Bob Cater talks to about Festival of the Elements, the Marines Hall and loving cricket.

Dando

How long have you been involved with Festival of the Elements?

In 1990 I was with Internal Affairs and was manager of the celebrations at Waitangi. A few people on Porirua Arts Council, in which I’d been involved for some years, said we should look at having something in the city on Waitangi Day. We live in a multiethnic community and everyone works pretty well. We thought, ‘‘Why not?’’ Helen Smith was key in getting the city council on board and Te Puoho Katene smoothed everything with Ngati Toa, and we were away.

Was the first one, at Aotea Lagoon in 1992, what you expected?

It was unbelievable. It drew 5000 people, way beyond expectations. It’s become something that other cities have copied and it started on the grass at Aotea Lagoon. The next year [also at the lagoon] we had 10,000 people. We got Whitireia Performing Arts involved, and there was a waka on the water.

How did the rotating themes of earth, air, fire and water come about?

We wanted themes people could relate to. In 2011, when we had water, we had artists making sculptures from big blocks of ice. It was magnificent.

Was there a particular philosophy behind the festival?

We wanted to promote arts and performance in the city, bring cultures together and by hook or crook it was going to be free. You soon left the lagoon. We outgrew it pretty quickly but you have to remember, Festival of the Elements was only every second year until the end of the 1990s. For the third and last one at the lagoon, it was chaos mainly because of parking. We used the police college and Aotea College, but people were walking from two kilometres away. We knew we needed to look elsewhere. What were your options? I was in favour of Ngatitoa Domain with the juxtaposition of water nearby and the domain, but access was a problem. We had a few years alternating between Elsdon Park and Te Rauparaha Park, and one year at Titahi Bay Intermediate before settling where we are now. The old recreation centre on Te Rauparaha Park cut down space a bit, and its removal has made life easier, and the linkage with the arena [from 2008] and Pataka has been wonderful. It’s easy to get parking, close to public transport – it just works well.

Is it hard to strike a balance between what has worked and introducing new things?

We had a template, but you need to tweak to stay current. We seldom get the same acts two years in a row, but it has been done, because you have things people know and love.

Who have been highlights?

Robin White, Sam Hunt and Gary McCormick were brilliant this year and the feedback was fabulous. It was unfortunate their talk on Porirua wasn’t in a bigger setting, or recorded. We hope to get them back again. What I’ve loved was seeing the development of local talents – the Musical Island Boys sang at the festival when they were national champions and then world champions. They were absolutely magnificent, down-to-earth boys. [Barbershop quartets] The Fource and The Rookies from Aotea College were also great. It’s so pleasing to see them go on.

Are you stepping back from involvement now?

I was honoured to be made kaitiaki (guardian) of the festival last year by the Porirua Arts Council. I guess it’s my role to keep an eye on the spirit of the event and it’s a cunning way of keeping me involved. But yes, I am stepping back, albeit slowly. You reach an age [Cater is 77] where you realise you can no longer outrun nature.

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Do you think the festival is in good shape?

It is. It gets harder every year to raise money because things get more expensive and that budget edges up a bit. But there is a great pool of volunteers who work so hard to make it a success. Margaret Armour has been the festival co-ordinator for 15 years and does an amazing job.

What else keeps you busy these days?

I do a bit of teaching, am involved in local and regional theatre and am studying history. I’m compiling information on African Americans who came to New Zealand on whaling ships in the 1820s and 1830s. Many of them stayed here.

How long have you been in Porirua?

Since 1963. I was transferred for work [with the Department of Education] and given the option of a house to stay in either Miramar or Titahi Bay. My wife Ruth was still in Auckland and when I rang her, she said ‘‘Titahi Bay’’ immediately because she was from Takapuna and this place had the word Bay in it. It’s been a lovely place to raise four children and my 14 grandchildren and five, soon to be six, great-grandchildren like it, too. My four children went off and did their thing, but came back – two live within 10 minutes’ walk, and the others are no more than 10 minutes’ drive.

How has Titahi changed?

When we came here there were houses on bare land. With trees and more homes, the place has become softer and not as raw. But seeing the post office, greengrocer and other businesses leave has been disappointing.

So it’s been a good life in Porirua?

On the whole, yes. I’m an optimist. I’ve been appalled by some decisions made by this city council over the years – much of the development of the city has gone on with its back to the harbour. There’s been a lack of foresight.

You’ve been involved in the Marines Hall saga?

The whole situation is disgraceful. My gut feeling is the building will be saved and I hope that is the case. It is one of the things linking Porirua to World War II. To ignore the history of it is ignorant. There have been six visits by Marines to Titahi Bay to see the hall – John Burke gave the 2nd Marine Division the freedom of the city and now he wants to pull it down!

And you’re a cricket tragic?

Bay

Love my cricket. I was in London as part of the 1990 celebrations – organising a waka to be transported from Ngaruawahia to the Thames was no mean feat. I had an office at the New Zealand High Commission and one day, when New Zealand were playing at Lords, I finished my work quickly and rushed over to St John’s Wood. As I was coming up the stairs of the station there, people were streaming down. It was bucketing with rain, so I never got to a day’s play! But I took a tour of Lords and breathed in the tradition. I love going to the Basin Reserve and think test cricket is what it’s about. I think Kane Williamson is going to break all sorts of records and I like that Trent Boult has become a limited-overs player.

You’ve worked as an industrial chemist, archaeologist, public servant and head of Whitireia’s school of arts. That’s some CV.

Every job had its rewards. Working at Whitireia was satisfying and not just because it was local. I spent more time as a teacher than as an administrator at Whitireia, but I learned a lot from the students. That was great for someone coming to the end of their working life.