Loves the freedom
Sharon Ferris-Choat, 42, international sailor, mother of two. Lives in Kerikeri.
The feeling of freedom and that I can have everything I need in the Far North. That I can go somewhere with my family and have the whole beach to ourselves. We can be free to play and swim and the water is clean and there are no time limits.
We can sit on the grass and not be escorted off by armed guards like in other countries. You can have enough peace to feel the nature, hear the birds and see the bees.
40 years and I was born in Canada.
The roads, they are dangerous and the rubbish on the side of the road. The people who dump their rubbish out of car windows, it’s a disgrace. It’s not acceptable to dump rubbish.
We did a 17-day clean up and the majority of the rubbish were sugar-loaded drinks and fast food packaging. For me that was a sign that the people who dump rubbish tend to drink a lot of those.
There was no healthy snack packaging, no fruit peels or apple cores or banana skins. The packaging of the fast food places needs to be biodegradable and packaging needs to be made smarter and more eco friendly and less of it.
Why can’t you buy chips for four or six or eight people with one lot of packaging that can be recycled?
The Village Cafe.
Seeing my children and husband and spending quality time with them.
My mum, Pauline Ferris, because she was a lady who supported me and guided me in the good times and the bad.
Omapere, because I love the diversity of the place, also the people and the land.
Start with the roads and build more cycling tracks so it is safe to cycle everywhere. We could have direct cycle tracks from out of town to schools and into town and that didn’t cross hundreds of driveways.
Go to the beach with family.