Marlborough s oldest school celebrates with a multicultural Matariki stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Tracking meteorological trends is useful to grape growers, with frosts, sunshine and other climate conditions affecting the success of a crop. Agnew’s team uses the data for mathematical modelling to predict things like when sauvignon blanc grapes will flower, when the veraison or ripening period starts, and how early harvest will be.
Jess Parker
Rob Agnew shares his research into grapevines as liaison scientist at Hort Research back in 2005. “It gives grape growers a heads-up about the turning of the season, helps them to plan and manage their vineyards,” Agnew said. “For example, this season was probably the earliest harvest we’ve had. Bud burst and flowering was all very early. Climate warming does bring everything forward.”
Brya Ingram/Stuff Zhang was excited about the event, one of the biggest dates on the Chinese calendar. “It is the year of the Ox. Ox in the Chinese culture is strong, it means you can achieve a lot . so it is going to be a good year,” Zhang said. Eva Au-Yeung, of Hong-Kong, said people usually tried to rush back home to celebrate New Year with their family, but that was not possible this year due to travel restrictions. “I miss home, especially the big festival for Chinese New Year. But we treat us as a family here in Blenheim. We speak the same language, share the same kind of food, the same culture,” Au-Yeung said.