Coromandel Life Spring/Holiday 2013 - page 56

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COROMANDEL LIFE
SPRING 2013
explained Fiona, “just like a Mini-Master Chef!
I’ve had great feedback from all the celebs.
Every one said they were keen to return to
further their Coromandel experience”.
Scallop Festival Trivia:
• Record turnout: over 4800 scalloponians
• Local spend by attendees up this year
• Cuisine stands: 60
• Over 800kg of locally gathered scallops
were shucked for the event.
• 23 teams went “dress up” in some really
amusing team themes: The Scolly Angels
and the Scallop Trollops took joint first
place as Best Dressed.
• Cathedral Cove Macadamias won People’s
Choice Best Stand, again...Coast guard
was voted the Best Community stand.
• One local cafe extended the festival by
offering a Scallop Festival Recovery Dinner
Since next year will be the tenth festival, Fiona
aims to secure even more famous celebrities
for the September event.
See
–Sandra Scott
Around & About the Coromandel – Whitianga
9th FESTIVAL PROMOTES
SCALLOP INDULGENCE
One of the most popular events on the
Coromandel calendar, the Whitianga Scallop
Festival, attracts loads of locals and visitors for
a fun-filled day of scallop indulgence.
“The weather held till almost finish time and did
not dampen the spirits of the record turnout”,
says Mercury Bay Events Coordinator Fiona
Kettlewell. “I just love seeing all the people
having the best day out, and I want to make it a
success for all the businesses in our area”.
A highlight of the day – which generated a few
queries about how it was achieved – was the
floating stage. Toe-tapping was common with
Tom Bachelor a popular feature, and many in
the crowd sang along with well-known tunes by
The Great Train Robbery.
“The celebrity chefs enjoyed the cook-off with
2 teams of 3 and a mystery ingredients box”,
MOEWAI BIKE PARK
If you’re looking for a fun way to use up some
pent-up kid energy, take them and their bikes
or scooters down the end of Moewai Road,
Whitianga.
Some enterprising volunteers, under the
leadership of long-time local identity Noel
Hewlett, have transformed an area of rubbish
and rough bracken going to waste into a great
community resource – free for all to enjoy, just
waiting for kids to hone their biking skills.
Plantings of native trees and shrubs are dotted
around and there are nice sitting spaces where
the adults can keep a wary eye on the kids or
for a picnic. They have some areas devoted
to native trees that have been sponsored by
individuals or families. For a small donation
you can choose a tree and also have a plaque
showing who has made the donation to the
arboretum.
There are areas of mown grass, board-walk
style bike tracks for the littlies, bridges, shell
paths and even some proper BMX humps for
those kids skilled in this daredevil activity.
There is a walk to an awesome Kauri grove up
the hill behind the park for a change of scenery.
There’s no charge for time spent there, although
all donations are gratefully accepted, so pack
a lunch and get down there and the kids will
surely enjoy doing something healthy.
Check out the photo gallery of the wooden
ramps, bridges, dirt trails here (website also
offers other leads for mountain biking in the
area)
–Sandra Scott
L
uxury
B
ed
&
B
reakfast
IN TAI RUA
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