Kaikohe Christian School children helping to clean up the environment, from left: Madeleine Timings, Kaharau Reihana and Jordan Clarke. Photo / Trish Vesey
Kaikohe is not near the sea but that didn't deter students from Kaikohe Christian School from helping to clean it up.
The school is one of 12 across Northland collaborating with the non-profit environment organisation, Sea Cleaners, and food and beverage company Nestlé New Zealand, to participate in a specific programme to help keep the oceans uncontaminated.
The Nestlé Healthier Kids Sea Cleaners programme gives schools free access to tools and resources to help kids understand the impact of litter even if, like Kaikohe, their school is not on the coast.
Spokeswoman Michaela Tan said the programme is aimed at all environments and helps children understand the impact of not putting litter where it doesn't belong.
The ocean and waterway clean-up kits supplied to schools are made from 100 per cent reusable and recyclable materials including paper collection bags, cotton gloves and guide students on how to properly sort rubbish and tackle the waste problem plaguing waterways. Free online resources are also included.
Lesson content was developed using a school kit that includes science, social science and arts aspects and provides a range of resources to help students categorise and analyse rubbish, along with information on how to conduct local clean-ups.
It's the second year of Kaikohe Christian School's involvement and there is no shortage of volunteers to help keep the sea ship-shape. Throughout New Zealand, 16,000 schoolkids are participating in the programme this year.
Kaikohe Christian School teacher Trish Vesey said 20 of her students, aged between 5 and 6 years and accompanied by seven parents "hit the ground running" on the last Saturday in October.
"We tackled the corner of Windsor and Omapere Rds in Kaikohe that seems to have become a general dumping ground for rubbish, but there is also a culvert and a stream that eventually goes to the sea.
"The children felt really important helping to clean up the environment and for them it was like a treasure hunt, but it also gives them a really strong message and it's important for students to become involved in being part of the solution."
A Kerikeri teenager has been named a ''Young Legend'' in the 2020 Keep New Zealand Beautiful Awards.
Joe Howells, a Year 10 student at Kerikeri High School, was the only Northlander to win an individual award this year and one of just three youngsters singled out around the country.
A full list of his many environmental activities and causes would fill this page, if not the entire newspaper, so these are just a few examples ...
Joe is a key member of the school's SAVE (Sustaining all Valuable Environments) group which organises Recycling Action Week and introduced composting to the school staff room, diverting at least 7kg of organic waste from landfill every day.
He successfully applied for grants for a recycling unit and composting bins at the school, organised a ''nude food challenge'' during Plastic-free July, and was part of a team which made environmentally-themed PowerPoint presentations to all international and junior students.
Outside school he takes part in planting and weeding days organised by Friends of Wairoa Stream and Project Island Song, joins beach clean-ups, and helps his parents make their backpackers' lodge more eco-friendly. He is also a member of the Far North Youth Council.
Joe said he had cared about the environment and the future from a young age.
''What motivates me is that we can do something to save our planet, and it's not too late — so why don't we start now?''
Keep NZ Beautiful's Young Legend Award honours outstanding volunteers aged under 18 who have ''demonstrated remarkable leadership and outreach in their community through work in litter prevention, waste reduction, recycling promotion or community beautification''.
The award winners were announced last Thursday by entertainer Pio Terei, whose mum hails from Mitimiti in North Hokianga.
The annual Bay of Islands Walking Weekend held over Labour weekend presents a cogent case for domestic tourism.
The Walking Weekend has been on the calendar for four years and this year saw the highest number of walkers since it started in 2017.
Organisers, the Bay of Islands Walkway Trust, say the majority of the 208 participants were first-timers and for many, it was the first time they'd visited the Bay of Islands.
Not one walker was from overseas this year but for the past three years only 3 per cent of walkers were from outside the country, so closed borders did not affect the 2020 event to any great extent.
There were 18 walks on offer, from casual strolls to local track walks that took in vineyards, oyster farms and various island "rambles". The most physically taxing was the Cape Brett walk.
Also on the menu was a night-time walk to see kiwi, and a bike-and-hike that includes the vintage railway. Accompanying the walkers were 80 unpaid locals as guides.
Of those who perambulated this year, 42 per cent were from the North Island (excluding Auckland), from Waihi to Feilding, from both coasts (Coromandel, Napier and New Plymouth) and various points in between.
Visitors from Auckland made up 32 per cent of the total, a slight drop from the previous three years. Just under 20 per cent were Bay of Islands locals and 2 per cent were from the South Island.
The strong contingent of domestic strollers and hikers from out of town meant accommodation providers benefitted, since just under 80 per cent of all those who participated over the weekend needed lodgings. Just 1 per cent stayed with friends and the rest were locals who didn't require accommodation.
Of the paid lodgings, the most popular choice was a holiday park, followed by cottage accommodation, Airbnb and motels in that order. In total, 16 accommodation providers hosted 166 visiting walkers.
The striking posters promoting the event were designed by Troy Packer from Kawakawa and were available for sale, with proceeds going to Project Island Song.
Businesses in Kerikeri or Waipapa can register to take part in a recycled pallet Christmas tree competition.
All that's required is to dress up the front of the shop, salon or workshop with one of the recycled trees made by The Men's Shed.
Each tree is $25 and the winners will be determined by visitor and customer vote in the People's Choice Award.
The competition is run by Our Kerikeri, the Waipapa Business Association and the Kerikeri Business Association.
For more information: kerikeriourtown.co.nz/xmas-trees
Bay of Islands Rotary Club members have been having a word with Year 4 students at 13 different schools in the region.
Thousands of words in fact. Each year club representatives attend school assemblies to present around 180 students with Usborne Illustrated English dictionaries that are individually named for each student.
The community programme has been operating for about 10 years. Opua School principal Simon McGowan said the school looks forward to the visits by Rotary every year.
"The dictionaries that are donated to the Year 4s are held in high regard and are treasured," he said.
The winner of last week's giveaway of free tickets to The Shows Must Go On at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri tonight is Thera van Poppel of Paihia, who said she'd bring her piano teacher. Thanks to everyone, from Whangārei to Kohukohu, who entered.
November 14, 8.30am-4.00pm - A Cultural Journey, Waitangi Treaty Grounds. Free admission. Meet at Forum North carpark, Rust Ave, Whangārei, free bus but bring your own food. Limited spaces, booking essential and participants must be able to attend this trip and the trip to Parirau Marae, Matakohe, on November 21. Events@multiculturalwhangarei.co.nz . Phone: 09 430 0571.
November 19, 8pm - Dancing Queen, a Tribute to ABBA.. The Turner Centre, Kerikeri. Back by popular demand after a sell-out concert tour in New Zealand in 2018, this full-scale production with a live backing band, replica costumes, theatrical lighting has all the ABBA familiars you can handle. www.turnercentre.co.nz .
November 21, following the Kerikeri Half Marathon. The traditional street party after the half marathon will this year not be held on the street but at Kainui Vineyard and Brewery, 1 Conifer Lane, Waipapa. Headline band is the four-piece Hands Off, supported by local acts. There's a shuttle service from the Packhouse Market to the vineyard. It's a free event and a gold coin donation will go to support Rotary Waipapa. www.eventfinda.co.nz/2020/kerikeri-vineyard-party/bay-of-islands
December 4, 5.30pm - Paihia Christmas Parade. The theme this year is "Under the Canopy" - think bush, birds, rainforest and, somewhat curiously, monkeys.
• Email Sandy Myhre at mywordmedia@yahoo.com if you have any news you'd like to see in Bay News.
Nine homicide cases this year have added to the delays in the High Court at Whangārei.