LDV NZ launches Terron 9 ute at Fieldays
This new four-wheel drive workhorse features a 2.5L 164kW/520Nm turbodiesel and a 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity. So it's another up-for-anything ute that LDV says works as hard as Fieldays attendees do.
The Terron 9 is larger (5500mm) than many of the market's best-known utes and joins LDV's smaller T60 line-up. It will form the centrepiece of LDV's site I50 at Mystery Creek from June 11 to 14.
After a debut for the brand at Fieldays last year, 2025 promises to be even bigger. There's also the opportunity for showgoers to meet and greet LDV's brand ambassadors.
Queenstown-based qualified carpenter Chelsea Roper (She Builds Bro) will be making the trip north on Friday and Saturday. The Morning Shift's podcasters will make an appearance at the LDV site on Saturday.
Professional rugby player Katelyn Vaha'akolo who, like her fellow LDV ambassadors also drives an LDV T60 ute, will also be onsite on Saturday.
LDV will have exclusive Fieldays offers for those considering a purchase during the event. For example, anyone buying an LDV vehicle there will receive a free accessory pack valued at $3000. This offer runs until June 30.
Inchcape New Zealand General Manager Kym Mellow is confident the Terron 9 will set a new benchmark for utes in New Zealand. He is looking forward to seeing the public's reaction to it.
'The all-new LDV Terron 9 is built for power, designed for versatility, and is ready to redefine the ute experience' he said.
'Expanding our range, the Terron 9 brings toughness, intelligence, and performance to the next level. Backed by LDV's commitment to quality, it comes with a seven-year warranty, giving you confidence on every journey.'
Also at the LDV site (#I50) there will be a range of T60 utes and LDV's Deliver 7 van with 2.0 turbodiesel power.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
Lotto NZ powerless to stop a Malta-based gambling operation from running a direct copy of Powerball
TheLotter website says 'The distance between Russia and New Zealand is roughly 10,000 kilometres. So how did one of TheLotter's veteran players from Russia win a fantastic prize of NZ$226,101 when he played New Zealand Powerball? By playing it globally, of course!" Lotto NZ is aware of the development, saying TheLotter is one of many corporate syndicates that either 'resell physical tickets bought locally in countries, or offer their own variations of national lotteries, or some combination'. NZPowerLuck offers identical game play, draw results and prizes as Lotto Powerball's Wednesday and Saturday night draws. The online gambling industry accounts for 16% of Malta's GDP and employs more than 24,000 of the country's 552,747 population. TheLotter is geoblocked, meaning those using a New Zealand IP address can't access its games. Malta-based TheLotter offers punters a direct copy of Lotto Powerball - named NZPowerLuck. Photo / File A spokesman for TheLotter said its NZPowerLuck game received consistent interest from its customers 'particularly during large jackpot periods'. TheLotter offers tickets for more than 45 official lotteries from around the world, and its own derivatives of national or regional lotteries. Lotto NZ head of corporate communications Will Hine said Lotto NZ was 'aware' of TheLotter, and Kiwi Lotto bosses have previously raised the issue of the syndicates with the Department of Internal Affairs. The global online gambling market – including online casino, lottery and sports and racing markets - is estimated to be worth $97 billion, with a study by market research company FNF Research predicting it will grow to $306b by 2030. The Herald reported yesterday how Lotto NZ had blocked a global gambling group from buying tickets for big-dollar Lotto Powerball draws. Lotto NZ terms and conditions forbid ticket sales to people outside New Zealand, and tickets on-sold internationally become ineligible for prizes. But that hasn't stopped a 'commercial syndicate' trying to evade the rules and buy Powerball tickets anyway. Hine said overseas sites 'on-sell lottery tickets from a range of jurisdictions' and offer copycat versions of national lotteries - or both. Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 33 years of newsroom experience. Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
NZ Herald
an hour ago
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Des Samuels discovers blueberry success on Matakana Island
It was never Samuels' intention to get into blueberries. He was happy working as kaitiaki kura (school caretaker) of Te Kura o te Moutere O Matakana. 'My idea of looking after plants was Roundup,' he said. 'On paper, I was the most under-qualified person.' One day, he was helping build a plant nursery on the whenua, owned by Hamiora Whānau Trust, when it was suggested he try growing blueberries on a smaller section of the farm. Research efforts Des Samuels (left) with the 'godfather' of Australia's blueberry industry and Mountain Blue Orchards founder Ridley Bell, who visited the Matakana Island for the first time in June this year. Photo / Ant Low Knowing little about how to grow them, Samuels started researching. 'We just winged it, learned it and Googled it,' he said. 'Our advantage is growing up here on the island. 'We have the can-do, fix-it attitude.' By 2019, the whānau had planted their first blueberry plants. But it wasn't easy. In the beginning, cows broke in and ripped up the plants, and howling winds tore down about four blueberry tunnels two months after planting the first trees. Samuels, however, was determined. 'If you had told me what we'd been through, I think I would have turned it down in a heartbeat,' he said. 'But I was never going to start something I wasn't going to finish.' Six years on and the farm has nearly 11,000 blueberry plants, growing world-leading varieties that stand out because of their jumbo size and sweet taste. The varieties are licensed through Tauranga-based global berry marketer BerryCo NZ and marketed under the 'Blue Royal' brand across New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Berries grown by Samuels and his whānau on Matakana Island have been sold as far away as Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City. Peak harvest At peak harvest from October to December, the blueberry farm has about 50 workers. Most are backpackers from Argentina, Chile and Germany, as well as locals who live on the island. 'The blueberries have been a tool to help build relationships, and we are really big on looking after people,' Samuels said. 'We have lots of hāngī, we cook together, we fish together. It's an open-door policy. The importance is whānau.' Samuels' wife Kristy said up to 1.5 tonnes of blueberries are picked each day during the peak season, averaging about 4.5kg per tree. The berries are then delivered to the packhouse in Paengaroa. 'There is no typical day. During peak harvest it's full on,' she said. 'It's a 7am start and we work until lunchtime when it gets too hot. 'The pickers usually go home or have a swim at the beach and come back at 4.30pm and work through until about 7.30pm.' Looking back, Des said he's proud of what he and Kristy have achieved. 'All we do is blueberries. Even the office is in the lounge,' Kristy laughed. But to them, it's a privilege. 'Because it's on our own land we have a sense of ownership,' Des said. 'It's a legacy. I'm starting something up for my children and grandchildren, not just my own but others too.' A family affair Blueberry pioneer Ridley Bell (second left) visiting the Samuels whānau during his recent trip. Photo / Ant Low The island's youngest blueberry picker is Des' niece, Mia Samuels. The 14-year-old began picking blueberries on the farm last year to fundraise for a rugby trip to Hawaii. Mia lives on the mainland with her parents, Leon and Lynda Samuels, and travels to Matakana Island by boat about three days a week to pick berries during harvest. 'I like picking blueberries, and I like being outdoors. It's not like a normal job like in a store,' she said. Kristy said it was a 'whānau-run' multi-generational blueberry business. 'It gives the older ones an opportunity to have a holiday job, especially on the island where there isn't the usual supermarket or cafe job. 'It's cool to know that for them it will forever be their first job picking blueberries on uncle's farm.' Aside from the blueberries business, Des also runs school camps on the island, giving children the chance to disconnect from screens and schedules and reconnect with nature and island life. 'Our camps are a lot of fun and help build resilience and relationships,' he said. 'Some kids don't get the chance to swim or jump off the jetty and just be kids.' It's something Samuels said he learned from his late mother, Mere Matekino Palmer (nee Samuels). Raised on Matakana and neighbouring Rangiwaea Island in the 1930s, Mere later received an MBE in the 1990 Queen's Birthday Honours for her services to Kōhanga Reo. She also once worked with the Tabulam and Lismore Aboriginal communities as an early childhood education adviser, sharing the same community as Mountain Blue Orchard blueberry farms, whose berry varieties Samuels grows on the island today. 'That was a pretty special moment of discovery,' he said. 'What mum demonstrated through her work is what was sowed into me.' As for the future, Samuels hopes to continue expanding the blueberry business. 'We have a passion to be the best we can be. 'That's what gets us up in the morning.'
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Category 1 status for church ‘great news'
Kakanui church owners Anna Miles and Michael Simpson (right), and their dog Pippa (left) on the doorstep of the category 1 historic place, and the interior (centre) of the restored former community church that still houses the original piano organ from 1901. PHOTO: JULES CHIN A preservation project has paid off for the dedicated efforts of the passionate owners of the Kakanui church that is now listed as a category 1 historic place with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga. The former Kakanui Presbyterian Church, a modest Carpenter Gothic building designed by renowned Scottish-born Dunedin architect Robert Arthur Lawson, has undergone a significant transformation in recent years thanks to Waimate-based couple Michael Simpson and Anna Miles. The pair are ecstatic their restoration project has reached category 1 status after working on the former church since they bought it in 2019. "We are absolutely thrilled and delighted. It's great news," Mr Simpson said. Category 1 historic places are of special or outstanding historical or cultural significance or value. Ms Miles said the church and the area surrounding meant a lot to them and the Kakanui community. "It's just a special spot ... the river, the beach, this place. "So many people came in while we were working on the church and because it was already a notable building and the community had battled to try and save it and fundraise for it when the church still owned it," Mr Simpson said. Built in 1870, and once the spiritual heart of Kakanui, the timber church had weathered decades of change before its final service in November 2019 in the seaside town. Mr Simpson and Ms Miles, who attended the last service, said it was "emotional" and embodied the deep connection the Kakanui community had to the church. Since buying the property, the couple have steadily restored the structure, replacing sub-floor bearing joists, corner studs and weatherboards, improving drainage, restoring windows and repainting the interior. Their restoration has extended to the church's outbuildings — including the bible class hall added in 1933, two small buildings acquired in 1955 for the growing Sunday school and even a brownies den. They say they have kept the budget to a minimum by working with original materials "to minimise waste" as much as possible. They have also strived to keep original details such as original boarding and the iron straps added to the building in 1884 to stop the church from "getting battered by northwest winds", Mr Simpson said. Mr Simpson, a carpenter with heritage expertise, and Ms Miles, equally hands-on, saw the church as more than just a building and have brought it back to life with community events including a night market and musical gigs, Christmas carols and even a friend's wedding. "We'd seen so much loss of heritage and we knew we could work to preserve it ... we see ourselves as stewards of the building". Mr Lawson (1833-1902), the church's architect, is well known for many of Oamaru's classical buildings including the National Bank, the Bank of New South Wales and the Star and Garter Hotel. Mr Simpson said it was "was super exciting" when they got the listing "to get a stab" at preserving the history of the church. The couple said initial meetings with Waitaki District Council building advisers and engagement with Heritage New Zealand had been "fantastic". "The building advisers were so receptive to our ideas ... and Heritage New Zealand assessment adviser Alison Brees who came up and then did a report on it, it was so comprehensive and she was learning, so much," Mr Simpson said. "She was doing all the research on the social history of Kakanui and what it was a symbol of," Ms Miles said. After various project ideas the couple opted to stick to the "essence" of the original design of the building. They have also made some interesting discoveries throughout the restoration of the 154-year-old church including Roman numerals etched into wood behind some of the boards. "Because this was kit-set, likely built off-site or pre-assembled offsite. "An intern at Heritage NZ also discovered through old photos that the bent and forked roof was actually for the rope that went up to the bell on the bell tower," Mr Simpson said. Making the commute from Waimate at any chance they get, they describe the restoration as their "hobby", but the project has taken on new meaning for them as it has progressed. "We saw it as a building project on day one, but it just keeps turning into something else — having events in the church, and restoring it as well as we can, means that it should have a life beyond us, and that's what we want." Mr Simpson said. Originally designed to seat 100 worshippers, the church was constructed in just three months during a period of ambitious development. Hopes were high that the newly built port would turn the coastal settlement into a major export hub. While those dreams faded, the church remained a part of the community's life for nearly 150 years. The couple say they have had "so much fun" restoring the former church and have been grateful not to have a set deadline to be able to enjoy the process at their own pace. Ms Miles said the wider community outreach and public submissions in support of the building to achieve a category 1 historic place had been immense. "All these people submitted saying they thought it was a great idea. They all got involved; it was amazing," she said. Mr Simpson said they were told it was a "recent record" for the number of submissions they received. The couple plan to continue restoration of the church and to celebrate its new-found heritage status with an open day event "to welcome all" in spring. "If we have a gin at the end of the day sitting in here and looking at the ceiling and thinking how lovely it is, well, what else could you want?" Mr Simpson said.
