The Adlington Post

For the past year, members of Men’s Shed North Shore have been donating nails, screws and tools for a disaster relief project organized by myself, entitled “Pacific Neighbours”. Many hours of volunteer work have been put into boxing-up the nails etc, and refurbishing the tools: hammers, screwdrivers, saws, pliers, wrenches, files, etc. This week Kenny and his offsider from “Habitat for Humanity” came and took away over 250kg of building hardware and tools we have put together. These materials will be sent to Vanuatu - where they are sorely needed for the massive rebuild required in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam. Many thanks to all involved. It was a big effort, and a lot of work. See  more Men's Shed activities at: www.shedyarns.blogspot.co.nz

As an environmental artist I see a lot of perfectly good materials being disposed of in landfill. Having lived in Fiji and visited several Pacific islands I am aware that much of our waste would be very welcome to our neighbours - particularly after disasters such as tsunamis and hurricanes. The remoteness and often poverty of these islands makes recovery from disaster extremely difficult and very expensive. I have previously organised assistance to Bali after the bombing ("Byron Loves Bali" in 2003), and to Niuatoputapu in Tonga after the tsunami (2010). Currently I am continuing to collect tools, knives, nails, and pots and pans for Niua as many of the people have by no means recovered from the damage of the tsunami. See details on my blog http://www.pacificneighbours.blogspot.co.nz/ tsunami damage someone's roof in the lagoon john with donations 2014   distribution of goods from yacht Atutaki in 2010 hammers for niua 2014

A few days ago John Early, the Curator of Entomology at Auckland War Memorial Museum, generously gave me some of his valuable time to discuss insects & their edibility, & 'extreme food". Our conversation ranged over kelp flies, centepides, bee larvae, crickets, algae, unusual meals in our travels, huhu grubs, mealworms, snails....& much more... Some incredible edibles! Tiger slugs Huhu grubs & beetle When I asked John about the dangers of eating venomous creatures such as scorpions or spiders, he said that as their poisons are protein-based, they are rendered harmless by heat, tho he cautioned that tarantula fangs are best removed before consumption of the spider. We had a fascinating chat about "what Auckland eats" - now that we have a very ethnically-diverse population here, there is far more on offer than there was even 15 years ago. There are English, South African, Chinese, & Indian speciality food stores here now, & we wo...

In late 2009 villages & the tourist resort on the remote northern Tongan island of Niuatoputapu were devastated by the Samoan tsunami. The Australian & New Zealand governments supplied some initial relief assistance, but as so many personal possessions were lost, people on the island are still struggling to get by. With the generous help of friends here in Auckland, I have begun to gather everyday items which will prove useful to the inhabitants of Niua. If any yachties can assist us by taking some of the goods we have collected to Niua, especially from Auckland, we would all be most grateful. Donations are most welcome, the main need appears to be for cooking utensils [especially cast iron pot'n'pans, & knives], & tools, towels & sheets, soap, toothbrushes, & first aid materials.... Children's toys are unnecessary [!], & there appears to be more than ample clothing. The ferry only visits Niua once a month, so supplies are ...