4 February 2022 Rangitoto Observer

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Father’s war service sparks ripping yarn... p3

Issue 74 –15February 4, 2022 Issue 1 –Issue 2019 March 2019 Issue 1 March – 115– 15 March 2019

Council employs extra compliance staff... p9

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Whale tails create art trail in Takapuna... p14

Omicron cases put local schools on edge

Schools are nervously opening their doors this week, faced with another year of teaching under the cloud of Covid-19 and after Takapuna students were last week confirmed as having the Omicron variant.

The initial cases were diagnosed ahead of local schools reopening, with families and

close contacts in the area having to isolate.

The first notified cases came from one group of friends from Takapuna Grammar who attended the Soundsplash music festival near Hamilton last month, but other schools are on alert, given thousands of young people mixed and mingled at the event.

Westlake Girls High principal Jane Stanley said she knew some senior students from the school had been at the festival, but she had not been advised of any testing positive.

“We will not be asking students to stay at home,” she said. But those who had been at To page 2

Lunar New Year brings joy and renewed challenges

Go tiger... The family team behind Flying Horse takeways in Takapuna, Joe, Joanna and Joyce Seto, have their counter bedecked for a happy New Year, even as they go back to more distanced service under Covid conditions. Voted by the public as the suburb’s best takeaway before Christmas, they say all local businesses deserve an award at the moment. Story, page 11

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February 4, 2022

Schools face start in ‘state of flux’ the festival had been asked to have a Covid test and monitor for symptoms before starting back. Takapuna Grammar has asked all attendees for a negative test before they return and for those in isolation to be cleared by the Ministry of Health before doing so.

Like other local schools, Westlake told the Observer it was eager to resume faceto-face learning and had safety policies in place, following Ministry of Education advice on masking, ventilation, group size and restricted visiting.

Mask wearing now extends to primary students; required for those from Year 4 up.

“While things will still look a little different, we’ll work together as a school community to provide the best opportunities we can for our students,” said Stanley.

Rosmini headmaster Nixon Cooper said the college had found operating difficult in red-light conditions, due to conflicting statements. But it was adapting and had started the year with a full complement of vaccinated staff, which other schools also reported.

Carmel College principal Christine Allen said it was a tricky time the Covid landscape in a state of flux. New mandates and recom-

mendations were coming out almost daily, making it difficult to keep up to date, but adjustments to procedures, including medical grade masks for teachers, were being made. “We’re just probably more aware of the increased risks of transmission and likelihood of it being in the school environment in the coming weeks,” she said.

North Harbour principals have set up regular Zoom meetings to share ideas and concerns, which was very helpful, said Allen.

The country’s move to red-light Covid conditions on 23 January has canned some bigger local events, including film nights and the combined Takapuna Rocks and summer festival in mid-February. Other arts and community events are continuing with curtailed numbers and vaccine passport controls.

Hospitality is again hard hit, with a 100-person limit on venues, cutting into the chance for operators to recoup a fraction of their earlier lockdown losses over the long holiday weekends.

Locations of interest visited by people who tested positive to Covid include: Sushi Tomi on Miford Rd on 20 January, the Stanley Avenue Wine Bar & Bistro Milford on 27, 28 and 29 January, and Westlake Girls High School uniform shop in View Rd on 22 Janaury.

An extra 150 staff positions are “being brought on board” as the Waitemata District Health Board, which runs North Shore Hospital, braces for Omicron.

The jobs were on top of filling existing vacancies, a board spokesperson said. They included more nurses and allied health and administration posts. More than half of the new roles were said to be already in place.

But the board spokesman did not provide the Observer with requested specific figures and timings for North Shore. (The DHB’s area also encompasses West Auckland, home of the smaller Waitakere Hospital.)

The spokesman said the Australian situation showed how rapidly the virus could spread in the general population. To cope with something similar here, Ward 11 and the elective surgery centre at North Shore

Hospital could be stood up quickly for any influx of Covid-19 patients. “A third ward is now being prepared to also take Covid-19 positive patients should it be needed.”

Extra negative-pressure rooms, in which an air-pressure difference stops contaminated air from flowing out when the door is opened, are nearing completion in the high dependency unit and the birth suite. Other changes for maternity and mental health patients were “well-advanced.”

Pandemic safety systems developed over the last two years were being adapted for highly transmissible Omicron. Plans were also said to be in place to share resources, if needed, including with private providers.

Meanwhile, a patient in their 70s with Covid-19 and other issues has died, after being admitted to the hospital last month.

From page 1

Hospital cagey on Covid upgrades

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Boxing on and on to get an answer on beach intrusion A mysterious box on Takapuna Beach is permitted to remain in place for up to two years, the Observer has learned.

But Auckland Council says the white single garage-sized construction is likely to be there for less time than this. Its response came last week to repeated questions from the Observer, dating back to mid-November.

Inquiries were prompted by the appearance of the box beneath a single-home residential development on the amalgamation of three multimillion-dollar sites next to the Takapuna Boating Club. The protrusion beyond the property’s orginal seawall had prompted queries from the public and letters to this newspaper.

Local elected representatives suggested last year that permission related to riparian rights for the property. The paper had been unsuccessful until last week, however, in getting council staff to explain the grounds that applied and what the box was for.

The council’s eventual response said an application for a replacement seawall approximately 1.1m in front of the existing seawall had been authorised.

“In order to construct the seawall, a temporary wooden structure has been erected around the works area,” team leader of resource consents, Steve Seager, said. “It is understood that the temporary structure is to protect the works area and keep people safe.”

This was permitted as a temporary activity under the Auckland Unitary Plan (AUP), chapter E40. This rule allowed for a maximum timeframe of 24 months, he said, but “it is likely to be less than this.”

The Observer was provided with an aerial photograph, showing boundaries of the site extending beyond its orginal seawall. Seager said approved plans and the image showed, the private legal boundary extended beyond both the seawall and the temporary structure.

“Both structures are located within the consent holders Certificate of Title.”

The placement of the new seawall allowed the retention of a pohutukawa tree, he added.

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February 4, 2022

Father’s wartime missions jumping-off point for author

Takapuna man Tony Wood’s father was typical of his generation in talking little about his wartime experiences, but Captain Colin Wood’s time as a WWII bomber pilot and the few anecdotes that slipped out over the years were ammunition enough to inspire a book.

Like the time flak struck the buckle of his parachute harness. “It left him badly bruised, but he could have died,” says his son.

Writing under the pen-name Anthony David (his first names), the book is the long-time Shore resident’s fifth. While it is a novel like his others, Captain’s Fancy is much more personal. It tells the story of two New Zealand brothers, one of whom enlists in the RAF, as did Wood’s father.

The idea to write about the Lancaster bomber 75 Squadron that a lot of Antipodeans served in first came 25 years ago, when his father was still alive. But Wood got waylaid, including by performing as a singer, so he only pulled the story together in the last two years.

This book’s cover features a picture of his father and other airmen from 1944 that has been on Wood’s mantelpiece for years.

The emblazoned plane they stand in front of is named Captain’s Fancy, renowned in air circles for surviving more than 150 missions.

When Auckland’s Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) finally acquired a different Lancaster to display, it chose to spruce it up with that livery.

Curious coincidences between fact and fiction also sprang up when Wood was researching his book. He learned that New Zealand airmen sent to Canada for air training before joining the war effort in Britain would sometimes stop off in Hawaii. He decided his character might be there during the attack on Pearl Harbour. Later he found out his father had shore leave the week before.

After Canada, where he met his wife,

he flew 40 missions. This included raids on Germany and mine-laying in Norway, detailed in his flight logs.

His medals are framed alongside those of his father, Frank Wood, who served in World War I. He went on to become headmaster of Takapuna Primary School in the early 1920s, before moving down country. His grandson went in the other direction, growing up in South Waikato, before heading to Auckland 50 years ago, with 35 of those years on the Shore, mostly in Belmont and Takapuna.

Wood now lives with his wife Jen just a few blocks nearer the beach than his grandfather’s old school. The 68-year-old is a keen stand-up paddleboarder.

At New Year’s Eve, the accomplished entertainer sang over the road at Taylors on Hurstmere, as part of a Bee Gees tribute act.

With stage musicals and Opera New Zealand in his background, Wood has also written

Daring do... Tony Wood with family war medals and (above) his father, Captain Colin Wood, (back row, third left) in front of the RAF bomber dubbed Captain’s Fancy and recorded many songs, with 30 online.

When his IT job ended six years ago, he took the chance to devote more time to writing ­– up to 3000 words a day. “The process is fantastic, it’s quite cathartic,” he says.

Wood likens writing a chapter to writing a song. There’s a beginning and an end and inspiration on what comes next for the characters can strike in the shower, he jokes.

Captain’s Fancy is, he says, as much a Kiwi family saga as a wartime one. It runs from 1939-1979, and he hopes it will have broad appeal and be taken up by libraries like his other books.

Covid scuttled plans to launch it at the now-cancelled Warbirds over Wanaka show, but he will take it to MOTAT once copies, expected soon, arrive from his UK publisher Pegasus. Captain’s Fancy will be available on Amazon and Book Depository and from his own website www.kiwiblue.co.nz

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Swim chums chute the breeze after race success

Swim rivals for decades, Ian Gunthorp and Geoff Carter were both winners in the Swim the Shore 3.8km ocean race from Narrow Neck to Takapuna Beach.

Gunthorp was first in the 75-79 men’s age group race in a time of 1:02.36 and was still in the finishing chute to welcome home Carter who won the men’s 70-74 division in 1:04.27.

Alex Dunkley (16) won the Ocean Series race day overall in a time of 47.39 minutes, well ahead of second-placed Brent Foster on 50.56. He just pipped Ruby Heath, who was first woman and third overall in a time of 50.58.

Dunkley said he was trailing Foster early in the race. But in the choppy conditions he swam a different line and posted an extremely quick time.

In what was one of the final large events prior to the red-light restrictions introduced in response to the Omicron outbreak last month, 274 competitors completed the 3.8km swim on 22 January.

Another 66 people took part in a 2000m swim on Takapuna Beach; 77 completed a 1000m event and 24 finished a 500m course.

Meanwhile, the weekly Beach Series at Good one, mate…Ian Gunthorp (right) congratulates Geoff Carter in Takapuna is on under red-light rules. the winning chute after completing the 3.8km Ocean Series swim

First, second, third… Competitors (from left) Alex Dunkley winning the Ocean Series, followed by Brent Foster and Ruby Heath.

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Briefs

Estuary aid wanted

A further 1500 natives are set to be planted around the Milford end of the Wairau Estuary this year by Conservation Volunteers NZ. The group is holding its next day for interested and vaccinated helpers on 12 February. This will focus on clearing rubbish and weeding earlier plantings. Regional manager Clair Hobi said rubbish flows into the estuary from upstream, as do industrial pollutants.

“A lot more work needs to be done on the whole length of the estuary to really achieve good quality,” she says, although freshwater fish exist in it. Volunters are asked to register on the Conservation

Volunteers website or by emailing info@cvnz.org.nz

Sparkie fixes bridge

The Milford Bridge across the Wairau Estuary reopened much earlier than expected after an electrician found a fix for its faulty alarm system. Auckland Council said last month repairs could take up to six weeks, meaning the pedestrian bridge needed to remain in a raised position to ensure boats could get in. A temporary fix was found by one of the contractor electricians, allowing the bridge to be put back in use from 21 January, while a replacement permanent part was awaited.

Local Dame lauded

After a golden year champion canoeist Lisa Carrington – who lives in Forrest HIll and trains on Lake Pupuke – has won the Lonsdale Cup for the third time. The cup is awarded annually by the New Zealand Olympic Committee. It follows Carrington’s being being made a Dame in the New Year’s Honours List after a golden run at the Tokyo Olympics.

February 4, 2022

IB star wants to help save the world

For Stella MacKenzie (pictured, right), a faultless score in her International Baccalaureate is a step towards changing the world for the better.

The 18-year-old has learned she achieved the perfect 45 points, placing her in the top 2 per cent of students around the world.

Stella is bound for the University of Melbourne to study physics this year. The Kristin School graduate – who lives in Devonport and was one of around 240 students from the peninsula or Takapuna-Milford areas who travelled to the private school in Albany – said she was relieved with her result. She had deliberately tried not to put pressure on herself.

“I convinced myself that whatever score

I got I’d be really proud of, seeing I worked really hard through the exams and through the lockdown we had,” she said.

Stella came to New Zealand two years ago with her Kiwi family after spending most of her life overseas due to her father’s job, much of which was Singapore-based.

Stella’s says she loves learning – there’s so much mystery in the world waiting to be uncovered, she says.

After graduation she hopes to go on to Switzerland to do a Masters.

She then wants to work in a laboratory or as an academic, doing her own research on climate change and potential solutions ­– “if there’s some kind of way that I can put my theoretical physics knowledge to good use”.

Call to oppose rubbish collection proposal New waste collection plans are being rubbished by a local board member, who is urging the community to speak up against them.

The North Shore and west Auckland have pay-as-you-throw collections, where users buy tags for their wheelie bins, or can use pre-paid rubbish bags instead. But Auckland Council may standardise methods across the city with a rates-based model for all.

“Currently, we have the most cost-effective and efficient system on the North Shore, when one considers the types of collection systems in the remainder of Auckland,” says George Wood, of the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board. “The monopoly system means that Auckland Council wants to bring the whole of Auckland under an arrangement whereby everyone pays a fixed fee on our rates of around $150 per annum.”

At a meeting before Christmas, the coun-

cil’s finance and performance committee told standardisation would give the council “influence” over the region’s domestic waste stream which could help waste reduction efforts. It would also be the most cost-effective and clearest choice, councillors were advised.

If they vote in favour, the scheme would be introduced on the Shore throughout 2024-25. The proposed change will be open for public consultation from 22 February to 22 March.

“People need to say no to the changes being recommended by the Auckland Council,” Wood said. “The end result will be rising costs and no competition like we have currently.”

The Shore has around a half dozen operators. Wood says without them “costs can only go one way and that is up”.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 7

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February 4, 2022

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February 4, 2022

Covid red spells end of the golden weather for big events

Red traffic light regulations have put the brakes on several larger community events on the North Shore.

Movies at the Beach at Takapuna Reserve, which had several dates planned in February, has been postponed, the Takapuna Beach Business Association confirmed. “We are working through the logistics of some new dates and will announce these soon,” association chief executive Terence Harpur said.

The Takapuna Rocks festival has also been called off. It was set to roar into gear on 13 Februrary in tandem with the Takapuna summer festival. The car enthusiasts event was postponed during Covid lockdown over Labour Weekend in October 2021. It usually features scores of classic cars, hot rods and bikes. Under current Covid conditions, its permit to set up along The Strand, with its multiple access points, had to be cancelled.

Devonport’s returning Friday After 5 street festival, which was to have been stretched over two days in mid-February, has also been postponed. It is now set to happen closer to Christmas.

The news is brighter for arts events, such as Shakespeare in the Park at the PumpHouse, which can manage to continue with restricted numbers and vaccine passes, as can some other performances.

Children’s play sesssions for pre-schoolers, held in various local parks, are also able to continue subject to conditions.

Off and on... Movie evenings (above) at the beach are over for now, although smaller-scale activities such as Waterworld, enjoyed (below) by Henry Austin, aged seven, last week, will be back at Lake Pupuke this weekend

More beach patrol staff on the way

Auckland Council is looking to hire 20 more compliance staff after a summer of breaches, but just one of those will be solely focussed on the North Shore.

Complaints have intensified about people setting up camp at beaches, including one large group who stayed for six nights at Castor Bay. Devonport-Takapuna Local Board chair Ruth Jackson said stepped-up patrols, including just talking to people, had already had an impact, ahead of the long weekends.

“It has improved but it does still have a way to go.”

As reported previously, Jackson said lack of staffing and resources had been a problem. But the council was now seeking to hire 20 more staff in units that dealt with bylaw enforcement, including camping on public beaches and reserves, and other

compliance issues such as swimming pool fencing, biosecurity and septic tanks; plus tracking resource consents and dealing with breaches of the Resource Management Act and the Building Act. Most of the jobs are region-wide but one compliance monitoring role has been specifically earmarked for North Shore.

Freedom camping was not a new issue but had been particularly prevalent this year, said the council’s licensing and compliance manager, James Hassall. Complaints were up from 165 to 216. This increase could be attributed in part to more people staying in the Auckland region over the summer period, instead of venturing further afield.

But some complaints were over people who set up early for the day and/or stayed late, which is allowed. Patrols would be in place for Waitangi weekend, he said.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 10

February 4, 2022

Ma ori tradition and the sea inspire new playgrounds The upgrade of a playground the playground at Oliver (Kawerau) –para Reserve will incorporate mara hu –ori traditional play elements as - Ma well as sustainable materials.

The old playground is old and in need of an upgrade with almost all of the new equipment to made from natural materials.

As well as new play elements such as slides, tunnels and rope climb, the –para design incorporates mara hu – - Maori traditional play elements, including traditional log games.

Natural shade will eventually be provided trees being planted in the area and there will be seating and picnic table.

–ori play elements in Underwood Reserve in An example of traditional Ma Mt Roskill. Mara hūpara are a feature of the playground being upgraded in Oliver (Kawerau) Reserve now underway.

The design, which incorporated • improved drainage input from mana whenua, features: • picnic table and rubbish bin • sustainable materials, • native shade trees.

• plastic is avoided as much as Also underway is an upgrade of the possible playground at Montgomery Reserve • integration into the natural in Belmont. environment of the reserve.

– – – • incorporating mara hupara / Maori The existing nautical theme is traditional play elements • focus on climbing, sliding, and swinging.

There are plenty of fun things to climb, slide and crawl under and over as well as swings, a flying fox, mini trampoline, and a picnic table (shaded by a tree) and seating.

The junior play area will feature shade sails – perfect to protect them from the sun’s damaging rays.

being replicated in the upgraded equipment with a ship structure Both projects due for completion by the end of March. taking centre stage.

Consultation on council’s annual budget Later this month Aucklanders will be invited to have The local board also proposes continuing with their say on Auckland Council’s 2022/2023 Annual important environmental initiatives, such as supporting Budget. pest-free coordinator roles, parks volunteers and Once again, the impacts of COVID-19 are presenting Wairau Estuary restoration programmes. These the organisation with many challenges, but the local programmes create community ownership and a board remains committed to continuing to support its collective buy-in to eliminate pests and weeds, as well as improve local waterways. community.

At a regional level, key consultation topics include a proposed Climate Action Targeted Rate to support a significant climate action package, moving to a simpler payment method for rubbish collections and the level of proposed rates increase.

The council’s Governing Body was due to adopt the consultation material on 8 February with public consultation running 28 February to 28 March.

Full details and supporting information, including the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board proposals Locally, many of the projects included in the local and the different ways to have your say will be at board agreement are already underway and will be akhaveyoursay.nz from 28 February. completed during this period. These include upgrading play spaces at Montgomery and Allenby reserves, new The local board has pencilled in a Have Your Say accessible toilet block in Takapuna’s Gould Reserve community forum for early March with the date being and a new toilet block at the Tonkin Road end of confirmed soon. Keep an eye on the website or the Sunnynook Park. board’s Facebook page for details.

CONTACT US: aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/devonporttakapuna FOLLOW US: Facebook.com/devonporttakapuna

The Rangitoto Observer Page 11

February 4, 2022

Old-school Takapuna takeaway enjoys taste of success From page 1 Joanna Seto (pictured right, holding her Taste of Takapuna award) has been helping in the kitchen since she was 10. Now the 32-year-old Flying Horse owner, who took over running the Takapuna Chinese takeaway from parents Joe and Joyce, is back working the woks.

A chef short, and with a popular business to maintain in these uncertain Covid times, she draws on the example of the hands-on work ethic of her parents. And she still has the semi-retired duo’s help at weekends.

“I was always drawn to the business,” says Seto. Takapuna people are drawn to it as well, voting Flying Horse their favourite takeaway in dining awards announced in December by the Takapuna Beach Business association (see I Love Takapuna website).

“It was the biggest surprise. We have so many other amazing businesses around here, says Seto. “It was really a shock to me because we haven’t won anything like that before.”

She generously rattles off the names of various other Takapuna eateries, some upmarket chains, such as Burger Burger, whose takeaways are known well beyond Takapuna.

But perhaps the winning appeal of Flying Horse, she suggests, is because it was seen as a dependable, long-established choice in a time when lockdowns had made people realise the value in their own neighbourhoods.

“Either way, every business deserves an award,” she maintains.

Flying Horse’s founders, the Cheung family, set up the takeaway in 1977 and owned it for 30 years. Joe Seto was a friend and bought it from them 15 years ago. A second branch in Birkenhead was sold to his wife’s younger sister, who still runs it separately.

Two years ago, Jo[anna] took on the Takapuna business which has seven staff, three full-time. The appeal of running her own place had won out over various office finance and recruiting jobs she had held. She especially enjoys the customer interactions and says: “Takapuna people are really friendly.”

Seto says she is a Westie, raised and still living across town, with her husband juggling two new businesses, a café and a takeaway in Mt Albert.

Her father emigrated from Kaiping in Guangdong, south-eastern China, in the early 1980s and her mother came later in the decade. They first had a takeaway in West Auckland and Seto remembers her parents working long and late hours with her mother taking on sewing as well. “Dad would go to the tomato garden in the early morning and only get a few hours’ sleep.”

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They were attracted to buying their next business in Takapuna, believing it was a “strong and vibrant area, a settled area.”

So it has proved, with around two-thirds of customers being regulars, ranging from ordering twice a week to once a month. But people from all over Auckland come in, with some following online recommendations.

Her own local favourite eateries include Nanam (named best restaurant in the same People’s Choice awards); Tok Tok; her next-door neighbour, Manna sushi for its service and Street Organics, where she succumbs to its Snickers shake.

Seto hasn’t messed with her father’s menu, saying: “I’m not going to change what is working. Food was my dad’s strength.”

Instead she has focused on maintaining consistency and quality and freshening the look of the place and its website. New exterior signage was installed last year and a few seasonal menu items may be added. But they would be hard pushed to nudge chicken fried rice, sweet and sour pork, and salt and chilli prawns from the customer favourites list.

“I don’t want to become too trendy, we are that soulful version of Chinese takeaway,” she says.

A new square to share TAKAPUNA

We’re building Waiwharariki Anzac Square where the Takapuna community can come together to meet, relax, play and celebrate.

The Anzac Street car park has partly closed for the construction. Other parking options nearby include Toka Puia car park in Northcroft Street and Killarney Street car park.

The Takapuna Sunday Market will be relocated to the Anzac Street end of the site in a temporary layout during construction.

For more information, visit panuku.co.nz/Takapuna

The Rangitoto Observer Page 12

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 13

February 4, 2022

Congratulations Class of 2021!

For academic excellence in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma and NCEA From left: Senior School Principal David Boardman, Sam Zhuang, Lucy Xu and Stella Mackenzie.

2021 results are out and once again, we couldn’t be prouder of our students’ achievements.

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Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 14

February 4, 2022

Whale tales from along the Takapuna art trail

Heritage inspiration... Carol-Jeanein Taka wanted her whale tail design to reflect Maori lore and Takapuna business boss Terence Harpur picked it as an oceanic ideal, for display in Hurstmere Rd The story of whales helping early travel- she had worked on since high school. She see whales and dolphins straight off the lers reach New Zealand is portrayed in one said she loved whales, and also wanted to beach.” The association also wanted a piece show her heritage – acknowledging the sig- that spoke to the whakapapa and heritage of of Takapuna’s whale tails.

The whale trail is an awareness-raising nificance whales played in people coming the area, he said, with connections to mana whenua needing to be recognised.

World Wildlife Fund project, with 80 tails from Hawaiki to New Zealand.

The tails will stay up until 18 April and “They gifted waka to the people,” she displayed across Auckland. Three of those then be auctioned for the World Wildlife are in central Takapuna – at the playground, said.

Taka, who lives in Manukau, spent about Fund. An app connected to the trail has an at the boat ramp end of the beach, and on Hurstmere Rd – with another at the a month on the painting. This included in-built pedometer for those who wish to Shakespeare Rd entrance to Smales Farm. working with the project’s paint sponsor track exploring the trail. It also offers prizes.

Eighty smaller tails, painted by schools, Takapuna artist Esther Cain has also created Resene to match its colours with her digital will be put on display in mid-March. one near the Devonport wharf (see page draft of the artwork.

Project marketing manager Bex Waddell The Takapuna Beach Business Associaopposite).

Te Koha Tohorā, the Hurstmere Rd tail, tion sponsored Taka’s piece, with chief ex- urged people to support the businesses and was created by Carol-Jeanein Taka, of ecutive Terence Harpur saying it was the one organisations backing the trail. “It’s about bringing art and the business community Ngatiwai iwi. She usually designs art for they wanted to display on Hurstmere Rd. “This one is particularly special to us with together for good to support a very sick games, so the whale was one of her first big freelance art pieces and the biggest thing our connection to the sea,” he said. “We can Hauraki Gulf.”

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Arts / Entertainment Pages

The Rangitoto Observer Page 15

Colourful story behind tail If you think you see a nod to Elmer the Elephant in the whale tail near the Devonport Ferry terminal, you aren’t wrong.

The brightly coloured sculpture was painted by Takapuna resident Esther Cain, aged 23. She does art as a hobby around her work as a massage therapist.

“I was one of those kids in high school always drawing under the table,” says the former Takapuna Grammar student. Cain enjoys colour, and said part of her inspiration was a favourite childhood book, Elmer the Elephant, by David McKee. “Who doesn’t love a bit of colour or something a bit colourful?”

Cain has exhibited other sculptures in galleries “but nothing this big or this public”.

“I came down one of the nights after it was being put up. There were still families taking photos then. It was so cool.”

For her, art is a getaway. “It’s something I can do where I don’t have to think too much. It shouldn’t be stressful; it should be enjoyable.”

She was happy to be involved in the Whale Tales Trail because it was a good cause, raising awareness of the Hauraki Gulf and the rare Brydes whales that lived there.

“Anything that helps those in need – animals or people – is just amazing. It should Bright spark… Takapuna creative Esther Cain wags her tail in Devonport be done,” says Cain.

Her brother, Oliver, is a full-time artist and also has a tail on the trail, with his at Westhaven Beach. Devonport artist Paola King-Borrero is another Shore particpant, although her piece is on display at Mangere Bridge.

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The Rangitoto Observer Page 16

February 4, 2022

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