The Guru of Chai, AKA Jacob Rajan, performs Indian Ink at the Auditorium, Turner Centre, in the Upsurge Festival in September.
Cruise conference recap
The annual NZ Cruise Conference was held in Auckland two weeks ago and several issues were considered. This was the biggest conference to date, with 241 delegates attending from across Australasia. The Bay of Islands was represented by Ryan Doherty from the Explore Group, Irwin Wilson from Far North Holdings Limited and Charles Parker from the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
They were there to debate the various issues facing the cruise industry in New Zealand, its future success and the sustainability of the industry.
The cruise industry annually contributes more than $500 million to the economy. Passengers spend an average of $380 each in port regions, much of which directly benefits businesses and communities.
Bay of Islands Business Association chairwoman Lesley Lucas, said Pēwhairangi is a well-received destination due largely to the quality of visitor experiences and levels of service.
“Cruise tourism provides an essential economic impact for a variety of local businesses including tour operators, attractions, transport providers, retailers, restaurants and bars, travel agents and hotels and Bay of Islands is a tender port so that’s something different.”
Some of the major cruise lines were concerned New Zealand was becoming expensive, due in part to increasing costs from all operators, ports, Government and shore operators but also more stringent legislative requirements around biosecurity, customs, immigration and border protection.
There has been a drop in port calls to New Zealand, down from 1000 last year to a projected 800 for the 2024-2025 season. The reduction has affected the Bay of Islands with currently 74 port calls booked compared to 92 last season.
Despite that, Lucas said passengers calling into the Bay of Islands had the opportunity to experience Russell, Waitangi and Paihia as well as other places in Northland.
The NZ Cruise Association is currently canvassing members for feedback on a proposal by NZ Customs to increase the passenger levy by 136%. Up for discussion is whether to hold the surcharge for 18 months, apply the surcharge to future bookings only and/or conduct a thorough review.
Northland Women’s Club celebrate another fundraiser
Northland Women’s Club was formed just over a year ago and it has already raised $65,000 for breast cancer.
This year the charity of choice was the NZ Heart Foundation and the fundraiser was held at the Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell on a cold, wet and windy night. The passenger ferries stopped running which threw the plans of some who attended into disarray.
The statistics are sobering. Heart disease is the single biggest killer in New Zealand where 175 000 people are currently living with some form of the disease. One in three deaths is caused by heart failure and every 90 minutes someone dies of a heart defect.
The function was billed as a 1920′s-era ball but was, in fact, a sit-down dinner although four people danced the Charleston, the Black Bottom, the Texas Tommy and the Shimmy as entertainment. Everyone dressed up for the occasion with varying degrees of authenticity and one man had a (toy) gun at his side.
About 150 were in attendance. At first count $50,015 was raised for the Heart Foundation through three different auctions and that figure will likely go up when all receipts are in. The ambition is to raise $100,000 for Northland.
The MC, Monique Bradley, gave an intensely personal account of how heart disease has affected her family. Her father and brother died from heart failure, her other brother had a bypass and she, at the weight of 120kgs, decided to do something about it. She lost 70 kgs in eight months.
MP Shane Jones gave the primary speech. He said he was getting a heart check in Parliament next month, along with other MPs and because he’s 65. He said he was “roped in” to play rugby two weeks ago and his heart wasn’t ready for it.
The Northland Women’s Club started with 12 members. Today, there are over 190 members and they hold a variety of functions throughout Northland, primarily supporting women in business and fundraising for various charities.
Upsurge Festival, something for everyone
The Upsurge Festival kicks off in venues around the Bay of Islands and the Hokianga on September 8, for eight days. There is something for every taste.
The big names play a part - Troy Kingi, Hollie Smith, the Royal NZ Ballet, Michael Houstoun, Hinemoa Elder, Dame Gaylene Preston and Jacob Rajan. Other performers will also make an impact.
The Festival starts at the Kororipo Basin with a mihi whakatau, complete with singers and practitioners presented by the Ngāti Rēhia hapū.
About 100 local schoolchildren will be performing with the Royal NZ Ballet. Their piece, Ngahere, is a dance work based on a children’s novel by Whangarei writer Ataria Sharman.
Members of the Kerikeri Theatre Company will hold tours at Pompallier Mission in Russell where visitors can ‘meet’ famous figures from the past including Bishop Pompallier.
Northland Noir will see four writers – Lauren Roche (Whangarei), Michael Botur (Whangarei), Catherine Lea (Kerikeri) and Angus Gillies (Kawakawa) discuss what makes Northland a great location for setting a crime novel.
Pav Deconstructed sees Kerikeri-based Pavlova Press talk about their book, which is a tribute to the iconic Kiwi dessert. The Guru of Chai, Jacon Rajan, discusses tea in a show called Indian Ink.
Local songwriters will be playing at the Turner Centre Bar on Friday, September 13, featuring Kerikeri’s Merv Pinny and Whangarei singer and former Lion King star Lee Morunga.
There, a telenovela called Rich People Cry Too which is a short play told by actress Lucy Dawber. It’s a play but includes live reenactments at the Black Box Theatre in Kerikeri.
He Maori is a story with strong comedic elements about a boy (Isaac) who was convinced he was Pākehā but then found out he was part Māori. As he learned more about his background it caused him to question a lot of his own attitudes.
Artist and photographer exhibition at Waitangi
Everybody’s Artist Photographer exhibition at Te Kōngahu Museum of Waitangi features 65 black and white reproductions from the Charlie Dawes Photographic Collection.
It includes photographs of the 1898 Dog Tax War which threatened to bring conflict to the Hokianga.
By the 1830′s Hokianga was the heart of the New Zealand timber industry, with the small settlement of Kohukohu at its hub. Through the work of local photographer Charles Peet Dawes, the people and communities of the Hokianga in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th are represented. This was before fire, cars and intensive farming changed the landscape completely.
Charles Peet Dawes was born in Swadlincote, on the outskirts of Burton-on-Trent, England in 1867. By the mid-1880s his family had ventured to the Hokianga and Charlie became known as a jack-of-all-trades, working as a carrier, mailman, nightsoil collector and orchardist. He was also a photographer, running a studio in Kohukohu from about 1892 to about 1925.
When he died in 1947, his negatives were dispersed. However, in the 1970s, a box of his glass plates was found at a Queen St store in Auckland. In 2012, 475 negatives were discovered in a second-hand store in Kaitaia. Together with 1650 negatives gifted by the Dawes descendants in 2018, these now form the Dawes Collection at Tamaki Pātaka Kōrero (Central City Library).
Waitangi Treaty Grounds curator Owen Taituha said the Charlie Dawes photographic exhibition provided rich insights into what the Hokianga harbour looked like more than 100 years ago.
The exhibition at the Waitangi Gallery runs until November 10. Waitangi thanks Auckland Central City Library and Te Ahu Museum Kaitaia for their support in bringing the exhibition to the Far North.
The latest news bites from around the region.