South Wairarapa Rebus Club

Joe Howells.

By David Woodhams

Members attending our October meeting heard a fascinating address from Joe Howells, one of the principals of Green Jersey Cycle Tours based in Martinborough. While Green Jersey, with 700 cycle seats available for hire, is larger than any other Cycle Hire company in New Zealand, the bulk of their hire market is Martinborough Wine Tourism; when it comes to real touring in Aotearoa NZ, there are Cycle Tour operators that are substantially larger than Green Jersey. Pre-Covid, Green Jersey had organised tours to the south of France with on-the-ground support from Velorizons, a cycling organisation in France with a similar philosophy to their own. In return, Green Jersey had supported French tours to NZ but there has been no business either way since the outbreak of Covid in early 2020.

Their French business was initially a small-scale endeavour to generate some business over the quiet NZ winter months. It became something they really enjoyed doing. In the NZ winter of 2019, Joe spent almost four months touring in France and UK. Green Jersey are now taking bookings for their cycle tours in France for 2023 and are looking forward to the prospect of reciprocal business from Velorizons.

The main Green Jersey French tour is 16 days riding from Bordeaux City to Sète, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean, a distance of 750 km, taken at 50 to 75 km per day. All meals and accommodation are booked ahead, luggage transfer and bicycle hire are included in the cost. Often the route follows canal paths, particularly the Canal de la Garonne, opened in 1856, from Bordeaux to Toulouse and the Canal du Midi, opened 1681, from Toulouse to Agde. Together they link the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, avoiding the hazardous 3000 km sea journey for freight through the Straits of Gibraltar. … Continue Reading

ROTARY’S PRE-CHRISTMAS MARTINBOROUGH FAIR – A SUCCESSFUL EVENT FOR ALL

By Sylvia Smith

Despite the current economic climate Rotary’s first pre-Christmas Fair has been deemed a successful one by both stall holders and the public.

Due to Covid restrictions earlier this year, South Wairarapa Rotary were only able to hold one Martinborough Fair at the end of April.   This has meant that the amount of money available for the Rotary committees to distribute throughout the South Wairarapa was, in effect, halved.  For this reason, the decision was made to run an additional Fair during 2022, hence the November Fair came to fruition.

We were convinced that this Fair, before Christmas, would be an excellent time for people to purchase some unique gifts for friends and family and we weren’t wrong.  

An unofficial estimate of approximately 20,000 people descended on Martinborough on Saturday 26 November and were able to enjoy the food, entertainment and of course, shopping from the over 500 stalls.

The day was warm but not hot which made for an enjoyable environment for experiencing this unique Fair, one of the largest in New Zealand. … Continue Reading

Regional Council notes

By Councillor Adrienne Staples

The local government elections are done and dusted and most councils have settled into the work at hand for the new triennium.  It would be great to predict smooth sailing for the next three years but sadly it feels like stormy seas ahead if what is on the Regional Council work programme is anything to go by.

Like it or not, New Zealand feels like it is in a state of low-key unrest and this certainly manifested itself in the local government elections.  In the Greater Wellington Region, we have five new mayors out of eight, with two retirements and three defeats indicating that many people were not happy with the status quo.

The trouble is that much of what makes them unhappy is not actually local government’s own doing but a reaction to central government’s direction of travel on local government matters.

Which ever way you look at it, our current government is hell bent on local government reform.  They are doing this by stripping councils of the functions they carry out rather than examining what our modern society needs from the local government system then designing the structure around those needs. … Continue Reading

Red Cross 2022 Wrap-up: Our World in Need

The Martinborough string quartet + one.

By Mike Armour

It is hard to imagine any of the tragic events that have taken place throughout the world in 2022.  

Floods at home and in Pakistan, humanitarian challenges in Ukraine and many other parts of the world and increasing economic hardship for many families.  It is sobering to realise just how much our world is hurting, despite the ongoing work of the Red Cross, and many other agencies both nationally and internationally.

November Street Raffle

Our community has again shown enormous support for the Red Cross raising $420.70 at our recent Raffle.  There were two prizes this year.  The basket of goodies was won by Delia and the beautiful Christmas cake decorated by the talented Joyce Hogg (and made by her daughter) was won by Lesley.  

In a twist to the tale, Lesley then decided to donate the Christmas cake to the hard-working team at Martinborough Medical Centre to say thank you for all they do in our community.

Many thanks again to the folks at P&K and to our local community and visitors for your generosity in supporting the work of the New Zealand Red Cross.

So how are these funds used?  This year the funds raised will be used to support the work of the Red Cross in the Wairarapa whether in Disaster Welfare support, refugee re-settlement or other areas of need. … Continue Reading