Our first broadcast (which you can hear streaming here on the internet or on the radio nightly 5-11pm till Saturday) was something rather special, if you can forgive our frequent dodgy mike levels, ums and ahs – which we hope we made up for with so much heart. Himiona Grace kicked things off with a beautiful mihi and a stonking broad array of contemporary Aotearoa sounds. We had visits from local kaumatua Karl Farrell and were blessed to have as first interview guest on our community radio show Te Pae (6-8) Carol Reihana.

There were a few wet eyes, mine included, when over 25 local tamariki sang local waiata to welcome the show as part of our Kapa Haka roopu. For future reference if your band has more than 25 players, we can’t fit you. The Te Pae show had a bit of an accidental theme going, Paekakariki’s physical boundaries. Whilst Carol recalled Ngati Haumia’s original shark toothed settlement down in the crook of Wainui Stream where the Holiday Park is now, Joan Hilder in her tennis club report recalled the first house she grew up in in the village in the 1960s – the houses where now the Ames Street reserve is. We followed with Janet Holborrow and Paul Hughes discussing extensions to Paekakariki now – the future use of the land at the end of Tilley Road, and the Grow Paekakariki’s drive to secure Perkins farmland for our community before it passes to the powers that be bringing us Transmission Gully. We’re blessed to have producer Melanie Phipps onboard.

Here’s poet Helen Heath rounding things off with a beautiful selection of her work.

After 8pm, Paul Howard told us via Lou Donaldson that things were going to get funky, on his show Garage Sale Funk, and they. sure. were. Special kudos for having into the studio our very own band Skapiti and a joy to hear a live recording of their tune ‘Paekakariki After Midnight’. Anna Marie O’Brien followed taking us on a beautiful journey through modern classical music, of great breadth – from the astonishing choral sounds of Dudley Benson’s ‘Tui’ to Sibelius. A beautiful way to end a beautiful Sunday night.

We’d love your ideas and views – and even better would love one of you out there to do a blog report on next week’s shows, like this one but… from your very own particular Paekakariki point of view! Let us know

Mark