John started his working life as a journalist with the New Zealand Herald and NZBC before a 40-year career in the motor industry. In retirement he returned to writing, with a particular interest in New Zealand history. His first book – Smales’ Trail, an historical biography, was published in 2012, followed by When Toawaka Met Cook (co-author 2019), interspersed with writing and editing roles for a variety of papers, books and journals. In between fishing and reading, he remains active on heritage and historical projects in both Auckland and Mercury Bay where he lives.
Beach Clean up
Our group will be hosted by the National Aquarium of New Zealand to clean up litter along an area of Napier’s Marine Parade. The Aquarium is a participant in the nationwide litter intelligence programme that will involve us as “citizen scientists” collecting and categorising litter from the beachfront, contributing to a national database. The staff will give an insight into what type of litter is found on our beaches and how we could form our own monitoring sites becoming citizen scientists to help solve the problem of marine litter.
Grab Bags Emergency Kit Assembly
Our recent history has shown that environmental disasters can hit us at any time and happen more frequently. There is an awareness in the community that we need to be prepared, but don’t always know how.
Grab Bags is a Rotary First Light Community Group Growth Plan project meeting this need by providing emergency kits to families in the disaster-prone areas of Hawkes Bay and Tairawhiti.
We invite you to participate in the assembly of the bags at avenue near the Napier Conference Centre. Hear how our local Rotary Clubs have come together to make this project a reality and the opportunities for the project to be replicated in other regions. Enjoy the chance to fill emergency kits with essential items ready for distribution to vulnerable families.
