Far North news in brief: Get new lifejackets; taste edible gardens and meet local heroes

Coastguard’s Old4New Lifejacket Upgrade campaign will be in the Far North again this month, swapping old lifejackets for new ones.

Old4New Lifejacket

Coastguard’s Old4New Lifejacket Upgrade campaign will be in the Far North this month, giving people the chance to swap an old lifejacket for a new one. The campaign is all about ensuring everyone’s safety on the water. By trading in old, damaged, or ill-fitting lifejackets for newer, discounted Hutchwilco ones, we can help reduce preventable drownings. Coastguard has a team of people travelling across the country with two vans for eight weeks, visiting 70 popular boating spots between December and Waitangi Weekend, with 28 boating and outdoors stores also involved offering the same discounts. They will be at Opononi Four Square on December 22 from 8am to 2pm; Cater Marine in Ōpua on December 23 from 9am to 3pm. They will be at Kaitāia Pak’nSave carpark on December 23 from 8am to 11am then at Houhoura Fishing CLub that same day from 1pm to 5pm. Then on December 24, they will be at Whangaroa Marina from 8am to 11am then Mangonui Mill Bay from 1pm to 4pm. For more info go to www.old4new.nz.

Edible gardens

The Northland Edible Garden Trail will run across the region from February 3 to 11 next year. The trail will feature inspirational edible gardens in the Mid and Far North and Whangārei. They will be open for the public to meet the gardeners, have a chat, look, learn and be inspired to grow fruit and vegetables in a sustainable way. The trail features small urban gardens, rural lifestyle blocks and commercial growers and includes demonstrations and workshops. If you’ve got a garden you’d like to be included visit www.NorthlandEdibleGardenTrail.org.nz to register your interest.

Scrub fire

Kerikeri firefighters were called out to a scrub fire on Saturday that took over an hour to put out. A call went out around 5.40pm that scrub was ablaze at Te Tii on the Purerua Peninsula north of Kerikeri, a Fire and Emergency New Zealand spokesman said. Firefighters found a fire covering about 10 by 50m of scrub. The cause of the fire has not been identified at this stage

Northland local heroes

Six Northlanders are among 100 outstanding Kiwis unveiled as the 2024 Kiwibank Local Hero Te Pou Toko o te Tau Medallists. The six - Aorangi Hetaraka, Gerry Buxton, Jenny Calder, Keegan Jones, Pamela-Anne Simon Baragwanath and Sharon Carroll - are now in the running for the 2024 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero of the Year award, to be announced in March. Earlier this year, the New Zealander of the Year Awards Office called on the country to celebrate our people by nominating their local heroes. From an overwhelming number of nominations, the panel of independent judges from across the motu undertook the mammoth task of selecting these 100 Kiwibank Local Hero Medallists. These recipients are our frontline workers and our unsung champions working tirelessly for their local communities. Medals have been delivered to their door steps, the recipients each of whom have been nominated by someone in their community.

Okaihau prizegiving

Okaihau College prizegivings are on this week. The Year 9 and 10 prizegiving is from 1.20pm tomorrow, while the Year 7 and 8 event will be at 1.20pm on Thursday. All junior students are expected to be in perfect school uniform.