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.

We are Open!

Yes the community drop-in centre had a wonderful opening on Monday.  It was a great first day with many members of the community and supporting services attending.

A special thanks to Rau for attending to bless our space to make it ready to care for the community.

Huge thanks to the Kaiwaka Cares committee who have worked tirelessly to get this up and running.  In case you are not aware they are:  Rhona Vickoce, Helen Marsh, Scott Dalziell, Iris Kelly, Sarah Cristini, Glo Treadway and Janine Boult.  Also many thanks to the many members of the community who have contributed items to make the drop-in centre more homely so that the people of Kaiwaka have somewhere to come together and enjoy each other's company.

Of course none of this would have been able to happen without the tremendous support and encouragement from Yvonne Brown.  Yvonne is the amazing woman that runs Kate's Place and we are so happy to be working alongside her and all that she does for the community of Kaiwaka.

The drop-in centre will be open every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm.  Feel free to pop into our cosy space, have a cuppa, read a book or help out with the puzzle.

Next week we will be adding a computer to the room.  This will be available for the community to use to access the internet.  We do ask for a small koha for using this to enable us to provide this for the people of Kaiwaka.

If you wish to book the space to use for your group outside of our opening times please contact us at caring4kaiwaka@gmail.com.

I Love Living in a Small Town

Today is one of those Fridays.  You know the type when your 3 year old climbing into bed and peeling your eyelids open.

After two days in Auckland I have arrived home with a cold, and I feel miserable.  It seems every time I go to Auckland now I get a cold.  My mother suggested that maybe I am allergic to the city.  Not sure about that I do know though that I am definitely allergic to the traffic!!!

So here I was at home after a few errands and went to make a nice cuppa.  No Milk!  So off down to Jaques to get the necessities, as my daughter informed me yesterday Jaques is where all good food comes from.

Get home after my short journey to find fresh cut flowers perched in the cats water bowl.  The cats didn't look amused.  Well tough to them - I loved it.

There is something about an unexpected gift that brightens your day and makes you feel appreciated and cared for.  I have no idea who they are from, although have my suspicions.  I just know they are a small kind deed that most likely wasn't hard to do and yet means so much to me.

It's one of the many reasons I love living in our small town.  It's the way that people look out for one another and actually care.

We may not have some of the conveniences of a larger settlement.  Who needs that though when we have a community who watches out for one another and actually care about the people around them.

Today is just one of the lovely ways that the people of Kaiwaka constantly delight me.  Thanks for letting us live here and I hope that in some way I am able to give back and make someone else's day brighter too.

Winter is coming ....

No this is not a plug for the series Game of Thrones.

It's the hard truth that we have to admit to ourselves that summer has gone.  The nights are getting longer and the days shorter.  And brrrrr it is a little chilly some nights and mornings.

If insulation in your house is in short supply then you might want to investigate the Warm Up New Zealand initiative.  Especially as there is only one more year of funding available!

Energy Wise (EECA) is a government organisation which is subsidising insulation for those homes in New Zealand that are lacking it.  The target homes for funding are:

• homes built before 2000
• someone living in the house is over 65 or under 17
• someone in the household suffers a serious illness, particularly illnesses which are affected by damp and cold like asthma and arthritis
• additionally funding is available for people with a Community Services Card

The great thing is that if your home qualifies for funding then if you are the homeowner you can get up to 100% subsidy.  If you are renting then your landlord may only have to pay $500 of the $3000 cost of installing insulation in the ceiling and under the floors.

There are two providers in the Northland area they are:

• Healthy Homes Tai Tokerau
• Smart Energy Solutions

Why am I telling you all this?  Well I am currently living in a home with no insulation and some morning it is much warmer outside than it is inside.  Having already having had a bad bout of bronchitis this year my landlord and I are working to get my house warm and toasty for winter.

So if your home needs insulation apply now, there is so much to be gained by just making the call.