New Form of Renewable Energy Unleashed on the Coast!
Friday, 9 October 2009
Over the month of September in 2009, a new kind of energy was discovered on the iconic West Coast of New Zealand - people power!
Experts are saying that "the potential of this new form of clean, completely renewable energy is enormous - and best harnessed through the A Day at the Beach Adventure Festival."
The Festival brought together over 2000 enthusiastic people from West Coast communities and beyond in some of the most vibrant displays of community action ever seen. In total over 4000 native trees were planted, and somewhere between five and six tonnes of rubbish was removed from the beaches. One participant - a student from Westport's South School said "one man even walked 350km." The question now etched at the forefront of most peoples minds is how much of an exciting future can this new kind of energy create for the West Coast Region? The new film shot around the entire festival, set to be released in April 2010, will certainly provide some great insights!
Day #24: Huge Success for Big Finale in Franz Josef!!!
Friday, 25 September 2009
With severe storm warnings coastwide on the final day – 100km winds, heavy rain, and power shortages reported, there was some concern as to whether the mission was indeed finish-able... almost unbelievably the weather held off in Franz Josef for the whole day, and apart from crossing of an extremely cold glacial fed river the last leg of the journey seemed far to easy!
Huge thanks to the support from the crew of locals and travellers who came to celebrate with us at the finish line - speechless - incredible. The Wild Night event at Blue Ice Cafe was really successful with a great audience all enjoying stories, slides, giveaways, and epic live music from the one and only Dean Hetherington - what an awesome set this talented musician played - massive respect!
So as the 2009 A Day at the Beach Adventure Festival draws to a close we're already seeing off-shoots happening via more community action and in-school projects. We'll be following up the Festival with the Film & Exhibition set to be released early 2010 for a West Coast followed by National Premiere Release Tour. We're very pleased to announce that the Festival will of course be happening next year - bigger and better than ever. We appreciate all feedback and offers to help out with future endeavors and again wish to extend an enormous thanks to everyone who took part and helped bring this unfathomable juggernaught to life, it's been truly amazing!
Day #23: Brilliant Final Beach Day!
Thursday, 24 September 2009
An inspirational effort in Okarito today with a slightly different recipe for success. The Okarito Lagoon is one of the most vibrant ecosystems around - a hub for many native species of birds, plants, & fish - all thriving in NZ's largest unmodified wetland. This place is so lush and well kept, the plan switched to learn about what makes such a thriving ecosystem.
A turn out of around 50 people experienced a great line up of education & entertainment with participation from Franz Josef School, and awesome support from parents, locals Karen from The Blue Penguin Trust, Sarah from DOC, Paula & Swade from Okarito Boat Tours, Ken & Sam the local north lagoon end residents, and the A Day at the Beach adventure crew!
This mission has been mammoth - tomorrow, September 24th being the final day - incredible. If you get the chance, make sure you make it to Franz Josef for the big finale - a crew of supporters will rally at Blue Ice at 5.20pm to greet the adventure crew at the finish-line for 5.30pm, then the Wild Night kicking from 6.30pm till late...
Beyond the finale, a soon to be award-winning documentary & an educational exhibition will be released early next year - but we've got a long way to go and still need to find some financial support. So far we've engaged thousands of people in the process of this epic festival, and made an awesome contribution to this place we all call home. If your in a position to donate to the educational outcomes of the festival, help us out. Contributions are very gratefully received and can be made by navigating to the Give a Little page!
Only Two Days To Go - Day #22: Okarito
Tuesday, 22 September 2009
By day the legs are tired. By night the muscles ache. Yet after a hot sauna at the YHA today there's no complaining!!!
Today we stumbled across a great discovery on the crest of Okarito Lagoon - Gold Miner Ken & his son Sam living lush in one of the most remote places around. These guys have got it made - epic solar power set up, and living locally off the land as much as possible. Cups of tea and smoked trout sandwiches - needless to say we were totally stoked!
Big thanks to Paula & Swade from Okarito Boat Tours who helped us safely cross the lagoon. These guys are also helping out with the final Beach Day in Okarito tomorrow - starting 10am - see you there!
On another note - don't forget the big finale Wild Night in Franz Josef two days from now - Thursday night at Blue Ice - this is set to be a guaranteed great night out!
Day #21: Happy Times in Hari Hari
Monday, 21 September 2009
What better way to start the day than with a hot pool - wake up, journey up the deserted river, dig out the sand and ahhh, relax and enjoy. Another spectacular day in paradise!
Come 10am we met up with South Westland Area School for a big storytelling session about the adventure so far - lot's of scary seal encounters!
South Westland Area School has been working on the restoration of a near by river bordered by dairy farms - the work these guys have been doing is truly incredible. Today with the help of a big team of enthusiastic helpers we managed to plant lots more natives - fun in the sun, and a chance to regenerate vital habitat!
Day#20: Community Planting at Boldhead
Monday, 21 September 2009
Thanks to the awesome crew who come down to help plant over 100 natives at Bouldhead (5km South of Ross) on Sunday - a brilliant day in the sun again! It's really inspiring to see such a successful spontaneous planting event - and thanks to Lynley, Brian, & Nikau for the delicious pikelets - respect!
Ross - The Remarkable Weather Continues!
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Just a couple of quick pics below - the adventure crew camped out in the Spaceships lastnight, awaking to another beautiful day on the journey - planting at boldhead today!
Day#18 & #19: Awesome Action in Hokitika!
Sunday, 20 September 2009
Friday morning in Hokitika awoke with the rain streaming down from the sky. 'Not to worry' said the crew of committed local volunteers and the crew from DOC who prevailed in the planting of another 200 or so native trees - great work guys!
A definite highlight of the day was the Whitebait Relay - haha, yep that's right. Imagine teams of people in fancy dress all running the obstacle course gauntlet in a race to make the best whitebait patty - this was hilarious!!!
The Wild Night on Friday evening enjoyed a great social experience with a great crowd of passionate locals, the adventure story and live music from Vince & Warren.
By Saturday morning the skies had parted and we were greeted with another beautiful bluebird day - a big beach clean up to start they day off - great turn out thanks to all volunteers as well as Westpac & Glenys from Westland DC for coordinating!
Hokitika Tomorrow - Counting Down!!!
Thursday, 17 September 2009
We'll be arriving in Hokitika ready for two big Beach Days and a Wild Night event. We've got lots more native trees to plant on both the Friday and the Saturday starting early morning on both days, as well beach clean ups, and the Wild Night happening on Friday night at the Beachfront Hotel from 6.30pm onwards with a great line up of entertainment, prizes, and education. Hope to see you there!
Down the line we've got another big planting happening in Hari Hari (La Fontaine Road End) next Monday 21st September, then another big Beach Day action happening in Okarito on the 23rd, then the big finale Wild Night evening on Thursday 24th in Franz Josef at the Blue Ice Cafe. It's been an incredible journey so far meeting so many great people and celebrating our coastline, and now there's just over a week to go so if you can spare some time make sure you come down and get amongst the action - exciting times!!!
Day #15: Greymouth - Blaketown Reprasent!!!
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Another mecha turnout from Greymouth today with with the second day of action bringing together over 500 volunteers from five local schools including Paroa Primary, Blaketown Primary, Grey Main Primary, John Paul II High, and Grey High, as well as support from parents, community groups, and many others. We even had the mayor of Greymouth Tony Kokshoorn involved in the walk, plantings and the clean up - what a great advocate!
Together we planted another 500 Trees and removed between one and two tonnes of waste - that means some of the key goals for the festival are almost complete. We're now clocking in around 3,700 trees and about 5 tonnes of waste - not to mention the amazing friendships and hundreds of educated students along the way - what a journey!
Huge thanks to the many community coordinators, sponsors, and volunteers who helped pull these past two days together - it has been epic. Thanks also to Lisa Howard from Rata Photography & Maria Arnoletto for their contributions as on the ground photographers for the day - pics above!
Day #14: Greymouth - 2500 Trees Planted in One Day!!
Monday, 14 September 2009
Today was huge - one of the most vibrant displays of community action Greymouth has ever seen, with tomorrow set to be even bigger!
With the help of around 300 volunteers from Cobden Primary School, Tai Poutini Polytech, Department of Conservation, Grey District Council, Rotomanu Nursery and many others we managed to plant an incredible amount of Native Trees (2500) in by the Cobden Tiphead. We also removed at least 2 tonnes of Waste from the surrounding beach - a mammoth effort to say the least. A truly inspirational experience had by all - basking in the hot sun, meeting great people, and regenerating our amazing coastline - aah, what a life!
Be sure to check out the great line up of entertainment and inspiration from Mel Parsons & Ruud 'The Bugman' tonight at The Union Hotel from 6.30pm onwards. Tomorrow the action kicks off in Greymouth again at Blaketown beach from 10am - another great day to be had - hope to see you there!
Day #13: Paparoa Surf Fest - Punakaiki Turns it on!!
Monday, 14 September 2009
A great turnout of around 30 surfers enjoyed pumping West Coast waves over the weekend with the crew coming from as far as Brazil!
Thanks to Zane, Robbie, Justin, Locky, and all the crew who all helped pull this epic first time surfing competition together - it couldn't have gone down any better - waves, weather, and good times all lined up to leave everyone who experienced it totally stoked - CHUR!!!
Day #11: Punakaiki
Friday, 11 September 2009
Welcome to Godzone!
For those who haven't experienced it, Punakaiki is among the most awe-inspiring places around. Today we had the pleasure of planting over 200 Native Trees thanks to the help of Punakaiki Conservation Volunteers. Joined by an enthusiastic crew of youngsters all the way from from Dunedin (Tom, Daisy, & Michelle), we also removed quite a bit of waste from this seemingly pristine piece of coastline.
The Wild Night was a real success with guest speaker Steve Henry doing the full mission up from Hawea to share insights on best sustainable practice - success stories from across New Zealand and beyond.
Tomorrow the very first Paparoa Surfing Competition kicks off - meeting at the Puni Info Centre at 8.30am and making the call on location in the morning... After a full-on day of surfing & adventure, we'll gather for a big social function at the Rata Cafe by 13mile creek tomorrow evening from 7pm onwards - be sure to check it out for a great evening of celebration & live music - cheers Zane!
Day #9 & #10: Charleston > Punakaiki
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Ten days of exploring some of the most iconic coastline in the world has been amazing. Every stretch of beach, every point, and every tide bringing a new set of challenges - yesterday was intense rock climbing around the Charleston Cliffs!
The crew is definitely starting to feel the burn - only 150km into the journey we've still got along way to go. Tomorrow is a big day at Punakaiki - the Beach Day starting around 10am with a big planting session happening, the the Wild Night happening at the Punakaiki Resort from 6.30pm onwards. The Wild Night brings renowned guest speaker Steve Henry and some great live music by local Morag Hamilton - hope to see you there!
Day #8: Carters Beach > Nile River
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Last night's frost made it hard to get out of bed for the 6am start at Carters Beach this morning. Joined by a Swedish couple Martin & Lila, and some of the awesome South School crew we embarked on the journey. Once again we were comforted by the warmth of the brilliant morning sunshine as it beamed down along the calm, misty coastline - spectacular!
The Tauranga Bay planting at 10am was a great success - joined by some very kind-hearted local volunteers and a crew from Tai Poutini Polytechnic, we put in around 100 natives including the epic Nikau Palms donated by the Barry's at Buller Bay Palms - thanks team!
The afternoon saw a beach clean up of Nine Mile beach and the crew, all very excited and loving the warm arvo sun continued the journey to the Nile River and set up camp for the evening. Tomorrow will see the crew set off for Punakaiki aiming to get there by Thursday night in prep for the Punakaiki Beach Day and Wild Night!
Day #7: Big Contribution from Westport!
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Another beautiful day in paradise today saw just over 100 people come down to North Beach in Westport for some inspirational Beach Day action. With some great help from South School, Buller High School and community volunteers, we managed to clean up over 400KG's of rubbish from this frequented part of the coast. The students were shocked at the amount and diversity of waste, which included 3 car tyres, over 200 nappies, a large fishing net, numerous plastics and glass. “The amount of waste here is ridiculous, but it’s even more ridiculous that a lot of this stuff is actually recyclable”, said one student.
The Wild Night so just over 80 people turn out to enjoy a diverse selection of storytelling, guest speaker Don Neale who told a great tale about our West Coast marine environment, some innovative dancing from the local Berryl Collins School of Dance, and another great performance from Dunedin band The Fea Street Hustle - you guys rock!!!
Tomorrow for all those keen we've got a whole lot of native trees to plant out at Tauranga Bay from 10am onwards - looks to be a great day for all and hope to see you there!
Also, we've now raised $70 on Givealittle - thanks heaps to you kind donors for your awesome generosity :D
Day #5: Gentle Annie --> Granity
Sunday, 6 September 2009
The crew arrived in Granity on sunset - amazing presence - what a terrific day, having clocked 16km in hot, uncanningly hot Springtime sunshine. Big smiles stretched across our faces as we met the Dunedin band The Fea Street Hustle on the beach out front of The Big Fish Hotel - these cats did the mad mission up today haha full respect - their first time here in the mighty norther Buller - chur!
Huge thanks to Phil & Ellen and the amazing hospitality at Gentle Annie for putting the crew up - if you ever need rest & relaxation this place is tops.
Day #3: What Happened to all the Rain!?
Thursday, 3 September 2009
After the first two days of intense downpours the sky has cleared. Day three bought brilliant sunshine and a relaxed atmosphere as a crew of six of us spent the day relaxing and recuperating out at Gentle Annie. This place is truly amazing - I've never seen so many Nikau Palm's... Enjoying fine company with a mix of locals (Phil, Ellen, Alana, Nicole, Guy) and some travelers (Tom, Isaac, Chris, Aschel, and Nick) from as far as Dunedin.
Meanwhile, Louis is currently missing in action - last reports from Keith say he's somewhere between Karamea and Old Man Rock... let's hope he got passed Te Whenua ledge ok, otherwise, hmmm...
Incredible Start for Day One - September 1st
Thursday, 3 September 2009
At around 7am on September 1st a small crew of around 16 gather at the foot of the Heaphy Track. A blessing ceremony led by local George Snowden seeks safe passage for the adventure crew. Dramatically the festival kicks off with a crash and a bang as heavy rain, thunder and lightning unsleash from the sky - a sheer test of strength for the adventure crew on the first leg of this epic 350km journey.
After battling the storm for some 10km and a river crossing later, the clouds parted almost miraculously as over 100 volunteers from the local Karamea community and area school arrived to help create what would be one of the most powerful displays of community action Karamea had ever seen! Together, we planted around 500 native trees and removed 5 big bags of rubbish from the coastline - for many these were the first trees they had ever planted - big grins on everyone's faces. The Karamea experience was really humbling - what an amazing way to start this festival, and a story that will echo long down the coastline. Thanks to everyone who was involved for your generosity and support. And make sure you watch TV ONE News tonight at 6pm!
Gearing Up - August 31st
Thursday, 3 September 2009
Banners up, gear packed up, ready to go - Louis Brown laughs at the thought of embarking on the 350km journey - is this guy crazy or what!?
The Paparoa Coast Surf-Fest
Monday, 31 August 2009
West Coast local Zane Smith is organising a surfing competition to line up with the A Day at the Beach Festival as it tours through Punakaiki. The surf comp will be a 'mobile' event and happen on the Saturday and Sunday of September 12th & 13th. The call for entries is out now, and an informal gathering will be happening at the Wild Night event at the Punakaiki Resort on the Friday Night of September 11th. This will be an epic night so make sure you come down and check it out.
There's crews coming in from outside of the region, so it would be great to get all the local riders from Buller and Grey areas down there representing!
Surprise Gig for Granity
Sunday, 30 August 2009
Just in, Fea Street Hussle will be playing at The Big Fish Hotel in Granity on Saturday Night September 5th. Rally the locals and bring down the family for a slide show and storytelling session from the Adventure Crew, followed by the band performance. Kicking off from 7pm onwards.... Hope to see you there!
Star Appearance for Karamea on the 1st
Thursday, 27 August 2009
We're very honored to announce New Zealand's award-winning professor, financial commentator, writer for Sunday Star-times and GOOD magazine, and regular television and radio speaker Rod Oram as the guest speaker for the first Wild Night event in Karamea on September 1st.
Free Naked Bus Tickets to Giveaway!
Monday, 24 August 2009
Are you still searching for a way to get over?
We've got five NakedBus tickets to give way to anyone that wants them - they can be used anywhere in New Zealand, and are redeemable anytime between now, and October 20th. To win one, all you have to do is tell us why you're excited about the Festival in 140 characters or less - the best five responses will win a ticket. Email your responses to info@adayatthebeach.org.nz with your name and contact details. We'll let you know by this Wednesday 26th August...
It's that easy!
So you're travelling from outside of the region?
Friday, 21 August 2009
Wow, we've got so many exciting announcements about to be released - good things take time :D
If you're one of the many crews or individuals travelling to the West Coast from outside of the region, please consider ridesharing by listing your spare seat or request for a ride using www.jayride.co.nz.
Using Jayride or public transport initiatives like Naked Bus are an excellent way to keep our carbon emissions as low as possible throughout the Festival - and a great way to meet the most interesting and unlikely characters along the way!!!
Who's Getting Ready for Action!!!?
Tuesday, 18 August 2009
The official countdown has begun - now exactly two weeks until the Festival action gets underway - yeeehhaaaaaaaa!!!
What an exciting journey it's been already. We've certainly put Louis to the test - working massive hours, intensive training for the grueling 350km adventure he's about to embark on - can you imagine walking the entire coastline!? Imagine the treasures you'd find along the way!
On another note, we've been researching and storyboarding like crazy for the film that is being made around the Festival. This is one of those secret cards we've had tucked under the sleeve - a major NZ film that threads together the endeavors of this innovative new festival - by joining in you help us to make this story amazing. By getting involved you help us create something that will inspire thousands of people all around the world. Because if you did, if I did, if we all did... Imagine, just imagine what we could grow!!!
Big shout out to community instigators!
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
News just in from Karen - one of our amazing volunteers from Westpac, that Westport schools are gearing up and really excited about their local Beach Day on the 7th. Over 500 school students will be getting amongst the beach action at North Beach - haha it's all coming together, this is truly epic!
And just north, Karamea is getting ready for a vibrant start to the Festival on the 1st - with the local area school, and many community groups and organisations on board helping bring the local event to life - huge shout out to Margaret and Hamish MacBeth for being inspirational instigators!
New Partnership!
Saturday, 8 August 2009
We're very pleased to announce our latest partnership - Development West Coast, who sees partnering with the Festival as "a great opportunity to support a group of forward thinking young people who have already demonstrated outstanding capability developing this innovative project, which has significant benefits for the region." - John Chang, CEO.
DWC now joins other key partners Keep New Zealand Beautiful, the local branches of DOC and Westpac, and a host of other organisations, schools, and community groups who all recognise the inherent value of the Festival. It's all starting to get very exciting!!!
Exciting Times!
Monday, 3 August 2009
Our dedicated adventurer Louis Brown has been out with the flu for the past week - does this mean tragedy for the Festival? Ha ha no way - he'll be up and running in no time!
Our rapidly growing crew of volunteers are going to extreme measures to make sure everything is running smoothly!
Guy is over on the West Coast today pitching to the Trust of our soon to be announced festival partner. We've also got a host of artists and entertainers all contributing in one way or another to make this festival amazing :)
You can expect a lot more updates now that things are really starting to heat up, so watch this space!
Training!!!
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
Word is out that Louis has been biking for at least an hour per day getting his body ready for the onslought of 10 bedrocked-coast scrambles, 50 river crossings ... oh and the 350 kilometer walk from Kohahai to Franz Josef. Biking in rain with a trailer (for added resistance!) he has been biking back and forth from carters beach to westport to attend meetings, and bike home again to keep working on the project. Guy's been walking to and from his Dunedin studio (and some would say home for the number of 14 hour days) pumping the project along, working on film production, design and having all project communications looking fly!!!
Uniting on all Fronts!
Friday, 17 July 2009
You know how sometimes people just want to do things for the greater good? That's exactly what's happening here - Erin from Greymouth has rescheduled the local photography competition to line up with the Festival. We've just got a guru tree-planting co-ordinator from Lincoln University - passionate people from the farthest nooks and crannies are doing everything in their power get involved - it really is amazing - awesome work team!
Collaboration & Partnerships
Thursday, 16 July 2009
They say behind every closed door there's a surprise - right now the doors keep opening, and the surprises are getting bigger and better everyday! At the moment we've got some big deals pending - literally hundreds of partnerships being formed up and down the coast, and across New Zealand. We've sent word the word out to some of NZ's finest musicians, and are stoked to say that interest is strong - we'll be announcing the music line up by the end of July so stay tuned!
