Orewa is a small town about half an hour's drive north of Auckland on New Zealand's North Island. In the past, it was a popular holiday destination and now, while its numbers continue to swell temporarily during the summer months, this seaside community has become a place for families to live, work and play in a region that's close to Auckland, but with all the positive attributes of a small town.
The Western Reserve in Orewa is home to a wide range of community groups. There is a Youth Centre, providing after school and holiday care, youth support and meeting places and an excellent indoor climbing facility, with accompanying outdoor climbing poles next to the local skateboard park. Opposite the Youth Centre is the local Community House, with its secondhand shop and a community meeting room for hire.
Next to the Community House is a garage which has been used for many years as a sorting shed for newspapers recycled by a group from a local service club with profits given to community causes, especially those to do with local young people. This is a popular weekly gathering, with a social aspect as a large part of its purpose. Nearby is a bowling club, whose many dedicated and active members eagerly await renovations, the focus of fundraising efforts for some time. The reserve also has a dog obedience club which is apt, given that the whole of the Western Reserve is an off-leash dog exercise area.
Indoor and Outdoor Activities in Orewa, NZ
The field is used for regular informal but fun touch rugby sessions, and the whole area is bisected by the recently finished shared walkway and cycleway that leads to a complete circumnavigation of the sea end of the Orewa estuary, a workout of over 7kms that sees a large number of pedestrians, cyclists, skateboarders and other active locals and visitors out in most weathers and at all hours of the day.
The council's I-site information centre serves locals and tourists with information about all aspects of travelling in New Zealand, with maps and pamphlets available.
The Western Reserve is also home to the Estuary Arts Centre, a community-operated visual arts exhibition and learning space with an excellent cafe and regularly changing exhibitions of the work of local and other artists. It also hosts a small retail outlet where lovely crafts and wares are created by local artisans.
This picturesque park also hosts a campervan ablution site, with public toilets, a boat ramp and fishing area.
New Opportunities in Orewa
With summer approaching there will be many opportunities for highlighting the facilities provided by the Western Reserve, with the first being a celebration of Adult Learners Week/He Tangata Matauranga from 31st October to 6th November 2011. People who teach adults in any subject will be invited to attend one of a number of sessions to provide information and opportunities for future learning experiences there. A group is investigating possibilities around setting up a base for Adult and Community Education (ACE) at the Western Reserve and this will be the first of a series of opportunities centred around the existing organisations there.
The Estuary Arts Centre will be offering workshops, with yarn bombing and Knitting as Art also being featured during that week. Advertising will highlight further arts-related opportunities for people to register for the summer Arts programme, which is being designed to involve all ages and focus on community learning.
Orewa is home to a number of very skilled and talented teachers of many disciplines living and working in the area and the Western Reserve is a perfectly situated hub for community recreation, learning and celebration. Local people are planning an array of activities that will be centred around this area in the future.
This is an exciting time for people who want to be involved in the place where they live or visit. There is a family-centred camping ground opposite the Western Reserve, right on the beach and all activities will be open to all.
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