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Molly Blain and her dogs Kahu, Ruru and Micky on patrol on Wakanui Beach.
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September 30, 2016
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Don’t trash our beautiful beaches BY MICHELLE NELSON
MICHELLE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Family, lifestyle and
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• Site works • Carparks • Driveways
• Paths & patios • Demolition • Foundation • Landscape • Drainage excavation levelling • Site clearing www.jansenandbra + so much more Alex Braas – 021 as.co.nz | jansen.braas@iclo ud.com 716 165 | Ilco Jansen – 021 554 584
IN TODAY’S GUARDIAN
PHOTO AMANDA KONYN 290916-AK-019
A Wakanui Huts resident is spearheading a campaign to clean up the beach and to encourage others to learn more of the area’s rich history harking back to moahunting times. Molly Blain and her husband Allan have lived in a small bach tucked in a tiny settlement behind the beach for a decade and they’ve made it their mission to protect the windswept environment they call home. “We found the place by accident when we were looking for Hakatere and we fell in love with it,” Blain said. The couple live off the grid and tread lightly on the land they call home. The settlement of eight bachs dates back to the turn of last century. Unfor-
tunately Blain’s predecessors were not so environmentally inclined and used an adjacent area as a dumpsite. The discarded vehicles and household rubbish have been painstakingly dug up and removed. What was once an eyesore is now a garden, containing many fruit trees, herbs and vegetables. “Everything in here has a use,” Blain said. Almost every day she walks her dogs along the beach collecting rubbish left by visitors or washed up in the surf and recently set up the Friends of Wakanui Beach Facebook page. In doing so Blain hopes to encourage others to visit the beach to learn what it has to offer and to collect the rubbish left behind by others. Sea lions and penguins often come
ashore to rest, endangered Hector’s dolphins and occasionally whales can be seen in the surf. Wakanui is also a great fishing beach, with the catches picking up over the past 10 years since inshore commercial fishing ceased. “You can catch kawhai, flounder and red cod – there’s so much to do down here,” Blain said. Beachcombers often come upon agates polished on their journey from the Mt Somers region to the sea, and the perfectly round flat greywacke stones are prized by artists. “We want people to come down and claim the beach, bring your children and your grandchildren and value what we have on our doorstep. “If you can pick up some rubbish so much the better.”
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