Loving Kaiwaka - the town, the people, the community

It has been sometime since I took to writing on here, so felt it was time to again revisit and promote our wonderful town.

Recently on the Kaiwaka community Facebook page a person who was leaving the area posted a message saying how much they disliked the community.  Of course there was an immediate and quite hostile response from a number of loyal Kaiwaka people.

The sad thing about this is the person who posted the farewell message never got to see the responses as they had already removed themselves from the group.  This made me sad for a couple of reasons.  The person leaving Kaiwaka obviously didn't become part of the community enough to feel that they belonged here and were valued.  And secondly they weren't honest enough to say 'hey this is not the right fit for me I will move on in peace'.

A good thing that has come out of all this is the positivity thread that I started in the Kaiwaka community Facebook page.  There have been some amazing comments.  Some wonderful reasons why Kaiwaka is so great.  Here are just some of the contributions:

• Its just a awesome place. Bianca and her staff are people focused, Sean, the young panel beater. I acknowledge all those self employed businesses that rely on our daily custom to feed their families and pay overheads. Kia kaha Kaiwaka.
•  I love the people. We have so many people in Kaiwaka with differing views yet we all seem to except and in brace this. In times of trouble we all join together and help.
•  Its just a awesome place. Bianca and her staff are people focused, Sean, the young panel beater. I acknowledge all those self employed businesses that rely on our daily custom to feed their families and pay overheads. Kia kaha Kaiwaka.
•  I luv the commitment from all the amazing people who give their time and energy to provide activities for our young people. There is always so much going on for them. A community invested in good things for young people are putting gold into the bank for the whole of the country . Thrilled to be part of this town
• The pies, the people, the fishing...shhh, the weather, the pies, ooh ooh the long doughnuts at Bakery, and the pies..Kiawaka is our town.
• One of the best things in Kaiwaka for me is Jaques Four Square - not just because it's a really well stocked supermarket but also because Paula & Greg are such strong community people: they sponsor local events, allow the shop to be a drop-off point for lots of things, keep Bugles/Avon/courier parcels etc there, keep track of keys to all the community halls, are the collection point for the food bank, allow groups to fundraise outside the shop - and the list goes on!
• Many of my beautiful whanau and dear friends live in Kaiwaka...and is the home town of my Marae..Te Poung
• Pukekararo, The siren, trees, lights, yummy pies and doughnuts, cones on trees, play centre, school, Oneriri Road, home, could go on and on......
• That it is home no matter where you go k town is always here the people and just the feeling of home
• The people; the community; the way the land lies in folds holding dreams like the palm of your hands hold hopes.
•  Mmmmm Doughnuts,,,,,,,,,n Pies, n Ferro cement, n Lights n Sea food , Platter's, Food cart, n the people.." Strangers can be friends you haven't met yet..".

Thank you Kaiwaka for being such a welcoming community.  If you have another reason why Kaiwaka is amazing feel free to add it.