Craig Cooper: Haere ra, Hawke’s Bay

Craig Cooper: "It evolved that my guitar teacher Jeff Boyle is what is colloquially known as a ‘ninja’."

Thanks to Hawke’s Bay, my wife and I will soon own a shop/house in a coal mining town in Northland.

In 2018, I moved to the region for the privilege of editing Hawke’s Bay Today.

After four years - my 17th as an editor - I gave the gig away last July.

I loved my job. But long hours and work stress take their toll and were the catalyst for me to reconsider what I wanted to do with my life. That’s how I came to resign.

Four years earlier, I had arrived in Hawke’s Bay. The plane landed on a cold, grey day in May.

I had rented an old villa in Wellesley Rd that was colder inside than it was out.

I bought winter sheets at Briscoes, and headed to the annual sports awards a few hours later, where I presented an award sponsored by Hawke’s Bay Today.

In doing so, I mentioned I had played for the Magpies, and that the sports awards were the best event I had been to in Hawke’s Bay.

The Magpies is also the name of a rugby club in Kamo, Whangarei.

And while the sports awards were the best event I had been to in Hawke’s Bay, they were the only event I had been to. Unless shopping for winter sheets at Briscoes qualifies as an event.

In May 2018, I had time on my hands at night, as my family were yet to join me.

I bought a guitar from the back of beyond, from a man who proudly declared himself and friends as a “pale stale male” and told me he wasn’t too sure about the new editor that had joined Hawke’s Bay Today.

It was a fun start. And life as an editor ended when I decided to pursue non-work things I am passionate about, work less hours, spend quality time with my wife, get fitter and healthier, and learn to play the guitar.

Richie Jackman on stage with The Tramps at the Soundshell in Napier on New Year's Eve, 2020. Photo / Paul Taylor

Learning more te reo Māori and expanding my coal BBQ cooking skills beyond cremating chicken remain works in progress.

Like many self-taught guitar players, I have some bad habits.

It evolved that my guitar teacher Jeff Boyle is what is colloquially known as a ‘ninja’.

I grew to achieve ninja turtle status, and in doing so, the pupil taught the master a unique two-fingered A-minor chord shape. Jeff immediately advised me I should be ashamed of myself.

I have tried my best to quit this bad habit - the method is clear.

In turn, Jeff taught me that I should aspire to be excellent, not average. It will be a lifelong aspiration for me but I’ll give it a shot.

Jeff works in Hastings St alongside the local muso legend that is Richie Jackman.

I have calculated that the number of times I entered Richie’s business versus the number of times I actually spent money in the business equates to 27c per visit. I’m sorry about this Richie.

Hastings St became my home away from home.

It has an art gallery (more than one), a craft beer bar owned by hospo legend Jeremy Bayliss, an organic supermarket and the adjoining Hape cafe, plus Richie’s Music Machine and the Department of Curiosities and Fine Things.

The latter is a co-op, something Hawke’s Bay excels at.

For nearly 10 glorious months, after quitting a 50-hour plus working week, Hastings St allowed me to decommission myself from my past working life.

If the opportunity arose, I would probably have lived in Hastings St.

For the past 10 months, my wife and I also knew that we enjoying our Hawke’s Bay adventure until such time that we were drawn back to Northland, to our family.

A few months ago, that time happened - our daughter is having her first child in September. It was time to go home.

We arrived back in Northland 10 days ago, to start a new chapter in our lives.

Last Thursday, we stopped in Hikurangi, north of Whangārei, to check out an art co-op.

Hikurangi was a proud coal mining town, and years later when a dairy factory was built, it thrived.

But the dairy factory closed, like they did in many New Zealand rural towns.

Slowly, in the past decade or so, Hikurangi has been through a resurgence. We called in and were impressed with the co-op, the art rivalled anything we had seen in Hawke’s Bay.

We liked the feel of the main street, as well.

Turns out the building the co-op was in was for sale. As was the attached house, out the back.

Were it not for our experience in Hawke’s Bay, we may not have stopped in Hikurangi.

We may not have bumped into a real estate agent showing someone through the building and we may not have decided, a few hours later, to make an offer on the property.

And we may not have sat down on Saturday, with the people responsible for rebuilding the home, and negotiated a conditional purchase agreement.

All going well, my wife and I will own a home and commercial premises in the main street in Hikurangi, in six to eight weeks.

Not what we had planned to do when we left Hawke’s Bay a few weeks ago. But it feels like a natural continuation of our experience in Hawke’s Bay, and a fresh challenge.

My time as a local columnist is over - I suggested to editor Chris Hyde a few weeks ago that he sack me. I don’t feel comfortable writing regularly about a region I am not living in.

Thank you for reading my column and Hawke’s Bay Today.

Friends we have made in the past five years mean we will be back at some stage.

Mā te wā.