Wrapping up the year in the Big Smoke

8th Dec 2021

The year is starting to wrap up and the Kare Toa group finally got their trip to Christchurch. 

Some of our youth have shown a real interest in one day having a career in the tourism industry and living in a beautiful place like Kaikōura, how could you not be tempted to further your studies and get amongst it.

We started our trip with a tour of the New Zealand School of Tourism where we were shown around campus by Denise who has been a big part of the school for many years, starting as a student and returning to work there as one of the people who run it. The tour helped our youth to see that this is a real possibility if they choose to go in the direction of the School of Tourism as everyone was friendly and welcoming, even having some of their students who ran a game with us took away the edge and ended with us all laughing and feeling involved.

Next we went into the city center to have lunch at the Riverside Market. To start with it was all a bit overwhelming with so much going on and all the food choices to choose from but burgers and sushi won. We then got to listen to Christmas carols outside as we took in the atmosphere of what Christchurch is all about. 

We finished off with a visit to Laser Strike and boy what a work out! By the end a few of us were melting but the screams of excitement as the game was played echoed through the building. What an awesome way to wrap up our visit to the big smoke.

The Fight Against The Lupins

7th Dec 2021

To kick off the first day of summer Te Hā o Mātauranga's Kare Toa group volunteered to help with the removal of Lupin from the beach at South Bay as a collaboration with Sport Tasman and Environment Canterbury. 

Lupins are an invasive pest plant that cover the beach reducing the clear area for threatened birds such as the dotterel to breed and providing cover to predators such as the feral cats who use them as a hiding place. 

The lupin spread very easily forming self-replacing strands and dropping seeds that can remain viable in the ground for up to 20 years. They can continue to grow and sprout for years after they have been controlled, which makes eradicating the plant very challenging. 

Thank you to Heath, Alana and Abby from ECan, Wenbo from Sport Tasman and Ailsa from the banded dotterel group for joining in with us and making a small difference in the fight against the Lupins.

Kare Toa - an update

29th Nov 2021

On the 17th the Kare Toa group were invited to Kaikōura Auto Centre where they were shown how to change a tire and then got to give it a go themselves. 

They were shown around a car and learnt the basic in and outs of vehicle maintenance and what to look out for with the dangers and what might go wrong if you're not paying attention.

The group also got to listen to the career stories of the workers and how they got into being mechanics, from being dairy farmers and cafe workers to being apprentices working towards their dreams. 

Thank you to the team at Kaikōura Auto Centre - Ethan, Brad and Courtney - for sharing your workspace and time with us, it was a great experience and now the group feel that they would know what to do if they ever get a flatty.

On the 24th the Kare Toa group got the awesome opportunity to go sea kayaking with Kaikōura Kayaks as a collaboration with Wenbo from Sport Tasman. This is part of Sport Tasman's Mahia te Mahi project which engages young people with their local communities through looking after the environment and being rewarded with outdoor activities. 

The group had an amazing time getting all kitted out and then out paddling on the water around South Bay. The wind was a bit of a pain but with great teamwork (two people in each kayak) the paddling was shared and the arm muscles were put to work. We got to learn about our amazing wildlife and learnt some very interesting facts about seals, did you know that they are nocturnal? 

A huge shout out to Wenbo and the team from Kaikōura Kayaks - Emma, Griff and Miles - for making this opportunity happen - another experience ticked off the to do list for the group.

Coming up on the 1st of December we will be doing a beach clean up down at South Bay to give back to our community as part of the Mahia te Mahi programme.

Te Kura Update!

10th Nov 2021

Our Te Kura group have been busy getting their mahi done. We meet every Monday -Thursday at the library. Two of our girls have just received awards for Hauora and Entrepreneurship at the Kaikōura Youth Awards. The girls loved to dress up and be fancy ladies for the night, and we had some amazing support from their parents who came along to cheer their girls on. 

The group has also had the opportunity to take part in the Gets Group workshop, which has built their skills and given them an opportunity to get credits in a different format than their usual individual plans. 

Sharlene from Community Law in Blenheim came and ran a workshop with the group about employment rights. The girls had previously learnt some of the topics through Pathways, but it was a great to have Sharlene come down and teach them about their rights in a fun way; it was interactive and had the girls getting out of their comfort zone.

Introducing... Kare Toa

1st Nov 2021

The Kare Toa group have been meeting every Wednesday at Te Hā. The group is focused around well being and positive opportunities for our wāhine. The girls get together each week and tick off some of the activities that they have jotted down on their planning days. Recently we have been for walks around Kaikōura, which has been a great challenge and really pushed the girls to give things a go - now they are excited to see how many walks we can tick off in the area. We even went to iSite and gathered up some brochures with walks they would like to conquer in the future. 

The girls had an afternoon of being pampered, which involved face masks, nail painting, platters, chocolate and bubbly grape juice - the fancy stuff. They loved their afternoon and it was filled with lots of laughs as they ripped Rosie's face mask off including the top layer of her skin.

Kare Toa is a chance for the girls to be themselves, have a laugh and be uplifted by each other. They have developed a strong connection and now push each other to go further.

Kaikōura Youth Awards

24th Oct 2021

The Kaikōura Youth Council ran their bienniel Kaikōura Youth Awards yesterday - the 23rd of October - and it was a brilliant night! It was great to see the community gathering to celebrate our local youth.

Our staff had been working with KYC to help put together the event, and attended to help with the catering and general running of the evening. We thoroughly enjoyed our night, and want to say a huge thankyou to the Kaikōura Youth Council for all the hard work that went into the event!

It was such a fun night, with some awesome youth receiving awards for their work in the community. Contratulations to everyone who won an award, and to all those who were nominated!

Click here to read more about the night and the award winners.

The Great Kaikoura Bake Off

8th Sep 2021

Well done to the winners of our little lockdown bake off! 
Thankyou everyone for sharing the photos of your creations, it was brilliant to see all the fun people have been having with their baking!

Lockdown Antics

6th Sep 2021

Laila and Elbie have been running virtual games/hangouts for youth year 7 and up every Monday, alongside (now virtual) Lateral Youth every Friday during lockdown!

Check out our Facebook for more information.