Shona scrapes of the old paint
After a night with local Labour friends, we woke up to the last day of the Young Labour Clarion Tour. The sun was out again as we headed from a quick breakfast to the Riccartion Community Trust.
The Clarion Tour is a project of
Young Labour, the youth sector of the New Zealand Labour Party.
The Clarion Tour is a bus trip of a group of Young Labour activists traveling the country to help out in community activities and talk with community organisations. We spent 12 days in a bus throughout the month of January, reviving a tradition started in 2004 – to show that young people do care about their communities. To find out more of these tours, please read our blog entries and check out our photos on our facebook page.
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Day 11: Queenstown
Cleaning the Plunket toys
After a quiet night in Queenstown amongst amazing views of lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables, we began our morning in Arrowtown with baked goods and a loose dog. Noticing the dogs evident lack of street smarts, we dropped it in to the local vet. It turned out Penny the Cocker Spaniel was making a habit of running away from home and going for a swim.
Day 10: The Wild West Coast
Some of the rubbish we collected in the mostly clean town of Hokitika
There’s nothing quite like waking up to the sound of tui, traipsing downstairs to a breakfast surrounded by a menagerie of union and mining regalia, and joining working class heros; old and young, for a bit of kai. As Michael Joseph Savage and David Lange looked on; the Clarion Tour team shared a meal at the famous Formerly Hilton Hotel, in Blackball. The small town is not only the birthplace of the modern labour movement, but still remains at the heart of mining projects on the West Coast, just five minutes from the Pike River Coal mine.
Day 8: Takaka and Sun
Getting a photo in front of the carrot and beetroot patch
Young Labour members woke this morning to warm sun and beautiful day. With many clothes still wet and dirty from the rain and track clearing in Wellington, it was a perfect opportunity to leave some clothes to be washed and dried as were out and about. With what we thought was plenty of time we headed for Motueka Community Gardens… but there was a problem…. we had the wrong address.
Press releases:
Young Labour Completes Summer of Service Tour
The Young Labour Clarion Tour completed its 12-day journey through New Zealand today, contributing 600 hours of voluntary community service over the course of 3000 kilometers travelled.
The Clarion Tour, which was comprised of 17-26 year olds from across the country, was created in order to enable Young Labour members to help charitable and non-profit organisations across the country.
Young Labour Vice President and Clarion Tour organiser Ella Hardy said that the tour was the perfect way to share Young Labour’s “…values of social justice and building strong communities with the people of New Zealand”.
Throughout their journey, from north of Auckland to the depths of the South Island, the Tour team has been well received by local community groups and members of the public. Rory McCourt, a participant on the Clarion Tour said “It was fantastic working with everyday kiwis who give so much to their communities, and providing a helping hand so they can focus on their great work”.
“Land Ho!” Young Labour heads South
The Young Labour Clarion Tour has reached the Mainland after an intense, but rewarding week of offering a hand to community groups throughout the North Island. The refreshed team (with some members having left in Wellington and others joined) will spend Monday to Friday working in various South Island communities.
First stop is Motueka; where Young Labour will help out the in the local community gardens. Work towards sustainable and resilient communities, said Vice President Ella Hardy was “alive and well in centres such as Motueka, where Young Labour is passionate about helping out groups like those active in the heart of Tasman.”
The second stop will be Nelson, where the group is hoping for a spot of sunshine after battling poor weather to contribute to the restoration of Bell’s Track native bush in Wellington. The Clarion Tour team will bare their green thumbs once again as the 17-26 year olds help build a vegetable garden and establish a barbeque area at the Orchard Street Reserve at House 44, a community home on Karaka Street. Local Labour List MP Maryan Street will join the group in while they assist in Nelson.
Blast from the past:
Day one
Bullrush with the kids at Dingwell Trust
TO WHOSE IDEA WAS IT to start this thing going at 7:30am? Our main motivation for getting up this morning was the thought of the giant feast Judith Tizard was preparing for us! After spending an hour sticking giant Labour signs to out 1974 Bedford bus (which despite appearances is totally roadworthy) we headed off to Judith’s for corn fritters, chocolate eclairs, glazed ham, and fruit – 5 plus a day!
Day two
Group photo - Morrinsville mural
WITH THE HOMELY LUXURIES of the Ardern residence behind us, we faced day two of Clarion ’05 with some trepidation. Morrinsville gave us clear weather for the obligatory group photograph in front of a local landmark; that being a faded, but still proud, town mural. With Matamata (or “Hobbiton”) calling, we set off, keeping our eyes ever on the darkening sky above.
Day three
James hard at work slashing foliage
DESPITE, OR PERHAPS BECAUSE, there were nine of us sharing one bunk room we managed to get on the road by 7:30am, leaving Taupo after an injection of stagnant coffee from an un-named cafe (or petrol station/cafe (yeah ok, it was Cafe Zip)). Those of us that argued for a longer sleep-in were proved wrong as appalling weather meant that the trip to Wanganui took a mammoth five and a half hours.
Day four
Painting at Vincent's Art Workshop
IT WAS AN EARLY START at Kate’s house with most people waking at about 7am. Through the moans and groans the group’s spirits were lifted by the smell of organic bacon frying in the kitchen. Kate was clearly aiming to follow the most lavish dinner of our trip with the most lavish breakfast. She’s going to be a hard act to follow. After packing our gear Robert heralded us from the buss with a “final boarding call” over the PA and we were shortly all aboard the Fort Knox II bound for Wellington. Spirits were so high that fifteen minutes down the road an emergency return trip to grab Di’s wallet caused nothing but amusement.
Day five
Brendon Burns coordinates beach cleanup
HAPPY NEW YEAR! This morning we awoke from what must have been our shortest sleep so far after celebrating the end of 2006 with cheap Indian food and bad dancing. As usual the majority of us chose to fight reality as we slept through our alarms. Without Jacinda cracking her whip it was surprising we made it to the ferry terminal at all! Awaiting us were our new additions to the tour… Bus driver Gavin and his two dogs, trusty dashboard companions. Gav proved his reversing prowess early on on the Arahura. Things bode well.
