153 Hurndall St
Maungaturoto
Ph/Fax (09) 431-8059

Peddle power is the in thing in Kaipara, or per- haps it was the chance to go riding with the Dis- trict\u2019s Mayor.

Whatever the reason, in the recent Mayoral
Challenge Kaipara proved itself the Northland
region\u2019s most cycle-conscious district and ped-
dled its way to 6th place among 24 districts with
populations between 11,000 and 58,000.

The challenge is a national Bike Wise promotion
which encourages people to take a short ride
with their Mayors. Celebrities taking part attract
extra points and the district population is fac-
tored into the score. On 21 February 2009, 58
riders followed Mayor Neil Tiller on a two kilome-
tre cruise in Dargaville and another 80 took part
in a similar ride at Mangawhai in the afternoon.

This gained Kaipara 302 points and sixth place
behind winner Central Hawkes Bay\u2019s 507 points.
Kaipara was well ahead of eleventh placed Far
North District which scored 186 points and also
beat the 250 points which placed Whangarei fifth
in the over 58,000 category.

adding he wants to lift Kaipara\u2019s cycling profile still further in next year\u2019s event. \u201cBut I think I\u2019ll get in a bit of practice first.\u201d

Mayor Tiller thanks Sport Northland and the
sponsors for making the event possible and eve-
ryone who turned out to ensure its success.

The Northland challenges were organised by
Sport Northland whose Mangawhai co-ordinator
Bridget Sampson says there have been moves
to form cycling groups in her area as a result of
the ride.

The Community Trust wishes to advise, that
vacancies occur from time to time in both the
2BR OYO units and 1BR rentals, situated
within the village in Riverview place,
Maungaturoto.
If you, or you have family interested in this
retirement option, please contact Rest Home
Manager Debbie Ph. 431 8696, a name on our
waiting list will ensure you are advised of
vacancies.

Maungaturoto Matters is a free monthly publication,
produced and published by the Maungaturoto
Business & Community Association for the
Maungaturoto Community.
Letters to the Editor cannot be accepted due to
space limitations. Contributions and feed back from
members of the Community are actively encouraged.
Read the full copy on line at
http://arealnewzealandtown.blogspot.com/

or maungaturotoeditor@gmail.com
Or Drop in the RED BOX at Tony\u2019s Lotto Shop 147
Hurndall Street Maungaturoto
Please note the Editor is not available during normal
business hours.

A WORD ON PHOTOS:
Due to the limitations of our technology
Image quality cannot be guaranteed

$60 $35 $20 $12

BUSINESS DIRECTORY $9 PER
INSERTION MINIMUM BOOKING
6 MONTHS. Book for a year
(11 issues) and get one Free

MAUNGATUROTO
BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
MONTHLY MEETING

1st Wednesday of the Month
Interested Community & New
Members Welcome

Maungaturoto Centennial
Community Centre
6.00pm

Earthworks involved in the Maungaturoto Wastewater
Treatment Plant upgrade have been completed and
the liner for the storage pond was due to arrive during
the last week of March.

The plant is progressing toward an April start up.
Once online, the new membrane filtration plant will be
tested and its performance closely monitored for sev-
eral months. This will ensure it is operating reliably to
a high standard before Kaipara District Council takes
over the ownership and operation.

Monitoring will include the ability of the new plant to
remove pathogens from the wastewater. This is done
by measuring the number of faecal coliforms per 100
millilitres (Fc/100 millilitres) of the water being dis-
charged into the Wairau River. It is expected that,
once online, the new system will discharge less than
200 Fc/100 millilitres into the river. This is a signifi-
cant improvement on the old treatment system which
could discharge between 30,000 and 70,000 Fc/100
millilitres.

The upgrade of the treatment plant is a significant
step in improving the water quality of the Wairau
River which drains into the Kaipara Harbour. The
plant is situated behind Maungaturoto Country Club.

Parent Teacher Association (PTA)
Annual General Meeting
to be held
Tuesday April 7th, 2009
Teacher's Room from 7:30PM

THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT FOR OUR
ANNUAL RAFFLE.
WITH YOUR HELP WE BUY LINEN,
KITCHEWARE ETC FOR THE HOME

RAFFLE RESULTS
1ST DRAW KAREN IHAKA
2ND DRAW JOH HOGGARD

My poultry breeding programme has a long way to go if this summer\u2019s progeny, one chicken of unknown sex, is anything to go by.

When Mrs Apricot went clucky I left her in the hen pen and soon she had a stash of a dozen eggs at which point the farmer and I moved her to the predator-proof chicken pen. Finally I heard cheep, cheep cheep. Mrs Apricot had pro- duced one very tiny cream chicken. I left her on the re- maining eggs, but it soon became apparent none would hatch.

I planned to give the chick a name starting with E; given the mortality rate of poultry, I\u2019m working through the alpha- bet.

Then the farmer checked out the chicken. \u201cOh, isn\u2019t she a tiddler,\u201d he gushed in a most unfarmerlike fashion. \u201cLet\u2019s call her Precious.\u201d So we called her Precious and continue to refer to it as her despite not having a clue about its sex. Once again I failed to predetermine the sex of the eggs. Apparently rounded eggs with a rounded air bubble pro- duce females and slender, pointy eggs with a slender, pointy air bubble produce males.

A plan is in place. Next season before any hens go clucky, I will keep eggs out of the fridge so they stay fertile. Late at night I\u2019ll hold each one in front of a torch and determine which have long, narrow air bubbles. Charles Edmondson of Dargaville told me these produce males and, therefore, they will be poached, boiled, fried and scrambled. The oth- ers will go underneath a hen in one hit so they mature at the same time. A gradual incubation rate is, I fear, why Mrs A produced one chicken.

I did attempt to sex Precious by checking her pin feathers. They looked pointy - a sign of a chap chook - but I had nothing with which to compare them.

My taming programme went haywire as well. Nervous is a more apt name for this teeny chicky. I figured if I delivered food by hand Precious would become tame, but she al- ways squeaked piteously and hid.

Last summer I tamed Mrs Blackie\u2019s eight chickens by this method; clearly chickens are more confident when they have siblings.

Now mother and baby wander around the garden with Mesdames Blackie, Crooked Comb, Ditzy and Whitey Es- quire but, as they keep to themselves, my fears that Pre- cious is male have returned.

They eat separately and Whitey\u2019s exceptional dining man- ners - he stands aside while the hens eat - seem lacking when it comes to Precious.

If a jury was deciding on the sex of Precious, I estimate 10 jurors would have concluded she\u2019s male and the two hold outs who are waiting for further evidence of tail feathers will soon join the others to announce an unpopular verdict.