Hospice Mid Northland fundraising manager Nikki Simmons with some of the artworks created by Ngawha Prison inmates for this Friday's charity auction. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
Hospice Mid Northland fundraising manager Nikki Simmons with some of the artworks created by Ngawha Prison inmates for this Friday's charity auction. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
Large-scale artworks by inmates at Ngawha Prison are expect to draw some of the top bids in this Friday's Hospice Mid Northland art and collectables auction.
More than 110 pieces of art, antiques and curiosities will go under the hammer at the Turner Centre in Kerikeri from 6.30pm.
Everything has been donated, including several impressive paintings and carvings by prisoners at Ngawha. A carved tiki and a painting of a tui among kowhai blossoms each stand close to 2m tall, but the most spectacular work is perhaps an intricately carved waka about 1.5m long.
Also for sale are photographs by Dean Wright and Chris Reid and a large number of paintings.
The collectables include a sextant, Gurkha daggers, a vintage phone, porcelain figures and antler-handled carving utensils.
Silent bids can be placed on all but the top 14 items in the old Poppies Bookshop in Kerikeri. The preview closes at 1pm tomorrow.
Hospice hopes to raise $25,000 from this year's auction. Tickets cost $25 from hospice shops in Kerikeri, Kaikohe or Kawakawa, Harcourts or at the door. A glass of bubbles, nibbles and live music included.
Kerikeri's Old Packhouse Market is celebrating its first birthday on Saturday with a day of stallholder specials, prizes and an oyster feastival (and, no, that's not a spelling mistake).
The feastival will feature wares from several of the Bay's best oyster farmers, oyster shucking, steak and oyster pies, battered oysters, oyster fritters and oyster cocktails.
Market-goers will be able to compete for the title of fastest oyster eater and most disgusting way to eat an oyster - when the latter contest was last held, at Russell Town Hall, entries included someone who ate oysters from a shoe and a member of the Tongan national rugby team eating oysters from a spectator's navel.
The Old Packhouse Market is celebrating its first birthday this Saturday. PHOTO / Stephanie Schollum
Stallholders will offer specials from 8am-1.30pm; competitions will run between 9am and 1pm. Other attractions will include live music, giveaways and quick-fire raffles.
The Old Packhouse Market, which is on Kerikeri Rd opposite Makana Chocolate Factory, was opened by Kerikeri's Hyland family in October last year in what used to be a coolstore and kiwifruit packing shed. The building is now shared by the ever-expanding market and a swamp kauri workshop.
Future plans for the market include an art gallery on its mezzanine floor.
The market was started partly due to what was seen as overly restrictive rules on what can and can't be sold at the Sunday farmers' market.
Wharepuke giveaway
Kerikeri restaurant Food at Wharepuke is celebrating being selected for this year's Silver Fern Farms Premier Selection Awards by giving a $100 voucher to a lucky Bay News Bites reader.
More than 60 chefs from Kerikeri to Queenstown have created a dish using Silver Fern Farms beef, lamb or venison.
Food at Wharepuke chef Colin Ashton's dish is venison loin with pumpkin and buffalo ricotta gnocchi, beetroot puree and chocolate jus.
On November 20 the 60 chefs will be whittled down to 12 finalists based on how well they "let the red meat be the hero". Points will be awarded for presentation, preparation and cooking, taste and texture, and creativity.
WIN: Kerikeri restaurant Food at Wharepuke is celebrating its place in a national cuisine contest by giving away a $100 voucher to a Bay News Bites reader. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
Judges will visit all finalists before Christmas and announce the winner of the Premier Master of Fine Cuisine title in February.
To be in to win just send an email to baynews@northernadvocate.co.nz with 'Food at Wharepuke giveaway' in the subject line. Make sure you include your address and phone number.
If you don't have access to email you can put the same information on a bit of paper and drop it in to our office at 3 Fairway Drive, Kerikeri (above The Scullery).
Entries close at 5pm on Friday; the voucher must be used by November 1. The winner has to order the venison dish as part of the meal.
Food at Wharepuke is the only Northland restaurant in the contest.
Whangaroa Health Services Trust is organising a 9km fun run/walk from Kaeo to Whangaroa this Sunday.
Participants, who are invited to wear black to support the White Ribbon event, can register from 8.30am on the day outside Kaeo's White Swan Tavern or online at whangaroahealth.co.nz (click on 'events').
Runners will start 9.30am with walkers following shortly afterwards. Entry is $12 for adults or $6 for children under 16. Spot prizes will be awarded at 11.30am outside Whangaroa Sport Fishing Club. Return bus provided.
Car boot sale
Kerikeri's fortnightly car boot sale has moved to the grassy area next to Home Support North on Homestead Rd. It is held from 7am to noon on the second and fourth Saturday of the month.
It used to be on vacant Union Church land at the corner of Kerikeri Rd and the Heritage Bypass but construction of a new church is now underway.
Travel expo
House of Travel Kerikeri, at the corner of Kerikeri Rd and Butler Rd, is holding an expo from 5-7.30pm next Tuesday, October 20.
It's a chance to grab some special deals, talk to travel experts, and be in to win flights to London plus a $1000 gift card. Registration is essential. Call (09) 407 1122 or email kerikeri@hot.co.nz.
Sunday sounds
This Sunday's band at Al Fresco's on Marsden Rd, Paihia, is Penny Royal Tea, with Nick Laird on guitar and Cat Logan on vocals. The show is free and runs from 3-6pm.
Kawakawa artist Fran Leitch is opening an exhibition at Kaan Zamaan, on Kerikeri's Hobson Ave, with a preview from 11am-1pm this Saturday.
The show is called "You're getting warmer: What's behind the facade?" and runs until November 8. Mrs Leitch is best known for her brooches, jewellery and miniature 3D creations.
Complimenti!
Congratulations to Kerikeri's best-known Italians, the Loggia family of Skudders Beach.
The family has just won three more medals - two gold and one platinum - from the Beverage Tasting Institute in Chicago for their Sovrano traditional Italian-style liqueurs.
The golds were for their limoncello cream and orangelo, the platinum for their limoncello original.
Twin shows
Simultaneous exhibitions showing identical works are underway at galleries in Kerikeri and Victoria, Australia.
Parallel Prints features works by Kerikeri's Mark Graver and 11 Australian printmakers until November 22, with the New Zealand show at Art at Wharepuke (just up Kerikeri Rd from Food at Wharepuke) and the Australian version at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The nature is printmaking allows the same works to be viewed at the same time in different parts of the world, and lets the viewer decide which venue is showing the 'real' work and which the reproduction.
A contingent of Bay of Islands residents leave New Zealand this weekend to take part in the 1st World Indigenous Games in Palmas, Brazil.
The team is made up largely of members of the sports club Ki-o-rahi Akotanga Iho, led by Maori games expert Harko Brown of Puketona.
They will demonstrate a variety of Maori games with the best known being ki-o-rahi, a full-contact ball game played on a circular field with a target at the centre.
People from 30 countries are taking part in what Mr Brown describes as "Olympics of indigenous sports".
Glenn Miller plays Kerikeri
The legendary Glenn Miller Orchestra is playing Kerikeri's Turner Centre next Wednesday, October 21, along with the Moonlight Serenade Singers and the Broadway Swing Dancers.
The show is likely to be a sell-out. Tickets available from the venue or www.turnercentre.co.nz.
Do you have news or an upcoming event you'd like to see in this column? Send it to us, including your full contact details, to baynews@northernadvocate.co.nz.
