Carol Schluter is the coffee roaster for Ikarus Coffee, seen here with one of the coffee trees they have planted on the property at Pekerau. Photo / Carol Stiles RNZ
Carol Schluter is the coffee roaster for Ikarus Coffee, seen here with one of the coffee trees they have planted on the property at Pekerau. Photo / Carol Stiles RNZ
The Coffee Growers of Doubtless Bay
In the Pekerau Hills south of Lake Ohia near Doubtless Bay is a farm owned by Rob and Carol Schluter.
It's not a dairy, beef, cattle, goat or sheep farm. It's a coffee farm and the Schluters are currently growing 700 Arabica Laurina treeswhich they expect will yield enough beans this season to produce between 40 and 50 kilograms of roasted coffee.
Coffee bean farmer Rob Schluter of Doubtless Bay tending his trees. Photo/Carol Stiles RNZ
And they are branching out if you will pardon the pun. Rob recently sold 2000 seedlings to other people who will try their hand at nurturing the Christmas-tree shaped plants. The variety was first discovered in the Reunion Islands in 1770 and with a third of the caffeine of standard Arabica coffee, it's in demand.
"There's less bitterness in the cup," says Rob. "It has always been a very delicate coffee so more like a tea than a coffee."
The trees grow well in the hills near Doubtless Bay but struggle elsewhere around the world because of pests and disease. Its unique characteristics and scarcity mean the coffee comes with a premium price tag. This year it's selling for $60 for a 130g bag, or $640 a kilogram.
Some of the 700 Arabica Laurina trees planted on the Schluter's farm near Doubtless Bay. Photo / Carol Stiles RNZ
"If you were to buy this varietal produced from New Caledonia or the Reunion Islands from a roastery in Paris or Tokyo you'd pay anywhere from between $600 to $1000 per kilogram," says Rob.
Away from the farm, Rob and Carol's main business is roasting and selling imported coffee beans. Carol is the coffee roaster for their label Ikarus Coffee.
The Advocate acknowledges RNZ Country Life for the information contained in this story.
Members of the Cherry House Art Craft Group, Kath, Judy, Les, Jackie and Kay painting ready for an exhibition over Queen's Birthday weekend.
On Monday mornings a group of artists and potters get together in Kerikeri to create. Now, with Covid lockdowns behind them, they are holding an exhibition of their work.
The Kerikeri Art and Pottery Exhibition will be held over Queen's Birthday weekend at the St John Ambulance Station hall from Friday, June 3 through to Monday, June 6, 9.30am-4pm.
A spokesperson for the group, Jeanette Webley, said The Cherry House Art Craft local group are "inspired painters and potters" and brings to the exhibition a "lush" volume of both art and pottery.
"The exhibition brings a taste of their most creative pieces of their work as a true celebration of 2022.
"They bring a bountiful flavour pertaining to their chosen genre including landscape, portrait, contemporary, abstract, impression, realism, there is a diverse group of artists."
The Cherry House Art Craft group welcomes new members, experienced or not. There is a variety of mediums available to explore.
Phone Richard 0272779164 or email: artcraftnz@gmail.com.
Healing Festival for Kerikeri
A Healing Festival will be held in Kerikeri on May 14 with stalls that feature healers and an aura machine, a self-healing workshop and a documentary.
A premiere screening of the documentary movie, Love Heals, will take place at the Turner Centre on May 14.
The film follows a woman who suffered from severe and debilitating back pain for years and after two sets of surgery she was no better. Her partner, a filmmaker, decided to document her journey as they searched for ways to ease the pain.
This led them to Sedona, an Arizona desert town near Flagstaff which is said to be "dense" with New Age shops, spas and art galleries. In Sedona, they discovered the work of Ilchi Lee, also known as Lee Seung-Heun, a South Korean author and inventor of Brain Education. He is also the founder of the Earth Citizens movement which has a large property overlooking the Kerikeri Inlet.
He gained permanent residency in New Zealand in 2015 under the investor category. However, that residency came under review when it was discovered he did not declare a conviction he had in South Korea for selling medicinal herbs and which made him liable for deportation from New Zealand.
In 2020 the then Immigration Minister, Iain Lees-Galloway, suspended the deportation liability for three years which meant Lee would not be deported so long as he did not commit further offences in New Zealand during that time.
The woman featured in the documentary managed her pain to the extent she was no longer crippled by it and was able to lead a relatively normal life, according to Beth Lindsay, spokeswoman for the festival.
At the Healing Festival, there will be a demonstration of the training offered at regular Body & Brain classes and stalls that feature healers, an aura machine, and opportunities to meet others interested. There is a self-healing workshop. The day starts at 1pm, the film will be screened at 2pm.
Link to Pacific Voyaging goes live
Some of the participants in discussion with the panel of experts at the 2019 workshop held at Waitangi on Pacific voyaging.
An internet link giving access to a treasure trove of traditional knowledge, expertise and historical information on Pacific voyaging is now live. It began at the start of New Zealand Archaeology Week April 23–May 1.
The information contained in the link is the first time such material has been assembled in one place. It connects people to a series of audio, video and written presentations made by a range of speakers covering different aspects of traditional Polynesian voyaging.
The presentations were recorded at a workshop (awheawhe) or wānanga (university) held at Waitangi in 2019 which brought together the disciplines of traditional, practical and academic knowledge of Māori voyaging. It was supported by Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, the Department of Conservation, the University of Auckland and the University of Otago.
It drew academics and artisans, tohunga and kōkōrangi (astronomers and navigators), tohunga tārai waka (boatwrights and carvers) as well as anthropologists, archaeologists, traditional and academic historians, museum conservators, biologists, geneticists and even a geochemist.
The objective was to assemble a broad range of people with different areas of expertise, knowledge and perspectives on Pacific voyaging to enhance the understanding of this aspect of our heritage.
A selection of speakers discussed voyaging, which set the scene for the workshop, the historical, technological and cultural continuity of Pacific voyaging, a Hawaiki Archaeological Perspective, Living by the Seasons, the Mangahāwea Bay excavation, the coming of Māori and the Pacific origins of settlement of Aotearoa.
"The web-based resource that was produced contains specialist knowledge presented by a gathering of exceptional tohunga and experts in their different fields," says kaumātua and Arakite Trust member Matuaera Clendon.
The material on the link can be explored free of charge: voyagingwananga.nz
