Howdy all,
So the first ever Kiwiburn Work Weekend has come and gone and was a
tremendous success.

A big THANK YOU goes out to the crew who came from Wellington..Wendy,
Johnathan, Jezz, Rich and Polly and the Auckland crew Sam, Karl, Lilly,
Poppy, Linus, Dave, Jen, Ants, Shelley, Kyla, Hidive, Ingrid, Jamie
and Eric the couch surfing Californian.
Jack and Jen arrived from Tauranga midday Sunday with cold beers and confirmed the Fire Camp location..same as last year so lots of fire spinning and breathing fun in the Village Square.

For some of the crew it was their first visit to Whakamaru and the
weather worked with us all weekend including rain only on the Friday
night/early Saturday morning, glorious and hot sunshine during the
days, an amazing sunset on Saturday night and a complete fog out for
those that stayed the distance through till dawn Sunday (some one has
to keep vigil during the night while most of us sleep)

Projects achieved...
Grubbing of the thistles, which gave everyone a chance to wander the
paddocks digging and hacking at the prickly bastards and take in once
again the majestic and peace full place that we have to play on.
Painting of the toilet block, not the easiest of jobs as they are
rough texture plastered concrete block work and even armed with fluffy
rollers and 4 inch brushes it was a mission but the result was out
standing. There is still the mens toilets to paint for which we might
bring a spray unit down next time just so we can have more time to
play...
Village Planning, lots and lots of discussion as to what goes where,
like the large sound camps, theme camps and general and quiet camping
zones.Community craft and village square location, where the Man and
the Temple will be placed, allowing access for the Volunteer Fire
Brigade and many more other considerations.

We also had a meet up, on Saturday, with Tina Jakes who is Taupo
District Councils, Mangakino Community Manager. She is a great lady
and fully supports what we Kiwiburners are doing as far as the
festival goes as well as our general community involvement. The
Council supplied the paint and some brushes for the toilet block.

Kirsty Truman from SLAM (Sports and Leisure Association of Mangakino)
visited on Sunday and we had a great introductory meeting and she
outlined their involvement in the Domain in regards to the Motor Cross
tracks that will be established there next year. SLAM is also taking
over part, if not the whole less of the Domain when Keven Harrison's
(the present holder of the lease and farmer of the Domain) lease runs
out in May 2008. Kirsty is also very supportive of Kiwiburn and can
see us both collaborating well together.

So folks all and all a very successful weekend and a bonus for some of
the city dwellers to get out onto our beautiful land and soak it up
even if we had to negotiate the lagre amount of fresh cow pads
lovingly placed by the beasties.
We will have another Work Weekend hopefully in early January so stay
tuned for updates.

See you at the Burn
Kiwi