WAIKINO WHISPER February 2022

WAIKINO WHISPER HIDDEN GOLD * EXPLORING LOCAL * WHAT'S ON * LOCAL NEWS

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK! What we hope for the Waikino Whisper in 2022

HIDDEN IN THE HILLS ISSUE 162

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FEBRUARY 2022

Welcome

2022

WANT TO SUPPORT THE WAIKINO WHISPER?

I'm excited to bring you a new look and feel Waikino Whisper in 2022. I want to thank Nola in particular for teaching me the ropes, and acknowledge all of the hard work Nola and Jill have done to keep the Whisper going since Helen Wilson left. I'm happy to help it continue, and thrilled to share that I'm not alone - I have another lovely local, Vanessa, who has been a resident of the hills for a year, and will be helping me pull together each issue.

At this stage we plan to publish twice a quarter (two months on, one month off). We'll have some regular features, showcasing local people and local businesses. We'll bring out the gold that lies within these hills, from a small business owner, to retired civil servant, to a stay at home parent - we want to take the time to appreciate one another in our everyday lives. We'll also continue the usual updates from local groups, and any other local news. If you have any stories you'd like us to cover, please get in touch.

We want to get to know our community and build on the work already done by previous Waikino Whisper editors to showcase what we've got. Our gold is too valuable not to share!

EDITORIAL * SARAH HOLMES

We'd love to get hard copies of the Waikino Whisper printed again, as we know email doesn't work for everyone. We're working to get the publication cost neutral so it continues to be free for our readers. For the time being, we'll be digital only - but hope this will change as 2022 progresses.

A bonus of being part of a small community is being able to connect in times of need. If you find yourself needing help with collection of groceries etc due to needing to self isolate at home, please let us know and we'd be happy to help.

Let us know if you want hardcopy delivery (it's free!).

Sign up to our email list to receive an online copy: http://eepurl.com/hPYqYb Consider advertising with us.

If you're able, become a friend of the Whisper by donating online: https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/waikinowhisper For advertising or any other query, contact us at waikinowhisper@gmail.com or find us on Facebook: 'Waikino Whisper'

WHAT'S INSIDE WHAT'S ON WAIKINO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 HIDDEN GOLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 EXPLORING LOCAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 OUR SUPPORTERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Sarah February 2022 | pg 2

WAITANGI DAY – OUR NATIONAL HOLIDAY

TE TIRITI O WAITANGI Words by Sarah Holmes

JANUARY 2022

This Sunday is Aotearoa New Zealand's national day – Waitangi Day. Every year on 6 February, Aotearoa New Zealand marks the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). Te Tiriti was a promise between the British Crown and Māori - the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand. It was signed in 1840, by the Crown and over 500 Māori chiefs (rangatira). It's considered to be our founding document. When you hear people talk about 'honouring the Treaty' they mean keeping the promise that was made all those years ago.

The problem is, there was a Māori version and an English version, which differed slightly in the translation. The British Crown claimed sovereignty based on the English version, but that wasn’t the version signed by the chiefs. The Māori version is what the chiefs signed, which confirmed their sovereignty.

If you can’t remember learning about Te Tiriti at school, or even anything at all about our country's history during your school years, you probably didn’t. Amazingly, it was only in 2019 that the government announced that Aotearoa histories will be taught in all schools. How can we have gone for so long without ensuring our children are taught how our histories have shaped our present day lives?

If you want to learn more, a great way to start this Waitangi Day is to read some articles about the signing of Te Tiriti. The more we are aware of the past the better placed for the future we will all be.

Images from top to bottom:

Te Waka o Te Ana o Maikuku Waitangi Treaty grounds, 6 February 2017 by Dirk Pons (Flickr) Treaty of Waitangi (in Maori) - Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 7-C1886 "The Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi”, Ōriwa Haddon, photograph from Archives New Zealand.

chicken run...

JANUARY 2022

SCHOOL LIFE The tamariki of Waikino School were busy for the last term of 2021 with the execution of a chicken run.

They know that chickens like to get up high and decided that they wanted to build a platform so the chickens could hang out. The opportunity to action an idea and make it happen in reality are confidence boosting and giving them real life skills "this will help me in secondary school in wood work". Our tamariki went about achieving their goal by drawing out a plan, gathering materials and tools. When asked how they knew how many poles were needed for

the foundations they said "we just kept adjusting and seeing how many were needed, until it was stable".

They made the ladder as well. Skills used; maths, engineering, fine and gross motor skills, co-operation, project management. They are super proud of their efforts and the chickens are having fun on the run.

During the school term, the Year 6 reporters will be taking this page on to report to the community on what's happening at school.

We can't wait to see their mahi!

LOCAL ACTIVITY

WHAT'S ON 75TH ANNUAL CRICKET SHOWDOWN POSTPONED Unfortunately the annual cricket match that was planned for Saturday, 12th of Feb is not able to go ahead due to limits. We'll keep you posted on a later date.

TRUE TALES OF WAIKINO AND WAITEKAURI The Treasury in Thames is still looking for a few more stories about Waikino and Waitekauri, for their publication ‘True Tales of Waikino and Waitekauri’. They’re extremely grateful for the tales told so far, including stories from local resident Bev Stubbs.

To contribute, you don’t have to have lived in the area long (or at all), as long as the story is about the area!

If you have a story that hasn’t been published before, please email directly to the editor geraldine.dunwoodie@gmail.com, or post to PO Box 75, Thames 3540.

All you need to start is: Up to 1500 words (if more, it can be split into parts) A couple of photos for the story if possible A very short bio about you (the author), and a photo which can be cropped to head and shoulders.

WHAT'S ON

WARARA UPDATE WAIKINO RESIDENTS AND RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION

Memorial Bridge - At a meeting in April 2021, the community agreed to gift the Waikino Memorial Bridge to the Hauraki District Council, handing over the costs and responsibilities that come with it. This gift has been accepted, and the bridge is now under Council ownership. The bridge was erected to honour the loss experienced during the floods in the region in 1981.

Art Waikino was a very successful weekend, and raised $4,470 for the Hall Committee and Hall bank account. Well done to Nola, Jill and their many helpers.

Waikino Reserve – Brian Habberfield (our one man reserve warrior!), has been busy improving this community asset. Currently the winter tree planting area needs some TLC, and weed control is ongoing.

Reach out if you want to get into a bit of kaitiakitanga. You may have noticed the piles of dirt sitting on the end of the old tennis courts. This is to smooth out the sharp contour on the edge of the tennis courts and filling the odd dip and hollow elsewhere around the reserve.

Waikino Victoria Memorial Hall unfortunately one of the valued members of the Waikino Victoria Memorial Hall Committee, Lexie Green, has decided to step down.

Lexie has been managing Hall Bookings, Hall Working Bees and is a solid contributor to keeping this asset viable. Thanks Lexie!

Save the date: The WARARA Annual General Meeting is scheduled for 21st of April 2022, 6.30pm, Waikino Victoria Hall.

Nominations are open for people to join the WARARA Leadership Group Committee; that consists of a Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer and a minimum of three other voting committee members. Please email your nominations to the email below and these will be tabled at the AGM.

If you'd prefer to help out in practical ways, let us know, we will make sure you are kept in the loop for working bees or other projects.

Keeping Waikino special does take a bit of effort, but it is worth it! If interested email warara.committee@gmail.com

February 2022 | pg 8 February 2022 | pg 5

HIDDEN GOLD

Con and Diane Kiernan “fell into Waikino” around 15 years ago. They were looking to move north from Auckland, but happened to come

THE MOSAIC

CON ARTIST OF KINO

across their beautiful property in Waikino, which they still call home.

Con says he’s lived three lives. His first in ministry and education, and his second making a living, building a business in graphic art and media with his wife Diane. At 60 years old, he began the latest - one as a contemporary mosaic artist - from his home in Auckland. As he describes it, Con heard of a New Zealander doing mosaic work in England using pebbles in the ground, and dove right in. “After I saw that guy, I just did something - a bird bath - it totally broke down, it was an absolute mess.” He’d always felt like an artist, but had never fully pursued it until that moment of clarity. After a few years spent developing his skill part-time,

By Sarah Holmes

Con took the leap into full time artistry. Since

Photos by Con Kiernan and Sarah Holmes

then it’s been an abundance of exhibitions, awards, and international recognition.

When you step into his gallery, on Old Waitekauri Road, it’s hard to believe anything he ever created was terrible. But of course, he had to get this good somehow. His second ever large scale mosaic is a 2.4 by 1.2 metre presence, and he explains how back then a critique from internationally reputed artist Sonia King helped him grow.

“After a few days together she said to me ‘I’ve got to say, I don't like that sky!’ and I thought straight away, she’s right.” Only a few pieces later, he’d made a vast improvement in capturing the sky in mosaic form. He said it’s easy to see faults in your own pieces, and an artist puts something of themselves into the art. Con's art is full of fraught thoughts, and no going back. At the end of the project he spends a day grouting the piece, and it's then he sees whether it has worked or not.

His latest piece (pictured) is a commission for a family who moved to New Zealand after being taken by its beauty. He admits it challenged him, as he’d never done an impressionist image before. But art is about problem solving, you need to analyse the issue and come up with the best way to make it work for the artist and the client.

No small detail goes unchecked in a piece like this, a photo simply can’t do it justice. Under the effervescent glass is Waitete Stream stone, which gives the impression of the Waihi Beach foreshore. The foreground includes real sand from Waihi Beach, and the image centres on the ever familiar Tuhua (Mayor Island), completed with a sunrise in smalti, a traditional Italian hand-cut mosaic glass.

HIDDEN GOLD * THE MOSAIC CON ARTIST OF WAIKINO

When we met, I jokingly suggested that perhaps the art kept Con young.

He’s been doing contemporary mosaic art for 20 years now, and at 80 years old, he’s still using Photoshop on his Mac to plan his mosaics, and admits to going into ‘another world’ during the artistic process.

So for those who might think they’re ‘too old’ to start something new, why not give it a go? You might have a whole other life ahead of you.

Con mainly works on commission, and also offers a week long live in course in mosaic art, with a piece to take away when you leave.

NZ Mosaic Art The Retreat, 87 Old Waitekauri Road, Waikino, RD2 WAIHI 3682, New Zealand Ph: 07 863 9509 Mobile: 0275 22 3300 Email: con@diconpartners.co.nz http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiwiart/

February 2022 | pg 7

“I love that everything has a story behind it, and that story lives on with the next person who owns it.”

LOCAL CREATIVE

CRAFTING NEW STORIES If you’re looking for a special kind of gift for Valentine’s Day, look no further than CBM, a local small business run by crafty creator Chloé Bélanger-Martel.

Originally from Québec, Chloé is an avid opshopper, and has always been a lover of the stories that come with pre-loved items. She also has a knack for seeing potential in second hand items, giving them new life. Chloé and her family have been settled in Waikino for a year, and moving into a house with a spare room for crafting was a catalyst to launching the business.

Her creations are based around her op-shop finds, and vintage fabrics collected over many years. In December, Chloé showcased her homemade spiced Christmas decorations, beeswax wraps, vintage tea towels and napkins at the Waihi Beach Sunday Market. Her beeswax wraps are a great alternative to plastic wraps such as Glad Wrap.

Saving the planet never looked so good.

For Valentine’s Day, Chloe is selling gift boxes, containing an array of handmade items, made with local ingredients. This includes beeswax candles, scented with lavender from Waihi Lavender Farm, made in funky pre-loved pottery.

Chloé plans to be at the Waihi Beach Sunday Market once a month, and will be there with her creations on Sunday, 6th February (9.00am to 1pm at Wilson Park, Citrus Ave, Waihi Beach).

Custom orders are available - contact CBM: Instagram/Facebook: @cbm.created.by.me Email: chloebelangermartel@gmail.com

By Sarah Holmes Photographs by Chloé Bélanger-Martel

THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO

Waihi Beach

EXPLORING LOCAL Words and images by Vanessa McHardy

PLACES TO VISIT WITHIN AN HOUR(ISH) DRIVE OF WAIKINO The Waihi Beach area is full of wonders from Orokawa and Anzac Bays in their summer Pohutukawa glory, to the long windswept beaches of Bowentown, we are spoilt for choice.

I remember when I met my husband and we would have beach wars, who came from the best beach, (silly I know - we were young). I grew up in Tauranga, and Mount Maunganui was my second home. I was convinced my beach was the best beach until one visit when home from the UK we walked to Orokawa.

Well, Waihi won hands down.

Surely this is one of the best beaches in the world.

Having returned to the area from spending almost 30 years in London, one of the things that we really wanted was to have easy access to the beach. There is something about the sea that does something to

your soul, helps you breathe deeper, wider, expands you.

Waihi Beach, you do not disappoint and I have properly fallen in love with every different section of the sandy shores.

Not to mention the cafes that never cease to bring an added joy to the day trip, I love both the Surf Shack and the Secret Garden.

Being gluten and dairy free, these are the two that really bring the goods. Both have their own feel and vibe with top quality food and service.

Whether you are walking the dog or yourselves Waihi Beach does not disappoint. Now the schools are back and the weather is at its summer best, it's the perfect time to explore your local beaches.

February 2022 | pg 9

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE O'Hagan Vision Care Main Office, Willoughby Street PO Box 106 | Paeroa 3600 T 07 862 8978 F 0800 666 717 E info@ohaganvisioncare.co.nz

no job too small domestic and commercial repairs, alterations, renovations, indoors and out, simple pricing, reliable and on time

Rod Hawkins

021 979 221

WANT TO SUPPORT THE WAIKINO WHISPER? For advertising or any other query, contact us at waikinowhisper@gmail.com or find us on Facebook: 'Waikino Whisper'

LISTINGS

February 2022 | pg 11

Need Whiteware? Need a TV? Need a Heat Pump?

Need any home appliances?

....then contact your locally owned and operated 100% store for all your appliance needs

WAIHI 24-26 Rosemont Road, Waihi Phone: 07 863 8207 Fax: 07 863 7070 Email: waihi100@xtra.co.nz

WAIHI PLUMBERS KELWYN GARRETT

Plumbing • Drainlaying • Roofing HYNDS Lifestyle Wastewater Systems Mobile 0274 975 580

A/Hrs 07 863 7153

PAEROAvets PAEROA Veterinary Hospital & Pet Supplies Farm Services & Supplies 07 862 7295 3 Puke Road, Paeroa 3600 paeroa@fvs.co.nz www.franklinvets.co.nz

HIDDEN GOLD * LOCAL PEOPLE

a division of Franklin Veterinary Services (1977) Ltd

LISTINGS

February 2022 | pg 10

FOR THE LOVE OF...

CORROGATED IRON

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR UNEXPLAINED LOVES? SHARE THEM WITH US & SEE IT HERE!