How Well Do We Know People in Our Community?

Gemma Wilkie loves to dance.

Gemma Wilkie

Gravesend in Northwest Kent was home. 

Gemma grew up in the small suburb of Northfleet. Her mother was a teacher, and her father a maintenance fitter for a Lead and Silver Refinery. We went to local schools, but my passion was dancing. I just loved it.

I began dancing at two and half or three. I learned Ballet, Tap, Modern and Jazz. 

At 18, I elected to undertake a BA Honours Degree in Dance and Related Arts at the University College Chichester. 

I had no idea what I wanted to do but the idea of travel, a tan, and being somewhere exotic was appealing so I got a job with a Package Holiday company. I worked in Ibiza, Cyprus, Corfu, and Lanzarote. My role was to provide entertainment to the holiday makers. There were games such as shuffleboard, darts, pool, water polo. For evening entertainment, we were tasked with creating shows.

While I was having a great time we were paid a pittance. It was time for a change. 

Every year as children we had gone on holiday to Florida. We visited all the film studios. At MGM we had a backstage tour where I found out about Green screens for the first time. They showed us how a scene in “Honey! I Shrunk the Kids” was created. 

My sister and I were placed on a massive bumble bee. We were blown about by a huge wind fan  and were required to scream at certain times. Then they showed us how the green screen was altered to show us zooming through a garden. It was mind blowing. I knew what I wanted to do.

A short editing course was my starting point. Then a one-week special course giving an overview of planning, storyboarding, finding locations, creating a short film, composition, and editing. I was hooked.  … Continue Reading

Travellers vote Wharekauhau best Pacific resort

Wharekauhau Country Estate in South Wairarapa has been awarded “Best Resort in Australasia and the Pacific,” and 46^th among the top 50 resorts on the planet by Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards 2023.

Voted for by over half a million travellers, the awards reflect recognition of the exceptional experience at the get-away oasis by guests themselves.

Condé Nast Traveler noted this year’s awards saw voters favouring “more immersive” experiences in isolated and truly exceptional properties, something general manager Richard Rooney said “perfectly encapsulates the unapologetically authentic” Wharekauhau.

Wharekauhau resort is a property of U.S. billionaire Bill Foley, who owns several New Zealand  wineries, including Te Kairanga in Martinborough and multiple U.S. entertainment, sports and wine properties.

Lodge and cottage suite prices at the retreat start from $2,295 per couple in winter and $3,990 in summer. Foley Villa rates for 1-6 guests starts from $15,495 in winter and $17,250 in summer.

“All rates include breakfast, nightly multi-course dinners and pre-dinner drinks and canapes,” a statement from Foley Entertainment Group notes. 

Rooney adds: “What makes Wharekauhau special is our people and place. Wharekauhau has a unique ability to draw you into the landscape – it’s a magic that is often underestimated until it’s experienced.”

The upscale château property, is known for its accessible isolation – just 90 minutes by road or 10 minutes by helicopter from Wellington.

Sitting at the eastern foothills of the Remutakas on eight kilometres of wild Pacific coastline, Wharekauhau (“place of knowledge” in te reo) gives a taste of Aotearoa’s untouched terrain.

“Nestled in the wildly beautiful Wairarapa region in New Zealand, Wharekauhau Country Estate has put down-to-earth Kiwi hospitality on the map,” Foley Entertainment’s PR agency said in a statement.

Wharekauhau’s list of awards dates back to 1986 when it won the Andrew Harper Winner Grand Award “1000 Places To See Before You Die” accolade accompanied the statement.   … Continue Reading

New Council CEO enters revolving door

New SWDC chief executive Mrs Janice Smith.

SWDC in mid-October announced the appointment of Janice Smith, formerly Group Corporate Services Manager at Far North District Council, to fill its vacant post of Chief Executive.

English-born and a trained accountant, Mrs Smith “has a proven track record of leading and managing in changing and challenging environments in senior management positions,” mayor Martin Connelly noted when naming her to fill the post.

Mrs Smith will step through something of a revolving door of CEOs at SWDC.

The last three were:

* Paul Crimp April 2013 – March 2019;

* Harry Wilson July 2019 -May 2023;

* Paul Gardner (Acting) May 2023 – current.

Compare that with the tenure length at Gore District Council, where former CEO Stephen Parry held the position for 22 years before the bruhaha between him and new young mayor Ben Bell erupted.

And now, suddenly, after leaving, Parry has returned in an interim capacity while a new chief executive is found and appointed.

Mrs Smith is due shortly and at, or shortly after, her arrival a meeting of the council’s “CEO Employment Committee” will be held.  … Continue Reading

Bobby dazzler support for retired working dogs

Bobbie and Archie play.

Dog Bobbie and his brother Reggie had a difficult start in life after work. 

Rather than being retired working dog they were rescued from a property in Taumaranui. The local pound contacted the Retired Working Dogs (RWD) charity in the hopes a forever home could be found to care for the two large adolescent mutts.

Back in South Wairarapa a young family, the McKenna’s, were looking to expand their pack.

Their nine-year-old dog Harlem needed a friend and while Cat McKenna had been watching the rescue websites it was husband Cam who first saw Bobbie on Facebook. 

“Bobbie’s photo looked exactly like Harlem did at that age. We couldn’t resist and phoned Natalie (RWD’s adoption coordinator) almost immediately.”

The McKennas’, including toddler Archie, prefer to rescue their pets rather than buy a pedigree. “What would happen to all the retired or rescued dogs who need homes if everyone brought a puppy,” says Cam.

Cat and Cam were prepared to put the work in to help Bobbie settle into his new family.

“Bobbie arrived severely underweight. He would inhale his food, worried there might not be more soon. It was really hard to watch.” 

“We introduced him first to Harlem when we went to collect him from foster care in Hawkes Bay, and then to Archie and Otis (their rescued cat) on lead.”

“From the first Bobbie has been very gentle with Archie and was thrilled to meet Harlem.”  … Continue Reading