Pictured (L-R) Kevin Heays, Mayor Kaikoura; Richard Craig, President Coastguard Kaikoura; Cheryl Moffat, Coastguard Southern Regional Manager; Colin King, MP for Kaikoura.

Coastguard Kaikoura held an opening ceremony for the new training room on 4th July. It is a credit to the hard work of the unit and has been named for their long term Unit Training Officer as the ‘Mike Kennedy Training Room’. Coastguard Southern Regional Manager, Cheryl Moffat, attended and spoke along with the Kaikoura Mayor and Colin King, National MP for Kaikoura. Mr King ‘cut the ribbon’. Local Police, St John and Fire Service attended as well as Coastguard Kaikoura crew members and their families. The training facility resulted from a remodel of their building as they no longer store the Coastguard Rescue Vessel and use a slipway to launch. There is a colony of Little Blue Penguins who nest under the building and the Unit as build a viewing area and nesting boxes and are working with a local conservationist on the project. It is hoped that they will be able to have guided tours viewing the penguins and paying a fee to do so.