News in brief 25 November
New GBHS fundraiser cookbook “sure to be a winner”
The latest fundraiser for Golden Bay High School is a cookbook, which was launched at an early evening function last Tuesday at the Schnapp Dragon Distillery in Takaka.
Produced by Susie Kelly and Josie Shelly, The Golden Bay Recipe Book took around six months to compile and is 72 pages of delicious recipes, beautiful photos and illustrations, which the editors say represents a real cross-section of the Bay.
Says Susie: “We asked the widest range of people to contribute their favourite recipes, from past associates of the school, like Bev Jensen and Alice Trent, to known people and institutions in the community, such as Ratanui Lodge, Fiona Feasey, Judy Solly, Paddy Brennan and Margie Clark. We made a point of asking old and young, as well as newbies and oldies to the place.”
Because the Bay has a strong association with seafood, those dishes are well represented, although the book is conveniently divided up into meat, fish, vegetarian, dessert and baking dishes - with dairy and gluten-free options all specified.
Susie says she started the project six months ago because she was keen to do a fundraiser for the school but didn’t want to pester vast amounts of people in the process.
“A cookbook seemed such a good compromise. I soon got Josie on board because she was keen to do some fundraising and shared the same kind of style I envisaged for the book. We feel this book is sure to be a winner.”
The first print run is 300 copies, which they hope will all be snapped up as Christmas presents, with another run planned for the high school’s 150th anniversary celebrations early next year. Copies are $25 each and are available from Living Light Candles, Golden Bay Air, Schnapp Dragon, Langford’s Store at Bainham, Pohara Store, Ratanui Lodge, Imagine Designs, MONZA Gallery, Bencarri, Harcourts, and of course the reception desk at GBHS.
Gerard Hindmarsh
Extension maths quiz for primary school students
Maths is not a problem for some Golden Bay students who got together for a recent primary school extension maths quiz.
Faced with complicated mathematical problems, one of the teams of four correctly solved eighteen of the twenty problems set. This was another of the events organised by the Tall Poppies Extension Groups (PEGs) teaching cluster from the Golden Bay primary schools.
Set up three years ago, PEGs aims to extend talented students in a range of subjects. This year selected children have participated in events such as speech making, a science academy, writer workshops and creative art workshops.
Takaka Primary School deputy principal Tre Sylvawood, one of the five PEGs coordinators said, “We wanted to offer a balance of curricular activities to our students.
“Even though maths is a core subject that all children learn, some of our students excel. The maths quiz was a way of bringing the young mathematicians together and motivating them to use their skills in a creative way.”
Nick Farr, a relieving teacher in the Bay, organised the maths questions and the nine teams came together at Takaka Primary hall on Tuesday 15 November. The winning team included Sammie van der Meer, Catrina Sadowski, Joe Ogle and Alex Heraud Jones.
Submitted
Stranded whales on Farewell Spit
Pilot whales stranded at the tip of Farewell Spit last week, were unable to save themselves and are now all dead.
DOC Golden Bay area manager John Mason said 16 whales had died since Tuesday 15 November and DOC staff took the difficult decision on Wednesday last week to euthanase the remaining 18 whales to end their suffering.
‘We had wanted to give the whales a chance to refloat and hopefully find their way out to sea in the high tides. But they re-stranded each time and more whales died.
‘The whales seem to have come in a little further inshore in each re-stranding. The tides are reducing so it became very unlikely the remaining whales would get out to sea and that they would survive.
“Rather than prolong the whales’ suffering we decided to take the humane course of euthanasing the remaining 18 whales.’
The stranded pilot whales were reported to DOC staff by a Farewell Spit tour guide. DOC rangers who went to the area found 20 dead whales, and one whale in a poor condition was euthanised. The next morning the rangers found another 44 whales stranded nearby, two to three kilometres from shore, 34 of which were alive and 10 dead.
A rescue of the whales was too dangerous to undertake given the distance of the whales from shore in a remote location where tides come in rapidly over the shallow tidal flats. It would have been arduous and unsafe for people to walk the two to three kilometres back to shore after refloating the whales in chest-deep water.
Submitted by DOC
$1600 fine for whitebaiting offences
A Nelson man was fined $1600 for eight whitebaiting offences committed all at once.
Ben Heinrich Jurgensen, 41, was fined $200 on each of eight charges of breaching the Whitebait Fishing Regulations 1994, to which he pleaded guilty. He was also ordered by the Nelson District Court to pay court costs of $132.89.
DOC Golden Bay area manager John Mason said two DOC rangers found Jurgensen whitebaiting on Golden Bay’s Aorere River on 5 November last year with three nets, when only one is allowed, two of which were oversized.
“One sock net had a mouth perimeter of 14.4 metres, more than three times the permitted size of 4.5 metres. Another had a mouth perimeter of 11.4 metres. Also, one of the nets covered the entire 4.2-metre width of a tributary stream, when nets must cover no more than one-third of waterways.
“Jurgensen told the rangers he couldn’t claim ignorance as he had with him a tide table book that contained the regulations. The Whitebait Fishing Regulations are in place to enable sufficient whitebait to make it upstream to sustain populations of these native fish and the fishery.
“Jurgensen’s actions were reported to us by a concerned member of the public and we are very grateful for the call. We encourage others who see people breaching the whitebaiting regulations to let us know by calling our emergency number 0800 DOCHOT/0800 36 24 68.”
Takaka River Flood Hazard Model
Takaka residents got to see first-hand the results of flood hazard modelling for the Takaka River at a public meeting on Friday 18 November.
TDC policy planner Lisa McGlinchy said between 80 and 100 residents came to the open day.
“We went through the model and the hazards, and some of the options for mitigation,” she said.
“The open day is the start of the process. It was a good chance to have landowners and council staff in the same place discussing the issues.”
“For example, people often assume that gravel extraction will solve flooding problems. Our modelling shows that, for the cost of removing the gravel, the impact on mitigating the flooding hazard is relatively low.”
There was interest in the various options for minimising flood damage, such as stopbanks, but no decisions have been made.
People seeking more information on the computer modelling, the flooding hazards and options for mitigation can visit the council website: www.tasman.govt.nz/link/takaka-flood-modelling
Comments can be made until December 23. All comments will be presented to council in the new year and then, after preliminary decisions by council, more consultation will take place.
Bay Art pieces to Lochmara
A selection of pieces from the annual Bay Art exhibition in Takaka has been chosen for a display at Lochmara in the Marlborough Sounds.
Lochmara’s arts co-ordinator Kate Spencer has run her FUSE arts course at Lochmara and Golden Bay in a retreat called Art’s Your Business.
She says bringing Bay Art over to Lochmara has mutual benefits – for the artists whose works are being shown, for Lochmara and for the people who visit it.
Grant Knowles, Golden Bay Arts Council chairperson, took the work to the gallery last week. The exhibition is showing in the Huia Gallery, Lochmara Lodge, for a month-long exhibition.
Cyclist in US team
Former Parapara man Jack Bauer has just been named in a highly-ranked US professional cycling team.
Bauer, who is usually described as being from Nelson, has been racing for the Endura team in Scotland. Jonathan Vaughters, CEO of Team Garmin-Cervelo, based in Boulder Colorado, described him as a “top, top talent.”
“We had our strongest season in the history of the team in 2011 and we’ll be looking to build on that success in 2012. Our roster has an outstanding mix of new and returning riders, with both veteran and young talent excelling in all disciplines of the sport. This will allow us to continue to do what we do best; win as a team.”
Bauer’s elevation to the high-profile team comes on top of his heroics at the New Delhi Commonwealth Games and his win in the 2010 New Zealand road-racing championships. His signing moves his professional career to new heights.
Local scholarships available
Earthcare Education Aotearoa is offering two scholarships for their next Permaculture Design Course.
“We’ve been looking for a way to offer the course to those with limited means for a while now,” says spokesperson Inna Alex. “The scholarships will be awarded to someone who is committed to using the knowledge to give back to our local community. One will be awarded to a local person and the other to an indigenous person to support the sharing of skills. They will cover 70 per cent of the usual course fee, making the course really affordable.”
The three-week residential course will run in Februray 2012 and is based at Tui Community in Wainui Bay. It covers practical permaculture learning, which includes integrated orchard/animal design, mixed species forestry, microclimates for optimum organic food production, natural building, and design for sustainable social systems, taught in an integrated hands-on way, culminating in several land-use design projects. It is a fantastic course for gearing up for an uncertain future and helping us all move toward more sustainable lifestyles.
Application close on 30 November and forms are available by emailing Inna at earthcarenz@gmail.com
Inna Alex
Nelson City and Tasman District
The decision of the Local Government Commission on the proposal for the union of Nelson City and Tasman District will be released in early February 2012.
The chairman of the Commission, Basil Morrison, said that, following the completion of the hearing of submissions on the commission’s draft scheme, the commission has met on two occasions and identified a range of issues that needed to be addressed, including a number raised in submissions. “The commission is making good progress on these issues but more time is needed before a final decision can be made.”
Hello Monster
Hello Monster, a theatrical fairytale for the whole family, will play at the Village Theatre at 2pm on Satuday 3 and Sunday 4 December as a fundraiser for Takaka Playcentre.
Hello Monster is the tale of a father, his three entertaining daughters and a monster (who is really a prince). The universal lesson of loving someone for who the person is, and not for their appearance threads through the performance. The play stars Laura Manson, Tania Wright and Martine Baanvinger. Director Martine Baanvinger says the play is designed to entertain “people aged three to ninety-three”. She says it’s a “funny, dynamic and beautiful performance”
Tickets are available at MONZA Gallery. It costs $12 for adults, $6 for kids, and a $3 for under-five-year-olds.
