New defib talk of town

Cheryl Watson from Wellington Free Ambulance at the defib machine.

Martinborough has a brand-new Community Defibrillator, with thanks to Wellington Free Ambulance for its generous donation. 

This latest AED is accessible 24/7 outside the Ambulance Station in Texas Street.

An AED, or Automated External Defibrillator, is used to help those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest/heart stoppage. 

A sophisticated, easy-to-use medical device,  the AED can analyze the heart’s rhythm and, if necessary, deliver an electrical shock, or defibrillation, to help the heart re-establish an effective rhythm.

Anyone with a computer can find the locations of all these machines via: www.aedlocations.co.nz

Wellington Free Ambulance will be offering two Heartbeat workshops in November during which they will cover CPR and use of the AED.

Tuesday 28 November – 10.00 a.m. at The Supper Room, Waihinga Centre

Wednesday 29 November – 5.30 p.m. at the Ambulance Station, Texas Street

Spaces are limited so please register via the Martinborough Community Board: angela.brown@swdc.govt.nz

Book Club bags – a new offer

Book Clubbers ahoy.

Wairarapa Library Service has riddden to the rescue with its new offering: “Book Club in a Bag.”

“Feed your fiction addiction with our new book club sets,” is the tag line to keeping all club members on the same page.

“Each Book Club in a Bag contains 10 copies of a book and an information sheet, including questions to get your group discussion started,” once everyone has actually read the relevant piece of literature. 

“If you run a book club, and you’re wondering what your group should read next, check out our carefully curated – and convenient – book club sets,” WLS said in a media statement.

The sets reportedly feature some of the best contemporary writing from around the world. “From prize-winners to exciting new voices, there really is something for everyone,” WLS notes.

To reserve one of these bags, or sets of 10, navigate to wls.org.nz 

Then, to search the catalogue type “book club set” in the Search bar, click on “Try this search in the Local Catalogue” to bring up the available book club sets.

“So that members of your book club have time to read the book, our book club sets are issued for six weeks,” it said.

Dwayne Duthie: Double Edge Sword

A new exhibition, by Taranaki-based artist Dwayne Duthie (Taranaki, Te Ātiawa, Pākehā) is at Aratoi this spring. The exhibition is toured by Taranaki’s regional public art gallery, Percy Thomson Gallery.

Double Edge Sword is Duthie’s fourth solo show and the first one outside his home region of Taranaki.

“I’ve always loved messing around with art, but for a long time I never thought about being an artist, I started because I loved it and it had always felt therapeutic. I decided to pick up a paint-brush and follow my passion, I wanted to make art _ not just solely hang it.”

Dwayne says that his paintings have definitely evolved over those six years, starting off experimenting with impressionism and expressionism, “but now it really borders form and abstraction!” he laughs. 

He has been developing new digital artworks recently and is excited to see them in the exhibition alongside his paintings and sculptures. “Each work tells a story, but they all relate to each other so it’s exciting for people to see the work altogether.”

The work in Double Edge Sword represents his ideas and thoughts on the intricacies of the human condition, survival, and existence. The works often carry an implied narrative and story. 

Huge expressive paintings, created with bold strokes using enamel and acrylic, captivate viewers through the clever use of repeated mark making, serving as points of contemplation, inviting reflection on the complexities of humanity and our shared reality.

The exhibition features 17 works, 11 from his previous exhibition in the Percy Thomson Gallery in Taranaki alongside six new works, two of which are new sculptures that are continuations from previous works. … Continue Reading

Scientist wine pioneer reveals Martinborough’s secrets

By Joelle Thomson – Wine writer

A horticultural soil map, Lower Hutt wine tasting group and dry German Riesling are the stuff of legend for this region’s earliest wine pioneers, one of whom revealed his trade secrets at a talk to a wine group in Martinborough earlier this year.

That person is Derek Milne, a retired soil scientist who spoke self-deprecatingly about his journey into wine in Martinborough at Cambridge Road Winery. 

The talk was packed out by winemakers and viticulturists, all eager to learn more from the man whose wine journey began at a tasting group in a rented house in Lower Hutt with fellow scientist Dr Neil McCallum (founder of Dry River Wines) and a group including Danny Schuster, the first person to make a gold medal awarded Pinot Noir in the Canterbury region.

The group met regularly, tasting and drinking many of the great wines of the world which were more affordable then. These included Bordeaux reds and high quality European aromatic wines, such as Gewurztraminer and dry Riesling, which both Milne and McCallum had fallen for when in Europe.

The now legendary soil map was not drawn specifically for wine but its stony ground planted the seeds in Milne’s mind about this region’s potential suitability for viticulture and winemaking, due to his growing interest in wine. It also led him to compare sand, silt and clay soils and he explained  that drier soils are generally more favourable for grape growing.

“You can control moisture in soils by adding water but usually you cannot remove water, so the key is to find less moisture retentive soils in the first place. The original map showed images of stony soils with barely any moisture retention potential in this area, but it also showed the dreaded Wharekaka soils, which are clay rich and dense.  … Continue Reading