Waitati School After-School Bus or Care Consultation

By Antony Deaker

We've been thinking about how to ensure that everyone in the community
has access to the local school and the barriers that exist for some
families. We have come up with a couple of possibilities and would
like some feedback before we explore either (or both) possibility
further.

Would you use either of the services listed below?

Option 1: A 'bus' into town at 3pm
This bus would travel to a central point from which you can collect
your children at a given time. There would be a cost, yet to be
decided, perhaps around the $3 mark. You would need to book a ride in
advance but would not need to commit to five days a weeks, or even
necessarily a regular day. The logistics of this will need to be fine
tuned but at this stage we are looking at whether this service would
be of assistance to you.

Name:
We currently have children at Waitati School: Y / N
We live in the area and are considering sending [ ] children to
Waitati School.
Our children currently attend another school: Y / N
We would not use this service: [ ] (tick if appropriate)
We would use this service: weekly / fortnightly / daily / a couple of
times a week (please circle)
How many children does this apply to?

Option 2: An After-School Care Programme
Based at Waitati School, this service would operate from 3-5pm. There
would be a cost involved as per other after-school care programmes.

Name:
We currently have children at Waitati School: Y / N
We live in the area and are considering sending children to Waitati
School: Y / N
Our children currently attend another school: Y / N
We would not use this service: [ ] (tick if appropriate)
We would use this service: weekly / fortnightly / daily / a couple of
times a week (please circle)
How many children does this apply to?

We are also open to extending these possibilities to pupils at
Warrington School if there is enough interest.

Please detach this form, complete and return to Waitati School to
ensure that we get the best possible information to inform our
decision.

Waitati School Column

By Antony Deaker

In this column, the school has a new roof and new classroom furniture,
BoT to get intensive training, community consulted after dinner,
families checking out school welcomed, sporting success, bonfire
proceeds go to class resources, Quiz Night coming soon, art exhibition
and film project.

Making the decision about which school best meets the needs of your
child is a really important one. It needs to feel right. Our
principal, Heidi, is open to people coming and getting a feel for the
place. This might take one visit or it might take a few. The more
comfortable your child and family are with the school, the smoother
the transition will be. Contact Heidi by phone (482 2888) or email
(principal@waitati.school.nz) to make a time to visit.

By the time this is published we will have had another community
pot-luck dinner, this time followed by a discussion on values and
vision for the school. If you weren't able to make that event please
use the school website or get in touch with any of the BoT or staff to
share your ideas. We also hope you will take time to respond to our
survey about after-school care or bus service, in this publication or
on our website.

We now have a new roof over the main block at school, funky new
classroom furniture, painters booked for the summer break to repaint
the exterior and we expect to have completed many alterations to the
interior of our classrooms by the time term one, 2011 starts.

The BoT has been glad to book a weekend of intensive governance and
strategic planning workshops for later this month. We see this as an
invaluable opportunity to strengthening the school's performance. The
BoT is excited about entering a potential relationship with Ngai Tahu
to run a school banking programme for the pupils. We are also in talks
with the Blueskin Playcentre and Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust
about the relocation of both of those organisations into the school.

The PTA are using proceeds from the Bonfire Night to leverage further
funding to purchase new resources, toys and equipment for the
classrooms. The pupils have made their wishes clear and can look
forward to a few early Christmas presents. Further funding for the BMX
track has been confirmed and work is likely to start soon on its
installation. The PTA have announced 19 November as the date for the
next Quiz Night, this was lots of fun last year when Waitati
generously let a team from Warrington win.

Our pupils have been busy on numerous fronts. The seniors are well
into their film-making project having met with a producer and started
devising stories. The whole school has held an exhibition of pupils'
work at Gallery on Blueskin which looked fantastic. Many thanks to the
Gallery for its support with this! The Futsal, Rippa and cricket teams
all opened their seasons with wins. And, finally, a special note of
thanks to Tuihana and Jacob who played very well for North East Valley
School in the first week of cricket.

Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust

By Scott Willis

Exciting news! Jeanette Fitzsimons, a great friend of Blueskin Bay and
many time visitor, has accepted a new role as our BRCT patron.
Jeanette's support gives profile to our ambition to run a resilient
local energy system – and pioneer this nationally for New Zealand.

What is just as exciting in Jeanette's support is the link BRCT will
establish with other nationally significant issues while maintaining
our real Blueskin focus. BRCT has grown further with emeritus
professor Gerry Carrington joining the trust and providing a 'bridge'
with our close partner, the Otago Energy Research Centre and the
University of Otago. Simon Sheppard has also joined as BRCT treasurer,
with the trust now consisting of Lynnaire Johnston (chair), Antony
Deaker (secretary), Simon Sheppard (treasurer), Ross Johnston, Tony
Wilson and Gerry Carrington. Trustees and officers provide excellent
governance for BRCT and are good people to talk to if you want to find
out more about BRCT or just what it is that BRCT does and can do.

The word out is that the inaugural Blueskin Bay Working Breakfast
meeting on the 15th of October was a huge success. Jenny Haydon is the
co-ordinator and would be thrilled to hear of others working locally
who would like to attend the next breakfast. Contact Jenny on 4821409
(or see advertisement).

I was blown away by the Blueskin 101010 event (the 10th of October).
BRCT can support crucial actions like this but without the passion and
ability of people like Carl Scott and Virginia Toy and all the others
who co-ordinated walkers, the community get-together, provided great
music, or created great local food, computer revamps, gardened and
planted, etc, nothing could be achieved. That so much was happening on
one of the most atrocious spring days we've had is testament to the
power and adaptability to our greater Blueskin community and certainly
something to be celebrated! The launch of Blueskin Low Oil Commuting
and renewed interest in the W3 Rideshare scheme are just two outcomes
from the day.

Meanwhile, our Angel Volunteer programme is being developed by
Laurence Hay for BRCT. It is also exciting to keep hearing and seeing
the Weggie initiatives producing results both in building greater
links between each community around Blueskin Bay and their respective
youth at the three enviroschools, and in enriching our neighbourhoods
and streets through the Waitati Open Orchard initiative.

More information on the Trust's vision, mission, objectives and
activities is available on the Transition Waitati webpage:
www.transitiontowns.org.nz/waitati or by contacting me on 03 4822048.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

WARRINGTON SCHOOL (column)

WARRINGTON SCHOOL

by school staff and parents

Warrington School has featured in the Enviro Schools short movie along
with other schools in Dunedin.

Warrington has become an international case study for The Free
Technology Academy (FTA)
which is funded by the European Commision. They are documenting our
educational use of Free Software and Open Standards.

Blueskin Bay FM continues to beam live 24/7 out across the bay. There
is some emerging talent evident in the shows that are being broadcast
and senior pupils are beginning to take a more active involvement in
the managing of the station, creation of jingles and sound
engineering.

There has been a keen interest by senior pupils in creating
trolleys/go-carts. They are looking for donations of bolts, nuts,
springs, cushions, washers, axles, pipes, wood, pedals, bike handle
bars. tools, small motors, wheels, leather straps, prams.

Thursday 4 November: BOT Meeting
Mon 8 – Wed 10 November; ERO visit
Wednesday 10 November: Junior Athletics
Friday 12 November; Junior Athletics Postponement
Saturday 20 November: Friends of Warrington School dance
Thursday 2 December; BOT Meeting
Wednesday 15 December: End of year assembly 1.30pm
Thursday 16 December: End of Term 4

Waterway restorers post a plea to stakeholders

Waterway restorers post a plea to stakeholders

by Laura Blake and Peter Dowden

Donations of fencing materials such as wooden fence posts and iron
stakes are being sought to protect a replanted Warrington stream bed.

The replanting on Church Creek near the Esplanade on '101010' Day was
a great success with about 100 trees, shrubs and flaxes planted. The
weather cooperated by giving the plants a heavy dumping of rain just
as we finished.

The Warrington Wellbeing Waterways group ran a raffle last month. This
will help to fund the cost of the fence needed to prevent stock
entering the creek and eating the vegetation.

The upper part of the creek that surfaces in the farmland will need to
be fenced and planted too.

Gardeners with native seedlings can bring them along to Warrington
School (there are pots behind the office if any one needs them for
their plants). Fence posts and stakes can be dropped off here too. The
replanting team will let plants grow big and strong before planting
them alongside the stream.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Warrington Surf Life Saving Club (column)

Warrington Surf Life Saving Club

by Dawn Hope

Photos: Eilis & team getting gold medal
Immy & Carla getting gold medal
Eilis & team getting gold meda

It's that time of year again and we are pleased to advise that
Warrington Beach will have life guards patrolling each weekend
commencing Sunday 31 October. We have got a busy and exciting time
ahead of us and we look forward to seeing you all on the beach over
the coming weeks.

Open Day - Sunday 31 October from 12 noon

Come along and sign up for this season. Meet up with old friends,
enjoy a BBQ, have fun participating in beach activities and sandcastle
competitions – even take a ride on an IRB (weather dependent of
course!) Tell all your friends - we look forward to seeing you there.
If you miss Open Day come along any Sunday from 11.30am -
alternatively contact Mark Familton on 482-2712 or Dawn Hope on
482-2787.

Following the Open Day, you can watch the annual Firefighters versus
Surf Life Guards sporting match; this year they are playing softball,
starting at 2pm.

Beach Bonfire & BBQ Night – Friday 5 November 7.30pm til late

Come along to our community Beach Bonfire and BBQ fundraiser. You are
welcome to bring your own fireworks and let them off in a controlled
environment (we will have first aid in attendance). There will be a
sausage sizzle, hot drinks and supper items for sale. Everyone is
welcome.

U19 Patrol Teams Competition – Sunday November 7 - 9am at Warrington Beach

Warrington SLSC will be hosting the Patrol Teams competition this
season. Teams of six life guards will pit their skills against other
clubs to compete for a trophy and a chance to travel to compete
against other regions.

Venue available for hire

Our club rooms are available to hire for functions. Please contact
Hannah Randall on 482-1141 for more details and to check availability.

Congratulations to WSLSC members Immi and Eilis Doyle and Jack Turner
who travelled to Wellington to compete in the 2010 State New Zealand
Pool champs. Immi and partner Carla Laughton (St Clair SLSC) won
gold in the Open Womens Line Throw while sister Eilis won gold in the
Under 13 Mixed 4x50m Obstacle Race. Jack came 3rd in the 200m LC
Freestyle course with obstacles, 4th in the 4x50m relay event and 4th
in the 4x50m obstacle relay event.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

10/10/10 climate change hikoi and launch of BLOC

By Lucy Sheppard

The morning of Sunday 10 October dawned clear and bright with not a
breath of wind, perfect for a quick cycle over the hill to Dunedin and
back ... YEAH RIGHT!!!

Motivated, enthusiastic, rugged-up cyclists which included Paul
(unicyclist), Virginia, Julia, Scott and myself (unicyclists with a
training wheel) meet in the pouring rain at the Waitati Hall to embark
on a journey to Dunedin and back without the use of fossil fuels, as
part of the climate change hikoi 10.10.10.

Arrogantly believing that two wheels would be faster than one we sent
Paul off an hour before the bicyclists in order that we would all
arrive into Dunedin at the same time. So, at 10.30 the four bicyclists
set off (surrounded by thunderous applause from the Waitati walkers)
in hot pursuit of the long legged, one wheeled wonder.

Deciding it was not a day for the grunt of Shortcut Road, we meandered
past Waitati School warming up our legs for the climb ahead. Amazingly
oblivious to the weather and the gradient (due I am sure to the fine
conversation being had) we quickly made it to the warm, welcoming
VOLCO farm house where we were fed hot tea, biscuits and waffles!
Hearing from these lovely ladies that Paul was already more than half
an hour ahead of us we set off in hot pursuit once again, pinning our
hopes on the weight of the waffles in our tummies aiding our descent
into Dunedin. Alas, we rounded the corner on the downward approach to
be met with a malicious head wind and our dreams of land speed records
were dashed as we found ourselves pedalling downhill!!

Shortly before the scheduled arrival time of 1pm we finally caught up
with the long legged, one wheeled wonder relaxing at Dunedin North
Intermeditate where he had been waiting for us for an hour already. We
believe Paul may be the first person crazy enough to unicycle from
Waitati to Dunedin; a huge achievement especially if you consider you
cannot free wheel on a unicycle so it involves not only pedalling up
the hill, but pedalling down the hill, too.

We rested in the warmth of the DNI hall, eating our lunches made from
locally sourced ingredients, listening to speeches on climate change
and being entertained by a wonderful story teller.

As three o'clock approached we realised we would need to head back
over the hill pretty soon to get back to the Waitati Hall to join in
with the festivities. The long legged, one wheeled wonder was bundled
into a car with his ginormous wheel for a well deserved ride home and
the remaining hardy bicyclists pointed our noses northwards. Aided by
the now friendly tail wind, we whipped back over the hill in
record-breaking time for the party.

At the party Virginnia launched Blueskin Low Oil Commuters (BLOC)
which aims to bring together people interested in making their daily
commute to Dunedin less reliant on fossil fuels. If this sounds like
you and you have not signed up, email Virginia (bloc@geology.co.nz)
.The first 10 people to subscribe to BLOC will receive a $20 Bicycle
Workshop Voucher, courtesy of Browns Avanti Plus. Only a few left, get
in quick and sign up to the BLOC.

So, a wonderful experience and a wonderful day, slightly hampered by
the weather but perhaps more affected by the Dunedin City Council who
advised us it was unsafe to bike on the Mt Cargill Road into Dunedin
even though ironically it is the official cycle route into the city.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Orokonui Ecosanctuary

By Sue Hensley

The exciting news this month is that of the planned release of around six
Haast tokoeka kiwi into the sanctuary. They are juveniles raised on an
island situated in Lake Te Anau and over the next few years will hopefully
form breeding pairs. Their young, once big enough to defend themselves from
stoat attack, will be returned to their natural territory in the Haast area.
It is a big responsibility and privilege to look after some of these highly
endangered kiwi. There are only 300 birds left in the wild and although we
may not get to see them, I for one am looking forward to listening for a
kiwi call on a still, warm evening.

Equally exciting news is that after a blitz on rats, they are now at
undetectable levels – let's hope it stays that way. It has been an enormous
task for field staff over the last two months, fortunately this year helped
by kind weather.

Some trees, particularly the pittosporums kohuhu and lemonwood have flowered
prolifically this year. The fragrance of the latter in the forest has been
very noticeable. The flowers may be small but their nectar must taste really
good to kaka. I watched one spend 20 minutes in the canopy using its
sensitive brush tongue to gather nectar from the tiny yellow flowers while
ignoring the nearby sugar water.

The Visitor Centre and Café are open every day from 9.30am to 4.30pm.
A range of guided and self-guided walks is available. Our Facebook
page and www.orokonui.org.nz will
keep you up to date with events.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Waitati Energy Project

By Scott Willis

Big Wind

Our local community turbine project is a nationally significant
project. How so? Well, we all understand, I hope, the benefits of
securing greater control over our energy needs and use locally.
Nationally, if we're successful and there were more communities like
us, we'd eventually reach a critical mass transforming our
centralised, think-big, top-down grid system into a decentralised,
responsive network with much greater resilience. This would also limit
the need for any large scale generation projects, reduce pressure on
existing infrastructure (and thus make things work more effectively),
and give us greater control over how we use our energy.

I've received messages of support from around the country thanks to
the profile our project has been given by WEP partner, the Hikurangi
Foundation (http://www.hikurangi.org.nz/), and I'm beginning to build
up a network of national advocates, who are already helping with bits
of technical and commercial advice. The fantastic Hikurangi
facilitation is already helping to sharpen the work we're doing on the
financial case for our community turbine. Meanwhile, I'm working with
Ros Day (planner) and Janet Stephenson (Otago Energy Research Centre)
on research that will allow our community consultation, if the Energy
Efficiency and Conservation Authority agrees on its merit. I hope to
have news for you before Christmas on consultation.

Small Wind

You can't have missed PowerHouse Wind's 'Thinair' single blade
prototype being tested at Sabina and Hagen's place on Blueskin Road
near the Eco-sanctuary. The exciting thing is that by mid November PHW
expects to replace the prototype with a pre-production model
(essentially replacing a single construction model with a
factory-ready model) and have it up and running continuously, allowing
Sabina and Hagen to export, as well as import, electricity.

Trials using a Christchurch manufactured (and world leading!) inverter
have already been successful in allowing power to be fed back to the
grid. Bill Currie (PHW) explains the complex process: "The turbine has
to start, be held by the controller at idle speed while the inverter
wakes up, checks the grid is suitable to be connected to, (e.g. no
lines people out there working) and synchronises with the AC voltage.
The turbine controller then has to start feeding power to the inverter
and telling it how much power to take to load the turbine correctly."
There's some perfectioning still going on, and investment needed
before Thinair turbines are rolling out the factory door, so please do
contact PHW if you want to know more about investing in local
innovative green tech for a sustainable future
(http://www.powerhousewind.co.nz/).

Blueskin Power is more than just big wind. The community turbine is
the keystone at present, as success here will allow so much more to
happen. But there is a further generation opportunity that may be
complementary, parallel, or alternative, depending on how we manage
the challenges ahead. This is integrating smaller household generation
into our local grid, via (for example) more Thinair turbines and
household Photovoltaic 1-2 kW arrays. Both these generation options
can use the same Enasolar inverters and will ensure progressively
greater local grid resilience with returns to individual households.
And the whole system can then be made so much more 'intelligent' with
Smart 'real-time' meters and intelligent home devices, giving power
back to the people!

More regular updates are sent out via the WEP update email or you can
contact me directly either at 03 4822048 / 0274888314 or
waitatienergy@gmail.com

BLUESKIN BAY SCHOOLS EDIBLE GARDEN PROJECT

By Jenny Haydon

Spring plantings?!

Life between south-westerly fronts - some wet wild days amongst the
weeds. Out with them and plant our seeds!

At Warrington School, the whole senior room, Mr Parker and I blitzed
their group garden beds. Various seedlings and seeds of beans, peas,
carrots, beetroots, parsnips and radishes were planted. The middle
room made paper pots and planted lots of runner beans to go into their
skinny bed on the end of the school. Vertical gardening, it will be a
challenge! The junior room have lots happening in their plot, and more
planned for next week.

Waitati School

Thanks to those wonderful folks that turned up to tame the Waitati
School gardens. Significant areas were reclaimed, and the children in
Room 1 planted seeds of peas, carrots, beetroot, parsnips and radishes
in the beds we cleared.

Friday school lunch was prepared with food from the gardens and Sue is
keen to continue with this through the year.

Room 3 children planted runner beans, radishes, carrots and parsnips.
The children are learning about soils, plants and germination, so the
garden is an important part of their science curriculum.

We need some more help please so that we can plant our potatoes, yams,
zucchinis and pumpkins. We're holding a working bee on 30 October from
1.30- 3pm at the school. Rain day: Sunday 31st.

If you have a wheelbarrow or favourite hand tools or a weed-eater,
they would be very handy.

Anyone is welcome: past parents, past pupils, new residents, old residents.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

BLUESKIN PLAYCENTRE column

BLUESKIN PLAYCENTRE

by Mikaela Wilson

The children at Blueskin Playcentre went to a Capital E play "On the
Road to the Farm" last week. We enjoyed the puppets, songs, live music
and drama. Some of the children from Waitati School joined us.
Thank-you to the staff at Waitati for making this possible.

The play has become a topic of conversation at playcentre. The
children are talking and playing with toy animals and making woolly
sheep. They have chosen their favourite farm animals and made
collages. We plan to take the children to a farm to see some animals
soon.

Children have been finding bugs in the leaf litter and looking at crabs from the
beach at their nature table.

As always there is messy play and sand pit fun and much negotiation to
be had. The little people are often found in costume engaging in role
play with each other or racing around the bike track filling up the
bikes with some petrol. We mustn't forget the fire truck (upside down
bath), hose and ladder found outside, as last week a fire had to be
put out when one of our mothers set fire to her kitchen. Luckily we
have so many heros at playcentre who are firewise.

This term we hope to have a visit from a real firetruck and look
forward to a puppet show by Kaitrin Mc Mullen.

We are also learning some new songs and are looking forward to our
Playcentre Production in December.

As we have a large group of four year olds this year we are focussing
on getting them confident and happy before they start school. The
children at playcentre benefit from getting to know each other before
they start at Waitati school. Every day the children get to know each
other better and look forward to having time to play with their
friends during sessions. If you have a child starting school soon
please feel free to pop in and get to know some of the children they
may be at school with, you are very welcome.

We have just had our AGM and organised our budget for the coming year.
We are looking forward to a busy time at Blueskin Playcentre as we
begin fundraising for our move to Waitati School.

Our education team this term includes Ishtar (Course 3), Belynda
(Course 2), Frances (Course 2), Mikaela (Course 1), Mette (Course 1),
Alice (Course 1). Playcentre fosters both adult and child education
and we are grateful to Ishtar who is volunteering her hours at a
Course 3 level next year to help the playcentre with funding to move.

Thank-you to all the families at Playcentre for all of their time and
energy. You make the playcentre a lovely warm caring place to be.

Congratulations to Sarah, Neill, Ben and Tat Carr on the birth of a
beautiful baby boy called Angus (Gus Gus); love from all of us at
Playcentre.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Woodcut Printing for Beginners

By Liz Abbott and Rudie Verhoef

Spend a day learning how to design, carve and print a simple woodcut
with Liz Abbott (MFA) and Rudie Verhoef in the inspiring surroundings
of Coast Road Retreat and the Art Shed at Seacliff.

We'll start the day designing and carving a simple woodblock in the
Retreat. When you're ready, you'll be able to print your design on the
printing press in the Art Shed. We'll provide you with a woodblock, a
selection of printing papers and your own set of tools and bench-block
to take home at the end of the day. The workshop includes a delicious
lunch and morning and afternoon tea!

When? Sunday November 28, 10.30am - 4.30pm
Where? Coast Road Retreat and Art Shed, 728 Coast Road Seacliff
Cost? $150 per person, maximum 6 people.
To register phone 027 781 1799 or email info@coastroadretreat.co.nz

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Warrington Playcentre

By Lisa Hall

Hard to believe another month has flown by and spring has well and
truly settled in. We love frolicking outside on sunny mornings and
have been planting sweet peas, carrots, nasturtiums and sunflowers. We
have a bit of a competition on to see just how tall our sunflowers
will grow!

The gardening bug has also caught up with parents, too, and we are
making plans to develop the unused space behind our building. If you,
or anyone you know is having a spring clean in the garden and have
extra grasses, natives, plants, rocks (all shapes and sizes), willow
branches (for weaving into huts and hides) or topsoil, we would love
to take them off your hands! We plan to create a bit of a 'Wild Thing
Zone' where our little Wild Things can have a few adventures and learn
to search for mini-beasts. Please ring Lisa on 482 2511 or drop off at
the Playcentre if you can help.

Continuing on our spring-ee theme, we had lots of fun creating items
for the Flower Show and Rosa had super-success winning a certificate
each for her sand saucer and bird mask. You should have seen her big
grin! Well done!

Flynn and Jamie became two terrific 2-year olds at the very end of
September, Happy birthday, boys!

We have been enjoying a farm theme recently and have been learning to
use sign language to "Old MacDonald Had a Farm" – it's so much easier
than you think! Jamie's friend Ella is helping us to learn.

A group of us set off for the King's and Queen's Performing Arts
Centre recently where we thoroughly enjoyed the Capitol E performance
of 'Down on the Farm'. This was a great blend of puppets, performers
and music and was thoroughly enjoyed by both parents and children
alike. We are busy planning our next event … watch this space!

We have some fabulous new furniture at Playcentre. Come along and
see/use our very flash breastfeeding chair and very chic red couch,
beautifully styled with an awesome 'Ka Pai' cushion.

Our recent AGM was well attended, and we have an enthusiastic group of
parents keen to get stuck into their new and existing roles. We would
love to share our fun times with you. We are open Wednesday and Friday
9:15am – 12:15pm.

Contact Warrington Playcentre on 021 227 7329, or Mary-Jane Mirfin on 482 1962.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Waitati Open Orchards

By Jason Ross

Waitati Open Orchards is a group of keen folk on a mission to plant fruit
trees in public spaces around Waitati for all to enjoy. Email
waitatiopenorchard@gmail to join our mailing list.

November is a good time for fruit tree planters to enjoy watching their
trees grow, and get on with other things like vegetable planting for winter
crops!

But there are a few things to be doing in your orchard. Now is a good time
to thin the clusters of fruit that have set on your trees down to one or two
fruits each. How many to leave depends on a few factors. For young trees
(until they have a good strong trunk and branches) pinch off all their
fruit so they concentrate on growing vigorously. On established trees
thinning fruit improves the size, colour and quality of your fruit. It can
help reduce pest and diseases such as caterpillar damage and black spot.
Thin the fruit to an extent that when mature the branch can handle the
weight and each fruit has enough space to grow to prize-winning
proportions.

Summer pruning to encourage fruiting and discourage vigorous growth on
established trees and shrubs is done in January, but we can preempt this
and lessen our work by pinching off with fingernails or pruning shoots
we can see are of no use. These are shoots going inwards or crossing
and ruining the form of the tree, or vigorous shoots coming from branches
where there is no room for more branches and where we want fruit spurs. In
both cases pinch or prune back leaving a 2cm stub to form a fruit spur (if
there is room), otherwise take it right out. On gooseberries, pinching or
pruning now will save a bush becoming a tangle and branches drooping to the
ground, taking root and forming an impenetrable thicket (to humans, birds
will still get the fruit!).

Mulch under growing strawberry fruits to keep them off the ground with old
pine needles or straw (not hay).

In October we planted a few more trees and checked over our winter
plantings: mulch, ties, pinched-off flowers, and we had a cracker picnic at
our favourite patch. In November we are working on our logo, tree labels and
design and construction of an improved juice extractor for use at the WEGgie
autumn harvest festivals. Has anyone ideas / experience for either a
hydraulic press or a centrifuge?

Jason Ross, 4822625. Waitatiopenorchard@gmail.com

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

WILD BLUESKIN: Welcome back Godwits

WILD BLUESKIN

Welcome back Godwits

by Rosemary Penwarden and Derek Onley

The godwits are back. They will have flown eight days non-stop for
11000 km at an
average speed of 56km/h to get back to their summer home at Blueskin Bay. Only
40% of the youngest, this year's chicks, will have made it across the Pacific.

In Europe the oldest recorded bar-tailed godwit is 34 years old. We
don' t know if ours live that
long, but there will be some who have been doing the 29,000 km round
trip to Blueskin
Bay for up to 20 years – that is, 522,000 km so far…

Last winter 140 birds stayed in the Bay; mainly those that were born
in Alaska last year.
They take the first year off to get better at feeding and growing for
the following year.
A few older birds also stay over; if their weight is too low when it
comes time to leave
they do not attempt the journey – perhaps these are older birds, or
ones that have had a
hard summer.

A big problem godwits face is disturbance - by dogs, humans, vehicles -
or in some places kite surfers. If their eating and sleeping patterns
get disturbed they will
not put on the weight and gain the stamina needed for the colossal
journey back to their
Alaskan breeding grounds.

We counted the 140 wintering godwits on the end of Warrington Spit on
14 September.
Ten days later 120 were counted in Otago harbour – the same number that had been
there all winter. But on 26 September we saw 350 feeding at the end of
Rabbit Island.
Some had returned. And then back at Warrington Spit on 5 October we
counted 630 - a
surprisingly high number so early in the season. The next day they
were down to 557 –
perhaps a few had continued their journey to Southland or over to
Aramoana or Hoopers
Inlet. Amongst them there were two juveniles, unusually early, as
juveniles tend to be the
last to leave Alaska.

Over those two days we were able to identify a few individuals from
their colour bands.
Four were godwits that were banded here at Warrington Spit on 28 Feb 2006; still
returning four years later. They were adults in 2006 so that makes
them at least 6 years old.
We also saw a bird that was banded as a juvenile at Awarua Bay in
Southland on 26
October 2004, making it just over 6 years old. We don' t know if this
was just a visitor,
but will be watching out to see if it is still here next time we count
them – perhaps
Blueskin Bay is just a stop off point. Another of the godwits has an
orange flag; it was
banded in southeast Australia, maybe on a detour on its way back from
Alaska. This bird
is likely to be the same one we have seen here for the past six or
seven years. We have
not yet seen BWRY – the godwit that we reported seeing last autumn in
Karitane before
nipping across to the Yellow Sea nine days later. He may be back at
his favourite spot at
Aramoana.

It would be great to think our Blueskin Bay godwits get the best
possible opportunity to
succeed. Their schedule is tight and they need to be strong, well fed
and rested before their
return journey to the far north. For a few hours over high tide they
roost, sleep and
rest at the end of Warrington Spit. We really need to ensure that they
are not disturbed.
Watch where you walk near the spit, so as not to scare them off. And
for heaven's sake,
keep dogs on a lead and under control. The godwits have come so far,
surely the least we
can do is let them have a decent rest.

If anyone is interested in coming to see the godwits at high tide
through a telescope,
give Derek a ring on 4822831.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

Hikoi confronts changeable weather and changing climate

Photo: Scott Willis, Mandy Mayhem, Lucy Sheppard and Virginia Toy set
off on the bike hikoi to Woodhaugh.

Hikoi confronts changeable weather and changing climate

By Carl Scott and Virginia Toy

On October 10, 2010 Blueskin Bay folk were one of 7,347 groups of
people from 188 countries who took action on climate change in the
101010 Global Climate Work Party organised by 350.org.

'350' refers to the recommendation that atmospheric CO2 concentration
should be maintained at or below 350ppm. Before the Industrial
Revolution, global CO2 levels
were around 275ppm. They have risen considerably since then, due to
burning of fossil fuels, agricultural methane and deforestation.

Concentrations are currently at 392ppm and rising fast. Clearly, this is a very
serious problem. Many are calling it the greatest challenge humanity
has ever faced. It
demands a serious response now, not 'sometime soon'.

So what did Blueskin Bay do about climate change on the 10th of October? Well,
plenty of people got stuck in despite some pretty unpleasant weather.
Climate change is
after all, largely about changing weather patterns. Taking action on
it doesn't wait for a
sunny day!

What really stood out was that Blueskin people are adaptable and
resilient when faced with adverse conditions. We also showed that we
are ready, willing, and able to rise to the challenge of reducing our
carbon footprints.

In Waitati the major feature of the day was "journeys without fossil
fuels". Some
hardy people met early to walk to Dunedin. The weather was pretty foul
at that point, so
they decided to adjourn for coffee, muffins, and political satire, and
then join the later
journey to the beach. A sensible plan!

Four cyclists travelled to town, with a stop-over for tea, cookies and
waffles in front of the fire at
Volco Park on Mt Cargill Rd. Unicycling legend Paul Cardno had already
left to get a head start. He was met at the top of Shortcut Road and
accompanied to Dunedin by Paul Young of Sustainable Dunedin City, who
had ridden out to meet the Waitati travellers.

In Dunedin, the cyclists joined Transition Valley 473 and Cycling
Otago for a bike-repair workshop at Dunedin North Intermediate School.
After an indoor local food picnic they cycled back to Waitati. Another
keen cyclist made the journey from Dunedin to Waitati later in the
day.

Meanwhile sixteen walkers, a cyclist, and four dogs travelled to
Doctors Point beach. They were to have been met by contingents from
Warrington and Purakaunui for a picnic, but that didn't eventuate due
to the weather. It was too cold for picnicking, so some '350' logos
were drawn in the sand, and then they headed home again. The
travellers were met by three other
cyclists part way back. When they were nearly home, their petrol
powered safety/support
van ran out of fuel. The walkers and cyclists carried on unperturbed.
A powerful symbolic
situation if there ever was one.

Many travellers commented that the trips were easier than they thought
they'd be. We can all make some of our journeys, surprisingly easily,
without fossil fuels - even as far as Dunedin.

Meanwhile in Warrington, an Open Source computer software
demsonstartion was held at
Warrington School. Instead of the cancelled beach walk, lots of people
turned up to plant approx 100 trees, shrubs and flaxes along the
Church creek.

In Purakaunui 10 people met to do some gardening, but because of the
rain, ended up in a shed building a portable chook house. Meanwhile
other Purakaunui folk held a discussion about car-pooling.

A new Blueskin group was launched on the 10th. It is known as BLOC - the
Blueskin Low Oil Commuting group. They aim to form a network of people who
want to make some of their journeys to Dunedin without using fossil fuels.

Finally, everyone came together in the evening for an awesome party
with prizes and awards, local food, local beer, climate-change themed
art, and photos from the day. Local
musician Brad Martin performed a solo acoustic set, and then joined
the ukulele ensemble Martha Hill and the Mineshafts, featuring Green
Party co-leader Metiria Turei.

The day was supported very generously with help, financial assistance,
and/or prizes from (in no particular order) Waitati, Warrington, and
Purakanui Schools, Blueskin Bay Library, Blueskin General Store,
Gallery on Blueskin, The Village Potager, Sutherland Nursery, Orokonui
Ecosanctuary, Coast Road Market and Coast Road Retreat (both of
Seacliff), Kelvin and Beverly Lyon Milk Vendors, Yoga Blueskin Bay,
Blueskin Media, Taste Nature organic shop, Selected Works bookshop,
Browns Avanti Plus Cycle Specialists, Mazagran Espresso Bar, McDuffs
Brewery, Citibus, Blueskin Resilient Communities Trust, Sustainable
Dunedin City, Event Traffic Management Otago, Environmental Education
Trust Otago, and DCC Small Grants Scheme.

Thanks also to all of the individuals who participated on the day. We
proved we can feed ourselves superbly - even at a comparatively lean
time of the year - without needing food that's been transported
thousands of kilometres. We proved we can entertain ourselves in fine
style, without spending a fortune or travelling. We proved we have
lots of great local businesses and just generally good people living
out here in the Bay, who are all taking climate change seriously.

Now the important thing is to keep getting to work on lowering our CO2
emissions in the months and years to come. If we get serious about
climate change now, it might not be too late to save our beautiful
little planet.

* BLOC - Blueskin Low Oil Commuting: email Virginia at bloc@geology.co.nz.

* More on the science of '350': www.350.org/en/about/science

* More photos: http://www.transitiontowns.org.nz/node/2728

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

(updated details) Dunedin Steiner School Carnival

Dunedin Steiner School Carnival

Sunday 7 November at the School, 1 Fern Rd, Maia, 11-3pm.

Cafe lunches, crafts, stalls, childrens' activities, capoeira
workshops, music, puppet plays, parade.

Blueskin Garden Club (column)

By Lyn Hastie

A record number of entries was received for September's highly
successful spring flower show, organised by the Blueskin Garden Club.
There were nearly 950 entries - 259 from children from Waitati,
Warrington and Karitane Schools, and Blueskin and Warrington
Playcentres.

Daffodils were the most popular flower with 262 entered in the various
classes. Despite unseasonably cold weather in the lead-up to the show,
there were 89 bulb entries, 111 cut flowers, 91 shrubs and 59 floral
art entries. Records were also broken in the men's section with 13
entries received.

Trophy winners were:
Child - Andrea van Turnhout (most points)
Child best exhibit - Seth Hudson
Family most points - Rainbow Family
Shrub - Daphne Henderson
Individual most points - Daphne Henderson
Best bloom - Deborah Cracknell
Best exhibit - Ann Fitzgerald
Floral Art - Eunice Hoogsteden.

The Club thanks the community for taking part and attending the show
in such good numbers.

Our next meeting is a garden visit to the Secret Garden on Porteous
Road, Warrington on Thursday 11 November at 6.30pm. Please meet at the
bus stop on Coast Road (bottom of Porteous Road). Afterwards there
will be a short meeting and a shared supper at the home of one of our
members (tba). All welcome.

SALSA DANCING column

SALSA DANCING

by Jan Littleton

We are learning to dance but our main objective is to have fun, and
that's exactly
what we do every week. Sometimes when the hall is double booked we get
together somewhere else for a shared meal, a bit of wine and a bit of
dancing.

We have just taken on a new teacher, Steve Paddock, who comes out from town.
Steve is teaching us a new style of salsa, so if you were considering
joining us, now
would be a great time as we're all at the beginning again. Some of us
started over a
year ago with two left feet, but now miraculously have a right and a left.

Come along and try it out, it really is fun.

* Salsa danceing: Thursday nights, 7pm, Waitati Hall

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".

The Blueskin Bayleaf: Spring secrets

The Blueskin Bayleaf

Spring Secrets

by Rowan Holt

Spring is a time when nature reveals some of its secrets that have
been kept quiet all winter. I love the sudden glamour of flowers
adorning the garden and the fragrances revealed on still evenings.

Many spring flowers are edible and are useful plants to have around.
Borage especially is a wonderful herb. It has a pretty blue flower
which bees love and so therefore is great to encourage pollination of
other things.

I grow my borage haphazardly around the property and close to all my
fruit trees. I don't spray anywhere so therefore I'm not worried about
chemical residue. If you do spray, you should be cautious about what
you use. Always pick undamaged flowers for cooking.

Sugared Borage Flowers

Gently whisk one egg white in a dish. In a separate dish, have some white sugar.

Paint (with a small paint brush) the egg white onto the flower and then
gently roll it in the sugar.

Leave to dry on plate covered with a clean paper towel. This will take
at least an hour. Use to decorate all kinds of baking and desserts.

If you felt like going a step further you could infuse your sugar
first. Fill a container with sugar and pop in any of the following to
release flavour: a vanilla pod, sprigs of lavender or thyme in muslin
bag, a cinnamon quill or pink rose petals.

Tempura Flowers

Try this as alternative to croutons in salads.

Whisk one egg (or just the yolk left over from the sugared borage flowers), 1cup
flour and 1 cup ice cold water in a bowl. Be careful not to over mix.

Heat 1 cup vegetable oil in a wok or a small frying pan until very hot.

Dip the flowers in the batter and place directly into the hot pan. Cook
until lightly golden and place on a plate lined with a clean paper towel.

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Ā ā Ē ē Ī ī Ō ō Ū ū
From blueskin.co.nz and 'Blueskin News' published by Blueskin Media:
voluntary/non-profit community publishers in Blueskin Bay (Seacliff,
Warrington, Evansdale, Waitati, Doctors Point), Dunedin, New Zealand.
All material sent to or published by us is "copyleft" in the public
domain and may be freely shared, archived, re-edited and republished.
If you want to credit the source it's "blueskin.co.nz".