Latest news with #SamHenderson
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Clarity sought over sea lion conservation
Sam Henderson outlines highlights from the Otago Peninsula Community for tackling weeds The Otago Peninsula Community Board has granted just over $1700 to Save The Otago Peninsula to buy tools such as loppers, saws and gardening gloves. Volunteers will use the tools for weed removal and native planting, especially the ''Gorse Force'' team clearing gorse in the Smith's Creek revegetation area. Sea lion management discussed The board has written to the Department of Conservation (Doc) seeking more detail on sea lion management on Peninsula beaches. Although the board was strongly supportive of sea lion conservation, it asked whether a longer-term management strategy existed. Board chairman Paul Pope said after a low point of one mainland sea lion birth in 1992, there were now roughly 30 each year. ''What I would like to see is like a memorandum of understanding between the [Dunedin City Council] and Doc around who does what and how it is managed. ''Let's plan out the season, what's happening, who's doing what.'' The board hopes to invite a Doc representative, such as coastal Otago operations manager Gabe Davies, to its next meeting. The board supports increasing sea lion numbers but wants a strategic approach that helps local organisations work together. Thanks for doctor's dedication The board has written to Otago Peninsula Medical Centre GP Dr Peter Cooke, who is retiring after 43 years, to thank him for outstanding service to Peninsula residents. Funds for museum The board approved a grant of just over $260 to the Otago Peninsula Museum and Historical Society, which is running an oral history project. The museum sought funds to buy a digital voice recorder and transcription kit to interview longtime Peninsula residents. The grant will help the museum preserve local memories for future generations. Youth scholarships extended With no initial applicants for the board's annual Youth Scholarship, the deadline has been extended to May 31, 2025. The $1000 scholarship is earmarked to support a local young person in education, leadership or community service . The board urges eligible Peninsula youth to apply before the new deadline so the money can go to a worthy recipient. An extra board meeting is planned in June to consider any late applications. The board will also decide how to allocate the remaining balance of its project fund at that meeting.
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Science
- Otago Daily Times
Rocket club holding workshops
As Techweek lifts-off on Monday, The Star reporter Sam Henderson explores the events and activities planned for the technology- and innovation-focused week. If your sights are set sky-high, an enthusiastic club may be just right for you. The Otago Rocketry Club was established last year in June and holds regular gatherings to make and launch model rockets. Budding aerospace innovators can get ready for blast-off when the club hosts build-and-fly workshops during Techweek. Sessions will run next week on Monday and Friday at Dunedin Community House. Participants aged eight and over will assemble a model rocket, learn the propulsion and safety basics and then participate in a public launch at Tonga Park, St Clair, on Saturday. Club founder Mike Turner said interest in the group had rocketed soon after he launched it. "I got into rocketry a few years back and found the nearest club to us here in Dunedin was in Christchurch, which is a bit of a trek." Working at engineering firm Fisher & Paykel, he guessed many colleagues and their families would share the same interests. "I thought I would just ask if anyone is interested in building some rockets and I had about 50 people say 'yes, we'd love to'," Mr Turner said. The models use compressed black-powder engines and fin stabilisation. "When the igniter sets fire to the powder, it expands very, very quickly. "It sends out a hot stream of gas through the nozzle, which pushes the rocket upwards." The rockets can rapidly ascend to heights of up to 100m, although larger motors can push similar airframes close to 300m. New Zealand's rocketry regulations mean hobbyists need only follow the New Zealand Rocketry Association's safety code and secure landowner permission for small-scale flights, though Civil Aviation Authority approval is required for larger projects. "The one I am currently working on will go about seven kilometres." For a rocket of that size, he will need to fly to Auckland and travel to Huntly, where the New Zealand Rocketry Association has a high-powered launch site just outside the town. Places for the Techweek workshops are free thanks to funding from TechStep and sponsorship by Dunedin Young Professionals. Participants can keep the rockets they build. Numbers were capped at 45 per session and were filling fast, Mr Turner said. However, membership of the Facebook-based club was informal and free. "Obviously, that is trying to get people excited about science and engineering." Build and launch a rocket When: Monday, May 19, or Friday, May 23, 5.30pm-7pm Where: Rimu Room, Dunedin Community House Minimum age: 8 Launch day: Sunday, May 25, noon-2pm at Tonga Park, St Clair — subject to weather and safety. Visit and search events for "rocket" to register
Otago Daily Times
23-04-2025
- Otago Daily Times
Well defended for centuries
From a hidden cavity, a deadly deterrent guarded against an enemy that never came. The Star reporter Sam Henderson heads underground to discover the secret defences that kept the colony safe. With commanding views out to the ocean, Fort Taiaroa was the first line of defence for seaborne threats to the European settlement of Dunedin. Situated above the Royal Albatross Centre, the historic site is now managed by the Otago Peninsula Trust. Eco-tourism manager Hoani Langsbury said it was the most significant pā site in Ngāi Tahu before European settlement. Māori long regarded the hilltop at the tip of the Otago Peninsula as a key defensive position. About 56km away on the horizon lay the pā site at Kātiki Point on the Moeraki Peninsula. The site also looks directly across to the pā at Huriawa Peninsula. "Which is Kati Huirapa ki Puketeraki." Over the centuries many tried to take the position, yet the only route was a fight up from Pilot's Beach because cliffs guarded the other three sides. Strategically, the headland remained occupied until about 1840, when Māori shifted to the site where Ōtakou Marae now is. "They moved there in 1857 and then after that it was taken by the military in the 1880s for strategic and military purposes." During the 1870s and 1880s British and Russian tensions soared and a series of Russian scares gripped the country. The government ordered heavy artillery and ammunition from Britain and built a network of coastal defences. Fort Taiaroa ordered an Armstrong Disappearing Gun about 1885. WG Armstrong & Co manufactured the gun in 1886 at Elswick, United Kingdom. The gun, comprised of more than 13 tonnes of steel, was barged into Pilot's Beach then hauled up the hill on a temporary tramway. The gun was not ready for action until 1889. Tour guide and maintenance worker Zach Barford said once installed the entire assembly weighed about 18 tonnes. The gun employed a hydro-pneumatic system, using water pressurised to 1200 pound-force per square inch (psi) to lift the barrel into firing position. The barrel sprang up from underground to fire in roughly a second, the recoil immediately recharged the system. Estimates for the turnaround time was one round a minute. Mr Langsbury said thinking of golf helped understand why the disappearing gun was developed. After each shot the gun emitted a smoke plume that revealed its position and invited return fire. "If they fire and miss, if gun was up here and they hit here, shrapnel would destroy the gun. "If it is down in its pit, you can only destroy the gun with a hole-in-one." Thanks to significant restoration work by the Antique Arms Association and Otago Peninsula Trust, the disappearing gun was given the Engineering Heritage Award by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. It was only the sixth time it had been given outside the UK. Despite significant work to install and maintain it, the gun was never used in conflict. "It was fired by our records 486 times in practice only," Mr Barford said. "I guess the best summary is it is a precaution for what could be and then basically as a result the best outcome is if you never have to fire it in anger."
Otago Daily Times
23-04-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Defending the home front
In the 19th century, fears of a phantom foe sparked a frenzy of coastal fortifications across the country. The Star reporter Sam Henderson, 140 years later, finds out how a string of defences were installed across Dunedin's coastline to fight an enemy that never emerged. Nineteenth-century clashes between Britain and Russia led many in New Zealand to regard Russia as a looming threat. In the aftermath of the 1850s Crimean War, unheralded Russian warships in South Pacific waters sparked alarm across the country. Some of these reports were clearly a hoax, such as the 1873 Daily Southern Cross report of Russian invasion by the ironclad cruiser Kaskowiski , or "cask of whisky". But later scares prompted the government to order guns to be distributed across the colony to create a string of coastal defences. Archivist Michael Biggs, of Feilding, created a website outlining New Zealand's coastal defences as a teenager. Now in his 40s he has continued to periodically update it. "The British Empire was quite concerned about Russia at the time expanding out into other areas." In 1878, there was a war scare and the New Zealand government bought "a whole bunch of guns" to install across the colony. "But then the war scare sort of died down and so rather than spend the money they quietly stored the guns away. "But as so often with these things, in 1885, another war scare happens, so they pull out the old guns, which are now somewhat obsolete. "So they immediately install those around pretty much Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin and quickly buy more." A series of emplacements were built in Dunedin. Up to six gun batteries were built at Taiaroa Head between 1885 and 1905, ranging from hastily raised earthworks to a six-inch disappearing gun at the Lighthouse Battery. There was an earthwork and timber battery at Lawyers Head and defending from the St Clair battery at Forbury Head was a seven-tonne gun. The fortifications were intended chiefly to repel raiders. "They are not trying to stop a huge invasion fleet or anything like that. "It is about stopping cruisers from raiding the ports, shelling the city, destroying the port facilities and things like that," Mr Biggs said. They were largely manned by volunteers who lived near the batteries. Defences continued to be installed, adapted and upgraded until about 1906. Taiaroa Head, Ocean Beach and Harington Point batteries were used during World War 1. The defences were then abandoned in the 1920s and left idle. A new sense of fear emerged at the onset of World War 2 and Taiaroa Head and Harington Point were reactivated. Nothing new was built until 1941. A battery of six-inch guns was then constructed at Rerewahine, near Taiaroa Head, and above Tomahawk Beach. Tomahawk Battery was abandoned about 1944, while Rerewahine lasted until 1945. How genuine those fears were is up for debate, and no shot was ever fired in anger. "There were Russian ships that did visit New Zealand in the late 19th century, so they could certainly come here if they wanted to," Mr Biggs said. While some defences continued to be used for training into the 1950s, eventually the defences outlived their usefulness, even as a deterrent. "It just got to the point where, you know, if somebody can load a missile from 100 miles away, then a gun that can shoot out to 10 miles is not much use."
