Your chance to walk the sandspit and raise funds for its protection.

Sunday, August 12th 2007, rolling start time 11.00am – 12.00 noon. (1 to 2 hours before the low tide). Meet at the carpark by the school on Te Maika Road, Ngunguru. Ferry boats will be provided by Sea Safaris and Poor Knights Divers. Tutukaka Coastguard will provide on-water safety watch during the walk.

Pre-registration (PDF, 54KB) and sponsorship forms (PDF, 37KB) available here, and from various local outlets.

Registration and donations on the day will be accepted.

Sausage sizzle and refreshments available.
Complementary fruit provided by Huanui Orchards.
Entertainment and face painting possible!

Keep an eye here and in the local media for details.

Download, print and distribute the poster (PDF, 39KB) and the flier (PDF, 40KB).

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Do you have a great photo of someone having fun in our public conservation land? Could you get one?

To celebrate Conservation Week, which starts on the 6th of August, the Whangarei Area, Department of Conservation (DOC) is running a photo competition. The theme of conservation week this year and our competition is “recreation”.

Full story...

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Members of the Ngunguru Sandspit Protection Society keep finding themselves at public gatherings where a good chat results in someone new who would like to support our campaign to save the Sandspit -- we'd like an easy way to remind them of us and perhaps our website -- write something down quick on a piece of paper. That does the job of course, but it takes time and looks a bit . . . well, unprofessional.

Business cards would be a good solution, that's why they were invented. But business cards are expensive and we need all the money in the kitty for real work. Problem.

Enter an anonymous donor and Andrew Haines, graphic design specialist. They started with the Mountain, Sandspit and Sea line-design created for us last year by NSaPS member, Chris Mulcare.

Next came a list of creatures that rely on Ngunguru Sandspit for their habitat -- results of a study by Ray Pierce, ecologist. Good material for the back of the card. Andrew Haines created a flax motif for the back and listed the creatures over the leaves.

Haines and his assistant layered NSaPS name and website over earth- toned bars on the top and bottom of the card's face, bracketing the Sandspit/Mountain/Sea line drawing.

Finally Broderick Printing, North Shore, printed several thousand copies of the designer's creation. Great card! Wonderful gift! Good Friends!

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Does anyone remember that neat tee shirt that was produced about 1995 by a group who were concerned about the Ngunguru Sandspit? A distinctive screen print design featuring a portion of Sandspit and a pied oystercatcher enclosed in a circle of text. It looked great.

People have been mentioning that shirt to NSaPS almost since we formed. "Why don't you do that tee shirt again, you know, that really good one?" OK--we are in the process of doing just that. Money raised will help to fund legal costs and educational activities.

Coastal artist, Tom Burnett, who donated the original design, has given his blessing to the project. We've had the design scanned so we can produce a digital version of the long-gone silk screen. And now Anna Murphy is shepherding the project through a number of twists and turns in hope we can have Sandspit tee shirts for sale at the sponsored walk on the 12th of August.

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All around the New Zealand coastline the following troublesome events are taking place:

• Sand is being removed by the bargeful for artificial beaches and industry.
• Large scale sand mining for minerals is imminent, with prospecting happening without consultation right now.
• Marinas are being proposed, some in inappropriate places with possible effect on the local surfbreak.
• Raw sewage is flowing into waterways affecting marine life and beach users.
• Coastal camping grounds are being sold and developed into housing estates.
• Access to the coastline is being threatened.
• Prime New Zealand coastline, including sensitive landscapes like sandspits, is being sold and developed for housing.

We urge YOU, as a surfer and beach user, to write an open letter, in no more than 500 words, to the Prime Minister of New Zealand, telling her what you think about these issues and how they should be managed.

Be in to win one of these three prizes!

Surfboard donated by Wayne Parkes Surfboards, Aleeda wetsuit donated by 2001 Wetsuits and Board Bag donated by Stash-it.

Prime New Zealand coastline, including sensitive landscapes like sandspits, are being sold and developed for housing.

Send all letters to:

The Surf Break Protection Contest,
Slide Magazine,
14 Berridge Road,
Muriwai Beach
Auckland 1250|

Or email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Competition details (1.7MB, PDF)...

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Sharing the glory ... from Bill Armitt, owner of Hotprintz Screenprinting of Whangarei, printer Ian Townsend, and artist Steve Moase. — PICTURE/Michael Cunningham

The fight to save Ngunguru sandspit from development, Whangarei printing firm Hotprintz and Whangarei artist Steve Moase have all shared in a win-win situation created by a shiny gold medal.

Hotprintz Screenprinting Ltd's print of an intricate pencil drawing by Moase, with the unlovely title "The Mouth of the Spit", has won the gold medal in the lithographic print section of the 2007 NZ Pride In Print Awards.

[Full story in print edition - Mon 2 July 2007]

Related story: Artist seeks existential answers through nature.

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