Speakers

Ian Candy (a member of Waipapa Rotary Club) spoke on his eco-tourism business involving guided forest walks and other activities in Puketi Forest. The extent of his business which has been running for five years was an eye opener. With more and more cruise ships coming to the Bay full of tourists eager to experience the New Zealand bush and magnificent Kauri forest during a day trip, Ian often has back to back bus loads arriving at the Forest for one of their guided walks.

The night walk is an amazing experience for everyone and is receiving much positive comment feedback on all the networking media that Ian advertises and tweaks on.

In October 2010, Mita Harris from the Kerikeri Army Cadet Corps spoke of the activities of the Corps and of the work with young people. The range of activities was eye opening. Much more than a bit of marching and pretending to be soldiers, these young people get the opportunity to be of service to their community and develop personal discipline and responsibility.

On 1 June 2010 Don Kemp, long time Kerikeri Fire Service volunteer, gave us all a very interesting insight into the activities of the volunteers. A third of their call outs are fire related, another third are accidents while the rest are the quirky 'please get my cat out of the hole' type things. They are being relied upon more and more to carry oxygen and now defibrillators as a back-up for the Ambulance service.

He thanked the Kerikeri Rotary Club for its financial contribution that allowed them to purchase a defibrillator. What a fantastic, fail-safe machine – everyone can use it with little training as it measures the patients vital signs and, if necessary, administers the suitable electric shock at the press of a button. The defibrillator talks one through the steps as required. (I wonder if deaf people can use one?).