Category: Public Media

Source: Radio New Zealand

Set on the coast of Hawke’s Bay, Te Aratipi Station offers walkers on the farm views across the bay, from the Māhia Peninsula right around to Mt Ruapehu on a clear day.

After walking more than 6000 steps across lush green farmland, the group of walkers are rewarded with beautiful views of Te Motu-o-Kura, also known to Hawke’s Bay locals as Bare Island.

This is only the second season Te Aratipi Station near Waimārama has been open to walkers.

Ro and Ed Palmer, along with their sons Selby and Harry, are just the latest of the Palmer family to call the sheep and beef station home after it was bought by Selby Miles Palmer in 1915.

The 1200-hectare hill country station now features two main walking tracks with views from the Māhia Peninsula, through to the Ruahines, Kawekas, Manawatū Gorge, and on a clear day, Mt Ruapehu.

“We have recently started a new agritourism venture offering some amazing Hawke’s Bay farm experiences,” Ro told Country Life. “This includes some gorgeous farm walks, farm golf during summer, accommodation and a family wilderness experience, and much more.”

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Ro, who has a background in hospitality, events and tourism, started the agritourism business out of her passion for the property.

“So it kind of combines my background and what we’ve got here,” she said.

“In the Hawke’s Bay they always talk about terroir for wineries. But I feel like we have our own sense of place as well here … and it would just be crazy not to kind of share that or continue that because it is a really special place.”

They cater to a mix of locals and international visitors – the two walking groups today have come from polar ends of the North Island, Auckland and Wellington.

For every experience booked, the family plants a native tree over Matariki weekend to help restore parts of the farm which have been protected through covenants under the QEII National Trust.

“The whole idea is we kind of wanted to mimic what they do in Italy around the olive harvest,” Ro explained.

“Friends, family and even guests come and plant over Matariki weekend and then we’ll have a lovely long shared lunch to celebrate the season.”

Ro said one of the reasons they looked to agritourism was the positive experience they enjoyed welcoming visitors on farm as part of the national Open Farm days.

She said while at this stage the agritourism side of the business was done more for a love of it – with the sheep and beef side still very profitable – it also helped diversify their income.

“You know, there might be a stage where we will need to be dependent on agritourism and that’s when I’ll need to ramp things up. But in these initial stages, while we feel our way through, it’s really mainly to keep me out of trouble.”

They operate the agritourism business around the happenings on farm, and the walk is open from Labour Weekend through to June to avoid the lambing season.

“It’s really just the start of it and [we] have to figure out the stock side of things – where to have cattle and sheep and make sure everyone’s safe,” Ed explained.

He’s happy to share the farm with others though, and build on the “solid grounding” gained through his great grandfather, Selby.

“Hopefully we can carry it on, but we’ll see. Time will tell.”

Learn more:

You can learn more about Te Aratipi Station, here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

They’re only into their fourth year growing avocados but they’re already sharing their passion for the fruit with visitors from all over the world.

In March 2022, Tim Rosamond and Michele Ricou moved from Wellington, where they were working as IT professionals, to take on an overgrown avocado orchard near Katikati in the Bay of Plenty, drawn by the weather and a change in lifestyle.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing with weather challenges and the high cost of harvesting the enormous trees.

While Ricou kept working remotely in IT, there was still a shortfall in income.

“We had a really good crop the first year, and then when I crunched all the numbers in the spreadsheet and I found out that we didn’t make any money that year, I was like, wow, if that’s a year that we’ve had a good crop and we didn’t make any money, then I’m not looking forward to a year we have a bad crop,” Rosamond said.

“Michele was threatening that I’d have to go and get another, a real job. And I was trying to avoid that … so I’m like, okay, so what else can we do?”

With encouragement from friends and support from Katch Katikati, which was keen to promote the region’s produce, they launched Avocado Tours.

Last year, they hosted 500 visitors to a guided walk through the orchard, peppered with Tim’s avocado anecdotes and facts about the fruit, finished off with a gourmet tasting of avocado-laced treats including bespoke ice cream and guacamole.

Keeping the tours simple and authentic is important, Rosamond told Country Life.

“Me being the grower and sharing all my learnings in my short time … a lot of people you know, get inspired by that.

“A lot of people dream … but not many people execute on those dreams.”

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Tours account for “a highly profitable” 25 percent of the orchard’s income and they hope it will become the main income stream in five years.

“Then we’re a bit more in control of our own destiny.

“I think if we’re expecting the avocado industry to all of a sudden go back to the heydays of 10 years ago, I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

But they do hope by sharing their passion for the fruit they can grow demand.

The couple grow the mainstream Hass variety on 260 trees coming up for 30 years old on 3.4ha.

Michele Ricou said the orchard today was quite different from when they first arrived.

“It was like going into one of those European cathedrals … even in summer, it was cold, and it was dark, and when we did the pruning, it was like the worst storm had ever come through.”

Rosamond has undertaken an extensive pruning programme to cut down the high cost of harvesting the giant trees, soaking up knowledge from other growers and online.

He’s found his corporate background does help despite the “quite overwhelming” scale of the jobs facing them in the orchard.

“In the corporate world, you might have weekly, monthly or quarterly goals that you might be focused on. You might even have an annual goal.

“Here I’m talking about having an eight-to-10-year goal. You’ve got to break things down into manageable chunks.”

Rosamond said he was used to soaking up information when working in the rapidly changing IT industry.

“So, in three years, it’s sort of been drinking from the fire hose, but I finally feel like now I’ve got enough information.

“I just need the experience of just applying what I’ve learned.”

Visitors enjoy the park-like grounds and the bird life as well as the nuts and bolts of a working orchard, he said.

“And we’ve got a great sustainability story to tell as well.”

Originally not a big fan of avocados, Rosamond’s now a convert with a mission to convert others.

“If we can help do our little bit to increase demand, I feel like we’re doing our little bit helping people live healthier lives by growing something that we know is good for people.”

Learn more:

• Learn more about Avocado Tours here

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

When you control the weather, it’s possible to keeping growing all year round, as large vegetable producer Leaderbrand has found out.

Since officially opening last April, its Future Farms facility in Gisborne has allowed it to grow salad greens 52 weeks of the year.

The innovative greenhouse technology essentially means they control the weather, its manager Billy Stackhouse told Country Life.

“You have more security every week of supply with something like this,” he said.

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Stackhouse has been with Leaderbrand for close to a fifth of the company’s 50-year history.

He said it’s been exciting to be part of the changes, including overseeing the Future Farms site coming together, which will help the team make “data-driven decisions” and grow better quality produce, more consistently.

The greenhouse requires no additional heating during the winter months, instead trapping warmth from the sun.

When Country Life visited, temperatures inside ranged between 33-34C, while outside it was several degrees cooler at 28C.

There are ways to manage the hot temperatures, as Stackhouse explained.

“[We’ve] just been putting on some shading spray on top of the greenhouse, so that helps take the heat and light out.”

The greenhouse also has a self-sufficient supply of rainwater harvested from the roof – an area spanning close to 11-hectares or about 15 rugby fields. The water is then transferred into a 50 million litre storage dam to be used for irrigation as needed throughout the year.

“We’re all on automated irrigation. So that’s all set up on a computer and I can manage that on a day-to-day basis.”

It’s staffed by a team of about six, including Stackhouse.

The greenhouse is designed so they can still operate 100 to 150 horsepower tractors inside.

“We have some electric machinery – an electric harvester and electric platforms, we call them, with trailers that go alongside the harvester and stack our crates.”

Technology, such as a steaming machine, has also helped with one of the most labour intensive tasks. With such great growing conditions, weeds are a pain for growers at any scale.

Learn more:

You can learn more about Te Aratipi Station, here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A coroner is again warning fishers to wear a lifejacket and not fish alone, after a man died when he was swept away at Omaha Beach, North Auckland.

Younchang Ko, 67, was fishing at his favourite spot, the estuary on Omaha Beach, on March 9, 2024 when he disappeared into the water.

He was found floating in the water some time later but couldn’t be revived.

A report by Auckland Coroner Erin Woolley released on Saturday, detailed the circumstances of Ko’s death, but couldn’t conclusively determine the cause.

“In accordance with the wishes of Younchang’s family, a lesser, rather than a full, post-mortem examination of Younchang’s body was carried out,” Woolley explained.

“The forensic pathologist who carried out the post-mortem explained that drowning is a medical diagnosis of exclusion that can only be made after a full post-mortem examination has been performed.”

Ko was found to have a heart disease, which made it unclear whether his cause of death was drowning or a heart complication.

On the day of Ko’s death, he was fishing alone.

“Other people at the beach saw him fishing in knee-deep water near the mouth of the estuary at the northern end of the beach. For the next three and a half hours, Younchang stood in the water fishing, and did not appear to reposition himself when the tide began to rise,” the Coroner wrote.

As the tide continued to rise and the current got stronger, Ko eventually called for help.

“A person nearby responded asking Younchang if he was okay, but he did not reply. He then went under the water and did not make any attempt to swim. He was still holding his fishing rod.”

One witness called emergency services while another entered the water to try and pull Ko out, but the current was too strong.

Eventually they lost sight of the fisherman, and lifeguards from the Omaha Surf Lifesaving Club later found him floating face-down in the water.

“One of the attending lifeguards noted that Younchang was wearing a full wetsuit with water shoes and a hat,” the Coroner detailed.

“When he was retrieved from the water, he still had a container attached to his arm, containing rope and possibly a bag of bait. He was not wearing a life jacket.”

Coroner Woolley said the case highlighted the importance of wearing a lifejacket and fishing in a group of at least two people.

“The longer a fisher can stay afloat, the more chance there is for emergency services or lifeguards to reach that person and successfully save their life. This is the single most effective measure for preventing drowning fatalities.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

If you’re fed up with Northern Hemisphere listicles on how to prepare for a cold Christmas, here’s a taste of what it takes to host a summer celebration

“When you love someone, you feed them.”

This from Colin Mathura-Jeffree, who is probably the country’s premier guest. He’s often paid to turn up to swanky functions, to have his photo taken with admirers (and there are many admirers), and to generally just be fabulous.

“It’s a privilege to be a guest,” he says. “You should never be entitled.”

But give him a choice, or a clash of events, and he’ll be at the neighbourhood bash or family do.

“I will drop everything … I will be there in a second, because it’s about my community,” he says.

However, Mathura-Jeffree has spotted lately a new and unwelcome trend.

“[Something] I’ve noticed creeping through my social situations are people that’ll arrive and almost sabotage the food story by saying something like, ‘well I can’t eat these kind of foods’, and ‘can we re-cater?’ or ‘I don’t like the smell of that’.

“It’s just attention-based.

“Don’t do that. Just harmonise with the party and don’t be a stand-out … just really feed the energy of a collective. And that’s what’s really important for Christmas.”

On Saturday’s episode of The Detail we’re talking about how to host a Kiwi Christmas with Mathura-Jeffree (I feel I know him well enough now to call him Colin) and Trudi ‘the Foodie’ Nelson, who has put on many a function of her own – many of which Colin has attended.

Nelson says most people with dietary needs will bring their own food, but she personally would make sure there is something for the gluten-free or vegan guest.

“That’s as easy as going and getting some cherry tomatoes, which are like little red baubles, and putting them on a big bed of … green leafy cos, or some nice fancy lettuces and just plonking the red baubles on the top and a bit of feta which is the red, white and green. There’s a GF dish right in one. It’s quite easy and it’s quite festive.”

Trudi agrees with Colin on the need for harmony.

“I think that’s a huge, huge word for Christmas, it’s a completely stressful time of year.”

Especially where family dynamics are involved, and especially if they’re staying with you.

“You’ve just got to smile, smile and smile some more. So get dressed in that red or green outfit, put on that festive hat. Look at yourself in the mirror before everyone arrives and just smile and say ‘you’ve got this’. Peace. Harmony.

“It’s amazing how far that will actually go, a great attitude. It actually works wonders. You might not have thought of every dish, you might not have the fancy napkins, but if you smile and just welcome people …. it’s absolutely key.”

When it comes to decor, Colin says it’s good to have a bit of an understanding of the theme.

“People want to walk into a wonderland … it can just be something quite petite and small or it can be magnificent … you know, one Kardashian-type mad room. People love that.”

So put your tree up. Trudi says there’s a life hack for that – lay out your decorations and get guests to pick one to place on the tree as they come in.

Both agree a wreath on the front door is essential.

Colin says he’s conscious now about waste, and says if it’s recyclable, it’s better.

Silver ferns and pohutukawa in a vase adds a real NZ touch, but Trudi says don’t go overboard. Her key words for the season are calm and cruisy.

But she also understands that the season isn’t for everyone – and she’s one of the many New Zealanders who will be alone this Christmas.

“I’m just hoping there will be people who open their doors to me, I’ve got family here for a couple of days but leading up to and straight after I’m on my own.

“I believe that if you can open up your door to extras this time of year, then far out … do it.”

Check out how to listen to and follow The Detail here.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Both the doctors and dentists’ union and Health New Zealand say their focus is to get back to the bargaining table to hash out a pay deal.

In September the health agency alleged the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists [ASMS] had breached the obligations of good faith.

It asked the Employment Relations Authority [ERA] to step in to settle a collective agreement — which it has decided not to.

The authority’s report on the matter, which was released on Friday afternoon, said the bar for it to step in was high.

“There are no findings of breaches of good faith which were sufficiently serious and sustained to significantly undermine the bargaining between HNZ and ASMS.”

ASMS executive director Sarah Dalton told RNZ it was time to get back to the bargaining table.

“We will be looking for them to arrange bargaining dates as soon as possible and we need to move on, we want to find a settlement that is acceptable to our members.”

Dalton said it would take a while to work through their issues.

“I think a really good process and an ability to engage properly in our claims and their responses to those claims are the things that are going to get this over the line at the end of the day.”

She hoped the ERA decision would help other unions have good faith negotiations with their employers.

Health New Zealand’s Robyn Shearer said the agency acknowledged the decision and was committed to resuming negotiations as soon as possible.

“Our focus remains on reaching a fair and affordable agreement for senior medical staff and for the wider health system.”

Shearer said the application was made in recognition of the desire to settle the agreement and avoid disruption to patients.

“We remain committed to avoiding disruption to health services and reaching a settlement with ASMS.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand