MMT Mould mission to Māhia

Trustees Lex Taylor and Neil Wilson visited Māhia recently to view some reef ball moulds that belong to one of New Zealand’s reef ball pioneers, Dave Head.

Dave has loaned his three fibreglass moulds to Māhia’s environmental hero, Grace Ormond (Rongomaiwahine). About 15 years ago, Grace drove a reef ball project for Te Māhia School. The resulting reef is in good shape and “maxed out with organisms”, she says.

Neil says that tracking down Dave, Grace and the moulds was a bit of a mission but getting to Māhia was an even bigger one.

“We flew out of Nelson at 8am on a Wednesday, bounced in Wellington and carried on to Gisborne. It’s only a bit over an hour’s drive down to Māhia so we were there in the afternoon to meet with Grace. She’s an amazing woman - so knowledgeable and eager to share. We’ve been planning to meet Grace for a long while, but things got in the way - including Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle. Grace is also  really busy all the time. She’s a woman on a mission – a number of missions actually.”

Lex was immediately impressed with the condition of the moulds. “Grace and her family have obviously taken really good care of them. They’re good to go.”

Thanks to the generosity and networking of Ed Solly from Solly’s Freight, the moulds were picked up from Grace’s shed, delivered to Napier and then transported to Solly’s yard in Tākaka in a matter of days.

Lex and Neil were back in the Bay after their marathon mission by midnight on the Thursday.

“We actually spent more time being delayed at Wellington airport than we did talking to Grace and her Rongomaiwahine whānau,” says Neil.

The Mohua Marine Trust now has, on loan from Dave, the infrastructure to make reef balls for the pilot stage of its reef project. 

Trustees Gene Klein and Alan Hughes visited Solly’s yard and were pleased with what they saw.

“We’ve made a big step forward in getting the moulds to Golden Bay,” says Trust Chair, Gene.

The trust’s growing band of supporters and members can now look forward to seeing real progress on the trust’s mission in the near future.