The Saturday Express, Marlborough
New festival puts music centre stage
IAN ALLEN Fruit Loop is going to be big. “We’re not just going to throw up a stage with a DJ and a little bit of lighting, we’re going to go big with the production and even dress the space to feel like a festival,” organiser Jesse North said. Think...
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Solve scalp issues
An itchy-feeling, flaky scalp can be a real confidence killer. It’s the kind of persistent annoyance that makes you think twice about wearing your favourite black top, or might even hold you back from hitting the gym. More than 50 per cent of the...
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Vineyards reverting from organic
Two of Marlborough’s biggest wineries have converted huge swathes of vineyards from organic to back to conventional farming. Indevin has reverted about 100ha of its 130ha of organic vineyards to non-organic, while Vinarchy, which owns Brancott Estate,...
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Clubs, groups and events in your area
To list your event, send details by noon on Tuesday to [email protected]. Please include the venue, address, event name, date, time and cost.
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All your local community events
To list your event, send details by noon on Tuesday to [email protected]. Please include the venue, address, event name, date, time and cost.
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The family helping baby pāua grow
A Marlborough Sounds aquafarming family is helping to breed and replenish New Zealand’s precious but depleted pāua populations. Mike and Antonia Radon and their children Sarah, Jacob and James have been reseeding and repopulating stretches of the...
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Wild winds rattle Marlborough
Gale force winds have battered the South Island this week, sparking fires in Clarence and Kaikōura, leaving the entire Marlborough region without power on Thursday. A rare red wind warning for South Marlborough and Canterbury forced flight...
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Boaties welcome dredging
Boaties checking out plans to improve Havelock Marina say they are thrilled after struggling to navigate the sediment-laden channel. The berth-holders, both commercial and recreational, had popped in to a dropin session on the project at the Slip Inn...
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Goodby e Say to dark spots with Mela B3
It’s no secret that hyperpigmentation is an all-too-common skin concern that is incredibly frustrating to tackle, and there are a plethora of reasons why dark spots can appear, often seemingly out of nowhere. Regardless of how you get it, treating and...
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105-year wait: Kahu kiwi coming home
A kiwi-feathered cloak gifted to a British doctor 125 years ago by Māori at Wairau Pā is to be returned to Marlborough after spending more than a century on display in a United Kingdom museum. The kahu kiwi, made from kiwi feathers with a tāniko...
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River crossings inspire teen
A teenager’s tramping trips with her family have inspired a winning science project at this year’s SciTec competition. Hayley Sutherland, 15, said she would sometimes get nervous about crossing rivers as a relatively short person, causing her to...
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Havelock gets the nod to have permanent coastguard base
After two successful summer trials, Coastguard Marlborough has been given approval for a permanent base in Havelock. In an email sent to Coastguard Marlborough president David St John two weeks ago, the national office confirmed Havelock would now be...
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Marlborough Mile paused
A project to jazz up several public spaces in Blenheim’s town centre has been paused as the business group leading the project has scaled back its operations. The Marlborough Mile, which aimed to showcase the region’s industries and heritage through...
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Health bosses veto cut to hours
Health authorities have nixed plans to reduce the opening hours at Marlborough’s urgent care centre, but plans to “streamline” staff numbers have been pushed through. The Marlborough Primary Health Organisation (PHO) had planned to cut opening hours...
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Question: Just how can the elderly use a new children’s playground?
Marlborough District Council staffer Robert Hutchinson probably didn’t think he’d have to explain how the elderly could use a proposed playground at Tuesday’s assets and services committee meeting. But a question from councillor Deborah Dalliessi left...
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Garnier SkinActive Micellar Reusable Eco Pads
These Garnier SkinActive Micellar Reusable Eco Pads are a sustainable alternative to disposable cotton pads, designed to gently cleanse and remove makeup with just micellar water. Soft and ultra-effective, each pad can be washed and reused up to 1000...
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Uber on recruitment drive ahead of Blenheim launch
Uber is expecting to launch its ride-share service in Marlborough at the end of the month – if it can get enough drivers. The company plans to begin operations at the end of August as another option on top of existing taxi services. It needs five to...
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Crash driver using cellphone
A truck driver was using his cellphone when he crashed into the back of a van, killing one person and injuring five others. The 54-year-old man, who cannot be named, had left Blenheim about 6.27am, driving a heavy Scania truck north on State Highway...
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Paper towels to pumpkin soup
For one man, Marlborough’s recent downpours haven’t been all bad. “It makes the compost nice and moist,” Bioeconomy Science Institute plant pathologist Dion Mundy said. The senior scientist has been taking used paper towels and food scraps from the...
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Breathe easier this winter
With winter well and truly upon us here in Aotearoa, the associated sniffles, scratchy throats and headache-inducing sinus pressure may have already begun making the rounds in your house. It’s a challenging time for our respiratory health, and dry...
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Mayor: Marlborough zoned for growth
Marlborough’s mayor says the council is well on its way to meeting housing growth targets for the next 30 years, even without new Resource Management Act reforms. On June 18, Housing and Resource Management Act (RMA) reform minister Chris Bishop...
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Hospitality is in the blood for coffee bar’s new owner
The new owner of the cafe at Thomas’ department store has been in hospitality since she was aged 6, carrying pints of beer at her godmother’s restaurant in what is now the Czech Republic. “I’ve been in hospitality all my life,” Thomas & Sons Coffee...
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Let’s talk about it
What keeps you so driven to improve mental health? I’ve been in this role for nine years, and every day I’m motivated to come to work because I know first-hand that getting the right information, support and treatment can be life changing. I first...
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Picton’s Beachcomber Cruises wants help naming new boat
Demand for boat trips in the Marlborough Sounds is growing, and Picton’s Beachcomber Cruises is taking advantage of the quiet season to add to its fleet. General manager Jessica Jones said that when her parents bought the company in 2006, they could...
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More tūī in Marlborough gardens, survey shows
The number of tūī in Marlborough gardens has moderately increased during the past 10 years, according to the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. Marlborough residents counted 68% more tūī in last year’s survey than they did in 2014, according to the...
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New kennel means being in dog house not all bad news
Not all dogs are allowed on the bed, but it doesn’t mean they have to be outside in cold, draughty kennels – especially in a country where warm, natural materials are plentiful. A Marlborough farmer is ensuring man’s best friend is kept cosy...
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KiwiRail: no ‘price-gouging’ when Aratere ferry retires
Interislander ferry operator KiwiRail says with the Aratere gone, passengers may need to travel on less popular sailings or be more flexible with dates. But it says there will be no price-gouging or considerable increases to ticket prices. The...
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Rare fungi found during annual mushroom forage
Several rare species of fungus, one never before seen in the South Island, have been identified in the haul from last year’s Fungal Foray in Marlborough. A yellowing knight mushroom, also known as the exotic Tricholoma scalpturatum, was found at the...
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Forest & Bird on protecting the shearwater
To list your event, send details by noon on Tuesday to [email protected]. Please include the venue, address, event name, date, time and cost.
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Cafe owners remember the fun times ahead of last day
If a half normal and half decaf coffee order baffles you, the owners of the cafe at Thomas’s department store have plenty more stories like it. Jane Dickenson, Malia Brown and Louisa Verry are reflecting on their time at Thomas & Sons Coffee Bar &...
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Lizard species survive pest threats at Wairau Lagoon
A Marlborough Forest & Bird survey this summer discovered native skinks and geckos living in the Wairau Lagoon area, but no sign of plague skinks, which are a pest. Professional herpetologist Carey Knox led the five-day survey, helped by 22 volunteers...
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Ferry plans ‘great news’ for Marlborough businesses
Plans for two new ferries and an upgrade of Picton’s marine infrastructure is “great news” for Marlborough’s construction and engineering firms, an industry leader says. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Rail Winston Peters revealed last week his...
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Wild wellness
What inspired Olive Andrews, a marine conservationist, to start an eco-sauna by the sea.
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Marlborough Sounds residents tackle wasps
If you’ve noticed fewer wasps in areas around Tennyson Inlet, you should thank the locals. Property owners in a cluster of Marlborough Sounds communities have been taking wasp control into their own hands, baiting the flying pests with poison every...
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Proposal to cut back game bird shooting at Grovetown Lagoon
A draft management plan has proposed ntly cutting back the number of weekends people can shoot game birds at the Grovetown Lagoon. The “valued site” has been hunted for more than 100 years, allowing people to gather wild kai for the freezer from May...
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International visitor levy funds wilding pine battle
Work to remove wilding pines has received $3.35 million from the pockets of international visitors, but a councillor has warned that more is needed to stop the hardy pest. Molesworth Recreational Reserve has gained $400,000, and wider Canterbury...
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Building a resilient Marlborough
OPINION: I want to take a moment to discuss the vital work council is doing to help Marlborough adapt to the challenges of climate and weather change. Our region, with its stunning natural environment and thriving primary industries, faces unique...
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Natural ways to support stress & rest
As we barrel further into 2025, many of us are gradually returning to the daily grind and facing down all the demands of life that come with it. The relaxed summer holidays feel like they are most definitely in the rear-view mirror, and those all too...
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Harbourmaster team upskills after grounding
Marlborough’s harbourmaster team has been doing lots of extra training, ticking off recommendations made after a ferry ran aground last year. The Interislander ferry Aratere beached in Titoki Bay near Picton on June 21, after steering autopilot was...
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Architect chosen for pavilion
A Nelson architect has been picked to design the new pavilion for Marlborough’s A&P Park after a dozen proposals were put forward to the council. The Marlborough District Council reduced those 12 proposals to three for “closer review” before selecting...
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Aotearoa’s best beaches
It’s the season to get out and discover some of our beautiful country’s must-visit seashores.
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Trapping feral cats to prevent native bird catastrophe
A man trying to coax native plants and birds back to his lifestyle block hopes other rural property owners will join his efforts to trap feral cats. Alistair Midgley, 80, lives on a 48ha lifestyle block in Marlborough’s Awatere Valley in the...
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Cancer support forged on the track at Relay For Life
Marlburians Murray Eyles and Paula Olliver have a few things in common. They have both participated in Relay for Life, both co-ordinate groups supporting Marlburians affected by cancer, and have both been diagnosed with cancer themselves. Live...
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Confidence low from region’s three big industries
The forestry, viticulture and construction industries are among those feeling low business confidence in Marlborough, interim survey results have found. The survey, completed by 113 businesses, has also suggested some industries find it hard to employ...
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Lack of funding may cut environmental projects
The future of some core environmental projects, one described by the mayor as a “community movement”, hang in the air as funding starts to dry up. Marlborough was given $37.4 million to fund six projects until 2027 as part of the previous government’s...
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‘Loungers’ on footpaths ‘intolerable’
Sir, With your permission I would draw attention to the existence in this town of an intolerable nuisance, which, evidently, there is no law to remedy, or if there is one it is not being enforced. I refer to the wilful obstruction of the principal...
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Overstayers prompt tweak to freedom camping rules
Marlborough’s freedom camping bylaw has been slightly tweaked in a bid to curb overstayers getting around the rules. The council’s Responsible Camping Bylaw, adopted last year following a lengthy legal dispute, said that the maximum period anyone...
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Healing through hauora
Wellness expert Jase Te Patu empowers youth across Aotearoa with Māori-based mental health tools.
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Shout out for food bank help
In less than a month sirens will sound across Marlborough once more as can collectors hit the streets, and there’s plenty of shelf space to fill. Jo Lane, who had been co-ordinating the Marlborough Community Foodbank street appeal for the past eight...
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The details
Marlborough Lines Lights Over Marlborough will be held at Blenheim’s A&P Park on Saturday, November 16, from 6pm. (Gates 5.30pm). Admission: Adults and children 5 and over $10. Family of five $40. Postponement day: November 17. The fair finishes just...
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Piggies on programme for revamped A&P Show
Changes are afoot at the Marlborough A&P Show, or should that be a-trotter? That’s right: pigs are back. And the show, possibly for the first time (no-one knows for sure), will be a one-day event. Marlborough A&P Show secretary Alice Parkinson said...
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Arbuckle sets date for council resignation letter
Marlborough councillor-turned-MP Jamie Arbuckle will hand in his formal resignation on his last day, October 31. Arbuckle has spent the past year juggling his role as a New Zealand First MP with his position as a Blenheim ward councillor. While he...
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‘Luckiest man alive’ after fire on remote island
Allan Innes-Walker reckons he’s the luckiest man alive. Six months after an accident that saw his body engulfed in flames, his scars are fading: the wounds to his arms were superficial, while skin grafts on his legs have sped up the healing...
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Dog park plan in doubt
A dog park once mooted for Blenheim’s former landfill is “probably not suitable” for the site, a council staffer says. In early 2022, the Marlborough District Council proposed to turn the former Taylor Pass landfill site into a new “rustic, rugged”...
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Plans for tech hub ramp up
Marlborough’s new tech hub is aiming to open in the middle of summer in what is all about “joining the dots” for the industry. The tech and innovation hub was announced in April last year but had taken longer than expected to get set up while the...
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Mayor questions spending
Marlborough’s mayor Nadine Taylor has once again questioned the Marlborough Research Centre’s spending after it took some of its council funding and invested it in a commercial operation. The centre put $20,000 into the commercial arm of a forestry...
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