Community shows they care
Otago turns on the treats for Pō rangahau pair hit by cyclone
APō rangahau garage owner whose business was wiped out by Cyclone Gabrielle has had some welcome relief, courtesy of Central Otago and the Alexandra Blossom Festival.
In the aftermath of the cyclone, Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) initiated the Adopta-Community campaign, in which more than 30 councils in New Zealand adopted one of the affected areas.
Central Otago adopted Central Hawke’s Bay, and to show its adopted community councillors were thinking of them, the Central Otago District Council came up with the “Bring ’em to Blossy” campaign to take a Central Hawke’s Bay couple to September’s Alexandra Blossom Festival.
The instigator of the campaign, Central Otago Mayor Tim Cadogan, was keen to keep the sharing of aroha alive, recognising that the difficulties faced by the affected communities would not be short term.
Central Hawke’s Bay Mayor Alex Walker was called on to identify a family who was hit hard by the cyclone.
The chosen pair were Creedenz Walford, who owns the Porangahau Garage, and his mum, Ngaira Walford. Creedenz has owned the garage for seven years, but it has been shut since the cyclone hit.
The garage is slowly being rebuilt, and the pressure the whole disaster has put on Creedenz and the wider family has been profound, Walker says.
Air New Zealand donated airfares to get Creedenz and Ngaira to Otago and back, the Central Otago District Council secured accommodation, the Blossom Festival organised a car and
tickets, Contact Energy (the principal sponsor of the festival) matched donations collected at the festival — up to $2000 — for the Central Hawke’s Bay Mayoral Fund, and Highlands Motorsport Park provided some high-speed action for Creedenz, who did a hot lap.
For Ngaira, it was her first time in the South Island as well as her first flight. And while she was wowed by the scenery and overwhelmed by the hospitality, she was not impressed with her first experience of air travel.
“It was so scary. The flight into Queenstown was so rough. The flight after us wasn’t even able to land. I just held Creedenz’s hand, and he was saying, ‘Think of it as a bus, mum, think of it as a bus.’ I’m not keen to do that part of it again.”
Cadogan collected the pair from the airport and took them to GWD Toyota, where they were given a latemodel Toyota to use for the four days.
Ngaira says the people in Alexandra were “so lovely and caring”.
“They asked where we were from, they sympathised with us over the cyclone, they showed they cared and they made us smile.
“We went to Arrowtown and we had lunch at the Cardrona Pub. It was snowing — my first time seeing snow. I had to touch it, and next we were throwing snowballs.
“The blossom parade was huge. We couldn’t find a parking space, so I said, ‘Park at Toyota . . . they won’t tow their own car’. They invited us in and shared drinks and a barbecue. We came home with some great memories.”
Cadogan apologised to them for the bad weather, saying “it was about as bad as you’d ever fly in”.
“Creedenz and Ngaira were such lovely people, and it was nice to be able to give them a break and show them a good time,” Cadogan said.
“‘Bring ’em to Blossy’ was our way of reminding the communities affected that we have not forgotten them, and we still care.”
Ngaira says she can’t wait to go back to the South Island and take her grandchildren. “But no more flying. Next time I am driving down, and we’ll go over on the ferry.”