Chef Hughie Blues interviews budding chef Rawiri Gabb-Warren of Kawakawa, a previous Kids Can Cook winner. Photo / Peter de Graaf
A search is under way for Northland's top junior chef, with rivals for the title due to face off in Ōpua early next month.
Since Paihia chef Hughie Blues founded Kids Can Cook 11 years ago, it has grown from a one-day event at the Bay of Islands Show to a nationwide competition and a stepping stone to careers in hospitality.
This year's regional contest will be held at Ōpua School on September 6 and is open to Northlanders in Years 1-8 — but you'll have to be quick because entries close at 5pm on Friday.
Competitors only need one recipe to cook on the day, but it must be a savoury dish that includes at least three fresh, New Zealand-grown vegetables. It also needs to be something that can be cooked on a gas top or microwave (both provided) in 30 minutes.
Budding chefs will compete in age groups of 9 and under, and 10-12.
Blues said the contest was fun and a chance to learn new skills.
''We want to give every kid the skills to cook and teach them about healthy eating, but also introduce them to hospitality as a career option,'' he said.
Past winners include three-times Northland champion Lewis Noorwalla, of Kerikeri, who completed his cooking apprenticeship at the Hilton last year.
To enter go to www.nzchefs.org.nz/Competitions and complete the form. Entrants also need to submit their recipe, an explanation of why they love cooking, and a photo/drawing/poster/video or anything else to support the entry.
The winner of the Northland contest will represent the region in the national finals in Auckland in November.
The nationals were originally due to be held in August but, along with many of the regional heats, were delayed due to Covid-19.
During the lockdown, Blues ran a four-week Kiwi Kids Can Cook Online but he said it was clear kids wanted a chance to meet and compete in person.
A student trade fair at Kerikeri's Old Packhouse Market postponed earlier this month is now due to go ahead — Covid restrictions permitting — this Saturday, August 29.
More than 60 teams from 21 high schools, from Kaitaia to Bream Bay, will take part in the Young Enterprise Scheme Trade Fair from 8.30am-1pm.
Students in the programme have to create a real business, come up with a new product or service, and end the year with a real-life profit or loss.
The trade fair is their first chance to showcase their products to the public and ring up some sales.
Prizes will be awarded for best stall and customer choice. Every visitor who buys something from a student business will be in the running for one of two $250 supermarket vouchers.
This year's entries include a business making gumboots with Māori designs, the return of a Kaitaia business building underwater drones, and teams from Kaikohe's Teen Parent Unit making pamper packs and well-being kits for new mums.
Crowd numbers will have to be limited if Northland is still at Covid alert level 2 by then.
Kerikeri firefighters will be holding a car wash at the station from 8am this Saturday with all proceeds going to Simon Trye's KidsCan fundraiser.
Trye, who volunteers with the Kerikeri brigade when he's not working as a professional firefighter at the Air Force base in Whenuapai, hopes to set a world record in November by being the first person to run a half marathon while wearing a full firefighting kit and breathing from a tank.
While he's at it he aims to raise $5000 for children's charity KidsCan, which provides meals, shoes and clothing for Kiwi children in need.
New Zealand's oldest country show — the Bay of Islands Pastoral and Industrial Show at Waimate North — has been cancelled due to ongoing uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic.
The show was first held in 1842 and last cancelled during World War II.
It is usually held in November and heralds the start of the summer show season.
The Bay of Islands P&I Association had originally hoped to at least go ahead with an equestrian event during show weekend but that too was cancelled after an executive meeting last week.
President Graham Moor said a lot of work had gone into exploring an equestrian-only event but the resurfacing of Covid-19 posed risks the committee couldn't entertain.
''The show is a not-for-profit operation which cannot afford to lose money and keep operating,'' he said.
''This is the first time the show has been cancelled apart from the wars. Being the oldest show in New Zealand comes with responsibilities and I can assure everyone the executive made a brave and well-considered decision. Naturally, there will be people who will be disappointed by this decision and we are sorry for any disappointment or inconvenience our decision has caused.''
A candidates' meeting at the Frontline Church on Kerikeri's Hone Heke Rd has been postponed due to gathering size limits under Covid alert level 2.
It was to have taken place on Sunday afternoon and would have been open to all candidates contesting Northland seats. A new date has yet to be set but is likely to be in September.
Paihia Repair Cafe will be holding its next session at the Kaipatiki Eco Hub from 1-4pm this Saturday.
The idea is that anyone can bring along broken or malfunctioning items for experts to have a go at repairing, encouraging re-use and reducing waste.
Last month's items for repair included a stained-glass kaleidoscope, a cane footstool and a coffee machine.
The eco hub is at 195 Puketona Rd. Email charlotte.tttimebank@gmail.com for more information or to volunteer your skills.
The Bay of Islands Rotary Club is holding its annual Daffodil Day Breakfast this Friday, August 28, at the Kingsgate Hotel Autolodge in Paihia.
Tickets are available for $25 from Gold 'n' Gifts on Williams Rd or by calling Donna Smith on 027 953 6635. All proceeds go to the Cancer Society's Northland branch.
Vision Kerikeri has started installing information signs along the group's popular Wairoa Stream walkway.
The signs tell the history of Wairere Falls and of the path itself, which was long used by Maori to access the Bay of Islands hinterland around Waimate North.
It was also used by British troops in the Northern War of 1845-46, notably by Colonel Hume and 400 soldiers carrying supplies from Onewhero Bay to attack Hone Heke's pā at Puketutu, near Lake Ōmāpere, following the British defeat at Kororāreka.
The walkway can be accessed from the Cobham Rd bridge, the Dalton Track carpark on Inlet Rd, Pā Rd (next to Pagoda Lodge), the bottom of Alderton Dr, or the public car park just uphill from the Stone Store.
Paihia Volunteer Fire Brigade has had a great shot in the arm with six new firefighting recruits signing up.
Five have completed the week-long recruit firefighter course in Auckland with one more to go in November.
The course trains recruits in hose-handling techniques, breathing apparatus, confined spaces and search and rescue, plus they spend a day in the field learning how to fight wildfires.
Fire chief Rex Wilson said the course was physically taxing but recruits were trained at their home stations for an average of six months before heading to Auckland.
The new members put Paihia brigade in a strong position with a full contingent of emergency responders, he said.
Wilson said there were plenty of opportunities for people who wanted to support the brigade, with the emergency responders who ride the trucks making up only a small part of the team.
The brigade also needed watchroom and operational support personnel and had volunteers preparing dinners — and even a specialist dessert team — for hungry firefighters after Tuesday night training.
Anyone keen to help can call Rex Wilson on 021 735 428.
The Bay of Islands Vintage Railway is back in action with trains departing from Kawakawa Friday to Sunday at 10.45am, 12 noon, 1.15pm and 2.30pm.
Trains were halted after a large tree swept downriver in the July flood hit a rail bridge in Taumārere, damaging two of the piles. Until they are replaced trains can't go all the way to Long Bridge but they can go as far as the damaged bridge.
Since the railway siding at Long Bridge can't be reached either — which normally allows the locomotive swap ends — trains will operate in the meantime with a locomotive at each end.
It also means cyclists and walkers can't be let off the train on to the Twin Coast Cycleway.
• Email peter.degraaf@nzme.co.nz if you have any news you'd like to see in Bay News.