By Robbie Trotman, 1118 Kawhe
My wife Moewaka and I would just like to share how grateful we are to Te Tahuna Trust for providing us with the start-up business loan late last year.
This loan has given us the ability to purchase items for 1118 Kawhe that were a bit costly at the time, e.g., drink fridges and a real fruit ice cream machine. The loan also enabled us to purchase more of the necessities, e.g., cups, lids, hot food containers, coffee beans, getting us off to a great start right from the beginning.
Although not known to many, the location at Ruato Bay had many eyes on us as people drove past or stopped at the rest area. Our customer base grew with morning commuters, truck drivers and trades people and families that have come to the rest area for a swim and a kai. We even had a few boats pull up along the shore and wives telling us that they don’t usually like going out on the boat with their husbands, but now that they can stop for a coffee, they love going out. We are the main stop for a few truck drivers for lunch time meals and even people that attend events at the marae along Rotoiti.
We have future plans to develop the pākihi more. We now will be using the coffee cart at events outside of Ruato. We’ve done about five off-site events so far, including this AGM and have lined up some regular events for 2026, so look out for us around town.
We will also be opening our next venture, Kapowai Adventures, which we had put some of the loan aside for. This event is a water sports rental and tour business running from Ruato Bay as well. We have purchased kayaks and paddleboards, so along with our jet skis, we will hopefully get off to a good start this October/November, in time for summer. A very important kaupapa for us is that when we are guiding visitors to our lake, we are telling our stories, directly from mana whenua and mana moana, that we ensure that everyone we connect with and understand the cultural significance of the roto and the iwi that surround it.
Needless to say once again that we are extremely grateful to the trust and the owners of Te Tahuna for giving us this opportunity so that we could kick start our pākihi with a lot less work and worry than if we hadn’t.
No reira, he mihi kau ana ki taratī me te iwi e whakapapa ana ki Te Tahuna te whenua.
Na māua ko Moewaka (Ruatōkia Ltd)
