PROTECT PUNATAPU

PROTECT PUNATAPU

Nature’s Symphony in collaboration with Bob’s Cove Punatapu Community Trust presents PROTECT PUNATAPU, an immersive afternoon celebrating and connecting with Punatapu through music, kai and korero with expert speakers. 

“Punatapu” or Sacred Pool is the Maori name for the area we now call “Bob’s Cove,” a rural residential community on Lake Wakatipu between Queenstown and Glenorchy. The Bob’s Cove Track has long provided easy access from Queenstown to precious lakeside native forest. 

As this treasured whenua is currently threatened by a proposal for an intensive commercial development, the community is coming together to celebrate the land and explore what it can mean to be stewards of its future. Come and join us!

Nature’s Symphony is a community-led, community-driven initiative where we learn, connect and listen to the voices of teachers, the music of artists, and the sounds of the whenua. Each symphony features unique, themed programming in stunning pop-up locations in nature, with contributions from musicians, thinkers, artists, change makers and field experts.

This is a fundraising event to support the work of the Bob’s Cove Punatapu Charitable Trust, and to raise funds and awareness of the current legal challenge to protect Punatapu/ Bob’s Cove.

 Find out more 

At PROTECT PUNATAPU we will be joined by musician Luke Gajdus alongside special guests, and speakers Darren Rewi and Monique Kelly. We will also share in a delicious hāngī lunch. 

-Luke Gajdus is a pianist, composer and music therapist. Luke’s performances emphasize a state of relaxation and therapy, and reflect our connectedness with the natural world. A deep intentionality is woven through his music, with live performances that reflect an ecocentric perspective. At PROTECT PUNATAPU, he will be joined by special guest musicians to create a soundscape with which to deepen our experience of place. Luke will be joined by an amazing array of talented local musicians, including Angelo Swan, James Cooper, Rosalind Winston, Sabrina Luxmi, Clementine Perney and Guillaume Dayakar.

-Darren Rewi is one of Central Otago’s most senior kaumātua and an exemplar of manaakitanga. Darren believes that Māori values and wisdom can extend throughout our communities, even in places we may not expect. A gifted storyteller and man of great mana, Darren is dedicated to his community. His work ensures local Māori have a voice within the community, and that voice is heard. His great gift is an ability to identify that unifying point of connection and act as the conduit between organisations and Kai Tahu.

-Monique Kelly is the co-founder of Wao, an Otago-based charitable trust that works to educate, inspire and enable communities to accelerate towards a regenerative future. Monique’s work inspires leaders and communities to think strategically about change in a solutions-focused

manner, to help co-create a future where we live in balance within a thriving, diverse ecosystem.

In attending this event, you will be directly contributing both to the Bob’s Cove Punatapu Community Trust’s community efforts to care for the land, as well as reforestation efforts of the Glenorchy Community Native Tree Nursery. 

Please be advised that this is an outdoor event, with weather contingencies. 

-Special hāngī lunch included!!!

-Kids under 16 free

-Secluded Bob’s Cove location (address given upon ticket purchase)

-Transportation will be available from Queenstown (we highly encourage bus transportation and carpooling, as parking is limited)

-BYO snacks, drinks, and picnic style/outdoor seating (cozy blankets, camping chairs, pillows etc!)