Black Friday lands on us in late November with a deluge of advertising in every possible medium, enticing us to buy now and apparently offering once in a lifetime deals.
If you’d rather have a calm approach to some ethical retail therapy, have a look at our newsletter published this morning for some ideas, with links to our supporters.
For example, Tumbleweed Tees are calling it Donation Friday and sharing 10% of today’s sales with all their conservation partners!
There are a couple of wonderful local supporters that were missed off the newsletter, so apologies and special mention goes to local author/illustrators who make a donation for every penguin book sold:
Jeanette Goode for her wonderful ‘A Little Blue’ book, which you can find online and in good book stores: https://jeanettegoode.co.nz/product/a-little-blue/
“A Little Blue is a hand-illustrated picture book loved by children of all ages. It is particularly relevant for reluctant readers as Jeanette has drawn the pictures to tell a slightly different and deeper story. It is a tale of love and the arresting power of nature.”
and
Janet Gawn for her delightful Sandy Silkywings adventure with blue penguins, now available at Take Note in Hokitika:
“Sandy Silkywings, a house fairy who lives on the West Coast of the South Island in Hokitika” – and meets a blue penguin on one of her adventures. For younger children.
See our post on facebook about both.
While materials were chosen that would stand up to the harsh coastal conditions, those same coastal conditions are conducive to plant growth! Occasional checks of the fences have been carried out by volunteers and rangers so that any maintenance needs can be identified and remedied. The never-ending need for maintenance is managing the vegetation that can grow through the fence, for example gorse, blackberry and hydrangea, pushing it to breaking point in places, or flop over causing damage from the weight of rank grass, rushes and weeds such as montbretia.
Volunteers recently spent a few hours tidying up the main fence along Woodpecker Bay north of Punakaiki so a big shout out to them - thank you Fiona, Jony, Reef, Katrina, Mandy, Marty, Teresa and Deb! Flax had been pressing down on the fence, but now the fence has been freed up by these wonderful volunteers - and they picked up a fair bit of rubbish too.
Volunteer Natassja Savidge has offered to check and help maintain the Hokitika penguin protection fence and joined Ranger Lucy Waller and Manager Inger Perkins in May to inspect the length of the fence. Some minor issues were found but the main finding was the extent of the vegetation growth that was damaging the fence in places. Big thanks to Natassja!
