Variety Trillian Bash Rolls up its Sleeves
The Variety Trillian Bash continued its mission at the tiny Waitaria Bay School, in the Marlborough Sounds. The school draws its eight pupils from the rolling green farmland in which it nestles, and the handful of parents and the part-time caretaker struggle to keep up with all the work required.
So they welcomed the Bash when it arrived on Monday morning ready to make the most of a day on which the kids were away on a school trip.
The Bashers – who come from all over New Zealand and as far afield as Australia – fitted underfloor insulation to the school, built garden beds, mowed the rugby pitch, weeded, painted, moved a shade tent and cleared out sheds before heading to Portage for the night, and to meet up with a few teams who’d taken time out for a little maintenance.
There the parents dropped in on their way home, and Super Hubert, an Australian magician who flies in each year to take part in the event, put on a short show – doubly magic for remote rural kids who rarely have access to live entertainment like this.
On Tuesday the Bash will visit five schools en route to Nelson, where the teams will split up to shake buckets for Variety – The Children’s Charity.