20 February 2026 Rangitoto Observer

Bike thief takes to soccer field... p2

Fallen tree finally shifted from Sands lawn... p4

Shore left defenceless by sealife protection move

Fears the North Shore coastline will be put at greater risk of sealife stripping have been raised after the government imposed a temporary gathering ban limited to the Whangaparaoa Peninsula and a stretch of coastline further north.

“It’s disappointing the area is so small,”

said Devonport-Takapuna Local Board member Terence Harpur, who was last year unanimously backed by other board members in calling for a restricted area to include the east coast as far south as Devonport.

“The fear is that the people who are stripping up there will just move south,” Harpur

said this week. “There’s going to be nothing left for future generations.”

He said he had witnessed instances of excessive gathering between Milford and Takapuna over summer. “You’ll see people with a bucket and gloves on, going systemati

Sweet success for new paddling duo

Fast work... Waka ama paddler Sugar Te Paa teamed up with visiting Norfolk Islander Kelvin Mulholland at the Takapuna Beach Cup, where they won their age-grade relay race on Sunday. Story, page 3.

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‘Systematic’ stripping seen locally

From page 1

cally from rock pool to rock pool and putting it in a bucket.”

Fishing Minister Shane Jones announced the two-year ban on taking shellfish and seaweed on Sunday, to take effect from 12 March. A ban was sought last year by the Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust to give shellfish and invertebrates a chance to recover, a request backed by a recent public uproar as Whangaparāoa Peninsula community members highlighted organised tour groups collecting in large amounts. This included beachcombing trips to the coast being advertised to visitors on Chinese websites.

The local board wrote to Jones and North Shore MP Simon Watts asking for its area to be included in the proposed ban. Jones responded, Watts did not, Harpur said.

The Minister’s reply acknowledged the board submission and said he would consider it. But when the ban was announced, it did not even take in all of the Hibiscus and Bays Local Board area, as sought by the trust.

“It’s disappointing he [Jones] did not concede there was a wider issue,” Harpur said.

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Peninsula and a stretch of coastline to the north, between Kawau Bay and Cape Rodney. The North Shore and areas such as Orewa, Hatfields Beach and Wenderholm were not protected.

Harpur said existing rules were not being enforced enough across the region. He hopes Auckland Council and environmental groups add to pressure for a ban extension and collecting rule changes. “Unfortunately our coastline has already been strippped and it desperately needs time to recover.”

Education for beach collectors was also needed, but his own polite efforts to persuade people who might be unaware of the fragility of the marine environment often fell on deaf ears. If the practice was not against the law, little could be done.

He highlighted the situation at Cheltenham Beach where cockle beds had been so plundered that a total ban had to be imposed and remains in place.

Rules about gathering, which allow a mixed bag of up to 50 species, predated awareness that people would take such a wide range of sea creatures including starfish, sea anemones, limpets and cats eyes, Harpur said. A review was needed.

Fleeing bike thief subs on during match

A 15-year-old’s getaway ride across the North Shore on a stolen electric bike included ploughing through a football game on Becroft Park in Forrest Hill.

Police say the reckless ride last week began when another teen had his electric bike taken outside a fast-food outlet in Albany. It ended in Castor Bay, when the fleeing rider fell from the bike on Bevyn St.

“The 15-year-old didn’t suffer any injuries, but he did find himself in handcuffs and under arrest,” said Inspector Aron McKeown, Waitematā East Area Prevention Manager.

He took off on the bike across the car park towards the mall and out of sight.

The police Eagle helicopter was diverted to track the bike, which was spotted travelling at speed southbound on the Northern Busway, then exiting at Constellation Station and heading on to the Northern Motorway.

Police say there was no vehicle chase, but the bike’s movements continued to be followed from above. It was seen exiting at Tristram Ave, heading for Becroft Park.

The police were called out to Coliseum Drive in Albany around 7.40pm on Tuesday, 10 February, he said. “A teenage male offender has approached the victim, allegedly stealing his electric trail bike at knifepoint.”

Albany Heat Pumps

“He has cut through a football game being played at the time, before heading towards Milford,” McKeown said. When the rider came to grief on Bevyn St he was arrested.

Charges of aggravated robbery, reckless driving and possession for supply of cannabis were laid in the North Shore Youth Court.

Returning foiler flies high after taking time out

Patrick Haybittle won 13 races in a row to take the Open Gold division at the recent New Zealand iQ Windfoil New Zealand champs off Milford – despite not competing seriously for two years.

Haybittle, who competes from the Milford Cruising Club, put in a solid campaign a couple of years ago in attempting to gain New Zealand selection for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but lost to Josh Armitt who went on to place fourth at the Games.

Haybittle took a break from racing and switched to coaching intermediate to elite youth sailors in a programme at the Wakatere Boating Club at Narrow Neck Beach. He took yachties to world championship regattas in 2024 and 2025.

He was delighted to “dust off” his gear for the recent iQ champs held over Waitangi weekend.

“It was the first event I’d entered for a year... I did three days training,” the 27-yearold said.

“It was definitely enjoyable to get out on the water and we had great weather.”

The racing may have stirred his competitive drive. He’s looking to enter the “unofficial Oceania Championships” to be held off Manly Sailing Club this month.

Haybittle started as a young yachtie before swapping to windsurfing aged around 13. He competed for New Zealand at two world youth championships.

In 2018-2019 he “jumped on the foil” and has been windfoiling since. He won the 2019 national champs and has been a regular placegetter since. One of the appeals of windfoiling is the speed – sometimes over 50 km/h.

Haybittle is a corporal in the Royal New Zealand Air Force based at Whenuapai, where he works as an avionics technician –“an air force sparkie”.

Hand of welcome creates instant race-winning combination

Friends and family are what keeps veteran paddler Sugar Te Paa to her Saturday waka ama training at Takapuna Beach and early mornings on Lake Pupuke.

A familiar local sight, her efforts were rewarded last weekend with more race medals to add to an impressive tally built up over nearly 30 years with the local Taniwha Outrigger Canoe Club.

But for Te Paa, a highlight of competing in the Takapuna Beach Cup is being able to extend some manaakitanga to visiting international competitors.

“Sport is connection,” she says. “If we go overseas, they would do the same.”

First-time cup visitor Kelvin Mulholland said he wasn’t able to round up anyone else to come from Norfolk Island for the event, so he posted in a “Paddlers Pool” to see if

he could join with any other racers. Te Paa got in touch, keen to include the inter-change mixed medley relay in her packed schedule.

The pair (pictured, page 1) combined to win their age-group event on Sunday.

Te Paa also won the 21km senior masters women singles race (for racers aged 50-60) on Saturday and claimed a bronze in the mixed golden masters event (for 60+ racers).

Mulholland, an experienced paddler, also teamed up with a novice crew, but his highlight was the medal win with Te Paa.

With three generations of her family involved in waka ama and living in the same house, Te Paa says she has no excuses for missing training.

The annual Cup event attracts more than 1000 paddlers from around New Zealand and overseas and boosts local businesses.

For the first time a big Canadian contin-

gent flew in and trained with the Taniwha in the lead-in to the three-day event.. The highly fancied Tahitians peformed strongly. Competitors also came from Hawaii, mainland US, the UK, Australia, New Caledonia and Hong Kong.

The weekend’s showpiece race, a 42km circuit of Rangitoto, Motutapu and Rakino islands in which paddlers swap in and out of their moving waka aided by chase boats, was won by Pineula, another club that trains on the North Shore.

The Taniwha club had eight crews in action, with its masters men also medalling. The club, founded more than three decades ago by Takapuna enthusiasts, including the late Ken Gilbert, launched the Cup in 2007.

The event has grown to become one of the four major Waka Ama New Zealand annual competitions.

Planks for the memories: Boardwalk’s removal

Festering issues at either end of Takapuna Beach have been partially resolved, with council finally removing the fenced-off boardwalk within Te Uru Tapu/Sacred Grove on Monday.

Chopped off tree pieces left on the sand at the Hauraki end of the beach were also taken away last week (see story opposite).

The boardwalk removal – acting on a previous Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s decision – allows further work within the fenced-off pōhutukawa grove to begin. But it also spells the end for any last hopes of some in the community for the boardwalk to be reopened, as was sought by a public petition signed by more than 2500 people in 2021.

Instead, other options are being considered for partial high-tide access via a raised path on the beach at its northern end.

An update on the ecologically and culturally sensitive grove was given to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board last week, with half of the $1.1 million set aside for council work on the area already spent.

The board will make decisions on priorities for the rest at a future meeting, with possible spending estimates ranging from $1.2m to $3.7m – leaving a shortfall.

Council senior project manager Steph Westmore told board members the clearing of the boardwalk paved the way for a fallen pōhutukawa tree from the grove, lying on the lawn of The Sands apartment complex to be “laid to rest” in the grove.

The wooden boardwalk’s removal in sawn-off pieces and disassembly on the beach was speedily accomplished with a crane, a digger and three trucks.

The boardwalk dates to the early 2000s and was a popular shaded walk until concerns about the trees and safety led to it being closed in 2018.

Next steps, discussed with iwi, include re-

Fallen tree finally moved from lawn

The large pōhutukawa tree that fell across the lawn of The Sands apartment complex on the Takapuna beachfront has been moved into Te Uru Tapu / Sacred Grove of trees.

It took cranes operating from the beach to remove the tree from The Sands early this week and place it behind the fencedoff southern section of the grove from where a timber boardwalk was removed a day earlier.

The operation ends one drawn-out chapter in the ongoing saga of the grove and the care of its large pōhutukawa trees, which are important to iwi.

After the tree fell in 2022, apartment residents who wanted it removed faced opposition from Auckland Council departments, iwi and the Tree Council, but won the backing of an independent hearings panel last year.

placing steel swimming pool fencing around the grove with palisade-type wooden fences. Westmore said iwi were not keen on signage which successive boards had suggested to explain the history of the grove, which was once used for funerary rites. The fencing would serve as a nod to the area’s tapu status.

Iwi had also indicated they would like a World War II bunker to be removed from within the grove, she said. The bunker was being used for anti-social activity and was not currently heritage listed,.

Westmore said long-sought ecological work had begun, with rat and possum traps set to prevent canopy and understory browsing. Weed and deadwood removal was planned and iwi were reviewing the scope of proposed canopy trimming. Mulching and replanting had been agreed in principle.

The panel ruled council had downplayed the residents’ loss of amenity in its handling of their resource consent application.

Conditions were imposed on tree removal methods and cuttings had to be taken from the still-living but prone tree. The fight to reclaim their lawn cost the residents more than $100,000.

The removal operation took place behind temporary fencing along the complex beachfront.

A Sands body corporate representative told the Observer last year they thought lying the tree back in the grove would be a respectful solution.

They did not respond to a request for further comment, but have said they are keen to see the grove tidied up, with some residents eager to be involved in its maintenance.

That one tree had been vandalised in January, with limbs removed, was a concern. She outlined various potential engineering works and costs to feed into the board’s coming decisions. These include “naturalising” a concrete public path that runs in front of the Mon Desir apartments and extending stairs from the public stone outlook to the beach.

Extending the seawall to protect tree roots and improve stormwater outlets is something the board has previously been keen to do,a along with building a properly accessible ramp to the beach and widening stairs beside. Different options for the wall and ramp work range in cost from $187,000 to $291,000. The costliest item under consideration was to develop an all-tide route, which is something the board had previously asked for advice on.

closes saga

Westmore said the cost could be anywhere from $400,000 up to $2.4m if land had to be purchased.

The board wanted to get on with the easier options, such as fencing.

Towards the end of the update, member George Wood made his feelings clear. “I think we’ve been taken for an absolute joke,” he said, referring to the “mythical story” of the grove, which he said he was unaware of in his time as Mayor of North Shore.

“It’s just crazy how this has been handled by the council,” he said, in reference to the several board terms that have passed with little physical work being done in the grove and in the face of a previous board vote in favour of retaining the boardwalk.

“The Maoris don’t make the final decision, the decisions are made by this board,” he said.

Tree pieces taken from Takapuna Beach at your cost

Four months after they fell from a clifftop Takapuna property, a large pile of pōhutukawa tree pieces have been removed from the Hauraki end of Takapuna Beach at ratepayers’ expense.

Removal costs of $7400 would be paid by council, its urban forest, arboriculture and ecology manager David Stejskal confirmed.

“Only the stumps that had washed onto the beach were removed. They were cleared to prevent potential damage to adjacent public assets, including the cliffs, sea walls and boat ramps,” he said.

Asked if council would recoup costs from the property owner or take any action over the trees coming down the cliff in October, Stejskal said: “Compliance staff are satisfied the tree-removal activity on the property was consented and that one tree fell naturally during a weather event, rather than being encouraged. As such, council will not be seeking costs from the property owner.”

Residents have been calling for the removal of the tree pieces for months. Late last month, council said it was looking into who was responsible for costs.

Photos from August show the heavily chopped back trees at the top of the cliff before they came down. Consents are in place for building work on what is known locally as the “old Spencer property”. Cliff “nailing” has also been done, with a section of coast immediately below still taped off.

A large truck and a digger were used to remove the partially embedded trees from the sand on Wednesday morning last week.

A second truck was called in a few hours later to take away a pile from the bottom of Hauraki Rd.

Briefs

Lake pests escape jolts

Pest-fish removal methods employed at Western Springs recently cannot be used at Lake Pupuke due to its greater depth. Auckland Council is getting rid of introduced fish at Western Springs using an “electrofishing” boat to stun and capture them. Belinda Studholme, council’s senior freshwater biosecurity advisor, says the boat is only effective in shallow water up to 3m. “We are very limited in pest-fish control methods, especially for deep lakes like Pupuke,” she said. The 57m-deep lake has regular water quality monitoring and invasive freshwater gold clam surveillance. Various campaigns such as those encouraging responsible pet ownership (to deter dumping of goldfish, turtles and the like) and Check Clean Dry (seeking to stop the spread of weeds) also aim to help protect such waterways.

Advice in Mandarin

To help spread the word about pest and weed risks in Lake Pupuke, environmental group Pupuke Birdsong Project is running a bilingual engagement session, focusing on halting the spread of golden clams, on Saturday 21 February. A Mandarin speaker will be at the lake offering advice from 10am to noon.

Puppy love

Auckland Council launched an online dog matching service – timed for Valentine’s Day last week – to help find loving new homes for pups in the pound. The “dating” site, called Puppy Love, allows people to browse prospective dog partners available for adoption, with handy profile filters for size, age and lifestyle needs. It can be accessed through the Our Auckland website.

Riders seek track after removal of self-built jumps

Four Milford schoolboys are making a case for BMX bike facilities in the suburb.

The boys, who all live near Sylvan Park, built a few jumps with pallets in the park last year, but learned permission was needed for reserve use when the pallets they put together during the school holidays at the end of Term 3 were taken away.

Determined Year 10 students Lincoln Ashley, Lachie Struthers and Buddy Dilworth, along with Buddy’s brother Zach (Year 8), then set about going through proper channels. After contacting Auckland Council, they were told to go to the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board and were given a speaking slot at its first 2026 community forum held last week.

Taking turns to speak, the boys told board members that young people needed healthy activities and time away from screens. “Teens struggle with mental health – biking helps and you make friends,” said one. “We want to influence our generation for action.”

They were willing to build and maintain their proposed Milford Mountain Bike / BMX Park if given permission to set one up.

“We’re all passionate about biking,” the boys, who attend Kristin School, explained to the Observer after their presentation.

They said they had visited the Narrow Neck pump track and the hilly Greville Rd facility, but something nearer to home would cater better for young riders.

Sylvan Park won’t be available, being considered a sensitive ecological site, which they learned when their jumps were taken away. Council staff had flattened and

removed the pallets.

The boys now hope they can get some help identifying a suitable location.

“We promise to plant and weed it. We won’t cut down any trees,” they told the forum.

Board chair Trish Deans commended the presentation and said it was a shame members of the Milford Residents Association (MRA), who had left after speaking earlier, did not hear their ideas, but council staff could connect them.

The MRA is helping drive community ideas for eventual repurposing of some of the bought-out flooded properties in the Nile Rd area, with recreational use high on the list of suggestions.

Board member Gavin Busch, who was involved with the Narrow Neck track build sponsored by Devonport Rotary, suggested the boys consider approaching Rotary in their area. It would help to have such an organisation act as lead to help with council approvals, he said.

Exercise frames in parks ‘practical way to improve health’

Milford resident Tane Cullen is pushing exercise frames as a free fitness activity he would like to see made available in more New Zealand parks.

Pointing to overseas examples, including on the beachfront on the Gold Coast where he lived for a time, Cullen said Milford or Takapuna beach reserves would be ideal locations. “It’s a practical way to improve community health,” he told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board community forum.

People enjoyed exercising outdoors and calisthenics could be done by a wide range of ages and physical abilities, he told them.

Rather than paying to use an indoor gym, they could do a park circuit, using their own body weight on equipment that was sturdy, free of moving parts and would last for years.

Cullen said he believed in “ training your relationship with your body to be fun, not a grind.” Older people could use the frames at their own pace and family groups would also find them appealing.

Frames in Bayswater were among the few available in Auckland but he believed more would be a good investment.

Chair Trish Deans urged Cullen to make a submission on the Devonport-Takapuna

Local Parks Management Plan when it is put out for public feedback, expected mid year. .

Previous boards have discussed the need for park equipment to cater more for a range of ages, including extending play opportunities to young adults, and ensuring some playgrounds appeal to older children.

Deans said budget challenges were an issue for what the board could implement, but hearing Cullen’s ideas was useful.

The feeling was Milford Beach Reserve, which is flatter than the grass area at Takapuna, would be the better option for any installation of such equipment.

Comment: Forum’s youthful infusion offers refreshing tonic for cynics

Community forums are a good place to go if you’re feeling cynical about local democracy.

Watching people rock up with their bright ideas and listening to groups detail what they have done already offers inspiration. The latest Devonport-Takapuna Local Board forum, held at the Rose Centre in Belmont last week, had seven items on the agenda. Three of them are reported above and on the facing page. The other speakers gave more routine updates for groups who have all benefited from board funding over the last year and were eager to tell of their ongoing value. These were: environmental group Pupuke Birdsong Project; youth hub Shore Junction; Noughty Wasters, a recycling

education initiative based at Resource Recovery Devonport; and the Devonport Emergency Management Support Group. Seeing school students and younger residents come along is encouraging and reminds decision-makers to look beyond established voices. The board has limited funds and powers, but its members would do well to pick up on submitters’ enthusiasm to get sensible things done. The proposal for callisthenics in parks seems an especially easy option to put on the list when playground renewals roll round, allowing the board to offer something in our reserves for all ages. My cynical side hope time lags don’t dampen enthusiasm. — Janetta Mackay, Editor

vibrancy in post-flood Milford

A safe future using public space for community connection is a main hope of local residents, post-flood consultations have revealed.

Milford Residents Association (MRA) co-chair Debbie Dunsford said a report from a community-led and council-supported outreach had yielded valuable insights. But delivery would depend on resourcing.

Dunsford said “ideas to make the community a more vibrant and inclusive place” had also come through in collated feedback from 487 people gathered at a series of events last year.

Residents weren’t just focusing on physical steps, they wanted to see restored stability and greater resilience in the wake of the devastating 2023 floods, Dunsford told the Devonport-Takapuna Local Board at a community forum last week.

The need for more co-ordinated emergency communications was among issues highlighted, as was being prepared for any future events.

Local feedback will be used to help inform use of 140 bought-out of properties, being decided in tandem with Auckland Council flood remediation plans.

House removal is well underway, but

Blue-Green network design details are not yet known.

Dunsford said a positive from a series of community conversations the MRA helped lead last year was the closer connection forged to the Milford Cruising Club, which had offered to be an emergency hub.

A limitation exposed in 2023 was the lack of a council community facility in the area, with the MRA using the Milford Senior Citizens Hall as a temporary flood relief centre.

Reliance on volunteers was also a stretch.

Council put up $40,000 to support the community input and reporting back process.

A Recovery Office spokesperson told the forum that community staff support for the Wairau catchment area had been extended to 2027.

Dunsford said residents wanted a sense of belonging and an ongoing say on ideas such as creating connecting trails in the area and having more local events and youth-friendly activities.

A positive example of the latter was a series of music nights held at the Milford Beach Reserve this summer.

• The report is available on the MRA web site, milford.org.nz

owen@mortgagesupply.co.nz

www.mortgagesupply.co.nz

Cyclist back on the road again

Cyclist back on the road again

The 6:30am alarm used to be Lesley’s favourite sound. It meant dawn rides and that glorious feeling of freedom only cyclists understand.

But last winter, the 64-year-old grandmother found herself listening to that alarm with dread.

“I’d swing my legs out of bed and just pause,” Lesley recalls. “My knees felt like rusty hinges.”

For someone who’d spent four decades cycling, watching her world shrink was heartbreaking. Her bike started to gather dust. Her husband would find her cleaning it, and just running her hands over the frame.

Flipping through the local paper one morning, an article caught her eye about Koru FX, a New Zealand-made natural cream.

“I almost turned the page,” she admits. “Another cream. But these were people my age getting back to what they loved. I tore out the coupon.”

The pharmacist said they could hardly keep it on the shelves. The natural ingredients convinced her: arnica, mānuka, peppermint and black pepper oils.

That evening, she applied the cream. It absorbed quickly with a pleasant cooling sensation.

“Within 20 minutes, I noticed something different. Not magic, but enough to take the edge off.”

Six weeks later, she stood in her garage. Helmet on and bike ready.

Now Lesley keeps Koru FX as part of her cycling kit.

“People ask how I manage. I tell them straight: good bike maintenance, proper warm-ups, and Koru FX twice a day.”

“Life is just too short to sit out. All I needed was the right support.”

A relaxed Waitangi Day, from karakia to kick-off

Takapuna Rugby Club supplied the ball boys for the Blues’ pre-season warm-up game against the Crusaders at Onewa Domain on Waitangi Day. Among them were (rear, from left) Alexander Clark, Jack Swanton, Swann Marshall and Lincoln Aitcheson, who with Jacob Nonu (front right) are all aged 12 and J1 Gold team players. Harrison Clark (front left) is Alexander’s 10-year-old brother and turns out for J2 Gold. The boys were looking forward to a promised post-match reward of chicken nuggets.

Stars and crowd turn out for warm-up

Pulling up a beach chair to watch the rugby seems wrong, but it was certainly comfy for some among the few thousand spectators at Onewa Domain on Waitangi Day.

Kids clustered around the edge of the athletics track, adults spread picnic rugs on the bank or, if they were early, grabbed a pew on the bench seats. Hundreds who found it tricky to locate a park were still queueing after kick-off.

The game was a largely meaningless warmup before the start of Super Rugby proper last weekend, but fans were drawn by the chance to see Blues and Crusaders stars up close.

Little could be read into the match, beyond the Blues playing with some crash and dash and Crusader combinations clearly being tested. Autograph hunters were satisfied after the game and no doubt the Takapuna Rugby Club tills benefited on a sweltering day.

Sun, rugby and a national holiday – turned out to be a Shore thing.

Festival rugby... A relaxed crowd watched from the sidelines as the Blues outscored the Crusaders 44-24 in a hit-up that rotated different squad lineups for each half. This revealed little about true strengths or favoured combinations, but the home side showed plenty of crash and dash.

New dawn... Several dozen people at an early blessing on Takapuna Beach

Dawn blessing opens commemorations

A low-key Waitangi Day community gathering with mana whenua and invited guests was again held from dawn, with the Takapuna Boating Club hosting guests afterwards.

The public had the chance to take a seat in a waka and try the club’s watercraft. A new touch was the temporary addition of carved sculptures on the beach, put in place by Lake House Arts.

The Takapuna arts organisation and its

Called Summer Vibes, this was held at Eventfinda stadium in conjunction with Awataha Marae and included carving demonstrations, stalls and music.

The Lake House said it had received inquiries about whether it was holding celebrations of its own, but had instead decided to join with other groups to help build on a North Shore approach to events.

Boating club president Barry Ward was among those up early, as was new Tamaki Makaurau MP Oriini Kaipara. Other attendees included North Shore MP Simon Watts.

SATURDAY 21 MARCH 7.05PM

FRIDAY 27 MARCH 7.05PM

SATURDAY 02 MAY 7.05PM

SATURDAY 09 MAY 7.05PM SATURDAY 23 MAY 4.35PM

Rowers reconnect with heritage at Pupuke as Maadi Sport

With just over a month before Westlake Boys High School heads to the Maadi Cup where it last year won the senior eights – school rowing’s biggest prize – the squad has been tuning up technique, starting with a second overall placing in the Head of the Harbour Regatta on Lake Pupuke this month.

The rowers were back in action on Lake Karapiro last weekend for the College Sport Auckland champs, where they collected more medals.

School director of rowing Jo Shotter says after the North Island secondary school champs at Karapiro on 6-8 March, the focus will shift from competitive regattas to speed-building work before the Maadi regatta on 23-28 March. This year’s national regatta is on Lake Ruataniwha near Twizel.

At Karapiro last year, Westlake captured the under-18 eights for the first time in 41 years, a result that with successes in other codes saw it named the country’s top performing school for sport.

Shotter was philosophical about missing out this year in the eights at Head of the Harbour, where Westlake has historically dominated, taking 27 wins over 60-odd years.

‘’Yes, you win some and lose some, but Westlake crews love the challenge of a Head of the Harbour Regatta ”

And there were still plenty of medals to enjoy, including gold won by the school’s U18 pair of Donovan Pivac and Sam Bird, the U18 coxed fours (with Pivac, Bird, Quinn Oliver-Porter, Noah Geelan de Kabath and cox Harry Frankham) and the U17 pair (Tane Brace and Seb Bardsley).

The U18 pair backed up with another gold at Auckland champs, with the U18 coxed four taking silver and the U17 pair bronze.

The school’s U15 rowers also had success, with a silver medal in the coxed four and bronze in the eight.

Making plenty of College Sport finals, in-

Long haul... Westlake rowing crews, including the winning under-18 four on Lake Pupuke this month, have the Maadi Cup in their sights

cluding in the eights, was pleasing, Shotter said. It had been another chance to see if Westlake crews would be in the hunt in the Maadi Cup regatta.

Being within two lengths, and in the top three across their age groups, gave crews a good indication of where they were before the final push of training.

“Crews with technical prowess can begin to move up another level and cope with the speed trainings,” she said.

Westlake will have 40 boys competing at Ruataniwha.

This week, the rowers move into part of the Upper Waitematā Marine Centre at Hobsonville, a facility they share with other community groups. Hobsonville is now where its rowers do most of their training.

“Long waterways from the Harbour Bridge to Riverhead and some long inlets enable us to have somewhere always to row regard-

less of the water,” she said.

Shotter said the 1000m Lake Pupuke course was only half the distance of the real eights race at Maadi Cup.

“In fact all the fitness and resilience comes through in that second 1000m. But to have a three-minute sprint in the lead-up to future 2000m regattas is a great kick start, close to home.”

She said the value of the Harbour regatta was in connecting the boys to the school’s rowing heritage at its original venue.

Despite the shift north, Lake Pupuke remained its anchor and source of identity.

It was the original home of the school’s pioneer crews and where its first senior eight to enter the lake regatta won in 1966. From that crew, the red swan on the school singlet became the identity of the team to this day.

“It’s just a great day out to be proud of your school and enjoy the racing... these

Cup finale looms

are the type of regattas [at which] you make friends with the other schools.”

Shotter noted it would take a rival school at least 10 years of wins to come near breaching the stranglehold of home success. School rowing was in a growth era and well supported by coaches and parents, she said.

• Westlake Girls High School is also looking towards the Maadi Cup and made six A finals at Auckland champs. Charlotte Mawston placed third in the U18 single sculls and teamed with Zara Bosch for another bronze medal in U18 coxless pair oars. Bosch and Annabel Weber claimed silver in the U17 coxless pair.

• Takapuna Grammar School claimed three medals at the championships, all in girls’ races. It won the U15 coxed octuple sculls and U17 double sculls and was second in the U15 double skulls.

North Shore sailors repeat Auckland champs success off Torbay Sport

North Shore yachties Seb Menzies and George Lee Rush continued their push for selection for the next Olympics by successfully defending their title in the 49er fleet division at the recent 2026 Oceanbridge Sail Auckland championships.

Menzies and Lee Rush won the men’s skiff competition, featuring several international teams who competed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, by more than 30 points.

They ended comfortably ahead of Swiss outfit Sebastian Schneiter and Arno De Planta, with fellow Kiwis Mattias Coutts

Milford’s Ian Gunthorp broke six age-group swim records at the New Zealand Masters games held in Dunedin recently.

In the 80-84 division Gunthorp set new records in the men’s 50m freestyle (33.66), men’s 100m freestyle (1.18.29), men’s 200m freestyle (3.02.12), men’s 400m freestyle (6.50.23), men’s 50m back-

and Oscar Gunn third in the world-class field. More than 160 sailors from 14 countries, including some of the world’s brightest Olympic sailing talent, descended on the Torbay Sailing Club for four days of light-breeze sailing from 29 January to 1 February.

Menzies and Lee Rush won six of 15 races and sailed consistently well, finishing outside the top five only twice.

The duo’s latest win follows a gold at the European Championships in Thessaloniki, Greece, in June 2025.

stroke (43.51) and men’s 100m backstroke (1.38.49).

Some of the 81-year-old’s times smashed the old marks by a wide margin: his 400m freestyle time was 14 seconds faster than the previous record. Gunthorp holds seven New Zealand masters swim records in younger age groups.

phone Mandy on 021 527 912 or email - volunteer@harbourhospice.org.nz harbourhospice.org.nz/shops

Flood-hit couple leave treasured birdbath to garden

A restored birdbath has pride of place in a side bed of the Sunnynook Community Centre garden, connecting departing residents John and Rose Godfrey with the area they have long contributed to.

The retired couple aren’t moving far, having found a new home in a neighbouring suburb, but when it came time to clear out their Sunnynook Rd home, which was bought out after the January 2023 floods, they decided to donate the birdbath.

Garden lead volunteer Sandra Stretton said she understood the birdbath had belonged to John’s father – “so it’s been a family heirloom to them”.

Beautifying the area is something Stretton has in common with the Godfreys, who have been on the community association. John was a regular helping clear litter around the area.

Stretton spent many hours on the restoration of the birdbath, which arrived in two pieces. She painted the base green and chose cream for the top, then tracked down blue glass tiles to match and fill gaps in those missing from its basin.

It now stands in a garden from which fruit trees had earlier been plundered. “That was quite disheartening,” said Stretton of the theft, but she is hoping the restored garden will be valued by community members. Local Fay Nunnerly got stuck in with weeding. Succulents and lavender were planted in the strip that runs between the Glenfield Greyhounds Rugby League Club and the creche end of the community centre. Some were from donated cuttings.

The garden border was trimmed with timber off-cuts from the recent reflooring of the centre’s hall, using untreated maple.

Stretton says the next project is getting back into tending the main section of the garden, for which more volunteers are always welcome, as are donations of mulch and compost.

• People interested in helping can contact the community centre office.

Milford / Takapuna Tides

Monday-morning favourite returns with opera up first

Twenty-five years of magical music is being celebrated next week with the return of the Morning Melodies series to Takapuna.

For the first time, New Zealand Opera will bring its soloists to the perennially popular programme of monthly Monday-morning performances at the Bruce Mason Centre.

The Auckland Gospel Choir is another addition to the 2026 schedule, which also features favourites such as ensembles The Madeleines and Society Jazzmen mid-year before finishing with the oompf of the Royal New Zealand Navy Band in December.

Recognising the silver anniversary of Morning Melodies, Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson said the wonderful tradition brought the joy of music to a wide audience.

“Its success is obvious with this event operating for so long, bringing people together to enjoy beautiful music, good company and a real sense of community.

“As Billy Joel says, ‘no matter what culture you’re from, everyone enjoys music’ – so as one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world, events like this are key to happiness.”

Support from council arm Auckland Live keeps the affordably-priced series going.

Loyal audiences include seniors taking advantage of relaxed daytime shows that last around an hour and come with a cup of tea beforehand.

Terry Rutledge, a regular attendee for

10 years, says the concerts have become a monthly highlight.

“I come for the music, but it’s also about getting out, seeing familiar faces and feeling connected. The concerts are welcoming, high quality and just the right length.”

The 2026 season begins on 23 February, with Opera New Zealand spokesperson Joanne Cole, saying the company is thrilled to be supplying the opening act.

“We believe opera is for everyone – it is simply storytelling through the power of the human singing voice.”

Sharing the artform and its talented singers was a welcome opportunity, she said.

Soprano Maia Amosa, her husband Samoan bass-baritone Joel Amosa and New Zealand-born Samoan tenor Ipu Laga’aia will be joined onstage by pianist David Kelly for a selection of beloved opera arias and duets, woven together with songs close to the singers’ hearts and heritage.

Other acts this year are: the Up-Doos, Aotango Quartet, Kumeu Vintage Brass, Base Auckland Brass, the NZTrio and the Band of the Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery.

• Tickets are $7.14. Bookings through the Bruce Mason Centre box office or via Ticketmaster (fees apply). Season passes available. Full programme details on auckland. live.co.nz

Early start... Bass-baritone Joel Amosa will be among singers from Opera NZ performing at the Bruce Mason Centre on a Monday morning

SHOWING NOW

Fackham Hall (M) 97min

Goat (PG) 100min

No Other Choice (M)  140min

Crime 101 (M) 140min

MĀRAMA (RP16) 89min

Wuthering Heights (M)  136min

Is This Thing On? (M) 121min

We Bury the Dead (R16)  94min

The Choral (M)  113min

It was Just an Accident (M) 103min

Send Help (R16)  111min

Marty Supreme (R13)  149min

Mercy (M)  100min

Nouvelle Vague (M)  106min

SPECIAL EVENTS & NEW RELEASES

Potluck - Live Comedy (E) 26 Feb & 5 Mar For

Teen artist follows own path into parents’ world

With professional artists for parents, 19-yearold North Shore resident Deng Tian Kai has a lot to live up to creatively speaking, but is forging his own distinctive style. And they couldn’t be happier for him.

The former Westlake Boys High School student (pictured) is having his debut exhibition of paintings – featuring portraits and floral works – at Lake House Arts in Takapuna.

Father Deng Xin Li and mother Xie Yi say despite his lifelong exposure to art and trying a class while at school, it was only a year or so ago that his talents emerged. “He started to do painting. We were surprised,” says Xin Li. “He did a series of work and was developing his own techniques.”

This became more apparent over months in which Kai’s self-taught expressive brushwork became more confident and complex.

Kai draws on interests in history, politics and philosophy, with some of the works featuring well-known figures. “Because famous people are interesting,” he says.

Before exhibiting, he had already sold around 10 of his paintings, including a portrait of Donald Trump. The show includes images of Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill and also pop culture figures, such as comic book character The Joker, along with more abstract faces. He says he likes to find beauty in his subject matter.

Like many emerging artists, Kai isn’t easily drawn on his aims and inspirations.

“As an artist he has his own style. That’s very important,” says Yi, who like her husband was trained in Chinese art academies and has exhibited internationally and in New Zealand.

Xin Li said they had to adjust to seeing their son’s more free-form approach.

But on a visit to Beijing, where they often return and retain a studio, a well-known Chinese critic told them Kai was able to paint the way he did precisely because he didn’t go to art school.

Although Kai was born in New Zealand, his parents – who first came here more than 25 years ago – took him back to Beijing for around 10 years while he was still at school.

They exhibit annually in the Chinese capital and also show in Singapore and Hong Kong.

Yi’s contemporary paintings have also feartured at Orexart gallery in Ponsonby and Xin Li, who paints and does installations, showed at the Lake House two years ago. Returning there as proud parents is something they look forward to sharing with friends, family and the wider community.

For his exhibition Beautiful World, which runs until 26 February, Kai has 27 paintings on show in the Becroft gallery, selected from more than 50 works.

A special function on Sunday 22 February includes a Chinese tea ceremony (bookings required). See lakehouse.arts.co.nz.

Takapuna | 8 Eric Price Avenue

Exceptional Lakefront Living | Takapuna

Set on a rare lakefront position in one of the North Shore’s most coveted locations, this beautiful property has come to the market for the first time in over 20 years. Enjoy breathtaking, ever-changing views from a generous 721sqm (approx) freehold site. Originally built in the 1960s and extensively renovated and extended in 2008, the home is designed to embrace its stunning setting with relaxed, light-filled living spaces that connect seamlessly to the lakefront. Featuring four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a study, additional living, laundry and double garage, plus double glazing, electronic gate with intercom and camera, garden shed, quiet cul-de-sac setting and zoning for highly regarded schools.

premium.co.nz /80842

View | Visit our website or scan the QR code for the latest open home times Expressions of Interest Close | 17 th March 2026 at 4pm unless sold prior

Robert Milne 022 011 24 94

RobertMilne@premium.co.nz Office 916 6000

Richard Milne 021 770 611

TheMilnes@premium.co.nz Office 916 6000