WelCom December 2024/January 2025
Catherine Gibbs
The urgency of getting more people involved in caring for, and protecting all of creation is increasing every year. In September, the Season of Creation was celebrated in the Hutt Valley in a number of practical ways.
The Passionist Family group from Ss Peter and Paul parish enjoyed a walk, talk and afternoon tea. We explored Māwai Hākona stream, restored to health by a group of volunteers over ten years. To see the swift-flowing stream cleared of choking weeds and native shrubs thriving on the weed-free banks, is hopeful. The flourishing birdsong and fish life now make this a very spiritual place to visit in Silverstream. Our visit showed how grassroots environmental work as kaitiaki is having an impact.
Blessed with blue sky and spring weather, another group walked Te Awa Kairangi River Trail from the foothills at Akatarawa to the river estuary entrance to Wellington harbour. It was an ecumenical event combining friends from St James Anglican and Catholic parishes of Te Awakairangi and St Joseph’s Upper Hutt. Walkers joined at different parts of the journey. We enjoyed a welcome ‘cuppa’ hosted by St James’ choir before completing the journey with a prayerful liturgy, where the river meets the sea at Petone. Now in its fourth year, ‘For the Life of the River 2024’ aims to increase awareness, appreciation and care of the awa, which flows through the most heavily populated river plain in Aotearoa.
After an awareness-raising event to learn more about Te Awa Kairangi | Hutt River in 2023, St James Anglican Church, now an eco-church, hosted a day focused on the question ‘How well do we know our local stream?’ The Opahu stream, which meanders through the lower valley, is visible only in sections because of the dense residential nature of the city. Members of the Mountains to Sea group shared what is happening with stormwater and pollution in the stream that flows behind the church, through the city park and Sacred Heart College.
Armed with new knowledge, we can all begin to make changes for the better.
