I have recently designed a logo for Manawa Karioi, a Wellington based restoration project in Island Bay. The project started in 1990 and the first seedlings were planted in 1991. Twenty five years later the land beside Tapu te Ranga Marae is now flourishing with native flora and fauna.

Nikau Palms have been planted at the entrance ways to the Manawa Karioi reserve to greet new visitors, it is for this reason that the Nikau was chosen for the logo.

A friend of mine, Ross Gardener, has been involved with the project since it's infancy. Watch a video about his involvement with Manawa Karioi on their spanky new website www.manawakarioi.nz. The video was shot and edited by a friend of mine Vanessa Patea, who also created their new website.

I have been involved with the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary since its formation back in 2007, and my role within the sanctuary group has predominantly been as the media person / designer. I’ve always enjoyed visiting the sanctuary and taking photographs of all the animals that reside there, so it was a natural progression for me as a video maker to make a documentary about the sanctuary. This video about the goats is a short except from what will eventually be a longer documentary about the sanctuary.

People always say not to make films with kids and animals, so making a documentary on an animal sanctuary definitely put that theory to the test! Between roosters crowing and goats attempting to eat the cables leading to the camera, trying to get a good interview in the can certainly had its challenges.
 
The goats were a mischievous bunch of characters to film – I definitely had a number of behind the scenes butt bunts to contend with. But despite their naughtiness, they were always keen to be a part of what was going on and willing to put on a show for the camera so I really enjoyed filming them.

The Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary is a safe and sustainable space to rehabilitate and re-home abused, injured, and neglected animals.  Located in the Ōtaki forks, an hour’s drive north of Wellington, New Zealand, the sanctuary is home to around 200 animals as well as four live in caretakers.
 
I think it’s so important that places like the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary exist so that animals in need can live out their lives free from abuse and exploitation. It takes a lot of hard work and monetary input to care for all of these animals, so I hope that through promoting the great work that the sanctuary is doing, funds can be raised to keep the animal residents happy and healthy for the rest of their natural lives.
 
Check out The Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary website I have been updating and help support the goats at the Black Sheep Animal Sanctuary.

Had a fantastic day out in the sunshine this week with the Kaboose Media team, producing this video for Greenpeace New Zealand with Tiki Taane Tikidub Productions.

Power companies in NZ want to tax people for using solar energy harnessed from solar panels, starting in Hawkes Bay. 45,000 people have signed the petition to oppose it. Say no to the Solar Tax.

SHINE and SHARE the petition now!
http://greenpeace.nz/solarise-petition

Enjoy

My partner and I recently had the pleasure of visiting Vietnam. We were there for one month and managed to cover a lot of ground despite trying to stay in one place for as long as possible. It was the first time I have traveled aboard for an adventure that didn't involve work, so it was interesting to be a tourist for a change and have an actual holiday.

We went further west still to Phu Quoc island, where resort development was rampant as this once quiet fishing island geared up to become VIetnam's next big party island. For us, being there off season, it was quiet and rained a lot but was still lots of fun to explore.

Swiftly heading east, the mountain township of Da Lat was our next stop. Known as Vietnam's answer to Switzerland, Da Lat was abundant with gorgeous french colonial buildings and lots of fresh produce – that was only able to be grown there due to the cooler climate. A great opportunity to crack out the jeans, Tom and I enjoyed exploring all the creative galleries, bars and cafes on offer. The Hang Nga Crazy House was amazing. "A free-wheeling architectural exploration of surrealism". A private home built by the famous Mrs Dang Viet Nga - who had an earlier house that she built torn down because the people's committee thought it looked too anti-socialist. A maze filled bar with the same name – 100 Roofs, has been built in it's honour and  was definitely our favourite place while we were there.

Click here to see a selection of photographs I took on the trip.

You can link to the Boosted campaign here.

Click here to see a short video that was put on TVNZ of the event

I'm really pleased with the result, as was my father and the museum director. I look forward to seeing it being used in the operations of the print display.

I recently had the pleasure of attending a fantastic party/music festival called Awana Moon Yeah on Aotea (Great Barrier) Island. A stellar selection of guests from around the country and abroad attended, and there were performances from Cecilia Sudden, Rhonda K, Onion Engine, Adam Fincher, The Biscuits and Pumice.

The event was held at Mickey's Place, a ramshackle old camping ground on the edge of the bush in Awana Bay. Scattered with deteriorating memories of the past, yet still equip with fire fuelled hot showers and all the basic amenities one could need, it was a great place to camp out for a few days, sharing food and stories with friends old and new.

Exploring the rest of the island was fun too, hanging out with dogs of friends and friends of dogs, having breakfast at stunning lookout spots, swimming in lush warm waters with perfect body surfing waves. Harataonga beach was definitely a highlight – can't wait to go back!

In early July I got offered an exciting opportunity to document the acquisition and transportation of cocoa beans from Bougainville to Aotearoa – in a waka. Initially I thought this sounded like a crazy idea but, after investigating what this project was all about – and the integrity of the waka, I was sold.

Within two weeks I had got together all the gear I would need to film on the high seas and was off to Fiji, where I met up with the rest of the crew from The Wellington Chocolate Factory. We interviewed a number of people in Suva about sustainable sea transportation and the re-invigoration of vaka voyaging and traditional navigation in the pacific. I realised at this point what an exciting project this was to be involved with and how many boxes it ticked for me in terms of it's social and environmental endeavors.

It took us about 6 days to sail to Vanuatu and, after a few days there replenishing our stocks, enjoying fresh water showers and catching up with friends, we set sail again for Bougainville. This next leg was a longer sail, taking about 9 days, but we had stunning weather with good winds and moderate swells to push us forward. I captured lots of great footage of life aboard the vaka including interviews with all the crew, some great ukulele performances and a number of fish sacrificing their still beating hearts.

At this point of the journey my involvement in the project was suspended as I had to get back to Wellington for work. I look forward to meeting up with the Uto ni Yalo crew again in Wellington and wish them well for the rest of their journey ahead.
Vinaka Crew!

Check out The Wellington Chocolate Factory blog for more extensive coverage of the project or follow the progress of the Uto ni Yalo vaka on their facebook page.