The DANZ Dunedin Dance Development Project
coordinator in collaboration with the Otago Settlers Museum is presenting 2 dance opportunities in the first “Dancing Makes you Smarter” programme.

DANCING IN THE HOLIDAYS-School Holiday
Programme- Series of 6-
1-hour workshops presented by local dance tutors

Date: 17 APRIL- 19 APRIL, 1.00 to 3.00pm

17 April- 10AM to 12:00PM- Exploring the why and how of teaching dance to children (1 ½ hrs.)

An open workshop for those people who wish to know more about the practicalities of teaching creative, social and/or cultural dance to children (aged 5-12 years).  The workshop will explore a
range of possible teaching objectives and introduce a range of teaching approaches and strategies for maximising children’s engagement and learning.

 Tutor: Suzanne Renner

(The first Dance workshop for Holiday programme will be given by Suzanne to demonstrate tools and techniques discussed in her seminar)

Dancing Rhythms

A practical dance class for children (7-12 years old) that explores the use of body parts and ways of making sounds with the body to create interesting rhythmical dance sequences.

Walk to Work Day is on Wednesday 14 March and MoveMe wants as many Dunedin people as possible to Walk to Work on this day!!  All you need to do is walk some or all of your journey to work and end up on the Octagon between 7am and 9am.  The first 10 people who mention they have been to the MoveMe website will win a MoveMe merchandise prize pack.  We will also have copies of our popular walking plans and Dunedin walking maps to giveaway and everyone who participates will receive a free coffee voucher to redeem at one of the local cafes.  So get walking and encourage your friends / family and colleagues to do the same.  See you there!!

Free bells are available from Cycle World, R&R Sport, Spin City and Bike Barn, just mention the radio advertisment.  Use your bell to warn other users as you approach from behind when using shared cycle walkways.

MoveMe has some helpful hints for all bike users……..

Shared cycle walkway etiquette that puts safety first:

Walkers and cyclists…

• Use your bell to warn other users as you approach from behind.
• Keep left – listen out for cyclists or other users coming from behind and move to the left if you hear them –do not block the path when stopped.
• It’s safer to not wear ipods or walkmans. This means you will hear vehicles
  and others approaching.
• Be bright at night – use high visibility vests and lights.
• Watch out for sneaky driveways that cross the shared path – vehicles may enter or exit without warning.
• Slow down at crossing points and GIVE WAY to vehicles at side streets.
• Cyclists wear a helmet and make sure your bike is in good working order.
• Cyclists – slow down at narrow points and give way to walkers.

Drivers…

• Be aware of cyclists and walkers when entering or exiting driveways and side roads.

For more information contact:cflahert@dcc.govt.nz

We’ve just heard about this great new Dunedin event….

Brighton Holdings Trust & Sport Otago  are proud to bring you The New World Stadium To Surf 10km Fun Run & Walk.

Starting from Forsyth Barr Stadium and  finishing at St Clair provides the perfect setting for a truly Fun Dunedin City  Event!

The New World Stadium To Surf is for all  ages, all sizes, all abilities from families to schools to corporate team  building and the outright quicks! Start the Year with a goal you can achieve! !  Dust off those running shoes and sign up today! Place Getter and Great Spot  prizes! Proceeds going to  kids athletics in Otago!

For more information see www.stadium2surf.co.nz

Dunedin’s babies will get a boost of activity, thanks to free Wriggle & Rhyme: Active Movement for Early Learning sessions. Wriggle and Rhyme, for children from 0-2 years, will guide parents through different movement activities that they can use at home.

The sessions are beginning again at the Dunedin City Library, every Tuesday at 10.30am starting on 31 January. They are also to be trialed at Mosgiel Library every Thursday at 11.00am, from Thursday 2 February.

Active Movement is a Sport and Recreation NZ (SPARC) initiative to provide positive movement experiences that stimulate development of both the brain and the body, building the foundations for pre-literacy and learning. Each Wriggle & Rhyme session will be based on the Active Movement set of 14 activity guides, using a range of music and movement.

Libraries all over New Zealand are working with their councils and regional sports trusts to provide Wriggle & Rhyme sessions, mainly focused on babies (from birth to two years).

Dunedin City Library, in conjunction with Sport Otago, has been running the sessions during school term, for over a year, with great success. Library staff are confident that the trial sessions at Mosgiel Library will be just as popular with parents and babies as those in the city.

Movement is a child’s first language, so it is important to provide babies with whole body movements, right from birth. Parents and caregivers are invited to take part in these free weekly sessions at their local library where they can also learn skills to put into practice at home.

For more information, parents can get in touch with their local Dunedin Public Library, at 03 474 3690 or library@dcc.govt.nz.

I became a paraplegic at the age of 11 due to an accident in the UK. I fell down a cliff while trying to climb in 1967 at Dunbar in Scotland.  My rehabilitation was at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, the home of Paralympic sport and it was there that I was introduced to sport and fitness and it is still my passion today.

I  believe that the fitter I am the easier life is when living with a disability.

My main passion is martial arts.  I became interested in them in the early 1970’s due to the Bruce Lee movies and “Kung Fu” series. Being a paraplegic I felt vulnerable in various altercations whilst growing up so was keen to learn some form of unarmed combat. I approached various martial art clubs in my area of East London,
England but was told that because I was in a wheelchair I “couldn’t” do it. This made me more determined so I taught himself from books and trained with friends who did kung fu.

In December 1974 I emigrated to NZ and in January 1976 started formal training in karate.  One of the biggest highlights in my karate training was when Higaonna Sensei, the International head of the style of karate I do, Okinawan Goju Ryu, presented me with his own black belt at his first training visit to New Zealand. Higaonna Sensei told me that it was not a grading but an acknowledgement of my “training spirit and determination” and that I was to “put the belt on my wall and look at it each day to help
motivate myself”.

I was graded to 5^th degree black belt in Okinawa Japan in July 2008  and have now been to Okinawa three times and at each occasion have been personally asked by Higaonna Sensei to do a demonstration.

Okinawa July 08

My other sporting achievements are: 1st paraplegic in NZ to complete a full marathon in 1980 with a time of 4hours and 16 minute. Represented NZ and Otago in paraplegic sport both nationally and internationally and am still active in wheelchair table tennis.

John playing table tennis

John is also one of our wonderful MoveMe campaign models! 

Have you ever thought about trying a new sport or activity but just never got around to it??

Here’s the opportunity you have been waiting for…….

MoveMe and the Edgar Centre have teamed up to show Dunedin people the opportunities available for being more physically active in Dunedin.

The MoveMe Edgar Centre Have a Go Day is taking place this Sunday, 13 November from 10am to 12noon at the Edgar Centre.  Whether you’re into dance, sports or something more relaxing like pilates – there’ll be something available for everyone’s fitness level.  There will be over 25 activities and sports for people to try including yoga, geocaching, water sports, group fitness classes, ceroc dancing, basketball, indoor bowls, athletics, mountain biking, table tennis, hockey, pilates,
futsal, masters games events, personal training and much more.  There will also be a number of physical activity resources for people to take away with them including the popular Dunedin City Council walking maps.

The event is free for everyone to attend and all activities on the day are also free.  It
is a rare opportunity for adults to try many activities in the one place.  There will be lots of giveaways on the day and activities for the kids too.

See you on Sunday!!

I run to work. Along the road, through the bush.  I love it.

Sometimes I run fast, sometimes I run slow. It is always invigorating.

Dougal on the right

I run to work because it is easy. It is easy to feel good, to smell the bush, to feel the pavement and stones beneath my feet.

I run to work because this is training for me. But it hardly ever feels like it.

Training for events like the Otago and National Cross Country, like the World Mountain running champs, like the Papatowai Challenge or the Coastal Classic.

I run to work.

You may have even seen me, in a bright yellow vest perhaps….

But sometimes I bike……

Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui

Dougal Thorburn

(Current Otago Cross Country Champion and New Zealand Mountain Running Representative)

How often have you sat around chatting with your work colleagues over morning tea about wanting to get fit, wanting to lose weight, wanting some inspiration to get off your butt and do something?! Chances are it happens often and more so in spring when the introduction of daylight saving imbues you with a new lease of life and the appeal of the outdoors beckons; that was precisely the scenario recently for a group of employees at the University of Otago, only it wasn’t just all talk.

Standing on the top of Otago Peninsula, taking in commanding  views of Allen’s Beach, Hooper’s Inlet, Harbour Cone, Quarantine Island,  and out to the heads, Beth Dabrowski and her workmates had just turned their idle talk into reality and the stunning harbour outlook was the first of their rewards for their climb from Macandrew Bay.

Heading up the hill

Beth works at  Disability Information and Support  at The University of Otago and says she and her workmates were throwing ideas around about ways to get active and be
healthy when they decided to organise their own walk and enjoy some of Dunedin’s great walking tracks. “We’re all on a bit of a health kick and want to be healthy and active so we decided to organise our own walk. A couple of colleagues live out at Mac Bay so we thought we would start with some tracks that they recommended. “

Sporting Move Me T shirts, the group of seven met at Macandrew Bay and set off up Greenacres Street. The sealed road becomes a gravel road and then a walking track which winds its way up through Macrocapas, past dry stone walls and finally comes out on Highcliff Road at Pukihiki. From there they made their way to Camp Road. At the gate of Lanarch’s Castle, Camp Road goes behind the castle and eventually becomes another walking track.  From here they had planned to take the McTaggart Street track which runs down through private farmland to Company Bay; however the track was closed for lambing, so they ventured on following the track as it descended to Broad Bay.

Walking back down

It was single file from Broad Bay until they reached Company Bay where they were able to enjoy the newly established walking track on the peninsula foreshore which took them back to Macandrew Bay where they headed to the local Cafe for well earned refreshments. It had taken two and a half hours, a little longer than they had thought because of the unexpected detour to Broad Bay but Beth says spirits were high.

“I think everyone was tired but proud of themselves.  A few were a little sore the next day but everyone was positive about the experience and now we are in the throes of
plotting our next walk. We would like something a little less hilly and not quite so long; we really did start with a challenging track for our first effort! We’ve decided to do a new walk once a month.  Its fun and we are really looking forward to exploring other great tracks in Dunedin. We all agree walking is a great way to get fit.”

Finally finished

After suffering with persistent lower back pain for almost a year, the Physio I was seeing suggested improving my overall fitness and core strength. I’m 37 and mum to Eve who is 3 and a half. I work from home when Eve is at Kindy for my partner who runs his own Electrical business, so I don’t have a lot of time for exercise. I’m not into running or gyms, but I had a bike gathering dust in the garage.

Lucy & Eve

In April I found a neat little seat on Trade Me to attach to my bike for Eve, the plan was to cycle the short distance downhill to Kindy and get the exercise coming back up the hill. Despite falling off on our first run outside the kindy gate! All went well and in time the ride home just wasn’t long enough. I started getting out on the peninsula going further each time and really saw a huge improvement in my fitness after about 8 weeks I was able to ride much longer distances and get back up the hill.  The health benefits
of course are great but what I really love is the amount of extra energy i have now. I try and get out every other day; sometimes it’s just a short hill stretch first thing in the morning or a longer ride on the peninsula.

I looked into doing the Otago Rail Trail as a mid-winter challenge for myself, have a weekend away and a break from being Mum! , I found some other Mums keen to do it with me. So on 22nd July six of us set out to do it in two and a half days with 2 nights on the trail.  I planned the stops and accommodation we did it Middlemarch to Clyde. Stopping overnight in Waipiata and Omakau our accommodation was really comfortable, food great and though the legs were sore everyone thoroughly enjoyed it.

Beautiful weather on the Rail Trail

The weather was great with sunny windless days and the trail was empty – I think we passed 8 people the entire route. We were treated to a hoare frost on day two which was absolutely spectacular and the scenery on the trail is amazing. On day three the snow moved in and we were lucky enough to be finished Trail in time, our journey back to Dunedin however came to an end when we got snowed in at the Manuka Gorge and spent a third night at the Beaumont Hotel around a cosy fire which topped off the whole
experience.

6 Kindy mums doing the Rail Trail

After the Rail Trail three of us usually get a ride in once a week after we have dropped the kids off. Going out on the peninsula, having a nice stop for coffee and a chat en route.  Oh and the back is heaps better!

Lucy Goldsmith- Waverley Dunedin

For more information on the Rail Trail see www.otagorailtrail.co.nz