Shaun Wallace with the owners of the Rusty Tractor restaurant in Kerikeri. The Dark Destroyer headed back to Auckland after breakfast to watch the All Blacks beat England at Eden Park.
He came, he saw, he (almost) conquered
The Chase’s Shaun Wallace, known as The Dark Destroyer, was in Kerikeri last Friday to try to destroy the hopes of hundreds vying for the chance to compete against him.
For his appearance at the Turner Centre, in aid of Mid-North Hospice, there was a bigger audience than in New Plymouth and Hamilton held just days beforehand.
He spent his time in the Bay of Islands visiting Waitangi and dining at The Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell before it was on to the business of the night.
After much preliminary banter he made a grand entrance at 8pm to strong applause. He had apparently been asleep just 20 minutes beforehand.
There were 40 tables of 10 sold on the night at $1000 each. Individual tables bid for the chance to have Shaun Wallace sit with them for one of the six rounds of questions. Three tables bid $1000 and other tables bid between $650 and $850 for the privilege.
One table bid $750 for the opportunity to have breakfast with him the next morning at the Rusty Tractor restaurant in Kerikeri Road before he headed back to Auckland to watch the All Blacks beat England at Eden Park.
The team called “We Concur” were the clear winners on the night and four of their members, including the Far North District Council Mayor Moko Tepania, made it to the stage to pit their knowledge against the master.
It was a close-run thing, so close adjudicators had to examine the phone of someone who had recorded a video of the contest. They determined “We Concur” won with just one second to spare.
Mid-North Hospice benefitted to the tune of $35,000 and possibly more when the budget is complete. They thanked Shaun Wallace “enormously” for giving of his time.
Eradicating moth plant
Katie-Mae Crawford is a teacher of Design and Visual Communication at Kerikeri High School. In her lunch hour she runs the environment club (SAVE).
She decided to eradicate as much moth plant as she could find through a local competition, and she sought help to do so.
She approached Far North District Council and the Northland Regional Council but couldn’t find anyone interested enough in taking on the competition as a project, so she went to Michael Clent, the Kerikeri High School principal, and was given the go-ahead.
She managed it through the school’s Environment Club and the students did all the work making the website and producing forms and advertising posters.
She contacted all primary, intermediate and secondary schools from Kawakawa north and although she only got a small amount of response this year, she’s hoping for greater participation next year.
There is no direct affiliation with the Kerikeri organisation STAMP (Stamp Out Moth Plant) although some students in the school’s environment group have had some involvement with them.
The result was about 4000 moth plant pods collected and eradicated and she said a “massive thank you” was due to the community. She also made a plea: “If you see this stuff around, please take the time to remove it since a single fluffy seed can travel up to 30km in the wind”.
The source of Edmonds building stone revealed
The site of a quarry where basalt was processed to construct one of the earliest stone buildings in Aotearoa has been found.
The stone house – known as Edmonds Ruins, which is today cared for by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga – has survived the effects of fire and weather and still stands over 180 years after the oldest part of the building was constructed by stonemason John Edmonds and his sons.
Recent grounds maintenance by Edmonds descendant and volunteer Kerry Revell revealed the location of the basalt source which his tupuna quarried for the construction. The quarry is less than a stone’s throw from the back door step of the remains of the historic building.
“When John Edmonds built his family house from stone, he chose this spot in the Kerikeri Inlet area for good reason,” says Bill Edwards, Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga Northland manager.
“That didn’t explain the large dressed stone pieces like the lintels over the doors and chimney or the large quoins that hold the smaller stones in place and they were of a size and quality that would not have been found just lying around.”
It was only after the area surrounding the ruins had been cut back by Kerry Revell that Bill and Kerikeri stone sculptor Chris Booth spotted something that unlocked the mystery.
“There on the ground close to the ruins we saw a large rock with two very distinct drill holes in it and it was then that things became clear,” he says.
Bill, who in his younger days did some stone work when he was travelling around Britain on his OE, immediately recognised the significance of the holes.
“The holes were made with a star drill – a standard piece of equipment for any stonemason working in the 1800s.
“The time-consuming process eventually resulted in a hole in the stone. Depending on the size of the rock, a number of these holes were “drilled” in a line in preparation for splitting.”
A short video illustrating some of the basic principles of stone masonry and drystone wall repairs will be made and once complete, will be available to download on the Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga website.
A Rumble in Russell
It’s said the Rumble in Russell is one of the biggest sporting events to come to the town in decades. In reality the number of amenities able to host major events in Russell can be counted on one hand minus four fingers.
The Rumble in Russell is a rugby contest between a team selected by the Rugby For Life Charity (RFL) and a team of Parliamentarians and locals.
The RFL invitational team is coached by Taniwha legend David Howell with the Kamo Kid, Ian Jones, as team manager and former All Black and Otago player, Taine Randell, as captain. Other players are Northland’s Renee Ranger, Nehe Milner Skudder (Hurricanes and Highlanders), Rua Tipoki (East Cape) and Kevin Senio, head coach of Ponsonby.
They sound fitter than the Parliamentarians. Former Parliamentary team captain Hon Mark Mitchell is playing although he admits he hasn’t had much time to train. There’s Tom Rutherford, Simon Watts, Ryan Hamilton, James Meager and Cameron Luxton, the ACT list MP for Tauranga (not likely related to the Prime Minster).
Hon Shane Jones is the possibly self-chosen non-playing reserve. This team will be joined by local Russell celebrity Riki Kinnaird, co-owner of the Duke of Marlborough Hotel. Russell is so short of local celebrities he’s the only one nominated.
Former All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry is bringing the game to the “historic” Russell Rugby and Sports Club, a small ground just off the main highway. Shane Jones says such a large contingent of the government coming to Russell will help raise the profile of Northland’s communities to central government.
“We want the community to enjoy the day, rub shoulders with rugby heroes and MPs and be a part of the after-match activities just as they would with any other community rugby game,” he said.
The Rumble in Russell rugby game kicks off at 2pm on Saturday, July 27 at the Russell Sports Club ground, 5855 Whakapara Rd, Russell and entry is free.
The latest news bites from around the region.