Julicher to expand with new owners

Julicher Vineyard is set to expand and change brand names under the new ownership of Brad and Warren Butterworth.

The Butterworths are better known for sailing than for wine but both are passionate about wine. Their great great grandfather W. Heathcote Jackman was a pioneering grape grower in New Zealand at Whakapirau in the Kaipara Harbour, Northland, in the late 1800s. That property remains in family hands, minus the vines which died many years ago, due to phylloxera. 

They purchased the Te Muna Road vineyard and winery in 2019, and have since put expansion plans in place by acquiring more land and hiring a new general manager, Nick Hewitt, who has announced plans to grow from 13.9 hectares of vines to about 15 hectares.  … Continue Reading

Inner Wheel

Friday 30th October was our walk”n”talk with Plimmerton Club at Aston Norwood Cafe and Gardens. A great turn out and the weather was kind after a drizzly start to the day.  The gardens looked lovely with a lot of the trees still in  blossom.

It was lovely to catch up with the ladies from Plimmerton.  After a lovely lunch most people went for a tour around the gardens which were beautiful and well maintained.

A few ladies spent time at the Nursery where you could purchase plants of which there were plenty to choose from and a great selection.

A great day was had by all this is just one of many outings we have at Inner Wheel.  New Members are always welcome.

Maureen Mortensen   

Five alternative uses for Tiwai electricity

1. Shut down Huntly

The most straightforward idea is to simply channel all the hydropower from Manapōuri into the grid alongside the power from the other hydro lakes. The upside is simple: there’s enough power there to completely replace the Huntly power station, our biggest remaining burner of coal. Making New Zealand electricity 100 percent renewable sounds fantastic – but there are a couple of hitches. the transmission capacity to get all the electricity from Manapōuri to the North Island does not currently exist – and the price tag is around half a billion dollars.

2. Develop energy storage

A well-known issue with renewable generation is that production varies uncontrollably, and asynchrously, with energy use. Energy storage that can even out the availability over different timescales – day and night for solar, or seasons, for hydropower – comes in many forms. Pumped storage, currently being investigated by the Government, may help us mitigate the risk of dry years, or intermittent availability of wind and solar, by cycling water through a hydroelectricity station over and over again, with the input of those renewable energy sources when availability is high. … Continue Reading

Community Garden News

I guess that most final newsletters of 2020 are going to start with something like….” well, thank goodness that year is over, let us hope 2021 is an improvement” …and who would blame them? 

The Community Garden has been pretty lucky: we have managed to have a constant supply of vegies, although at times distributing them has been a bit of a challenge: we have done some “ contactless “ deliveries  and some “bubble”planting. We have had great support from the Community Board and are delighted to have received a very generous donation from funds raised at the Community Market over Labour weekend…many, many thanks to Daphne Geisler. Thanks too, to John Taylor for the use of his land: to those who have dropped off seedlings, horse pooh and coffee grinds for the compost: also to Nathan for his water supply, and of course to those who turn up regularly and garden, harvest , water , make compost and generally keep things ticking over. … Continue Reading