Bev Dobson

Over The Hill 

There was some excellent tennis played at this year’s Over the Hill tournament which was held at the Martinborough Tennis Club on January 8^th and 9^th. 

The weather was perfect with the tournament tempting some top players from Wellington to make the trip over for the annual event which features mens’ and ladies’ doubles games, and also mixed doubles games. … Continue Reading

Wasabi crisis

Japan faces a climate, cultural and cuisine crisis with a threat to wasabi – the pungent electric-green paste that characterises sushi, sashimi and much else, according to an elegant long-read in The New York Times headlined: ‘A Sense of Crisis’ for Wasabi, a Pungent Staple of Japanese Cuisine.

             A warmer, wetter climate in the main growing area is causing the root to suffer rot, while demographic changes mean young people are less likely to take over family wasabi farms. Together, these threats are putting the staple of Japanese cuisine in jeopardy.

  “’I have a sense of crisis,’ said Hiroyuki Mochizuki, president of Tamaruya, a 147-year-old company in Shizuoka that processes wasabi to sell in tubes, as well as in salad dressings, flavored salts, pickles and even nostril-tickling chocolate,” the Times reported. “’In order to protect Japanese food culture,’” he added, “’it is important to protect wasabi.’”

The Listener

Waihenga  Bridge  112 years old. 

History The Ruamāhanga River is the largest river in the Wairarapa, flowing through the Wairarapa Valley for about 130 kilometres. The Waihenga Bridge is located in the middle reaches of the Ruamāhanga catchment, just after it joins the Huangarua River. The bridge is an integral part of State Highway 53 and services the huge hinterland of the South Wairarapa as well as providing access to the Coast.  … Continue Reading