Just had an RSS feed from the Auckland Council that’s worth taking note of.  With the rainy season ahead of us – oh yippee! – there’ll be lots of extra stormwater running onto our beaches and out to sea. We love the beach lifestyle here on the Shore – the longest urban coastline in NZ – and we need to keep it clean and beautiful. Washing your car on the lawn (or at a designated carwash facility) keeps that filth and detergent out of our swimming beaches and streams. Take a look at the council article on how to preserve our coastline and waterways.

Child's view of Kennedy Park

Spent a few hours wandering around the much improved Kennedy Park with its fabulous climbing rope adventure playground, and brand new steps leading down to the Castor Bay back beach. Formerly known as Red Bluff,  the park has superb views across the Hauraki Gulf, and you can walk along to Rahopara Pa, where you can still see evidence of gardens and kumara pits dating back to the early 1800s. There’s a petanque court on a lower, sheltered part of the park, new members welcome!

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One of Auckland’s largest metropolitan parks, originally called The Takapuna Domain, Centennial Park in Campbells Bay incorporates a number of tracks, a tennis club and a golf course within a total area of 160 hectares. Weeds and exotic species are gradually being cleared from the area and more natives planted thanks to the great work being done by the Centennial Park Preservation Society. The bush is alive with birdsong and the area boasts some rare birds such as the long tailed cuckoo. You’ll see wood pigeons, white eyes and fantails and many more native and introduced birds. There are maps available from the city council, or you can view the main map at the Beach Road entrance to the park. View a map of the park on Google Maps. Read more about Centennial Park and its history here.

Want to have a home garden and need some quidance? Maybe you’d like to reduce your household waste. Learn to make compost, how to make a worm farm, reduce your household waste and help keep our environment clean and healthy. The Kaipatiki Project runs regular adult education courses, activities and workshops free or at minimal cost. They will also tailor-make courses on demand for groups and they provide environmental education courses for schools. They are based in Lauderdale Road, Beach Haven and you will need to book in for a class as they are very popular and in demand.

Organised by the North Shore City Council, community planting days run from May to September each year with the aim of improving our city’s parks and natural environment. This involves planting native trees, shrubs and grasses, which helps fight weeds, minimise erosion and provide habitat and food for native birds and other wildlife.

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Ever heard of fish that climb ladders? And on Auckland’s North Shore? Well, neither had I until we met John Kearney.

We’ve been having our deck overhauled during the past couple of weeks. Apparently, it’s not as solid as we thought and much of it needs replacing. John Kearney, a skilled craftsman, is doing the job very ably, but the trouble is, he disappears every now and then, with little warning. The reason for this apparent slackness?

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Image: National Environment Agency Annual Report 2006/2007

We’ve come a long way since the early days of recycling on the North Shore. Back in the 1960s and 70s, about the only thing we could officially recycle was aluminium milkbottle tops. These went in with the dinner dishes before being added to a slowly growing bagful which was eventually dropped off at the School for the Blind in Manurewa. They received a fee from Tiwai Point aluminium smelter for sending them on there.

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