Massey Launches Ag and Hort Courses for Teachers
Special courses for secondary school teachers to help excite kids about agriculture and horticulture are now being run at Massey University.
From Monday, around eight children will share a 4WD 10-seat Toyota Hiace, provided to Kaikōura District Council by Blenheim Toyota as a temporary bus replacement. Parents have organised a roster to take turns driving the school run — a solution expected to save affected families more than two hours a day in travel time, along with significant fuel costs.
Roughly two months' worth of rain fell in the Kaikōura region between 5 and 8 July, washing out roads and cutting off communities.
The damage is still being felt along Inland Kaikōura Road, where the regular school bus cannot cross a temporary ford after the Cribb Creek Bridge was washed out.
Since then, parents have been driving for hours to reach a pick-up point where the bus can continue its normal route.
Blenheim Toyota Provides Vehicle
Blenheim Toyota CEO Scott McDermid says the decision to help was straightforward.
"When the council reached out seeking support and laid out the situation, it was a clearcut 'yes' for us to help out. A 4WD Hiace van seemed like a practical way we could take some pressure off these families, enabling mobility for the school run, while they get on with rebuilding," he says.
"We're lucky to have strong connections with Kaikōura through our customers. When a small and remote region is dealing with this level of disruption, there are always many parts of the community that rally to support, and we're proud to be part of that."
Council Response
Kaikōura District Council Recovery Manager Jo York says the council's recovery team was grateful for the support.
"An emergency event may end, but for those affected, the repercussions can continue for a very long time. Gestures like this make our job easier and make a genuine difference to the people still managing those impacts every day," York says.
"Blenheim Toyota has helped solve one of those ongoing challenges. A school run might seem like a small issue within the wider recovery, but for these families, this vehicle is a real lifeline — giving them back valuable time, reducing costs and easing one of the many pressures they continue to face."
What It Means for Families
Mother-of-four Bub Taylor is taking the first driving shift under the new roster.
"We were staying in town or commuting in and out. For me, it's a 106km round trip. I'm lucky because I have somewhere to stay in town, but that means you're separated from your home. That means you're no longer able to do the recovery work on your property. It's just not viable to keep doing that for six months," she says.
"Having this van for the school runs means we can go home. It means we don't have to stay in town anymore. It means our kids have access to schooling again without being separated from their home."
The shared roster is intended to give parents more time for farming, storm repairs and other recovery work, rather than losing hours each day to travel.
The 4WD 10-seat Hiace was delivered to Kaikōura District Council on Friday, 21 August. Parents began driving the new school route from Monday, 24 August.
