indigenous-based asset management guidance for practitioners, which launched in October 2023.

“I felt that there was a missing gap in terms of our application of asset management across our communities that incorporated Indigenous practice,” she says.

“That was a huge driver for me to create guidance for New Zealand practitioners on indigenous asset management… it’s New Zealand’s industry bible now.”

Priyani’s laurels also include holding president of the New Zealand Federation of Multicultural Councils in 2014, and its

respective Nelson and Manawatū branches between 2009 and 2017.

As the national president, she procured and implemented diverse multicultural programmes and supported existing programmes, including settlement support, Engineering New Zealand’s Migrant Forum and Multicultural New Zealand’s Professional Speaking for Migrants course.

“[These Forums are] a big part of my life… I wanted to make that integration pathway a little bit easier for people so that they didn’t have to go through what we went through, which was straight

into the baptism of fire,” she says.

“For people from other countries to come to New Zealand as engineers and other professionals, they’re doing it for a better lifestyle and culture.

“It’s much harder to work in those professions in other countries, especially in lower socio-economic or third world countries. So if I can help bridge that gap, I will.”

Priyani formerly chaired New Zealand Carbon and Energy Professionals between 2009 and 2014, becoming a life member in 2016. She is the current vice president of the International Federation of Municipal Engineers, and

president-elect for the 2027-2030 term.

While she didn’t make it as a Silver Fern, her love for netball hasn’t wavered through three decades calling the shots with school, club, regional, NPC and Beko League teams, coaching in both in Nelson and Manawatū, where she was based for 10 years. Between 1998 and 2013, she was on the executive and chaired the Nelson Netball Association and was a founding committee member and fundraising manager of Saxton Field Sports Stadium Society from 2004 to 2013.

Priyani received a Service Award from Nelson Netball in 2016 and has also run Netball New Zealand introductory coaching clinics.

“I picked up a netball at age five, and the rest is history… I am very proud when I see players [I’ve coached] who are now playing in the ANZ Premiership or within the New Zealand team” she says.

“It’s really awesome to see the players from what is effectively a small regional town excel… and I’ll be coaching a premier side and hopefully involved in a rep team in 2025.”

Priyani is grateful and humbled to those who supported her.

Merv Solly has been made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his six-decade involvement in transport, civil construction, quarrying and farming. Photo: Supplied.

Priyani de Silva-Currie was “blown away” to be recognised in the 2025 New Year Honours list. Photo: Supplied.

Last hurrah for Teapot Valley School

Choristers from all over the country will descend on Teapot Valley this month for a concentrated week of classical choral choir music, but their public performance of Haydn’s ‘The Creation’ held at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts on Sunday, 19 January at 2pm, will be Teapot Summer School’s last hurrah. Judy Bellingham, one of New Zealand’s top vocal clinicians and chair of the school’s trust, acknowledges the Teapot Summer School has played an important part in many singers’ lives but, as numbers of attendees dropped, the school’s closure became inevitable. The Teapot Summer School was originally part of the New Zealand Combined Choir and Orchestra Trust established by Carl Browning, who settled in Nelson after helping to establish the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain. In 2001, Browning set up a summer residential choral school at the Teapot Valley Christian Camp, which grew into the Teapot Summer School. The camp’s tranquil environment was perfect for choristers, who rehearsed up to six hours a day before a public performance.

Well-known choral conductor Sir David Willcox, a luminary of the British choral scene, conducted the first six schools, and now for the eighth and last time, Ebbe Munk from Denmark, formerly director of the Copenhagen Royal Chapel Choir. The final Teapot Summer School performance will be accompanied by the New Zealand String Quartet and Nelson musicians Clare Monti, Anna Maitland, Saul Gibney and Raffaele Bandoli.

Graeme Galey’s display will have a tobacco theme that includes his tobacco pots, to remember the tobacco industry around Motueka. Photo: Anne Hardie.

A bygone era comes to town

If you are into yesteryear, then Saturday is the day to check out collectables, retro and vintage, with two events being held around Richmond.

Nelson Bottle and Collectables Club kicks off its annual show and swap day at the Club Waimea Hall with 28 displays of antiques and “anything that has been manufactured” from bygone eras. While at the Hope Recreation

Hall, the annual Retro and Vintage Market has everything from books and toys to china and fabric as a fundraiser for Nelson Tasman Hospice.

Graeme Galey is the convenor for the Nelson Bottle and Collectables Club’s show and says holding the two events on the same day has worked well in previous years because locals and holidaymakers can make a day of it and go to both.

“Anything from bottles to

weetbix cards, china to lamps. Anything that has been made and is transportable.

“Most of it is not for sale because they’re treasured too much to be sold. About 20 vendors will have items for sale though.”

Graeme and his wife Jill have filled their home and shed with various collections and he will be taking some of his tobacco collectables to the show on Saturday. That collection was prompted by his

work as a youngster in the tobacco industry around Motueka. It is just one of his many collections though.

“I collect things I like and sometimes things come about for a reason. I was in the building industry and dug up a bottle and that started me collecting bottles. Then my mother gave me some old toys one day and that led me to collect early model Fun Ho toys.

“I do collect a lot of things! They reckon it’s a disease.”

ANNE HARDIE

Sole providers call time

Local Charitable Trust ‘Walk with Us’ has announced that, after 11 years of providing Nelson Tasman children with school and sports shoes, it is winding up its charitable work and closing permanently.

“Most of the trustees have been in their position for many years, and some now want to go on to retire or assist other local groups, so the decision was made to wind up the trust,” says chairperson and founding trustee Anne-Marie Teece. Anne-Marie acknowledges that the last two years have been particularly financially challenging for some families and she hopes that Walk with Us helped them in a small way.

“We operated completely on donations, and we are incredibly grateful for the support given to us by the many local people and businesses through the years,

Boxing Day spending increases

our shoe suppliers provided discounted shoes, and many businesses donated to support fundraising events and auctions.”

Over 11 years, $140,000 was raised by the trust’s auctions and donations.

Some standout local businesses that were particularly generous year-on-year were Aimex, Westfleet, Waimea and Nelson Weeklies, Discover NZ, Richmond Mall, Richmond Aquatic Centre, NBS and Port Nelson.

“The Walk with Us trustees were always in awe of the generosity of everyone involved at our fundraisers,” Anne-Marie adds.

Fellow founding trustees Jenny Bates and Jill Taylor were asked what kept them with the trust for so long. They say it was the heartwarming and emotional stories told to them by teachers and parents about children receiving new shoes, often

Nelsonians spent $1.2 million on Boxing Day according to Worldline NZ. Their payment network recorded $67.7 million of spending for the day, excluding hospitality and food and liquor outlets. Nelson Tasman’s $1.2m spend was up 16.5 per cent on Boxing Day 2023.

“This year spending was up across most Core Retail merchant groups, especially bookshops, clothing stores, hardware stores and sports equipment shops,” Worldline NZ’s chief sales officer, Bruce Proffit, says of the national spend.

Between Dec 1 and 24, Nelson Tasman recorded a spend of $68.4 million, a 2.3

for the first time in their young lives.

Jill recalls one school principal telling her that the gift of quality shoes allowed children to play sports and participate in physical education to their maximum potential, and that the Walk with Us programme provided students with equality.

Anne-Marie also wanted to acknowledge the true heart of the trust - the current and past trustees, whose selfless and tireless efforts kept it going.

A special mention to Sue Cross who only retired last year, Jill Dew who undertook some major work as secretary, and Jenny Bates who spent nine years as treasurer.

Also invaluable was the support of their spouses, who often participated and helped their fundraising efforts with only a little prodding. Steve Page and Kevin

per cent increase on the previous year.

Originair connect Nelson with Taupō

Originair has announced the launch of a new air service for the airline connecting Taupō and Wellington, commencing on 17 February 2025. This new route follows the recent withdrawal of Sounds Air’s Wellington-Taupō service at the end of the year. The new service will mean flights from Nelson to Taupō will be available via a Wellington connection. Originair will utilise its 18-seat British Aerospace Jetstream aircraft on the new route. The service will operate

Cross were particularly outstanding as the auction duo. School principals, teachers, and administrators also played an important part, identifying the children in need of shoes whose families were going through a bit of a difficult period and could do with a little help.

Walk with Us Trust has been a true community effort, and its work will be missed. If you are looking to help children in a similar way, donate to KidsCan - NZ Children’s Charity and Charitable Trust, which also provides shoes to children in need through local schools. Go to www.kidscan.org.nz to donate.

A wise person once said that, above anything else, charitable trusts nurture, repair, build and sustain our society. Without the selfless work that these trusts do, society would be an empty shell.

initially on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. This service will operate on a six-month trial basis, with the potential to increase to six days a week depending on passenger demand.

Abel Tasman visitors urged to spot and report bush robins

Visitors to Abel Tasman National Park are being asked to report sightings of the toutouwai or bush robin this month. Conservation organisation Project Janszoon would record sightings of the robin from 6 - 31 January. Sightings can be reported at www.janszoon.org

Walk with Us trustees Paula Brophy, left insert, Anne-Marie Teece, left, Helen Ruston, Tanea Collier, Jenny Bates, Helen Hazeldine, Jill Taylor, Jill Dew, and Linda Manera. Photo: Steve Page.

Local History

De Lacey challenges a Richmond bylaw

ROBYN PARKES

In 1930, an application by De Lacey Ltd, Painters and Decorators, was lodged in the Supreme Court against the Mayor, councillors and citizens of Richmond requesting that clause 32 of the borough bylaws be quashed.

De Lacey had been granted permission to erect a hoarding in Richmond in 1926, but this was later withdrawn and all other applications were refused.

The large sign, once up, became subject to a £2 annual license fee, but when contacted to pay it De Lacey declined and queried the amount as being excessive.

The matter was then handed to the borough solicitor.

Eventually going to the Supreme Court, the case was heard by Mr Justice Kennedy.

Mr Kerr, lawyer for De Lacey, moved for an order quashing part of clause 32 of the bylaw relating

to hoarding signs fees charged on the ground that the bylaw was invalid by reason that the fee was excessive.

The general view of De Lacey was that the bylaw was to prevent hoardings while the defendants claimed that it was to preserve the natural beauty of the township.

By the Mayor’s affidavit, it was stated that displays of advertisements had increased and were a disfigurement on the borough, detracting from the value of properties in the vicinity and affecting the amenities of the borough and that it was the policy of the council to discourage the erection of hoardings and the display of advertising.

In investigation of the matter, it was declared that it was reasonable for a council to charge a fee to recuperate the costs in administering the bylaw but it could not be used as a way to raise revenue.

An example of De Lacey hoardings in Richmond. De Lacey successfully petitioned the amendment of a bylaw for hoarding fees. Photo: Nelson Provincial Museum, Kingsford Collection.

In the case of this bylaw there was almost nil administration.

The £2 fee in Richmond was found to be the highest charged

in New Zealand with the usual fee in cities being around 10s and in some places no fee was charged at all.

The judgement of Kennedy was given late April 1930. He found for the plaintiff and granted the application, stating although the expense of administering the bylaw was nil the borough still imposed in respect of any hoarding an annual license fee of £2 per 100 square feet. It was not intended that license fees might be levied for revenue purposes.

The fee charged was by far in excess of that charged by other cities and boroughs, in fact, so unreasonably high that it amounted to a tax for revenue purposes. Therefore, this part of the bylaw was not supported and the cost charged was made invalid. The bylaw was not quashed but had to be amended on a scale of reasonable license fees. Costs of £8.8sh and disbursements were allowed against the Council and £5 paid as security to be returned to the applicant.

Best Before vs Use By: What’s the difference?

ELOISE MARTYN

We’ve all found ourselves staring at leftovers, wondering, ‘can I still eat this?’

To help clear up the confusion around food labels, let’s look at the difference between Best Before and Use By dates.

According to Consumer NZ, Kiwis throw away over 220,000 tonnes of food each year. Over half of that could still be eaten, with bread and vegetables making up most of the waste, therefore it’s important to know the difference between Best Before and Use By dates.

A Best Before date simply tells you when the product is at its best. You can still eat food after this date if stored properly, it may have lost some flavour or colour

but it’s safe to eat.

“Think flavour, texture, and eating quality. The Best Before date is the last day that the product is at its best,” Olivia Martyn, manager at The Food Factory and qualified food technologist, explains.

“After this date, it might not taste or look quite the same, but it could still be safe to eat. For example, those biscuits in your pantry will be absolutely fine after the Best Before date, they might just be a little soft.”

A Use By date, on the other hand, is all about food safety. Found on perishable items like meat and dairy, these dates are there to protect you from foodborne illness.

After the Use By date, the food may no longer be safe to eat.

“This is when you really want to toss the item. After this date, the

food item is no longer guaranteed to be safe. This is especially important for protecting our health, there is now a true food safety risk,” Olivia says.

In New Zealand, canned foods that have a shelf-life of more than two years do not need a Best Before date. As long as the can remains intact canned foods have a long shelf life, even at room temperature.

“That said, if there are any signs of deterioration, don’t eat the contents. If the can is in good condition with no rust, dents or swelling, it should be safe to eat,” Olivia adds.

Before tossing that holiday chocolate or leftover Christmas fruit mince pies, check the date. If it’s past the Use By date, it’s time to let it go. But if it’s just past the

TRADIES AND MECHANICS

Best Before date, it is still safe to eat, if you are happy with the quality of the food item. By understanding food labels and

planning meals better, we can eat safely and avoid needlessly throwing things out. Happy (and safe) eating, everyone.

Olivia Martyn manager at The Food Factory and qualified food technologist explains the difference between Use By and Best Before dates. Photo: Supplied.

Superyacht Bliss was seen anchored in Tasman Bay over the weekend. Photo: Supplied.

Snapchat founder’s superyacht visits Nelson

Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel’s luxury superyacht has been spotted in Tasman Bay.

Two hundred-million-dollar US superyacht Bliss was seen anchored near the Boulder Bank over the weekend.

The American billionaire’s private plane was seen on the tarmac at Wellington Airport on 28 December with his 95-metre-long yacht being spotted in the Marlborough Sounds the following day.

It was anchored off of Resolution Bay where it remained for several hours.

And while there was no sign of

the social messaging app mogul or his wife, Australian supermodel Miranda Kerr, staff were seen on board.

Built in 2021, Bliss, which costs an estimated 20 million a year to run, can comfortably accommodate 14 passengers and 20 crew.

Spiegel co-founded Snapchat with Bobby Murphy in 2011 while he was studying at Stanford University. He met the renowned Victoria’s Secret model at a gala dinner at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the pair married in 2017. The couple have three children together.

Thursday 16 & Friday 17 January, 10am – 2pm.

Arvida Waimea Plains, 455 Lower Queen Street, Richmond, Nelson.

Imagine a retirement where you enjoy a breakfast under the warm Nelson sun, a cycle around the trails in the afternoon with friends, before wrapping up the day with a game of bowls and drinks at the clubhouse. Now stop imagining and come along to our Open Days at Arvida Waimea Plains. The last remaining architecturally designed villas and townhouses are waiting for you to make them your own.

Our Open Days will give you a flavour of what life could be like living at Arvida Waimea Plains. So drop in and have a look around – we look forward to hosting you.

Call Gareth on 027 553 4797 or visit arvida.co.nz

Health Beauty andWellness

Guided personal journeys with Radiance Coaching

With over two decades of experience helping others, Kathy of Radiance Coaching has taken her passion for supporting people to new heights. Recently qualified as a sexual well-being and life coach, Kathy launched her new business in October, offering clients a trusted and professional space to explore life’s challenges and embrace their individuality. For Kathy, this new role feels like a natural progression. Having spent 20 years in various aspects of the wellness industry, the decision to specialise in life and sexual well-being coaching stemmed from her own personal journey, Kathy says the role feels like a perfect fit! Clients naturally gravitate toward Kathy’s calm and empathetic demeanor, finding a safe space to discuss life’s most vulnerable topics. “Many people can be reluctant to open up out of fear of being judged or thinking that what they feel is irrelevant,” Kathy shares. “But it is incredible to see the change from when clients first

walk through the door to the end of treatment. It can be such a powerful personal journey.” Working from her clinic in the city centre arcade, Kathy offers a range of options to suit her clients’ needs, including face-to-face sessions, online appointments, and phone consultations. While each format is effective, Kathy finds faceto-face sessions particularly beneficial. Radiance Coaching’s holistic approach provides support that looks at a client’s complete physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being, which is invaluable

for fostering clarity and confidence. The process begins with a complimentary ten-minute discussion session, allowing clients to meet Kathy and ‘see if I am the right person for them’ and to outline their goals and explore the coaching process. From there, Kathy tailors her guidance to individual needs, often incorporating tools such as mindfulness to help clients find clarity and confidence. “I find this is a great way to get into the right mindset,” she says. Kathy’s fusion style approach, encompassing mindfulness techniques with

practical advice, empowers her clients to overcome obstacles and take meaningful steps toward self-discovery and fulfillment. Whether tackling issues of personal identity, relationships, or life’s transitions, Kathy’s trusted guidance helps clients navigate the path to a more authentic and enriched life.

With services including life guidance support, identity discovering coaching, sexual well-being, addressing the challenges of intimacy loss, erectile dysfunction, menopause transition coaching and gender diversity/dysphoria coaching, Radiance Coaching is not just about overcoming challenges; it’s about transforming them into opportunities for growth. For anyone ready to embrace change, Kathy’s warmth, expertise, and holistic coaching approach offer the perfect foundation for a powerful personal journey. Contact Kathy at kathy@ radiancecoaching.co.nz or 0272153775 to begin uncovering your inner radiance.

Plus, support to deal with; grief, sadness, conflict, exhaustion, stress, fear, addictions... and more!

Cast into adventure and join the Nelson Trout Club this New Year

ELOISE MARTYN

If your New Year’s resolution is to get off your land and connect with others, consider joining the Nelson Trout Club for an exciting journey into fly fishing, conservation, and banter.

Whether you’re a seasoned angler or a beginner, the club offers expert guidance, community events, and plenty of opportunities to explore local waters. Get involved, improve your skills, and make lasting connections.

Nelson Trout Club president, Kevin Earl, shares how he got involved, starting with their yearly auction.

“A friend mentioned the auction as a great place to find affordable, quality gear,” Kevin explains. “That got me interested,

and I quickly realised the club offered a whole heap more and decided it would be nice once a month to indulge my hobby a bit.”

Kevin highlights that what he enjoys most about the club is the connection with fellow fishermen and the chance to discover new spots while learning from others.

“In a world dominated by phones, busyness, and pressures, fly fishing demands patience and a real connection to nature.

“Ninety percent of us release the fish we catch— it’s the experience and connection with the river that matters most.”

The club has grown significantly over the past two years, now boasting 120 members from across Nelson and

Tasman. With a wide range of fishing experiences and skill levels, the group is united by a shared passion for the sport.

“If you want to start fishing, find someone who already knows the ropes and go with them for a day to see if you like it,” Kevin advises.

“Fly fishing is a different experience from other sports.

“You get wet, see parts of the countryside, and explore parts of the river you’d never normally see.”

Fly fishing can be as inexpensive or as costly as you like.

“You don’t need all the fancy gear,” says Kevin. “Once you’ve got the basics, it’s a very affordable sport—just the fuel costs to get you out there.”

The Nelson Trout Club

holds monthly meetings at Fish & Game in Richmond, where they feature guest speakers, updates on local events, a ‘Tip of the Month’ and other fishing-related discussions.

Topics often include the science behind local insects (the more you know, the better your chances of catching fish!), fly-tying nights, and the club’s primary focus on trout fishing. However, they also occasionally explore Tasman Bay snapper and other species.

The club is a great way to meet new people, improve your fishing skills, and deepen your connection with nature.

For more information head to www.nelson troutfishingclub.com

Kevin Earl, Nelson Trout Club president, says fly fishing can be as inexpensive or as costly as you like. Photo: Supplied.

Explore our local region

Summer Swim spots

Whether it’s a recreation beach, a river reserve or a public pool, Nelson Tasman has an abundance of swimming spots to check out through the summer.

At Tāhunanui Beach, you’ll find a popular choice for families due to the close proximity to the city and the safe, shallow waters. However, if you’d like to check out some fish life while in the water, Cable Bay or Kaiteriteri may be a better option.

Tasman’s Rabbit Island offers a great day of exploration with a huge reserve and free gas BBQ facilities. This is one of the better beaches in the region for driftwood, and the swimming is safe.

The Nelson Tasman region’s only saltwater baths lie on the Motueka foreshore. The tidal baths were originally created after a shark sighting in the early 1920s. A local fundraiser generated enough money to install galvanised wire and enclose the foreshore. The enclosure has now been further developed with a playground, picnic area and BBQ pits, and continues to be a popular attraction for families, locals, and visitors alike.

For a freshwater dip, take a drive up Nelson’s Maitai Valley with easily accessible swimming holes and the occasional hidden gem. Tasman’s Lee and Aniseed Valleys are also worth a look, with great spots to stop for picnics and large swimming holes to accommodate all levels of ability.

For something extra special, Riuwaka Resurgence offers pristine water as it comes straight out of the ground. This is not for the faint-hearted however, as the water is deep, and cold!

Water sports

Nelson’s water sports scene is vibrant and diverse, offering a range of activities that take full advantage of its stunning coastal location and crystal-clear waters. Nestled between the Tasman Bay and the Abel Tasman National Park, the region is a playground for water enthusiasts. Kayaking is particularly popular, with options for guided tours through the breathtaking coves and beaches of Abel Tasman National Park. Paddlers can explore tranquil waters, spot seals and dolphins, and enjoy the region’s stunning marine life.

Stand-up paddleboarding (SUP) is another favourite, providing a unique perspective of the coastline. Rentals and lessons are widely available, making it accessible for beginners and seasoned paddlers alike.

For those seeking adventure, kite surfing and windsurfing are exhilarating options, especially in the consistent winds of the region. The area’s beaches, like Tāhunanui, are perfect for both beginners and experienced.

Fishing enthusiasts will find ample opportunities, from deep-sea fishing charters to tranquil estuary spots. The diverse marine life in the area promises a rewarding experience. Additionally, diving and snorkelling in nearby marine reserves allow for close encounters with colourful fish and vibrant coral ecosystems, making it a fantastic choice for underwater exploration.

Trails with a view

Looking for the double-benefit of an endor-

phin-hit along with some stella views – then head for the hills! Nelson/Tasman is a great place to strap on your shoes and hit the trails.

In the city centre, the Centre of New Zealand walk is a firm favourite. A short 20 minute walk gives you outstanding views across the city and wider Tasman Bay. It’s a popular place most weekends and especially over summer. But the wide, easy tracks make it a great option. The start and finish point at The Botanics is also a great place to kick a ball around, throw a frisbee or watch the kids play on the playground. You could grab a rugby ball and re-create a bit of history there as well, The Botanics was the site of the first-ever rugby game to be played in New Zealand, between the Nelson Rugby Football Club and Nelson College. Heading out of the city, Barnicoat Range is a more challenging but more rewarding walk. Found at the end of the Marsden Valley Road, the walk is a steep start but takes you up to some fire breaks with stunning views over Stoke and Tasman Bay. If you’re lucky you may even see some paragliders drifting in the thermal air as they take off from the Barnicoat Range.

Further along in Richmond there are a maze of tracks crawling all over the Richmond hills. A popular place to start is Easby Park, you

can even find one of the country’s oldest living trees on the track, which is about a half hour walk from the Easby Park carpark. Known as ‘Barrington Gum’, it was measured at 72.1 metres in 2009.

Over the hill in the Aniseed Valley in the Mount Richmond Forest Park you’ll find Whispering Falls. Starting from the Hackett River carpark the walk is an easy two-hour return trip and will take you over swing bridges, through pine forests and finally to the falls.

Once you get back to the river, there’s a wonderful swimming hole to cool off.

These are just some of the dozens of walking tracks and trails around the Top of the South.

To find out more visit nelsontasman.nz

Pedal Power

Nelson Tasman is a paradise for cycling enthusiasts, offering a diverse range of biking experiences. With scenic coastal routes, picturesque vineyards and lush forests, the trails cater to all skill levels, from leisurely rides to challenging mountain trails.

One of the most popular options is Tasman’s Great Taste Trail, a 174km cycle path that can take you from Nelson city to Tapawera, Baton Valley or Kaiteriteri. This trail showcases the region’s natural beauty, taking riders past

vineyards, orchards, and artisan producers, with plenty of opportunities for food and wine stops along the way.

For mountainbiking aficionados, the Wairoa Gorge Bike Park offers an exhilarating experience with a network of trails catering to various skill levels. The park features well-maintained tracks through native bush, with breathtaking views of the surrounding landscapes.

Another highlight is the Dun Mountain Trail, a historic route that follows the old railway line to Dun Mountain, providing stunning views of Nelson city and Tasman Bay. This 20km trail combines history with nature.

For a unique ride, consider the Rotoiti Nature Recovery Project, where you can cycle around the stunning Rotoiti Lake. This route offers serene views of the lake and its surrounding mountains.

The Tasman Loop, another scenic option, provides a mix of coastal and rural riding. It’s ideal for those who want to experience the area’s diverse landscapes while enjoying a relatively flat ride.

Nelson Tasman’s cycling scene is enhanced by its friendly local community and a range of bike rental services, making it easy for visitors to explore.

One of the regions original storage facilities

Operating in the Tasman district for over 25 years, the team at Tasman Storage Ltd are the solution to storing your most valuable possessions when you are buying or selling a property.

One of the region's longest-serving storage facilities, they offer safe, reliable and protected, long or short-term services, for anything from large vehicles and household belongings to documents and great grandma’s snow globe, and their insurance-approved units are individually locked and protected by 24hr surveillance and security patrol.

Dry, well-ventilated and well-maintained, what sets Tasman Storage Ltd apart from others is their hugely com-

Talk to us first to avoid many of the pitfalls

TASMAN STORAGE

petitive pricing. A current special they are running is if you pay upfront for 12 months, you will receive the last month free. Their flexible contracts begin with a minimum of one month storage for as little as $7 a week – depending on options selected. “If you’re looking to make more room in your home or business and are in need of reliable and protected storage services, you’ve come to the right place.”

Servicing the region since 1997, the team at the self-storage facility understand how stressful moving or downsizing can be, and how overwhelming the need to declutter or store a loved one's possessions can get.

Which is why they help to make it easy by providing a wide range of pricing options and storage sizes to best fit your needs. They have a huge range of people who come through their doors, from people selling their house, or those who are in between moving, to the longterm storage of items and treasures.

Units are accessible seven days a week to ensure that customers are able to add or remove their possessions at their earliest convenience and the facility is insurance-approved to help protect possessions with contents insurance coverage for each storage unit.

Tasman Storage Ltd have two easy locations to choose from that house around 360 storage options across both the Richmond and Motueka sites. Their main office is located at 74 Gladstone Rd, Richmond and the facilities newly-installed cameras add to their already established security system. Their premises are also patrolled by First Security seven days a week, to give customers extra peace of mind. All storage units are weatherproofed and CCTV-operated to protect items from unwanted weather and entry.

Give yourself some room, cover your assets - Call Tasman Storage Ltd on 03 5444306 today.

Tasman Storage on Gladstone Road have been operating in the region for over 25 years.

Horses or horsepower

STEPHEN STUART

Fans of high speed will be spoilt for choice in Richmond this Friday.

The Nelson Harness Racing Club will open its annual two-day meeting just after 3pm and just two hours later the New Zealand Superstock Champs will kick in to gear further down Lower Queen Street.

While speedway lovers get plenty of racing action during the season, harness supporters are limited to just this Friday and Sunday, but NHRC President Kristie Hill hopes that could change.

“We lost our winter meetings during Covid-19 but we are pushing hard to get those two dates back,” Kristie confirms.

Harness Racing New Zealand’s Chief Executive Brad Steele and the Head of Wagering and Racing Matt Peden are travelling up from Christchurch for this week’s meetings, and both Australians can expect a charm offensive.

“Our Richmond Park surface is extremely fast and very fair. The quality of the camber on the home bend gives every runner a chance – frontrunners or swoopers,” Kristie enthuses, who has been president for the past six years.

She is continuing the Hill family tradition, going back decades. Her grandfather Joe and father Brian were successful horsemen who also fulfilled multiple roles for the club.

Kristie lives in Canterbury these days but retains her passion for the club where she drove her first winner in 1999, Carmenchita

“I do club zoom meetings, come up for working bees and my job with Dunstan Feeds brings me here as well,” the president says.

As always, the club will be well supported by leading Canterbury trainers with the premiership-winning Dunn stable sending up to 16 runners north from its Woodend Beach base.

“A lot of the trainers treat the Nelson trip as a working holiday and camp on the course. They love coming up here and we make sure they are well looked after,” Kristie

says.

But the handful of local trainers are hoping to ensure the southern raiders don’t claim all the spoils.

Wakefield owner-trainer

Robbie Stuart has unearthed a real up and comer in Sideshow Bruce which has won three of its four starts and was a close second in the other.

The four-year-old comfortably passed a standing start trial on Sunday and has been earmarked for its biggest test to date, the Nelson Cup.

Richmond trainers Tim Fensom and Murray Pash also enjoyed success on last month’s West Coast circuit

Another drawcard will be the appearance of champi-

Croquet

The Croquet NZ Golf Croquet National Open Championship is underway in Nelson this week. Hosted by Nelson Hinemoa Croquet Club, the best young talent in the country are set to take part alongside several Australians. The tournament wraps up on Saturday.

Bowls

Stoke pair Shannon McIlroy and Robbie Reed reached the last four at the New Zealand Bowls championships in Auckland at the weekend. After a good run through section play and sudden death, they had the misfortune to strike the only former national pairs champions left in the draw. Lance Pascoe and Jamie Hill, from the Elmwood Club in Christchurch, led throughout the semi-final and won 16-10. The 2021 champs then took out the final 19-13. Shannon has now turned his sights to the singles competition which is also in Auckland this week.

Waimea College student first female home

Waimea College’s Nia Linyard, 14, was the first female home in the Tata Beach Swim last weekend. She placed third overall with Hayden Squance taking top spot.

on female driver Sam Ottley who was in phenomenal winning form over the Christmas-New Year period.

And don’t be surprised if several of the harness drivers are spotted in the speedway crowd, just down the road, later on Friday night or at least the following day.

More than 100 entries have been received for the Superstock Champs which were last held in Nelson 12 years ago

Drivers will be split into five groups with three-time champion Asher Rees looking for an unheard-of fourpeat.

A weekend working bee has ensured the venue is certainly looking the part, too.

Sideshow Bruce will be a big show at the Nelson Harness Racing Club meetings this week. Photo: Stephen Stuart.

Sub-union defends push for clubs before college

STEPHEN STUART

After three years of rigorous debate, the Nelson Bays Rugby SubUnion (NBRSU) insists it had to play hard ball with Nelson College over the make-up of its teenage club competition.

The college has effectively been banned from entering its own sides in the U14, U15 and U16 club competition this year with NBRSU chair Jimmy van der Colk maintaining their participation would continue to have a detrimental effect on club numbers, especially in rural areas.

Jimmy wants college students turning out for clubs, which he claims otherwise run the real risk of losing their age grade sides after players head to Nelson College for their education and the chance to make rugby academies.

Wearing his Wanderers Sports Club general manager’s hat, he says remaining club players often feel displaced, which leads to a big drop-out rate making it hard to keep teams together

“If you lose seven or eight players from just the one country club team, it is really tough.”

Jimmy and Nelson College principal Richard Washington agree on one thing, the split competition trialled last year was “a bit

messy”. It involved college players turning out for clubs for the first half, eight games, and Nelson College then fielding its own U14 and U15 sides in the second half.

Richard insists that rather than field its top players in one side, they were mixed across the teams to make for a more level playing field.

A survey of parents and players was completed following the sea-

son and a Nelson Bays age grade council was formed, consisting of representatives from clubs and Nelson and Waimea Colleges.

The council voted 9-2 in favour to trial club-only competitions for U14, U15 and U16 this year. Its decision was ratified by the Tasman Rugby Union.

The two opposing votes came from Nelson College and the Nelson Rugby Football Club.

“So, this decision was not made lightly and follows three years of robust discussion, trials, surveys and reviews,” Jimmy says. It sounds an exhausting process, but it isn’t a done deal according to Richard Washington. He confirms Nelson College has approached New Zealand Rugby asking it to intervene, with the ball now in the court of NZR Community Rugby general man-

ager Steve Lancaster.

A Zoom meeting has been set for later this month to discuss the issue.

“We would like the NZR to establish a new and fairer independent club status application process for age grade competitions after being the only boy’s college in the country to be excluded from Saturday play.”

“I understand clubs’ concerns about player recruitment and retention and that is why I wrote to the TRU last year to say that students are free to play for clubs if they want to. The vast majority chose to play for their school,” says Richard, who is proud of Nelson College’s history of producing top flight rugby players.

But the NBRSU has released the findings from its survey, suggesting the gap is not that big. Nelson College U14 and U15 players were asked if they had a choice would they play for school, club or both. Of those who responded, 37 per cent said they would turn out for their school, 32 per cent for club and 31 per cent for both. There’s still a chance Nelson College will have one team playing in the club age grade competition this year with an invitation for the school’s 2nd XV to contest the U18 grade.

U14 rugby players playing for their clubs, Marist and Rangers, last year. A decision from Tasman Rugby means this will continue for players in the U14, U15 and U16 grades in 2025, unless an appeal from Nelson College to New Zealand Rugby is successful. Photo: Barry Whitnall/Shuttersport.

Half-brothers go bomb for bomb

STEPHEN STUART

It proved a family affair at the first-ever Z Manu qualifier at the Nayland Pool last month for the World Champs in March.

Tione-Rawhiti “T-Man” Haruru-Nuku and Kingston Preston Walker, both 14, starred in the heats for the youth grade, 13 to 17-year-olds, where you have to land on your bottom and make as big a splash as possible.

“I hadn’t practiced much. I just jumped and did a bomb and was happy as with the judges’ scores. But now I feel pressured as about the final,” says T-Man, who is used to being centre stage with his kapa haka moves.

It was justified as his half-brother Kingston tied with him in the final. They went to a jump-off and Kingston prevailed.

The boys are used to competing on the same side rather than

against each other.

“I am No.8 in my Nelson College team and Kingston is a flanker,” confirms T-Man, who is now looking at going to Wellington later in the month for the next qualifying opportunity.

The adult section was just as competitive with 39-year-old Jared Daly landing the best bomb.

“I am normally a fan of staples which are face forward dives. I only learnt the butt first Manu this year. My son Jax taught me,” reveals Jared.

He took Jax and his mates to the 2023 qualifier in Christchurch but couldn’t compete himself because he had swimmer’s ear.

Z Manu founder Scott Rice was on hand and delighted with the turnout given the on and off rain.

“There were some very passionate jumpers, and supporters here.

“We are seeing some of the best skill in the country so far and

they certainly going to take on the best at the champs in Auckland,” declares Scott, who launched the event in 2023.

“It’s more than a competition. It is a way of life.

“I love the vibe these events bring and how they bring communities together.”

The series has grown this year with 10 qualifiers and $40,000 in cash and prizes. The adult champions will win $3,000 each.

Scott agrees it is like semi-pro. His only disappointment was the lack of female competitors, especially in the youth grade.

“They seem to shy away from competing. Maybe because there are so many guys here.”

Scott and his Quantum Events crew were lucky too as no sooner had the third Z Manu qualifier finished, than much heavier rain returned to the Nayland Pool venue.

The sell-out crowd had plenty of chances to get involved in the third T20 cricket international between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka at Saxton Oval last Thursday. Twenty-five sixes went flying above the ropes in the high scoring clash which completed the three match series. While the New Zealand side had more maximums, 13, Sri Lanka hit twice as many fours on its way to a seven run win. New Zealand had already clinched the series by winning the first two games.

Photo: Barry Whitnall/ Shuttersport.

Kingston Preston Walker, right, and Tione-Rawhiti Haruru-Nuku dominated the youth grade with first and second place respectively at the Z Manu Qualifier in Nelson. Photo: Stephen Stuart.

Community Notices

MONDAY

OSTEOACTIVE, Mon, 10am, Holy Trinity Hall, Richmond. Exercise class for participants with osteoarthritis. Seated and standing exercises. Exercise tips for osteoarthritis self-management. Ph: Nicola 0210788609. Koha $5-$8.

JUNIOR BADMINTON, Mon, 6-7.30pm, Badminton Hall. For School-aged kids. Racquets avail. Ph: Joe 0277834720 / e: joe@peak.co.nz.

SOCIAL EVENING BADMINTON, Mon, 7.30pm, Badminton Hall. Racquets avail. Bring indoor court shoes. Ph: Joe 0277834720. $5/night.

TASMAN AQUARIUM CLUB. Meet 2nd Mon of month, 7pm. Inspiration, advice and general chat about fish and aquarium hobby. Ph: Robin 0275442518.

TUESDAY

MORNING TEA AND A CHAT Need some company and a chat over the summer? Come for morning tea and a chat to Holy Trinity, 27 Dorset St, Richmond, 10:30am-11:30am, Tuesdays in Jan. Bring any friends or neighbours who would enjoy some friendship and food. Ph (03) 544 8844.

HOPE INDOOR BOWLING CLUB, Tues,7pm, Hope Hall. All ages welcome. Wear soft soled shoes. First 2 nights free. Ph: Bill 035449273.

NELSON 50+ WALKING GROUP Weekly walks average 10 kms. Tues 14 Jan, Butchers Flat to Devils Creek Hut. If carpooling meet at Kinzett Tce (off Trafalgar St/QE11 Drive roundabout) 8.40am. Alternatively meet at the Canvastown Hotel at 9.45. BYO lunch. Contact Irene 021 1225312.

DEMENTIA FRIENDLY LIBRARY GROUP Tues, 10.30-11.30am, Richmond Library. If you are living

with Dementia, this group is for you. Come along to this supportive, friendly group at your familiar local library. Free.

RICHMOND TENNIS CLUB SOCIAL TENNIS

Tues, 9.30am, Richmond Tennis Club, Gladstone Rd. If raining, we play card games. Morning tea provided. Info Ph: 0274872480.

WEDNESDAY

CAKE DECORATORS meet 3rd Wed of month. We welcome anyone who wants to learn about cake icing and sugar art to come along and give it a go. Ph: Desiree 0276302359.

CENTRAL GARDEN CLUB, meet 2nd Wed of month, 1.30pm, Methodist Church Hall, Neale Ave. New Members welcome. Guest speakers, followed by afternoon tea. Enq Ph: Lynn or Bob 0275418448.

SING YOUR LUNGS OUT: Wed, 10am, Club

Waimea. A fun filled singing class for those with respiratory conditions. No singing experience is necessary. Ph: Jess 0275467675 – Respiratory Support Nelson.

THURSDAY

JUDO, Juniors, Thurs, 5-6pm, Seniors/ Competitive, Tues/Thurs, 6pm, Peewees, Thurs, 4.30pm, 20A Gladstone Rd (upstairs Waimea Old Boys Rugby). Ph: Michelle 0275422254.

ENGLISH CONVERSATION GROUP, Thurs, 11-12pm, Richmond Library. Would you like to improve your English with a qualified, experienced ESOL teacher? Join our friendly English conversation group. Free.

RICHMOND CREATIVE FIBRE Meet, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Thurs of month, 9.30am, Birchwood Hall, Richmond Showgrounds. Come and meet others who

DEADLINE: 10AM FRIDAY - 30 WORDS OR LESS BY EMAIL ONLYPLEASE SEND TO: events@topsouthmedia.co.nz

enjoy working with fibre. Ph: Janine 035445023.

FRIDAY

WAIMEA LADIES’ FRIENDSHIP CLUB, meet, 3rd Fri of month, 9.45am, Richmond Church of Christ, cnr Croucher & D’arcy Sts. Welcome new members, interesting speakers, morning tea, dining out, outings. Ph: Bev 035441469

SATURDAY

JBNZ SKILLS EVENT AND RALLY West Bay, Lake Rotoiti, Sat 18 Jan, 10am. Spectators are welcome to come and watch as boats complete tasks in West Bay. Swimming, fishing and other boating will be restricted during this time for public safety.

RICHMOND TENNIS CLUB SOCIAL TENNIS, Sat, 1.30-3pm. Open to club players, visitors & members of other clubs. $5 non-members. Ph: 0274872480.

ART GROUP NELSON ART EXHIBITION & SALE, Queens Gardens, 11 Jan (12 if wet),10am – 4pm.

NELSON BRANCH OF ROYAL NZ AIRFORCE ASSOCIATION, meet 2nd Sat of month, 12pm, Club Waimea, Richmond, Phil’s Restaurant. Interesting speakers, raffles & members interested in Aviation Ph: Trever Squires 039706644 or John Bethwaite 035476634. Cost of meal $25.

FREE GUIDED MEDITATION, Sat, 3pm, under the white pergola of Washbourne Gardens. Relax, unwind, and enjoy inner peace & stillness. For info e: meditaterichmond@gmail.com. Free.

SUNDAY

NELSON SPIRITUALIST CHURCH, weekly

service, Sun 7-8pm, Cnr Tipahi and Motueka st. All welcome. Healing avail before and after service.

SUNDAY WORSHIP You are warmly invited to attend weekly worship. Sun, 10am, Nelson Tasman Methodist Parish Church, 94 Neale Ave Stoke. Morning tea follows the service.

GENERAL GROUPS

NELSON RAILWAY SOCIETY FOUNDERS

PARK. Check our Facebook page and Website for updates of our Train and Railcar Timetable for the school holidays. We will be running on extra days.

NELSON AIRPORT TREES OF REMEMBRANCE Come on down to the airport and vote for your favourite tree! Treasure hunt for the kids. Sponsored & decorated by local businesses in support of Nelson Tasman Hospice 29 Nov – 10 Jan. FREE TRAINING: NEW CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU VOLUNTEERS! Training starts March 2025. Qualifications Needed: Common Sense, Some Life Experience and Computer Skills, Enquiring mind! Info Pack available from Citizens Advice Bureau Nelson Tasman, Ph 03 548 2117, nelsontasman@ cab.org.nz.

CANCER SOCIETY SUPPORT GROUPS for info Ph: 035391137.

TECHCONNECT at Richmond Library. Helping you navigate the digital world. Register for your topic of interest at the library. When we have enough people, we will be in-touch to schedule a session.

U3A –Interest groups & social activities for the over-55s. Quiz mornings to walking groups, digital photography to wine appreciation. Meet like-minded inquisitive people who share your interests.

ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS - Is alcohol causing

problems for you in your life? Want to stop drinking but can’t? Maybe we can help. Support meetings every day. Ph: 08002296757.

ASTHMA? COPD? Nelson Asthma Society offers Pulmonary Rehab Courses. Can help you improve your respiratory self-management skills & shor tness of breath. Ph: your medical centre for a “Pulmonary Rehab course referral” or e: asthma. nelson@xtra.co.nz.

NELSON BUDDHIST CENTRE: Discover the benefit, practicality, and relevance of Buddhist understanding and meditation. Full programme at nelsonbuddhistcentre.or,nz. 11 Buxton Square. Enquires: nbc@rigdzin.org

SENIOR MOBILITY CLASSES Tues, Thurs & Fri, 10.30am, Wanderers Community Gym, 12 Charlotte Lane, Brightwater. Improving balance, mobility & independence among our aging populations (55+). Ph: James 021 0441526. $2 donation.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED for 1.5 hours one day a week either 8.30am or 2.30 pm. Assist elderly for pick up and drop off in Presbyterian Support van from Annesbrook. Ph: Maaike 032655224.

PARLEZ-VOUS FRANÇAIS ? French conversation, Fri, 4-6pm, Honest Lawyer Stoke or Vic Rose Nelson. Alliance Française. Ph: Doug Hill 035446288

NELSON WOODTURNING CLUB. Join us at our clubrooms for Turning, camaraderie & sharing of knowledge. Ph/Txt: Allan 021543345, for info. FALLS PREVENTION. More Stable More Able. FREE 2 hour session for anyone who has fallen or is at risk of falling. Relaxed & informal setting. Ph: Ange 021790415 from Nelson Bays Primary Health to book.

Community Notices are free to community groups, schools, churches, gold coin donation events and fundraising. Due to the popularity of this column,while every effort will be made, inclusion cannot be guaranteed for free ads. If you want to place a business advert or want to advertise a course you are running, please call classified ads and public notices on 544 9037.

Balustrades are an excellent way to turn a necessity of fencing, benching or frames into a masterpiece.

The benefits of glass balustrades are: • A visual impression of more space • Allows sunlight into more areas

One flat surface for easy cleaning

Strong, durable, safe and secure

If it’s glass... Think

DEATH DEATH

FENEMOR

MARWICK

Katrina (Trina)

Passed away December 21st 2024, aged 67 years, at home surrounded by family.

Loved  wife of Tony, and mother of Sam, Josh, Ben and Hana.

GARAGE SALE

Your garage sale ad here. Phone 544 9037

Notice to all Advertisers:

Margaret Elizabeth (nee Drummond)

Margaret passed away peacefully at Wakefield Homestead on Friday 3 January, in her 94th year. Dearly loved wife of Alex Fenemor (deceased 1999).

Much loved mum of Andrew Fenemor, Liz Zwart and Juliet Emery, and mother-inlaw of Hilary, Tony and Eru. Respected gran to Hazel, Bryn, Tawio and Eikura and great-grandmother to newly arrived Bowie.

By placing your advertisement you agree with the terms and conditions of Top South Media NZ. Payment is due by the 20th of the following month. All debt recovery costs will be oncharged to the customer. Interest will be charged on overdue debts greater than 90 days. Cheques are no longer accepted. Should you require any further information please view our Terms of Trade at https://topsouthmedia.co.nz/terms-of-trade/ or call 544 9037.

A memorial event will be held at the family home 27 Bramley St Richmond from 3 to 5pm on Saturday January 18th 2025. Messages for the Wilkinson / Marwick family can be sent to the above address or text 027 2314426. In lieu of flowers donations to Nelson Hospice would be appreciated.

Margaret will be sadly missed by the Brightwater and Tapawera rural and church communities where she spent her entire life.

Grateful thanks to the wonderful staff at Wakefield rest home for their care.

Margaret’s funeral was held on Tuesday at St Paul’s Church in Brightwater and was interred at Richmond Cemetery.

Messages to Liz Zwart at 275 Mt Heslington Road, Brightwater or Andrew at fenemor@xtra.co.nz