Tokomaru Bay ties spur church into action

by Julia Stuart

A community link begun in 1977 has been renewed following the recent recent Cyclone Gabrielle flooding in Tairāwhiti, with an Eastbourne community fundraising initiative for the rangatahi of Ngāti Porou.

The connection between Eastbourne and communities on the East Coast began in August 1977, when artist potter Helen Mason, a Tokomaru Bay resident, asked her son-in-law, Rev Peter Stuart, for help in hosting a 50-strong concert party visiting the capital.

The group comprised junior kapa haka members, plus adult artists mounting an exhibition in Cuba Mall. Most of the youngsters had never been further south than Gisborne.

The party, led by Ngoi Pēwhairangi, (later famous as the composer of “Poi E!”). came out to St Albans’ parish hall in Ngaio Street – a safer place than the central city – where parishioners could help with hosting, catering and transport.

St Albans sought cultural advice from Iri Tawhiwhirangi of Ngāti Porou (a founder of the kōhanga reo movement) on how to formally welcome the visitors and make them feel at home. “They slept on borrowed mattresses, and used [neighbours’] and the vicarage bathrooms,” says Rev Stuart.

It was the beginning of a lasting relationship between the two communities. In her thankyou letter, Ngoi Pēwhairangi remarked on “the most beautiful friendship and kinship that is rarely found in New Zealand”. She invited the parish on a return visit, and the following summer 80 Eastbourners stayed on Pākirikiri Marae in Tokomaru Bay for a week, weaving flax, sharing music and art, enjoying the beach and bay, and watching experts lay hangi.

In 1979 Tokomaru Bay again arrived in Eastbourne, this time mostly teenagers whom Ngoi and the leaders wanted to experience city life and opportunities in a managed way. Back went Eastbourne to Tokomaru Bay in even larger numbers in January 1981 – 120 managed themselves on the marae with guidance from locals.

Exchange visits continued for another five years, including the wedding between Karin Englert of Eastbourne and Nihi Houia from Tokomaru Bay in San Antonio church. But inevitably the collective community link faded as key people moved on.

Personal friendships and warm connections continued between the two communities, however. Just last year, Ann Packer and Eastbourne librarian Jo Salisbury replenished Hatea-a-Rangi School’s library with boxes of books after their school was rebuilt following a flood. Since this latest disaster, local children have met in hubs supervised by their teachers (“Koka”) in homes isolated by broken roads.

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St Albans, St Ronans and San Antonio churches have spearheaded fundraising for the rangatahi of Ngāti Porou, particularly in Tokomaru Bay, where schooling, homes, families and community facilities have been so cruelly damaged. Working through Hateaa-rangi’s principal, Karla Kohatu – who herself came on one of the trips to Eastbourne, the fundraiser is for the period following the initial repair and recovery, when educational and social needs will emerge which may not be covered by disaster relief. A strong connection is already in place. This is a way of adding another strand to it.

Contributions to (Parish of Eastbourne – Cyclone) 02-0500-0821577-001. Need a receipt? treasurer@stalbanschurch.nz

Terry Maxwell Seward, 1940 – 2022

Terry Seward, a Canadian-born geochemist, died on Christmas Eve at Te Omanga Hospice after a long bravely-fought battle with mesothelioma.

He was a world-renowned scientist who made significant contributions to the field of geothermal studies and precious metal mineralisation in hydrothermal systems.

Terry Seward came to New Zealand in 1970 with his English wife Diane, a geologist, to work at the Chemistry Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in geothermal sciences. High pressure and high temperature experiments on the chemistry of geothermal waters were his main field of research at this time.

The couple met while Terry was completing a BSc in geology and chemistry from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, where Diane was also studying. They then travelled to Manchester, England, where Terry completed his PhD in geochemistry.

The couple bought their first house in Kotari Rd, Days Bay, in 1974 and made it their home with elder daughter Marika.

They moved to Huia Rd when second daughter, Anya, arrived and later, in 2018, moved to Tui Rd. The girls and Terry loved the bush and the hideaways it provided. He was especially fond of growing subtropical plants such as cycads and various rare palms, mountain papayas, bananas, avocados and many others. Their gardens are dotted with unique and interesting plants, each with a story of travels to parts of the world where these plants are native.

An avid collector of rare and special things, Terry began collecting rocks and minerals as a nine-year-old in the surrounds of Toronto, and as a teenager would join his dad and friends for adventures further afield. He continued this hobby throughout his life, combining it with his research passions.

During his time at DSIR Dr Seward was the driving force in establishing the experimental and analytical geochemistry facility at the Chemistry Division.

In 1975 he was named the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow which allowed him and his family to spend two years in Karlsruhe, Germany. (He was later awarded this fellowship for a second time, in 2014.)

On returning to DSIR he became group leader of the experimental and analytical geochemistry facility between 1980 and 1988. In 1988 the family headed to Zurich, where Terry was appointed Professor of Geochemistry at the Swiss Federal Technical University (ETH) becoming chair of the department and Dean.

“We enjoyed the best side of Switzerland,” Diane says.

“It’s a different place to live and adjust to, very organised, highly controlled – but it works. We had a wonderful time.”

During his time in Zurich Terry supervised and mentored students from around the world, working on a vast variety of research into how gases and fluids interact with rocks at high temperatures and high pressures, leading to groundbreaking discoveries into the fundamental dynamics of volcanic and geothermal systems.

His research also led to his discovery of new and interesting minerals, including “Sewardite”. Although he discovered the calcium-iron arsenate material in Namibia in 1982, it was not till 20 years later that it was finally analysed and named. It is, Diane says, “so tiny, so rare”, with deep red rosettes up to only 0.1mm in diameter.

Terry retired in 2006 and spent time as a visiting professor at the Universities of Bristol, Tongji (Shanghai) and Stanford before moving back to Wellington in 2010 when he was appointed Professor of Chemistry and Geochemistry at Victoria University. In 2020 he moved to the National Isotope Centre, part of GNS Science.

Among many awards and accolades, visiting professorships, directorships and membership on boards of governors in Europe, USA, India and China, Terry became president of the European Association of Geochemistry. In 2005 he received the first annual Robert Wilhelm Bunsen Medal (he of the Bunsen burner – also a renowned chemist and avid mineral collector, with a mineral named after him) “for pioneering contributions in hydrothermal geochemistry/chemistry”.

Simon Lamb, Associate Professor in Geophysics at Victoria University of Wellington, says Terry was one of New Zealand’s most distinguished geochemists, pioneering research on precious metal mineralisation in hydrothermal systems. “His work on gold in the 1970s and 80s led to a gold rush around the Pacific margin, highlighting volcanoes as the place to look.”

Dr Lamb says it was as a result of Terry Seward’s fundamental research in geochemistry that he was head hunted by ETH in Zurich as Professor of Geochemistry, one of the most prestigious positions in Academia. “But Terry wore his scientific eminence lightly, and was a delightful person to talk to, with a wonderful sense of humour. I will never stop missing him.”

Although Terry will be remembered as one of New Zealand’s most distinguished geochemists, with more than 57 years of research, publishing more than 110 papers and six books, it was his quick wit, love of wine, experimental (but always delicious) cooking and storytelling of his adventures that his friends and neighbours in the Bays will remember.

- by Ann Packer