On the wooden deck next to him sits his old pair of Nike trainers. Downes bought them in 2001 and it's safe to say they've been a favourite of his. The black has faded to a dark grey and there are splashes of white paint covering the front of them.
"They've taken me to a lot of places, all around New Zealand," he says.
Downes is training to take part in the triathlon event with two other kaumatua from his marae.
He walks about 3km every day and, since he got his new shoes, he thinks he's actually a little faster.
In November the team will travel to Napier where Downes will walk 3km, Te Oti Ormsby will be taking on the 250m swim and Te Ruruanga Te Keeti, also known as Lou Te Keeti, will tackle a 7km cycle.
"The main focus for us is our health," Ormsby says.
The trio all have different health issues they are working on and try to stay as active as possible.
"We've all got hip replacements too. I've had two, our cyclist [Te Keeti] has had two," Ormsby says.
"I've only had one," Downes cuts in, laughing.
Between the trio, five out of six hips have been replaced but they're still not afraid to take on the challenge later this year.
The new pair of shoes came out of a conversation between two strangers last month.
Ormsby ran into Anderson down at the Tauranga Marina. The pair had never met before but got talking about a local kaumatua, Downes, who needed a new pair of running shoes ahead of the upcoming triathlon event.
"I just said 'I'll buy him new shoes'," Anderson says.
She says it was great to see Downes being active and she hoped it would encourage other older people to get moving around the marae, which was why she offered to pay for the shoes herself.
So Ormsby, Anderson and Downes went down to a local footwear store, Smith Sport Shoes.
Downes had a video analysis of how his feet function to make sure he was fitted with the right shoes.
"I've never been through something like that before," he says.
He uses a stick when he goes for walks as he tends to walk on a diagonal angle.
"The stick keeps me in line," he says. And he always walks with his bright orange high-visibility vest on.
When he was in the store, Downes said he didn't really understand what was going on and his first thought was "Who's paying for these?"
Once he realised Anderson was ready to pay for the trainers he "didn't know what to say".
"It really was an honour. I will use them to my best ability and walk for miles and miles and miles."
So surely the 17-year-old shoes will be going in the rubbish now, I ask Downes.
He shakes his head, with a grin on his face.
"You can't get rid of something that's old, that's always been there for you," he says.
"They're my new pipi shoes. I'll wear them to the beach and in the garden."
IRONMĀORI Kaumatua event
Minimum Age: 55+
Where: Pandora Pond Napier
When: Friday, November 2, 2018
What: Aquathon 100m swim, 1km walk/run, or Magic Moment (any short distance) or Triathlon 250m swim, 7km cycle, 1.5km walk run, or 1km walk-3km walk
Who: As an Individual where you do all three disciplines or as a team of three where one person does one discipline.