Vision Kerikeri

The Friends of Wairoa Stream volunteers have been busy spraying and clearing jasmine from the track extension that will run parallel to Placemakers and along the banks of a tributary of the Wairoa Stream. This is the second stage of the extension detailed in this article. Over the last couple of working bees the track extension has been largely completed and around 630 square metres is now ready for the planting of around 600...

The onset of winter does not see any let-up in the activity along the stream banks with the focus moving to planting and, this year, the commencement of constructions of stage 2 of the track extension beyond the Sammaree Reserve bridge.

Planting

Kerikeri High School undertook weeding and planting of 75 native plants on a site by the old swimming hole, downstream from the Jim and May Brodie Bridge. 20 students attended and Sandra...

Stage 2 of a track linking the main Wairoa Stream track to Kerikeri township may now start as soon as Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

Stages 2 and 3 of the track along the tributary bank are on private land and are only possible by the generosity of the land owners Dave and Avril Warren who have very kindly granted an easement.  Stage 1 of 70 metres was planted and opened last year. Stage 4 is along the Mill Lane paper road...

Many in the Far North enjoy walking for exercise or pleasure, and public walking tracks along rivers are proving especially popular. In Kerikeri, for example, a new walkway on Wairoa Stream attracts many people daily, while recently-restored reserves at Peacock Garden and Reinga Road support access to waterways. Local volunteers created these walkways, removing rubbish, weeding, planting native trees and turning ugly neglected...

On March 10th more than 20 Guides, Brownies and Pippins under their leader Barbara Roberts went weed busting along the Wairoa Stream boundary with Inlet Estate.

They made short work of hundreds of brush wattle, gorse, taiwan cherry and tobacco weed seedlings leaving it almost as weed free as a cricket pitch which really impressed the Friends of Wairoa Stream who hadn't had the resources to deal to this area.

This effort was the...

It was very pleasing to read that Rod has been awarded the Queen's Services Medal. Rod's achievements are summarised in this Northern /Advocate article.

I cannot say that Rod has dedicated his retired years to these multiple projects as you simply cannot define what Rod does as retirement. Most people in paid employment would not clock up the hours that Rod does. The multiple projects that he has been the driving force behind,...

Those of you who regularly walk the Wairoa Stream will be aware of the improvements to the track since it was opened in April 2017. In addition to the activity on the track, more than 13,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted in a number of areas running along the length of that track. 

Those plantings require a considerable amount of TLC, especially at this time of of the year when rampant spring growth can overwhe...

Thanks to a great effort by The Friends of the Wairoa Stream, a challenging section of riverside track has been dealt with.

The team have built a boardwalk, in just over a day, across the rocky section of track upstream from the top of the Te Wairere waterfall.

Well done guys!

After several weather postponements Kerikeri Primary School were finally able to complete their 2019 planting along the Wairoa Stream bank.  

Four members of Friends of Wairoa Stream who were present as guides, were really impressed when the 15 students planted all 150 plants in only two hours and were looking around for more plants.

The objective of the students is to transform a patch of Blackberry, Tobacco weed, Gorse a...

After a few blustery and chilly days, the weather came to the party as did 50 enthusiastic volunteers of all ages for the public planting day on land recently cleared of weeds, at the top of Sammaree Reserve. 

After a briefing by Rod Brown on the wider Wairoa Stream projects, Rod lead the team of planters through the plantings that have taken place since 2013.

The good turnout meant that the plants were in the gro...