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Robin Lee-Robinson
and her Kerikeri hosts
Gina and Russ Garcia |
Crump's fourth wife puts the record straight
Barry Crump wasn't a womaniser, he wasn't cruel to animals, he didn't 'shoot through' on his wives.
Behind the disguises he was loyal, devoted, honourable and faithful. He was talented, a raconteur. He was a damaged person who managed well with his frailties. He did the best he could with what he had.
So says his fourth wife Robin Lee-Robinson who is in Kerikeri, visiting fellow Baha'is Gina and Russ Garcia.
Robin headed north from her Tauranga home to Auckland for the Webb's auction of the Crump estate last week. There were things she wanted from it?nothing much just a few pictures of Barry with her in them too. She borrowed enough to be in the bidding but, she says, she didn't get a look in.
The estate was sold as a single item, photographs and all, under the category Rare Books.
The catalogue included first and early editions of Crump's twenty books, manuscripts, a large collection of photographs and video cassettes.
Of special interest are Crump's bush kit, rifle, Swandri, hat, saddle bag, hunting knives, gin-trap, gold scales, rifle tray, guitar, camera, and portable typewriter.
Among these items was a copy of Robin Lee-Robinson's book, In Salting the Gravy, a tale of her twelve year marriage to Crump. She published it herself last year, keen to put the story straight.
Dressed neatly, wearing make-up, there is little on the surface that reveals her life as a hot-headed, possum trapping, shooting, fence building, rough camping, motor bike girl who was swept up by Crump as a naïve and inexperienced 21 year old.
She has been wanting to tell her tale for a long time, attempting to do so a few years ago, in the form of a novel called Seven Days of Laundry. She never published it.
"It is not just about Barry Crump. There are a lot of people like him, people who start out as battered children and become part of the cycle. New Zealand has a crisis in battered children and what I have to say might help someone."
She says she left Crump because he was volatile and violent. She returned, giving the marriage a second chance and, the next time she left, it was for good.
"I am not blaming him. I am not angry. But it has taken a long time to have my say. Because he was so famous I couldn?t talk to anyone at the time. I didn?t know what I could do about it. We had a very strong bond and he was proud of having a marriage last so long. He considered it an achievement. I was his radio producer, I was the one who carried the fence posts up to the top corner of the farm.
"He once said to me that he had lost everyone he?d ever loved. I felt like I was one person he had bonded with and had a deep relationship with. I was ashamed that the man I married was violent. I am not demeaning him. I am saying look how well he did. I don?t say I forgive him but there were extenuating circumstances. The public is still being conned and there are a lot of people out there like him."
Robin now lives in Tauranga where she works for rest homes and in disabled care. She has a teenager daughter from another relationship but she is now going solo.
Monarch butterflies give a spectacular display at Butterfly Bay
in the Far North of New Zealand
Worldwide butterfly alert
Monarch Butterfly enthusiasts throughout the world have been alerted to the proposed development at Butterfly Bay in the Whangaroa area.
San Francisco based Cerulean Properties proposes a 76 unit resort development at secluded Butterfly Bay near Tauranga Bay.
The bay has outstanding natural landscape features and is known internationally as a natural Monarch butterfly breeding sanctuary.
Jacqui Knight of Russell, dubbed the "Butterfly Lady", for the work she does to promote the butterfly, is concerned that Butterfly Bay may become part of a large development.
She said this week, "Change will happen, development will come. It is up to us to ensure that the ecology of the areas affected by development is taken into consideration to minimise adverse effects. This might become a great opportunity for more people to become more aware of the Monarch Butterfly, and how people can best interact with Nature rather than trashing it."
Beach access guaranteed
Mountain Landing Properties has resource consent to subidivide 338 ha on the Purerua Peninsula to create 39 house sites.
The FNDC and NRC approval carries a number of conditions relating to historic sites, preservation of wildlife and public access to the coastline.
Forty seven percent of the property will be set aside in perpetuity for heritage and conservation purposes.
One of the most significant aspects of the development, from the public standpoint, is the protection of 15 ha of land on the Terakihi Peninsula by way of a private covenant, providing public access to the coastline.
This is seen as an encouraging approach at a time when beach access, in the Kerikeri area, has been severely diminished in recent years.
Mountain Landing Properties principal Peter Jones said this week, "We are getting feedback that we have raised the bar for coastal property development."
The company is voluntarily providing more than 19 ha of esplanade strip around the majority of the coastal boundary of the property.
Some 12 ha of land with heritage values will be protected in perpetuity under a heritage covenant with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust. The public is to have access to historic archaeological sites on the property but a 48 hour advance notice is required. Access to Rangihoua Bay and Marsden Cross, on adjacent property remains unchanged.
Restoration, re-vegetation, heritage, habitat protection and pest management will be ongoing through the Mountain Landing Properties management plan process.
There is a prohibition on keeping dogs, cats and mustelids and a prohibition on future subdivision on all but one lot.
Low impact design approach with minimal earthworks, careful selection of house sites to integrate into the landscape and landscape planting to minimise the visual effects are required and electricity and telecommunication services will be underground.
The company will liaise with Ngati Torehine in relation to the interests of tangata whenua.
These provisions aim to protect the natural character of the coastal environment from the adverse effects of activities, to enhance public access to the coast, to attempt to address natural hazards and to attempt to recognise Tangata Whenua relationships with their ancestral lands and waters.
The development will take place in seven stages.
A joint FNDC and NRC hearings committee, chaired by independent commissioner Alan Watson, recognised that the proposal was different to the traditional approach to land subdivision and development and includes, as primary features, the creation of carefully chosen house sites that limit the visual impact of future buildings whilst retaining the main balance part of the land in a single lot for conservation and farming purposes.
In its report, the hearings committee acknowledged the covenant arrangements to provide public access to the Terakihi Peninsula and the voluntary provision of an esplanade strip.
Treaty House gardeners, Jenny Lloyd, left, and Pam Burke
Waitangi National Trust estate has been awarded the 'Garden of National Significance' status by the New Zealand Gardens Trust.
Judging criteria were quality, presentation, type, scale and visitor facilities. |
National award for Waitangi National Trust
Particular credit goes to the planners, Treaty House gardener Jenny Lloyd of Kerikeri, part time gardener Pam Burke and members of the field team which maintains the property. |
Desperate bid to save Puketi kokako
In a bid to stem the critical decline in kokako numbers at Puketi Forest, all remaining kokako in the forest are to be captured and transferred to predator free Mauimua Island, off Bream Bay, for a breeding programme.
Kokako numbers at Puketi have declined rapidly from at least 100 in 1984 to just six or seven single male birds at the 2003 census.
Marooning the remaining Puketi males on a predator free island, to pair with female kokako is seen as the best option.
With so few male birds remaining in Puketi, it is a priority to secure the genetic material and dialect from these birds before the Puketi birds die of old age or are too old to breed.
Up to ten females will be sourced, as nestlings, from North Island sites, which have a robust population. The young females will be hand reared at Hamilton Zoo.
Kokako are territorial birds that use a range of calls and song to mark their territory and attract mates and the chicks will be trained in the Puketi dialect, which differs from other kokako populations.
The translocation is planned before the end of January and will allow the kokako to breed in safety.
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When a population of eight breeding paris has been reached, all the extra adult pairs or singles will be transferred back to Puketi to re-establish a core population.
The capture and transfer of the Puketi males will take up to a month to complete while the hand rearing of the female chicks will take about two months.
The project is taking place the auspices of the Department of Conservation?s Kokako Recovery Group.
Previous attempts to hand rear chicks were successful but the birds raised over a four year period were killed by predators when they were released into Puketi.
In the meantime, to prepare the forest for release of birds, the Puketi Forest Trust has embarked on a five year predator control campaign.
The Trust has raised more than $17,000 so far, to fund trapping and cutting of tracks. Trapping is already underway and the results are encouraging says Puketi Forest Trust chairman Gary Bramley.
A total of 280 trap sites are now in place with regular monitoring and bait refreshing.
Since the Puketi Forest Trust campaign got underway, there has been a promising increase in numbers of predators killed, compared to previous years. In 2001 six stoats were caught, in 2002 another six stoats and two cats were caught. Since the new campaign started 16 stoats, 5 cats, 3 weasels, one ferret have been trapped. Rats will be targetted in Year Two of the project.
The Trust is asking for people to continue supporting the campaign
For further information ring 405 0074 or visit the website www.puketi.org.nz |
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