Marina Nadilo has achieved a first - this year's Wharf to Wharf race was conquered by the 16 year-old in just 17'10" - the second woman to win the race in its history, and the first ever local woman to beat the field.
This year's entries numbered 170, with organisers attributing the race's popularity to warm summer waters in the Harbour and the perfect conditions on race day - still and sunny. Claire Allen told entrants the event was "like a child that grew up too quick; we usually have about 100 entries".
Pictured: W2W winner Marina Nadilo with Veteran Male winner and third- placed Robin Cameron-Jones (l) and Jackson Arlidge, second-placed and Open Males winner.
Below right: swimmers raced on a perfect day. Photo: Simon Hoyle, Southlight Studios. Check out the video at: vimeo.com/1061690481
Results:
• Open Females (16-49) and overall winner: Marina Nadilo 17:10
Lower Hutt residents are being asked to weigh in on a pivotal decision that will shape the future of our water services for decades to come. Public consultation is now open on how to fund and deliver drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater services.
The Government's "Local Water Done Well" initiative mandates councils nationwide to collaborate with their communities on water service delivery strategies. Hutt City Council, in partnership with Porirua City, Upper Hutt City, Wellington City Council, and Greater Wellington Regional Council, has developed a proposal centred on a multi-council-owned organization.
The preferred option proposes a new, publicly owned entity to manage all water infrastructure. This model offers several key advantages:
The organisation would own and operate all pipes and infrastructure directly.It would have greater borrowing power than individual councils, facilitating necessary infrastructure upgrades. The entity would handle billing and customer communication directly. Financial modeling indicates this option would be significantly less expensive than the alternative.
The consultation also presents an alternative: a modified version of the current Wellington Water model. Under this option, councils would retain ownership of the water networks, funded through rates, and subject to existing council debt limits.
"The current delivery of water services is broken and not serving ratepayers," Mayor Campbell Barry says. "This consultation is a chance for people to consider a future where investment in water services is much more sustainable and affordable."
He acknowledged that cost increases are inevitable under any scenario due to infrastructure deficiencies. "However, our financial modelling shows that our preferred option would be about a third less costly than the status quo," he added.
Consultation closes on April 20. Councillors will review the feedback and make a final decision on June 27.
Residents can access the full consultation document and provide feedback at hutt.city/ futurewater.
Chris Bishop MP for Hutt South
Please contact my Lower Hutt office, my staff and I are here to help.
Authorised by Chris Bishop, Parliament Buildings, Wgtn.
The next public Eastbourne Community Board meeting is at 7.15pm on Tuesday, 15 April, at East Harbour Women’s Club, 145 Muritai Rd. Everyone is welcome.
ECB members will be available from 6.45pm to discuss issues and answer questions.
New ATM
By the time you read this, there will be a new ATM in the Village to replace the one removed by Westpac. The ECB contacted a local supplier when we heard how many residents depend on a local ATM.
ECB walkabout
On Saturday morning, 29 March, the ECB will have its annual ‘walkabout’ from Point Howard to Eastbourne, meeting with Resident Associations and other groups of residents. If you have an issue to discuss, email belinda. moss@huttcity.govt.nz.
Have your say
Hutt City Council and Greater Wellington Regional Council are consulting on several matters, including plans and water services. We have a summary on Eastbourne.nz. Look for the active consultations listed on the home page. Have your say about public transport
If you use the bus or ferry, use 5 minutes of your commute to give Regional Council feedback about these services, for example, returning the 85X service and improving the alignment of the ferry and bus timetables. Go to haveyoursay.gw.govt.nz
Local Body elections in October
If you are interested in being elected to the ECB to represent your community and would like to know more about the election process and what’s involved, get in touch with any ECB member. Or come along to a public meeting – there are three more before October.
Eight members of the Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade are once again setting their sights on the year's great challenge for firefighters –climbing the 1103 steps of the Sky Tower in Auckland on 24 May.
The Firefighter Sky Tower Challenge, now in its 21st consecutive year, is a major fundraising event for Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand. By 2024, over $15 million had been raised for blood cancer patients and
MP Clinic
Firefighters haul themselves up 51 floors of the tower, climbing 328 metres, wearing/ carrying 25 kg of structural firefighting gear. All of the Eastbourne team will do this using breathing apparatus – that means wearing a mask and breathing through an air tank.
Qualified Firefighter Louise Cameron says it's a big ask physically and mentally, but the payoff comes from knowing that people with blood cancer, and their families, are benefiting. "Our Eastbourne crew raised over $14,000 last year, and we'll be out and about in the community again fundraising between now and May. You'll know us when you see us."
with Hon Ginny Andersen Labour List MP based in Hutt South their families, with the event raising over $1.9 million last year.
Monday 7 April, 10am - 11am Cafe Hive, Eastbourne
No appointment needed, just pop along and have a chat.
To support the Eastbourne brigade’s efforts to raise funds for Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ, go to https://firefighterschallenge.org. nz/t/2025-eastbourne-volunteer-fire-brigade - all funds raised go to Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ.
Authorised by Ginny Andersen MP, Parliament Buildings, Wellington
EVFB volunteers are in training for the challenge.
“My Own Sort of Heaven”
by Ann Packer
Two decades ago, an exhibition opened at Wellington’s City Gallery that would have a lasting impact on many viewers. Part of the New Zealand Festival, expatriate artist Rosalie Gascoigne’s 2004 survey exhibition at City Gallery Wellington was the first major New Zealand show of her work since a touring National Art Gallery exhibition in 1983, and the first survey since her death in 1999.
Say her name and gallery-goers will respond: “road signs”.
For Eastbourne historian and writer Niki Francis, seeing that work in 2004 –including assemblages of found yellow and black road signs which Gascoigne carved up and rearranged in grid patterns – was like a “thump in the solar plexus”. It would lead eventually to her completing a biography of Gascoigne for a PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra in 2015.
Niki felt a strong kinship with the artist, who went to the same school in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland as her, grew up in the same area and knew the territory of her early life. At the time of the 2004 exhibition, Niki was about to move to Canberra for her husband’s work. Gascoigne’s art and writing about Canberra’s special light and landscape encouraged her to agree to the move.
And now, the biography.
It’s a rare author that can translate their PhD thesis into a mainstream book – but Dr Francis has done just that with her biography of the late bloomer New Zealand-born Australian artist, whose creative life didn’t begin to make headlines until she was in her late 50s. Because the author had held out for writing her thesis in a narrative form, it has survived the transition to print well, and will be reviewed in the prestigious Australian Book Review’s April issue.
Copyright issues with reproducing Gascoigne’s artwork in the book mean there are no art images, making this the third significant artist biography recently caught by such wrangles. However, many other images in the book add visual interest – including family photographs and significant places – and the artwork is easily accessible online.
Rosalie Gascoigne grew up in Auckland, went to Epsom Girls’ Grammar School, studied languages and maths at Auckland University and taught high school before moving to remote Mt Stromlo, near Canberra with her optical astronomer husband Ben Gascoigne as a newlywed, in 1943.
In a remote community of eight houses around a cluster of telescopes, as a mother of three young children she took up ikebana and quilt-making as a defence against the cultural and creative isolation in which she found herself.
Exploring a landscape vastly different from the one she had left, she began collecting “bits of stuff” that she took home and composed into 2D and 3D assemblages with evocative names like Orangery, Skewbald, Skylark and Metropolis.
From a first solo exhibition in 1974, aged 57, Gascoigne represented Australia eight years later at the Venice Biennale, the first female artist to do so. She once said she had had “a 50-year apprenticeship in looking”.
New Zealand-born Niki Francis, who came to Eastbourne in 2018 (she also spent a year here in 1975) has herself had a wealth of work and life experience before coming to published author status.
With her first husband she lived in London, Chichester, Baghdad and then with their two sons in Hamburg; in total she has lived in ten cities in six countries, working in areas as diverse as statutory authority management, parish ministry, human rights, conservation and as a professional historian.
Niki met her second husband, Australian veterinarian Allen Bryce, when she was CEO/ Registrar of the Veterinary Council of New Zealand.
She also worked for Amnesty International’s International Secretariat in London, the British Council for Aid to Refugees, taught English as a second language in Hamburg, worked for New Zealand Forest & Bird, been spiritual carer at Mary Potter Hospice and remains a Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand minister, with occasional preaching duties at St Anselm's in Karori.
She moved to Canberra in 2004 and after her husband’s diplomatic posting to Brussels 2007-2009, returned to Canberra where Niki was accepted to do a PhD in the National Centre of Biography at ANU.
She worked as a researcher on the Australian Dictionary of Biography to support her studies, and later, back in New Zealand did some contract work on the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography.
Since moving back to Aotearoa NZ at the end of 2018, Niki has continued to write, edit, and research history, and record oral histories on both sides of the Tasman, including collaborating with hapū in Tai Tokerau Northland.
Having sustained a brain injury as a result of an accident 18 months ago, shortly after completing her Gascoigne biography, Niki has only in the past few months begun working again.
She is currently assisting with the writing and editing of a book about Professor Sir Lloyd Geering’s heresy trial in the 1960s and 1970s. She hopes to research and write some
Eastbourne social history, which she had begun just prior to her accident, about shops along Muritai Road in Eastbourne, beginning with a family store started by the Foley sisters during World War I.
“My own sort of heaven: A life of Rosalie Gascoigne” (ANU Press) by Nicola Francis was launched in Australia in late November 2024 and will be released in New Zealand soon, with a launch in Wellington by Greg O’Brien, who curated the 2004 City Gallery exhibition and in Auckland by Len Bell, former Associate Professor of Art History at Auckland University. The book is available from Hutt City Libraries and copies can be purchased direct from Niki for $50 plus any postage involved. niki.francis@
Local author Niki Francis.
Faith in the Community
Hoping (not hopping!) for Easter...?
I doubt there’s been a time in my adult life when the world has seemed so mixed up, so dangerous, so dark. Maybe you feel that too? Wars, disasters, climate-change, political philosophies of destruction, division, opportunism and self-interest…
As a senior couple I know – let’s call them Ted and Laura - shared with me recently: ‘We feel so sorry our mokopuna have to live in this world. Have the lights gone out all over the world!?’
My answer to Ted and Laura was an emphatic ‘No’. Why? The reason is written through the season of Easter, which is nearly here. The good news is that the God with whom Christians walk this Easter, is a God who moves real people to take real actions to make the world a better place; a God for whom hatred and violence is never the last word; a God who walks with us through the darkness and reminds us that the light is never far away; a God of hope...
Come and join our Combined Eastbourne Churches this Easter, share in the hope – you’ll find all you need to know below...
Celebrate Easter together with Eastbourne’s Combined Churches:
+Good Friday, 18 April, Service at 9:30am, at San Antonio church. +Easter Saturday, 19 April, Quiet Reflection – drop in anytime 10am to 4pm, at St Ronan’s church. +Easter Sunday, 20 April, ‘Sonrise Service’ at 6:30am, on beach by RSA (HCBs and tea/coffee after in Community Hall). +Easter Sunday, 20 April, Service at 9:00am, at San Antonio church (note the earlier time)
St Alban’s + St Ronan’s: 1st Sundays 9:30am monthly Shared Communion Services (alternating venues, leaders and preachers).6 April at St Ronan’s church. 4 May at San Antonio church. St Ronan’s: 1st Sundays shared with St Alban’s (see above). 2nd and 4th Sundays 9:30am informal, 3rd Sundays 9:30am traditional, 5th Sundays 12:00pm fellowship meal. E:office@stronans.org.nz W:www.stronans.org.nz
St Alban’s: 1st Sundays shared with St Ronan’s (see above). Other Sunday services at San Antonio church at 9:30am. 1st Thursdays, communion at 10:30am at St Ronan’s church. Details www.facebook.com/StAlbansNZ E:office@ stalbanschurch.nz W:www.stalbanschurch.nz
San Antonio: Easter Sunday Mass, 20 Apr, 11:00am. Vigil Mass, Sat 5.30pm (not on Easter Saturday). Sacred Heart, Petone: Mass, Sun 9.30am and 5.30pm. E:holyspiritparish41@gmail. com W:www.holyspirit.nz
Junior regatta proves popular
The Muritai Yacht Club's (MYC) annual Junior Regatta was held on Saturday 15 February 2025, with perfect conditions but quite light winds across the day.
There was a big turnout with 62 competitors across 60 boats on the water, with all five races completed and winners from clubs across Wellington.
The big winners were the Holmes family from Worser Bay Boating Club, with their three boys winning their respective fleets. MYC sailors won the learners rainbow fleet, and the RS Feva Double-handed classes.
All of the competitors had a fantastic day on the water, particularly the rainbow sailors who got five great races on their course close to shore with a lot of proud parents afterwards!
This is the biggest annual regatta for us at MYC and it was great to see a bumper fleet this year, showing that junior sailing continues to be strong across Wellington despite competition from other sports and activities.
No other sport gets kids and teens out on the water as captains of their own ships, making decisions about tactics and strategy while competing in a physically demanding sport.
The winners were:
• Rainbow Fleet (learners): Ferghus Smith from MYC
• Optimist Green: Blake Braddock from Heretaunga
• Optimist Open: Kester Holmes from Worser Bay
• Open Skiff: Vinnie Parsons from Manawatu
• Starlings: Nico Holmes from Worser Bay
• Lasers: Finn Holmes from Worser Bay
• RS Feva double-handers: Claire Bennett and Charlotte Benton from MYC.
- James Sorensen, MYC Vice Commodore
Eastbourne Lions Charity Book Sale Sat/Sun 5th/6th April 9am-3pm
Eastbourne Scout Hall (next to Eastbourne Pool) (slightly scaled back version of our previous sales due to venue size, but lots of good quality books at bargain prices. BYO bag, EFTPOS available)
If anyone has good quality books, games or puzzles to donate - please use the drop off box in the foyer of the Eastbourne Library or to discuss drop off / collection for larger quantities, text Gavin 027 488 5602
Funds raised will go to Hutt Valley groups supporting youth with disabilities.
Sixty boats competed in the regatta. Photo: Phil Benge.
Rainbow Fleet winner Ferghus Smith from MYC in his green boat. Photo: Phil Benge.
Local author pens spy thriller
by Ann Packer
Did you hear the one about the Eastbourne leadership consultant who’s moonlighting as a thriller writer?
It’s all true. Pat McShane still works as an independent consultant but since selling his business four years ago has found time to write his first spy thriller, The Minerva Agenda. It’s already been picked up by Kentucky e-publisher Wings – and he has since written 30,000 words of a sequel plus 30,000 words of an unrelated novel, set in Ireland, where his parents hail from. He describes The Accidental Assassin as “a modern-day IRA thriller”.
The local man leading a double life was writing stories while he was still at school – but his passion was reignited about ten years ago after joining former Eastbourne publisher Mary McCallum’s writing group, which also happens to include published authors Mark Blackham, Pete Carter and Robyn Cooper.
Pat found that belonging to such a group (known as ROWGES) kept him going – you can't dodge challenging questions and scrutiny on progress at ROWGES meetings: “What will you have done by the next time we meet?” and “This is better than last month but needs more – do it again!”
Pat’s background has equipped him to write a spy novel – he has visited all the locations in Minerva: USA, UK, Scandinavia and…Eastbourne (yes!) He’s trained with British paratroopers and spent time in Russia, Southeast Asia, the Nevada desert and North Africa.
The plot sounds frighteningly familiar – an American CIA officer and his female British counterpart team up “to neutralize a hidden force that controls global events through manipulation and terror".
Pat says there could be no better name for an organisation that’s existed for hundreds of years.
“Minerva, named after the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, victory and strategy. If you’ve ever been to the former Roman city of Bath, in England, you’ll have come across the gilded image of the goddess in the baths precincts, with her famous pet owl.
"Not unlike the goddess, Minerva is a clandestine organisation, subtle, intelligent, with a long-term perspective – and has been around and influencing things for a long time.
“This is Minerva’s playground – big pharma, the military industrial complex, global media and big tech companies have massive power, and they’re not elected and not accountable to anyone.”
Describing himself as an organic writer, Pat says he likes engaging with his characters as he comes to know them, “having an adventure while I’m writing the story”. And fitting in the time is not a problem.
“When I'm hitting my straps I get up at 6 am and I’ll work for eight hours before lunch,
or eight hours in the evening.”
Pat has negotiated to print his own copies here, through Your Books in Tawa, cutting down on the tyranny of distance that can send costs spiralling.
“It’s easier and cheaper.”
The Minerva Agenda is available online from Underground Bookstore, a collective of independently published New Zealand authors, or direct from Pat on his website PDMcShaneauthor.com.
An electronic version for Kindle, Kobe etc, will be available shortly.
Recently, I listed similarities twixt plants and animals - shared genes and biochemistry, equivalent engineering structures, similar movements - but plant movements are slower and they can’t locomote (roots). Now the key differences...
Dinner: Basic is, plants get their energy from sunlight (autotrophic) but animals get theirs by eating other organisms (heterotrophic). It’s the sad lot of plants that they sit at the bottom of all food chains. They’re all someone’s dinner (Genesis 1:30). Without locomotion, they can’t seek shelter from bad weather, they can’t run away from predators. Instead, they are masters at acclimatisation (handling harsh environments) and they easily recover from massive damage - being part eaten, trampled, droughted, burned, lightning struck...
Open Monday-Friday 7am-4pm Saturday & Sunday 8am-4pm
Age: An animal starts life as a mini adult with all its ‘bits’ in place. Once born/ hatched, all these bits just get bigger and older. Not so a plant. In every seed, there’s a tiny plant (embryo) with one stubby root, one stubby shoot, two stubby leaves. But once germinated, this embryo grows not just by enlargement of these bits but by adding new bits (modules). Each new module consists of a length of stem (internode) with a bulge at the top (node) from which emerges a leaf, with a tiny dormant shoot (bud) at its base. Throughout its life, new modules continue to be added at the top of the plant. Each module being younger than the one just below. So, a plant’s body gets younger as you move from bottom to top.
Dormant buds: These dormant buds are key to damage recovery. Each bud is a new shoot waiting for a (hormonal) signal that says “Heh, something’s wrong at the shoot tip, wake up and grow”. So, after a catastrophe, a bud (or two) wakens and grows to form a new shoot. So, injuries are fixed by replacement. Few animals can replace damaged parts, and their ability to repair damage is limited. They mostly die.
Lifespan: Animals age and die. They’re genetically programmed to die (bee ~6 w, mouse ~1 yr, cat ~16 yr, elephant ~65 yr, human ~70 yr). Trees live much longer. Their growing tips are all less than 1 yr old, but their bases can be much older (kauri 2,000 yr, olive 1,000 yr, apple 100 yr, gorse 30 yr, plum 20 yr).
slang@xtra.co.nz www.mulchpile.org
Pat McShane.
Producer swaps moving images for portraits
by Louise Parry
Jon Kroll, a seasoned television producer with roots in Los Angeles, has found a new home and a renewed passion in Lowry Bay. After a 25-year dream, he and his partner finally returned to New Zealand two and a half years ago, settling into their bayside haven a year and a half later.
Jon's career in television began in his early 20s, producing shows for major networks, all while maintaining a keen interest in photography.
Fifteen years ago, he began to take his photography more seriously, culminating in a significant achievement: shooting stills for a National Geographic television production, a feat considered a pinnacle for photographers.
His extensive travels for work provided ample opportunities for environmental portraits, a style that captures the essence of a person through their surroundings.
Now, Jon is turning his lens closer to home, focusing on the beauty and character of his own backyard.
He's also found a vibrant community within the Wellington photography scene. A member of a group that meets bi-weekly on Cuba Street, Jon recently facilitated a visit from the photographer who captured the iconic image that ended the Vietnam War.
Together, they explored the scenic landscapes of Cape Palliser, Island Bay, Zealandia, and the Wellington CBD.
While still producing television, Jon is becoming more selective, cherishing the time he spends at home.
His commitment to New Zealand extends beyond his personal life; he was recently appointed to the board of the Film Commission, aiming to attract more business to the local film industry.
"My career is moving images, but my passion is still images because it doesn't feel like work," Kroll shares.
He currently shoots with a Sony A7R-3, a state-of-the-art full-frame camera. Inspired by the camera club founder's love for vintage lenses, Jon is also exploring the craftsmanship and patience required for manual photography.
"I have a short attention span, so it's frustrating for me sometimes, but also good for me," he admits.
Jon is one of 13 photographers featured in an upcoming exhibition, including Point Howard's Rob Vanderpoel (who organised the exhibition), known for his compelling street photography.
While Rob captures the raw reality of street life, Jon prefers to create conceptual environmental portraits, posing subjects in settings that reveal their stories.
"They almost all feature people, and they're conceptual shots," he explains, contrasting his style with those who focus on "unexpected beauty and found objects."
His own portrait, would show the international producer turned Lowry Bay photographer, captured in his element, working on a television production in the mountains of Washington State.
Our City Exhibition:Thistle Hall, 293 Cuba Street.
Tuesday, April 1 - Saturday, April 5, 10AM-8PM Sunday, April 6, 10AM-4PM
For the latest updates from the Tupua Horo Nuku Project team, sign up for our monthly newsletter at: hutt.city/tupuahoronuku
Tupua Horo Nuku Update
The project is steadily advancing as we enter the final phases of work. With three of the six bays open to the public, it won’t be long until the Eastern Bays commute is safe, swift, and seamless for all users.
What’s happening:
• Construction has commenced in Māhina Bay and Ngau Matau | Point Howard, the final two bays of the project.
• We celebrated the project’s halfway milestone with a successful community event at Whiorau Reserve.
• Mobile AI Camera Units are being trialled to improve work processes and enhance safety for both commuters and workers in the Eastern Bays.
Jon Kroll.
Richmond Atkinson
1 April, 1954 - 18 November, 2024.
Richmond Atkinson, who died aged 70 on 18 November, 2024, built his life in York Bay.
The son of Tudor & Jinny, Richmond and his sisters (Mary, Janet and Lucy), grew up surrounded by grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins – all part of the intertwined Hursthouse/Richmond/Atkinson families. But Richmond’s connection with York Bay evolved beyond this family heritage.
He grew to know the local bush and harbour in a way that few others do, and this was likely a key reason why he and his wife Margaret Sissons decided to settle there when they started a family.
Richmond was educated at Muritai Primary School and Hutt Valley High School, showing much academic promise. However, after dipping his toes in the waters of Victoria University, he decided academia was not for him and left to pursue other interests, ultimately becoming a highly respected builder – constructing houses and undertaking renovations for many in Eastbourne and the Bays, as well as further afield.
Richmond never needed to advertise for work – “he was unshowy to a fault” – earning his living solely through his reputation for honesty, fairness and good work.
“Carpentry was his passion and profession. He didn’t form a company to limit or avoid responsibility. He saw it as his duty to go back and fix anything that went wrong even if he would rather have been windsurfing,” was one of the comments made at his packed memorial service held at the Muritai Yacht Club in December. He also built boats, made furniture, toys and jewellery, could sew dresses, and was a talented artist and writer.
Richmond and Margaret met when they were 19, doubling the connection between their families. (Richmond’s older sister Mary had already married Margaret’s brother Noel, both tragically losing their lives when on a climbing expedition in the Mt Cook National Park in January, 1982.) A common thread in the eulogies at the service was Richmond’s and Margaret’s devotion to one another over the next 51 years.
Richmond’s childhood, spent in the bush and by (and on) the sea, with relatives busy building boats just down the path, influenced his direction and interests in life. It is a mark of the man that despite (or perhaps because of) living in a bay dominated by the Atkinson name, Richmond was happy to have his children take their mother’s surname.
Although he had expressed some reluctance about the idea of parenthood, Richmond became a valued father who gave his children free rein to test themselves while knowing he had their backs. He was “a playcentre dad” who also helped out at school camps, organised epic birthday celebrations, provided a most useful proofreading service for university assignments
OBITUARY
and made an excellent sailing partner. And, later, Richmond proved to be “an excellent grandparent – honest, curious and fun”.
At the memorial service, his son Tim spoke of him as being a person of “honesty, diligence and high standards” who “left this world a better place”. His outdoor interests included climbing, tramping and hunting, though with some ambivalence about the necessity to kill an animal in order to help protect the native bush.
And he enjoyed just about anything on the water – surfing, wind-surfing, kayaking and sailing. A special memory for daughter Anna is the two of them competing in the 2007 Hobie 16 World Championships in Fiji, while his other daughter Morgan and her partner Craig Ryburn called on his help to fix a broken rudder which saw them stuck in Panama when sailing a yacht home from the Caribbean. “Richmond dropped everything to join us, coming with tools and materials to fix it and then joined the trip for the next 28 days despite unshakeable seasickness,” recalled Craig.
The family launch (or motor-sailer) St Michael, built in York Bay and moored there for many years, featured large in Richmond’s life.
His sister Lucy spoke of precious time spent with her older brother, particularly on St Michael – two weeks every summer to the Marlborough Sounds, D’Urville Island or the Abel Tasman National Park with their sisters and parents. His own children enjoyed similar experiences.
In 2014, Morgan, Craig and Richmond took St Michael on a three-month trip to Fiordland, Stewart Island and around the South Island.
“Despite living in close quarters for that time, the trip went amazingly well with no arguments. Richmond was just part of the crew – he went hunting, climbing, fishing and exploring lakes,” Craig said.
In recent years, Richmond took to rowing to help stave off the effects of Parkinson’s disease, competing in regattas for the Petone Rowing Club (even rowing there at times from York Bay) and at one point, he rowed a circuit of Wellington Harbour on a 34-kilometre course
in the shape of a kiwi.
Richmond had a great love of the natural world and took a particular interest in New Zealand’s native falcon, becoming a strong advocate for these karearea. He delighted in the pair that began nesting each year alongside the Kaitawa Track in the York Bay bush (which the Atkinson family had gifted to be part of the East Harbour Regional Park). He would check the nest location, set up cameras to monitor the hatching of the chicks and note predator activity, as well as most helpfully warning track users of the birds’ location as karearea are fiercely protective and will attack those who get too close to their nests.
Before the Parkinson’s took hold, Richmond helped with the early stages of building Morgan and Craig’s house on the hillside next door to his own home.
Atkinson houses are traditionally given names and they have named theirs Karearea, honouring his interest.
Richmond was a long-time blood and plasma donor, and volunteered his services for search and rescue work as well as many building projects, including helping rebuild houses in Samoa after the devastating 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami.
Neighbour and friend since high school days, Fiona Christeller, described Richmond’s evolving attitude to life, including developing an interest in motorbikes in the sixth form and becoming involved in the protest movement, a combination that saw him ride his bike up the steps and through the corridor at Hutt Valley High School as a movie stunt.
In all, a talented but unassuming man who contributed significantly to his family and community, and whose death, despite his illness, came as a huge shock to his family, friends and the wider York Bay and Eastbourne community. Haere ra, Richmond.
- by Susan Ewart
Mondays
• Retired Persons’ Assn meet 4th Mon, 10am St Ronan's Church hall for morning tea followed by a speaker - $2 entry.Transport can be arranged for these meetings on request, ph 562 7365 or 562 8387.
• “Baby Bounce & Rhyme” at the library 10.00am.
• Toy Library - 7.30-8.30pm. EastbourneToyLibrary on Facebook. Kathy 0273551950.
•DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, from 9:30am to 12 noon. Drop in anytime to visit a session or email daysbay@playcentre.org.nz to arrange a visit.
• Pt Howard Playcentre. Mon 9.15 -11.45am. pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• The Historical Society’s Eastbourne History Room above the library is open 2-4 pm every Monday.
• Eastbourne Volunteer Fire Brigade training every Monday 7-9pm. Ph 562 7001 for more
Would you like to make Easter Hot Cross buns… with apple, raisins & cinnamon for children aged 5-12
or Easter loaf… with almonds, dried apricots & cherries for teenagers and adults
Where and when:
St Alban’s Church Hall Kitchen, Ngaio Street. Sunday 6 April
● 10.30am for children ● 12pm for teens and adults Book/enquiries email: office@stalbanschurch.nz Koha for St Alban’s Earthquake strengthening
WHAT'S ON
info.
• Keas - 5:15pm - 6:15pm. Ed 021 738 699
Tuesdays
• Mindful Mummas group for Mums and preschool children. Childminder onsite. 1011.30. Text Emily 027 552 6119 to join or go to bemoreyou.co.nz for more info.
•DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, from 9:30am to 12 noon. Drop in anytime to visit a session or email daysbay@playcentre.org.nz to arrange a visit.
• Muritai Tennis Club 9.30–noon. Merryn 562 0236.
• Eastbourne Homebirth Group 1st Tuesday of the month. Phone Kate 562-7096.
• East Harbour Women’s Club Morning Tea & Chat Group 10am. Contact Glendyr 0210303480.
• Indoor Bowls Club 1.30pm, at the croquet club, Oroua Street. Rosemary 562 7365
• Menzshed 9 till 12 , Williams Park, Barrie barrielittlefair@gmail.com 0204 1234511. Women welcome.
• 9.30am Nia Dance Fitness Class (low impactteens to 70+) Music Movement Magic - Muritai Yacht Club - call Amanda 021 316692 www. niainwellington.com
• Toy Library - 9.30am-10.30am.
Wednesdays
• Cubs: 5.30pm - 7.00pm, Ed 021 738 699.
• Venturers - 7:15pm - 9pm - Ed 021 738 699.
• Library preschool story time 10.00 am.
• Pt Howard Playcentre Wed 9.15 -11.45am. pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• Scottish Country Dance. Merryn 562 0236.
• Bridge Club 7-10pm. Shona 562 7073.
•DB Playcentre Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday mornings, from 9:30am to 12 noon. Drop in anytime to visit a session or email daysbay@playcentre.org.nz to arrange a visit.
• “Steady as You Go” Age Concern sponsored Falls Prevention and Exercise Programme. Held 12 noon each Wednesday at Eastbourne Community Hall. Classes are held for 1 hour and costs only $2. Improve your strength and balance to reduce falls and injuries. Falls are preventable. Please join us!
Val Coleman Hairdressing
For senior and housebound clients in the Eastbourne area. Phone: 568-4699 or 021158 7406.
• EHock - Fun Stick and Ball game Girls and Boys 7- 13.Eastbourne Community Hall. Wednesdays 6.00 p.m. - 7.30 p.m. Derek Wilshere 0274303596.
Thursdays
• Menzshed 9 till 12 , Williams Park, Barrie barrielittlefair@gmail.com 0204 1234511. Women welcome.
• St Ronan’s Mainly Music, 9.15am-11.15am, during school terms. Contact Cathy 027 213 9342.
• SPACE at Days Bay Playcentre. Michelle 971 8598.
•Lions meet 2nd Thursday of the month at the Eastbourne Sports and Services Club, Tuatoru St 6.30 pm. New members and visitors are welcome. Graham 562 8819.
• Scouts 6pm-8pm - Ed 021 738 699
• Eastbourne Bowling Club casual summer bowls 5.30pm for an hour or so. Make up a mixed team of three. Contact Keith Turner ph 04 934 4142.
• Sing Eastbourne: 8pm, St Alban's Hall.
Fridays
• Pop in and Play playgroup at St Ronan's Church Hall, 9am-11.30am during school terms. All preschoolers (0-4 years) welcome. Cath 027 213 9342.
• Pt Howard Playcentre Fri 9.15 -11.45am pcpointhoward@gmail.com
• AA Plunket Rooms 7.30pm. Mark 566 6444/ Pauline 562 7833
•Senior Residents: Lighthouse Movies - last Friday of every month. Pick up from 10am. Contact Celeste on 021 206 5713 for more information. Okiwi Services (Eastbourne Community Trust)
Saturdays
• Justice of the Peace at the Eastbourne Community Library, first Saturday of each month 12pm-1pm.
• Croquet from 10am Muritai Croquet Club. Lyn 562 8722 or Val 562 8181.
• Lions' Bin - cost effective rubbish and e-waste disposal. Last Saturday of the month (except December) by Bus Barns. Gavin 027 488 5602.
Sundays
• AA Plunket Rooms 10am. Karen 021 440 705.
• Days Bay Touch Rugby, by arrangement on Whatsapp group, text Xavier 027 249 3645 to join.
Credit: Alison Holst
Giraffe saves the day
When it came to choosing the character for the fourth picture book in the stand-alone series that followed her award-winning Puffin The Architect, Days Bay author-illustrator Kimberly Andrews says Giraffe the Gardener appealed because she and partner James Innes, with daughters Nova and Fern, had recently converted their gravel carpark into a compact, native-filled garden.
“Gardening was on my mind,” she says, “and the research required was a delight!”
The book, which will be launched at the Muritai Yacht Club on Thursday 3 April, has the classic picture book cumulative structure, with lines repeating and building on each page. “This was probably the most challenging part of the book’s creation – the lines have to rhyme, convey specific gardening concepts, and scan well (comfortably be read aloud).”
Kimberly says she wanted to highlight the many benefits of gardening – not only growing produce, but also the physical and mental health impacts – and showcase some of the amazing variation in gardening styles.
“I particularly wanted to feature aspects of gardening I’m passionate about, such as
food forests, wildlife gardening, naturhus (homes within greenhouse gardens) and, more generally, permaculture principles.”
A lot of gardens in this book are inspired by places the author has visited – the zen garden by a visit to the Ryōan-ji garden in Kyoto and the rainforest adventure from her time in Borneo, where she lived as a conservation biologist.
But she says she hadn’t managed to visit a food forest until last year, after the book was completed, when they had a wonderful guided tour around Tainui Food Forest, near Castlepoint. “I have begun to incorporate food forest principles in my own gardening,” she says, “as in ‘weed like a cow!’”
Kimberly says the illustrations were great fun.
“I remember being hesitant to begin this project because I knew how many flowers, leaves, shrubs and trees I would have to paint! In the end, as is usual with my books, I paint one element at a time through the whole book, then move on to the next. For example, I paint all the skies for the whole book at one time. This allows the art to grow incrementally, and it never felt too overwhelming.”
An Eastbourne lawyer First Floor, 40 Rimu St Tel: 562 6393
Email: arcadia@xtra.co.nz
Have your say on
The future of water services for Lower Hutt
Providing safe drinking water, investing in our pipes, and effective wastewater and stormwater infrastructure are priorities for our communities.
To do this we need to invest more in these water services, but the cost is a huge challenge. A proposed new way of delivering water services is one way of tackling this problem.
Should
PARKSIDE
Nine Years and Counting – the Dotterel Protection Programme
Eastbourne Foreshore Ali, Joan and team found 20 nests this season, but after the first 15 nests failed to produce any fledglings, they were worried about having a disappointing season. However, the last 5 nests produced 3 fledglings which is a great result for Eastbourne, even though the numbers are well below our 1 fledgling per 2 nests goal. Unfortunately, one of these fledglings was the victim of a dog attack. Shane, our L3 bander who spent many hours catching and banding this season, was looking for dotterels to band and saw that a dog outside of the temporary fencing had a chick in its mouth with the owner just looking on. Shane was able to rescue the chick from the dog’s mouth and report the owner to Hutt City Animal services. Remember, the Dog Control Act enables the destruction of any dog found to have injured or killed any protected wildlife and the owner to be fined up to $20,000, and/or sentenced to up to three years' jail. The banded dotterels have the same endangered status as the whio/blue duck and giant spotted kiwi. Imagine the brouhaha if it was a kiwi or whio in a dog’s mouth — this would probably make the national news. We are fortunate this chick survived to fledge due to Shane’s quick actions. If you have a dog that is prone to chasing birds, then during the nesting season it would be best to walk them from Miro Street north to 200m south of the Rona Bay Wharf, where the chicks rarely wander.
Lakes Geoff, Dallas and team found only 4 nests at Lake Kohangapiripiri. The good news is these nests produced 3 fledglings, but we normally get an average of 11 nests. Nikki, a bird specialist who sits on the committee that
decides the endangered status of NZ birds, is the science behind our work. We discussed his thoughts on why we are getting fewer birds at such a protected area. One theory is that our successful birds are migrating to other nesting areas, but those areas do not have protections in place, so they are not feeding birds to our areas. Nikki noted there are three large breeding colonies on Wairarapa river flats which have no predator protection, so MIRO will be working with Nikki and Greater Wellington (GW) to identify volunteers to help trap at these colonies.
Baring Head Hetty and Eric oversaw our most successful nesting area where they found 15 nests which produced 10 fledglings — a record year. This is the largest nesting area that we monitor, and it requires monitoring on both sides of the Wainuiomata river, so they are a dedicated and talented monitoring team.
Wellington Airport This is the first year we formally monitored at Wellington Airport and new volunteers Tim and Stephanie did a superb job finding 8 nests which only produced 2 fledglings, not the targeted 1 fledgling per 2 nests. They found the nesting area is both inside and outside the safety fence with the outside area prone to human interference with many airplane photographers. We met with Predator Free Wellington and Wellington Airport to discuss the trapping network and human interference. It turns out that Predator Free Wellington means Rat Free Wellington as they only target rats. We know from our work that hedgehogs were the number one destroyer of nests at the lakes and Baring before predator control was put in place. They hoover
up the eggs in the nest, one of the 3 main reasons the nesting success was only 3% at these locations. We are now working with GW and the airport to reactivate the traps around the airport to target hedgehogs and mustelids and to create warning signage for the high human traffic areas.
Migration Sightings We have caught and banded over 240 dotterels over the past 9 years, but have only discovered where 10 of our birds migrate to – Lake Wairarapa, Pauatahanui, Waikanae and Peka Peka river mouths, Omaha Spit, Mangawhai Heads and New Caledonia. Female DVT (pictured) was born at Eastbourne and banded in 2016. Unlike male Eastbourne PAP who flew 1,250km from Eastbourne to New Caledonia for his annual migration,female DVT made the 8km flight from Eastbourne to Lake Kohangatera in 2016 and has resided there year-round ever since — smart bird! DVT is special to our work as she is our first juvenile banded, so we can monitor her progress from birth.
On to the 10th year!
- Parker Jones, MIRO
The eastern bays, through the eyes of local artists
by Ali Carew
It all started with a phone call, and an unexpected invitation: would the Historical Society be interested in mounting an exhibition in the Hutt Art Society’s galleries? Even better, an anonymous benefactor would pay the gallery fees.
Of course we said yes! So, after months of preparation, we’ll be presenting 'Picture Perfect: A century of paintings and photographs of the Eastern Bays' at the Hutt Art Centre in Myrtle Street, Lower Hutt, from 7th to 17th May.
The timing of the invitation was excellent. Two years earlier we’d embarked on a major project: to create a detailed inventory of the artworks in our archive Collection, to
get them restored if needed, and to research the artists, some of whom we knew very little about.
The inventory and research were carried out by Claire Taggart, one of our dedicated volunteers.
Her work meant we could start thinking about sharing these unique paintings and drawings,
Continues Pg 14
'Muritai Park Store’, by Leigh Hunt, c.1920s. Historical Society of Eastbourne Collection.
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Locals' view of the Bays
From Pg 13
most of them never exhibited before, with the wider community. And because we had nowhere to display them permanently, an exhibition seemed the way to go.
So where did these artworks come from? Like nearly everything in our Collection, they’d been donated to the Historical Society over many years. Some were inherited from the Eastbourne Borough Council in 1989; others were gifted by the artists or their families, or by local residents moving house or sorting an estate. A few were bequests.
Several more artworks have been donated in the past year, and a few others are being loaned for the exhibition. Nearly all are by local artists, some of them well-known names in Wellington art circles, such as Albert HansenKnarhoj, Elisabet Delbrück, Rena Swift and Alan Collins. Other names are less familiar, for example Arthur Percival Potter, Simon Prins and Catherine Clunies-Ross.
The collection ranges from small
watercolours and pencil drawings to large oil paintings. Among them are two striking portraits: one of Miss Aileen Stace (18951977), a well-known Eastbourne resident, and the other of a colourful local character whose identity is currently under wraps.
The artworks actually span more than the ‘century’ of the title: the earliest is dated 1911, while the most recent was completed just last year. The timespan allows us to notice gradual changes, such as the regenerating bush and Eastbourne’s shifting shoreline.
Recurring subjects include the harbour in all its moods, Lion Rock (clearly a popular landmark), and the old ferries, especially the much-loved Cobar (1906-1948). Yet the visitor is also in for some surprises. A railway at Pencarrow Head in the early 1900s – who knew?
In the smaller of the two galleries, the visitor enters the black-and-white (and occasionally hand-coloured) world of early 20th century photography. Most of the photographs came to us from the Borough Council and are being exhibited here for the first time. They include large, remarkably clear panoramas in their original frames, which makes them rare historical objects in their own right.
Also part of the Council’s legacy is a collection of framed photographs depicting aspects of life ‘at the bay’ from the 1920s to the 1950s. Some of these images may be more familiar, but together they provide a fascinating study of a young and growing community.
There’ll be surprises here too – even for us. A member of the Hutt Art Society found some ‘mystery’ glass-plate negatives of the eastern bays in a car boot sale, and these are currently being developed and printed. All will be revealed at the exhibition….
We look forward to seeing you there in May - and please tell your friends!
Eastbourne Herald April 2025 Deadlines
Ad Booking: Wed, April 16
Ad Copy: Thurs, April 17
Deliveries: April 25/26
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