Ōtaki Mail, December 2022

Happy Summer from the team at the Ōtaki Mail

Prof. Whatarangi Winiata presented NICF award

confident as Māori citizens of our country. Most of all, it was to enable Māori to manage our future ourselves and to run our own affairs without the interference of others.”

In conclusion, Dame Naida said that “Whatarangi's knowledge, skills, dedication and actions have had a significant influence on whānau, hapū and iwi not just within the takiwā of the confederation of Ātiawa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toarangatira, but across the nation.”

The National Iwi Chairs Forum travelled to Raukawa Marae on 20 November to present Emeritus Professor Whatarangi Winiata with their Te Whare Pūkenga Award. This living taonga award is bestowed by 86 members of the Forum on Pūkenga who have significantly impacted the lives of whānau, hapū and iwi across Aotearoa.

Te Whare Pūkenga was established by the Iwi Chairs Forum in 2021 to recognise rangatira who have enhanced the lives of all whānau in Aotearoa through their activities. Specifically, the award is given to those whose actions contribute significantly to the revitalisation of the Forum’s values including: Rangatiratanga, Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, Kaitiakitanga, Tikanga and Pono. Te Whare Pūkenga is an honour that was conceived, managed and is completely funded by the 86 iwi that make up the National Iwi Chairs Forum.

Around 170 whānau and members of the ART Confederation, the majority of whom were kaumātua, as well as others from further afield, gathered for the event.

Kahurangi Dame Naida Glavish, Ngāti Whatua, led the Iwi Chairs delegation and, with Te Rarawa Chair Haami Piripi, presented the award. In the commendation, the Forum noted that in 1975 Whatarangi

initiated the iwi development programme known as Whakatupuranga Rua Mano –Generation 2000, to prepare the ART Confederation (Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira) for the 21st century. Whatarangi was the architect of the programme’s offspring Te Wānanga o Raukawa.

They acknowledged that over the last 50 years Whatarangi has been an active contributor to his iwi and to Te Ao Māori, while holding various positions within the Anglican Church. Whatarangi was part of the Māori team who negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi (Fisheries Claims) Settlement Act in 1992. He is a former member of the New Zealand Māori Council and the Māori Congress. He has been a negotiator on such Treaty issues as state-owned enterprises, broadcasting, radio spectrum, railway lands and fisheries. He served as the inaugural president of the Māori Party from 2004. Prof. Sir Hirini Moko Mead describes Whatarangi as “a leading thinker of the Māori world, and of te ao Pākehā as well. Someone who set out to improve the wellbeing of Māori in this country, to enlarge the spaces where Māori can be Māori, to decolonise our people and work towards being culturally competent and

Piripi Walker of Ngāti Raukawa responded on behalf of the whānau. He thanked in particular the National Iwi Chairs Forum, who'd travelled to present this award. He told the Iwi Leaders who had come to Ōtaki that the iwi were humbled by the visit, and the award itself. He acknowledged the two awards this year, recalling the recent Award to Dame Iritana Tawhiwhirangi of Ngāti Porou. He recalled kaumātua from other iwi, like Māori Marsden, for their teaching, wisdom and guidance to Whatarangi and Francie over the years. He acknowledged the range of organisations and kaupapa that Whatarangi has been involved with. There was laughter, waiata and tears of joy within the whare.

On a more serious note, he acknowledged the support by the Iwi Chairs Forum of those engaged in advancing the radio spectrum claim and the key role Whatarangi and his hapū had played in laying the groundwork for this kaupapa, which was edging towards fruition.

Helen Leahy, Ngāti Rangi, said, “Today Māori have bestowed mana on one of their own in multiple ways. Through tributes and taonga; through the presentation of the award; through the expression of love; and through our determination to be present in the spirit of magnificence. If Matua was moved, many of us were totally overwhelmed; feeling the enormity of his contribution; and in awe of his colossal mind and boundless heart.

“His grace, his loving leadership and the unequivocal and abundant support of his whānau are precious beyond words. We have been so blessed with their sacrifice, their scholarship and service. Yes, indeed, an extraordinary day.”

Emeritus Professor Whatarangi Winiata (second from right) above

Situated right next to Prouse Bush with beautiful views of the Tararua Ranges, you’ll find the new villas at Levin War Veterans Village hard to pass up.

Crafted with retirees in mind, these architecturally designed villas have Lifemark 4 accessibility features. The brick and tile two-bedroom villas, with an adjoining conservatory offer spacious and easy retirement living.

Enjoy your retirement in a safe, caring and friendly neighbourhood at Levin War Veterans Village.

Enliven’s new Levin Village to offer great retirement living

A great location and a friendly community are two things prospective residents can look forward to at Enliven’s newest retirement village in Levin. Levin War Veterans Village will feature 59 modern and spacious two-bedroom villas, with the first 12 villas ready for occupation early next year.

Levin War Veterans Home and Village manager Michelle Day says the village is in an excellent location, right next to Prouse Bush Reserve, and has stunning views of the Tararua Range.

“This end of Levin [where Levin Village is situated] is growing quickly with business and cafes popping up all over the place. It is an exciting time to be living in Levin.”

She says prospective residents could expect a vibrant community if they chose the village as their new home.

Annette Francis, a resident at Reevedon Village, Enliven’s other village in Levin, agrees being part of a friendly community is a highlight of retirement village living.

“The village is small enough to be friendly, and everyone is friendly. We care about each other, we check up on each other.”

Annette is a keen gardener and has dozens of pots outside her villa filled with flowers and vegetables. She says the cherry tomatoes are so plentiful she gives them away “left, right and centre” to other residents.

Levin War Veterans Village is part of the full continuum of care offered by Enliven in Levin, so if a resident’s needs change, so too can the level of support.

Levin War Veterans Home offers rest home, hospital and dementia care as well as short-term respite and health recovery care.

Villas at Levin War Veterans Village and Reevedon Village are selling now.

For more information call sales agents Sue and Murray Woodley on 06 349 1409 or 027 243 3657, or visit enlivencentral.org.nz.

The Levin War Veterans Village show home is open now.

What a land covenant may mean for you

BY FLEUR HOBSON

You may be looking to buy a property and you are told there is a “covenant” on the land, or your neighbour may ask you to agree on something to do with your land that will lead to a “covenant” being registered.

A land covenant is a rule that affects how property owners and occupiers can use their property. They are registered with Land Information New Zealand against the titles of two or more properties. Covenants can cover a range of things you cannot do with your property, or things you will need to do.

Some properties, for example, are covered by a covenant that means you cannot keep animals or pets.

Other properties are covered by a covenant that limits the size or number of dwellings you can erect.

Another example is a covenant that lays out the materials you can and cannot use when building on your land.

Once a covenant is registered it will affect two or more properties in two ways.

One or more of the properties will be subject to the covenant, meaning that the property owner or occupier needs to do or not do what the covenant provides. This is known as the “servient land” or “burdened land”.

Then there is the land that benefits from the covenant, known as the “dominant land” or “benefited land”. This may be just one property or it may be the entire subdivision your property is part of.

If you are considering a covenant it is important that the covenant instrument is properly drafted that that it fits in with New Zealand law. It is, therefore, very important to discuss the covenant proposal with a good lawyer.

If you are thinking of buying a property that has a covenant registered on its title there are many things you will need to consider. It is also very worthwhile getting advice from a good lawyer about what that will mean for you.

Once a covenant has been registered, you can enforce it.

If the “servient” property or properties do not comply with the covenant you can take legal action to either enforce the covenant by getting a court order that either compels the property owner to comply, or orders a

stated amount of compensation for the failure to comply.

Before taking the step of lodging a court action, it would be highly advisable to discuss the situation with the owner or occupier of the property that is not complying.

Getting sound advice from a good lawyer before you begin your discussion can be very helpful, particularly if the negotiation proves demanding.

If negotiation is not successful you will need to give written notice to the covenantor, saying what needs to be done to comply.

They then have 15 working days to respond to the notice. If they do not serve you a “cross-notice” within the 15 days, it is treated as if they have agreed to the notice, and you can pass on to them the reasonable

costs of a remedy.

Covenants can also be changed or removed altogether.

This can be done by all the parties to the covenant agreeing. In some cases the consent of a bank or other lender that provides a mortgage will need to be obtained.

If the parties cannot agree, it is possible to apply to the court to have a covenant either changed or removed. However this can be a difficult and expensive process and once again getting good legal advice is highly recommended.

For advice on covenants we would be only too happy to help you, as well as to help you generally. Contact Fleur, Susie or Freya at Hobson Mills Law, 364 7190, 282 Mill Road – opposite Farmlands.

Riley Moy named Young Golfer of the Year

BY FRANK NEILL

Outstanding Ōtaki golfer Riley Moy has won the Wellington Eagles Society Young Golfer of the Year award.

Riley was presented his award at the Eagles Golfer of the Year evening at Te Marua Golf Club on 18 November.

In doing so, Riley added his name to a list of winners that includes famous golfers

Sir Bob Charles, Lydia Ko, Philip Tataurangi, Michael Campbell, Gareth Paddison and Mark Brown.

At just 15 years of age, Riley claimed the victory over some older players, as the award is open to players under the age of 17.

He is, in fact, the top under-16 player in the Wellington region, which he underlined when winning the 2022 Wellington under-17 tournament.

As well as winning the Wellington Young Golfer of the Year, Riley was also a finalist in the golf section of the Wellington College Sports Awards, this time in competition with players up to four years older than he is.

Riley represented Wellington, playing in the junior squad at the national provincial competition.

He also played in the Watt Cup, the

Wellington regional inter-club competition for players under 19 years.

Because the Ōtaki Golf Club does not have enough players to make up a Watt Cup team, Riley played for Paraparaumu Beach Club, helping his team to victory in the competition. Riley won three of the four games he played in the Watt Cup.

He also plays in the top Ōtaki Golf Club

men’s inter-club team, which finished second in the division 2 Wellington regional competition, with Riley winning eight games and drawing losing one.

Riley’s lowest score to date is a four under par 67, carded at the Ōtaki golf course, and he has a handicap of 1.6.

“He’s done well,” Riley’s father, Aaron Moy says.

“He deserves the awards he got.

“He’s achieved a lot this year. He’s done a lot of travelling and he’s done a lot of tournaments.

“And he works hard at his game,” Mr Moy adds.

The Eagles Golfing Society of New Zealand is a charitable organisation that supports the Halberg Disability Sports Foundation, junior golf, visiting clubs and fellowship of members.

Te Hunga Rangatahi celebrates graduates

BY MOKO MORRIS

Hunga Rangatahi celebrated their sixth graduation this month.

Over the past two years more than 65 rangatahi enrolled and graduated from Hunga rangatahi, a 12-week programme focused employability skills. Together we have achieved driver licensing — restricted and learners — first-aid certificates, successfully gained employment or further training, and tackled some of the direct drivers that prohibit pathways to employment.

None of this would have been possible without the support of our cultural therapists, our pou ahorangi, who let us wrestle with key Māori concepts and help us understand our place in te ao Māori; our carvers who reached into our atua narratives and brought forward our stories and traditions and supported rangatahi to explore their connections through rakau; access to hua parakore maara kai practices that demonstrated tikanga-led growing for optimal health and nutrition ; and our rongoā practitioners who further solidified the role of He kai he rongoā, he rongoā he kai.

We acknowledge the providers who guided us through various employability skills such as CV writing, mock interviews, getting us fit for mahi, providing work experience to trial various industries, and teaching us more about their industries.

Through all of this, our mana o te tangata approach ,which ensures rangataahi tuatahi ( rangatahi come first), is our approach. We can’t do this mahi alone: it requires whānau to be on board; it requires the community to stop judging rangatahi with their preconceived ideas ; and requires us to listen to our rangatahi, as they have some of their own answers. Our commitment to our rangatahi is generational, often bridging the relationship between whānau and rangatahi. Te Hunga Rangatahi focus on providing a safe, guiding environment for them to voice their feelings free of

judgement and, through kotahitanga, guide each other through life’s personal and social turbulent challenges, and reiterate that they have the potential to be architects of their own destiny. This involves literally taking them from their bedroom to mahi, to training, to work experience and exploring other potential avenues for us all to connect to the community that we all can contribute to.

The active ingredient has been our kaimahi, including our Manaaki AO mentors and barbers and their ability to show up for our rangatahi, to navigate challenges together and to constantly be there. No problem is insurmountable that can be tackled together and having a wider community social circle can increase the visibility of support and extend the number of people possibly able to be reached.

Te Puna Oranga o Ōtaki would like to thank all of those in Ōtaki and afar who have supported this pilot programme , including Kāpiti Coast District Council, and Work Ready Kāpiti, who were the original contract holders; those who called in to understand what we do; and those who were part of our journey.

We are planning more programmes. Please be in touch: mauriora@tepunaoranga-otaki.nz

right: Riley Moy being presented the Wellington Eagles Golfing Society Young Golf Player of the Year awrd by Eagles President Tony Bastion.

Image: Cherie Moy

Graduate Demetrues Callagher (second from right) with kaimahi

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY

Te Horo Christmas Market 2022

Te Horo’s festive market looks to be a boomer. More than 50 stalls are offering an enormous range of Christmas gift ideas to choose from – locally made crafts, preserves, oils, honey, avocadoes, seasonal fruit and veggies, skincare products, handmade soaps, botanical beauty products, children’s clothing, toys and books, jewellery, cheese boards, pottery, extra healthy dog foods, Bernie’s supersized barrows, Kapiti calendars plus

heaps of Christmas cakes and tasty festive goodies. There will also be raffles with prizes including a trailer of firewood and a Christmas cake.

Entertainment through the event will be provided by a local ukulele group and a new addition, the Te Horo Beach band, The Brooklyns (who have volunteered their time). You will be able to enjoy their sounds over coffee and homemade treats from the onsite community café.

Te Horo Christmas Market, Sunday 4 December 10.00am to 1.00pm Te Horo Hall, School Road, Te Horo.

Community fundraiser for Ukraine

The recent fundraising evening at Te Horo Hall was a mega success, the hall decorated in Ukraine’s national colours of blue and yellow, and with more than 130 people dancing to Te Horo bands, Te Horo Shed and The Brooklyns, and singing old 70s favourites with Greg Christensen.

Blumhardt Foundation supports The Kilns at Te Horo

The creation of a multi-cultural arts centre, The Kilns at Te Horo, has received a significant boost with an important grant from the Blumhardt Foundation.

The Foundation will provide $10,000 to equip the Potter’s Workshop for the Resident Potter who will take up the residency when The Kilns at Te Horo opens towards the end of 2023. The workshop will be known as The Doreen Blumhardt Studio. After an illustrious career as a ceramicist and arts educator, the late Dame Doreen Blumhardt, ONZ CBE, established the Foundation to advance the crafts sector.

Foundation Chair Philip Clarke noted that Dame Doreen and Mirek Smíšek worked together to promote the development of pottery in New Zealand and she counted him as a friend.

“I visited Mirek's pottery at Te Horo a number of times and it was a magical place. It is wonderful that this heritage will have a second incarnation at The Kilns.”

Tony Hartevelt, Chair of the Mirek Smíšek Arts Trust that will operate The Kilns, says the approach from the prestigious Blumhardt Foundation was much appreciated.

The Kilns will celebrate the life and work of internationally renowned potter Mirek Smíšek. “The Trust was thrilled to receive the offer from the Blumhardt Foundation. It is an endorsement of the work the Trust is doing to create a significant community asset by making The Kilns at Te Horo

again a focus for the arts – as Smíšek did.”

“Our ambition is to go further, to inspire, educate and celebrate through a programme of events for visitors to enjoy the history, culture and arts the site offers and those already working with clay can further enhance their experience.”

“The contribution of the Blumhardt Foundation is a step along the way to realising the Trust’s vison for The Kilns at Te Horo. Next year the Trust will launch a series of fundraising initiatives to set up the site and provide funds for operations ahead of the opening. That is now likely to be in the last quarter of 2023,” Mr Hartevelt said.

“We expect Waka Kotahi to shortly begin work on restoring the old Te Horo Railway Station so it can become accommodation for the Resident Potter. Meanwhile we are working closely with Waka Kotahi on the details of moving onto the site.”

www.thekilnsattehoro.co.nz

www.blumhardt.nz

right: Mirek Smíšek in his studio with a range of mugs in the 1970s.

“It was a wonderful, fun evening enjoyed by all. Many people commented the hall looked amazing, the bands fabulous, and the organization outstanding,” said hall chairperson, Sharon Hurst.

Those attending learned of the history of Ukraine and the harrowing impacts of its division from Russia. Marilyn Stevens of Rotary International told listeners how they carry equipment such as generators across the border and into the right places.

More than $4.3k was raised, and funds will be distributed throughout Ukraine to help those affected by the ongoing war. “We were able to raise this money due to the generosity of local businesses who gave products for us to raffle,” Ms Hurst said. “The Te Horo Committee worked hard to bring this event to the community, and it was just what was needed as our first major gathering since Covid. We wish to thank bands, donors, marketing suppliers, and everyone who gave time, effort and expertise to make the evening a success.”

A full list of donors is available on the Te Horo Hall Facebook page.

Drinks and Nibbles

Drop into Te Horo Hall, Friday 2 December 5.30pm for a Christmas catch-up with friends and neighbours at the monthly community gathering. BYO drinks and a plate of nibbles/finger food to share. All welcome

Children fish for trout

BY FRANK NEILL

Five-year-old Jules Wiffen caught a trout in time to eat it on his sixth birthday – the day after the Take a Kid Trout Fishing Day at Winston’s Ōtaki Lakes on 19 November.

Jules was one of the many children who took part in the popular event, organised by the Kāpiti Fly Fishing Club and the Horowhenua Fresh Water Angling club. Heavy rain just before the event started meant numbers were lower than organisers expected.

The children who did attend got to experience the excitement of trout fishing, with many of them catching their first fish.

Jules, the youngest at the event – for children aged between six and 16 years –was one of the tamariki who caught his first trout.

“Because of the heavy rain, the water in the lakes has got a bit dirty, but the kids are still catching fish and enjoying it,” Malcolm Francis of the Kāpiti Fly Fishing Club told the Ōtaki Mail.

“The key part for us is introducing the youngsters to fishing.”

As well as giving the children the

opportunity to catch the trout, the experience also sees them “become a bit more aware of the importance of clean waters,” he added.

“We have had youngsters who have come to our days and are now regularly fishing.” Mr Francis particularly noted two people who came to the Take a Kid Trout Fishing Day and who were now “really competent” at fly fishing.

A free event, the day gave children the opportunity to experience trout fishing in a safe environment, supervised by experienced volunteers.

“Hundreds of hatchery-reared trout were released into the lake just ahead of the fish-out day. They are usually hungry and happy to oblige young anglers by jumping on the line,” said the Kāpiti Fly Fishing Club’s secretary Gregory du Bern.

“We hope [the day] spurs them on to take up fishing, which is a healthy outdoor pursuit that gets kids off screens.”

Members of the Kāpiti Fly Fishing Club and the Horowhenua Fresh Water Angling Club organise and run the event with support from Wellington Fish and Game, Ōtaki Hunting and Fishing, Pub Charity and the New Zealand Community Trust.

Slip, Slop & Slap time again

BY ANN CHAPMAN

Last month there were reports about the unusually high radiation levels in the sun’s rays. That is worrying because it was only October and the sun is usually at its fiercest in February. That means the age-old messages from the Ministry of Health are about to go viral again. This time they have added a fourth component: Wrap. Wrap those sun glasses around your face and protect your eyes.

UV radiation levels are at their peak in New Zealand from September to April, especially between 10am and 4pm. There are lots of ways to protect yourself, mainly by using sunscreen, keeping out of the sun during the hottest hours of the day, covering yourself and wearing a hat and sunglasses.

There is also, unfortunately, a whole range of myths surrounding sunburn. None are true and here is a list of them for you to ignore:

• I can’t get sunburnt on a cloudy day.

• I can’t get sunburnt on a cold day.

• I get burnt more easily at the beach because of high reflection of UV radiation from the sea.

• I'm wind-burnt not sunburnt.

• Getting sunburnt isn’t that bad.

• Wearing a t-shirt in the water is sun protective.

• I only need to be SunSmart if I’m going outside for a long time.

• My makeup has SPF, I’m safe all day.

• I don’t need to worry about sun

protection for areas like my forearms, hands and feet.

• A baseball cap or visor gives me good sun protection.

• A suntan is healthy.

• I can’t get sunburnt when I’m in or around the water.

• I won’t get sunburnt if I take regular breaks while I’m sunbathing.

• I can’t get sunburnt through glass.

• I can’t get sunburnt in the winter.

• I don’t need to worry about sunburn as

Beating the skin cancer epidemic

The risk of cancer increases with age, and the number of adults seeking treatment is increasing dramatically, in line with our aging population. Of all cancers, skin cancer is by far the most common in New Zealanders.

The total number of new skin cancers diagnosed – both melanoma and nonmelanoma amounts to about 80 per cent of all new cancers diagnosed each year overall. New Zealand has one of the highest melanoma rates in the world. It is our fourth most common cancer and our sixth most common cause of death from cancer.

Amongst the age of 25- to 44 -year-olds, it is the most common cancer in males and second most common cancer for females. In addition, there are about 67,000 new non-melanoma skin cancer cases identified each year.

In times past, we were not as aware of the dangers of exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light – both natural and artificial – as we are today. Now we know there is no such thing as a ‘healthy tan’ and more than 95 per cent of skin cancers are caused by exposure to the sun.*

Not surprisingly, outdoor workers such as farmers, forestry workers and builders, who have spent their working life in the sun, often without adequate protection, are well represented among those needing treatment.

You, your partner, and your family will know better than anyone else if something on your skin is new or changing – these are two important early warning signs. Become familiar with your spots and moles and check your skin regularly. The Skin Cancer College Australasia promotes a simple, but very effective mantra: SCAN Your Skin. SCAN means look for a spot or mole that is:

Sore, scaly, itchy, bleeding, tender and doesn’t heal within six weeks.

Changing in appearance, size, shape or colour.

Abnormal: Looks different, feels different, or stands out when compared to others.

New: Most melanomas – and all other skin cancers – arise this way.

I have dark skin.

• I’ve had sunburn before, but now I protect myself. That means I’m safe from developing skin cancer.

• All sunscreens block out all UV radiation.

• Sunscreen sprays are easier to spread than lotions.

• It's OK to store sunscreen in my glove box.

• Putting sunscreen on once in the morning means I’m protected all day.

• Using a sunscreen with SPF50 means I can stay outside much longer than if I use a sunscreen with SPF15.

• Sunscreen is all I need to protect myself from the sun.

Be SunSmart this summer. Look after your skin. Look after your kids — they can burn quickly. Protect yourself and them from the risks of skin cancers, including melanoma.

St Joseph Skin Cancer Centre

2 Presentation Way, Paraparaumu Tel: 04 298 1881

Email: info@stjskin.co.nz

Dr Roland Lotsu, of St Joseph Skin Cancer Centre calls the prevalence of skin cancer an epidemic – and with the arrival in retirement years of the baby-boomers, who enjoyed their halcyon days soaking up the sun, it’s only really starting.

“Certainly, if we are not careful when we are young, it will come back to haunt us when we are older. The good news is if skin cancers are identified early, they can usually be cured. But if ignored, the consequences can include disfigurement or, in some cases, death,” says Dr Lotsu.

Dr Lotsu hopes that by engaging with the local community and prompting a greater awareness of the causes and early signs, the increasing incidence of skin cancer can one day be reversed. He explains that sometimes people see him to have a single mole checked, only to find that another lesion, lump or mole that they haven’t considered is of much greater concern.

For more information go to: www.scanyourskin.org.

The more SCAN features a spot or mole exhibits, the more concerning it may be. If this sounds like you, see your GP or a doctor with advanced qualifications in skin cancer medicine, and ask for a spot check, or better still – a full skin check.

*Cancer Council Australia – Skin cancer facts and figures, updated March 2014

Dr Roland Lotsu

MD, FSCCA, FSCI, FRNZCGP, DRCOG, DFSRH

Fellow of

the

Skin Cancer College of Australasia

Fellow of the Skin Cancer Institute

Academic Expert in Dermoscopy (Med Uni Graz, Austria)

Accredited Skin Cancer Doctor (SCCA)

The St Joseph Skin Cancer Centre is dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers. It offers local, cost-effective access to advanced knowledge, diagnostic techniques, and treatment. You, however, are the person most familiar with your skin, so SCAN thoroughly and repeat often. It’s a simple habit to get into, and one that might save your life.

Mayor Janet Holborow's Report

It’s been around six weeks since the start of the term, and there have been so many highlights already, not least in Ōtaki.

We have such an incredible group of Councillors and Community Board members who’ve put their hands up to serve our communities. Ōtaki is well served with a committed community board, and an excellent Ward Councillor in Shelly Warwick who brings a wealth of experience and community connections.

To top it off Ōtaki also has representation from Districtwide Councillor Rob Kofoed, who is keen to bring his experience to help council with quality town planning.

We started the new council term in Ōtaki, welcoming Darren Edwards, our new Chief Executive, with a pōwhiri at Raukawa Marae. Darren is already bringing the fresh approach that Council needs, and has an ability to include and connect both councillors and staff.

A sadder occasion at Raukawa Marae was a visit by Council to pay respect to Te Waari Carkeek who was a Chair and member of Te Whakaminenga o Kāpiti for many years. His knowledge of the history of our area (and wider) was immense, and he was deeply respected as an author and an authority on so many subjects. Thoughts are with whānau and friends. A highlight of the past month was visiting the new Shed Project premises at the Ōtaki Māori Racecourse. The Shed Project started in Paraparaumu at the old Statue Bargain Barn in 2014. They provide training and employment opportunities for local disable and disadvantaged people, through enabling people to achieve their personal goals, removing barriers to employment and opportunity, and encouraging inclusion through participation in social and fundraising events, setting up and administering community enterprises to create employment, and other activities fostering community well-being.

Their focus on art and practical skills is also a social enterprise, and much of what they do is funded through funds generated by sales of their creations and goods.

The new space has enormous potential for a variety of activities, and I enjoyed a music and dance session hosted by Shane McAlister. It was particularly great to see one of the newer members who’d been isolated through Covid (and until now) coming out of his shell and participating. On the same day I caught up with the fantastic staff at the service centre at Ōtaki Library. Their role is so important, not only providing council services, but also dealing with many local issues on the ground. The visit was organised by Regional Councillor Penny Gaylor. Penny and I are committed to working together to address the challenges both councils share for the betterment of our local communities.

It was wonderful to attend the Ōtaki College Senior Prizegiving and I’d like to congratulate all of the rangitahi who were recognised not just for their sporting and academic achievements, but also their service and care for others. Their achievements are even more impressive given the unforeseeen and unprecedented challenges of the past few years. Their resilience and determination is an inspiration.

Further afield, It’s been a busy few weeks forming connections across the region and country, not only for elected members but staff too.

On 10 November senior Executive

Assistant Jess Mackman hosted Executive Assistants of Mayors, Chairs and Chief Executives from across the region, meanwhile our new Councillors and Community Board members were down in Wellington on a training day, and the

next day I hosted as the new Chair the inaugural Zone Four meeting of Local Government New Zealand for this term. Last week was just as busy with an event by Waka Kotahi to update Mayors from across the country around transport challenges and strategies. This was followed by the Regional and Provincial

QUALITY-DRIVEN RESIDENTIAL AND COMMERCIAL ROOFING SPECIALISTS

meeting, where the discussion focussed on government reform, including health, insurance and our plans for the next three years as a sector.

On to Council matters, which most importantly included signing of the governance arrangements — which provide more input from community boards and iwi — with the creation of two new committees around Social and Environmental sustainability. Ngā Hapu o Ōtaki and the Community Board met this week to explore ways they can work together, and I look forward to a continued relationship with Ngā Hapu as we address the significant challenges in Ōtaki and continue the development of Ōtaki as a unique, culturally vibrant and environmentally focussed hapori. Finally, my congratulations to Energise Ōtaki who won the Heritage and Environment Award in the Wellington Regional Airport Community Awards at an event attended in Wellington by Deputy Mayor Lawrence Kirby. As Mayor I have the honour of being on the judging panel, and I know they came through against extremely stiff competition. This award is well deserved. Thanks to Energise Ōtaki and all the nominated groups from Kāpiti; your work in our communities make them what they are.

ASBESTOS REMOVAL AND COMPLIANCE SPECIALISTS

New roofs & reroofing | Asbestos removal | Demolition

Our locally owned and operated family business has provided a trustworthy, experienced, reliable and qualified service on the Kāpiti Coast for 15 years and will continue to do so into the future.

Out and about with Shell

SHELLY WARWICK – OTAKI WARD COUNCILLOR

I would like to give a big shout-out to all the wonderful volunteers for the massive amount of work they do to make our community what it is. I cannot name them all, but have had the pleasure over the last month of attending a few events which highlight the work that goes on in our community.

I attended the Ōtaki Volunteer Fire Brigade (ŌVFB) honors night on 22 October. The ŌVFB members are men and women who are a very special type of volunteer. A lot of us volunteer to help out at many things, but these volunteers never know when they are going to be called out, early morning, middle of the night, weekends. Often there is not an ambulance or police available in our town and so the ŌVFB are the paramedics or police by proxy. They are called to falls in homes, medical incidents, motor vehicle accidents, severe weather events, as well as the odd fire. They are back up for the police and ambulance, if needed, and are called out of town to support Levin and Waikanae fire brigades if they have big events. This often this takes them away for many hours. They must leave their work and/or home and family, and sometimes for hours or days on end. It is tough emotionally as they have to deal with very

heartbreaking incidents and accidents at times. It is selfless commitment to our community and they are heroes for our community in so many ways. Many were honoured for years of service, not least Graeme Rankin who received a gold star for 25 years. Our ŌVFB chief is knocking on 50 years' service and Brent Bythel has already reached that milestone. If you see them around, please say thanks to them and also thanks to the families who put up with the middle-of-the-night call-outs and disruption to family time.

I also recently got to spend a lovely morning collecting for Breast Cancer with Chris Kendrick. Our community is very generous and keen to put their hands in their pockets for a good cause. Thank you, Kirsten Housiaux, for once again organising the collectors — a voluntary role you have done for years — and giving up your time to get all us collectors organised. Without people like you this would not happen. And then on Saturday 19 November I had the pleasure of attending the Ōtaki Players' production of Frozen Jnr . All actors were children and it was absolutely fantastic. Thanks to the kids who gave up their time to practice and produce a great show, to the army of mums, dads and the creative team who spend months of volunteer time to bring us these local shows. Ōtaki Players have been around for over 70 years, 30+ in the Civic Theatre a building, which they have poured their love and hard-earned money into. Thank you, Otaki Players for all you do for our community.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas surrounded by those who make you happy.

Meri Kirihimete

Shelly

Kāpiti Coast Art Trail 2022

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY

Blue skies predominated over the recent Kāpiti Coast Art Trail, with only the last Saturday putting on a relay of notorious showers.

It was great to wander around the more than 125 award-winning, established or emerging local artists, all displaying their work as part of the Trail, and be inspired (often surprised) by the enormous range of media from painting and photography, jewellery and upcycled creative works, ceramics and textiles.

Artwork was exhibited in galleries, working studios and art workplaces with the weather bringing out happy crowds. Artists reported a busy four days, “busloads of people,” with plenty of sales.

“There was something for everyone to enjoy,” said Kāpiti Coast District Place and Space marketing and events manager, Sonja Williams. “And this year we introduced a more contemporary brand, innovations such as rewards cards with discounts and deals on local beverages, food, clothing and sunglasses.”

Just when you thought you'd let it go... Frozen Jr knocks your socks off!

BY KARLINA MITCHELL

Frozen Jr , the Broadway Junior musical put on by Ōtaki Players in November, ended on a high with sold-out audiences. Director Jacqui Simpson , explains this was not only due to the talented children involved, but also to a core group of adults supporting the cast of children. "It takes a big team to make it happen, from set design and building (under Jeremy Brookman), to costume planning and organising (led by Vicki Upshon), which is a huge job with some of the cast having four costume changes. Posters and programmes were designed by Assistant Director and Choreographer Sarah Ferguson, and the Ōtaki Player's tech team then came in to organise the sound and lighting. There's also hair and make-up, the backstage crew, props, backstage dressers, photography, ticketing and the front-of-house team; all are essential to the running of a show. "We do it because we love seeing what the children are capable of, and watching them develop as performers is so rewarding. Musical theatre provides opportunites for children to explore their creativity, gain confidence, and express themselves in so many different ways."

hold back; they leap out of their chairs in excitement and glee, yell and point, and turn to their seatmates with wide eyes. They're engrossed and it's so much fun; it's real-life magic.

And the kids IN the show? Holy moly!

It's 1:45pm Saturday at the Ōtaki Civic Theatre and preschoolers are everywhere, MUCH-loved costumes worn yet ANOTHER time, but this time for a very special occasion.

We went to the matinee show which meant lots of toddlers and little people (as it should!). I love this kind of show because as a parent you can hear the low hum (and not-so-low hum) of constant chattering and, for once, it's not just your kids and everyone understands the magic for these little ones and encourages it. Instead of shushes there are shared moments of total joy.

Kids at a show are MAGIC, they feel with unbridled amazement and we, with our dusty everyday-life-weary hearts, feel it through them. They see people their age up there, the stage transformed into faraway places, amazing costumes (and costume-change wizardry). They don't

The villagers were first, kicking off the opening song and setting the tone for an unforgettable show! Then young Elsa and Anna, with beautiful singing voices and so much energy, were a treat to watch. I was already attached to them and felt sad when they 'grew up', but then we got to meet two new characters and WOW. Grown-up Anna beamed fun and bubbly energy to match young Anna, who was a firecracker. Her confidence, happiness and timing was so fun. When we first saw grown-up Elsa she was up in the window and as she sang her first line her mic wasn't on — she didn't flinch! That girl just put a little extra air in her lungs and sang her heart out — courageous and cool under pressure. I felt my heart might explode. Later, as the mic came to life, her singing voice completely blew all of us away. When Elsa opened up you could feel the entire theatre stunned, like we'd all breathed in and forgot to breathe out again. The castle scene was a real whooooa moment: she may have replenished all of our capacity to hear Let It Go on repeat for another decade — something no-one thought possible �� Special mention to the absolute SWAGGER of Prince Hans; the pompous hilarity of 'Weaseltown'; the comedic timing of Olaf; and the physical comedy between Kristoff and Sven the reindeer — who knew so much was possible with hoof gloves! So clever. Also, the troll costumes and cool lighting made us feel like we were deep in a moss cave. There were so many times during this play that my throat caught, my chest stuck with joy and it took a little minute to breathe again. I spent much of it with glossy eyes, totally overcome with the talent and energy of the cast, the impact on the audience and the impact on the community as a whole!

A play is just a play, right?

Naaaah. nah nah nah.

There's so much going on here:

Promotional image below by Bianca-Rae Photography

•Kids doing something new, honing their skills, stepping out of their comfort zones and being celebrated for it; when the crowd went crazy with applause these kids were RADIATING. It was glorious. •Adults able to share their time and skills to support and mentor these budding talents and give value to their community that the impact and the reach of will never be known, but the length and breadth of it keep stretching on into the future and out into so many lives. We know through sports and school — and all those activities — that adults who sign up for this kind of role play a huge part in our kids' life paths. It takes a village.

•The community being able to attend a show of this quality, held in their home town, performed by their people — the pride and amazement was real. We all floated out onto Main Street, cheeks sore from smiling and still reeling.

•Young people inspiring other young people! When you see your friends being

brave and putting on a show in front of so many people and doing SUCH AN AWESOME job of it, you're inspired! It looks so much fun, maybe you'll give it a go! My kids definitely felt this. I'm no theatre buff by any stretch, but I love the collective energy of people experiencing things together and this was such pure joy I had to share it!

Go see a show, support the efforts of our arts community because often it's them who remind us to feel (think music, plays, films, books, art) and transport us somewhere far away — all right here in our home.

Massive thanks to the Ōtaki Players and everyone involved! And let's hear it for the parents that committed to taxi duty and more for all those rehearsals! The real MVPs? Thanks for sharing your U3 kids — they were awesome!

Reprinted with permission

Kāpiti Light Orchestra Conducted by Stuart Douglas with Musicians from Mehana are delighted to be performing at the Civic Theatre, Ōtaki, Saturday 10 December, 7pm, for this fun, family concert for young and old (all ages welcome).

KLO is part of Kāpiti Concert Orchestra consisting of local Community musicians, and performs light entertaining music along the Kāpiti Coast. The Mehana caravan is travelling through Ōtaki, and some of the musicians can stop by to join with KLO for an evening of musical tales and wonder.

Mehana is a Wellingtonbased group playing contemporary folk, influenced by tunes from communities of former Yugoslavia and cool roma music styles. Join us to reminisce about lost romance, tales of danger and bravado, and celebrate life and love in all its forms.

KLO programme will include lots of wellknown melodies, including the Beatles, ABBA, some instrumental solos, festive songs and lots of audience participation. So, dig out your costume and dancing shoes we look forward to entertaining all the family.

FAMILY POPS

DANCEPRIZES ABBADRESSUP

KAPITI LIGHT ORCHESTRA and Musicians from MEHANA

Tickets only $5

Ōtaki Civic Theatre Saturday 10 December 7.00 pm WARSSTAR LITTLE DRUMMER BOY

Tickets available from Railway Bookshop (opposite the Civic Theatre, Ōtaki) adults only $5 and students free Further info contact Fran Tull: 022 134 5659

Ōtaki’s shining brightly

The year is wrapping up well. We were delighted to receive the Heritage and Environment Award at the Wellington Airport Regional Community Awards 2022!

Plus, events we’ve been gearing up to are now here.

Walk in to the Great Bike Giveaway at the Skatepark on Saturday 3rd December, and roll out with a free bike! We kick off at 10am and stop when all bikes are gone (12pm latest). Koha appreciated.

Eight stellar projects are now recipients of money raised from our solar farm. Drumroll… the Whakahiko Ōtaki–Energise Ōtaki Fund 2022 goes to:

● Pavel Plotinnov to design a pilot workshop on DIY solar paneling

● Astara Technologies Ltd. to conduct a feasibility study on storing solar power in used electric car batteries

● Ōtaki Playcentre in workshopping their ‘sustainability’ playground design

● Ōtaki Montessori Preschool with portable solar power and solar-powered educational toys

● Organic Wealth and Māoriland

Charitable Trust with their (separate) composting projects, collecting food waste to turn into rich soil for planting

● Ōtaki College with kit for their maara/garden

● And Ōtaki College again with

equipment to build their next EVolocity solar car. This year their studentdesigned Caretaker’s Solar Cartfunded by the Whakahiko Fund 2021 - won the Innovation in Engineering award at the EVolocity solar design competition. Amazing.

Refill your glass (by ‘glass’ we mean ‘cup’...with tea or coffee) to toast these fantastic projects at December’s Ōtaki Repair Cafė. That’s 10am-2pm, Sunday 4th December. Get your beloved broken items fixed while you’re there, and gather ideas for gifts to make from recycled materials. Proceeds from food and drinks sales go to Te Whare o Rēhia–Ōtaki Toy Library. For best results, first email otaki.repaircafe@ gmail.com with details of the item you want repaired.

Enjoy the sun, Ōtaki. Thank you very much for all your support and donations of time, skills, bikes, curtains and funds. That’s people powering energy change.

The Rongoā Space

BY JOANNE HAKARAIA

Rongoā of the Month

RENGARENGA

abundantly. It has been recorded being grown around pā sites at the end of the 19th century.

Tarata (Pittosporum Eugenioides) has yellow-green, lanceolate leaves with a strong lemon fragrance when the leaves are crushed. The yellow and cream flowers are highly fragrant and are in flower right now in Ōtaki. The flowers appear in spring and are followed by small green capsules that take about a year to ripen.

Maku anō e hanga tōku nei whare. Ko ngā poupou he mahoe, he pātete, Ko te tāhuhu he hīnau. Me whakatupu ki te hua o te rengarenga Me whakapakari ki te hua o te kawariki. I shall build my own house. The ridge-pole will be of hīnau and the supporting posts of mahoe and patete. Raise the people with the fruit of the rengarenga, and nurtured on kawariki.

Rengarenga has broad flat leaves. She has crisp white flower petals with a delicate design of purple and yellow anthers. The stamens are curled at the end like an unfurling koru, symbolising a kowhaikowhai pattern. In fact, the expression of the Rengarenga stamen are used in many kowhaiwhai.

You only have a short window of opportunity to catch it in its full splendour, so be sure to keep an eye out for it. The flowers are an important food source for our bee population. It is a buzz with bees and other tiny insects making this rākau a wonderful addition to regenerating forests.

— King Tāwhiao

May we be nourished by the fruit of Rengarenga.

As a rongoā, the roots of rengarenga were roasted over a fire, pulped and applied warm to abscesses and tumours to bring them to the surface and help the healing process.

as it is highly astringent. It stings a little when applied. I was taught in my teenage years that stinging is part of the healing process, so I learned to love it — especially when it came to pimples. I remember applying mum's perfume and toothpaste onto pimples for the stinging effect. The more sting, the better! And it worked a treat! Now I use plants — a much more natural method. Not all skin types will appreciate the strength of the gel, so please be mindful of this.

Traditionally, Māori used Tarata for its scent and would mix the crushed leaves and resin from the trunk with hinu or oil from bird fat to preserve it. Or a simpler way was to just crush the fresh leaves and rub over the body. Such a beautiful and natural way to perfume the body and surroundings by having highly fragrant trees accessible to use.

Rengarenga or Maikaika

(Arthropodium cirratum) is a rock lily and she is in flower right now. I chose Rengarenga as the rongoā of the month because she has so many elements and a quiet countenance. The plant forms large colonies and would have been ideal as a food crop in times past. She was once revered for her starchy rhizome and cultivated for kai. In the wild her roots are small because she normally grows out of cliffs and rocky ground. When cultivated though, her roots are larger and more palatable. The roots were cooked in hangi or roasted over the fire and taste similar to a potato. I can imagine this would have been a staple kai for dietary requirements and grown

The lower end of the leaves were pounded into a pulp and applied to the body as a poultice to treat ulcers and sores. The gel can easily be seen at the end of the leaves and this also can be used for convenience.

I have used the gel for boils and pimples

Tarata was also traditionally used to relieve toothache and bad breath because of the antiseptic oils in the resin. The resin was mixed with the sap of Pūhā to make a chewing gum called Pia. The sap of Pūhā was extracted from the stalk and leaves which would eventually harden into a gum, then it would be mixed with the resin of Tarata. Chewing gum is an ancient rongoā used in most indigenous cultures around the world using their own native plants. The gum would have been an excellent remedy for treating oral hygiene. It also would have been used to ward off hunger and as a thirst quencher. Tamariki chewed the gum after it had been masticated by their elders. The gum was a taonga and

Zero Waste Ōtaki Update

BY JAMIE BULL

We have enjoyed hosting a number of visitors to our site recently. Members of the Wellington Regional Waste Forum had a visit after their local meeting which was hosted by KCDC this time. Next up it was a bus load of newly elected KCDC Councillors and Community Board members. It was a great opportunity for them to see our project, which has only been achieved with significant support from the Council. Most of them had no idea what we were up to, and were genuinely impressed. Then Volunteer Kāpiti Manager Em, along with volunteer Bron, who will be placing volunteers, came to get a feel for suitability for some potential volunteers. We enjoy sharing our progress with the various groups who support us, especially as the site is now functioning well. Our two 40 ft containers are being prepared for painting by Ōtaki MenzShed. Their work is being funded by a Nikau Foundation grant and the paint has been donated by Resene and NZ Paint. Our bund surrounds are looking fabulous at the moment with lots of colour from flowers and herbs. And if you have been thinking you would like to get involved as a volunteer please come along when we are open - 1 Riverbank Road , next to the transfer station. The Zero Waste Ōtaki Committee and volunteers join me in wishing you all good things over the Festive Season.

Please note our hours over the holiday season are as follows: our final Wednesday for 2022 will be Wednesday 14 December (9.30-10.30am); and the final Sunday will be Sunday 18 December (9.30am - 12pm). So there is still time to get materials for those summer house and garden projects. In 2023, we will open again Wednesday 4 January and after that 'normal service' will resume. Season's Greetings.

I’m considering growing rengarenga as a food crop to learn more about it. I hold the King Tāwhaio whakatauki with great reverence and know there is immense significance in King Tawhiao’s vision all those years ago.

This is my last article for 2022. I wish you all a wonderful festive season and look forward to seeing you in 2023!

Energise Ōtaki Bike Repair Day

BY MARGARET ANDREWS

Bikes, bikes and more bikes, all needing some care and repair, were brought to the Energise Ōtaki Bike Space bike repair day held at Ōtaki College on 29 October and sent home in rideable and working condition.

The repair technicians repaired 28 bikes during the day; brakes, gears and tyres were the most problems dealt with, though wheel alignments and replacing spokes took up some time too. Surprise of the day was a young girl’s new bike, still in its box from last Christmas as the retailer and her family didn’t know how to put it together. The guys got to work putting it together and in a short space of time the young owner was riding around the car park — a new skill learned and a present she can finally use.

Energise Ōtaki have several projects on the go with the Repair Café, Bike Space, Curtain Bank, Warmup Ōtaki and Rau Kumara Solar Farm, which supplies electricity to the KCDC Ōtaki wastewater treatment farm, and they also have 50 solar panels generating electricity at Ōtaki College.

With the working solar farm they operate with a low carbon footprint as the solar panels generate renewable energy and they also have a carbon-catching forest after partnering with a local landowner and sharing the carbon credits by planting trees. They will be having their annual bike give-away on 3 December at the Aotaki Street Bike Space. And their next Repair Café 4 December.

Keep up to date with our activities via our Facebook page; or email zerowaste.otaki@gmail.com to go on our mailing list; or visit zerowasteotaki.nz

KCDC Mayor Janet Holborow with Jamie Bull KCDC Councillors and Community Board members visit the Zero Waste Ōtaki yard.

below: Saul and Ari Ward watch with Mum Joanne Ward as BikeTec’s Simon Gilbert straightens and repairs her bike wheel and brakes.

Flower garden

Watson’s Garden Ltd

Seasons Greetings from the Team at Watson’s Garden Ltd!

Christmas/New Year Hours

We will be closing early Saturday 24th, Christmas Eve, at midday

CLOSED: Christmas Day 25th, Boxing Day 26th, Public Holiday 27th

OPEN: Weds 28th, Thurs 29th, Fri 30th, Sat 31st, 9am – 5pm

CLOSED: New Years Day 1st, Public Holidays 2nd, 3rd January 2023

OPEN: Wednesday 4th January and our normal hours resume

Gardening with

Garden tasks for December

Roses and perennials can still be planted but keep new plantings well watered.

Prune roses lightly and water well, in preparation for autumn flowering.

Remove dead flowers from your summer bloomers –they’ll continue to produce fresh blooms if the old ones are continually snipped off.

Lift spring flowering bulbs once leaves have died down completely, and store in a cool dry place.

Mulch all shrubs with compost to conserve moisture, and to protect roots from hot sun, particularly rhododendrons, azaleas and camellias.

Water each evening or early morning, especially plants in containers, which will dry out quickly in hot or windy weather.

Sow seeds of ageratum, alyssum, aster, celosia, cosmos, cyclamen, zinnia, viscaria, gerbera, verbena, petunia, phlox, sunflowers, rudbeckia and nasturtium.

Plant out seedlings of alyssum, portulaca, aster, salvia, cosmos, phlox, viscaria, impatiens, dahlia, dianthus, gypsophila, nasturtium, marigolds, verbena and chrysanthemum.

Fruit and vegetable garden

Summer-prune your peach and nectarine trees as soon as fruiting is complete – it will help prevent the spread of silver leaf blight and leaf curl.

cobs swell to their full size.

Feed tomatoes at least once a week with a fast-acting liquid feed. Don’t forget to continue pinching out laterals (side growths) as they grow, and make sure plants are firmly staked.

Mulch around sweetcorn, courgettes, cucumbers and pumpkins – these plants like sun, but will do better if their roots are shaded.

Sow seeds directly into the soil – beans, beetroot, sweetcorn, carrots, silverbeet, parsnip, lettuce, swedes, spinach, turnips and radish. Make successive sowings every two weeks. Courgette seeds especially are ideal for sowing right now into mounds of organically-rich soil – or they can be started off in pots and carefully transplanted. Children will be amazed to see how quickly and easily a new plant sprouts from the seeds.

Plant out seedlings of lettuce, gherkin, broccoli, eggplant, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, tomato, pumpkin, courgette, capsicum, melon and sweetcorn.

Lawns

Raise the mower height during the warm weather. Longer blades of grass (approximately 5cm) help roots stay cool. If you fed your lawn in early spring, now’s the time to do it again. Use a balanced, fast-acting lawn food and water in well – for an organic option that won’t burn your grass, try Dynamic Lifter Organic Lawn Food.

Second thoughts

Gift vouchers, giftware, tools, pots, garden and pest products available all year round

Monday–Saturday 9am–5pm, closed Sundays and public holidays.

17 Bell Street Ōtaki (06) 364 8758 www.watsonsgarden.co.nz

GIVE THE GIFT OF FRESH FRUIT THIS XMAS AND ALL THE SUMMERS TO COME Raspberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Loganberries, Plums, Apricots, Peaches, Nectarines

ASTILBE – Prof.

Van der Wielen

Beautiful weeping sprays of creamy white feathery flowers up to 50cm tall that sit above lovely foliage. Sun or semishade. Clump-forming habit. 1mt x 45cm

HYDRANGEAS

Lots of colours to choose from. A fabulous potted gift. Lots of lovely pots to choose from.

Te Horo Garden Centre

Cnr Main Highway & Te Horo Beach Roads

ph 06 364 2142

GIFT VOUCHERS AVAILABLE OPEN THROUGH XMAS AND NEW YEARS (CLOSED STATS)

MERRY XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR

Spray pip, stone and citrus trees with copper spray to prevent fungus diseases, verrucosis and leaf curl.

Feed fruit trees for bumper crops later, and water regularly to prevent fruit drop.

Leafy crops, such as silverbeet and basil, will benefit from a regular feed of seaweed-based fertiliser. Water sweetcorn well, particularly at flowering – it helps

Sow a handful of sunflower seeds – they’re such fun to grow and kids love them. Grow tall ‘Yellow Empress’ or ‘Moonwalker’ against a sunny fence or wall. Yates Bronze Shades are a little shorter, and produce cheery flowers in a mix of colours.

Remember to keep up the weeding, mulching and beautifying.

Focus on passionfruit

Juicy, tangy and fragrant – what isn’t there to like about subtropical passionfruit. Plus there is the bonus of fruiting in a relatively short time, from about eight to nine months after planting. The purple fruit also offers good amounts of vitamin A, B and C plus protein, carbohydrates, iron and flavonoids – no wonder it’s my all-time favourite fruit.

For quick establishment plant your passionfruit in spring, once all danger of frost has passed. The fruit is not wind-hardy so will need protection from cold winds, and they are not fussed about salty, coastal locations. However, they do like plenty of sun, so pick a sunny spot and plant with plenty of compost. Plants require a light, free-draining soil so adding some sand will help improve drainage (if you have heavy soil then planting in a container may be your best option – ensure you use a good quality potting mix formulated for containers). Add a slow-release citrus fertiliser to the bottom of the soil before planting, firm down and water well. Provide support for these climbers – it needs to be strong enough to take weight when fully grown. The root system of passionfruit is very shallow but extensive –mulch to retain moisture, keep roots cool and suppress weeds but make sure mulch is kept away from the stem. It’s also particularly important to water regularly throughout the flowering and fruiting period from spring until the end of summer (when watering keep water off foliage to avoid fungal problems).

Like citrus, passionfruit are heavy feeders. It is a good idea to feed at least twice over the spring, summer and autumn months with slow-release citrus fertiliser – over the fruiting period feeding with a liquid fertiliser is also recommended.

Fruit is formed on current season’s wood so prune in early spring to encourage new growth. Prune hard one lateral annually. Train your vine up a fence or wall

removing all laterals until it reaches the height you require then pinch out the top. Pruning (should be done in October or November) establishes the framework of leaders from which laterals grow. Cutting out denser growth allows better air circulation and fruit development the following season.

Passionfruit are ripe when skin turns purple and fruit falls to the ground, from mid-summer onwards (consistent watering will prevent fruit drop and premature wrinkling of the skin). ‘Black Beauty’ produces dark purple fruit with a yellow-orange , juicy aromatic flavoured pulp filled with small black seeds. For a contrast try ‘Golden Passion,’ a heavy yielding vine with round, green to yellow fruit containing similar (equally delicious) pulp to ‘Black Beauty.’

Passionfruit vine also has great decorative value – it looks stunning grown on a pergola where the large green leaves can provide shade all year, with the added benefit of a vibrant flower display in summer and tasty fruit in late summer/autumn.

the Ō taki Mail

Flowering drama inside and out

When it comes to exotic flowers that look dramatic both in the garden and the vase, showy heliconias stand out. Giving a true tropical feel to the garden, these are essentially hot climate plants, although some species are happy to grow here in warm, wind-sheltered, frost-free spots.

Best of these is the parrot’s beak flower, Heliconia schiedeana, one of the most cold-tolerant of all heliconias. It is reported to survive a touch of frost (growing where cannas grow), and if cut down by mild frost the plant will resprout from ground level when warmer weather returns.

Heliconias are relatives of bananas, cannas and gingers, giving us a clue as to how they grow – in the case of this lusty one from South Mexico and Central America – to head height and sometimes more, with wide, paddle-shaped leaves on gently arching stalks. Like their relatives, they prefer soil that doesn’t dry out too much and are great for planting under trees or canopies, handling the competition for nutrients without interfering with the tree roots. They are also useful as a backdrop or screen, the bright flowers and glossy green leaves evoking a sense of the tropics. An evergreen perennial, heliconias are relatively free of major pests and diseases.

The ‘flowers’ of H. schiedeana are in fact long-lasting colourful bracts each filled with a smaller, yellow flower held on the distinctive zig-zagging floral stem typical of heliconias. A favourite of florists, they are valued for their ability to last for several weeks in water and for

We often take the humble sedum for granted in our gardens, possibly because they are so easy to grow. Sedums strut their stuff where many plants dare not venture – in the cracks of a garden wall or path, even under massive trees where enormous roots monopolise most of the soil’s moisture. Remarkably hardy, their thick, succulent leaves can withstand extremes of drought, rain and temperatures (by dying down to a base rosette in winter they are protected from harsh conditions).

There are more than 400 species of this hardworking, reliable stalwart including those with a range of habits (prostrate, creeping, pendulous, upright and arching), shapes and sizes, from the tiny jewel-like foliage of the aptly named jellybean (Sedum rubrotinctum) to the larger growing, clumping perennials such as Sedum telephium ‘Munstead Red.’

Some species, such as Sedum acre creep between rocks, resembling moss (this has led to the common name of stone crop) and others like S. morganianum spill and dangle from baskets. The real star of the genus, however, has a name that says much about its appearance – S. spectabile – spectabile meaning showy or striking.

Reaching between 45-70cm high, S. spectabile’s succulent, greyish-green leaves are whorled up a stout, fleshy stem which is topped with a large,

BY VIVIENNE BAILEY viv.bailey@xtra.co.nz

their dramatic shape and form. Flower bracts are produced continually from summer through to autumn. Parrot’s beak flower can be propagated from rhizomes that have a new ‘eye’ or buds popping up –alternatively, wait till your dormant rhizome develops a new ‘eye.’

The plant needs excellent shelter (leaves can get tatty in hight winds, salt spray will cause minimal marking), growing in full sun or part sun (bright filtered light is ideal). It will grow in a tub, giving gardeners the possibility of moving into a conservatory over winter (grown this way it usually doesn’t get so large). If you haven’t the space for H. schiedeana or perhaps the strength to move it around in a container, you could try the smallest heliconia available here, H. stricta ‘Dwarf Jamaican Red’ which grows to around 50cm tall and has bright red lobster claw flowers.

The humble sedum

rounded and somewhat flattened cluster of small, bright florets –much like a flashy head of broccoli. The flower heads are held into winter, when it dies back to its basal foliage.

Flower colour ranges from white and pale lilac-pink through to brick-red ‘Autumn Joy’ and the ruby-red ‘Purple Emperor’, which has dark, mauve-purple leaves. The whiteflowered S. alboroseum ‘Frosty Morn’ has variegated foliage, with a thin, cream margin edging a bluegreen leaf.

S. telephium “Munstead Red” has purple-black stems and large, flowering heads of a deep russet red. Like S. ‘Matrona’ it has bold structural appeal and combines well with Phorium tenax (New Zealand flax) “Purpureum” and grasses like Calamagrostis x acutiflora (reed grass) and Festuca glauca (blue fescue).

Many of the denser-growing, mat-forming sedums make great groundcover for dry, inhospitable spots, providing both a carpet of colour and suppressing weeds.

Sedum spurium ‘Fuldaglut’ has deep red-plum foliage on ground-hugging stems and rewards in summer with a display of ruby-red flowers. One of my favourites must be the vigorous Sedum ‘Acapulo Gold’ with its closely packed carpet of brilliant gold leaves.

Propagation of sedums can be by seed, division or cuttings during summer and autumn. Seed, however, can be variable, so the first two methods are preferable if it’s a hybrid or cultivar, and you want to continue those characteristics. Clumps should be divided every three to four years (particularly the more vigorous growing types) to prevent crowding and to reintroduce vigour – it should also give you a better floral display. If you pop these divisions into potting mix and keep lightly watered, in a few months you’ll have a bunch of healthy new sedums to plant out in your garden.

Sedums love a sunny spot with well-drained soil. They are invaluable in the coastal garden, withstanding strong winds and salt spray, and are mostly trouble-free. However, those fleshy leaves can be susceptible to slugs early in the growing season, and “Purple Emperor” has a slight problem with white fly (this can be overcome by spraying with Neem Oil).

Try planting your sedum in a spot easily viewed from a comfy chair on your deck, or from inside. Sedums are irresistible to bees and butterflies and quite a show is created as they dance for the nectar.

Ōtaki – Education Town

Home schooling ‘unique to each family’

BY FRANK NEILL

Going to school is not the only option for tamariki. Another choice families can make is home schooling, called “home education” by the Ministry of Education.

Home schooling is becoming more popular with New Zealand families too.

The Covid pandemic has led to a big increase in home education. There has been an 80% increase in the number of home schoolers in New Zealand between the start of the pandemic and September 30 2022.

To find out more about home education, the Ōtaki Mail talked to one of the town’s families that have registered as home-education providers, the Carre and Livingston family.

“I think it’s fun,” says nine-year-old Scarlet Livingston.

“You have a lot more opportunities [than you do at school]. We learn new things every day. It does keep you thinking.”

“It’s very good,” 11-year-old Vision Carre says. “We can get on with our work and after we have done our work we can do something that we want to do.

“I love algebra,” Vision adds.

“The beauty of home schooling is that it’s different for every family,” Scarlet and Vision’s mother Victoria Livingston says.

“It’s unique to each family and fits around their lifestyles.”

Another big advantage is that you can “cater for the unique needs of each child. All our children have totally different requirements.

“Reading and maths, for example, are tailored for each child and are one-on-one. Because they are your children, you know what works for them.”

With home schooling you can also work curriculum subjects like reading and maths into other activities your child is doing.

If the child wants to build something, for example, “we can incorporate maths into it. Anything that they are interested in, you can work the curriculum in.”

Victoria’s home schooling goes back to her secondary-education days.

While at college she found she was not learning well and decided to leave and to teach herself at home.

She found it worked, not only in enhancing her learning but also in giving her the skills to manage her time and manage her life.

“For me as a parent, I wanted to give my children the same opportunities.

“There are a lot of opportunities that you can do with your family – things that you don’t do in schools.”

Some examples she gave were the children becoming involved in a beach-litter survey and the “marine metres-squared programme” where the children sifted through a square metre of sand on the Ōtaki beach to find life and evidence of life.

Both these activities were organised by the homeschooling community through its Facebook page. There are 150 families in the Kāpiti Coast homeschooling Facebook group.

The children’s grandmother, Linda Carre, gave another example of a home-schooling activity that is unlikely to be part of a school programme.

The children have been exploring the ecology of the creek near their house.

“There are so many opportunities for these kids. The only thing that is missing is structured sports,” Linda says.

However the Ōtaki swimming pool offers swimming lesson every Monday for home-schooled children and “we had about 30 kids there last

week,” Linda says.

“There is stuff every day of the week for our kids.”

One very different activity is being undertaken by Scarlet. Although she is only nine years old, she is getting ready to set up a stall selling shoes, pottery and other items.

Scarlet has recently been doing pottery at the Ōtaki Pottery Club at the racecourse.

Other activities the children do, but schools do not, are cooking their own lunches and going to the Cobblers lunch and meeting the different people there once a week.

“It opens up so many more doors for them,” Linda says.

The children also do some activities that they would not normally do until secondary school. Sewing projects is one of these. The children chose their own fabrics and made their own sweatshirts and one of them made a jumper.

As well as the Kāpiti Coast home-schooling Facebook group, there is also a national association, the National Council of Home Educators New Zealand (NCHENZ).

NCHENZ was set up as an incorporated society in 1998 to encourage, promote, inform and advance home education in NZ at a national level.

The only national home-education body in NZ, NCHENZ has strong links with the Ministry of Education.

There are also online organisations that provide learning activities, and some of these give home schoolers a discount.

Although home education is a choice anyone in New Zealand can make, people cannot simply do it. Parents and caregivers who want to educate their child at home need to first get approval from their local Ministry of Education office.

For more information and to access the home education application form visit https://parents. education.govt.nz/primary-school/schooling-in-nz/ home-education/#appform.

images from top to bottom: Scarlett Livingston cooking; reading time for Vision Carre and Scarlett Livingston; and Violet Livingston with a model she made

Ōtaki College News

December 2022 www.otakicollege.school.nz

From the Principal Andy Fraser I would like to acknowledge all the students that participated in our first live Senior Academic & Sports Prizegiving since COVID disrupted normal College life. It was heartening to see just how resilient our students have been and the high level of achievement that was acknowledged that evening. I think it is important that we take every opportunity to acknowledge student contributions in all aspects of College life. I would like to thank whānau and friends for being there on the evening to do this.

Special congratulations to our top award recipients: Paris Karl-Fields, Dux; Freya Lansbury, Runner-Up to Dux; Jess Thomsen, Everiss Scholar and Recipient of the Chairperson's Award for All-Round Excellence; and Keira Johns, Sportsperson of the Year. It takes incredible effort to achieve at this level and I look forward to seeing what these talented young people will do in the future.

I would also like to thank Keeley O'Hagan for her keynote address. Keeley's ability to relate to our students and send a strong message about being true to yourself was well received by all who attended.

Our students were also celebrated at the Work Ready Kāpiti and UCOL awards ceremonies.

Work Ready Kāpiti Awards

Work Ready Kāpiti recently held an Awards night at which students from Kāpiti College, Paraparaumu College and Ōtaki College received their Kāpiti Work Ready Passports and were officially recognised as work ready.

Ōtaki College students included: Andrew Little, Daniel Neill, Charlie Simpson, Macson Chartres, Sophie Carpenter, Deep Patel, Genna McAlpine, Rawiri RikihanaSinclair, Bailey Cowan, Raymond Su and Blake Manning.

The citation which accompanied this award read:

"Ōtaki College consistently support their students to attain positive outcomes across all of Work Ready Kāpiti's programmes and they do this with a careers team of one. Their boys' leadership group, Manukura GPS, has clearly made an impact on the development of work and life readiness for many of the Passport graduates you see this evening, and the College's active staff leadership and belief in their students is evident at every event.”

UCOL Awards

Congratulations to Witana Cameron for winning the Outstanding Student's Award at the recent Horowhenua U-Skills Awards evening at UCOL in Levin.

On the Sporting Front

Congratulations to Jericho Housiaux who plays canoe polo for Ngā Kiore Wai (Water Rats). His team have twice won the Div 1 Intermediate competition in Palmerston North; won the gold medal for the New Zealand Canoe Polo D-Grade National League competition; and won the bronze medal at the New Zealand Club Champs in October. Jericho is an integral part of Nga Kiore Wai and is always keen to play more canoe polo to improve his skills. Outside of canoe polo Jericho has also competed at canoe slalom and flat-water-sprint kayaking at AIMS games where he has given his all. Great work, Jericho!"

Upcoming Dates of Importance

I am aware that whānau have been expected to take a lot of time out over this

year when College has been closed or year levels have been rostered home. I would like to thank you again for your understanding and I am hoping that you can accommodate another day that will allow teachers a National Curriculum refresh.

Fri 2 Dec: Teacher Only Day COLLEGE CLOSED, (MoE Accord Day)

I would also like to warmly invite whānau to our upcoming Junior prizegivings:

Fri 9 Dec: Junior Prizegivings

10.00am Years 9&10 Prizegiving

12.45pm Years 7&8 Prizegiving

Mon 12 Dec: Final Day of Term School Closes at 12.50pm (Manakau and Te Horo buses will come early.)

images, from top: Canoe Polo team Ngā Kiore Wai; Powercut performs; and the recognised Work Ready Kāpiti students

Financial Awards

The College is very grateful for the generosity of individuals, organisations and businesses who have awarded the scholarships and financial awards that we take great pleasure in awarding to the following students.

The UCOL Accomplishment Award is awarded to Makaire Kanavatoa

The Otaki Women’s Community Club Scholarships:

There are two scholarships valued at $750 each and are awarded to students going on to support their future studies. This year the recipients of the Ōtaki Women's Community Club Scholarship recipients are Kaea Hakaraia-Hosking and James Lei.

The Kevin Crombie Memorial Commerce Award and Cup of $500 towards study for a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration is awarded to Taylen Smart and Alyssa Te Wiata.

The Winwick Trust Scholarship. This scholarship of $500 is awarded to a student who cares for others and is going into further education that leads to a career in caregiving. This is awarded to Lana Whitton.

The Marjorie Gordon Memorial Health Award is donated by the Ōtaki Community Health Trust and is valued at $1000. This is awarded to science students who are about to embark in tertiary studies in the Health Science area. The recipient this year is Lana Whitton.

The Funzone Ltd Education Scholarship: A $500 scholarship is awarded to James Lei.

The Fenwick Accountancy Scholarship for accountancy or business-related study at University, valued at $1000, is awarded to Katsumi Futatsugi.

The MI Turnbull Award for Year 11 is valued at $1500 for each student.

MI Turnbull Award for Second in Year 11 is Ihnia Graham.

MI Turnbull Award for First in Year 11 is JT Byrne.

The MI Turnbull Award for Year 12 is valued at $2000 for each student.

The recipients in year 12 are Hayley Boyer and Anika Edginton as equal 1st place holders.

The XŌtaki Alumni Trust Scholarship for Supporting Future Careers in the Defence Force. This award valued at $500 is awarded to Max McHugo.

The XŌtaki Alumni Trust Carla Hepplethwaite Scholarships valued at

$1500 each are awarded to Jessica Thomsen and Tia Brown.

The XŌtaki Alumni Trust Stuart and Mary Pritchard Spirit of Adventure. Scholarship. This enables a student to take part on a voyage on the Spirit of Adventure. The 2023 recipient is Anika Edginton.

The XŌtaki Alumni Trust Max & Debbie Lutz Scholarship of $1500 towards Tertiary study is awarded to Lily Yaxley. Work Ready Kāpiti Programmes 2022 Scholarship: Macson Chartres was awarded the Work Ready Kāpiti Top Work Ready Kāpiti Work Experience Placement. Macson receives a 21-day Outward Bound course, valued at $5300, in partnership with Work Ready Kapiti.

The Bruce Anderson Memorial Trust Scholarship. This award is for a student who has shown ongoing commitment to Science. A Bruce Anderson Memorial Trust Scholarship of $800 is awarded to Lana Whitton.

Concrete Doctors Financial Scholarship, valued at $750, is to support a student going on to tertiary studies. This is awarded to Kate Hall.

Concrete Doctors Outdoor Pursuits Scholarships this are awarded to two students to attend a seven-day Summit Leadership Course at Hillary Outdoor Education Centre in Turangi. The scholarships are awarded to Siena Vidulich and Jessica Ngan.

The MAC Engineering Scholarship is

awarded to a student who is leaving College to undertake further tertiary education in a Trade as an apprentice, or attending UCOL/Polytechnic. Valued at $2500, it is awarded to Blake Manning

The XŌtaki Alumni Trust, Civil Trim Plant Hire and Chris Parkin Outward Bound Scholarship for Contribution to Leadership. This scholarship, valued at $5700, pays the costs of a student to attend a 3-week Outward Bound Course and is awarded to Tia Brown

The top four awards went to: Sportsperson of the Year: Keira Johns: received a sports blue for Taekwondo. Keira is the New Zealand National Title Holder in the women's 45 to 60kg division. Keira received a $100 gift voucher

Everiss Scholar and Chairperson’s Award for All Round Excellence: Jess Thomsen Jess travels to the UK and Scotland in January 2023 for three weeks representing Ōtaki College as the Everiss Scholar

Runner-Up to Dux:

Freya Lansbury Freya received the $500 Fun Zone Scholarship, Wakefields’ Law $600 Scholarship and the $2,250 MI Turnbull Award for 2nd in Year 13

Dux: Paris Karl-Fields Paris received the RSA $1,000 Scholarship for Dux, the $500 Fun Zone Scholarship for Dux and the $2,250 MI Turnbull Award for 1st in Year 13.

Ōtaki cricketers win championship

BY FRANK NEILL

The Ōtaki Cricket Club is the 2022 “T20 test” champion following its convincing win in the Presidents grade final on 12 November.

Ōtaki defeated Levin Old Boys Young Guns by 69 runs in the final, played at Donnelly Park, Levin.

The “T20 test” is a new format which was introduced this year by the Horowhenua Kāpiti Cricket Association. In this competition each team has two innings of 20 overs.

After the Young Guns won the toss and chose to field first, Ōtaki notched up 157 for the loss of five wickets.

Graeme Love was outstanding for Ōtaki, scoring 42 from just 28 deliveries, while Inder Singh also contributed well with 35. Ōtaki then restricted the Young Guns to 141 for the loss of seven wickets, with Conrad Moreahu taking three wickets for 24 from six overs.

With a 16-run first innings lead, Ōtaki added 168 for the loss of eight wickets in its second innings.

Fraser Imrie scored 43 runs from just 26 balls while Tepene Roa added 25 runs from the 10 balls he faced.

Ōtaki then restricted the Young Guns to 115 for seven wickets to take out the championship.

Ōtaki came close to winning by an

innings on 5 November.

Batting first against Levin Old Boys Veterans, Ōtaki notched up 147 for the loss of seven wickets, with Conrad Moreahu scoring 68 runs.

After the Veterans were all out for 75, Ōtaki enforced the follow on and bowled the Veterans out for 80. Conrad was again outstanding with the ball, taking three wickets for 24 runs off his six overs.

Ōtaki clinched the win when they scored nine runs for the loss of one wicket in their second innings.

A week earlier Ōtaki did win by more than an innings in their match against Paraparaumu.

Ōtaki scored 157 for the loss of just three wickets, while Paraparaumu were all out for 79 in their first innings and scored just 60 runs for the loss of five wickets in their second innings.

Cody Royal was named the Horowhenua Kāpiti cricketer of the week when he scored 46 from just 34 deliveries, while Conrad Moreahu scored 62 not out from 58 deliveries. Hunter Topliff took one wicket and conceded just five runs from his two overs.

Cody Royal hits another boundary for Ōtaki. He was named the Horowhenua Kāpiti cricketer of the week on 29 October.

Titan scores podium finishes

BY FRANK NEILL

Joel wins two top trophies

BY FRANK NEILL

Rāhui Rugby player Joel Winterburn has won two top Horowhenua-Kāpiti Rugby Football Union (HKRFU) awards.

Joel was presented the cup for the Heartland player of the year and the cup for the Māori player of the year at the HKRFU awards ceremony on 9 November.

This is the second time that Joel has won these two cups, having also won both awards in 2020.

It caps a stellar year for the loose forward, who has played at both number 6 and number 8 for Horowhenua-Kāpiti and for Rāhui this season.

Joel also won two top awards at the Rāhui Sportsclub’s 2022 prizegiving.

He was awarded the trophy as the club’s most valuable player and also won the trophy as the player’s player of the year. In his final game of the 2022 season, Joel notched up a milestone when he equalled the most number of representative caps in the Rāhui Sportsclub’s history.

He chalked up his 39th cap in the Horowhenua-Kāpiti team that played in the Lochore Cup semi-final, one of the two Heartland Rugby Championships. In doing so, he equalled the record set by Rāhui stalwart Vic Ahipene in the 1950s. Vic debuted for Horowhenua in 1952.

Joel played a big part in the Lochore Cup quarter-final that saw him reach the milestone. He scored one of HorowhenuaKāpiti’s six tries in their upset 44-43 victory over Thames Valley.

Joel debuted for Horowhenua-Kāpiti in 2011 and played nine games in his first season, playing at either lock or flanker. He did not appear again for the province until 2018, however, as he spent around seven years in Perth, where he played senior club rugby, He has played in the Heartland competition every year since then.

Lilah Eagar was the stand-out Ōtaki Titan, with eight podium finishes, at the Wellington Junior All Stars Swimming Festival, held at the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre from 11 to 13 November. Liah finished runner-up in five events –the 100 metres backstroke, 100 metres individual medley, 50 metres freestyle, 100 metres freestyle and the 200 metres individual medley. The 11-year-old then backed that up with three third placings – in the 200 metres freestyle, 50 metres butterfly and 100 metres breaststroke.

The Ōtaki Titans Swimming Club entered seven swimmers in the All Stars Festival, which has competitors from both the

Wellington and Manawatu regions. It is for swimmers aged 12 years and younger. Every one of the Ōtaki Titans performed very well, with all seven swimmers improving their personal best times in at least two events, as well as securing a series of top 10 finishes.

The two girls relay teams gained a fourth placing in the 4x50 metres kick and the 4x50 metres freestyle.

Lucy Rasmussen finished sixth in three events – the 100 metres backstroke, 100 metres individual medley and the 100 metres breaststroke. She also finished ninth in the 50 metres backstroke and tenth in the 50 metres butterfly.

Henry Waite placed eighth in the 50 metres butterfly and tenth in the 50 metres backstroke.

The Titans are currently participating in the Trygrove Trophy – a month-long competition where they compete against other clubs.

Joel Winterburn with his two trophies and his fiancé Mihiarangi Piripi at the HorowhenuaKāpiti Rugby Football Union awards evening.

Very successful tennis season

BY FRANK NEILL

The Ōtaki Sports Club has continued its excellent performances in the 2022–23 inter-club tennis season, with a series of first and second placings in the competitions.

This follows the stunning start the club made to the season when all nine Ōtaki teams won their first round matches.

The club’s mixed-A senior team is undefeated and is top of the table with four of the seven pre-Christmas rounds played.

The A team defeated Waikanae 8–0 on 29 October and followed that up with a 7–1 victory over Paraparaumu Beach on 5 November.

In its latest match it scored its third whitewash of the season when it beat Whitby 8–0 on 13 November.

The mixed-B team is lying second in its competition after winning two of its first three matches.

After winning its first match against Kilbirnie, the team’s 29 October match was postponed because of the weather. It then lost to Ngaio 1–7 on 5 November. The winning form returned on 13 November when it scored an 8–0 victory over Karori United.

The mixed-D team is also lying second on the table.

In their latest match the D team beat Kilbirnie 5–3 on 13 November and defeated Kilbirnie 4 7–1 on 5 November.

The men’s 5th-grade team lies third in its competition after beating Churton Park Spinners 8–0 on 13 November. However it lost to Churton Park Slicers 2–6 on 5 November after beating Wellington 6–2 on 15 October.

In the junior competitions, Ōtaki’s B-grade team, the Hit and Misses are in second place.

Ōtaki Kakama is leading the C-grade, while the Ōtaki Aces are lying second, although they have a game in hand.

Ōtaki Māhuri is leading the Hot Shots grade and Ōtaki Hihiko is lying second. This follows an extremely close-fought local derby on 6 November which saw Ōtaki Māhuri pip Ōtaki Hihiko.

The scores were level at 3–3 when the match ended, with Ōtaki Māhuri taking out the narrowest of countback victories 31–30.

Football's Volunteer of the Year

BY FRANK NEILL

Scott Easthope has been named Capital Football’s Volunteer of the Year for his work developing and coaching junior Football at the Ōtaki Sports Club. Scott was presented his award at Capital Football’s awards evening, held at the Petone Working Men’s Club on 26 October.

Capital Football’s awards are decided by public vote. A voting page is set up for each of the awards Capital Football makes, and Scott emerged with the most votes in the Volunteer of the Year category.

Appearing on the list of candidates for the award “was a little bit of a surprise for me,” he says.

He did not know he was being nominated nor who nominated him. Scott has coached Football at a high level, right up to the international ranks. He took over as coach of Samoa’s team during the World Cup qualifiers in 2014.

When he began with Football in Samoa he had not planned to be coaching Samoa. His role was to set up the country’s youth development teams and leagues.

He has also coached the New England Football Club in the United States. Back in New Zealand Scott coached Stop Out, where he was also Director of Football and before that he was High Performance Director at the Petone Football Club.

The Volunteer of the Year Award was,

however, based just on the last Football season.

During that time Scott was a kingpin with developing and coaching junior Football – running the programme for four to 11 year-olds at the Ōtaki Sports Club.

He has been in this role for three years and in that time junior Football has doubled in size with about 120 tamariki involved in the 2022 season. The four to six year-olds had their programme, which did not involve competitive games, but training and friendly games, on a Wednesday.

He also coached the seven and eight year olds and the ninth and 10th grade teams, with the exception of one 10th grade team.

During 2022 the number of teams of seven and eight year olds doubled from two to four teams. Two of the teams are English speaking, while two teams speak Te Reo Māori – another 2022 initiative.

“This is something I have put a big emphasis on – offering sessions in both languages,” he says. And the initiative has resulted in a surge of interest from tamariki Māori.

Scott also coaches two ninth and 10th grade teams.

“So she’s pretty busy,” he says, “but the parent help has been fantastic.” This is the second major award the Ōtaki Sports Club has won this year. It won Nuku Ora (Sports Wellington) club of the year, announced on 5 July. This award was made for the “outstanding impact on the community” and the “great achievement” of the club’s tennis programme.

Outstanding young Ōtaki tennis player Thorsten Edginton in action. Despite his young age, Thorsten was playing in the men’s fifth grade team.

Scott Easthope with his Volunteer of the Year award

ABC – Authors Book Corner

BY ANN CHAPMAN

Another cracker of a story from Renée Blood Matters

Writing rangatira Renée’s first crime novel set the scene for a new genre of writing from Otaki’s playwright, poet and novelist. Her second, Blood Matters , just released this month, is sited in the fictional town of Porohiwa, home of her first, The Wild Card

It is, as usual, a delightful complex read, with twists and turns, murders and dramas and a very surprising villain. I easily settled down to read it and became immersed in the daily lives of Puti and her niece Bella Rose.

The heroine, Puti Derrell likes running at midnight. During lockdown it was safe, but now lockdown is over and Porohiwi doesn’t feel safe anymore – especially when she discovers her estranged grandfather has been murdered and left with a Judas mask on his face. Puti’s already got a lot on her plate. She’s the new guardian of ten-year-old Bella Rose, who wants to be a private investigator when she grows up, and in addition Puti is the new owner of a bookshop called Mainly Crime. But when there’s a murder closer to home and another of the grandfather’s masks seems to be at the centre of it, Puti and Bella Rose are drawn into the investigation despite themselves. They discover that, in matters of blood, you often don’t get a choice

At the age of 93, Renée is still in cracking form and is already onto her next novel. In recognition of her outstanding

contribution to New Zealand literature written across many different genres, this taonga of Ōtaki and New Zealand, Renée has been awarded an ONZM, the Prime Minister’s Award for Literary Achievement, the Playmarket Award for significant artistic contribution to New Zealand theatre and the Ngā Tohu ā Tā Kingi Ihaka for a lifetime contribution to toi Māori.

Renée in her Ōtaki home, of around 25 years, where she works, writing, every day. Ōtaki and Wairoa are a recognisable conflate in her fictitious town of Porohiwi.

At the Ōtaki launch of Blood Matters at Books & Co last month, Renée (seated above) is introduced by her publisher, Mary McCallum of Cuba Press, Wellington, while another locally based author, Gigi Fenster, looks on. left: Renée and yet another local author, Ann Chapman

Christtmas in Heaven, What do they do?

They come down to earth and spend it with you. So save them a space, one empty chair. You might not see them, But they willl be there

Meeri Kirihimete

from our Harvey Bowler Family

We understand that this time of the year is difficult for many. So we ask that you check on your family, friends, and neighbours who many be feeling a little more lonely at this time of the year.

Books are so important for children, to encourage them to learn to read, and to capture their imaginations when they are young, so that they can see there is a world of possibilities. Giving a book to a child is gifting something that can be read and re-read, read by an adult to a child or by the child themself, and passed around the family and on to friends. Of course this makes us firm believers in the idea of giving books for Christmas, and the same benefits also apply to adults. "A book is a gift you can open again and again,"

Garrison Keillor

We are again gathering many beautiful children's books under the Kiwi Christmas Books scheme to donate to our chosen charities — the Ōtaki Foodbank and Horowhenua Women's Refuge (which includes Ōtaki). You can bring a new book in to donate, or purchase one in store or online. Cut-off date is 12 December, so we can get the books wrapped and delivered.

Our new Summer Reading Guide is out now, loaded with lots of great suggestions, available in store, and on our website.

We love helping you choose books in store (or you can email us with some details), for example, a recent customer had four grandchildren to choose for, so they gave us their budget, children's ages, interests, etc and we suggested books for them, which were approved and gift-wrapped for them. Job done!

We are so looking forward to the expressway being finished, as we believe it will make the shopping experience so much more pleasant for our customers. Meanwhile, remember we are here, ready to help you with any bookshop shopping, so do contact us by phone, 06 262 9158, or email to otaki@ booksandco.co.nz. And, we will be extending our opening hours in December on Saturdays from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 9am to 4pm. Thanks to my wonderful bookshop team, and to our lovely customers. Let's all support our local businesses this Christmas!

We wish you all a very Happy Christmas Jacqui, Tracey, Jessie, Bonny and Suzanne

Kia ora from the Ōtaki Public Library – Te Wharepukapuka o Ōtaki

Between Two Worlds

by Tyler Henry

“Dying doesn’t mean having to say goodbye.”

Tyler Henry is the star of the reality TV series “Hollywood Medium With Tyler Henry” where he works with a lot of celebrities - communicating with those that have passed.

Between Two Worlds is a memoir of Tyler’s journey so far, the discovery of his gift and how his life has been shaped as a result. His understanding of the ‘here and hereafter’ is described simply, and something that is sometimes a difficult subject to make sense of was made easier to understand.

I note that Ōtaki Library has just purchased Tyler’s subsequent book, Here and Hereafter — apparently this is also a good read, but slightly more ‘verbose’.

Brace for Impact

by Gabe Montesanti

Although Gabe Montesanti’s book is a memoir of a queer young woman who has difficult family relationships, and associated issues, this was mainly her journey of learning to play Roller Derby in one of the top ranked leagues in the world. The ins and outs of roller derby are detailed – bringing back great memories of my own journey, including people we had both met through this incredible and very addictive sport. At one stage Gabe suffers a bad injury and her life is severely impacted, but throughout this, the support of her derby ‘family’ is highlighted.

Therefore, if anyone feels driven to try derby after reading this book, then check out our local Whenua Fatales Roller Derby League!

Caliph's House

This story is a fabulous read for the holidays where you can escape for a Moroccan holiday to the sun-drenched city of Casablanca where a family purchased a crumbling ruin, located by the sea, that was once owned by the city’s caliph —also known as the spiritual leader.

Leaving behind the grey skies of London, Tahir Shar and his growing family take a gamble and move into their new home with a hope for a more relaxed lifestyle along with beautiful, lush grounds and private courtyards. This was inspired by his own Moroccan vacations of his childhood.

But nothing is what it seems ...

The Moroccan belief is that an empty house attracts jinns, and these invisible spirits, unique to the Islamic world, are going to hamper all the plans the family have for their new property. Endlessly enthralling, this story is captivating and is a book you will not want to put down.

Tony Bernard, an emergency doctor at Mona Vale Hospital in Sydney, has written this book about his father Henry who is his hero. Over decades Tony went on multiple trips to Europe with his father to work out why his father was the way he was.

Henry Bernard was a hard-working doctor on Sydney’s northern beaches. He was a Holocaust survivor whose life was severely affected by his past experiences. He was obsessed with his family’s security, paying off debt and suffered privately with the shame and guilt of what he had done during the war, until he began returning to Germany and Poland to confront his past and come to terms with the deaths of his parents and Halina, the love of his life. His obsessions destroyed his marriage and any hope of domestic happiness.

A moving holocaust survival story.

backwards, removal can be challenging, and this 'design' often causes them to migrate deeper with movement.

Pets with longer, furry coats tend to be more susceptible as the grass awns become entangled in the hair and then migrate inwards.

Be vigilant, and after each walk out with your dog or when you are snuggling with your cat, check between the toes and run your hands over their bodies. Remove any seeds or grass. Trimming the hair between the toes also reduces the risk.

It is easy to miss some of the grass awns as they are often well hidden by the coat.

passes through the chest or abdomen. Here the clinical signs can be very vague. Symptoms may include lethargy, weight loss, fever, and exercise intolerance. In some cases, imaging such as xrays or ultrasound may be required to locate the foreign body.

It is that time of the year when we are enjoying warmer days and long walks with our dogs. Sadly, this is also a time when grass awns become a common foreign body. These seeds or grass awns become lodged in pet's ears, between their toes and under the skin.

Most commonly we see them between the toes. In other instances, the inhalation of these grass awns through the nose or mouth can cause some serious health issues. These seeds migrate through the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts.

As grass awns have barbs that point

The most common sign of a problem is limping on the affected paw. An examination of the paw will often show some redness, swelling or in some cases a draining tract where the grass awn has already migrated.

If left untreated, a reoccurring abscess will form, despite antibiotic intervention and draining.

Another common location for grass awns is in the ear canal, where they migrate to the middle or inner ear. In these circumstances your pet is likely to shake their head excessively and, in some cases, may tilt their head to one side.

The real challenge is where the grass awn

In all cases, the grass awn needs to be found and removed, most commonly through a surgical procedure where the tissue is debrided and flushed and then antibiotics started to resolve the infection. In some cases, anti-inflammatories and pain medication are also dispensed to ensure that the patient is comfortable. In more serious cases, a drain may be placed until the infection has resolved. Stay vigilant and enjoy your walks.

by Tahir Shah

The Ghost Tattoo by Tony Bernard

OTAKI at the RACES

From our own correspondent OTAKI, Jan. 13

The Otaki racecourse is about a mile from town. The road thereto was at an early hour alive with people, buggies, carts, and horses of every description. The weather, though at first cloudy, turned out at last everything that could be desired. A pleasant shower of rain had fallen during the night, cooling the air and improving the course. Business was to commence at 11.30, and as your correspondent had plenty of time to spare, he took a turn round the Course. A most conspicuous object was the grand stand, very useful on account of the thistles covering the centre of the course, but certainly far from beautiful. Underneath it the Telegraph Hotel dispensed those things necessary to shouting and yelling crowds. I believe this was all that it should be. There were three or four booths, and opposite there were some private stands, looking like watch towers, and standing among a wilderness of thistles. The Otaki Band discoursed sweet music, seeming particularly strong in Handel’s “See the Conquering Hero.” At 12 the 1st event came off.

HANDICAP HURDLES

Eclipse 1

Rangatira 2

This race was Mustangs till at the last hurdle, where he was leading by 20 yards. Horse and rider came to grief, especially the ride (McElwain) who broke his collarbone. Dr Bastow, who was fortunately on the ground, attended him at once.

HACK HURDLES

Ohau 1

Katheka 2

After some delay this came off. All but two

Armistice Day 2022

BY MARGARET ANDREWS

horses baulked at the first hurdle. At the last jump one of the jockeys had a wonderful escape, falling from his horse. He managed to keep clear of it, and the next horse jumped over him and the hurdle.

MAIDEN PLATE

Emblem 1

Chief 2

Toi (late Nikau) 3

This was a pretty race between the first and second horses. The others were out of it from the first.

OTAKI STAKES

Mr Fraser’s Aurora 1

Mt Higgie’s Monk 2

Mr Gillies’ Orphan 3

This was easily won by Aurora. By about three lengths.

LADIES’ PURSE

Mr Higgie’s Monk 1

Mr Harding’s Ruination 2

Mr Whitehouse’s Mustang 3

Seven started, but Monk won easily.

DISTRICT RACE

Mr Whitehouse’s Chief 1

Mr Robinson’s Barmaid 2

Mr Gillies’ Orphan 3

Nine horses started for this race. Barmaid led till the straight, when Chief came up to her, and then commenced the flogging, Chief winning by half a length.

STOCK HORSE RACE Skylark

This was most certainly the most exciting race of the day. All the horses kept together till the last round, when Skylark came out and won.

PONY RACE

Little Tuna 1

Puri 2

This event was not on the programme. It was got up for the purpose of giving as a prize a beautiful tea service presented by Jacob Joseph and Co. It was unfortunately delayed till the Stewards had got through their programme, or it would have been given to one of the more important events. There were 5 entries, and resulted as above.

Otaki Maori Racing Club's Committee 1902

A sad accident happened to a well-known settler here. Mr Jenkins was riding Clymenus, and in coming in fifth, when a man and a boy on a horse crossing the course collided with him. Mr Jenkins had a severe fall, and so had the boy. The man, who was drunk, was kicked off the course.

Jan 14.

I hear that some races are to be held today, and will send you an account of them as soon as possible.

Mr Jenkins is much better today.

Barmaid led till reaching the straight, but Katipo came up and won a most exciting race by a neck.

Armistice Day: remembering the ending of World War I on 11 November 1918, and those who served and died in the battles across Europe. The Ōtaki Returned Services Association commemoration took place at the War Memorial and Cenotaph. People and veterans of later wars and battles gathered at Memorial Park for the annual service. This year saw the unveiling of a new plaque on the cenotaph, commemorating those who had served or died in Vietnam, Borneo, Germany and in overseas operational service with the New Zealand Defence Force or under the United Nations mandates. The plaque was unveiled by Ōtaki veterans Ray Potter, Ken Wells, John Taylor and Frazer Mitchell at the beginning of the service.

RSA Vice President Cam Ronald led the proceeding for the service, assisted by Reverend Simon Falconer reading the prayers and blessing the new plaque. The guest speaker, former Kāpiti mayor K Gurunathan, spoke of his Malaysian-Indian descent and told of his grandfather’s arrest and being forced to work for the Japanese, as he had many skills the they needed.

Local schools again took part, with pupils from Ōtaki and Waitohu Schools reading the names of those who lost their lives, and Ōtaki College senior student Jessica Thomsen read the poem In Flanders Fields

The eighty white crosses representing Ōtaki soldiers who died during WWI, have had several more crosses and names added for those Ōtaki men who are acknowledged around New Zealand.

The formality of the Commemoration – the sounding of the Last Post by bugler Colin Honey, lowering of the flag, the Ode Reading and one minute’s silence followed by the bugler’s rouse and the flag returning to the top of the flag pole — completed, a recording of bagpipes played during the laying of wreaths by representatives from the RSA, schools, Council and Community Board.

Remember With Pride

Those who have served and those who have died in post WWII overseas operational service with the NZ Defence Force or under United Nations mandates Lest We Forget

above: Otaki RSA veterans Ray Potter, Ken Wells, John Taylor and Frazer Mitchell stand at the centotaph as Ken Wells prepares to unveil the new plaque.

Media Muse

“Can I raise briefly the question of the merger between RNZ and TVNZ?” John Campbell timidly asked Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, on Sunday 6 November towards the end of the second of the two “sit down” interviews allocated to TVNZ’s “flag ship” Q+A current affairs programme this year.

“Oh, sure,” says the Prime Minister, amenably, no doubt welcoming the opportunity to bring her formidable communications skills to bear on this topic of vital interest to journalists. Recognising this, Campbell briefly interrupts his Fourth Estate task of holding the prime minister to account, adds in his trademark cringeworthy style: “And I apologise to our audience if they think I'm being self-interested, but look, people who watch Q+A will clearly be interested in public broadcasting.”

“Yeah, absolutely,” the PM agreed.

“And I suspect a lot of them will listen to RNZ too,” says Campbell, obliquely referencing the only public broadcaster left standing after Ardern’s predecessors in the Fourth Labour Government decided in 1989 to run the State’s television channels on advertising revenue and its radio networks on public funding without commercials.

Fixing the prime minister with his most earnest gaze, Campbell, taking over from Q+A’s regular host, Jack Tame, for this premium interview slot, got to the nub. “What the hell is this merger designed to achieve?” he asked her boldly.

Before hearing the prime minister’s answer, let’s get this straight. Whatever it is, the Government’s public media entity, now wending its way through Parliament, it is not a merger.

Don’t take my word for it. The person who should know is Tracey Martin, the former deputy leader of the New Zealand First Party

By Manakau’s Tom Frewen

who chairs the Strong Public Media (SPM) Establishment Board set up in February to determine, down to the finest detail, the structure and purpose of Labour’s new public media entity.

“This is not a merger,” Ms Martin told Newshub Nation on Saturday 15 October, “This is creating something new.” This was her answer to a question from one of the programme’s presenters, Rebecca Wright, that was eerily close to Mr Campbell’s question to the PM.

“Why are we doing this?”

“Sure,” said Ms Martin.

“Because we don’t seem to know.”

“Which is interesting,” Ms Martin allowed — all the more interesting given that Newshub had introduced her as leading “the biggest media reform since the 1980s” and Ms Wright had prefaced her question by observing “Okay, so we have been looking at this for a while.”

Nearly four years, in fact, since Kris Faafoi took over the broadcasting portfolio from Clare Curran.

Newshub Nation is TV Three’s answer to TV One’s Q+A. Both are funded by NZ On Air, just under a million dollars a year each, and broadcast on weekend mornings when audiences are miniscule: Q+A attracts around 80,000 viewers and Newshub Nation’s audience is so small it doesn’t show up in the ratings.

The combined audience for the two evening news bulletins is relatively stable at around 800,000 despite declining by some 100,000 viewers in the past couple of years. That total is close to the number of listeners tuned to the weekday breakfast shows on the two main radio talk networks, Radio New Zealand and NewstalkZB. Free-to-air television and radio remain the country’s main sources of news while newspaper readers rely more and more on

getting news for free off the web pages of Stuff, ranked the highest New Zealand news web site by Similarweb, an American web analytics company, with 35.6 million visits, ahead of NZME’s NZ Herald (28.9 million visits). Radio New Zealand (7.9 million visits) is a distant third just ahead of TV Three’s Newshub (7.4 million visits).

The new public media entity will combine news and current affairs from the state’s television and radio newsrooms and publish them on a new website, using taxpayer funding to overcome the difficulty of earning advertising revenue from content published on the internet, TVNZ will continue to rely on advertising to fund its mainstream broadcast channels. No change there. Radio New Zealand’s two networks, National and Concert, will remain commercial-free. The threat for them will be the diversion of their funding — already happening — into producing text and video for the new website.

The only legitimate reason for using taxpayer funding to make and distribute television and radio programmes is to provide content which commercial broadcasters cannot sustain from advertising revenue. Also, the new media entity’s website will be duplicating a service already provided by Stuff, NZME, Newshub and a host of other sites such as Newsroom and The Spinoff.

Of course, the Government cannot come right out with it and say we’re going to use your money to keep our journalists employed writing news and shooting video that you can also see for free elsewhere on the internet.

The prime minister, for instance, says “It's designed to future proof us and to make sure we have the best possible opportunity for our public broadcasters and their audience to gain access to information when they need it to have content and stories that tell our stories that are specific to us in a changing environment.”

Among the changes is the evolution of the cellphone into a Pandora’s Box containing all sorts of temptations and entertainments, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, social media,

information, disinformation and misinformation.

Ms Ardern is no stranger to misinformation herself. “You know,” she tells Mr Campbell, “that actually the number of people over a short period of time, they're accessing radio in a traditional way that in the past we've accessed, it has decreased by about 20 per cent.”

That is quite simply wrong. Quarterly audience surveys show that the number of people tuning into radio every week is steady at 3.68 million or 81% of the population.

The prime minister is even more badly informed about television viewership. “I think TV, it's gone from something like 80 to 50.” Eighty to fifty of what? According to the ratings, mainstream linear television channels reach 3.7 million people (79 per cent of the population aged 5+) in a month.

Back at the start of this tortuous and expensive exercise, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage signed a contract in April 2018 with Wellington consultancy firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) to survey public broadcasting in six countries: Norway, Finland, Denmark, Ireland, Canada and Australia. Reporting back in July, PWC confirmed some facts that should have taken only a couple of days on Google. The survey revealed that all six countries had at least one television channel that was prohibited from advertising along with restrictions on the amount of advertising on commercial channels. They also required nationally significant events, like All Back tests, to be broadcast on free-toair television.

Jacinda Ardern’s second administration, however, is driven by government departments, such as the Treasury and the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Enterprise, which want to replace free-to-air television with on-demand streaming services on the internet. For the second time, a Labour government has failed to rescue the state-owned television and radio networks from the vice-like grip of the powerful vested interests that control them.

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Ōtaki Churches welcome you

ANGLICAN

Ōtaki All Saints Church

47 Te Rauparaha Street

Rev. Simon and Rev. Jessica Falconer

Tel: 06 364 7099

Service: Sunday, 10am, Hadfield Hall

For Hadfield Hall bookings, email office@otakianglican.nz

Ōtaki Rangiātea Church

33–37 Te Rauparaha St

Sunday Eucharist: 9am

Church viewing hours, school terms:

Mon–Fri, 9.30am – 1.30pm

Tel: 364 6838

Email: rangiatea.church@xtra.co.nz

Waikanae Whakarongotai Marae

2nd Sunday, 11.30am

Levin Ngatokowaru Marae

4th Sunday, 11am

CATHOLIC

Ōtaki St Mary’s ‘Pukekaraka’

4 Convent Road

Fr. Alan Roberts

Tel: 021 0822 8926

Mass Timetable:

Tue–Fri: 10am

Sunday: 10am

Xmas Eve Family Mass: 5pm

Xmas Day (Sunday): 9am

BAPTIST

Cnr Te Manuao Road/SH1

Tel: 364 8540

Service: 10am

PRESBYTERIAN

249 Mill Rd

Rev. Peter L. Jackson

Tel: 364 6346

Worship: 11am

Cafe Church:

2nd Sunday, 10.45am

Acts Churches The HUB

157 Tasman Rd, Ōtaki

Tel: 364 6911

Family service: 10:15am

Big Wednesday: 10:15am

The latter half of 2022 has seen the Māoriland team on the road and in the air, connecting with Indigenous partners and inviting the world back to Ōtaki for the 10th Māoriland Film Festival, to be held 5–19 March 2023. International activities started in August, with the resurrection of Through Our Lens — Māoriland’s cultural exchange programme for young Indigenous filmmakers. The Māoriland team travelled to Fiji where they held a workshop with 20 Indigenous youth in the community of Korolevu.

“It was incredible to travel to Fiji to work with young people in Korolevu. We were lucky to meet members of Vou Dance Group, who we’re excited to be collaborating with further in 2023,” said Pou Ruruku Rangatahi, Oriwa Hakaraia.

Oriwa is a member of Māoriland’s rangatahi film leadership group, Ngā Pakiaka, who premiered their own shorts, collectively titled He Waiora in a sold-out screening at Ōtaki’s Civic Theatre at Māoriland Film Festival 2022.

In October, four of the He Waiora short films screened at the imagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto, Canada, followed by another four in November at Hawaii International Film Festival to enthusiastic and interested audiences.

“It has been incredible to travel with our films to festivals overseas and see how audiences respond to the films. Little things have become incredibly special — like seeing the sign for the Ōtaki Beach Dairy on a huge screen in Toronto, Canada and to be able to tell people, these are our stories, these are our communities — that’s our home. It brings a whole new life to the films,” said producer, Madeleine Hakaraia de Young.

Within Aotearoa, the filmmakers have also been taking the collection to their home communities with screenings in Wellington, Te Kao, Kaitaia and most recently, Auckland. Family and friends sold out Auckland’s Academy cinema to show their love and support for filmmakers and their work, which began development

during the initial Alert Level Four lockdown in 2020.

exchanging story and language, and made connections between our two cultures. We were excited to find that they knew us too, having previously hosted a roopu of Mātanga Reo from Aotearoa. We Indigenous peoples are of different nations, but we are the same,” said Māoriland’s Rangatahi Manager, Aree Kapa.

Meanwhile, Te Tumu Whakarae o Māoriland, Libby Hakaraia attended the World Indigenous Business Forum in Bogota, Colombia, advocating for Indigenous storytelling through film and media. This work is part of Māoriland’s ongoing advocacy for Indigenous peoples to collaborate and tell their stories to the world.

“Screening the film around the country has been such a cathartic experience. Because of the pandemic we’ve had multiple delays and so actually getting them in front of people is a really nice feeling. And to bring them back to their communities too. We’ve screened my film in multiple countries so far and yet the most rewarding was at the Academy, in front of my whānau, without whom the film wouldn’t even exist,” said Bailey Poching, director of The Voyager’s Legacy

In December, the tour will head to Te Araroa before travelling overseas for further international film festivals. With international travel possible once more, Māoriland has been working to create and reaffirm its international connections. Following the screenings at imagineNATIVE, the Māoriland Rangatahi team travelled to Kahnawake, a reservation outside of Montreal, Canada. While there they worked with local youth to create three short films as part of the cultural exchange programme, Through Our Lens.

“We only stayed on Kahnawake whenua for a week but the time spent there felt like a lifetime, like we were raised on these lands too. Our host whānau made us feel like their home was ours; we sat under the stars

Four armed offenders in custody

BY FRANK NEILL

Ōtaki Police have successfully helped take four armed offenders off the streets. One had a loaded gun, another had a modified pistol, the third had a home-made taser and the fourth had a knife. All four were remanded in custody.

“It’s an important result to get firearms off the street,” says Sergeant Phil Grimstone, the Police’s officer in charge of Ōtaki.

Ōtaki Police arrested a 32-year-old patched gang member from Levin on 22 October. The man had forced his partner into a car and then forced her to drive around various locations. The man’s partner then stopped at BP Ōtaki and sought assistance. As a result, the Police were called. When the Police arrived they found a loaded shotgun and a home-made weapon in the shape of a spike in the car. Police charged the gang member with threatening to kill, multiple possession of firearms, kidnapping and assault. He has been remanded in custody to appear in the Levin District Court on 19 January. At the time he was arrested, the man was on bail for a number of charges, including possessing ammunition.

KEYS cut

“This was a high risk incident for my staff and the community, given the location,” Sergeant Grimstone says. On 20 October Police located a man wanted for what

Sergeant Grimstone described as “an unprovoked cowardly assault” on a 59-year-old man in a local hotel on 16 June. During the assault, the man was in possession of a knife. When the Police located the 52-year-old at a Rangiuru Road address, the man fled on foot. When Police arrested him the man was in possession of a knife, cannabis plant and cannabis oil. He appeared in the Levin District Court on 21 October and was remanded in custody to appear on 16 November. While executing a search warrant at a Tasman Road address on 9 November, Police discovered drugs, stolen property and a home-made taser. They arrested a 52-year-old man and charged him with possessing class A, B and C drugs for supply, the drugs being methamphetamine, cannabis, cannabis oil and cocaine. He was also charged with possessing a restricted weapon – the taser. Police also recovered a stolen Ducati motorcycle.

Police are continuing their inquiries to establish when and where the items were stolen. The man appeared in the Levin District Court on 10 November and was remanded in custody to appear on 7 December.

After a 30-year-old Ōtaki man was stopped by Police while driving in Levin on 12 November he was found possessing knives, methamphetamine and cannabis.

In this vein, the inaugural Māoriland Filmmakers Residency has just been completed in Ōtaki. Indigenous Australian filmmaker Leah Purcell, a proud Goa, Gunggari, Wakka Wakka Murri woman has been in Ōtaki for the last three weeks, working with Māoriland to develop a number of projects.

Purcell’s debut feature film The Drover's Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson opened the Māoriland Film Festival in 2022, and is currently nominated for Australia’s top four AACTA Awards (Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards): Producer for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Lead Actress in Film, making her the first individual, female and First Nations practitioner to be nominated for all four at once. During her time at Māoriland, Leah worked with Māoriland to develop a number of upcoming projects that will be made by Māoriland Productions in 2023.

At MFF2023, audiences will be able to enjoy a stellar programme of films alongside, industry events, rangatahi filmmaking, creative technology (animation/VR/AR/ XR), the NATIVE Minds lecture series, performing arts, music and theatre performances, and a full visual arts programme at its art gallery Toi Matarau at the Māoriland Hub.

The full 2023 programme will be announced on Waitangi Day, February 6 2023.

Ōtaki Police then executed a search warrant at the man’s Ōtaki address on 14 November and recovered a modified pistol capable of firing .22 round and drug use utensils. He appeared in the Levin District Court on 14 November and was remanded in custody to appear again on 14 December.

BY FRANK NEILL

October was a relatively busy month for the Ōtaki Fire Brigade with 24 call outs.

The brigade attended six calls for rubbish, grass and scrub fires, and attended four property fires, two of which were vehicle fires.

There was one medical call, four calls to motor vehicle accidents, and one “good intent” call. A “good intent” call is where callers report an emergency but when the brigade arrives it finds that it is not.

Private fire alarms activating resulted in five call outs. The Ōtaki brigade assisted one other station during the month, and also attended two “special services” calls. Special services are events not fitting the above categories, such as helicopter landings and lines down.

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Ngā Pakiaka at Academy screening, Auckland