Matariki fireworks from Paihia, July 2022. Fireworks will again be a feature of the celebrations. Photo / Mark Russell Renegade Peach
Matariki fireworks from Paihia, July 2022. Fireworks will again be a feature of the celebrations. Photo / Mark Russell Renegade Peach
Paihia will be celebrating Puanga Matariki for the third year in a row this year. There’s a full programme of events spread out over a week.
Event director Jackie Sanders said there will be planned unique experiences and feasts.
“There are workshops, waiata, inspiring talks, belly-warming kai, stargazing and familyfun on the menu this year.
“We are celebrating the reappearance of Te Kāhui o Matariki and Puanga above the horizon, and it’s about spending time with those you love, remembering those who are lost and sharing knowledge and food.”
The main event, Te Tau Hou Māori, takes place along the Paihia waterfront on July 14 and it’s free.
There will be music, story-telling and kapa haka from 4pm. The Paihia Village Green offers street food, arts, crafts and music.
The Puanga Matariki display of light, waka and fireworks is set to an audio story written and narrated by Maramataka expert Heeni Hoterene. It starts at 7pm and lasts approximately 20 minutes.
Over the festival period, Waitangi Treaty Grounds also has a programme of events, exhibitions and workshops. The free open day is on Sunday, July 16.
A number of restaurants in Paihia and Russell are participating in a special Matariki culinary experience, including a line-up of Māori master chefs cooking at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel on July 22.
Also on the programme is a Matariki dawn cruise operated by Explore New Zealand, plus astrophotography workshops, walks, exhibitions and talks. For more information, visit www.matarikinz.com. For long weekend information, visit www.northlandnz.com.
Early-bird participants took a dawn cruise around the bay to celebrate Matariki last year. Photo / Mark Russell Renegade Peach
Millennium Cup leaves Russell
Organisers of the Millennium Cup, a regatta for superyachts that came to Russell each summer, have announced the event is now to be held in Auckland in late February next year.
Organiser Stacey Cook said she is “pleased the NZ Millennium Cup will add its name to the superyacht regattas raced in the heart of major cities”.
The historic town of Kororāreka-Russell has hosted the finish line of the NZ Millennium Cup every year for the last seven years, with the exception of last year, when there were insufficient entries to warrant staging the event. Most of the entrants were from overseas and the borders were closed.
Commodore of the Bay of Islands Boating Club, Bruce Mitchinson, said they are naturally disappointed the cup will no longer be coming back.
The superyacht Imagine, built by Alloy Yachts in Auckland, blew out a spinnaker in the NZ Millennium Cup race in 2012.
He said the Boating Club did not, in fact, have a lot to do with the organisation of the race, but it is businesses in the town that will feel the pinch.
The Duke of Marlborough Hotel, for instance, held the prize-giving event and many of the friends and families of the crews stayed there. Other businesses would feel the lack of patronage the NZ Millennium Cup brought to the area.
Moving the regatta to Auckland means it will be adjacent to the country’s largest superyacht marinas and comes as part of a summer of events supported by Tātaki Auckland Unlimited.
Organisers said the move to Auckland will ensure the superyacht owners can fly directly to Auckland and immediately begin racing in a well-known sailing destination.
They said holding the regatta in Auckland is designed to highlight the importance of the superyacht sector in New Zealand’s marine industry, as well as showcase some of the country’s most visually striking cruising grounds. The same could be said of the Bay of Islands.
Local lodge wins Tripadvisor Award
The Hone Heke Lodge Flashpackers in Kerikeri has won the 2023 Travellers’ Choice award from Tripadvisor.
The award celebrates businesses that have received great traveller reviews on Tripadvisor over the past 12 months. The winners are placed among the top 10 per cent of all listings on Tripadvisor globally.
Co-owner Victoria Howells said she and her husband David are humbled to have been recognised for doing what they love to do.
Some of the backpacker guests at Hone Heke Lodge give the thumbs up for the Lodge winning Tripadvisor's 2023 Travellers' Choice Award.
“To be recognised as the top 10 per cent in the world is fantastic for a backpackers in Kerikeri, and to still be enjoying what we do post-Covid is a testament to our passion.
“We thank all the partners we work with and our guests who have trusted us with their stay in Kerikeri,” she said.
John Boris, chief growth officer at Tripadvisor, said the award “demonstrates that you have provided great experiences to those who matter most; your guests.”
Hone Heke Lodge is no stranger to awards. They have received the Tripadvisor Certificate of Excellence and Travellers’ Choice Award eight times. They won the Westpac Northland Business Awards, MoreFM Customer Choice Awards, and were three-time finalists in the ACC Workplace Safety Awards and the Micro Business Awards.
The RSE workers who stay at Hone Heke Lodge and work at Kainui Orchards in Kerikeri.
It took them a while to recover from Covid lockdowns. Now, as well as hosting backpackers to the Lodge, including Te Araraoa Trail walkers, they house Recognised Seasonal Employers (RSE) from Vanuatu who work with Kainui Orchards.
Kerikeri High School students walk the talk
Joe Howells from Kerikeri High School, winner of the REINZ Schools Auction Competition.
Joe Howells from Kerikeri High School has won this year’s REINZ-sponsored auction competition. He was runner-up last year.
Auctioneers from Springbank School in Kerikeri, Diocesan School for Girls, Kristin College in Albany and St Peter’s School in Cambridge, competed.
Kerikeri High Students have won this national competition for four out of the last five years.
