Category: Newsletters

Kia ora e te whānau,

first up: this is the last WBRA newsletter from me because I’ve stood down from the Committee as of 19 March 2022. After 5 years working on behalf of the community through the WBRA I’ve decided to put my efforts out there more directly. Visit my website Waikawa News for future news and newsletter updates. (Link updated, 22-Feb-23)

If you’d enjoy being a website editor and newsletter writer for WBRA (WordPress skills helpful, but I can give training) please contact me for more information about what’s involved. Email me at admin@wow-waikawa.nz .

AGM update: the Secretary announced a postponement:

“Unfortunately due to Covid it has been decided that the AGM will not be happening until things have settled down. Miraz had announced it in the newsletter but as we have being trying to sort out the financial members list things have been on hold. We will be advising everyone once these lists have been sorted.”

This month’s relevant Māori word — Tawhiti: in the distance, afar.

Renovations on the toilet block begin on Monday, 14 March 2022, Covid willing. Read more at Toilet block update March 2022. Some fencing has already been delivered to the site ready for work to begin. Note that Portaloos will be available for public use while the toilet block is being renovated.

The project costs in the region of $354,000. Note: that averages out to about $7,000 per year for the potential 50 year lifespan of the building.

I also took a load of photos for the archives of the ‘old’ block. This is a data heavy page: Documentary photos of the ‘old’ toilet block.

Road-related matters

• We are still awaiting the promised bike stands. It’s a supply chain delay.
• Don’t laugh, there are hints that Transmission Gully might open ‘soon’.
• Horowhenua District Council mower trimmed up a metre or so of the grass verges on 04 March 2022.
• In 2021 between Mill Road in Ōtaki and Hokio Beach Road in Levin, on SH1, there were: 37 crashes, 5 road closures, 26 delays and 8 deaths. Read more at Road Crash stats.

In the night sky this month

All the bright planets are in the morning sky, some better placed than others. Venus is the beacon for the region, rising due east after 3:30 at the beginning of the month. To the right of Venus is Mars, much fainter and red-coloured. Well below and right of Venus are Mercury and Saturn. They make a close pair at the beginning of the month, rising after 5 a.m. Mercury is the brighter of the two.

… The apparent closeness of the planets is all line-of-sight, of course. At mid-month Mercury is 194 million km away, Venus 96 million, Mars 285 million, Jupiter 890 million and Saturn 1600 million km away.

Take a look at The Evening Sky in March 2022.

Property

Still for sale: 58 Manga Pirau Street, 75 Strathnaver Drive, 10 Arthur Street, properties on Walkers Lane (judging by the roadside signs). Also: 686 Waikawa Beach Road, 159 Emma Drive, 40 Manga Pirau Street, 44 Sarah Street, 13 Arthur Street.

Properties just aren’t moving at the moment.

Ngā mihi nui, Miraz Jordan, Waikawa News

Kia ora e te whānau,
rain, rain and more rain! So far this month we’ve had about 160mm rain and there’s another 150mm or so forecast for this weekend. It’s hot and humid, so all the weeds are growing well. Top temperature so far this year was a baking 29.9C on 04 February 2022.

AGM update (more below): an in-person event will be held at 3pm on Saturday 19 March 2022 at Manakau Hall. Vaccine passes will be checked at the door.

With renovations on the roughly 60 year old toilet block at Waikawa Beach planned for this year, the handy word for this month is wharepaku: toilet / lavatory.

Continue reading “Pepuere (February) 2022 Newsletter”

Kia ora e te whānau,
the busy times have ended and for the moment the beach has returned to its quiet state. The vehicle entrance was reopened just before Christmas and plenty of folks made the most of the chance to drive onto the beach.

It seems a lot of people around NZ heard the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupt. Next day on 16 January 2022, although we didn’t get the tsunami that brought so much destruction to Tonga, we did see a surge coming up the river. The video by Sue Culver shows it really well.

Meanwhile the baby Oystercatchers just south of the river are almost all grown up and a flock of terns has been seen feeding in the estuary.

The handy phrase for this month is: E toro mai ana ngā tūī ki te māra. The tūī are visiting the garden.

AGM Update

Covid restrictions and uncertainty meant that all summer activities, including the AGM had to be put off at short notice.

The Committee stayed on as is in the interim and is meeting on Sunday 23 January 2022 to discuss how to proceed with the AGM. We’ll let everyone know the outcome shortly after the meeting.

Continue reading “Hānuere (January) 2022 Newsletter”

Kia ora e te whānau,

well, we had around 99 mm rain in the 2 or 3 days from 05 to 08 December… The river’s been full and muddy, washing clumps of river weed out to sea, and Waikawa Beach Road flooded near Takapu Road late on the 7th but was clear again by morning on the 8th. Then, before we could send out the newsletter, we had even more rain! It totalled about 190 mm between 01 and 16 December.

Apparently the handy phrase for this month is: Kua tae mai te raumati, Summer is here… anyway, in these turbulent Covid times we all need a bit of a laugh.

First up in this newsletter come congratulations to John Hewitson for winning a Horowhenua District Council Civic Honour for his long and dedicated service to the Horowhenua community!

Second: with our Covid-19 Traffic Light status set to Orange, the Committee are wrestling with what to do about the fun summer activities and the AGM. More on that later — it’s all a bit thorny.

Santa however has installed a letterbox beside Awa Pukapuka, the Christmas Lights will be on and watch for Wow Waikawa! photos around the place.

We’ve had a few property sales lately, the beach entrance at Manga Pirau Street has been restored, and parts of Waikawa Beach Road have been resealed. One speeder has already come to grief.

1. Congratulations John Hewitson
2. We need a new Chairperson
3. Vehicle entrance update
4. Vehicle entrance petition
5. Summer activities
6. Local news
7. In the night sky this month
8. Property
9. WBRA Subscriptions due now

Continue reading “Hakihea (December) 2021 Newsletter”

Kia ora e te whānau,
What a busy time it’s been. With ongoing warm, damp weather it’s the season for mowing and weeding and then mowing and weeding all over again!

Lupin bushes are covered in yellow flowers, so some of us with allergies are suffering the itchy eyes, nose, throat. On the other hand the cabbage trees are flowering — ah, that amazing perfume — and tui are popping up on the flaxes. Some have seen the kuaka, the godwits, back on the beach, but for others they’ve been elusive.

Whitebaiters, even though the vehicle entrance can’t be used, are persevering, carrying their nets down to the river.

And spring seems to have brought a crop of properties for sale too.

Here’s a handy phrase for the upcoming summer: I ruku ngā kōtiro ki roto i ngā ngaru. — The girls plunged into the waves.

1. Welcome Fran, our new Treasurer
2. We need a new Chairperson
3. New email address
4. Vehicle entrance update
5. Summer activities
6. Wow Waikawa!
7. Local news
8. In the night sky this month
9. Property
10. WBRA Subscriptions due now

Continue reading “Whiringa-ā-nuku (October) 2021 Newsletter”

Kia ora koutou kātoa,
We all know that Covid again changed everything last month. At Level 4 various Council services were on hold — recycling wasn’t collected, and the toilets at Hank Edwards Reserve were closed. Luckily services have been restored now. Meanwhile, it’s spring, so as usual we have a few days of awful weather followed by a few glorious days. Repeat. There are ducklings about, and the rabbits are very bouncy at the moment too. Fruit trees have buds, and maybe the frosts have finished… Enjoy the rain while it lasts, and tops up the water tanks. But beware the vehicle entrance — it’s gone. Read more below on that.

He waka eke noa. — We are all in this together.

1. We have a Treasurer
2. Spinifex planting now 25 September
3. Vehicle entrance cut off again
4. Local news
5. In the night sky this month
6. Property
7. WBRA Subscriptions

Continue reading “Mahuru (September) 2021 Newsletter”