Bay News: New waka ama club for Waitangi

Waka ama paddler Missy Apiata-Te Rito, of Waitangi, makes a dash for the finish line during last year's Bay of Islands Waka Festival. Photo / Peter de Graaf

BAY NEWS BITES

A newly formed watersports club based in Waitangi wants to hear from whānau with tamariki keen to compete in the 2020-21 waka ama sprint season.

The new club, Tai Kotuku Waka Ama, will be coached by a multiple world champion titleholder with a background in athletic training and a record of coaching teams and individuals to international success.

The intake, which will be on October 10-11 at Waitangi, is for children born between 2008 and 2013.

Fonz Te Kuru, of Waitangi Waka Ama Kaihoe, sprints to the finish line during last year's Bay of Islands Waka Festival. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Tamariki will have to be able to commit to three or more trainings per week during term four and the school holidays in the lead-up to the waka ama national championships on Lake Karapiro in January.

The new club will also offer younger siblings, aged 5 and up, a chance to participate less competitively with sessions once a week.

If this sounds like something your kids would like to get involved in, go online to www.surveymonkey.com/r/HHTGRW2 to register their interest.

Russell's fashion extravaganza

Months of preparation culminated in a sell-out fashion show fundraiser at the Duke of Marlborough last Friday.

Planning for the show began in July when Russell Op Shop's new manager Anne-Marie Kemp-Scott, aided by a team of keen volunteers, started setting aside the best clothes, making alterations and recruiting donors.

An op shop fashion show in Russell last Friday raised money for St John Ambulance. Photo / Stephen Western

Donations from individuals and a Kerikeri pre-loved clothing shop helped nine female and five male models, all from Russell, dress for the catwalk in winter, autumn, spring and summer fashion, with a wedding procession to wrap up the show.

During the breaks the audience could sample canapes, buy clothing or try their luck with raffle tickets for hampers of donated items.

All 160 tickets sold out within weeks. The proceeds will go to St John in Russell.

The fashion show fundraiser at the Duke of Marlborough last Friday was a sell-out. Photo / Stephen Western

Anika Moa comes to Kerikeri

Much-loved Kiwi songstress Anika Moa is performing an intimate, one-night-only show at the Plough and Feather in Kerikeri next week.

As well as many of her top songs from a two-decade musical career, Moa will bring her trademark banter, wit and naughtiness to the historic restaurant and bar opposite the Stone Store.

Anika Moa is performing in Kerikeri next week. Photo / Supplied

Chef Colin Ashton — who has toured the world cooking for the likes of Shania Twain and the Red Hot Chili Peppers — will prepare canapes, antipasto platters and seafood sliders throughout the evening, included in the ticket price.

Doors open at 7pm on October 8 with support from singer-songwriter Chris Sanders. Tickets from eventfinda.co.nz or at the venue.

Waitangi goes to the birds

Staff at Waitangi Treaty Grounds are going to the birds these school holidays — and they want you to join them.

Waitangi's school holiday programme features five different bird-themed activities from October 5-9. Each offers a chance to learn about New Zealand's native manu and create something arty to take home.

Aotearoa's native manu are the theme of school holiday programme at Waitangi Treaty Grounds all next week. Photo / Darren Markin

■ October 5, magnificent manu mobiles: Cut and colour a mobile and watch your manu fly.
■ October 6, manu garden feeder: Make a feeder to encourage feathered friends to visit your garden.
■ October 7, magnificent manu masks: Choose one of the native manu masks and decorate to make it your own.
■ October 8, colourful manu collage: Create a collage of your favourite native bird or invent your own manu.
■ October 9, kiwi key ring: Sew a kiwi key ring from felt.

Drop in to the learning centre at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi any time from 10am-1pm. Participation is free for Friends of Waitangi, Experience Pass and Family Pass holders. Kids must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Try your hand at pickleball

Kerikeri Tennis Club is promising afternoons of fun, laughter and exercise when the group holds two free social events next month.

Visitors will be able brush up on their tennis skills as well as trying pickleball, a new sport which combines elements of badminton, table tennis and tennis. Pickleball players use solid paddles to hit a perforated polymer ball over a net.

The events will be held at Kerikeri Tennis Club, Harmony Lane, Waipapa, from 1-4pm on October 10 and 11.

Black Comedy is back

A comedy by Kerikeri Theatre Company is finally set to hit the stage this week after a series of postponements caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

Black Comedy will be performed on October 1-3 at the company's Black Box Theatre on Sammaree Place. At edition time there were only a few tickets left to the matinee show on Saturday; go to www.kerikeritheatrecompany.com to check availability.

Black Comedy, by Peter Shaffer, tells the story of a lovesick sculptor who embellishes his apartment with art ''borrowed'' from the absent antique collector next door to impress his fiancée's pompous father — until a fuse blows and he has to return the stolen items before the lights come back on ...

Pony club event

Kaikohe Pony Club is hosting an open evening at the Waimate North showgrounds, on Showgrounds Rd, from 6-7.30pm on October 7.

The group, a branch of Bay of Islands Pony Club, aims to encourage people aged under 25 to ride and enjoy all kinds of sport connected with riding through rallies, events and competitions.

For more information, or to find out about helping as a coach or volunteer, drop in to the event or send an email to boikaikohepc@gmail.com.

Grant winners

This year's winners of Focus Paihia's art, cultural and sports grants are Paihia Football Club to help pay for new goal nets and flags; Tai Kotuku waka ama club for safety equipment; Paihia Sea Scouts to help pay for a safety boat; and Sailability Northland for two boat covers.

Helpers wanted for beach clean-up

Bay Beach Clean will once again be scouring the shoreline for rubbish in Paihia and Waitangi on Sunday, October 11. One team will start at 8am at Waitangi Bridge, the other near the toilets at Te Haumi Beach at 9am. Go to www.baybushaction.org.nz/BayBeachClean for more information.

And the winners are ...

The winners of last week's competition for tickets to the Hullabaloo children's art festival are Shelly Rzoska of Onerahi (Captain Festus McBoyle's Travellin' Variety Show) and Jenny Baker of Haruru (What's Wrong with Glenda Gumball?).

The winner of the Chris Sanders tickets, who also lives in Haruru, kindly paid it forward to a family who couldn't otherwise afford to go.

The Glenda Gumball show, at Waitaha event centre in Waitangi, is a new musical with a moral written by Kerikeri's Jo Slack and performed by The Magic Playhouse.

• Email peter.degraaf@nzme.co.nz if you have any news you'd like to see in Bay News.