Welcoming the waka to Hospice Mid-Northland from left: Maree Sharp nursing co-ordinator, Advance Care Planning | Kairuruku Nehi, Whakamahere Mannaaki I Mua, Stella Rihari Te Tumu Manaaki Hospice Mid-Northland and Far North Community Hospice, Amy Powles patient and whanau support Hospice Mid-Northland.
Welcoming the waka to Hospice Mid-Northland from left: Maree Sharp nursing co-ordinator, Advance Care Planning | Kairuruku Nehi, Whakamahere Mannaaki I Mua, Stella Rihari Te Tumu Manaaki Hospice Mid-Northland and Far North Community Hospice, Amy Powles patient and whanau support Hospice Mid-Northland.
Bay of Islands Business appoints new chairperson
Business Bay of Islands Inc was formed at the end of 2023 as the result of a merger with the Russell Business Association and Business Paihia.
It combined the strengths of both areas with a focus on new opportunities for collaboration and growth.Last month the organisation appointed Lesley Lucas as its new Chairperson.
She has over 30 years of experience in hospitality, hotel sales, and event management in both the UK and New Zealand with a solid background in event creation and management.
As the founder of Unforgettable Fun, she has organized a range of corporate, community and high-end events and has overseen many successful events in the region.
Before starting Unforgettable Fun, Lesley spent 15 years running an event management company in the UK, where she led a team of 14 and managed events of various sizes from small gatherings to large conferences.
After moving to New Zealand, Lesley and her husband operated a hospitality business in the Bay of Islands which they sold in 2018 before taking some time to travel.
Currently, Lesley is involved in organizing Savour Northland, an event showcasing the region’s food, beverage and produce which runs for the month of October. In addition to her event work, she is currently completing her real estate license for commercial and business sales.
“The Bay of Islands is seen as a holiday destination and while our tourism and hospitality businesses are a key part of our foundation, we have many other vital businesses that make up our community,” she said.
Lesley has also been active locally in community service, including her roles as a member of the Business Bay of Islands executive committee. She has been an ambassador for the Northland Rescue Helicopter and a support volunteer with the Paihia Fire Brigade.
As she steps into the role of chair, she will focus on reviewing the Strategic Plan and working with the executive team to ensure it supports local businesses.
Hokianga Gallery opens for spring
Village Arts in Kohukohu is Hokianga’s community art gallery. It’s part of Te Ara Manawa: The Heart Trail and Northland Art Trail and is located on the main street in historic Kohukohu.
After a winter break, the gallery is open once again, this time with an exhibition of birds called Ngā Manu (The Birds). The exhibition is in conjunction with the Forest & Bird Protection Society’s Bird of the Year competition for 2024 which was won by the hoiho, the yellow-eyed penguin, which waddled into the top spot.
A papier-mache bird depiction from Hokianga artist Lynsie Austin, part of the Ngā Manu exhibition at Village Arts Gallery.
The little penguin was backed by a tenacious campaign led by Tūhura Otago Museum and joined by Enterprise Dunedin, The Opera, Monarch Wildlife Cruises, Southern Hoiho Basketball Team and Dunedin’s Wildlife Hospital and meant the “people’s penguin” is now a two-time champion.
The Village Arts Gallery will make a donation from the exhibition to Project Island Song, Forest & Bird Society and the Lynkz Outreach Group from the Hokianga.
Sally Hollis-McLeod from the gallery said there is something for everyone in the bird exhibition.
A clever depiction, a bird painted to resemble stone works by Sandra Mickell included in the exhibition in Hokianga.
“There is everything from tiny harakeke fantails to huge ancestral portraits of tūī, something to excite in the huge collection.”
Some of the local exhibitions include works by Allan Gale from South Hokianga with his avian wood carving, Joanne Barratt’s painting of a tūī, a papier-mache bird depiction from Lynsie Austin and a painting by Sandra Mickell that cleverly depicts stones and feathers in a bird shape.
Included as artists in the exhibition are children from Kohukohu School and the playcentre in Rawene.
South Hokianga artist Allan Gale’s wooden carved bird as part of the exhibition at Village Arts Gallery.
Village Arts Exhibition Ngā Manu runs from September 14 to October 20 2024.
Hospice Mid-Northland to get Māori model
Some researchers have explored Māori and whānau experiences of palliative and end-of-life care and their findings suggest there are differences in the uptake of Advance Care Planning (ACP) across cultural groups in New Zealand.
Northland District Health Board was tasked by the National ACP Co-operative to allow Māori consumers and healthcare workers to develop “culturally appropriate” resources which meet the aspirations of Māori patients and whānau.
Acknowledging earlier work undertaken by the original Northern Region Māori ACP Tool Task Team and Kia Ngāwari study participants, the Working Group recommended a waka model for consideration as a tool to engage Māori in ACP.
The concept was well received by participants of a co-design hui and received further support from members of the former regional team.
Welcoming the waka to Hospice Mid-Northland from left: Maree Sharp Nursing Coordinator, Advance Care Planning | Kairuruku Nehi, Whakamahere Mannaaki I Mua, Stella Rihari Te Tumu Manaaki Hospice Mid-Northland and Far North Community Hospice, Amy Powles Patient and Whanau Support Hospice Mid-Northland.
In early 2016, the Working Group developed this guide as a resource for Māori patients, whānau and healthcare workers to use when engaging in advance care planning conversations.
The waka used in the guide is of a carving which has been gifted to the ACP programme by Ned Peita from Ngāti Hine.
Kaumatua Te Ihi Tito said in his introduction to the booklet Guidelines for Engaging Māori in Advance Care Planning Conversations that it is the hope (of Māori) “that the model will encourage conversations about our health, when we are well and when we are sick or dying, that are tika (are right) pono (are true) and aroha (shared with love) and be held at a time and in an environment that is culturally appropriate to Māori”.
Hospice Mid-Northland provides specialist palliative care free-of-charge for people living with a life-limiting illness, helping patients to live the best they can for as long as they are able.
The waka Kakarauri was welcomed to Hospice Mid-Northland two weeks ago. In attendance were around 30 people, representatives of Northland Health Board, Cancer Society, Hospice Mid-Northland nurses, employees, board members, and volunteers.
Making Russell predator-free
Two weeks ago, Predator Free Russell gave the citizens of the peninsula an update on progress.
To date, they have laid 8000 bait stations and 5000 traps in a three-stage strategy. Stage 1 was the Okaito area (where the car ferry arrives from Ōpua) and that is now possum-free.
The Norwegian (or brown) rat is dominant in all continents except Antarctica. In and around Russell, though, it’s the ship rat that prevails thought to be introduced via whaling ships around the 1860s. It lives on crabs and intertidal marine organisms.
Stoats, ferrets and weasels are much harder to eliminate but nonetheless progress has been made with these musteloids as well.
Stage 2 was Te Wahapu peninsula where it is on target to be established as an ecosanctuary.
Presenter Fletcher Sunde outlining the progress made by Predator Free Russell to an audience of Russell residents. Photo/Sandy Myhre
Stage 3, the Russell township, is about to begin because spring is the season for rat movement. Bait stations and traps will be positioned every 25 metres because it’s an urban area unlike the other two locales which had traps and bait stations positioned every 50 metres.
The Russell urban traps have AI software installed that can detect a microchipped cat or dog. Around 70 cameras are also in the arsenal.
Presenter for Predator Free Russell, Fletcher Sunde, said the Russell stage is known as the “knockdown phase”.
“It’s the first stage of any predator elimination attempt and it may be some years before we can say that Russell township is predator-free but it marks the start of the process.”
It’s estimated the Russell peninsula is largely predator-free (with the exception of the township) and bird and insect life is starting to regenerate with a projected 10%-15% increase in the kiwi population. It’s the second-highest regeneration in mainland New Zealand next to Wellington.
Funding for Predator Free Russell comes from the government via various sources including Northland Regional Council, Predator Free 2050, Kiwi Coast, 3B2Trust and Foundation North.
