Beer, the raison d’etre of the Brew of Islands festival held last month at the Turner Centre. Photo/Kathy Elliston
A festival to celebrate the art of beer drinking has proven a success when over 1800 people turned up at the end of July to do just that at the Brew of Islands.
There was something for everyone, not just the beer junkies imbibing craft concoctions. Live music was supplied, and the event was brimming with Northland kai.
Showcased were over 60 unique beers from nine different breweries that catered for a wide variety of palates. One of the highlights was Urbanaut’s Pink Marshmallow Hazy and Gummy Worm Sour, and if you can say that in one gulp you deserve, well, a beer.
Local brewery Kainui had Peach Bellini beer, Garage Project produced a New Zealand draught beer called Swifty, McLeod’s from Waipu returned for another year and so did 8 Wired from Matakana.
Drinkers of other beverages were catered for with a range of wines and cocktails from Cardrona distillery were mixed by maestro Ben Thrippleton of Kindred Spirits. Black Collar distillery had a gin bar.
As for the music, the highlight of the weekend was hearing the Lost Tribe of Aotearoa, the eight-piece family band based in Raglan/Whaingaroa whose sound is an eclectic mix of roots, rub, rock, SKA and blues.
There was Whangarei’s Mermaid Bait and bands Sweet Az and Dogfather who got the crowd onto the dance floor.
The kai was representative of Northland with a BBQ from Dave’s Place, Mrs Miller’s famous mussel fritters, fresh oysters from Paroa Bay and sustainably sourced (we are assured) kingfish from Haku in Ruakākā.
Organisers Tyler Bamber and Gerry Paul were pleased with the turnout during what they called “challenging times”.
The event received funding from Northland Inc event and 18% of attendees were from outside Northland.
Shucks, an ingenious design
A homemade oyster shucker – a guillotine-like device knocked together with a couple of bits of ‘4 by 2′ and using a robust missionary-era cast iron nail – has captured the imagination of collections staff at the Heritage NZ Pouhere Taonga Northland office.
One man’s solution to an age-old problem was found during routine cataloguing of collection items associated with the Kerikeri Mission Station.
“The oyster is placed within the frame, the handle is lifted and pressed down again on the oyster, prising it open,” said Heritage NZ collections manager Belinda Maingay said.
“It’s simple and looks very effective, enabling even the trickiest oyster to be opened with minimal effort and no cuts or grazes. This wonderful example of Number 8 wire ingenuity is priceless in its own way.”
The invention is the brainchild of Ernest Kemp who gifted his family’s home – Kemp House in Kerikeri in 1974 – to the NZ Historic Places Trust, the predecessor of Heritage NZ.
Ernest was a Kerikeri identity whose flair for recycling and Kiwi ingenuity was recalled by one of his grandsons five years ago at a Kemp family reunion.
“Ernest served in Palestine during the First World War. He was an outdoorsman and was never seen without his enormous knife, which he made himself probably from a tempered steel saw blade,” he said.
“He was a farmer, and his knife was an important tool he liked to have on hand. Many people remember him sitting on the porch of Kemp House whittling a piece of wood or peeling an apple with it.”
There was no shortage of materials lying around for Ernest to reshape and the result was his brilliantly simple oyster shucker.
“It may not be a priceless heirloom or even an exhibit piece but Ernest’s oyster shucker is an important part of the Kemp House collection,” Belinda says.
Ernest Kemp died 50 years ago, in November 1974.
University scholarships announced for Tucker trainees
The R Tucker Thompson Trust, based in Opua with a gaff-rigged schooner as its primary training vessel, has announced scholarship opportunities for former trainees.
In a collaboration with the University of Waikato the Trust has established a scholarship to the value of $10,000 each year for the three-year study course. The University is providing $5000 and so is the RTT Trust.
It is open to new full-time undergraduate students who have attended the R Tucker Thompson Youth Voyage scheme in the past five years. Applications for the 2025-year scholarship close September 15, 2024.
Since it is an entry-level scholarship, it applies to any course. Selection will be based on academic readiness and the likelihood of succeeding in tertiary study. There is recognition, too, of the nominee’s commitment to the marine environment and/or the marine industry.
The faculties under which the course of study operates are many and varied. Ten different courses are on offer.
RTT chief executive Catherine Langford said the university course won’t be for everyone but “we’re always looking for opportunities to deepen the positive impact of our programme”.
In another, more established, collaboration the R Tucker Thompson Trust teamed up with QRC (Queenstown Resort College) Tai Tokerau to train for the Maritime NZ Qualified Deck Crew certificate.
The programme has been developed over the past three years to create a formal training pathway to employment as a deckhand on commercial vessels operating in the Bay of Islands and is open to people aged 16-25 years. It has been funded for two of those three years by the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs.
Longtime promoter calls it a day
The Bay of Islands Jazz & Blues Festival and the Country Festivals have been promoted in the region since 1987.
They were started by Kerikeri musician, Mike Nettmann, who called on Shirley May from Moerewa to assist in 1990. She was well-known in country music circles, and he needed names. He retired in 1994, and she took over running both.
The idea behind the festivals was to bring people into the district during the quiet times of winter (May and August) and to coincide with the traditional school holiday period.
The jazz festival began humbly with just 10 bands at the Waitangi Hotel and the country festival had 12 bands. Today there have been as many as 45 different bands and solo performers at each festival and with numerous venues in Paihia, Haruru and Russell.
The best years were when there was no entry charge but as the festivals got bigger so did the costs.
“We had to introduce a door charge, and some people thought we paid big money for artists from overseas, but we didn’t, most came for free while the others were paid a pittance,” Shirley said.
“We didn’t have overseas artists until 1996, they were friends of mine from New Orleans and later we got Australians through them contacting me asking to take part.”
The “disastrous” years were all to do with Covid. Her fondest memory was being awarded the Queen’s Service Medal and getting the NZ Benny Award for services to New Zealand music.
It has been a memorable 36 years, and she thanks friends and family who stood beside her for each of those years.
“Many will still be involved, the bands and singers, hotel and motel owners who have sponsored rooms, we wouldn’t have been able to carry on for all those years without them,” she said.
He fired a shot which flew past the son's head and through the TV.