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Current News ..... April 2008 No.45 ...........................................Picture: The new Sensory Garden A Most Enjoyable Day March 9 dawned bright and was a perfect day for the Herb day/Funky Junk twin bill at the Quarry. A steady stream of visitors, including many families, came through the gates during the day. Herb stalls occupied the Pavillion Lawn, including the Katikati and Tauranga Herb Societies. Up around the amphitheatre the entries in the Funky Junk competition were on display. There were over 30 entries, which were of a much higher quality than last year. The winners were the recycled houses (see photo) made from tea and cereal boxes (someone drank a lot of Black Adder tea!); and dinosaurs (small ones) made from machine parts. The People's Choice was again won by Mary Parkinson and her grandchildren. Mary was on duty at the butterfly house tagging butterflies. This was a popular place for families. It was exciting watching butterflies emerging from their chrysalises and if you were lucky you got to hold a butterfly on your hand after it had been tagged before it flew away in search of nectar. The butterflies are proving to be as popular as the orchid collection. During the day a series of workshops were held in the Pavillion highlighting what we can do to be more sustainable in our lives. The Wild Weed Walk was conducted by Jenny Ager-Pratt of the Katikati Herb Society. Participants were introduced to weeds and herbs in the herb garden and learnt about their uses for maintaining general health. Members of the Tauranga Herb Society showed how tussie mussies (small bouquets made of herbs and flowers) are made and participants made their own bouquets. Composting and worm farming were covered in two workshops by Nicole Masters. Nicole used to raise worms near Katikati but now lives in Hawkes Bay. She was sponsored by the Tauranga City Council. Nicole was very impressed with our worm farm which is looked after by Shirley Sparks. Chas Kerr rounded out the programme with a talk on composting toilets. Participants were interested in toilets for home use. Francis Young Many of us have versions of the story of ‘The Dragon” at the Te Puna Quarry Park. My own goes back to about 1999. The steep clay bank, overgrown with wattles and gorse, behind the area that Chloe Wright volunteered to develop, was a problem. She planned and planted the sweet-smelling ‘port-wine' hedge, the daphne, the flowering cherry trees, and the lawn. In discussion with our fabulous local sculptor Roger Bullot, she and he decided to turn the bank into a large dragon, with plantings of ground cover. Roger was commissioned to design and sculpt the head, legs and claws, the shoulder, hips and tail in Hinuera stone. This he did, to great effect. Quite soon after the work was done, a little boy was heard to ask his dad, “When is the rest of the dragon going to come out?” We all knew it was there, but how to make it show? Over the years many different plantings were tried. Weeds kept on coming through. Working bees on The Dragon were numerous. Nothing seemed to work successfully. Meantime, Tom kept teasing us with remarks like, “Concrete the damn thing.” I teased him back as he seemed to lack any artistic/gardening appreciation! However, Tom was right. Eventually we consulted once more with Roger about creating a Dragon garden–sculpture. With grants from Creative Tauranga, and Bay Trust, a number of fantastic willing volunteers and Roger's expertise, a 10-day workshop was held and a magnificent 16-metre sculpture has emerged. It was unveiled by Bay Trust board member Adrienne von Tunzelmann and Chloe Wright, together at the celebration of our 11 th birthday since hands-on work started at the Quarry Park. We extend very sincere thanks to all those people who have helped us to achieve this goal. Shirley Sparks What's Happening in the Quarry The Dragon: He's big (16 meters long), he's quiet and gentle and not dangerous, he does not fly and he walks and moves by magic and he's a nearly finished sculptural masterpiece. If you haven't seen him yet you should make a point of it. He's “our” dragon at the east picnic lawn. We're going to clean up his hinuera stone head and clean his teeth, and sculptor Roger Bullot is going to seal coat the new concrete body. In our research Roger and I have come to the conclusion that our dragon is an Asian one - much more benign throughout history than European dragons, most of whom fly and are pretty aggressive. Another point is that dragons keep their real names secret - they may have nicknames but we are not allowed to know their real names. (a bit like “Dog” in “Footrot Flats”!) The Sensory Garden: You have probably noticed the construction just off the edge of the carpark. This is a sensory garden for totally blind and sight impaired people and also for people in wheelchairs. It has a concrete path with raised gardens on each side and has been planted with small plants and bushes that blind people can smell and touch. It is a project organised by the Rotary Club of Otumoetai in association with the Tauranga Rotary Club, the Lion Foundation, the Foundation for the Blind, Palmers Garden Centre (Bethlehem), Daltons Garden & Landscape Supplies, and Western Bay of Plenty District Council and our Society which made the site available. Plant Theft: We have over the years suffered a small amount of plant theft but recently we have come across some very blatant theft of plants by “people who should know better”! Shirley confronted two very well dressed ladies openly walking out with plants in plastic bags who gave the impression they were quite within their rights, but too often we only notice gaps where special plants were. We ask all visitors to keep their eye's open and if they see individuals taking plants take a note of their car registration and we will arrange a discussion! Safe Working Practices: On 8th April the Tuesday volunteers had a visit from two people from the Accident Compensation Commission's (ACC) Injury Prevention Group, and we discussed a whole range of things relating to safe working practices. We should now be more aware of our responsibilities to ourselves and others, or in ACC's terms our “Duty of Care”. Pests (plant s, animal s but so far not people): We are currently in consultation with Western Bay of Plenty District Council and the Regional Council (Environment BOP) about planning a coordinated approach to the control of plant and animal pests. Rabbits, possums and plants like woolly nightshade are currently our main worries and they are getting ahead of the time availability of most of us. Part of the discussion - particularly with Environment BOP concerns the formation of a Care Group which entitles us to formal support in our pest control endeavours. Chas Kerr March 2008 has seen the progress of ‘The Sensory Garden' from an idea to a sketch plan on paper, through discussions and persuasions, fundraising, donations and a lot of organisation to an emerging asset for the Quarry Park. This was an unused area with a delightful distant backdrop view over the rolling Te Puna landscape to the hills beyond. It is soon going to be a place offering people an immediate opportunity to smell, feel and get in amongst plants that reward the senses of those who cannot always see them very well. The Rotary Club of Otumoetai has combined with the Foundation for the Blind to put their time and effort into this project. It is now well and truly up and running. (They certainly kept Te Puna builder Rob Brown up and running to stay ahead of them last week!) Take note of those beautifully mitred joins in the timber that creates the curve of the centre path – another job well done. Rotary volunteers provided person-power and equipment under direction from Chas Kerr, who has put hours into this project. Dalton's Garden and Landscape Supplies contributed the potting mix to fill the beds so created and Palmer's Garden Centre offered to contribute carefully and thoughtfully chosen plants that will smell and feel good to touch. How we appreciate the understanding and knowledge that goes into creating a garden that does not have to be seen in order to be enjoyed. We salute and thank you all. Shirley Sparks Unfortunately I must also report that other people clearly think that they can take some of the Quarry's plants and spoil other people's enjoyment of them. Recently I encountered two lovely looking ladies, and their dog (not on a lead. Hmmmm). Each was carrying a plastic bag containing plants and cuttings taken – some would say, stolen – from our succulent garden. Quite surprisingly, neither of them felt they had been caught doing anything wrong. They seemed to think that it was OK to raid our community garden in order to benefit their own, private, property. I'd like to think that there are not too many people who think that way. Otherwise our special plantings, for the butterflies and the blind and the birds, and for you, will always have to struggle not only to survive in the in the difficult soils of the Quarry Park, but also just to be there for you all to experience. Please, if you see someone helping themselves to our plants or property, find a polite way to challenge them. Ask questions, exchange points of view – you don't have to get into a fight – and if it's already too late to change the situation, a generous donation to the Quarry Park might be suggested as a way of putting things right. But we'd rather have our cherished plants than thieves' cash. Mostly, we love to have our visitors – and they love to come. Because the whole place is built on volunteer work, it is filled with the spirit of good humour and those who want to be there. To those that give, much shall be given. Those that take? I leave the conclusion to you. Shirley Sparks Elizabeth Bailey, our cactus and succulent lady gets very upset when plants like the beautiful flowering cactus below are either stolen or willfully damaged by uncaring people taking “cuttings”. The cactus and succulent area, orchid area, and bromeliad bank seem particularly vulnerable and plants and flowers in these areas are targeted by thieves who have no thought for the hard work of volunteers or the enjoyment of others in seeing the beautiful results of that work. The volunteers make a plea for visiting members of the Society to keep a look out for people acting suspiciously . Let's climb to the top of hill. Follow the Main Track to the east, walk up to the Top Terrace and you will find the features described here. Abseiling Cliff The opening up of the Main Track and the clearing of scrub on the Top Terrace provided the opportunity to utilize the cliff above the terrace. Brent Martin of the Tauranga branch of the NZ Mountain Safety Council saw this opportunity and easily persuaded us to allow them to run abseiling classes there. They have considerably improved the upper platforms and access track, installed the “schoolroom seating”, and under their planning, several other licensed and competent operators run training and practice courses. The Lions' Steps It's a great name for a great feature of the Te Puna Quarry Park, but no-one really believes there are real Lions… But there are. The story of the Lions' Steps goes 'way back to 1997, when Jo Dawkins and I explored the possibility of making a track that took people on a full circuit of the, at that time, very overgrown Quarry. The tracks to the top terrace had withstood the tests of weather, erosion and intruding ‘rubbish' plants of wattles and gorse. Using these old pathways, Jo and I worked our way up the eastern track, pushing and occasionally cutting our way through. On the top terrace itself, we hacked a path through 3m high gorse. Eventually we had to stop. Before us was a 10m, sheer, stony, bank. Actually, we didn't stop: we climbed the bank, (through more gorse) and continued to hack our pathway till we got to the track that now leads to the Kauri Grove. What a triumph! We had our circuit! Except… those working at the top of the Quarry still had to negotiate that steep bank. So we knotted a rope and tied it to a pine tree at the higher level, with its full length hanging down to the place we'd come to call the top terrace. With our tools in back-packs, we could shinny up the bank with the help of the rope… easy! Visitors to the Quarry soon appreciated the novelty and did the same. Except ….OSH. Fair enough. The public was risking injury and worse: it wasn't even an abseiling rope and the effects of the intense sunlight of the Quarry would cause it to deteriorate very quickly - Thank goodness for the Lions! The Omokoroa/Te Puna Lions Club came to the rescue. They offered to pay Ben Bax, a local heavy machinery contractor, to create a slope down the bank. The Lions would make the steps. So along came Ben, with his (mini-to-medium-sized) bulldozer. The magnificent blade made its way over the single file Jo and I had cut through the wattle and gorse. Over the next three days he widened the path, pushed a ramp down our roped bank, and, with great satisfaction and true art, arranged the BIG rock steps at the bottom. Ben charged the Lions ‘mates rates' for this wonderful piece of work. The rest was up to them. The summer of 1998, they came. Carrying tools and heavy building materials, in searing heat, they toiled up and down that newly formed, unstable slope. Everything they needed – the heavy treated posts, the steel pipes, their spades, shovels and picks – was taken up and down, up and down, until the job was done. Today everyone who does the familiar circuit of the Quarry Park romps up and down those steps with ease. Thank you Ben. Thank you, the Lions of 1998. If you have more you'd like to add to this story, please contact me. Shirley Sparks, Ph 552 5874 Kauri Grove Early in 2002 we started to clear wattles and pongas near the top west corner of the Main Track with a view to the formation of a Kauri Grove which would extend eastward along the skyline. The Omokoroa Te Puna Lions Club (now renamed the Bethlehem Te Puna Lions Club) became interested in the project and to mark the 25th Anniversary of Lions in New Zealand , planted the first 25 kauri trees in the grove. Last year the Club planted a further 26 trees and expect to extend the area as we clear it. As you “do the rounds” of the Main Track you'll see a notice at the highest point. If you take the obvious steps from there, the trees are to your left. They are growing well and we try and keep the weeds down! Chas Kerr It was another magic day for visitors to the Quarry Park. Added to that was the attraction of the new Butterfly Garden on the Middle terrace. Visitors to that area could view all the stages of a butterfly's development whilst the Monarchs – the butterflies-in-residence – flew about them, often settling on lucky visitors' head, hands or shoulders. Members of the Parkinson family, some of whom had established the Butterfly Garden, won one of the Funky Junk awards with a most interesting sculpture of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Dick Douglas's outstand- ing dinosaur was very popular with the viewers and would be a great addition to any garden. Altogether, the ideas, innovations and inventions that entrants put together made a most fascinating exhibition in the amphitheatre. Interesting Happenings in the Herb Garden Meantime the herbalists were enjoying stalls offering beautifully made herbal lotions and potions, aromatic plants and interesting talks with demonstrations and examples of what they meant growing right there in the warm soil of the Quarry Park. There was a Wild Weed Walk, a Worm Composting Talk, Tussy Mussy demonstrations, and descriptions ( not demonstrations) of composting and composting toilets. It was a great, happy crowd that was there on the day, enjoying all the good things the Quarry Park had to offer – space, interesting people, wonderful things to see and do, fascinating plants. Shirley Sparks Back to the top of the pageThank You To - Otumoetai Rotary, Foundation for the Blind, Daltons Garden & Landscape Supplies, and Palmers Gardenworld - for the Sensory Garden. |