Triple F Challenge Taranaki 4-6th April 2025
This is an excerpt of the Triple F Taranaki Report:
With the Triple F Challenge being held regularly since the inaugural one in 2007, this was a first for Taranaki. One of our Taranaki team members, Sandra Blue had headed down to last year’s Triple F in Cromwell, and came back with lots of ideas as to what we could showcase of our Region Taranaki – so she and Margaret Emo, who had attended other Triple F Challenges, got planning.
The planning team got a bit bigger as the year progressed.
Along with the challenge of fun, fitness, friendship and fundraising our focus was celebrating some of our unique local artists, and our regional beautiful surroundings – from the Tasman sea to our Taranaki Maunga.
The programme began with an afternoon tea at the main accommodation venue, One Burgess Hill – with the friendship component to the fore. From there we all headed into New Plymouth to The Collaboration – a gallery with many different artists’ work available – paintings, pottery, candles, balms, metal sculptures, jewelry, wooden items, plants, knitting, sewing to name some.
The next day, Saturday, we took a day trip to four different artists near the township of Oakura. (Just a reminder that Oakura is where the very first Branch of WDFU was created, a century ago – hence also the significance of our visiting this beach town, on the coast SW of New Plymouth).
After lunch at the local pub, Butler’s Reef, we headed up the hill to Ringcraft Jewelry where we were given quite an insight into sourcing and working with diamonds. Our last artist was Suzanne the potter who now makes mainly pottery birds – tui, ruru, kingfisher to name some.
Saturday evening was back at Burgess Hill for a meal and auction of a painting by Paul Rangiwahia (another Taranaki artist) – with the money raised going to Taranaki Hospice. Our speaker for the night was Paul Lamb, CEO of Hospice Taranaki – who gave us insight into the operation of running a Hospice.
Sunday morning, we gathered at the New Plymouth world renown Rewarewa Bridge, our Maunga was a bit shy just poking out of the clouds! Then many of our group walked along our New Plymouth walkway to Fitzroy to venture up to Margaret and Robin Vicker’s house and garden for a yummy Brunch. From there the group dispersed, some back home, some stayed longer to see more Taranaki sights, some said they would be back to visit for a longer time.
Overall, the feeling was certainly one of fun and friendship, partly because we weren’t big in numbers but that we all went to the same places collectively, which allowed us to make new Rural Women connections. One comment made by one of the ladies attending was:
“You fitted so much in, we got a good taste of the beauty of Taranaki. Great RW friendship. Thoroughly good weekend”.
A couple of weeks after this Triple F weekend our Committee donned our Taranaki RW Vests and visited our fundraising partner, the Taranaki Hospice, to have morning tea with the CEO Paul Lamb and hand over a “ cheque” for $3,000 – something we felt very proud to be doing.
