A giant billboard in Auckland is telling thousands of city drivers a day to get their bums to Taranaki.
The billboard is promoting Taranaki as part of AA Travel's 101 must-do weekends advertising campaign and reads: Get your bum to Taranaki.
Hanging above Newmarket's Khyber Pass Rd, the billboard is on one of Auckland's busiest routes and has raised the eyebrows of some city dwellers.
Newmarket Business Association general manager Cameron Brewer, a former Taranaki man, is amused by the billboard and is bemused some people are offended by it.
"Some precious people have rung me and told me they think the language is a bit crass for upmarket Newmarket. One person even wanted me to complain to the Auckland City Council and try to get rid of it," laughs Mr Brewer, pictured in Auckland.
"I love the billboard. In fact people have suggested I was the one who organised it given I'm so pro-Taranaki. It makes me homesick every night I drive under it."
Mr Brewer, who grew up near Hawera, says about 60,000 cars drive down Khyber Pass Rd every day. He says the billboard is great free advertising for Taranaki.
AA Tourism general manager Peter Blackwell said the whole 101 must-do campaign has the theme of "get off your bum New Zealand".
"The premise is we spend enough time on our bums on the couch, so people need to get out there in the world and get off their bums," said Mr Blackwell, who also used to live in Taranaki. He said the AA hadn't received any complaints about the billboards but there had been some about the television advertising.
Saturday, May 10
Monday, May 5
Patea couple proud to grow organic Maori potatoes
They probably came from Peru and are now being grown organically in Patea.
Markus Gripp and Rochelle Bertrand are the only certified organic commercial growers of Maori potatoes in the country.
The couple, originally from Taranaki, returned from Australia about 10 years ago and got into growing the spuds through a friend who worked at Massey University.
"We had to find something to do. I left Patea to get away from the freezing works or having to milk cows.
"They were the only options for work," Mr Gripp said.
He spent a few years at Crop and Food Research studying the potatoes, which he says are the best you can get.
"They taste like potatoes should. Other potatoes have been modifed."
But these ones are just as they were hundreds of years ago.
They are also very healthy, according to Ms Bertrand.
"They are full of antioxidants and have a slow sugar releasing content, which means they are good for diabetics."
There are a few stories behind the name, but no one is really sure how they came to be called Maori potatoes.
"Some people say they came over with Maori in the canoes, but I don't really know if that's true."
Mr Gripp says there is also a hypothesis they originated in Peru.
"They were a delicacy because there was only taro and kumara which would only grow in certain areas. These potatoes could grow anywhere from Bluff to Whangarei."
The couple started wholesaling the spuds, which are sold in New Zealand supermarkets.
"It was a bit hard in the beginning. The wholesalers wanted them, but we had to educate them a bit about the potatoes," said Mr Gripp.
The couple have taken them to food shows all over the country, and they proved popular as wedges at the Wild Food Festival in Hokitika. "They make the best wedges," said Ms Bertrand.
Six months ago, the couple opened The Vege Shed in Patea and started selling the potatoes from there a month ago.
The are slightly more expensive than the conventional potato but that hasn't put people off.
"It's because they are organic and also the yield is low, compared with other potatoes,but I'm confident they will sell well," Mr Gripp said.
GRETA CLEARY greta.cleary@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki | Monday, 05 May 2008
Markus Gripp and Rochelle Bertrand are the only certified organic commercial growers of Maori potatoes in the country.
The couple, originally from Taranaki, returned from Australia about 10 years ago and got into growing the spuds through a friend who worked at Massey University.
"We had to find something to do. I left Patea to get away from the freezing works or having to milk cows.
"They were the only options for work," Mr Gripp said.
He spent a few years at Crop and Food Research studying the potatoes, which he says are the best you can get.
"They taste like potatoes should. Other potatoes have been modifed."
But these ones are just as they were hundreds of years ago.
They are also very healthy, according to Ms Bertrand.
"They are full of antioxidants and have a slow sugar releasing content, which means they are good for diabetics."
There are a few stories behind the name, but no one is really sure how they came to be called Maori potatoes.
"Some people say they came over with Maori in the canoes, but I don't really know if that's true."
Mr Gripp says there is also a hypothesis they originated in Peru.
"They were a delicacy because there was only taro and kumara which would only grow in certain areas. These potatoes could grow anywhere from Bluff to Whangarei."
The couple started wholesaling the spuds, which are sold in New Zealand supermarkets.
"It was a bit hard in the beginning. The wholesalers wanted them, but we had to educate them a bit about the potatoes," said Mr Gripp.
The couple have taken them to food shows all over the country, and they proved popular as wedges at the Wild Food Festival in Hokitika. "They make the best wedges," said Ms Bertrand.
Six months ago, the couple opened The Vege Shed in Patea and started selling the potatoes from there a month ago.
The are slightly more expensive than the conventional potato but that hasn't put people off.
"It's because they are organic and also the yield is low, compared with other potatoes,but I'm confident they will sell well," Mr Gripp said.
GRETA CLEARY greta.cleary@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki | Monday, 05 May 2008
Rousing farewell for local legend
By LEIGHTON KEITH leighton.keith@tnl.co.nz - Taranaki Daily News | Monday, 05 May 2008
BRADLEY AMBROSE / TARANAKI DAILY NEWS
Noel Yarrow's casket is carried to a waiting Cadillac by pallbearers, on the left (from the front) Michael Yarrow, Russell Guckert, Paul Yarrow, on the right William Tennent, Philip Yarrow and Peter Tennent.
The skies were blue and the rain had cleared, but the tributes for one of Taranaki's favourite sons continued to pour.
Noel Henry Yarrow, baker, businessman, husband, father, grandfather and philanthropist, was farewelled by more than 1500 people in Manaia on Saturday.
Those attending included family, friends, employees, sports people, school principals, students, some of the Royal New Zealand Navy's top brass and Dame Malvina Major.
Many of the mourners had been beneficiaries of the 83-year-old's renowned generosity.
Everybody spoke of Mr Yarrow's love of Manaia and Taranaki.
The crowd began gathering well before the 1pm service. About 300 mourners packed the Manaia Town Hall while others sat in an adjoining marquee. Bouquets of flowers lined the hall's entrance and foyer.
Barry Pepperell from New Plymouth was passing through Manaia and decided to pay his respects to a man he described as an icon of the region.
"He has done so much for so many."
George Duffus, who began working at the bakery in 1959, said that from the first time he met Mr Yarrow he knew he was destined for greatness.
"This business was going to progress and move forward."
Mr Duffus said Mr Yarrow often told him "if you stand still in business, you will only move backwards".
He valued their association. "In the beginning he was my boss, at the end he was my firm friend."
Peter McLeod said he had been privileged to know Mr Yarrow.
"In the short time I did get to know Noel he was a man of immense values and generosity."
Alf Bevins, who had known Mr Yarrow for more than 70 years, said he was a honourable man. "He was great to his district and his family."
RNZN Rear Admiral David Ledson said Mr and Mrs Yarrow had been generous to the navy over the years and their donations had helped improve the quality of life for sailors aboard ships. "It was done in a very low-profile way. They had no expectations of recognition."
The recognition came though. Rear Admiral Ledson awarded the Chief of Navy commendation to the couple some years ago at a ceremony in New Plymouth.
Mr Yarrow's casket was covered in red and white roses and his 10 grandchildren had placed a white baker's hat on it.
Dame Malvina, who Mr Yarrow had been proud to call a friend, sang Ave Maria before his casket made its final journey to the Manaia cemetery.
That final ride, in a silver and grey Cadillac, took Mr Yarrow past his home, through the factory and stopped for one final look at a snow-covered Mt Taranaki.
BRADLEY AMBROSE / TARANAKI DAILY NEWS
Noel Yarrow's casket is carried to a waiting Cadillac by pallbearers, on the left (from the front) Michael Yarrow, Russell Guckert, Paul Yarrow, on the right William Tennent, Philip Yarrow and Peter Tennent.
The skies were blue and the rain had cleared, but the tributes for one of Taranaki's favourite sons continued to pour.
Noel Henry Yarrow, baker, businessman, husband, father, grandfather and philanthropist, was farewelled by more than 1500 people in Manaia on Saturday.
Those attending included family, friends, employees, sports people, school principals, students, some of the Royal New Zealand Navy's top brass and Dame Malvina Major.
Many of the mourners had been beneficiaries of the 83-year-old's renowned generosity.
Everybody spoke of Mr Yarrow's love of Manaia and Taranaki.
The crowd began gathering well before the 1pm service. About 300 mourners packed the Manaia Town Hall while others sat in an adjoining marquee. Bouquets of flowers lined the hall's entrance and foyer.
Barry Pepperell from New Plymouth was passing through Manaia and decided to pay his respects to a man he described as an icon of the region.
"He has done so much for so many."
George Duffus, who began working at the bakery in 1959, said that from the first time he met Mr Yarrow he knew he was destined for greatness.
"This business was going to progress and move forward."
Mr Duffus said Mr Yarrow often told him "if you stand still in business, you will only move backwards".
He valued their association. "In the beginning he was my boss, at the end he was my firm friend."
Peter McLeod said he had been privileged to know Mr Yarrow.
"In the short time I did get to know Noel he was a man of immense values and generosity."
Alf Bevins, who had known Mr Yarrow for more than 70 years, said he was a honourable man. "He was great to his district and his family."
RNZN Rear Admiral David Ledson said Mr and Mrs Yarrow had been generous to the navy over the years and their donations had helped improve the quality of life for sailors aboard ships. "It was done in a very low-profile way. They had no expectations of recognition."
The recognition came though. Rear Admiral Ledson awarded the Chief of Navy commendation to the couple some years ago at a ceremony in New Plymouth.
Mr Yarrow's casket was covered in red and white roses and his 10 grandchildren had placed a white baker's hat on it.
Dame Malvina, who Mr Yarrow had been proud to call a friend, sang Ave Maria before his casket made its final journey to the Manaia cemetery.
That final ride, in a silver and grey Cadillac, took Mr Yarrow past his home, through the factory and stopped for one final look at a snow-covered Mt Taranaki.
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