Southern View: December 13, 2016

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6 Tuesday December 13 2016 Our People SOUTHERN VIEW Mike Vincent Million dollar mission to save a Mike Vincent is Kaikoura’s paua saviour. He reckons he and about 450 volunteers have saved paua worth more than $1 million since the November 14 earthquake. Fraser Walker-Pearce talks to the 44-year-old about questioning his science teacher and missing his wife and kids Where are you while we’re chatting? We’re in Boat Harbour in the south of Kaikoura still, we’re waiting for a road to open so we can get access to some bays further to the north, the different inlets and bays up there. All the way from Oaro through to Peketa is the area we’ve been allowed to relocate paua. Talk to me about the process of relocating paua. What does that entail? Before I do I’ll explain how to normally gather paua. You jump in at low tide and dive for it; that’s the way to get it legally. But now because of the earthquake you can walk out in sand shoes without getting wet and reach it. In my whole 30 years of diving I’ve never been able to go into a tidal zone and pick up my six paua without getting wet. There’s no science in that, it’s just what’s happened. So now you’re wading out, gathering them and dropping them deeper? What we do is we go out at low tide, when there’s a two hour window either side of that and we fill buckets with water and the harvesters go out and grab them, and the relocaters who are the experienced divers, go and place them on rocks, back into the water basically. The simple way of saying it is that we’re moving them from where there was no water, to where there is water. How much depth do you think has been lost from the earthquake? It’s hard to put a number on it, because all I can say is there’s hundreds of dead paua on the beaches now. It’s also important to ask if in the old tidal zone pre-earthquake was there any sea-life on the beach? The answer is no. In the new tidal zone after the quake would there be any life POWER COUPLE: Mike Vincent and wife Debra. Mr Vincent says she is his rock back in Christchurch. there? And the answer is still no, because sea creatures can’t live out of water (laughs). And so you’ve brought it on yourself to get them back in the water? A diving mate of mine Dylan Dhue, his wife Hannah and I phoned each other the day after the earthquake. When we saw a photo of a rock full of paua well above the water line on Facebook, that’s what made me call him and I said to him we have to do something. And that’s when I posted my first Facebook plea for help. And it all went from there? Pretty much. So now it’s all volunteers up here who all feel the same as us – they’ve all visited or dived here. It’s touched all of us. Kaikoura has a special place in all South Islanders’ minds and hearts. Also a big thank you to the local runanga in Kaikoura who offered their help and support for us. Obviously you can’t save every single paua out there – but how many do you think you’ve relocated back to the water? You’re right we can’t save all of them. But I’d say we’ve put between 20,000 and 75,000kg of paua back into the water. But to give you an idea, we would fill a 20-30L bucket in about a minute, so we fill thousands of buckets. To put a money figure on what we’re doing, it’s about $90 for a ton of paua, so we would be talking over a million bucks for this operation normally. We’ve probably had about 450 volunteers over the whole time helping out too. I want to say a big thank you to all our wives out there as well (laughs). We’ve all got families mate, they’ve been our rocks, so letting us go away and do this is awesome. We’re coming up to Christmas now, how much longer do you think you can do this for? We’re waiting for a road to open up towards Peketa so we can get there. If it doesn’t open by Sunday though we’ll have to call it. TYRES • SUSPENSION • WOF • ALIGNMENT • SERVICING NITROGEN • BRAKES • BATTERIES SELECT TYRE & AUTO SERVICE HORNBY Ph: (03) 349 5505 • 39 Carmen Road Monday - Friday 7.30am to 5pm | Saturday 9am to 12 noon ONE DAY ONLY 20%OFF STOREWIDE WEDNESDAY 14TH DECEMBER *Excludes prescription items * Already reduced items Barrington Pharmacy Next to CouplaNds, 256 BarriNgtoN st Ph 332 3156 Pharmacy for Life - Better advice for a healthier life
SOUTHERN VIEW Tuesday December 13 2016 7 Kaikoura natural treasure WE ARE ON THE When will you be back in Christchurch? I would say within the next week and a half. It’s been adventurous, but we just want to get home to support our families. It will be really awesome MOVE for me AGAIN... to see my wife Debra and my two young boys Kaydence and Ezekiel again. What suburb in Christchurch are you going back to? Addington. We’ve been there for eight years now. It’s our first house. I haven’t been working so my wife’s a bit stretched. I’m in the building industry but I’ve taken almost a year off to help with the house. Do you ask a few of your builder friends to help with the house? Oh hell yes. I’ve got heaps of friends that have helped out with the house, people like plasterers, painters, landscapers, it’s all good karma that comes around for them too. You must have a lot of good karma with the work you’re doing at the moment? Yes, I think I must have a bit of credit in the bank (laughs). It’s the love and support of the New Zealand people, that’s what allows me to keep going. We’re a special breed us Kiwis I truly be- up here a lot have come back lieve that. TO I think when A you have NEW on North Beach, LOCATION I used to love out of the woodwork. That IN core a natural disaster it brings people to surf. I’m more into my diving group of good friends are still back together and you get a lot and hunting now. I’d rather run around. Just a big web of friends of good things happening. And around the hills and do stuff I guess. in 20 years time our kids will be like that now, chasing pigs and Did you have any favourite able to FERRYMEAD, come out to Kaikoura and deer. DUE subjects at school? TO get paua. Who did you hang out with at I loved science – I was the So it’s also about the future school? guy that would stand up in class generation for you? It was a big community back and got in trouble for it, and It’s all about my kids and their then. It’s a lot different now because of the advances with tech- teacher why apes aren’t turning ask about evolution and ask the EARTHQUAKE REPAIRS kids, to get paua for me, their father, when I’m too old to get it nology nowadays. We’d phone into humans now, that kind of myself (laughs). It’s me teaching people and actually bike to each thing. I loved it because I liked them what’s important, conservation and all that. What high school did you go others’ houses and that kind of thing. It was a small community and everybody knew everybody. the challenge of working through something and asking what’s going on here. to in Christchurch? Are there any schoolmates Were you pretty smart for a WATCH THIS SPACE I went to Aranui High School. you still catch up with? student? I was brought up and lived in I still see a lot of the mates, and I was an average student, sort New Brighton and loved surfing because of this work I’m doing of in-between average and above PAUA SAVIOUR: A group of volunteers saving paua on the Kaikoura coast (left). The paua need saving because the seabed rose significantly during the earthquake. average in terms of my brains. I loved my sport though. I played representative rugby for Canterbury, then I went and played league and then got into diving at 14 and hunting after that. I still play presidents rugby league for the Kaiapoi Bulldogs. I still throw myself around like I’m 21 to be honest (laughs). Did you do any tertiary education after Aranui? I did a course at polytech for business management. I think I got through one year and it got boring for me. It wasn’t challenging enough for me and I thought do I really need a piece of paper for this? I’m just a worker that learns a lot by talking to people and not judging them. arlotte Gort We will keep you informed as to our new address. from the doctors and staff at Ferrymead Medical Centre If you would lIke advIce and treatment wIth: We will be closed from • Women’s health • Children’s & teenage health 4pm & wellbeing Friday December 23, • Older persons health • Lifestyle 2016 adviceand reopening at 10am • Warrant of fitness checks for men and Wednesday women January 4, 2017 • Helping patients manage long term medical problems • Removal of skin lesions • Sports medicine • Vasectomies We • Occupational would like to and welcome company medicine • Drug testing • Pre-employment medicals • Stopping smoking support • Travel vaccinations to Ferrymead Medical Centre New starting patients January welcome 4, 2017 Ph. 384 5484 Dr Brendan Smith Dr Charlotte Cooper Dr Gort Stephan Dr David Thomson Ferrymead MEDICAL C E N T R E MERRY CHRISTMAS and a happy and safe holiday Dr Sophia Harris ferrymead medIcal centre FERRYMEAD MEDICAL CENTRE UNIT 10/2 WATERMAN PLACE PHONE 384-5484 Mon to Fri 8.30am-5.30pm
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Southern View: December 13, 2016

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