Sandbagging saves Punakaiki Petrel Festival

A huge effort by more than 100 people has saved the Punakaiki village coastline in time for The Return of the Westland Petrel Festival in a fortnight.

Recent king tides have eroded at least eight metres of coastline in front of the Punakaiki Beach Camp, and Festival organisers and the Camp managers were concerned that further predicted high tides combined with stormy weather might end up closing the camp.

A plea went out for helpers to sandbag last Saturday, and more than 100 people from as far away as Christchurch, Hoktika and Westport turned up, including Buller Mayor Garry Howard.

Camp leasee/manager Craig Findlay says it was a mammoth effort, with helpers filling and stacking 3500 sandbags.

The shoreline now features metres of cubed fertiliser bags topped with sandbags and they will all be tied together as an interim measure to prevent further immediate damage.

A rock wall in front of the village’s houses at the southern end has been there for around 10 years, and maintenance paid for by the village’s 33 ratepayers. But recent engineering reports suggested the wall needed to be extended an extra 210 metres.

Mr Findlay says the Buller District Council had been working with the West Coast Regional Council on a more permanent solution.

He had been concerned that the next big storm/weather event would wipe out the camp’s wetlands area right by the Coastline, and that would have cost an estimated $200,000 to reinstate.

Festival Director Jed Findlay says the community effort was “awesome” for the Return of the Westland Petrel Festival, which runs from Friday 29 April to Sunday 1 May.

“We’re a fortnight before the Festival, but really we had to focus first on saving the venue – the Punakaiki Beach Camp – before we could think about anything else. The weekend’s “stitch in time” sandbagging was definitely appropriate, as the Festival is all about combining Kiwi values of looking after and respecting our environment, together with creating a fun event for families and music lovers,” Jed says.

The Westland Petrel (taiko) is one of the few petrel species that remain on the mainland of New Zealand and inhabit much of the same breeding range on the West Coast of the South Island as they did before humans arrived.

During the breeding season, the tāiko can be found feeding off the West Coast and as far away as Kaikoura. In the non-breeding season, it ranges from eastern Australia to Peru and Chile. The festival celebrates the hardy Punakaiki local’s epic journey to return home each year.

This year the event will include a parade on the beach to welcome the petrels home, a jam session at the Pancake Rocks Café on the Friday evening, tree plantings and a community market on Saturday morning, children’s activities including clowns, a bouncy castle, horse wagon tours, games and free hot chocolate and cake, before the music starts at 4.30pm on Saturday and runs until the wee small hours at the camping ground.

“This year the big Saturday music night features two great Wellington bands, Newtown Rocksteady and Drax Project, along with DJ Morphious King and more.

Tourism West Coast has provided support to the Petrel Festival through its “Wake up to the West Coast” campaign.

Find out more about where you can stay around Punakaiki and festival events on our Return of the Westland Petrel Festival Facebook page.

Book your weekend now!

ENDS

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