News from the Valley

STAFF DEPARTURE - CHARLOTTE WILSON After arriving back in Dunedin in 2010 following work as a primary school teacher in Vietnam for a number of years, I was employed part-time at North East Valley Normal School as the ESOL teacher and ran the Valley Club, an afterschool programme for children considered to be “at risk”. Here they received some kai and homework support, as well as opportunities to participate in a range of activities and to develop positive relationships with adults. I attended North East Valley and then DNI as a kid and my mum grew up in Opoho …

During this hands-on workshop, you will discover the joy of creating quilts. The idea of the project is a reference to gender equality and the feminist movement as a form of resistance against gender discrimination in society. The Quilt Project will integrate math and art to create your own block to share your views on gender inequality. The Quilt Project is aiming to create the large-scale block quilt with panels created with an applique of math basic symbols such as (not equal sign, inequality sign, and power sign etc.) Each panel will illustrate the inequitable status of women in …

Take part in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey!! 26 June to 4 July It’s coming up to a time of year that I love, when I wrap up warm and find a nice possie in my backyard to sit for an hour just watching and counting which birds come and visit. I also find it’s a great time to reflect on all of the other wonderful things about my backyard – the harakeke (flax) that when flowering attracts tūī and korimako (bellbirds) and the koromiko (hebe), which often has tauhou (silvereyes) and insects bouncing around it; or the …

A NEW addition to the Valley Project team, a New Zealand Falcon, or kārearea in Te Reo Māori, can be found enhancing the entrance to the car park on North Road. This beautiful mural, painted by Bruce Mahalski from the Dunedin Museum of Natural Mystery signifies all of the amazing biodiversity found within the North East Valley and surrounding suburbs. His image is inspired by a photograph by Keith Payne. But, why the kārearea, and why is it so special? We have heard many stories from local community members remarking on the wonderful and fierce nature of the …

Open VUE will be propagating native plants from seed and cuttings collected right here in the Lindsay Creek Catchment! We are practicing a loose definition of the term, “Ecosourcing”. Ecosourcing strictly speaking means collecting wild seed from original source populations. Collecting seed from sources that have been growing here for hundreds or thousands of years will produce offspring that are more likely to survive as they have adapted to the local conditions. However, in the urban environment, this can be a little difficult. We would love any seed collected from original or regenerating forest or trees growing on properties …

The infamous Crush the Cargill kicked off Saturday 12th December at 10am with 86 humans and 7 doggos embarking on the trail with 24 hours to get as many laps under their belts as possible. For those who aren’t familiar Crush the Cargill is a 24 hour race that sees participants running, or walking, up and down the mountain as many times as they can. Mount Cargill, also known as Kapukataumahaka, is a volcanic outcrop and has an elevation of 680m, A singular lap of this race is 8.5km, starting at Bethunes Gully and stretching to the summit and …

Recognised through-out the world as the toughest, highest, longest 24-hr race since Pheidippides did not exist, since Adam wasn’t a boy, and since bread was sliced. The 24-hour fundraising race sees participants running, or walking, as many times as they can to the summit of Mount Cargill and back down again. The races’ inception came about by a group of running buddies contemplating crazy challenges for themselves over beers. The annual Crush the Cargill event is all set to commence at 10am on the 12th of December. Crush the Cargill and The Valley Project are about getting people together …

How about taking a ramble for the holidays? With the days becoming longer and warmer, I feel the pull of exploring the outdoors becoming much stronger. With the school holidays and warm spring weather, I find myself with some spare time to spend outside. Chingford Park up North Road offers plenty of opportunity to satisfy my craving for the outdoors. Lindsay Creek, running through the heart of Chingford Park and the Valley itself is particularly alluring as the sight and sound of the water flowing across the river-bed has a calming effect. The creek is also home to many …

Meg and Simon are community members within the Lindsay Creek Catchment who have been working towards enhancing wildlife in their backyards and community spaces by managing mammalian predators and weedy plant species respectively. Have a read of their stories below and find out ways you can be involved! RIP Stumpy Sorry, but your nightly feasts on my kōwhai, silverbeet and cabbage seedlings had to stop. If we hadn't got an infra-red camera, you and your friends probably would have chomped through my entire vege garden by now and would be waiting hungrily for the tasty new leaves and birds’ …

Inspired sharing of moments of joy, from Tahu Mackenzie BUBBLE VISION began for me when I saw a Facebook post from my friend Kassandra Lynne on her Photography page, a beautiful snapshot of a moment in her day and some musings on her feelings at the time the photo was taken. Like an exhilarating and pleasurable bolt of lightning the inspiration struck! I realised I wanted to make a space for people to share photos of what they were loving from their beloved bubbles every day and Bubble Vision was born! We started on the first day of lockdown …

#wildwindows #openVUE Join us in the Wild Windows and Flighty Flags art display! Let’s celebrate this wonderful wild world and fill our valley with pictures of native birds in our windows (or fly a flag if your window is too hard to see for passers-by). Over the weekend of the 9th and 10th of May, let’s fill the community with birds to let them know how welcome they are here. This is one easy way to bring the Kākā to the valley, a true “window of opportunity”! Please take photos of your creations and post them on social media …

For the third year in a row Grant Guise solely organised the longest 24hr trail running challenge in the world; Crush the Cargill 24hr Challenge, to raise funds for the Valley Project. He coerced many people into making the event possible, including the entire Tripp family. I’m not sure what he bribed them with, maybe shoes. Or did he blackmail them? Last year’s champ Chris Bisley even helped out; he wasn’t racing this year possibly because he was injured (Tonya Harding styles). Despite all this skulduggery, the event was a roaring success and nearly $3000 was raised for the …