Some of the 40 volunteers who operate from the BOI Coastguard headquarters in the old Ōpua general store.
In November the Bay of Islands Coastguard shifted from its Kerikeri base into the old General Store at Ōpua.
Partnering with Coastguard New Zealand, the new based also doubles as a Northland-based rescue centre and education hub for boating education and community outreach projects such as day skipper and boatmaster courses.
The move has enabled the 40 volunteers to respond more efficiently to emergency calls on the water.
In the past year, the BOI Coastguard had responded to 75 incidents, rescued nine people and assisted 171 people home safely. Now they are coping with land-based incidents.
Items of rescue gear and Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) were stolen from the car of volunteer Dylan Tucker while it was parked in the Ōpua Marina carpark. He was attending a Coastguard training session at the time.
Missing are a jacket, bib pants, overalls, boots and a bag, items that are considered by the BOI Coastguard as being essential for on-water rescues.
The BOI Coastguard has asked that if any of these items are found the person finding them should message the Coastguard BOI Facebook account, return the goods, and “no questions will be asked”.
It’s not the first time items have been stolen from cars parked in the marina carpark. Tucker and a colleague have both had their car’s number plates stolen.
“A few others have had gear stolen from their cars in the same carpark and other people in the vicinity, people who work in the businesses at the Ōpua boat yard have suffered the same fate,” Tucker said.
The thefts have been reported to the police but it seems there is very little the police can do to track down the offenders.
It was a Facebook post from someone called Frances that alerted the country to the signs in the Bunnings store in Waipapa.
In part it said: “Despite the recent attacks on bilingual signage, the new Bunnings store in Waipapa, Kerikeri, is loudly and proudly bucking the trend ... my beautiful language written for all to enjoy ...”
Frances was referring to the store’s signs which are bilingual, with English first and Māori alongside as translation. The bilingual signs are included on all internal banners and carpark signage.
The Waipapa store is not the only Bunnings store to have the bilingual signs, they are already in various places across the current store network including the café, battery recycling centre and pot recycling centre.
The company appears to be in the forefront corporately in terms of assisting staff to learn Māori. It holds training courses for team members that cover the common te reo Māori phrases.
Melissa Haines, Bunnings general manager New Zealand, said those taking the courses “can integrate Māori into conversations with customers and create a great in-store experience”.
Team members also wear Māori name badge stickers and apron pins which represent the fact they can speak te reo Māori. Then there are the television commercials.
“Customers may have also noticed our recent TV commercials over the past 12 months that are entirely in te reo Māori. These were aired as part of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori, Māori Language Week, which we have actively participated in over the past few years,” Haines said.
Bunnings is also a founding member of the Te Reo Māori Business Network, Te Hononga Pakihi Reo Māori. The network was founded by the Māori Language Commission, Te Taura Whiri i te reo Māori, earlier this year.
The luxury aluminium cruiser Valinor was launched recently from the Ōpua wharf and she is destined to remain in New Zealand for at least the next five years.
Valinor is 20 metres long (65ft 7 inches) and is powered by two 250hp Scania diesel engines. She is unique in that she is fully automated and can be operated by just two people.
No one involved in the building of her would say who Valinor’s owner is, but it is believed to be an American.
For Northland’s marine industry it was a considerable assignment and involved several companies. Valinor took four years to build and that included shutdowns and delivery issues because of Covid-19.
Northland Spares and Riggings, based in Ōpua, designed and built the vessel. They got the commission based on their reputation for previous vessels and their expertise in aluminium construction.
Around 20 people worked on the project altogether although not all at one time. The plumbing, electrical, electronics and interior fitout were contracted to mainly Northland companies.
The interior fitout was completed by Circa Marine & Industrial Limited, the long-established family-operated company based in Whangārei. They have been in the business for 40 years.
The electrical work was done by McKay Electrical, also from Whangārei, and one of the largest privately owned electrical contracting companies in New Zealand. The managing director, Lindsay Faithfull, was recently inducted into the Northern Advocate Business Hall of Fame.
There are numerous launches and yachts called Valinor around the world. The name derives from J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium. It means Land of the Valar, the Land across the Sea.
As for the cost, Alan Walker from Northland Spars and Riggings says he is not permitted to reveal that information but suffice to say it was a substantial commission.
An exhibition of original creations by internationally renowned Artist Laureate Maureen Lander has been launched at the historic Kerikeri Mission Station.
The artworks, which incorporate weaving and sculpture, are inspired by the deep connections of prominent Ngāpuhi figures like Hongi Hika, Ruatara and Hariata Rongo to the Kerikeri Mission Station and wider Bay of Islands. The exhibition will run until April 2024.
“We approached Maureen to see whether she would be interested in exhibiting some of her artworks at Kemp House and to our delight she agreed, making available the work she wished to be shown, as well as requesting works to be loaned from the Auckland Museum,” Kerikeri Mission Station property lead Liz Bigwood said.
“These are the four works known as Rongo’s Samplers, and we are very grateful to the Auckland Museum for releasing these works into our care for the duration of the exhibition.”
Lander described Kemp House as her canvas, and has assembled works that resonate with what happened here and in the wider Bay of Islands 200 years ago.
“These are works that speak to the tūpuna – ancestors – of this place both Māori and Pākehā, and to the kaupapa of each, stitching new learnings with highly valued traditions, weaving together narratives of fact and fiction, and giving people the opportunity to engage with this conversation,” Bigwood said.
Born in Rawene, Lander is of Ngāpuhi, Te Hikutu, Irish, Scottish and English descent. She is one of Aotearoa’s leading artists, and was named as a New Zealand Arts Foundation Te Tumu Toi Laureate in 2022. She is described as an active multi-media installation artist who has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally since 1986.
In 2002 she was the first person of Māori descent to gain a doctorate in Fine Arts at a New Zealand university, and since then her quiet determination to disrupt, challenge and evolve has served as a fuel for the next generation of artists.
“This is a very rare opportunity for people to view original work by one of our leading artists in this very significant place,” Bigwood said.
The Kerikeri Mission Station, including Kemp House and the Stone Store, is cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, and is a Tohu Whenua.
A rāhui has been placed on Bland Bay and will be lifted at 12pm on Thursday.