Long standing international mountain guiding business Adventure Consultants has been pleasantly surprised by the number of Kiwis who have signed up for climbing expeditions and courses in New Zealand’s own backyard.Adventure Consultants general manager Suze Kelly said the business had shrunk by 90 per cent with the temporary loss of its international expeditions following COVID-19 restrictions.In response, the business has focused on its local and domestic tourism market, and created a range of new courses and expeditions.Adventure Consultants has been based in Wanaka for 24 years. The business was established by Rob Hall and Gary Ball in 1992, following their ascent of the Seven Summits in seven months in 1990.Guy Cotter guided on its first commercial expedition to Mt Everest in 1992, and he took over the business in 1996, after Rob died in a blizzard on Mt Everest. Gary had died earlier on Mt Dhaulagiri in 1993.“Before COVID probably 90 per cent of our trips and expeditions took place overseas,” Suze told the Wanaka App, adding the New Zealand operation of mountaineering courses, guided ascents, ski touring and ice climbing was about 10 per cent of the business.About 40 percent of that ten per cent were New Zealand clients, she estimated.Rope skills are on offer with a special local’s deal.“We were very unsure of how many New Zealanders would want to come on trips here,” she said.“We were really happy with how our winter went - it was about double what we were expecting. And we’ve been really nicely surprised with the number of New Zealanders who booked in for trips on the holidays.”The new trips created for local markets are generally shorter, and sometimes without a helicopter component in order to reduce prices. They included a backcountry avalanche course (“We ran heaps of those in winter,” Suze said), a busy ice climbing camp at Wye Creek (behind the Remarkables), ski touring trips at Mt Cook, and Geodome ski touring camps at Camp Creek, Lake Hāwea.The Geodomes make for comfortable camping.Looking toward summer, a lot of the courses are longer (seven, 10, and 12 days) which allows time for bad weather, Suze said.A new rope skills course is being offered as a locals’ deal. The three day technical rope skills is based at Wanaka’s crags, with a snow day nearby. “You learn heaps of rope skills,” Suze said, including industry standard skills for belaying, glacier travel skills, cliff and crevasse rescue. For the locals’ deal people can get a group of four together and pay $800 each. Find more information on the LoveWanaka page.And while the pre-COVID staff number of 16 (at the Wanaka HQ) has reduced, the business has been able to keep between six and eight locally based New Zealand guides busy.Adventure Consultants can help locals who have a goal to climb Mt Aspiring (the west face is pictured).“We’ve been able to provide quite a lot of work for them,” Suze said.She said the wage subsidies were helpful to keep people on as long as possible. “We’ve always been a big family. We’ve been doing as much as we can to keep them on and help them find what they’re going to do next. Most of our staff who have moved on have found other jobs.” The business has been fundraising for their sherpas in Nepal via a ‘Sherpa Future Fund’, “because they don’t have the same social services backup as we do”, Suze said. “We’ve had an amazing response from our international and local clients to that.” As for the future, Suze expects the business to remain focused domestically for another year.  “If things open up internationally for us that will be really helpful,” she said, adding the spring expedition climbing season in Nepal is April/May so they are hoping for more movement by then.“We don’t need to be able to go to those places ourselves - the guides might live elsewhere.”The business also has a film department which offers mountain safety and locations work worldwide.Meanwhile, Adventure Consultants is well equipped to help locals with a goal to climb Mt Aspiring or one of the many other peaks in our backyard.Find more information here.PHOTOS: Adventure Consultants

Ten local dancers were selected last week to perform in Royal New Zealand Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty in Dunedin next month (November 14-15).The Wanaka dancers, aged 9 to 12-years-old, who attend ballet lessons at Dance Wanaka and Pointe Central, will perform in children’s extra roles as pages, Lilac fairies and Garland dancers, alongside the country's most prestigious ballet company dancers.Dance Wanaka teacher Anna Thomas said she was enormously proud of the local dancers, particularly after learning that nearly half of the children selected for the Dunedin show are Wanaka dancers. Pointe Central is run by former professional ballerina Briony Martin. Previously operating from a gymnasium, Pointe Central opened its studio doors in June this year when it took over the former Vet-Ent building on Anderson Road.The four Pointe Central dancers selected to perform the ballet in Dunedin also competed at the New Zealand Dance Awards in Christchurch this week; (L-R) Luke Gendall, Isabel Martin, Mia Waite and Mia Cohen.Briony said six of her dancers, aged 11 to 13-years-old, attended the auditions with the Royal New Zealand Ballet in Dunedin last week. “Travelling through the snow to get there was quite a mission,” she said.All six were called back for a final audition from which four were selected and immediately started rehearsals, she said. “They’re all going to be on the stage for quite a bit and it’s such a beautiful ballet to be part of,” she said.She said attending auditions was part of the process of becoming a dancer. “There’s always a lot of disappointment for those who don’t make it but it’s a big learning process as well.“You win some and lose some but every opportunity they have [to audition] is a chance to learn and grow and become that much more confident and more able to handle the process.”It’s a big commitment for their families too, she said, as these children, who are competing in Christchurch this week at the New Zealand Dance Awards, will spend the next three weekends attending ballet rehearsals in Dunedin.A large troupe of dancers from Wanaka dance studios, including Dance Out Loud and Pointe Central, are participating in the national dance awards which finish on Saturday October 10.Briony said the Wanaka dancers had been competing well amongst the 200-300 dancers from all over the country.“For some of the kids just getting up on stage is their biggest achievement,” she said. “They’re holding their own and really doing Wanaka proud.”PHOTOS: Supplied

A talented young Mount Aspiring College (MAC) band has been selected from more than 100 applicants to perform at the RenewArt exhibition next week.The alternative rock band Better Than Nothing, which comprises four MAC students, is one of three bands that has been chosen to play at the community showcase.“It’s great to be selected. To be included with some really great, creative people is inspiring for us,” the band’s drummer Archie Orbell said.The up-and-coming band has had many performing opportunities: While performing outside Kai Whakapai, they were invited to go on tour with Christchurch band Troika, and an invitation to play at the Burning Horse Festival in Southland was tossed inside their guitar case at the same venue on a different day.After returning from RockQuest in September, the band stopped for a meal at Pig & Whistle in Queenstown. Someone noticed their gear and invited them to play a couple songs. It didn’t take long before all of the 20-something female patrons were dancing along to their music.Members of the band include Henry McConnell on vocals, Clarke West on guitar, and Archie Orbell on drums - all 15-year-old Year 10 students - and 13-year-old Year 9 student Otis Murphy on bass. Better Than Nothing. PHOTO: SuppliedThis is Otis’s first year as bass player, but Better Than Nothing has been together for over three years.The band performed at Matariki and Welcome to Winter and was the only band playing on the closing day at Treble Cone. This summer they have gigs booked at Hook and closing day at Cardrona.Inspired by Sticky Fingers, Royal Blood, and Imagine Dragons, Better Than Nothing has a 30 minute line-up of original songs, and a list of cover songs.The band’s growing reputation is getting them noticed, and their “sound guy” Oscar Goodwin is good at securing gigs for them, but it’s their “very cool” music teacher Mat Doyle who offers the most help in finding opportunities for them to perform. The band members all agree the school music department is “incredible”. Mat reckons the band is “relentless in their search for gigs or recording opportunities”. He sees them as very capable musicians but credits their success to their friendship and their love of music.The band members’ dads play an important role in their success as well. With band members not legally old enough to drive, transportation to and from events, as well as rehearsals, becomes an issue.Locations like Treble Cone have no sound or electronic equipment already set up, so everything has to be hauled up the mountain and put into place. The dads play the roles of roadie, manager, driver, financer, and PR guy, which might not make them famous, but it’s better than nothing.Check out the Better Than Nothing Facebook page.RenewArt was created to celebrate the local arts scene, create a paid opportunity for artists and provide a series of free events for the community, with a shared theme of ‘renewal’. It will take place in Wanaka on October 16 and 17, and in Queensown on October 9 and 10.

Wanaka barrister and mediator Dr Deb Inder has been appointed to the Committee of the Children’s Rights Alliance Aotearoa New Zealand (CRAANZ), a coalition of non-governmental organisations, families and individuals that promotes the rights and well-being of children and youth through advocacy and education.Deb has also recently completed her PhD thesis and, while the milestone is a huge accomplishment, Deb says it’s just the beginning of making change.“When you finish your PhD you think you’re going to change the world, then you finish and realise it’s just the beginning of the work,” she said. Drawing on her experience “at the coalface” (Deb was admitted to the bar in 1998 and has many years experience working in family law), Deb’s thesis covered a largely unexplored topic: children’s participation rights within the the New Zealand family justice system.“Being in practice I would see children coming out of the court process saying ‘my participation was a waste of time’ or saying ‘no one listened to me’,” Deb said. Delving further, she discovered that there was no clear best practice in family court when it comes to children’s participation. “It launched me on this journey,” Deb said. “How do we let children participate in our legal system? Is there a better way in which we could have children participate that is supported by research and theory?”“A big part was identifying what those barriers were to children effectively participating,” Deb said. She found they included attitudes towards children, a desire to protect children from conflict, concerns about how participation could affect parents’ authority, and concerns children could be ‘coached’ to say what one parent wanted them to. But many of these concerns weren’t realistic, she discovered. “There is a lot of misunderstanding of what’ children’s participation means.”“Children often said they actually don’t want to make the decisions but they want to have a say in things that are affecting them,” Deb said. “They would say: ‘We don’t want to be making the choices but we do want to be heard and listened to’.”She found what children wanted to have a say in were often little things that gave them a sense of agency: maybe a child wanted the handover between parents to take place at a different location, or it was important to them they had access to their bicycle regardless of which parent they were staying with.“A lot of their messages are really simple but really prophetic as well,” Deb said. “I really look at the children's needs as opposed to the parents’ wants.”During the time working on her PhD Deb created a model for best practice for children’s participation in the justice system which she said could be applied globally.Now that her PhD is completed, it’s getting that information - her research and model - out into the world that is her next big task. But Deb is already creating opportunities to apply her research and experience: she is currently working on an article to be published in an academic journal and in coming months she will meet with a working group from the New Zealand family law section responsible for making submissions on a significant Bill. Deb received her PHD in absentia after the graduation ceremony, scheduled for August 29, was cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. Her thesis is titled: Children’s Participation Rights within the Context of the New Zealand Family Justice System.PHOTO: University of Otago

A local business has clocked up more than 20 years providing value-for-money entertainment for both locals and visitors.Crossfire Wanaka offers a unique combination of targets to hit and ways to hit them, including clay bird and target shooting, archery, mini golf, and a driving range.“It’s a family run business on a local family-run farm - I don’t think there’s anything like this anywhere else in New Zealand,” long term employee Jamie Norman said.Jamie has worked at Crossfire for 18 years, and says the business has grown over the years.“It’s a place where people of all ages can come, from five-year-olds to grandparents.”Crossfire attracts lots of family groups.“I find once locals find out about the place they’re surprised at all the activities available,” he said, adding he sees familiar faces year after year.Jamie has heard Crossfire described as “a great ‘down day’ activity”.“It’s a great place to come for a family activity and birthday parties, but it’s also great for stag parties, hen parties, work dos, and Christmas parties,” he said. “It offers a whole afternoon of activities at a low cost.”Locals are often surprised at the range of activities, Jamie says.Jamie said Crossfire has been well supported by the local and wider local community since COVID-19 hit.“Our expectations were really low, and we’ve been really happy. The response is definitely respectable,” he said.“We’ve totally underestimated the amount of money Aucklanders spend in Australia on short stays, and they’ve moved down here and spent their money.”However, since Auckland went into alert level three, there has been a slow down in North Island visitors. Since the alert level was lifted to two last Sunday (August 30), more North Islanders have been “drifting in”, but not groups such as you would see in the school holidays, Jamie said.Crossfire offered special ‘two for one’ deals in May, and will look at offering something similar in October.“That’s our biggest concern - the shoulder season,” Jamie said.“But we’re fortunate - we fit in a range of activities and we’re a good, middle of the road NZ activity. And we offer activities that can be done whatever the weather.”“People can spend $13 and get value for money,” he said.Crossfire Wanaka, at 9 Mount Barker Road (the corner of SH6 opposite Wanaka Airport), is open seven days, from 10am to 5pm.PHOTOS: Supplied

Courtney McGergor, a retired artistic gymnast who represented New Zealand at the 2016 Olympics, visited Wanaka’s Aspiring Gymsports on Saturday (August 29).Aspiring Gymsports coach Rae Paterson said she had contacted Courtney seeking her support and encouragement for Bella Soper, the club’s top senior gymnast.Bella won the beam and earned second place in the floor competition at the NZ championship last year. She was disappointed when COVID-19 prevented her from attending her first NZ team trial in Wellington in May. “It was a difficult time for the young gymnast with a bright future,” Rae said.Courtney McGregor presented Bella Soper with a pictorial record of her achievements at the 2019 NZ Champs.Courtney sent an encouraging email to Bella and accepted an invitation to visit the club, and her visit coincided with preparations for the young gymnasts’ first competition in Dunedin in the National Super Series (September 12-13), Rae said.On Saturday, 10 gymnasts (including four gymnasts new to the competitive squad) performed for friends and family in a practice competition. The squad gymnasts were joined by other club members after the competition for an informal chat with Courtney.Courtney accompanied each group during the practise competition then spent time with Bella working on beam skills. Courtney talked with the gymnasts about her experiences representing NZ at the World Games, the Olympics, her team training in the USA, training hours, and her favourite and least favourite moves.Courtney demonstrates one of the most important moves for gymnasts to master: the handstand.She emphasised working hard, putting in your best effort, and trusting your coach, and also shared a few secrets on how she deals with nerves before a competition.“Her visit was very inspiring for all the gymnasts and attending members and families,” Rae said.The Aspiring Gymsports squad members are: Step 1 - Lara Beams, Keira Lam, Stella Kearns, Charlise Wyatt; Step 2 - Mea Allison, Honor Jones; Step 3 - Ivy Campbell; Step 4 - Fleur Jansen, Lucy Wellington, Vienna Harley; Step 8 - Bella Soper. Boys level 2 - Marshall Watson, Charlie Nisbet; Level 3 - James Watson. They will all compete in Dunedin on September 12-13. PHOTOS: Supplied

Despite the challenging COVID-19 environment, local family owned business Paddle Wanaka is working hard to keep its operations running and see the positive in the new environment. Bex and Chris Thornton are the sporty duo behind the business, which offers kayak and paddleboard rentals, SUP yoga, guided water tours, ‘water taxi’ style island shuttle experiences and more under their brand Paddle Wanaka.They’re all about offering ways to get out on the water and take advantage of the stunning environment, providing unique experiences at many of the area's most picturesque spots. Sharing local knowledge within their own backyard with people who are excited to experience it is what makes Bex and Chris tick.Traditionally one of their most popular tours has been the Mighty Clutha, a guided tour of the Clutha River.“Bex and myself, we’ve now got two little kids and we started the whole thing up eight years ago,” Chris said. “We bought it from a local couple that had run it as a rental company for several years.” The couple has added a wide variety of options and experiences to the company over time, conscious of all the beautiful places they want to share and finding a price point that caters to a wide audience.“It’s really to try to cover our bases and provide something for everyone,” Chris said. “As a young family we know about that barrier to spending and that not everyone has a big budget for activities.”The business is working on adding instructional experiences, rather than tours, to cater better to the new Kiwi-only market.At the lower price end Paddle Wanaka provides kayak and paddle rentals, and the more affordable island shuttle (visitors can travel by boat out to Mou Waho or Ruby Island to take a walk). At the top end there are a variety of water tours from half to full day, including regular routes and customised experiences. Tailoring their product to the domestic market has been front of mind for Paddle Wanaka since COVID-19 hit. “Guiding has traditionally been a big thing for us,” Chris said. “We are now looking at minimising that and doing more supported rentals because Kiwis like to do things themselves.”“On the Clutha River we are looking at more of an instructional process than a guided tour - more of an instructional whitewater river safety type of thing. It’s more applicable to Kiwis and people on a short trip.”Paddle Wanaka’s most popular tours have traditionally been the Tiki Tour, a half-day guided tour on Lake Wanaka, with the Mighty Clutha half day guided tour a close second. Due to the changes in demand, the Tiki Tour is now running on standby/by demand rather than daily, while the Mighty Clutha continues to run daily. Because Paddle Wanaka’s product is mainly a summer attraction the extra drop in visitors due to COVID-19 while staying operating through winter has been a challenge. “We’re getting people through, some, but not many. But we have enough to keep us ticking over.”With warm weather and the next school holidays on the horizon, Chris is optimistic about the times ahead. He’s also grateful for the positives that have come from tourism: “The collaboration in the tourism community has just been amazing.”Paddle Wanaka is open for tours, rentals, island shuttles and more, and they’re running some winter specials right now too. Check them out here.PHOTOS: Paddle Wanaka

The Upper Clutha doesn’t just offer scenic beauty: there is a thriving arts sector which offers beauty at a different scale, but no less impressive.The Hoglund Art Glass Gallery, just 15 minutes from Wanaka, is an almost hidden gem offering an ever-changing gallery of handmade glass and art for the walls.Ola and Marie Höglund, both originally from Sweden, spent 38 years in Nelson making an impact on the international art world with their handmade glass and art. Three years ago they wanted a change and, as they had always loved Central Otago, they found a spot on a terrace halfway between Wanaka and Cromwell, overlooking the Clutha River with a view towards the Mount St Bathans Range.A family of glass penguinsThe gallery they established there includes art glass, paintings, glass lights, jewellery and Marie’s handmade soap. A glassblowing studio is planned.Both Ola and Marie come from rich artistic traditions. Ola’s father Erik revolutionised the art of glass in Sweden and for many Swedes, the name Höglund became synonymous with modern Swedish glass.Three ‘Eclipse’ vasesMarie takes her inspiration from “the pure beauty and simplicity of nature”, and Ola - who says he realised early that working with glass was his destiny - is most interested in mastering forms and pure lines. Marie said the impact of COVID-19 has meant fewer overseas tourists visiting their Central Otago gallery, but “a huge increase in New Zealand visitors”.Find out what is drawing them when you visit Ola and Marie’s home studio gallery, which is open daily from 10am to 5pm. Look for the sign at the gate.Fin out more about Hoglund Art Glass in Attractions in your Wanaka App.PHOTOS: Supplied

Thanks to the friendly and safety-conscious team at Fresh Adventures, a rafting trip down the Hāwea River is now available to locals and New Zealand tourists.Fresh Adventures is a relatively new operation with steady hands at the helm. Paul Nicholson, of high-end adventure tourism company NewZeal, has joined forces with Hawea neighbour Bob McLachlan, a world-class multisport athlete and coach who runs Best Foot Forward NZ. Rafting the Hāwea River is about as cruisy as river rafting gets, being a grade two on the white water rafting grade scale of one (flat) to five (extreme rapids). The Fresh Adventures team call it a river float, an accurate description from my mid-winter journey with them. I was fortunate to be asked to join one of the first trips down the Hāwea, tagging along with a group of local essential workers being hosted by Fresh Adventures to say thank you for all their hard work and support for locals during level four and three lockdown.The adventures check out a key feature of our backyard with very little environmental impact. PHOTO: Cat PattisonYou might think rafting in mid-winter is crazy – I questioned my desire to participate several times on the zero degree, inversion layer morning when I drove to Fresh Adventures’ HQ on the banks of the Hāwea. But, I counter-argued, how often do you get to (a) go rafting at all, (b) see the Hāwea River from water level and (c), be accompanied by guides of the calibre of Paul and Bob?PREVIOUSFresh adventures for acclaimed guidesFrom the thorough briefing of what to expect on the river and help to get us kitted out with helmets, booties, lifejackets and waterproof gear to layer over our many (many) layers of thermals, Paul and Bob were engaging and welcoming hosts, inviting us into their world of outdoor adventuring. With two big rafts carrying the 18 participants and two guides, we drifted with the river at times, paddled at times to keep warm, and laughed and shouted as we navigated ‘the wave’ and stretches of rippled water. Swallows and fantails flitted over the gently flowing water – it was a low flow day from the dam – and even in the relative leaflessness of winter, the trees and bush along the river were serene and lovely to view. Bob and Paul entertained us with stories of their many adventures in New Zealand and overseas. Fresh Adventures is the only commercial operator offering trips on the Hāwea River. PHOTO: Cat PattisonAfter about 90 minutes on the water, joy of joys, the inversion layer lifted in time for us to pull into the riverbank to find the Fresh Adventures crew had set up cute tipis beside fires and laid out hot food and drinks. Barely damp, except for the between-raft water fights, we all rugged up before making the most of the team’s hospitality.If you’ve never been rafting, the Hāwea trip couldn’t be a better way to give it a go. You’ll be in the safest hands with Bob and Paul. It’s a glorious opportunity to check out a key feature of our backyard in a way that has no or very little environmental impact. This trip is suitable for a wide range of ages, young and not-so-young, and it’s worth noting that Fresh Adventures is the only commercial operator offering trips on this local river.This spring, Fresh Adventures will also offer the option of an overnight rafting and camping trip on the Hāwea and Clutha.The full itinerary will include an afternoon rafting the Hāwea, a relaxing evening camping overnight on the river banks, and a morning rafting down the rest of the Hāwea and onto the Clutha as far as the Red Bridge.Note: For July, Fresh Adventures offers the 90-minute Hāwea River trip for $75 per person. Find out more on their website.

Wanaka scenic flight company Southern Alps Air operates out of Wanaka Airport and for the month of June offered a great “locals deal” for scenic flights to Milford.Bannockburn winemaker Rosie Menzies joined a bunch of friends from Wanaka and took to the skies on one glorious winter morning recently on an epic flight above the rugged and dramatic scenery of the Southern Alps and spectacular national parks.This is Rosie’s birds-eye view:Living in Central Otago, the mountains dominate the landscape, giving a sense of permanence and majesty that gives perspective and grounding to a life lived amongst them. Like most people living here, any chance to get amongst them I jump at, which naturally happened when I was offered a chance to join a flight over Milford Sound. Certainly the special offer that Southern Alps Air is running till the end of June helped in that decision too. Nearing Milford via the West Coast a large slip caused by 550mm of rain in 24hours in February this year is clearly visible. So on Saturday we all met at the Wanaka airfield, there were seven of us, which filled the plane, alongside the pilot. It was a small fixed wing, single-engine aircraft and everyone had a seat next to a window. Lake Wānaka with the islands of Mou Tapu and Mou WahuWe began our journey heading out towards Wanaka and over the peninsula, then continued along the Matukituki basin. The day was stunning with great visibility, and somewhere near the Rob Roy Glacier we were able to see Aoraki-Mt Cook. Related:Backyard bliss: Ted and Derek’s excellent Edgewater adventureBackyard Bliss: Toy storyBackyard Bliss: LandEscape set up for midwinter adventuresThe names of the mountains, rivers, peaks and glaciers were pointed out to us as we made our way south along a chain of snow-capped peaks. Over Motatapu looking towards Lake Wakatipu.Nearing Milford we flew along the coast and could see the Tasman Sea shimmering away into the horizon. Then Milford itself, in all its beauty and magnificence. Flying a loop around the head of the sound we returned to Wanaka this time over the Hollyford, Routeburn and Motatapu, with Queenstown just seen in the distance. The flight took around an hour and a half, but had a lasting effect for the whole day.Southern Alps Air is Wanaka’s only locally owned and operated fixed wing scenic flight company which operates out of Wanaka and Makarora. It has been operating for more than 40 years flying scenic, charter and commercial flights and arranges packages such as the Milford’s glacier flight and cruise or the Makarora Fly, Walk and Jetboat option.  PHOTOS: Rosie Menzies

With the short days of midwinter upon us, there’s never been a better time for a day out by e-bike, followed by a soak in a secluded wood-fired hot tub, marveling at the Milky Way from a place with zero light pollution. If you’ve ever wondered if an e-bike could be for you, you can try one out at new local business LandEscape, without ever needing to worry about traffic or setting foot on a public road.Hawea landowners Rik and Juliet Deaton have created a sustainable, multi-faceted business on their spectacular expanse of land off Camphill Road, near Hawea Flat. The Deatons’ land stretches to over 115 hectares. From certain spots, you can see all the way to Lake Hawea and the mountains beyond, or as far as Luggate in the other direction. The only sound is birdsong, the only views are breathtaking. LandEscape has a fleet of 80 e-bikes, available to rent on very flexible terms. For first-timers, Rik is creating over 15 kilometres of gentle cycle trails around his property, with eight kilometres of trail already complete.Eight kilometres of trail are already completed.Anyone who wants to venture further afield can easily connect with trails to Lake Hawea, Albert Town, Wanaka or Luggate. A LandEscape van can also pick you up from the i-Site, your home or accommodation and take you out to the Camphill Road farm to begin your ride, and then pick up the e-bikes from town at the end of the day. Business owner Rik is both a genuinely nice guy and a passionate advocate of renewable energy technologies and energy-efficient building principles. He hopes to demonstrate these things on site as a background to the business. Rik sees e-bikes as the solution to the challenge of short and medium-distance transport and an integral part of the electric vehicle revolution.As all the LandEscape e-bikes are built to carry a second battery, you can comfortably cycle 100 kilometres without needing to return to base.   Rik said the other great thing about e-bikes is you don’t have to be young or fit to ride one. “So many Wanaka-based activities require a certain amount of strength and fitness, but we’ve had some people in their 80s and others who might weigh as much as 150 kilograms. The woodfired spring-fed hot tubs are chlorine-free.All of these people have had a wonderful time on the YouMo e-cruisers, riding the trails at their own pace and then relaxing in a hot tub.”LandEscape’s ebikes are built by Swiss manufacturer YouMo and are a cruiser style configuration, built for adults who are looking for a more relaxed scenic cruise, rather than an adrenaline-fueled mountain bike adventure. “They’ve got great lights front and rear, padded seats and extra suspension for bumpier trails,” Rik said. “And unless you’re especially short you don’t have to stand up to stop the bike - you can just put a foot down and stay seated.”While the e-bikes are built for adults, there are two that have a child passenger seat and a trailer is available for small children. YouMo is working on a smaller “MiniMo” e-bike for children. The e-bikes and the woodfired, chlorine-free spring-fed hot tubs are just the first green shoots of the business, which has plans for a restaurant, energy-efficient accommodation and parking spots for up to 10 motorhomes - subject to a change in the way the council classifies the land.Another aspiration of LandEscape is to provide a safe, private place for motorhomes to park, taking large vehicles off the roads and providing e-bikes as an alternative way to explore the region.When the Wanaka App arrived for a heart-stopping tour of LandEscape by open-sided ATV, Lieke van Erp and Niels Polak from the Netherlands were just setting out for a day on the cycle trails. As they took off from LandEscape HQ, Lieke exclaimed: “This is going to be the best place on earth.” To find out more, visit LandEscape or give Rik or Juliet a call on 03 443 1588. PHOTOS: Supplied

If you ask an eight-year-old their highlight from visiting Wānaka’s National Transport and Toy Museum, you should prepare for a list.When the Wanaka App visited the museum this week with Billy and Nevis, their highlights included the pedal cars, climbing on the big diggers, all the fire engines, the big airplane, the tanks, and the fact you can “buy cool stuff”. Regular visitors to the museum know this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Rhodes’ private collection of cars, robots, aircraft, dolls, trains and other miscellany is, shall we say, extensive.Gerald Rhodes spent more than 50 years collecting and preserving pieces from the past, and the museum, now managed by his son Jason, houses rare and unusual aircraft, trucks, motorcycles, fire appliances, military vehicles and tractors. A 1961 Fokker F-27-100 Friendship takes pride of place in Hangar Two. PHOTO: National Transport and Toy MuseumBut like any avid collector, Gerald saw the value in a wide range of items, and the museum also houses a nostalgic collection of toys, including clockwork and battery powered toys, porcelain dolls, Teddy bears, and money boxes.“Oh - I had one of those!” is surely a phrase uttered often by museum visitors. Regular visitors will also have their favourite displays, and this writer always lingers at the extensive Sylvanian Families collection.Expect the unexpected: Smurfs at play. PHOTO: National Transport and Toy MuseumThere are also indoor and outdoor playing areas, and a shop with an impressively eclectic range of models, toys and gifts.RELATED:Backyard Bliss: The beautiful backcountryJason told the Wanaka App the next few months of trading, in the aftermath of the changes wrought by COVID-19, are going to be challenging.“We’re like every other business in town, trying to find a way to trade during the unknown,” he said.Billy and Nevis take in their options from one of the popular pedal cars. PHOTO: Wānaka AppIn normal years, 52 per cent of the museum’s visitors are New Zealanders, 28 per cent are from Australia, 13 per cent are Chinese, and the remaining few per cent are from other countries.“The New Zealanders aren’t going to be able to pick that up,” Jason said.There are also 12,000 or so non-paying visitors each year, part of the museum’s programme to work with schools and special needs groups. Jason said the museum works hard to make it affordable for such groups, and he doesn’t want to lose “that aspect”.A working military tank from Australia. PHOTO: National Transport and Toy Museum“And we want to see locals come out and enjoy the place. That’s the whole point of it.”Jason said some locals visit most weekends, perhaps grandparents with their grandchildren looking at the displays, playing with the Lego, then having a coffee at the shop.Jason has also observed that Lego (the museum provides some Lego to play with and there are Lego sets for sale in the shop) “transcends generations”.Despite the uncertainty of the next few months, Jason said the museum will stay open, and work to keep costs down. The museum’s many projects and plans will remain on the back burner.The National Transport and Toy Museum is open daily from 8.30am to 5pm, at 891 Wanaka-Luggate Highway (next to Wanaka Airport)

With the approach of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend, Wanaka gym instructor Sally Soper got together with two other mums and six children for an outdoor adventure into Cardrona's high country at the Snow Farm.We picked up the kids straight after school on Friday (May 29) and after sorting out the important dinner menu we were up at Snow Farm by 5:00pm, backpacks on our backs and walking along the cross country trails. Obviously there was no snow (normally we would be skiing) but it still only took about 45 minutes to get to Meadow hut by foot. (From left) Pipi Horan, Olivia Jones, Emilie Nicholson and Bella Soper enjoy a perfect sunrise near Bob Lee Hut on the Snow Farm. PHOTO: SuppliedThe girls went out for a walk with their head torches while we prepared the nachos for dinner. Everything for cooking and eating is provided at the hut and it sleeps about 20 people but we had the place to ourselves, so we cranked up the fire and enjoyed a beautiful evening. Outside the skies were so clear and starry, no inversion layer in sight. Early the next morning, the girls got up to walk up to Bob Lee hut to watch the sunrise while we warmed up with cups of tea, cuddled into sleeping bags and reasonably comfortable beds - considering you were in a backcountry hut! The group arrives at Meadow hut. PHOTO: SuppliedEveryone cleaned up the breakfast pancakes, tidied up and we were walking the longer way out by about 10am. Back to the carpark about 11.30am and down under the inversion layer by lunchtime. Such an easy getaway and if you’re not a skier it’s actually great to do out of ski season. The views from the top of Snow Farm are spectacular and on a good day we have seen Mt Cook.The Snow Farm has three backcountry huts available for hire. Meadow hut is the largest, sleeping 20; the other two huts sleep fewer - seven in one, six in the other. The huts can be reserved online through the Snow Farm’s booking system here.The trail to Meadow Hut is a farm track suitable for novice hikers, Sally said, and while it’s dry and there’s no snow, light footwear if fine but if it’s wet or cold she recommends hiking boots.

Christopher Waugh, a Mount Aspiring College (MAC) teacher, has been recognised as one of New Zealand’s most excellent and innovative teachers.Chris, who teaches English in addition to coaching the school’s triathlon team and hosting his own podcast, has received an ASG National Excellence in Teaching Award (NEiTA) and the Innovation Award.One of just six of New Zealand’s teachers to receive an award, Chris won the innovation award by turning the secondary school power structure on its head. His three innovations in education hand over the controls of learning to students, so they experience a sense of control over their destiny. He introduced the ‘You Choose’ student course selection scheme, which requires teachers to develop learning programmes and present a ‘pitch’ to students. The students pick the course of their choice, sometimes based on who will be teaching the course. This aids the development of strong student-teacher relationships and also lets the teacher know they are doing a great job if they find their course is popular.His second classroom innovation is to enable students to present their work on blogs, introducing a transparent means of publishing and sharing classwork.“I’m really proud of myself professionally and my profession, I love what I do and I’m so impressed with the students I teach - it’s a privilege of a job,” he told the Wanaka App.“I’m proud that we’re part of a team, we all work cooperatively. I’m really proud of our English department and I’m supported by my head of department Gena Bagley. I’m big on accountability, and this is a way of holding us to account. I think it is unique, and it’s a really professionalising experience.”Ironically, MAC’s leadership had decided to disestablish the ‘You Choose’ process next year. “We’re doing something in the English department that doesn’t occur anywhere else in the school and I think it creates an inconsistency. Our argument has always been that it’s worth the challenge for the outcomes it achieves.Because I was awarded the innovation award on the basis of these ideas I think they should be supporting it.”The process is “grounded in very strong research” that one of the most significant factors in student outcomes is the teacher, he said. “It’s not hard to imagine where students are choosing their teacher they start making strong decisions.”Chris has taught for 18 years, including seven years in London and two stints at MAC. “I work for students and parents. I’ve decided to exert my influence from within the classroom, and this award is solid recognition that it can be done.”Chris said it would be valuable for members of the community to join the conversation about the challenges MAC faces, which were highlighted in the school’s 2019 Education Review Office report.“There are mechanisms in place to address and correct the issues and ERO has done their job. We have to now capitalise on the fact these things have been said and we have to act on it.”The ASG awards honour the recipients for their inspiring and innovative contributions to teaching. ASG NEiTA chair Allen Blewitt said the recipients are outstanding educational role models, and ASG CEO Ross Higgins called them “education heroes in their own right".The selection process for the awards is rigorous, including a comprehensive nomination outline, a written paper and video presentation by the nominated teacher. The national recipients are selected by a panel of four judges.Read Chris’s submission and watch his video here.Chris and the other recipients each received a $5000 professional development grant.PHOTOS: Supplied

Helen Umbers has been at the heart of Wanaka’s baby boom for so long she cannot contemplate life without babies.The sole charge Plunket Nurse recently retired after 25 years nurturing and caring for thousands of Upper Clutha babies and their parents, but is already picking up relief jobs in other centres.Helen and her husband Russell will move to Rangiora after Helen finishes a brief stint of relief work at Dunedin Plunket.When Helen first began working from Plunket’s rooms at 51 Ardmore Street in 1994, she was seeing about 30 to 40 Wanaka and Lake Hawea babies a year.Back then, Cromwell was producing slightly more babies than Wanaka, about 50 to 60 a year, Helen said.When Helen retired at the end of 2019, she was seeing about 230 Wanaka and Lake Hawea babies a year.Helen was raised on a farm near Rangiora and trained and qualified as a registered nurse at Christchurch Public Hospital, where she worked in paediatrics.Helen was on a skiing holiday with some nursing friends in the 1980s when she met her husband Russell, a Wanaka mechanic and more recently, a trustee of the Olive and Graham West Charitable Trust.After a couple of years courting, the couple married in 1986 and Helen moved to Wanaka to work as a district nurse with nursing identities Jenny Muir and Debbie Studholme.Several years of district nursing later, Helen began working for Plunket and never looked back.She trained as a childbirth educator and went on to facilitate antenatal classes for 22 years in Wanaka and Cromwell.She also studied to be a lactation consultant to better support breastfeeding for women in the area.Helen remained in sole charge at the purpose-built Plunket Rooms until her colleague Stacey McIntyre was appointed about 18 months ago.Stacey has now taken over the reins from Helen.“When she was recruited, that was a godsend. She is a very competent nurse and I feel very privileged to support her into the role,’’ Helen said.The Plunket Society was founded in 1907 in Dunedin by child health visionary Sir Frederic Truby King.Today, Plunket is a nationwide charitable trust providing health and nutrition services to children and caregivers. It also provides parenting advice and support services and a baby car seat programme.An army of volunteers assists with fundraising, parent meetings and other events and activities.Helen spent 25 years working out of the little Upper Clutha Plunket Rooms, caring for thousands of babies in her tenure.Wanaka’s Plunket building was built at 51 Ardmore Street in 1961. It was extensively renovated in 2006 to cope with population growth.Residents were cooing with delight in 2008 when the parents of 60 infants presented their babies to Upper Clutha Plunket for a media photograph.That photo represented not quite 50 percent of the 126 Wanaka babies born in the first six months of that year.By the time the children were five-years-old, in 2013, Wanaka schools were being squeezed for space. Existing schools were popping up new classrooms and new early childhood education centres and primary schools were being built.The baby boom has not stopped kicking. Census 2018 revealed 759 under-fives were resident in the Upper Clutha area, up from 414 in 2006. This 83 per cent increase was higher than 62 per cent overall gain of babies in the entire Queenstown Lakes District (2,118 under-fives in 2018, compared with 1,302 in 2006).This year marked the opening of Wanaka’s new primary school, Te Kura O Take Karara, but Wanaka  continues to face a raft of challenges presented by the high birth rate.Pressure on local midwives and the lack of maternity services has been well documented. Local campaigners continue to lobby politicians for a national improvement in funding for maternity services as well as a maternity hub and birthing centre in Wanaka.Helen is concerned Wanaka has not yet got all the family support services it needs.“We know Wanaka has been found now and it has attracted huge growth. I do feel concern, going forward, with the potential for ongoing growth. Knowing the mums, and the very first time mums, they don’t have the immediate extended family right on the doorstep. The women in Wanaka are very resourceful and proactive. It is amazing. The area attracts that kind of motivation, but you still need social services,’’ Helen said.“Wanaka is increasing in population and popularity with young people but is there enough room and space to accommodate the little people here?’’Helen and Russell recently went on holiday and on their return noticed things had changed even in that short time.“One of the biggest things we realised after being away for a couple of weeks is the amazing amount of traffic and our roading system hasn’t got it to keep that flow going,’’ she said.Parking outside Plunket was also a concern, Helen said.“The oldies 20 years ago could park up outside and it might still be an expectation! It is still a wee challenge for the wee place there [at 51 Ardmore St].”Helen said Plunket’s town centre location is a great situation for parents, who can pop in to attend to their youngsters’ needs, before carrying on with their tasks in town.“It is such a great situation and hub. I am not sure what is going to happen there. There has been talk of moving Plunket, because it is now such a busy street. But the beauty of it is it is central to town, and a place to pop in, hang out, change nappies, have a play and go again. It would be sad to see it move but I can see the need to create more space,’’ Helen said.While Helen is helping out at Dunedin Plunket this month, once the move to Rangiora has been completed, she would like to do relief work there, while Russell hopes to find some casual farm work. “We’ll probably have to do a little bit of work yet. Canterbury Plunket has asked if I would do relief work with them so that’s what I am planning to do at this stage. I will be on call, helping the team up there,’’ she said.The Umbers had initially discussed moving to Dunedin, perhaps to the coast at the north end of the city, but Rangiora won the day.Helen has two brothers, an uncle and an aunt in the area.Their sons Jeremy and Ben no longer live in Wanaka. Jeremy is in Brisbane and a married father of two. Ben lives in Dunedin.Helen said she and Russell would return to Wanaka as often as possible to visit Russell’s mum, Doreen. They have also picked up a couple of weeks’ farm-sitting for friends.Retirement would also give the couple a chance to explore more of the country and they were looking forward to travelling and visiting their grandchildren in Australia.One thing is for certain: Helen will miss Wanaka’s babies.“That’s why I will be gravitating towards Rangiora Plunket Rooms, to help breastfeeding support programmes there. It has been a big piece of my life,’’ she said.“Wanaka will always be a special place. I know we will miss it. We can always come back, anytime.”PHOTOS: Supplied

Wanaka netball identity Yvonne Brew has “sort of retired’’ from Netball Upper Clutha and Netball South, after more than 32 years serving her favourite sport.Yvonne and her husband Leith moved to Picton in December to start a new chapter in their full and active lives.But Yvonne is in netball for life and will be representing Netball Upper Clutha at the New Zealand Netball conference on February 22.Yvonne is a life member of Netball Upper Clutha and Netball South, so is able to attend and vote at national meetings and conferences.“I am hoping to still be involved,’’ Yvonne said, when contacted by the Wanaka App.“I do it because I love it.’’“I am still part of Upper Clutha Netball as a life member and I will be a delegate at the New Zealand Conference,.’Yvonne, an interior decorator, and Leith, a builder, are formerly from Palmerston North.They came to live in Wanaka in 1986, when the population of the town was about 800.The recent population surge was a key factor in deciding to head north.Yvonne said she and Leith did not like the way Wanaka was growing and wanted to get away from it.They also wanted to live closer to northern-based relatives, after several recent deaths in their respective families.Yvonne has been living in Picton for just a month but is already looking forward to getting involved in the Marlborough netball scene.The award-winning coach and umpire hopes to coach junior players, which was a role she particularly enjoyed in the Upper Clutha.Yvonne only missed one Netball South meeting during the time she served the organisation.The meeting she missed took place while she was in hospital for heart and kidney transplant surgery.Her passion for netball kept her going through six challenging months of recovery.When she returned to Wanaka, she got stuck into netball straight away, helping set up junior netball, keeping score cards and successfully working towards a full return to court as an umpire.Yvonne’s love for the sport was so consuming, it posed a dilemma for Leith, who felt he had no option but to take up netball coaching as well or he would never see his wife.Yvonne said retired Wanaka GP Dr Dennis Pezaro encouraged her to seek out Upper Clutha netball players for sport and company after she lost her first child.“I found the girls and I haven’t looked back,’’ she said.Yvonne said she was humbled by the acknowledgements she received from the netball community and on social media, after announcing her retirement and shift north.Yvonne spent 29 years on the executive committee of Upper Clutha Netball, during which time she was also a player for 13 years (1987–2000).She qualified as an umpire in 1988 and served in various roles, including president, vice-president and treasurer.Her awards include a Netball Upper Clutha service award (2002) and life membership award (2009), a Netball New Zealand Service Award (2014) and life membership of Netball South (2019).PHOTO: Supplied

Wanaka’s new councillor Niamh Shaw has risen to the challenge of serving her community after being a Kiwi for five months and a local for just two and a half years.Niamh (pronounced Neeve) was elected to the Queenstown Lakes District Council in October last year with 2522 votes, ranked third in popularity stakes behind incumbents Quentin Smith (3373) and Calum Macleod (2663).Niamh is from Limerick, Ireland, and has also lived in London and Dubai.She and her Kiwi husband Andrew met while working in the IT industry in the Middle East. They later moved to Auckland and then Blenheim and Oamaru, before arriving in Wanaka with their two young children in May 2017.Niamh and Andrew had visited Wanaka for holidays so the decision to relocate was easy. “It was ‘hell, yes’,’’ she said.It’s been a fast track to the council table for Niamh, who is raising a family, volunteering in the community and a member of the Wanaka Primary School board of trustees.Niamh’s crew at work on her campaign billboard.She burst into the media limelight at the beginning of 2019 when she went in to bat for a group of Northlake residents who were legally prevented from submitting against a proposed hotel and planning changes in their subdivision.As president of Wanaka Community Supporting Our Northlake Neighbours Incorporated, Niamh followed the debate through to Environment and High Court level, and was then asked by supporters to consider standing for council.She agreed, despite some initial reservations about whether she had been around long enough.“I knew I didn’t have a big profile and thought my chances were quite slim, so I decided to be laid back about it.’’She was also reminded by her brother-in-law she was not yet a citizen, so worked quickly to get her citizenship conferred in July.Her campaign was “full on and surreal’’. She loved connecting with people but did not enjoy public speaking. And her two primary-school aged children were cheeky enough to tell her the campaign was “boring’’.“Of course, by the time the campaign had finished, it really did matter to me whether I got in or not. But I always felt like I was an outlier so when the results came in, it was wonderful,’’ she said.Niamh has a degree in applied maths and computing from the University of London and worked for Price Waterhouse as a trainee accountant before realising her forte was project management.Niamh finds many similarities between Irish people and Kiwis.She switched to the company’s IT Business Systems team and helped roll out a human resources Management system and other programmes in offices across Europe.One day, she responded to a newspaper advertisement for an IT training manager for a group of companies in Dubai. By the end of the day, she’d been interviewed and had accepted an offer.“I had never been there and had no idea, but it is one of the things I am most proud of. I went to Dubai and didn’t know anybody and I was just 24-years-old.’’While in Dubai, Niamh “tumbled into journalism’’ and began working on two “chick-lit’’ novels, Smart Casual and About Time, which were published by Headline UK.After flirting with her muse, Niamh moved back into project management roles for the remainder of her ten years in the Middle East.Although “incredibly proud’’ to have written two books, Niamh admits she found the writing process socially isolating at times.“I like my privacy but I am intensely social too. You write a lot in your head ... writing is a strange blend of confidence and self-doubt. You have to have confidence to believe in yourself and carry on writing, and enough self-doubt to critique yourself ... I struggled with both sides of that, but mainly it was an isolating experience,’’ she said.After their decade in Dubai, the couple wanted to plug into a quiet place, live remotely, work from home, yet still have a community.After spending time in Auckland and Marlborough, they chose Oamaru to begin their family, close to Andrew’s parents, who live at Maheno.Niamh began volunteering for Oamaru’s toy library and then the Waitaki District Council offered her consultancy work.Niamh said when she and Andrew decided to move to Wanaka, they were aware the cost of living and land was high, while wages were low.“I think a lot of people come to Wanaka for the environment or lifestyle and think they are going to take a sabbatical or work from home or set up on their own business, and they quickly realise they can’t afford to take too long a sabbatical or have the discipline to work from home. That takes a certain personality type. I feel that there are more opportunities to set up business now but not everyone is wired that way, either,’’ she said.Niamh expects her main council debates during 2020 to include the future of Wanaka Airport, the district spatial plan, the Wanaka town centre master plan and the district’s environment and climate action plan.“I think this place is suffering from serious growing pains. Queenstown is a lot further along the track. In Wanaka, I think, the growing pains are sharper.’’Something that has always concerned her is the effect of development on the environment and the amount of building waste being generated.“Very obvious examples of concern’’ include stormwater run-off from developments into Bullock Creek (Alpha Series) and the Clutha River (Northlake via Hikuwai), she said.“It is my opinion we need to be putting more controls into how urban development can be planned, given our proximity to fresh water and the extreme weather events. There is a potential for Wanaka to be a world leader in urban design around fresh water,’’ she said.Niamh misses Ireland but says she has been outside her birth country for so long and there have been so many changes, she cannot recognise it easily.However, she finds many similarities between Irish people and Kiwis.“We both live on small islands and are really quite remote from the rest of the world. That does lend itself to a particular culture. I think the Irish and Kiwis are quite laid back,’’ she said.PHOTO: Supplied

It’s fair to say the game of golf plays a major role in Liz McRae’s life.Originally from Tarras and now a Wanaka resident of some 30 years, Liz continues to play golf at regional representative level while contributing to the sport she loves in many ways. She’s on the board of Otago Golf, president of Central Otago Women’s Golf, and a life member of Wanaka Golf Club – an honour bestowed four years ago at an unusually young 51-years-old. Liz has managed the club’s biggest annual event, the ANZ Private Wanaka Annual Golf Tournament, for the past 15 years and held virtually every role possible within the club, such as women’s club captain. Last November, she concluded two years as club president and stepped down from the board, having served on the board since its inception 17 years ago. All this, and she has more than 100 games of Otago representative golf to her credit.Liz’s connection to golf started with her family, the Purvises, who donated land which became part of the Tarras Golf Club. Her father was club secretary for 25 years and both her mother and sister also played. “I was brought up on the Tarras course and used to hack around a bit, although Mum didn’t let us play seriously until we were in our late teens,” Liz said. “I’ve enjoyed being president and am very pleased that Wanaka Golf Club is one of the few clubs in New Zealand that continues to grow.Liz McRae is presented with a watercolour of the No. 6 green by club director David Smallbone. The painting is by Renee Walden. Liz’s family sponsor No. 6 hole, one on which she has scored four holes-in-one.“The club is in good heart. Our membership of more than 1,000 continues to grow with active retirees from Christchurch and Dunedin coming to live here,” Liz said. The women’s numbers are particularly strong at the club, Liz said, with about a third of the membership being women.“The president, along with the two club captains (men’s and women’s), have ex officio roles on the board but primarily focus on the game of golf rather than the financials. “Among the projects we’ve worked on in the past year or so is the redevelopment of the practice fairway.”Liz said the fairway was a big asset to the club, which attracts tourists and sports professionals for winter snow sports. Next year the club is implementing a new irrigation system, another asset to the club.“Our junior programme is another I’m pleased to see do well. It started six years ago and involves a junior membership, several weeks of lessons and a junior tournament under the direction of a dedicated junior convenor.”The club continues to deal with the unresolved situation regarding the Queenstown Lakes District Council masterplan for Wanaka which includes a proposed road through the course to connect Anderson Road and Golf Course Road – a major concern during the time Liz was president.Like other Wanaka club members, she travels regularly to play in other regional club tournaments. “Our members are good at supporting other club tournaments,” she said. Wanaka Golf Club manager Kim Badger said Liz’s contribution to Wanaka Golf and Otago golf in her lifetime has been outstanding. “She hasn't finished yet, I am sure. The club will still have Liz’s advice and knowledge should we need her, something we appreciate very much,” Kim said.Liz and her husband Jim are well-known locally, having been the owners of Jim and Libby’s shop on Helwick Street for 30 years. They closed the store in 2017.PHOTOS: Supplied

Gina Treadwell thought Wellington’s famous winds were behind her when she and her family relocated south to Wanaka in 2017.Gina admits now she didn’t realise how hard the wind also blew in Wanaka, a town her family had grown to love so much on their regular winter holidays that she and her partner decided to move south as soon as the youngest of her three children left secondary school.“The weather! We moved down here from Wellington because we hated the wind and we had no idea,’’ Gina said.“Wanaka is a really important place for our family. The kids all learned to ski down here ... We had a place here for ten or 12 years but it was only in the last few years we started having summers down here. We didn’t know how great the summers could be,’’ she said.Despite finding Wanaka unexpectedly windy, Gina quickly found her feet and is now managing the new Wanaka Community Hub.The hub has a large community at its back and Gina’s job is to help steer the facility into a self-sufficient future.Her tasks include signing up tenancies and ensuring community spaces are used widely and frequently. She and the hub’s governing trust also need to find at least another $800,000 in outstanding construction costs for the $4 million building.When Gina and her partner first arrived, they focused on building their new family homeShe then saw an advertisement for the hub’s establishment manager, which suited her marketing and project management background. She also saw it as a role that would involve her in the community.When she began work in March 2018, her responsibilities included marketing and communication, finalising leases, overseeing the fit-out, and preparing for the hub’s opening on November 2 last year.Gina had previously set up a branch of the Kiwi Can children’s charity in Wellington. It is now the Graeme Dingle Foundation’s primary school programme for children aged five to 12-years-old and teaches values and life skills in many of Wellington’s low decile schools.Earlier in her career, the Massey University marketing graduate spent nine years working overseas, first in a large European company in London and then in Tokyo, where she studied Japanese language at university.By the early 2000s, she was back in Wellington, a mother-of-three and co-owner of a Wairarapa vineyard.After setting up and running Wellington’s Kiwi Can charity, she took on a five-year management role at Statistics New Zealand.“It was a really interesting role. The team I was managing were at the heart of NZ Stats, responsible for the development of statistical methods with some really interesting topics being explored while I was there,’’ she said.Gina left the government department to work in Wellington’s event industry before moving south.With the Trust now facing the challenge of raising the outstanding $800,000, Gina wants to encourage philanthropist organisations and individuals to continue supporting the hub financially.She acknowledged Wanaka is a small community and the same people are consistently being asked for support by a multitude of organisations.She also acknowledged local initiatives can be tough to fund because they don’t fit regional or national funding criteria.The Wanaka Community Hub Trust had always known it would need to raise funds retrospectively. Once the outstanding amount is raised, income from leases and event spaces will cover running costs and maintenance.“Over these next four or five months, I am keen to get as many of the community into the hub as I can. Once people have seen the inside they can really see the potential for the place," she said.A foray to Wellington continues to float her boat but Gina loves the thrill of boarding a plane to come home.“I don’t know what it is about Wanaka. You think every so often you have to get out, but after two or three days it is so nice to come back home,’’ she said.“Here, we have a real sense of community that you don’t often get in a big city. I love the place.’’PHOTO: Supplied