The annual Mount Everest Challenge opened with a karakia on Monday morning and more than 600 people have registered for the seven-week challenge so far.
It involves climbing the city landmark 68 times, the equivalent of climbing Mt Everest.
Sponsored for many years by Sean Shivnan Pharmacy, the event supports bowel cancer diagnosis and whānau affected by it in the region.
Morehu Pewhairangi opened the challenge in Monday morning’s dawn karakia.
As well as individual climbers, there are several teams involved again this year, including BDO, ANZ, Pak’nSave, ProTraffic, NZ Police, Fulton Hogan and Ngāti Porou Oranga, who were the top team overall last year.
“A massive thank you to Ngāti Oneone, Gisborne East Coast Cancer Society, Sean Shivnan Pharmacy, Gisborne District Council and those that joined us in welcoming the challenge by ticking off their first climb,” a Whiti Ora spokesperson said.
“Amazing mahi for those who have already been walking up the maunga.” Those keen to give it a go can still register on the Whiti Ora Tairāwhiti website: https://whitiora.org/titirangi-mt-everest-challenge/.
Swim the Distance challengers recognised
The annual Swim the Distance event in the Kiwa Pools culminated at the weekend with the prizegiving and recognition for the incredible distances those involved covered.
About 200 people took part in the 45.5km swim to Mahia challenge this year and the prizes were handed out at Smash Palace on Sunday afternoon.
Viki Lee-Taylor, from the Donalds Ducks team, racked up the biggest individual distance covered over the two months — a staggering 272km.
The Ducks won the team section as well with a total distance swum, walked and jogged of 988.6km, between Lee-Taylor, George Horsfall, Taryn Ebbett, Sarah Willson, Tess McCormick, Tracey Upu Kutia, Heather Collier and Amy Kelly Clark.
Andy Destounis was the second highest ranked individual at 196.5km, while Rhodri Lacey was third on 176.4km.
The Alcatraz team were runners-up in that section with a team total of 600km.
Whiti Ora Tairāwhiti described Swim the Distance, sponsored by Recreational Services, as “extremely successful” again this year.
“We would like to acknowledge the team at Kiwa Pools for the event organisation and the experience of the Swim the Distance Challenge was enjoyed by all,” Whiti Ora Tairāwhiti’s Debbie Hutchings said.
“Special thanks to all the local businesses who donated some incredible prizes throughout the event.”
Taste of the future for coast students
East Coast students were given a taste of their futures at a successful discovery day held at Ngata College in Ruatōria.
The event, organised by EIT’s Education 2 Employment team, saw hundreds of students from the region get a chance to engage with tertiary institutes, pathway providers and employers.
Education 2 Employment encourages the co-ordination and support of employers and the local business community to be involved in vocational education, employment and development opportunities for young people.
“The primary goal of the programme is to help connect industry with schools so that students can identify possible career pathways,” said EIT’s employment adviser Adrianna Wilson.
Twenty-seven organisations were represented at the event.
While the event was aimed at senior school students, Year 7 and 8 and even younger students also attended.
“The aim was to expose the students to what opportunities are out there,” Wilson said. “We wanted them to see that there are local employers and ones further afield who can offer them a pathway to a career of their choice.
“For an example, we had Mātai Medical Research Institute there, so if a student was interested in going into that career, what’s the pathway for them?”
Every employer or business had an interactive activity.
“Some had honey pots representing apiculture, civil infrastructure had roading games, the police services had drug goggles and were in their police cars. We also had a Media House there which did portraits of the students. STEM were there doing science activities and we had the Department of Conservation discussing survival, trapping and other outdoor skills.
“Our aim is to make the event an annual one.”
Further night closures at Devil’s Elbow to restore two lanes
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi has plans to close State Highway 2 south at Devil’s Elbow overnight next month as recovery work continues.
The stretch of highway will be closed overnight in the first week of November.
“The highway between Tūtira and Aropaoanui Rd north of Napier will be closed from 9pm to 5am each night between Sunday, November 3, to Thursday, November 7,” Transport Rebuild East Coast (TREC) project spokesman Chris Mahoney said.
“The road will be open as normal from 5am on Friday, November 8.”
During daytime hours, the road will be under traffic management through the Devil’s Elbow section.
“TREC crews will spend the five nights at Devil’s Corner realigning the single lane to move traffic away from the worksite. This is preparation for the recovery project starting later this year,” Mahoney said.
Devil’s Corner, which has been labelled Project I, will be the largest and last of the recovery projects in the SH2 Devil’s Elbow section.
“Cyclone Gabrielle caused a significant underslip that damaged the southbound lane of SH2 at the corner. The site has been down to one lane since Cyclone Gabrielle and the type of preparation work taking place cannot be done under short closures,” he said.
“We’ll be using the whole width of the single-lane road to do the preparation works, including widening the single lane, putting down new pavements, drainage, new barriers and clearing the slopes above the road.
“This will create more space for the crews and machinery to safely access the worksite as the project progresses.”
Mahoney said NZTA understood the overnight closures would be frustrating.
“However, it enables us to prepare for work at Project I and ultimately restore two-lane access in the area. Thank you to road users for their continued support.”
Project I was expected to take 12-18 months and would be completed in stages, he said.
“It will require intermittent closures in the future to complete the project. Next month’s work is weather dependent. The contingency period is November 10 to November 14, 9pm-5am each night.”
