We have 2600 native trees to plant at the Great Living Legends Muck In in Rotorua in 2013. We’re returning to Hamurana Springs Recreation Reserve, so register now to join us at the event!
Check out who the 17 Rugby Legends are here
Bay of Plenty
Living Legends has been busy in two locations in the Bay of Plenty, one in Tauranga and one in Rotorua. With the help of our volunteers and Rugby Legend Hika Reid, we have now planted a total of 10530 native trees at these two sites.
We have completed our planting in Tauranga, but will return to Rotorua for more planting in 2013.
Volunteers at the Tauranga planting day in 2011
Check out the photos from the 2012 Tauranga Great Living Legends Muck In
Photos from the 2011 Tauranga Great Living Legends Muck In
Tauranga
In 2011 and 2012, Living Legends planted a total of 8000 native trees at our Tauranga planting site, the Kaituna wetland. This concludes our programme of work here.
The Kaituna Wetland is a very significant conservation initiative in the Bay of Plenty with wide community support. It’s a wonderful reminder of how things once were. Cabbage trees and flaxes are flourishing, pukeko prowl through the raupo, numerous ducks, shags and pied stilts forage for food in the waterways.
Only 3% of the Bay of Plenty’s original wetlands remain, so protecting and restoring what remains is priority work for the Department of Conservation, other environmental agencies and community conservation groups.
The Living Legends plantings will help to enhance the largest remaining stand of kahikatea trees within the Reserve. These kahikatea are a seed source for the future, carrying the legacy of mature swamp forest that would have covered this area long ago.
The Kaituna site has been outstanding for both growth and survival with cabbage trees less than two years old up to 2m tall. The objective of closing the edge around the kahikatea stand is now well underway with planting on the site complete.
View the Tauranga planting location on Google maps in a new window
Rotorua
In 2011 Living Legends planted 2530 native trees at Hamurana Springs Recreation Reserve, which is famous for its beautiful crystal clear fresh water springs, that emanate from the ground and flows downstream into Lake Rotorua. The surrounding wildlife sanctuary plays host to many species of birds including black teal, scaup, herons and the endangered dabchick.
Hamurana residents and members of the wider Rotorua community have a long association with the reserve. In 2004, management of the reserve reverted to the Department of Conservation who has been undertaking weed control and revegetation works since. The local community and tangata whenua have been involved in community working days. However, a great deal of work remains to be done.
While planting was not undertaken on the site in 2012, Living Legends will be back this year (Bay of Plenty plantings have been split between Rotorua and Tauranga sites). The plantings undertaken in 2011 have made outstanding growth with very few losses to the current severe drought.
View the Rotorua planting location on Google maps in a new window
Events
Registrations for this event close midnight, Wednesday, 14 August, 2013.
Rugby Legend - Hika Reid
Ngongotaha’s Hika Reid is our Bay of Plenty Rugby Legend. This honours Hika’s tremendous rugby career, following on from the legacy of his own grandfather, J Hikatarewa, who represented New Zealand Maori in Australia and New Zealand in 1913. But it doesn’t stop there, Hika says his whole extended family were involved in rugby in some way.
Rugby has been a lifelong passion for Hika, his earliest memories of playing on a dirt field at the local marae, at about five years old. At that early age, Hika wasn’t to know that his greatest dream would come true – to pull on the All Black jersey 17 years later.
Hika was born and bred in Rotorua, attending Ngongotaha Primary School, Kaitao Intermediate and Western Heights High School where he was part of the 1st XV from 1973-77 alongside another of Living Legends named Rugby Legends, Buck Shelford. He then entered the Bay of Plenty representative side as a 20-year old in 1978 and until the 1987 season played 85 games for the union.
Hika Reid (centre) with helpers at the 2011 planting day in Tauranga
Hika was selected to tour Australia with the All Blacks as an unknown 22-year old in 1980, owing his selection in part to the unavailability of the then test incumbent, Andy Dalton. Reid proved a major success.
Though Dalton returned for the Wales tour later in 1980, Hika had by then proved his worth and was also named in the touring party, going on to be the preferred choice for the one-off international. From 1981 through to 1985 Hika served as Dalton’s understudy in test series against South Africa, Australia, the British Lions and England at home and on the tours of France (1981) and again to Australia in 1984. He was also in the first Seven’s team to Hong Kong in 1983, playing alongside the now Seven’s guru Gordon Tietjens.
However, Dalton’s unavailability for the 1983 tour of Scotland and England and also for Argentina in 1985 meant Reid received his test chances then. He also replaced Sean Fitzpatrick for the last two tests of the 1986 series against the Wallabies.
In all Hika played 40 matches for the All Blacks including nine tests. His last involvement with a national side was with New Zealand Maori on the 1987-88 tour of Europe and Argentina.
Hika was twice a winner of the Tom French Cup for the season’s outstanding Maori player, in 1980 and 1983. His other national honours came with the New Zealand Colts in 1979, for the North Island in 1983-84 and in five All Blacks trials in 1981-82-83-85-87.
In later years Hika Reid spent many seasons playing and coaching overseas, including in Ireland. In 2003 he took up an appointment as rugby development officer for the Bay of Plenty Union.
Hika was excited to be named a Rugby Legend in 2011 and hoped to “see New Zealand cement our standing as the world’s number ranked rugby nation” during Rugby World Cup 2011. We think the All Blacks have probably done him proud.
News
Bay of Plenty planting – Tauranga
3000 native trees were planted at the Great Living Legends Muck in at the Kaituna Wetland in 2012. This concludes our plantings at the Kaituna Wetland but we are working on another planting event in…
Bay of Plenty planting – Rotorua
We have 2600 native trees to plant at the Great Living Legends Muck In in Rotorua in 2013. We’re returning to Hamurana Springs Recreation Reserve, so register now to join us at the event!
