The Star: June 13, 2019
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<strong>The</strong> <strong>Star</strong> Thursday <strong>June</strong> <strong>13</strong> <strong>2019</strong><br />
20<br />
NEWS<br />
Bid to reinstall Cave Rock Dumbstruck by the Wiggles<br />
signal tower lights<br />
• By Louis Day<br />
SUMNER resident Toni Pengelly<br />
has a special connection to the<br />
Cave Rock signal tower.<br />
Her grandfather Jack Kerr<br />
served as a crew member for the<br />
Sumner Lifeboat Institution from<br />
1940 to 1987.<br />
During his time as skipper, he<br />
relied on information and lighting<br />
from the signal tower, which<br />
served as their control tower, to<br />
complete rescues.<br />
However, the tower has not<br />
been illuminated for at least 10<br />
years.<br />
Ms Pengelly, alongside the<br />
Sumner-Redcliffs Historical Society,<br />
is on a mission to get<br />
the lights back on the signal<br />
tower.<br />
<strong>The</strong> city council has said it<br />
would be open to the idea of<br />
lights being reinstalled but has<br />
no funding available. Formal<br />
access agreements would also be<br />
required but have not been given<br />
at this stage<br />
Ms Pengelly said they would<br />
be approaching the Linwood-<br />
Central-Heathcote Community<br />
Board for funding once they<br />
had been granted permission to<br />
progress with the project.<br />
She thought the lights would<br />
add to the beauty of Sumner.<br />
“I remember the days the cross<br />
was lit up, it was fabulous, it was<br />
just spectacular. <strong>The</strong> absence<br />
CONNECTIONS: Toni<br />
Pengelly at the Cave Rock<br />
signal tower.<br />
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER<br />
of the lights has been a real loss<br />
to the community since they<br />
stopped functioning over the<br />
last 10 to 15 years in terms of<br />
aesthetics and the historical significance,”<br />
she said.<br />
<strong>The</strong> signal mast was constructed<br />
on Cave Rock by the<br />
regional council in 1864. This<br />
was in response to demands from<br />
shipping companies to make the<br />
Sumner entrance safer for trading<br />
vessels travelling to the Heathcote<br />
wharves at Woolston.<br />
<strong>The</strong> original signal station<br />
became the Sumner Lifeboat<br />
Institution’s control tower in 1958<br />
when a base radio transmitter<br />
was installed to communicate<br />
directly with the lifeboat when<br />
she was at sea.<br />
news online at www.star.kiwi<br />
WOW, WHAT a week.<br />
I never thought I would have<br />
got so excited to see a children’s<br />
show, but I’m re-living my<br />
childhood vicariously through my<br />
daughter.<br />
Laura and I took Vittoria to<br />
the Wiggles on Saturday and it<br />
was amazing. I kind of feel like<br />
the first parent to see Shrek when<br />
I say there was definitely some<br />
jokes in there for the adults too,<br />
which is why I liked it so much.<br />
It’s not just because I like the<br />
songs and stuff.<br />
It was a big surprise for<br />
Vittoria, not that it was hard to<br />
keep it from her, and it totally<br />
blew her little Wiggle-loving<br />
mind. Honestly, it was watching<br />
her love it which really made it<br />
for me.<br />
I so wish I had managed to<br />
get it on film, but when they<br />
came out on stage her wee mouth<br />
fell open so wide you could’ve<br />
driven the big red car right on in<br />
there.<br />
<strong>The</strong> running theory for me<br />
and Laura is that Vittoria was<br />
struggling to comprehend<br />
that her favourite colourful<br />
Australians were actually real.<br />
Dancing along with her was a<br />
blast, she knows a bunch of the<br />
actions and at home she even<br />
gets excited if you say the word<br />
“Wiggles” while standing near the<br />
TV.<br />
Only thing was, she<br />
occasionally just clammed up and<br />
VITTORIA<br />
& Matt<br />
OVERWHELMED: Vittoria<br />
doing hand motions with the<br />
Wiggles.<br />
sat there dumbstruck. She was<br />
clearly a little overwhelmed by the<br />
whole thing.<br />
To be fair, her Wiggles<br />
experience had exploded from<br />
watching them on Netflix to<br />
dancing along in a room chock<br />
a-block full of other hyperactive<br />
Wiggles fans while the real deal<br />
Wiggles sang on stage.<br />
By the end of the show she had<br />
her head around it.<br />
I can’t wait for them to<br />
do another show here, it’ll<br />
be interesting to see how<br />
Vittoria would go on the second<br />
round.<br />
To cap the week off, Vittoria<br />
and I have moved out to North<br />
Canterbury for a few days to look<br />
after my mum and step-dad’s<br />
place in Waikuku while they’re<br />
away on holiday.<br />
It’s just us two and two small<br />
dogs hanging out in my home<br />
town/village. It’s going to be great<br />
and likely a challenge.<br />
I’ve never really been a<br />
stay-at-home dad alone, with<br />
zero back-up at any point during<br />
the day.<br />
So look forward to an update<br />
on how that goes.<br />
•Former <strong>Star</strong> Media<br />
journalist Matt Salmons has<br />
become a stay-at-home<br />
dad. We follow his journey<br />
weekly.<br />
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