Waikuku & Waikuku Beach, Waikuku

Next Saturday is our online garage sale

Next Saturday is our online garage sale

So check out your home and take some photos of items that you want to sell!

752 days ago

Winter grazing under scrutiny from the sky in Waimakariri

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

A flyover of Waimakariri farms has found that most farmers are following winter grazing rules.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) conducted a trial flyover of the district in an aeroplane last month to observe winter grazing.

Principal implementation … View more
From local democracy reporter David Hill:

A flyover of Waimakariri farms has found that most farmers are following winter grazing rules.

Environment Canterbury (ECan) conducted a trial flyover of the district in an aeroplane last month to observe winter grazing.

Principal implementation adviser Sarah Heddell said those on the flight were pleased to see that farmers were well prepared.

Farmers were grazing strategically towards waterways, creating buffer zones, placing water troughs and feeders close to new breaks, avoiding paddocks with waterways and wetlands, and grazing with smaller mob sizes.

‘‘Overall, most farms we observed were meeting good management practice.

‘‘Fences were set back from waterways, stock were on the paddock not in the stream, and waterways were relatively clear.

‘‘Our Waimakariri land management adviser followed up with a couple of landowners who were identified as needing some extra support and their response has been positive.’’

The flight took place during the some of the wettest winter conditions Canterbury has ever seen, making for tough conditions for intensive winter grazing.

Heddell said surface flooding and waterlogged soils meant this was a tough time for farmers with calving and lambing under way.

‘‘All this rain has made it difficult to farm right now, and that reinforces the need for farmers to have an intensive winter grazing plan in place.’’

She said the council appreciated the help industry groups provided for the trial.

‘‘While we know these kinds of things can feel invasive, we believe flyovers can be a useful way to understand how farmers are approaching intensive winter grazing and where we can focus help, support and advice.’’

Staff would continue to work with industry groups throughout the region over the next year to help farmers plan for winter grazing.

No further intensive winter grazing flyovers were planned this year and staff were looking to refine the process before any future flyovers.

753 days ago

North Canterbury rugby team win Southbridge Shield for first time in four years

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

The Southbridge Shield – the symbol of supremacy in Canterbury Country representative rugby – is back on the northern side of the Waimakariri River.

North Canterbury beat Ellesmere 13-0 at Lincoln on Saturday in the first ‘Battle of the Bridge’ match for three years.

“There were … View more
The Southbridge Shield – the symbol of supremacy in Canterbury Country representative rugby – is back on the northern side of the Waimakariri River.

North Canterbury beat Ellesmere 13-0 at Lincoln on Saturday in the first ‘Battle of the Bridge’ match for three years.

“There were some pretty happy boys in the North Canterbury team,’’ head coach Matt Keane said.

“North Canterbury last won it in 2018 then lost it in 2019 and that was the last time it was played because of Covid.

“We were primed up for it last year but then the week before they stopped club rugby and we didn’t get the chance.’’

North Canterbury’s winning team at Lincoln included several players from the champion 2018 side, notably captain Josh Maynard, lock Willie Kerr and midfield back Mike Keane – the coach’s brother.

Maynard, the veteran Saracens No 8, received the maximum three points in the player of the match poll, with young Hurunui lock Flynn Crean getting two points, and Glenmark-Cheviot’s Mike Keane one.

Kerr, a Saracens loose forward for much of his career, packed down in the second row with Crean.

“We wanted to be quite mobile around the track,’’ coach Keane said. “The way scrummaging is today we didn’t think it was important to have that big tighthead lock, and we wanted to have two really great options in the lineout and use Willy’s experience.’’

North Canterbury now also have a clutch of talented young players, with Keane noting nine newcomers made debuts this season after 16 earned their first senior spurs in 2021.

He predicted bright futures for many of them, including Crean, who could go on to higher honours once he “has another 10 to 15 kilos on”.

“He’s got a massive ticker, and he’s already hard to put down [as a ball carrier].’’

Young Ashley wing Matt Couch, who is still eligible for the Colts under-21 grade, also impressed in all four senior outings this term.

The North Canterbury squad were able to channel the disappointment of having a proposed September tour of Japan postponed into the Southbridge Shield fixture.

Keane said they made a great start with tries to prop Rawiri Karena and Mike Keane for a 10-0 lead in the first quarter.

But Ellesmere applied more pressure at the breakdown in the middle stages, earning key penalties and restricting North Canterbury’s phases.

“But we got close in the last 20 two or three times,’’ Keane said. “They held us up on the line and we had a couple of dropped balls when we thought we had them.’’

Scott Allin kicked a penalty on the stroke of fulltime to extend the winning margin to 13 points.

Keane said it was encouraging to keep Ellesmere scoreless because North Canterbury’s defence – “we like to call it our attack without the ball’’ – had been disappointing in earlier matches against a Cantabrians XV and a Waitaha Canterbury Māori side.

The victory capped a memorable rugby year for North Canterbury with Glenmark-Cheviot beating Saracens in the first all-North Canterbury Combined Country club grand final.

Keane said North Canterbury rugby was working hard to close the gap “on the big boys in town’’ from the Christchurch Metro competition.

“And Ellesmere like to treat us like the little brother, so it’s nice to get them,’’ he quipped.

The North Canterbury representative team for the Southbridge Shield win over Ellesmere:
Harry Murray, Digby Heard, Matt Jensen, Mike Keane, Matt Couch, Corrigan Harnett, Jordie Gray, Josh Maynard (capt), Dan Brooker, Andrew Hull, Willie Kerr, Flynn Crean, Josh Duckworth, Louis James, Rawiri Karena. Reserves: Ryan Clark, Zach Andrews, Hayden O’Donnell, George Fox, Ben Gold, Matt Roberts, Scott Allin.

Other results:
North Canterbury teams won four of the other five grades against Ellesmere opposition.
North Canterbury Stags 36 Ellesmere 15.
Ellesmere Colts 33 North Canterbury 28.
North Canterbury 18s 22 Ellesmere 17.
North Canterbury 16s 22 Ellesmere 19.

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753 days ago

MacBook Air ( 11-inch, 2015 )

Stevie from Rangiora

Hi I’ve reduced the price $50.00 4/09
A1 Condition
120GB
The pink cover on the front comes off.
Watch a fab YouTube video of the laptop.
youtu.be...

Price: $380

753 days ago

Clock CD radio

Chris from Rangiora

Hi all my CD has stopped working in my clock radio.. can someone please recommend anyone who can fix these items please.
Thanks all regards Chrissy

753 days ago

Luxury Cruising Virtual Information Sessions

The Luxury Cruising Co.

Join Pat from the Luxury Cruising Co this September to discover a unique collection of destinations and packages!

Sessions

Europe Session Tuesday 6th September 11am River Cruising
Land Journeys, Rail Journeys, Private Jet Tours, Small Ship Cruising, Luxury Yacht Cruising.

Canada/Alaska … View more
Join Pat from the Luxury Cruising Co this September to discover a unique collection of destinations and packages!

Sessions

Europe Session Tuesday 6th September 11am River Cruising
Land Journeys, Rail Journeys, Private Jet Tours, Small Ship Cruising, Luxury Yacht Cruising.

Canada/Alaska Session on Thursday 8th September 11am
Canadian Rockies with Alaska Cruise, Eastern Canada with New England Cruise, Rockies with Rail, Rockies with Calgary Stampede

Australia on Tuesday 13th September 11am
Kimberly Small Ship Cruising, 4WD Touring, Tasmania, Luxury Wilderness Camps, Discover a wide range of options available.

Asia Session on Thursday 15th September 11am
Discover Touring and River Cruises available in Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan and South Korea

Luxury Cruising on Tuesday 20 September at 11am
An overview of Luxury Cruising Worldwide and expedition cruising in Antarctica and the Arctic

Click here to register your interest or contact 0800 214 9925
Visit https://luxurycruising.co.nz/
Register Now

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753 days ago

IPad Air2 128GB

Stevie from Rangiora

Hi good condition
Everything works

Price: $250

753 days ago

Kiwanis Retro Market

Alan from Kaiapoi

Retro Market by Kiwanis Club of North West Christchurch.

All proceeds to "The Champion Centre"
Saturday 1 October 2022
9:00 am - 1:00 pm
340 Avonhead Rd
Next to Burnside Bowling Club

Negotiable

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Retro Flyer.pdf Download View

754 days ago

New story walk for Kaiapoi

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

Kaiapoi residents will get the chance to walk and talk next month.
After the success of a Matariki story walk in Rangiora, the Waimakariri District Council is going to create a new story walk in Kaiapoi’s Te Korotuaheka Reserve (Honda Forest).

The … View more
From local democracy reporter David Hill:

Kaiapoi residents will get the chance to walk and talk next month.
After the success of a Matariki story walk in Rangiora, the Waimakariri District Council is going to create a new story walk in Kaiapoi’s Te Korotuaheka Reserve (Honda Forest).

The Kaiapoi-Tuahiwi Community Board last week approved the story walk, which will be launched to coincide with Te Wiki o Te Reo (Māori Language Week).

The project is a collaboration between Waimakariri Libraries and the council’s greenspace team.

‘‘A story walk is mainly aimed at young children,’’ greenspace design and planning team leader Grant Stephens said at last week’s meeting.

‘‘Families go along and read the story together and the Rangiora one has been incredibly successful and it gets people reading and into our reserves.’’

Waimakariri Libraries staff have obtained permission to use the children’s story, "There’s a Tui in our Teapot", written and illustrated by New Zealand authors Dawn McMillan and Nikki Slade.

The cost of creating, installing and the later removing the temporary story walk panels is estimated at $1500.

It will be funded from within the existing libraries and greenspace budgets.

Kaiapoi-Tuahiwi Community Board member Cr Al Blackie said the project had his full support.

‘‘What’s not to like. It’s an excellent initiative and it’s cheap.’’

The idea came out of the Covid-19 lockdown, as library staff explored new ways of connecting with people.

Story walks have been created in other parts of New Zealand, including the Gore, Hastings and Napier districts.

The council launched a story walk with the story, "The Little Kiwi’s Matariki" by Nikki Slade Robinson, in Rangiora’s Northbrook Reserve on Matariki Day, June 24.

Each panel in the Rangiora story walk is like a different page, telling a story and linking to the local environment.

More than 1000 people are estimated to have attended the opening of Rangiora’s story walk.

Te Korotuaheka Reserve is a regeneration initiative in Kaiapoi’s former red zone.

Te Wiki o Te Reo (Māori Language Week) runs from September 12 to 18.

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756 days ago

Child's plastic table and chairs to buy

Viv from Kaiapoi

Would anybody have a child's plastic table and chairs + tea set to sell cheaply please? Thanks.

755 days ago

Waimakariri youth priorities discussed

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

The environment, making Dudley Park more family friendly, recognising youth achievements and ensuring a youth voice are the priorities for Waimakariri’s young leaders.

The Waimakariri Youth Council developed a work plan earlier this year to focus on… View more
From local democracy reporter David Hill:

The environment, making Dudley Park more family friendly, recognising youth achievements and ensuring a youth voice are the priorities for Waimakariri’s young leaders.

The Waimakariri Youth Council developed a work plan earlier this year to focus on six key projects over the next 18 months.

Speaking at last week’s community and recreation meeting, Waimakariri District Council community team manager Tessa Sturley said the initiatives were all youth led.

‘‘We are seeing an increased focus on citizenship; the Covid-19 epidemic has seen an increased focus on mental health and having that sense of belonging to a community is really important to them.’’

Community and recreation committee chairperson Cr Niki Mealings said the youth council played an important role in the district.

‘‘It’s about building up our young people to give them the skills, the space to grow and to develop that sense of belonging, so they want to stay here or at least come back when they’ve seen the world.’’

In a report prepared for the meeting, youth development facilitator Emily Belton said the environment was a key focus for the youth council.

An environmental project group was busy supporting community events, building relations with likeminded organisations and raising awareness.

The group was also mapping op shops around the district to help local youth to reduce their impact on the environment.

A river clean-up day in partnership with the Ashley Rakahuri Rivercare Group was also being planned.

Covid-19 has delayed efforts also impacted on the youth council’s plans to develop a family friendly space next to the Dudley Park skate park in Rangiora.

The council granted $20,000 to the project in the 2019-20 annual plan, while a second $20,000 grant was made in this year’s annual plan and the Aotearoa Gaming Trust has awarded a 10,000 grant.

It meant the youth council could proceed with stage one of the project, to install an activation platform.

The youth council was developing a mural concept with a local artist, which ‘‘is representative of Waimakariri youth today’’.

Other proposed stages in the project include installing mounded seating, a natural play mound, a picnic table and a volleyball court.

A growing recognition of the youth council had seen it represented at various committees and events including council committees, Youth Voice Canterbury, the Rangiora Big Splash and ECan’s Public Transport Steering Group.

The youth council has also been working with the elected councillors to develop a youth service award alongside the council’s community service awards, which will be presented next month.

756 days ago

North Canterbury careers expo goes online

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

From local democracy reporter David Hill:

An innovative approach is ensuring North Canterbury youth have access to careers guidance, amid Covid-19 uncertainty.

The North Canterbury Youth Futures careers expo has gone online, Waimakariri District Council community team manager Tessa Sturley … View more
From local democracy reporter David Hill:

An innovative approach is ensuring North Canterbury youth have access to careers guidance, amid Covid-19 uncertainty.

The North Canterbury Youth Futures careers expo has gone online, Waimakariri District Council community team manager Tessa Sturley said at last week’s community and recreation meeting.

The careers expo was first held in 2019, but has since been disrupted by Covid-19, so the steering group made the decision earlier this year to go online.

The steering group comprised representatives from the council’s community team, Rangiora and Kaiapoi high schools, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Development and ComCol North Canterbury.

The North Canterbury Youth Futures steering group was established in response to a growing concern young people were leaving school with no idea what career they wanted to pursue.

The expo was hosted by Rangiora High School in 2019 and 2021, and was open to all North Canterbury youth, or anyone considering a career change, will all schools in the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts invited to attend.

The development of an online presence has been led by Waimakariri District Council youth development facilitator Emily Belton and Joseph Houghton, from the Ministry of Education.

To help guide the development of online tools, the steering group conducted focus groups with pupils at schools in the Waimakariri and Hurunui districts.

Responses varied depending on the age of students and whether they were rural or urban.

Some envisaged that careers may take them overseas, while recognition of the importance of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and concerns for the environment featured strongly.

Facebook and Instagram pages were being used to promote career pathways, educational opportunities, how to write a CV and how to present transferable skills.

‘‘It’s giving young people tips about how to present what looks like an empty CV, so employers will find it interesting,’’ Sturley said.

‘‘It’s about helping young people to form a plan for their future direction.

"Next year we will look at doing both an in-person event and having an online presence.’’

Sturley said the steering group had made a soft launch this month, putting up links to resources and opportunities.

Video content of interviews with local employers, young people and mentoring would be shared over the coming weeks.

For now, the Waimakariri district did not quality for the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs programme, which was proving successful in the Hurunui and Kaikoura districts.

But Waimakariri mayor Dan Gordon said the criteria was being reviewed to widen the scope of the programme beyond the 30,000 resident population limit.

‘‘We do provide some funding and support to councils to run the programme, so it would be really good to be able to provide those opportunities in our district.

"We do have low unemployment in our district, but there’s always people who fall through the gaps.’’

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756 days ago

Expect the unexpected

Stuff

Generally Famous is Stuff's new podcast in which Simon Bridges finds out what makes his generally famous - but always interesting - guests tick.

So far, Simon's had Olympian Eric Murray and digital entrepreneur Lucy Blakiston in the hot seat. And there's … View more
Generally Famous is Stuff's new podcast in which Simon Bridges finds out what makes his generally famous - but always interesting - guests tick.

So far, Simon's had Olympian Eric Murray and digital entrepreneur Lucy Blakiston in the hot seat. And there's more exciting guests to come each Wednesday.
Listen now

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756 days ago

Good as gold!

The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

These folks are 'salt of the earth' and deserve a gold medal for the joy they bring to their neighbourhoods.

Their neighbours have nominated them as Nice Neighbours recently, winning them a small prize and some recognition in the local papers.

If you are lucky enough to have a … View more
These folks are 'salt of the earth' and deserve a gold medal for the joy they bring to their neighbourhoods.

Their neighbours have nominated them as Nice Neighbours recently, winning them a small prize and some recognition in the local papers.

If you are lucky enough to have a Nice Neighbour, you can nominate them on our Nice Neighbour page. We can't wait to hear all about them!

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757 days ago

ICE PLANT - Bright Pink

Dee from Rangiora

I have some Ice plants in a pot. $5 each
Also Ice Plant Cutting $5 for 2 cuttings.

Pick Up is in Rangiora.

Happy to Post (the cuttings)

Price: $5

D
757 days ago

DAHLIA TUBERS - ON SALE $8

Dee from Rangiora

Dahlia tubers from my garden. Too many tubers to keep as I don't have anymore space to plant them all. Dahlia is a stunning flower that will give your garden a spectacular display with their bold colours and abundant flowers during summers. Easy care plant, too.

Pick up is Rangiora. Monday… View more
Dahlia tubers from my garden. Too many tubers to keep as I don't have anymore space to plant them all. Dahlia is a stunning flower that will give your garden a spectacular display with their bold colours and abundant flowers during summers. Easy care plant, too.

Pick up is Rangiora. Monday - Friday 10am - 4.30pm
Saturday 10am - 12.30pm

I am also happy to post them for you (wth extra charge for the track parcel bag)

Price: $8

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