New Napier tour for Seaweek 2018

Published: 9 February 2018

Napier will hold several events for Seaweek 2018, including a compelling free tour around Ahuriri estuary hosted by Jake Brookie and Hinewai Hawaikirangi.

Jake Brookie, and Hinewai Hawaikirangi, pictured at the Ahuriri Estuary, the focus of their Seaweek 2018 tour on 3 March.

Few cities have an environmental wonder like the Ahuriri Estuary on their doorstep, and this Seaweek a special tour will take place to emphasize what makes it a taonga of Napier.

National Aquarium of New Zealand Educator Jake Brookie and Hinewai Hawaikirangi of Napier Māori Tours will host a free walk around the estuary on Saturday the 3rd of March giving information about the animals of our coast, and what makes the estuary so important to Māori. It’s not the first time Jake has presented an estuary tour. “As an educator I’ve hosted many tours for school groups, but this is the first time our tours will have such a focus on the estuary's importance for mana whenua (original people of this land).”

Hinewai also has a wealth of knowledge about the estuary, as well as experience guiding visitors. “Sharing ancestral knowledge and practices brings value to a once vibrant and biodiverse lagoon.”

The Ahuriri Estuary, 470ha in size, is home to over 70 bird species and over 20 species of fish. “Hawke Bay’s marine food web is dependent on the estuary and because of migrating birds, what happens here impacts food webs in Alaska and Asia,” says Jake.

Pre-1931 Hawke’s Bay earthquake, this massive body of water was called Te Whanganui ā Orotū, and was considered the storehouse of kaimoana (seafood) that never closed, Hinewai explains.

The estuary walk starts at 2pm at the Embankment Road Carpark, off Meeanee Quay, and will finish at approximately 3.30pm. Bookings are essential – please contact the National Aquarium to reserve your place.

National Aquarium of New Zealand's Jake Brookie: "This is the first time our tours will have such a focus on the estuary's importance for mana whenua (original people of this land).”

Jake is also co-hosting free walking tours of the Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans murals created in 2016 and 2017 with local artist Cinzah Merkens, PangeaSeed Foundation NZ Coordinator and the Napier festivals chief organiser. These walks will be held at 1pm on Sunday 4 March and Sunday 11 March, and bookings for these are also through the National Aquarium.

Children’s Day, a day of national awareness annually recognised on the first Sunday in March, falls within Seaweek, which runs from 3 to 11 March. The National Aquarium is offering free entry for one child 14 years and under with one paying adult on this day. There will be children’s activities and prizes galore.

As with last year, the Seaweek World Oceans Day Poetry writing competition will be held in Term 2, in April and May, so schools can have more time to prepare for the event. The winners will have the chance to read their poems in front of an audience at an event to be held on Thursday 7 June, the day before the official World Oceans Day 2018.

For more information and entry forms, visit the National Aquarium website: www.nationalaquarium.co.nz

Other Hawke’s Bay Seaweek 2018 events include:

• Beach Clean Up, 9am to 12 noon Saturday 3 March, Waitangi Regional Park, near Awatoto. BYO buckets & gloves (if you have them), sun protection, drink bottle, appropriate clothing, we will supply rubbish bags & gloves. Please stay for a sausage sizzle, from 11.15am. A Hawke’s Bay Regional Council event. To register & for more information contact Sally Chandler, (06) 833 8036 or chandler@hbrc.govt.nz. 
• Library Programme, 12 noon to 1pm Saturdays 3 March, 10 March, Taradale Library. Join Jake Brookie to share books from the Taradale Library’s collection & bio facts they can see & touch, such as shark skin, and, new for 208, plankton samples from the Pacific Ocean (bring a magnifying glass for this one).
• Keep Napier Beautiful Decorate a Free Cloth Bag, 10.30am to 3pm Saturday 3 March, Sundays 4 March, 11 March, National Aquarium. Give up using plastic bags & decorate your own calico shopping bag to use instead. Entry fees apply. (Children only).
• Seaweek Royal Society Lecture, 7.30pm Wednesday 7 March, National Aquarium. Come hear Waikato University PhD candidate Helen Cadwallader speak on her stingray tagging project. Gold coin donation, no booking required.
• Beach Clean Up with Cathedral Environment Justice and Peace Network, 5-6.30pm Friday 9 March. Between the Pacific Surf Club to Napier Port, Marine Parade. Meet on the grass area by Fish Bike Rentals, BYO old bag for collecting and gloves, extras available. Join us for a shared picnic afterwards. The event will be cancelled in the event of high seas.

For a full list of Seaweek 2018 events, go to www.seaweek.org.nz.

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