Workers from Kaitaia firm KCL prepare earthworks at the site of a new church complex in Kerikeri. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Workers from Kaitaia firm KCL prepare earthworks at the site of a new church complex in Kerikeri. Photo / Peter de Graaf
Work has begun on a new church on a long-empty site at the corner of Kerikeri Rd and the Heritage Bypass.
Kerikeri-Kaeo Union Church has been homeless since 2010 when its old building at the corner of Butler Rd was sold and demolished to make way for the new Countdown supermarket.
Plans for a new place of worship and community hall on church land beside the bypass have suffered a series of setbacks and delays, but earthworks are now under way for three separate buildings.
One will be a new church, albeit a more affordable version of the original design, while another will be leased to a local funeral home to provide income for the church. Plans for the third site have yet to be revealed.
Rev Robyn McPhail said the project had been scaled back and the large foyer in the original plan had been removed, to match the funding from the sale of the Butler Rd land.
The Union Church has long hosted Kerikeri's regular car boot sales, first at its Butler Rd site and more recently on its land beside the Heritage Bypass.
Construction work means the site is now off-limits but the church promises the car boot sales will return once the building is complete.
Arts festival
Talent lined up for Upsurge, the reinvented Bay of Islands Arts Festival to be held this weekend, includes an Australian circus group, a top swing band, cutting-edge theatre and the Kiwi music legend Tim Finn.
Finn's contribution, White Cloud, was written with playwright Ken Duncum and film-maker Sue Healey.
It is touted as an "immersive encounter" with Finn and Duncum's immigrant ancestors, and exploring how their own engagement with Maori culture helped shape their sense of themselves as pakeha.
Other performers include acclaimed swing band Sal Valentine and The Babyshakes, five-piece folk band Eb and Sparrow, hiphop show Out of the Box, multi-instrumentalist Adam Page, barbershop quartet Musical Island Boys and Casus Circus Company from Australia. One-man play The Pianist is described as a highbrow concert descending into a spectacularly amusing catastrophe.
The event is a collaboration with the Festival of Colour in Wanaka, allowing organisers to secure some big-name acts that would not be affordable otherwise. It is based at Kerikeri's Turner Centre but events also take place in Paihia, Russell, Kaikohe, Omapere and Kohukohu.
Bathtubs, but not as we know it. A scene from last year's bathtub race off Paihia.
Bathtub racing
Bathtub racing returns to the waters off Waitangi on May 9 with the winner getting an all-expenses-paid trip to Canada to compete in the world championships.
Before you bolt your old outboard on to your grandma's disused bathtub, be warned that these are no ordinary tubs. These are streamlined, high-powered machines that happen to be built around a bathtub.
The Bay of Islands Bathtub Classic will be held on May 9 off Tii Beach.
Last year's inaugural event was raced over a 60km course as far as 10km offshore in a one-metre chop and 15-knot winds. Five boats capsized before even leaving the bay and had to be righted by their support crews.
The 2014 winner, John Booker of Whitianga, completed the course in 1 hour 45 minutes and represented New Zealand at the Nanaimo Marine Festival and World Championship Bathtub Race in Canada. for more information: www.bayofislandsbathtubbing.com
Would-be film-makers have a chance to learn from the experts at a weekend movie workshop in South Hokianga.
The script-to-screen workshop will cover short film, documentary and TV series formats with a focus on low-budget productions.
On day one participants will learn about story-telling. The following day they will pitch their project ideas to the group for advice and feedback. Up to six participants will be chosen to work with an experienced mentor to get their films projects off the ground.
It starts at 10am on May 2 at NorthTec in Rawene. The trainee film-makers then head to Tuhirangi Marae in Waima for a noho marae through to 4pm on May 3.
The workshop is free but organisers suggest $20 koha for food and accommodation. Email eloise@script-to-screen.co.nz for more information.
Bay of Islands monarchists and republicans alike can celebrate Queen's Birthday weekend with the Royal Bash, a May 30 concert in a giant marquee on Paihia's Village Green. The line-up includes Kerikeri's Troy Kingi, Ginny Blackmore and Pieter T.
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