Te Wero ia Wenerei - the Wednesday Challenge is back for 2024, and because we’re early adopters of things that make us feel great, Gizzy Local has signed up as a business team. If you haven’t heard about it yet, the idea is a simple one.. Instead of driving yourself to work on Wednesdays, walk, ride, run, scooter, skate or carpool instead, you might even be tempted to see whether you can bus! You can then log your journey, earn points for your team, track your achievements and compete against the rest of the Tairāwhiti business community (including the fiercely competitive Gizzy Local team) on the Challenge leaderboards. The reasons for choosing alternative means of transport to cars are two-fold right? Better for us, (both our physical and mental health) and better for our environment. When I walk or ride to work, my day is unquestionably better, my head is clearer, and I’ll often problem solve away something that’s been troubling me. The same goes for the way home, providing me with a positive way to transition back into homelife at the end of a hectic day. It also means I have done my ‘cardio’ - tick! and don’t have to fit it elsewhere into my day. Winning. We can always find plenty of reasons why it’s easier to just jump in the car, but if lots of us sign up to the Challenge, some of those excuses may start to lose their potency... Imagine if we notice less congestion on our roads on Wednesdays, and the roads feel safer for us cyclists?! And with more people rocking helmet hair, can we make it the next big thing?! However you look at it, this is a great way for businesses and organisations in our community to lead by example, have some fun and do some good. We hope you’ll join us! To find out more go to: https://www.wednesdaychallenge.co.nz/tairawhiti and if you’re keen to set up a business team contact Te Wero ia Wenerei Project Manager Harley Dibble at harley@rtrotairawhiti.nz Te Wero ia Wenerei is funded by Trust Tairāwhiti and run by the Tairāwhiti Environment Centre - Thanks guys!

NOise VACANCY is a conceptual sound art project executed by Tairāwhiti artists and musicians. The project recognises the growing number of vacant and neglected spaces in our city centre and the social impact of this. It gives a voice to the whakapapa of these spaces and invites the community to engage in a sensory experience that examines the relationship between sound, art, space and people. NOise VACANCY 2024 moves outside the walls of an individual building to inhabit the open spaces, vacant spots or hidden corners in our CBD. BRIEF: Artists will create site-specific sound art that is responsive to vacant or neglected city space, at a location within the designated area. The artist’s chosen site will inform the creative process, the method of sound delivery, the sonic outcome, and how it is presented/performed for audiences on the night. The artists will attune to the site and use the history, stories, and acoustic or architectural character to develop ideas. NOise VACANCY 2024 will take place across our CBD in public city spaces. See the highlighted area on map (anything within the boundaries of Grey Street - Childers Road - Reads Quay - Cycleway - Palmerston Road). Click on this link to find artist proposal process details and fill out the form to apply to be a part of Gizzy's most exciting underground arts event of the year!

The 'doof' 'doof' sound that emanates when someone is constantly bouncing a basketball can sound strangely melodic or it can drive you insane! And when dozens of tamariki are bouncing basketballs en masse as they weave their way around obstacle courses every Saturday morning as part of Gisborne Basketball Association's Rising Stars programme, you'd assume the cacophony of noise would see blood pressure levels go through the roof for those observing. Strangely that's not the case. Instead, those watching are captivated by the sight of all of those young people having great fun, connecting with one another, and developing lifelong skills. The Rising Stars programme is just one of the dozens of activities that will benefit from an indoor centre here in Tairāwhiti. This Thursday 15 February, a rally is being held at the YMCA from 5:30pm. The purpose of the rally is to display the breadth of community support for the building of such a facility. Why a rally now? Well for over 30 years (perhaps longer), attempts have been made by various community champions to do just that - build an indoor centre that consists of a few indoor courts and amenities that can be used for multiple purposes. Ultimately, through no fault of those driving the kaupapa, these attempts have all failed. It's time to say loudly as a community that we can no longer wait! When I think of civic facilities that every large town or city should have, I think of a library, swimming pool, museum/gallery, theatre and indoor centre. That's the perfect combination! Safe spaces where people can come together, have fun, feel a sense of community, build social cohesion, be inspired and boost their well-being. Our region has done well on the theatre front in recent years, the library was redeveloped, and the newly opened Kiwa pools are a sight to behold and a place to be proud of. Yet an indoor centre still eludes us. We know that as a region we struggle economically and money is hard to come by. Yet small communities such as Wairoa and Te Kuiti, with less than a quarter of our population, have managed to build great indoor facilities that are highly utilised. There are further examples all over the country. We have one publicly-accessible indoor court run by the YMCA. This is the worst ratio in the country. The YMCA has done an awesome job ensuring their court can be hired by so many community groups, but if it wasn't also for schools hiring out their spaces, many of our sporting leagues would have fallen over ages ago. Schools can have trouble maintaining their sites though, there can be difficulties with access, and most of their facilities aren't fully specced for the sports that use them. Following the cyclone our region has some massive critical infrastructure challenges. The members of the Tairāwhiti Indoor Centre Advocacy Group who are organising the rally understand that. The scale of investment and support required for roading, flood protection schemes, township and marae relocation planning can feel overwhelming. However, we can't keep putting the wellbeing of our communities into the 'nice-to-have' category. We saw after Covid lockdowns and the cyclone just how important it was for so many people in our community to re-connect through doing the activities that they love. It was absolute necessary. So somehow, we need to find a way to prioritise the development of an indoor centre alongside those critical infrastructure needs, and push for them both to receive support from Central and Local Government, national philanthropists, and regional funders. Not having an indoor centre is already hurting our community. Sporting and recreation leagues have had to turn away teams, growth has been curtailed, and new opportunities can't be explored. Having kids from Te Waiu school in Ruatorea being turned away from basketball last year when they were willing to travel two-hours one way in order to play, is a heart- breaking example of that. All this as indoor sport participation is booming across the rest of the country! Volleyball, basketball, indoor football/futsal, pickleball - to name but a few. An indoor centre would also allow greater opportunities for kapa haka, dance, ethnic festivals, youth and senior citizen programmes etc. If we had an indoor centre, it would create an opportunity for conferences and tournaments to be held, which are much-used ways of injecting a much-needed financial boost into regional economies via accommodation and hospitality spending by visitors. We also know there are many whānau who struggle to support their tamariki and rangatahi to travel out of the region for tournaments. How nice would it be to alleviate some of that financial hardship by hosting inter-regional tournaments here in Tūranganui-a-Kiwa for a change? At the moment, the Gisborne District Council is overseeing a feasibility study into the development of an indoor centre, in conjunction with partners such as Sport Gisborne Tairāwhiti and Sport NZ. That will help determine the need for such a centre, how it could be configured and where it should be located. I have deliberately avoided talking about the possible site locations, as often we can get hung up on that, but as a community we've reached the stage where we can make the indoor centre a success regardless of whether it's at Waikirikiri Park, the old Olympic Pool site or somewhere else. And it needs to be acknowledged that the relationship and input from mana whenua will be critical in that. We know the cost is likely to be $20 million plus to build, which is why we need to target funders far and wide for support. At the rally we'll have film crews and media capturing the crowds and speeches from various community groups that would benefit from an indoor centre. We need to send a powerful message to those we need support from. So if you feel passionate about the cause, please come on down and join us at the YMCA this Thursday from 5.30pm. It's going to be informative and fun, and you won't have to worry about the weather conditions outside - just another benefit of an indoor centre for our region! Story by Stefan Pishief Images supplied

Te Weu Tairāwhiti is a collective of local researchers and actionists here in Te Tairāwhiti. Since 2021 the charitable trust has been encouraging residents and communities to look at the risks posed by extreme weather events to our region. Since then they’ve produced resources to assist local conversations about climate change and land use, supported residents to initiate changes in land use policy and plans, and have been involved in a number of climate resilience research projects, the lessons from which will be presented at the Tairāwhiti Resilience Research Symposium being held at the new Midway Community Hub in Gisborne next week. The Symposium will be an opportunity for locals, policy makers and researchers to engage with the evidence and stories that have been collected through various research projects. One of the researchers that will be presenting is Professor Holly Thorpe, who notes the importance of these lessons being used and shared locally and, “not just by central government”. Over the course of two days we’ll hear from researchers who conducted in-depth interviews that focused on what happened during and after the series of extreme weather events in early 2023 and the impacts on the health and wellbeing of individuals, whānau and communities in the region. The initial findings from the study will be shared alongside a similar set of interviews in Hawkes Bay and an analysis of official health records and data from the two regions. We’ll also hear from Haukapuanui Vercoe, a post-graduate researcher from the University of Auckland who will be presenting his research that looks at the natural hazard resilience of marae, as well as Ministry of Health officials, MPs for the region, and representatives from GDC, Manaaki Tairāwhiti, Manaaki Matakaoa, CCS Disability Action, Muriwai Haumaru Rōpū, Tautua Village, Tairāwhiti Technology Trust and others. As Renee Raroa, a Te Weu Tairāwhiti trustee says, “we don’t know how long it will be before the next extreme weather event so it is important to reflect on what happened, what we need more of and what can be done differently in the future”. This symposium is a really important step in our ongoing recovery, providing a space for the conversation about how we build more local research capability and capacity going forward into the future. The Tairāwhiti Resilience & Research Symposium is being held at the Midway Community Hub on Thursday 15 February, 8:30 am - 4:30pm and Friday, 16 February 8:30am - 4:30 pm. Attendance is free but numbers are limited. You can register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ka-mua-ka-muri-tairawhiti-resilience-research-symposium-tickets-805970959837

We don’t imagine many Tairāwhiti locals are taking this summer we’re having for granted. We’ve all probably had at least one, if not many, conversations about the summer we didn’t get to have last year, “the non-summer of 2023”. As we approach the one-year anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle our memories of that time, and the days and weeks that followed, will undoubtedly resurface. And while it is an important part of the process to remember, and commemorate, it is even more useful to look at what has emerged and grown in its wake, and how we’re continuing to evolve for our future. Aimed at doing all of those things, Te Weu, a charitable trust focused on sustainable land use and climate change in Tairāwhiti, has organised a series of events aimed at reflecting on the past, understanding the present, and envisioning a resilient future, running from Friday 9 - Friday 16 February. ‘Ka Mua, Ka Muri’ will include a two day research symposium, a series of community hui showcasing local research undertaken over the past year, and a creative collaboration and exhibition for regional climate and community initiatives. This weekend an eclectic group of creative minds are arriving in our region to lend their expertise and passion to local climate resilience projects, with the aim of elevating extreme weather preparedness discussions and supporting local groups that are actively engaged in sustainable land use and adaptation planning. The initiative is in partnership with Toi Aria, the centre for social impact design at Massey University and will look like a fusion of art, design, music, and storytelling. The visiting creatives include design researcher, educator, and founder of Toi Āria, Professor Anna Brown, cartoonist and social commentator Toby Morris, jazz singer and graphic designer Wallace Gollan, journalist Michelle Duff, writer Ingrid Horrocks, designer and illustrator Hanna Breurkes, visual communication designer Kirsten Browne, digital producer Emma Bossley, designer and illustrator Jean Donaldson, writer and art collaborator Tim Corballis, photographers Johanna Mechen and David Cook, and photographic artist Jonathan Kay. They will be grouped with local artists and community initiatives, Slash For Cash, Radice Soil Solutions, Ngahere Network, Exchange Cafe, Tāiki E! Next Gen Escapes, East Coast Exchange, Te Kautuku, Circular Economy Mission, Tairāwhiti Bioeconomy Project, Tōtaranui Nama Ono Trust and a wāhine water focussed collaboration out of Uawa. Visiting and local creatives will work with their respective community groups over the course of the weekend, workshopping ideas and creating works, culminating in an exhibition and performance event at 6pm, Sunday 11 February at Midway Community Hub. Public are invited to attend this free event. Stay tuned to learn more about The Tairāwhiti & Extreme Weather Research Symposium, which will also at the new Midway Community Hub on February 15 and 16. It will be free to attend but has limited numbers - registrations can be sent to info@teweu.nz or phone/txt: 0274202957 For more details about all of these events head to www.kamuakamuri.nz and to find out more about Te Weu charitable trust, and access some of the excellent resources they have compiled around land use, check out teweu.nz.

As incredible displays of unity, of kotahitanga, continue to take place around the country, here in Tūranga, Gisborne, we’ve got an opportunity to deepen our own understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi this Waitangi Day, at Waitangi Day at The Pa. This Wananga Waitangi is an awesome response to the growing realisation that we need to better understand the history of how our nation was formed. All are welcome to come along for a day of learning and discussion about Te Tiriti o Waitangi with local presenters, Dr Wayne Ngata, Tauira Takurua and Morehu Pewhairangi. Shaan Te Kani will open the hui with a kōrero about her tipuna Rawiri Te Eke tu o te rangi who was a signatory of Te Tiriti, and in whose wharenui this gathering will take place. Dr Wayne Ngata will share his perspective of Te Tiriti, aiming to encourage discussion and exchange amongst those gathered. Tauira Takurua will share his interpretation of the tipuna Tuini Ngawai and the waiata that she composed about Te Tiriti. Morehu Pewhairangi and a rangatahi group will also be running a Rangatahi/taiohi discussion about te Tiriti at the same time in the Wharekai. If you are a young person wanting to join a collective of Taiohi/ Rangatahi here in Te Tairāwhiti creating events and workshops based on current events, head to the Toitū Tairāwhiti TAIOHI Facebook page, and fill in the survey on that page to stay in the loop! This Waitangi Day hui is open for all.  If you are bringing little ones, please bring toys and things to keep them amused. At Te Poho-o-Rawiri, Tuesday February 6, 9am - 2pm. Kai will be provided and a koha would be appreciated. We’ll see you there!

Te Tairāwhiti Arts Festival is back in February with its Whiti Season, running from February 2-11. Seth Haapu, the brilliant Māori and Tahitian musician who is making waves with his sound of “Pacific Soul” will open the season with his Tairāwhiti debut and exclusive summer performance. Haapu is a prolific songwriter and producer who has worked behind the scenes, both creating songs and producing for artists such as Sons of Zion, Stan Walker, Maisey Rika, and Teeks. His work extends into film and television, with a catalogue that has surpassed 40 million streams on Spotify alone. In 2018, Haapu received the ‘Kaitito Waiata Māori Autaia’ (Best Māori Songwriter) award at the 11th annual Waiata Māori Music Awards. His collaboration with Maisey Rika earned him the 2021 APRA Maioha Award. He has shared the bill with Crowded House and supported John Legend, played WOMAD Aotearoa and Chile in 2018 and took part in the Finest of Aotearoa tours in Hawaii, Las Vegas and his ancestral home of Tahiti. In 2023, ‘Rongoā’ from his latest album 'Whai Ora' earned him Te Tohu Manu Tioriori Tāne Autaia (Best Māori Male Solo Artist) at the Waiata Māori Music Awards and it is this album that Seth Haapu will perform at Lawson Field Theatre on February 2. Described as a sonic journey of healing, reconnection and aroha, blending taonga pūoro with digital magic, audiences are invited to immerse themselves in a coastal cruise, where liquid velvet meets R&B rhythms. Find Seth Haapu’s music on YouTube or Spotify, gather a crew and some tickets for a night of oranga and connection. Tickets can be found here: https://tetairawhitiartsfestival.nz/events/seth-haapu/

I'd like to wax sentimental about a little community who make an unlikely and yet wonderful thing happen: most Friday mornings, I meet a motley group of runners and walkers at the wee hour of 5:55 am in the lower car park of Titirangi to climb stairs. It’s a little bit punishing and a lot rewarding and I love that it exists, making Gizzy a little more of a heartthrob each week. (Me mihi ka tika ki te Mana Whenua Ngāti Oneone, te kaitiaki o Titirangi Maunga.) Let me step back a bit so you don’t discount this as being “for serious runners only.” Yes, I’m a runner in that it’s my preferred method of fitness and wellness. But I’ve never done a serious thing in my life, running included and even I do Friday Stairs! I’m the chatty runner near the back of almost any pack. I often “just want to finish” a run. Lots of my body jiggles when I run. I don’t have time goals for races; instead, I want to “be the happiest one out there.” And that’s a challenge for sure, because like anything physically demanding, sometimes I find myself falling into a blackhole somewhere in my brain or heart, along with every ounce of energy or motivation I’ve ever had or will ever have in the future. Sucked into that cosmic vacuum goes the desire to run whatever stupid race I’m stupidly registered to run later in the year. Suddenly I don’t even want to run to the next driveway. And surely you’ll be able to substitute your challenging thing in here, but running with people – even people faster than me, and there’s no shortage of those – has a power much stronger than the blackhole. The Friday Stairs smiles greet me and suddenly I’m as weightless as a bobbing pool toy, ready to blow away by even a suggestion of a breeze. I am alarmingly out of breath when I arrive at the lower carpark from shuffling up the hill, but the Friday Stairs peeps would never call attention to that. We might talk about the near miss with the alarm clock, still yawning with the sleep we haven’t quite shaken. With about a minute to go, we greet the new-comers (there’s always a fresh face), and we give everyone the lowdown about what’s about to happen. We also might have some news, like “Hey good luck to the people who are doing [insert thing] this weekend!” or “there are a group of us who are going to do a walk/run/whatever out at [insert place] so if you want to tag along…” The wonderful thing about Friday Stairs is it’s a gateway drug to the cool kids who know what’s up and where to go for free outdoorsy adventures. And there’s always room for one more. Now it’s 6:01 and we head off to the first set of stairs. And while we’re all doing this together, it’s easy for walkers and runners of all speeds and fitness to join in because we all do our own thing. Think you’re too slow. Guess what? Nope. It’s less about keeping up with anyone and all about letting them be your buoys, even if it’s a “well done, Sarah” as they fly past. The speedsters might get 5 climbs in while the walkers might get 2. You know who’s counting? No one! After about 10-12 minutes, we regroup at the lookout, whoops going out to each of us as we drag ourselves up those last two flights. Once everyone is together, we start off again, this time to the very top, either by trail or along the road. Are you pushing yourself this morning? Off you go, then. Feel like giving yourself a little break? Guess who’s judging you? You get it – no one. We do that top staircase for another 10 or so minutes and then it’s time for our 6-7 minutes of core exercises. Again, everything is scaled so we do what we can, grunting and hanging on. I can practically hear the others saying, “Don’t you go in that blackhole!” Maybe they’re talking to me? Maybe to themselves. We’re all in it together and we’ll get out of it together, too. Just another twenty seconds… And then comes my favourite part of the week, the effortless victory run (jog) down the hill. Man, I never feel so gazelle-like as at 6:45 on Friday morning and Stairs are done. Nowhere do I feel more accepted as a “runner,” as heroic as Roger Bannister, despite being ridiculously underqualified and lacking all required heroism or toughness as when I’m flying (plodding) down that hill. It simply doesn’t matter that my friend, a literal gazelle, and I, a literal penguin, ran a significantly different amount of stairs this morning. We both got up and got here and did our literal best. The glorious Gizzy morning sky is shining down on both of us in the same way. We fought off the blackhole and are laughing about something, Friday Stairs done for another week, a whole week away until next Friday. We ride that runners high all the way to Raglan Roast and with the tail ends of those endorphins mixed with caffeine coursing through our veins, we head into our separate mornings all over Gisborne, as light as pool toys being carried away on the wind. So that’s my love letter to Friday Stairs. And like objects of a love letter, you love them because they make you feel deserving and heroic and seen. I hope you’ll pop by and get to know the Friday Stairs, and the weekly sunrise that greets us on the maunga. And as beautiful as the sky’s pastel colours are, or the wintertime shimmer-bright constellations, so are the happy faces. We’re happy because you’re there. Friday Stairs are free and open to walkers and runners of all speeds. We meet at 5:55 am at the lower car park every Friday, rain, hail or shine (barring dangerous weather). Photos by Mike and Harry Roe.

If you’ve got any kind of penchant for old stuff, local history, kitchen appliances, automobiles or machinery; if you’ve been haunted by visions of iron lung machines, dreamt of becoming an inventory, are a boy racer, photographer, typographer or have any imagination whatsoever, you will probably find something to tickle your fancy at ECMOT, our very own Museum of Technology here in Te Tairāwhiti. The museum is kept going by a group of dedicated volunteers, and while they’d swear they aren’t artists, there’s a strange sculptural beauty in the forms of piled and sorted exhibits. Need to entertain the parents? Need to entertain the kids? Need to entertain yourself? East Coast Museum of TechnologyOpen Saturdays and Sundays during summer. And on Sunday 28 January head along to their Live Day to see the technologies of the past come to life with exhibits like stationary engines, Amateur Radio, Computers & Games, vintage cars, Firetrucks and more! At 67 Main Road, Makaraka, Gisborne10am - 4pm Cost - $2 - $10

Council has launched a campaign called “For Tairāwhiti With Aroha” to bring some positive support to our region as we near the 1-year anniversary of Cyclone Gabrielle. Impacts from the cyclone are still being felt today, along with continued vulnerability of individuals, communities and infrastructure. The campaign encourages people from Tairāwhiti to share their stories about what happened in the cyclone as well as to share their messages of support for others in the region. We’d also love it if people from across the country  shared messages of love and support. The campaign is also looking for Tairāwhiti Superheroes. These could be people who went above and beyond during the storm and afterwards, people who supported individuals or communities or those who are still supporting people affected by the cyclone. Nominations close on Tuesday 16 January. You can help share the aroha in the following ways: Send your messages of aroha and support - visit gdc.nz/sendyourlove, scroll down to 'post your story' and share. Tell a story or share a memory about your experience during and after Cyclone Gabrielle. Nominate a local superhero who stood out for you or your community during and following Cyclone Gabrielle. Encourage someone you know to share their love and support/stories. Council is also producing a keepsake booklet that will include stories and photos with a timeline of the event we all went through. A copy will be delivered to every household in Te Tairāwhiti by 14 February 2024. Council is looking for volunteers to help with the delivery of the booklet. To register your interest please contact Sophie Rishworth at sophie.rishworth@gdc.govt.nz or call 0800 653 800 LINKS Superhero Awards | Send your aroha | Participate (gdc.govt.nz) Send your aroha | Participate (gdc.govt.nz)

My name is Haley Maxwell and I was born in Tūranganui ā Kiwa back in May 1981. From my name alone you would probably picture someone who looks the opposite to me. So growing up I never felt like my name and my soul ever truly connected. So Hailz is what most people call me and what I prefer to be called. When I was born I was the third child to Henry Maxwell and Christine Boyd, and in 1982 our parents married and moved us all to South Auckland for dad to pursue his passion playing rugby. My siblings and I returned to Gizzy every holiday to stay with our grandparents under the shelter of Titirangi Maunga, on Ranfurly Road, in Kaiti. We were sometimes labelled ‘city slickers’ by some whānau but Nan and Pāpā’s whare was a safe haven, a kōhanga reo and a place where we were fortunate to hear Te Reo Māori and able to see our culture. The view from their whare was Te Poho o Rawiri Marae and sitting out front under the Pohutukawa tree with our Pāpā, looking over the road at the marae and maunga with the thick smell of the works in the air, is one of my fondest memories. The rest of our world however, was very different. We attended kindergarten and mainstream schools, like the majority of other kids that looked like us and sounded like us. I remember feeling like I never belonged and always felt like something was missing, I was a bit lost! I was 11 years old when I realised it was my Māoritanga that I was missing. Thankfully our oldest sister chose to enrol into an intermediate with a Māori bilingual unit, Te Whānau o Tupuranga. She unknowingly paved the way for all of us, opening our everyday lives to our culture, reconnecting us to our Māori world. It was in this precious space that I learned of the Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it was also here that the seed was planted and the feeling of belonging and fulfilment grew.  The whakatauki, or motto for our learning space said “Ka ruia te kākāno ki te rangatahi kia tipu ai te hua whangaia ki ngā tipuranga.”  Plant the seed in the young and it will grow and flourish for future generations.  We are now an embodiment of this whakatauki, instilled in us from the very beginning of our journey. Because of this experience, at 14 years old I made the decision to relocate to Tūranganui ā Kiwa to reconnect and learn more about who I am as a descendant of Ngāti Porou. From a lost little girl to now, a 42 year old mother of 6 beautiful children and one precious mokopuna, and a very proud advocate of our reo and culture. It has not been easy, nor perfect, but the journey of reclamation has been worth it for the wellbeing of my children and now my mokopuna. Te Tiriti o Waitangi to me, is an agreement between tangata whenua and the crown, a partnership that promises to look after and protect the wellbeing and prosperity of all things that are precious to me as a Māori.  It is a legal agreement that our partners have breached and abused for 183 years now, and I fear for the future of my mokopuna as the current government threatens again to strip us of the little bit of taonga, wealth and health that we cling to. Early last December, Kiri Waititi put a call out via social media to all Māori influencers to help activate a movement called Toitu Te Tiriti. A movement that is Tipuna inspired, Tiriti led, Mana Motuhake driven and Mokopuna focussed. Giving those who heard this call only a few days to activate a hikoi to take place on the 5th of December across Aotearoa. Myself and another local māmā heeded to this call as we both saw that Te Tairāwhiti had not responded and within 18 hours to go we managed to organise and activate our Tairāwhiti Toitū Te Tiriti movement and community. Now, I don't consider myself a Māori influencer at all, nor am I an expert on Te Tiriti. But when your head, heart and puku align with a kaupapa that you truly believe in, all you need to do is have courage, stand up, put your hand up, show up and speak up. The next event will be held at Te Poho o Rawiri Marae on Waitangi day, Feb 6th 2024. Aunty Charlotte Gibson has extended the invitation for all to attend this kaupapa. Toitū Te Tiriti is not a political movement, it is an activation to educate, learn, and read; to unite to stand and speak for a better partnership, for a better relationship between tangata whenua and tangata Tiriti. For all manuhiri or guests who our tipuna welcomed and happily agreed to share what they treasured and had looked after for generations, it is time to be better partners, it is time to meet us halfway, it is time to stand with us in our time of need. Just recently I visited the newly amended art piece in Te Papa Wellington. Some call it vandalism but for me it is a powerful statement that has created an awareness, discussion, debate and knowledge about Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the many injustices we have endured as a people. I sat there amongst many non-Māori who had no idea that the Treaty existed, as well as people who weren’t aware that the English translation did not reflect the Māori version that over 500 Māori chiefs had supported and signed. The Toitū Te Tiriti movement is open for anyone to be a part of, whether you are Māori or non Māori. It’s about us learning together, supporting each other, and getting out and talking about it with our friends and whānau. Find like minded people and BE about it together. We all have to be willing to learn, and know that it’s an emotional journey that may take you to places that make you feel angry, sad and a little bit mad. Sit with it and know that the only way forward is to first go back, to reflect and feel as humans. Starting to learn te reo Māori might be as simple as learning how to pronounce words properly and some of the rich history of the town that we live in. Together we can honour this agreement, united we can create an Aotearoa Hou that looks and feels more uniquely like US, as the treaty intended. Toitū Te Tiriti! By Haley Maxwell Toitū Te Tiriti Hikoi photo by Lara Mua.

Crepes are a blank canvas, you can do anything with them. So, Leslynne Jackson and her team at Petals Café have created sweet and savoury works of art on crepe canvases, beautifully presented on delicate China plates, served with your choice of coffee, fragrant tea, or wine if you prefer. Tucked away, almost secretly, there are two rooms upstairs with comfy Victorian settees that make one feel like a Queen having high tea. And that's just what Leslynne wants, for people to feel like they're being treated, to great service and fresh seasonal, local produce. With Covid and cyclones, Gisborne has been hard hit. Lives, homes and businesses have been lost. It's easy to give in to that feeling of defeat, but as Leslynne says, we all want a vibrant community.  Somehow we have to hold this paradise of ours together and find solutions. We so often travel out of town to get that city fix, but we need to remind ourselves that we don't actually need to leave town for great food and wine experiences. We really do have it all here on our doorstep. Petals Café has been Leslynne’s way of connecting more with her own whānau. She and her husband Hamish owned the Brunton Road Winery for 10 years and loved it.  But with their daughter living so far in the opposite direction, up in Kaiaua, it was a long way to travel in between visits. So Leslynne and Hamish sold the vineyard, and moved into town to start a new family business. They haven’t given up on producing their own wine however and Petals rosè, chardonnay and merlot are all served up at Petals Café. ‘Petal’ is Leslynne’s daughter Sarah's nickname. Between being a mum and farm life, Sarah takes care of Petals Café’s web design and social media. You can follow Petals on Facebook and Instagram. Leslynne works at Petals part time, as the “general dog’s body” she says, as she sings her staff’s praises. Kerry Ellis and Ella Chrisp Nichols are the chefs, and Jerome Haenga and Stewart Lloyd the baristas. Son, Dylan works as the kitchenhand after schoold, and I even saw Hamish on vacuuming duty when I went in for my second round of pancakes. (I couldn’t try the savoury without following with the sweet, of course!) Leslynne gets huge enjoyment in witnessing the joy and connection between friends and family in the café.  It's a nice escape from her 9 to 5 job as the programme lead at Manaaki Tairāwhiti. Having worked in the social sector for 30 years, in both government and community, Leslynne notes that Petals Café is just another form of community caring. It's all manaaki really… Manaaki Tairāwhiti is a collective governance group who look for opportunities to improve social outcomes. This is unique to Te Tairāwhiti as an Iwi-led, place based initiative. While it's not easy to summarise the Manaaki Tairāwhiti kaupapa nor the impact they have on our community into a paragraph, the purpose behind their mahi is to enable all whānau to flourish. Their approach to doing this is to find the barriers in systems and then pass that on to the relevant local leaders and funders in order to improve those services.  To change systems is often to reduce bureaucracy and helping whānau navigate complex systems to get what they need. Leslynne credits Ron Nepe, Moira Brown and Judy Campbell for enabling her team to do what they do. Having worked with the team myself in a previous life, I can tell you first-hand that what they are doing is incredible, often thankless and unseen. In these last days of another big year in Te Tairāwhiti, we want to say Kia ora to the wider team at Manaaki Tairāwhiti, and you, Leslynne who do so much in our community. I highly recommend you gather your friends, your whānau, and head down to Petals Café for some crepes, a delicious drink, and a good helping of manaaki. Story by Aimee Vickers Photographs by Tom Teutenberg