Cranes, drains and pre-cast panels

Now that the basement area of the first apartment block of Ryman Healthcare’s Commodore Drive site has been completed, walls are going up at such a rapid pace it seems like a whole level has gone up in one day! Project Manager Dave McKearney said the progress was exciting for the team to see.

“We dig holes for so long for the foundations and then when we get out of the ground and go up, that’s when you start seeing the changes more rapidly.” There were still plenty of holes to be dug elsewhere on site though, said Dave, including connecting the site to the main stormwater and sewage network.

Excavation work is also being done at the top of the hill where the bowling green is going in, while at the lower end a hole is also being dug for the foundations of a new tower crane, due to arrive on site at the end of April.

“The other cranes there are temporary cranes until that arrives from our Birkenhead site,” said Dave. “The tower crane is able to reach over the distance for standing up the precast panels, so it will really accelerate the work on the village centre construction.”

Poor weather during the early stages of the tournament didn’t dampen the spirits of the players in the Trusts NZ Open at Blockhouse Bay Bowls. Stormy weather over the first part of the week required the organisers to come up with a suitable wet weather plan to ensure that play kept to schedule. Luckily the weather began to clear as the tournament reached the final few days of the tournament.   
 
Blockhouse Bay Bowling Club proved to be a fantastic venue for the finals of the Trusts NZ Open which attracts bowlers from all over New Zealand and Australia. In addition to putting on a great event the club also saw several of their members appear in the finals with Graham Growcott finishing the tournament as runner up in the Trusts NZ Open Men’s Singles Finals along with Esther Eu and Helen Murray who were runners up in the Hunter Bowls Women’s Triple tournament.  
 
Overall it was a fantastic tournament for Auckland teams with almost all of the finalists coming from around the city. The results of the tournament were as follows
 
The Trusts NZ Open Men’s Singles Final Chad Grant (Grand Views, Australia) beat Graham Growcott (Blockhouse Bay) 21-16
 
The Trusts NZ Open Women’s Singles Final Leanne Poulson (Papakura) beat Jenny Welch (Tauranga South) 21-20
 
Ryman Healthcare Men’s Pairs Final Mike Galloway & Martin Dixon (Royal Oak) beat Shane McGonagle & James Williams (Composite) 21-11
 
Ryman Healthcare Women’s Pairs Final Karen Hema & Linda Ralph (Carlton Cornwall) beat Catherine Bien & Ling Qu (St Heliers) 19-11
 
Hunter Bowls Men’s Triples Final David Eades, Bruce McClintock & Bart Robinson (Composite) beat Neil Fisher, Colin Rogan & John Walker(Composite) 12-11
 
Hunter Bowls Women’s Triples Final Anne Bateman, Karen Hema & Linda Ralph (Composite) beat Esther Eu, Helen Murray & Sheila Putu 18-16
 
The Trusts NZ Open Disabled Pairs Final Norman Earnshaw & David Stallard (Composite) beat Peter Whiting & Jill Brierly 17-9
 
 

Glenavon ECE’s combined Children’s and Healthy Heart Day was a wonderful red-themed fun day, celebrated with watermelon cake, games, face painting, tricky challenges, healthy kai and good company.   Children and their families’ activities which highlighted links between active lifestyles and good nutritional choices, with healthy bodies, hearts and minds. 

With the opening of our neighbouring school’s bike track postponed due to rain, a smaller concreted area within the school grounds was used to ride bikes. Later a friendship fruit salad game was played where teams had to perform an exercise to retrieve fruit from stations for a shared fruit salad.   Adults pitted their balancing skill and speed against each other in the plum and spoon race, and later took on a tricky sorting task to categorise healthy and not-so-healthy food options – not as easy as you’d think!
 

Students of Glenavon School have been enjoying their new bike track which opened in March. The creation of the track was a collaboration between the school and several generous community funders. MP Deborah Russell officiated at the opening and also was one of the first to try out the track, along with the Glenavon pupils.
 
The bike track weaves and carves around the school field and includes a pump track, a mountain bike track through the trees and some fun skills bridges. It is open to the public before and after school and the school’s sports co-coordinator will be running after-school sessions throughout the summer months. Check out the school’s Facebook page for more details. 
 
The track is a wonderful community asset and the school wishes to thank NZTA, The Whau local Board, The Community Trusts Foundation, Four Winds Foundation, The Lion Foundation and Bikes in Schools for their financial support.