Life + Style - 25 September 2020

The Summerhill Story Page 2

THE WEEKEND

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life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°25 ˜˛°˝ 2020 ˜˝August, September, ˜˛˜˛

The Summerhill Story At Summerhill, farming, forestry and people work in harmony.

The three aren’t separate – the Mountain bike jump-track weaves through the poplar trees, and the hiking trail starts beside a sheep paddock.

Hikers and bikers get the farm and forest experience side-by-side, against a backdrop of Mount Maunganui and the ocean.

The Summerhill story starts in 1958, when Cloie and David Blackley bought the land for farming.

Over the years, the couple were constantly asked by people if they could walk through their property to the historic Papamoa Pa site.

Summerhill was officially opened to the public for recreation in 2014, when Cloie and David unconditionally gifted 126ha of the 400ha land to a charitable trust.

Through the trust, walking routes have been established, connecting the property and the regional park.

Mountain Bike Tauranga has created several tracks throughout the forest, too, and is constantly adding more.

“While they’re well retired now, my parents still get a lot of pleasure from going into the forest and seeing people enjoy it,” says Cloie and David’s daughter and Summerhill Charitable Trust chair, Gabrielle Walton.

“The people who come through here show real pride towards it – they always let us know if they see a sick tree, or anything like that.

“Seeing people enjoy themselves and appreciate the land is a lovely by-product of the forest.”

When lockdown lifted and recreational activity could start again, Summerhill came back to life. Events like the Summerhill Skedaddle running fundraiser, held in August, have been able to restart.

This is all while Summerhill is used as a functioning sheep and beef farm and a forestry business called Summerhill Timbers, which Gabrielle co-directs with her husband, Andrew Walton.

The coexistence is made possible thanks to Continuous Cover Forestry – where trees are selectively harvested at different times, rather than clear felling.

Recreational tracks create easy access for contractors to fell individually selected trees, and not felling all of the trees at once keeps the land stable.

“There’s still plenty of forest cover to reduce weeds, and provide a forest setting for the public to enjoy.

“All the greenery on the forest floor, and the ecosystem that comes with it, has the opportunity to grow thanks to the shade provided by the trees – something that

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wouldn’t happen if we clear felled.”

Forestry at Summerhill unofficially started in 1960, when Cloie and David planted their steepest land, which was unsuitable for grazing stock, with pine trees.

Today, pine is just one of the many trees growing in the Summerhill forest, with species including Cypress, Victorian ash, Tasmanian Blackwood and Poplar.

Gabrielle says growing a variety of trees is both good for the environment, and forest health.

“Our objective has always been to provide a diverse range of timbers for the NZ marketplace.”

Growing different species means the business benefits from fast growing trees like pine, highvalue exotics, and natives that can take more than 50 years to mature.

“We strongly believe in intergenerational planting – planting high value trees that span more than one generation to produce amazing timbers.”

Gabrielle, who is a qualified landscape architect, says the Government’s recent Building for Climate Change bill that puts preference on low carbonemitting materials like timber, is a positive.

She hopes the bill encourages the building industry to use more NZ grown timbers.

“The range of timbers we grow at Summerhill is diverse in colour, features, durability … and can all be used in NZ buildings.

“The rich, dark colour of Tasmanian Blackwood makes beautiful furniture and eucalyptus and poplar are pale and strong.

“We grow a wonderful range of timbers in NZ – so why not buy local?”

Gabrielle and Andrew practise what they preach.

From poplar walls to the Tasmanian Blackwood floors, their home is almost entirely constructed from Summerhill timber.

“We worked with architects to get the balance right between the different timbers, and we’re really pleased with how it turned out.”

Working with Summerhill Timbers is a collaborative process. Architects and builders approach the business with a project idea, and they work together to find the right timber for the job.

“Adding forestry to the farm has been a wise land use decision, and including people has been a joy.

“We’re certainly proud of what the farm has grown into.”

For more information about Summerhill Timbers, visit: www.summerhilltimbers.co.nz MacKenzie Dyer

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ËœË?August, September, ˜˛˜˛ life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°25 ˜˛°Ë? 2020 Mary Tait-Jamieson

Winter lantern festival Waldorf wonder for children Once a year during winter, a wonderful, joyous event takes place at night on six hectares in Welcome Bay. Every year I hear about it and make a wish - to be transported back to childhood so I can experience the lantern wonderland that Tauranga Waldorf School creates.

Photos: Catherine Main

Thousands of lights are lit, with children and their families venturing off on a nature walk, holding their lanterns as they explore the paths and grottos. There’s a Viking ship, art displays, musicians, and tableaus.

The festival of lights has been a part of the school since its beginning, says principal Mary Tait-Jamieson. “I have been here since 2006 but I believe the first lantern festival would have been in the early 90s, when the school first started here at the Welcome Bay campus. And before that, there would have been lantern festivals at Tauranga’s very first Waldorf/Steiner Kindergarten which back in the early days was over in Judea,� says Mary.

Back in the mid-90s the tiny private farm school, set within the city limits had about 12 children. Now there are 225 Year 1 to Year 8 pupils in the primary school and another 80 in the adjacent early childhood centre.

“The festival of lights has really grown too,� says Mary. “It used to be just a tiny community festival. “Because we’ve got this beautiful campus with native bush, and an amphitheatre, as we got bigger we just made the lantern walk bigger.�

All the school children get involved, helping to create the lighted grottos where they share their work. “Each of the classes create displays and light them. The kindergarten children come and look at all the things that lie ahead in their learning journey.�

The Tauranga Waldorf School and Rose Ring Kindergartens were established in 1988 by parents and educators who wanted to provide an education based on the teaching methods of Dr Rudolf Steiner, who was an Austrian teacher, philosopher, scientist, artist and architect. His approach to learning combines an academic programme delivered within a nurturing, creative environment. “Because we’re an arts school, we learn everything through the arts – through visual arts, performing arts and the hard arts.� “The festival of lights is an opportunity for the school children to show off and display what they’ve been learning.�

The lantern walk begins outside the school with delicious nachos and spiced apple drink.

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“Every year the children make their own lanterns but we have spares that we make for little children and visitors who may not have one. We give them out free and they go o˜ on their lantern walk”

for a nature experience. After filling up tiny tummies, it’s time to light lanterns with tiny tea lights, and head off on the walk, which goes up hill and down dale.

There’s lots of things to see and do along the way. If you walk slowly and stop and look at everything, including the children playing violins, it would take perhaps half an hour.

“Every year the children make their own lanterns but we have spares that we make for little children and visitors who may not have one. We give them out free and they go off on their lantern walk,” says Mary.

The silent tableau often catches young children by surprise.

“Our wonderful trustees put it on. They stand so still, it’s amazing. Children walk past and say ‘is that real?’ And a voice says ‘yes I’m real’. And the children get such a wonderful surprise!” says Mary.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful,” says one visitor to the lantern festival, ‘because it’s quiet.”

The nature experience is predominantly visual, although the 12-15 different scenes include an unforgettable soundscape with native birds. There’s also a sing station with music set up for people to sing together.

There are braziers lit along the way,

and lighting stations, essential for those younger children who find their lanterns go out from vigorous swinging.

“We notice that the very young children are mesmerised by the fire. I wonder if it’s because less children these days often don’t see fire with the advent of heat pumps,” says Mary.

“Last year we were celebrating 100 years of Waldorf Education so we invited 100 of the local primary school children and their families to come and share it with us. We made them lanterns to come on the lantern walk.

“It was so much fun sharing it, that now we say to all our community to bring their neighbours, bring everybody, free for all. If you’re lighting 1500 lanterns it doesn’t matter how many people see them, the more people the merrier.”

There’s one word for this lighted lantern trail apart from ‘wow, and it is ‘lovely’. As you follow the long spiral around the school property, you eventually arrive back at the bottom of the driveway, then quietly walk off back into the night to head home for a dreamy sleep touched by wonder.

I can’t wait to experience it next year in late June.

Rosalie Liddle Crawford

life+style The Weekend Sun ˝

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˜˝ September, ˜˛˜˛ life+style The Weekend Sun ˜°25 August, ˜˛°˝ 2020 OceanaGold trade assistant Brett Ranga.

Waihi gold Working underground in the lifestyle mine

Photos: Daniel Hines.

OceanaGold Waihi has a reputation for being a ‘lifestyle mine’.

There’s no need to fly into the desert for weeks on end, and workers can enjoy living in a small town that’s a 10 minute drive from the beach.

That’s why 29-year-old Brett Ranga is excited for his upcoming first shift underground as a ‘nipper’ – miner talk for someone who “nips around doing different jobs” like working alongside underground drillers.

His house is just a 12 minute bike ride from the mine, and his new one-week-on-one-weekoff roster, rotates between day and night shifts and leaves plenty of time for family.

“That’s the main reason I applied for the mining role,” says Brett.

“My boy, Brynn, is two and a half. The roster means I can spend more quality time with him, and be there for the little things like dropping him off at day care.”

“A lot of people have negative reactions towards shift work, but for myself, it’s way better than working Monday to Friday. You have more days off, and pretty much work six months of the year and earn just as much.”

Brett has already worked for OceanaGold for a year above ground. He started in the processing plant, followed by his current role as a workshop trades assistant.

“The workshop put me in a good position to see what happens underground, and see if it’s for me.

“I work with a good bunch of guys up here, but I’m looking forward to going underground.”

His team in the workshop are sad to see him go, including his boss, underground maintenance superintendent Lindsey Heaton.

“It’s really positive to see such a hard working young fella come through,” says Lindsey.

“He’s only been in the workshop for several months and has already shown a lot of growth, so he’ll do a great job underground.”

OceanaGold underground mining engineer Jimmy Lu can vouch for the Waihi mine’s good work life balance – he trained and worked in mines in Australia.

“The lifestyle is much easier here, and people in New Zealand are really friendly,” says Jimmy.

“Kiwis from small towns may dream about living in a busy city, but growing up in a metropolitan area in China, I think I’m the opposite.”

It’s common for Kiwi mine workers in Australia to return to NZ to settle down, says OceanaGold senior communications advisor Kit Wilson.

“It is incredibly hard for the guys working on the fly in, fly out operations in Aussie to

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“The eventual goal for most people who go underground is to become a drilling jumbo operator, which is definitely what I’d like to do”

maintain relationships, because they spend such a long time away from their partners,” says Kit. “Many go to Aussie, earn the big bucks, and then come home.”

In saying that, the pay packet for mining in Waihi is nothing to be scoffed at – the average salary is $110,000.

“That’s way more than you get working anywhere else in Waihi,” says Brett.

“I was a supervisor at my old job doing aluminium joinery, and I still jumped up a good couple of bucks coming here as a new starter.

“My wife Audrey and I have lived in Waihi for most of our lives. We met at school.

“I like that we can stay in our small town and raise our son surrounded by his extended family, because there are the job opportunities here to do so.”

The mine is specialised work. Many underground operational roles can’t be obtained with an external qualification, and as a result, workers have the opportunity to work their way up.

“It’s encouraging to see a career path going forward in the mine.

“The eventual goal for most people who go underground is to become a drilling jumbo operator, which is definitely what I’d like to do.

“Getting to that stage takes about five years.”

It’s been a busy time for Brett. He married Audrey, went into Alert Level 4 lockdown two weeks later, and was hired for his new role shortly after.

“Everything happening at once seems to be the way.

“After just getting back from a holiday in Hawaii last year, I got the job at OceanaGold in the processing plant, and Audrey got the call saying we were accepted to purchase the florist shop in town, now called Audrey and Flora.”

Possibly the only downside to Brett’s new start is that he won’t be free every weekend to play rugby.

He’s the Hauraki/Thames Coromandel district’s Sportsperson of the Year for 2019, and wore the black jersey for the NZ Heartland XV team in 2018 and 2019.

He was named NZ Rugby’s Heartland Championship Player of the year in 2018, and captained the NZ Heartland XV team the following year.

But, true to his relaxed and optimistic personality, Brett isn’t too bothered about hanging up his rugby boots.

“I guess I can still play on my weekends off.

“I’m 29, so I’m probably close to retirement anyway,” he laughs.

MacKenzie Dyer

OceanaGold senior communications advisor Kit Wilson and underground mining engineer Jimmy Lu.

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