New Zealand's first "living building" is the subject of a workshop and movie screening in Kawakawa on Friday. PHOTO / NZ HERALD
New Zealand's first "living building" is the subject of a workshop and movie screening in Kawakawa on Friday. PHOTO / NZ HERALD
A weekly round-up of news snippets, events and oddities from the Bay of Islands and around the Mid North
What is a living building? How can communities and buildings be made more sustainable?
Those questions and more will be answered in a half-day Living Futures workshop and film screening at Kings Creative in the old Kawakawa movie theatre from 1-6pm this Friday.
The event will be hosted by Jasmax Architects, the company behind Tuhoe's new headquarters near Whakatane. Te Kura Whare is said to be New Zealand's most sustainable building and the country's first "living building".
The 1-6pm workshop will include a question and answer session and the Northland premiere of the 90-minute documentary Ever the Land.
Architects Jerome Partington, Justin Evatt (whose projects include Whangarei Library) and Rameka Tuinukuafe (who attended kura kaupapa in Kaikohe and Moerewa) will be the gust speakers. Artist Theresa Reihana's solo show He Puna Roimata will provide the backdrop.
Adults will be banned from an art sale with a difference at Kerikeri gallery Kaan Zamaan this weekend.
Muka Youth Prints will feature 40 original lithographs by 20 prominent artists from New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the US, all priced at a uniform $67.
The prints will be sold only to youth aged 18 and under. They can buy only for themselves. Adults are not allowed inside.
The signatures will be covered up to ensure the artist's fame plays no part in the buyer's choice.
The prints reflect the artists' normal style; there's no "talking down" to the children. Schools or institutions may buy works as long as they are displayed in areas used by children, not in staff rooms or offices. The person making the choice must be 18 or under.
The idea behind youth prints is to make young people acquainted with contemporary art by putting real art into their hands at an accessible price.
The exhibition is open from 11am-5pm on Saturday and 9am-1pm on Sunday. The gallery is on Hobson Ave next to the post office.
Spring flower show
Proof that summer really is on the way is the Spring Flower Show at the Turner Centre this week.
Organised by the Kerikeri Garden Club every year for more than half a century, the show will feature hundred of prize blooms, fruit and vegetables. Children's creations will include shell arrangements, unusual containers, pressed flower book marks, paintings and the ever-popular vegetable animals.
Last year's flower show winner was Pat Waters of Kerikeri. PHOTO / PETER DE GRAAF
The show will run from 1.30-5pm on Friday and 9am-3.30pm on Saturday (prizegiving at 3pm).
Last year's show champion was a Leucospermum grown by Pat Waters of Kerikeri.
Looking for something fun to do this weekend while working on your fitness and supporting a good cause?
Kaikohe Rotary Club is holding its annual Okaihau-Kaikohe Traverse, a fun run/walk along part of the Twin Coast Cycle Trail/Pou Herenga Tai, this Sunday. The options are 21km, 14km or 9km runs while walkers can choose between 14km or 9km. The gradients are gentle and the scenery pleasing.
Walkers and runners take part in a previous Okaihau-Kaikohe Traverse. PICTURE / DEBBIE BEADLE
The assembly point is Kaikohe's Pioneer Village which will also offer food, entertainment and kids' activities afterwards. Buses will take walkers/runners to the starting points. Go to www.kaikoherotary.org/t to register.
Kids' stuff at Waitangi
A school holiday programme at Waitangi Treaty Grounds will offer flax weaving, tree planting, story-telling, a colouring-in competition and "natty knotters".
Activities will run from 11.30am-12.30pm (weaving or planting) and 1.30-2.30pm (storytime or knotting) on weekdays from September 28 to October 9. A "natty knotter" is a colourful attachment to hang from a school bag, made with a variety of useful sailing knots.
Children get free entry to he Treaty Grounds if accompanied by parents or caregivers. Far North residents can apply for a Friends of Waitangi card giving heavily discounted entry; bring photo ID and proof of address.
Paihia working bee
Focus Paihia is holding a community working bee from 9am this Saturday to keep the town shipshape ahead of summer's tourist influx. Bring brushes or gardening tools for some re-staining, painting, oiling, polishing, weeding, mulching, cleaning, waterblasting and other odd jobs. Contact Heinz Marti on heinzmarti39@gmail.com.
$15k for railway
A trivia night at the Copthorne Hotel in Waitangi on Saturday raised a whopping $14,960 for the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway Trust.
With MC Frank Leadley's usual sidekick, Mayor John Carter, in hospital for prostate surgery, the event was co-hosted by Kaitaia auctioneer Brad Jackson instead. Items sold in the auction ranged from paintings to a trip for two to Dunedin.
The quiz was won by the aptly named Winners at table 6, a mixed team from Moerewa, Pakaraka and Kerikeri. Table 18, made up of quiz night regulars from the Pioneer Tavern in Waipapa plus a stray Advocate staffer, was a mere one point behind.
Chairman Johnson Davis said the trivia night was the railway trust's biggest fundraiser of the year. Saturday's result was "absolutely brilliant" and well up on last year.
The money would go towards a new station at the Opua end of the combined railway line and cycle trail, expected to cost more than $2 million. A business case is due to be completed soon.
"It will be a wonderful addition to the Bay of Islands," Mr Davis said.
Ticket sales for Saturday's event raised $4050, the auction $9335, and raffles and games $1575.
Meanwhile a pillow art auction at Kerikeri's Kingston House has raised just under $8000 for high-tech mattresses at Kerikeri Retirement Village's care facility.
About 70 people created pillowcase artworks for the auction with the winning entry - a patchwork piece by Janine Telfer featuring three owls - selling for $170. The winning business entry, a hot pink pillow with a personal training voucher from Results Rule, went for $525.
The money will buy mattresses with inflating air pockets that reduce the risk of bed sores. In total the village needs $15,000.
A pillowcase with a set of handcuffs, made by one of Kerikeri's top cops, reportedly sparked keen interest - and not just for its artistic merits.
A Czech street band is for some inexplicable reason on its way to the Bay of Islands. Praguematique is promising a mix of gypsy, Balkan, Klezmer, ska, reggae, Latin and folk when the band plays Opua Hall from 5.30pm on October 4. Entry $15.
Praguematique is coming to the Bay of Islands. PHOTO / SUPPLIED
The band will also play at the famous Swamp Palace medieval banquet on October 3. Tickets are $50 from Mangonui Information Centre. Swamp Palace is at Oruru, inland from Taipa.
Dame Jenny returns
Former Prime Minister Dame Jenny Shipley will speak about "leadership, legacy, enterprise and entrepreneurship" at a Russell Business Association event this Friday. Entry is $20 at the door; refreshments included.
RSVP for catering purposes to russellbusinessassn@gmail.com or (09) 403 8040. The event runs from 10am to noon in Russell's town hall.
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.
