Muriwai Golf Club Responds: Cyclone Gabrielle Hits Muriwai. Ep. 8 Precipice Podcast.

Andrew Jackson is my guest in this episode. Andrew is the General manager of the Muriwai Links Golf Club and was manager at the time of Cyclone Gabrielle. He and his team were involved on the night of the cyclone and in the recovery and restoration of Muriwai.

Andrew shares how the club prepared for the weather event and what they expected, how the golf club supported the surf club and the community on the night of the cyclone, supporting more than 60 people with accommodation, food and bedding, and he explains the challenges and considerations for the golf club in the immediate aftermath.

Andrew talks about a fundraising event the golf club organised where $50,000 was raised for the fire brigade, what he has learnt through this experience as the golf club manager and what the club has done to prepare for a future disaster. 

He explains the support they received from council, how he sees the club as part of and a resource for the community and where the golf club is at now.

Precipice launched on July 20th 2026. 3 seasons will be released across 4 weeks and then the full series of 26 episodes will be available for you to listen to at your leisure.

Season 1: Cyclone Gabrielle Hits Muriwai 

Season 2: Disaster Recovery and Community Restoration                     

Season 3: Community Initiatives after a Cyclone

Listen on You Tube  https://www.youtube.com/@precipicepodcast

Follow on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/precipicepodcast

Hosted and produced by Mandy Jakich. Commissioned and funded by Muriwai Community Association, supported by the Auckland Council Recovery Office.

Transcript

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Mandy 1:02

Andrew Jackson is my guest in this episode. Andrew is the general manager of the Muriwai Links Golf Club and was manager at the time of Cyclone Gabrielle. He and his team were very involved on the night of the Cyclone and in the recovery and restoration of Muriwai.

Andrew 1:20

Ended up having three barbecues going. Mike van der Elzen came down. He was helping out with the barbecue. And we had 700 people turn up because we had a temporary bar going downstairs with the barbecue. And I think we got through nine kegs.

Mandy 1:34

Andrew shares how the club prepared for the weather event and what they expected. How the golf club supported the surf club and the community on the night of the cyclone, supporting more than 60 people with accommodation, food, and bedding. And he explains the challenges and considerations for the golf club in the immediate aftermath. Andrew talks about a fundraising event the golf club organized, where 50,000 was raised for the Fire Brigade, what he has learned through this experience as the golf club manager, and what the club has done to prepare for a future disaster. He explains the support they received from council, how he sees the club as part of and a resource for the community.

Speaker 1 2:18

A lot of golf clubs in the country are seen as um uh exclusive, uh and we're certainly not. We're we're we're totally exclusive for everybody.

Mandy 2:29

And he shares where the golf club is at now.

Speaker 1 2:34

Well, my name is Andrew Jackson, and um um the I'm very lucky to be the the general manager of Mirawai Golf Club. Um I have been for nine years now. Uh it's been quite a journey. Um originally moved to Huawei twelve years ago uh with my very young family, and we we decided to move out here to be able to join Murawai Golf Club because we're we're both very keen golfers, myself and my wife, um and members at uh the Howard Golf Club over on the east. So we've now moved up to the beautiful northwest and um and been a member of Murawai for 12 years, so uh absolutely loving it. Spend most of my time in Murawai, even though I live at Hua Pai. I work in Murawai, I play in Murawai. We go to the beach at Murawai. Uh both of my girls are uh surf club nibbers and um and actually national champions now as well. So I'm very proud of that. That's that's down to the uh the fact that we live in Marawai. March 2017, I was um I started the role after 40 years in engineering, so I totally totally changed uh careers. Um I wasn't a golf manager. I am now though. I can say I've got nine years' experience. Uh we've got nearly 30 staff here now at Marawai. Uh we're one of the uh top clubs in the country. And um the course itself has is being transformed into a beautiful Lynx golf course, and um we're very very lucky to be sharing this um this beautiful plot of land with all the wildlife we've got here. So we've got a we've got a wildlife restoration fund going on. Um and and the the the program for that has been going now for about five or six years, and you can certainly see the difference on the course, all of the um not just the native wildlife, but we've got lots of pheasants and and uh quail just running around there and um and beautiful it's just a beautiful place to be. So uh very lucky to be sharing um the the my role as as manager with this picturesque land we've got here.

Mandy 4:33

Moving on to the Cyclone Gabrielle event. What information did you get about the coming weather event and and what were you expecting?

Speaker 1 4:42

Uh yeah, well we got the severe weather warning, um and um we'd had a few uh severe weather warnings previous to that, and we had a reason a really bad flood, I think, the week before, or two weeks before. Um I was uh I live in Huawei, but um the whole village was was I remember was flooded. We were okay, we were on the on a little bit of a high ground near the school. So um we we escaped that. But then um we were expecting pretty pretty bad weather. Um when you get a cyclone coming in, it's um uh you need to take it seriously.

Mandy 5:16

As a golf club, did you did you prepare in some way for what was coming?

Speaker 1 5:22

We took the flags down. Um yeah, we did. We we um we prepared to close the course um because we're we're we've got a big operation here. Um we've got nearly 1200 members now, and um to close the course is quite a quite a major thing. Um, you know, but so we were preparing to close the course, and that's that's basically what we were that we weren't expecting it to be as bad as it turned out. So um that's all we were doing, preparing to close the course.

Mandy 5:50

And did you have any worries at that time?

Speaker 1 5:52

We yeah, I was con I was very concerned. Um and the the buildings, the trees, everything that was here. I didn't really expect there'd be a um uh a danger to to life itself. I didn't think it was gonna be that bad. But um, yeah, we we were worried, we were concerned.

Mandy 6:11

What was that night like for you in in your role as manager?

Speaker 1 6:16

Well, it's um we where I live in then over, we're we're quite sheltered. So that was coming, I think, from the southwest uh the winds, and um so that's we're sheltered. And I didn't hear a thing. So Nick Thompson uh called me at one 1 a.m. in the morning. Uh he was he sounded irate, he was he was very worried, concerned. You could hear noise in the background, and um he was saying that the surf club had flooded and uh we needed to open up the the clubhouse uh to allow people to go and and um and take refuge in in the clubhouse. So I was like, wow, that's it's um that's really bad. That's really bad. So um we got one of the the members uh called him on his uh sorry, he's actually the uh he was one of our bros at the time, Jimmy Avery, one of the locals. He opened the clubhouse. Uh there was a few of our members as well who are locals, all that all assisted and and made sure everybody got in the clubhouse safely. Obviously, there was a power cut. Um, so I called um our uh electrical contractor, Luke Navarro, uh from Alpha Electrical, local guy, and does a lot of the local work. Um he he was able to organize a generator for us and had a club first thing in the morning, the generator arrived. So we were in darkness for a few hours, and then um uh we had about 60 people in the clubhouse. Um by the time I got here in the morning at 7 a.m., uh the generator was up and running, and uh people were having breakfast and um who were being looked after. It was obviously um quite a uh I wish to put it a sad atmosphere because um there was two families in particular that were um that were affected quite badly.

Mandy 7:58

And how did you actually get all your staff there? Because obviously um Middleby Road was quite blocked and you know there was a lot of carnage. How how did you get your people there?

Speaker 1 8:08

Well, we have we have a lot of local staff um anywhere and um they they just came in. Um some of them weren't rostered to be to be working, so we just we just give everybody a bit of a call. Are you available to come in and help? And and from then the the staff just basically came in every day. Um I got in touch with the the chairman of the board and said, look, um, you need to give me the approval to to help out. Community, yeah. And uh they straight away said the the board said straight away they they said yes, you need to do what you need to do and uh use use any any of the club's resources staff. Um they're all all there for you up for your um to use. And um I was in a really good position that we had some brilliant staff who who stayed here overnight to help out the um the families that were staying here and and made sure everybody was was was fed and ordered and comfortable.

Mandy 9:00

How did the community know that the golf course was available to go to?

Speaker 1 9:05

Uh they didn't. Um it was um I think at the time Nick Nick Thompson was mentioned before, he said you can go to the golf club, it'll be up that we'll be able to open it for you. But um we weren't we weren't actually uh the official emergency um refuge, um, although we put our hand up to be there in the future, we we can do that uh because we're we're on a little bit of high ground, so uh we're not the clubhouse isn't liable to flood. Um but um no, they I don't think the community knew that we were available, but um, you know, we certainly are now.

Mandy 9:36

Yeah, which is great. Were they taking people from the surf club and then sending them down to the golf course?

Speaker 1 9:43

Yes. Um I'm not sure exactly how they got here, but um they would they might have come through the the the fields or the uh the par five um fifth hall along there uh to the club. Um there was a few cars here in the morning as well, so people had driven here as well. So uh it was the the village was pretty much carnage, the um there was um only one way in and uh had to come through a cordon uh to get here. But um uh that was managed pretty well in the future. That that cordon was was managed very well actually.

Mandy 10:17

What were the initial biggest challenges for the golf club?

Speaker 1 10:21

So the the biggest challenge for us was how to be able to uh to house um all the people that that needed housing, and um we did manage that and we had uh a lot of members who donated bedding. There was uh one company in particular who donated uh uh temporary uh beds that you could roll out, and um so that was the biggest challenge initially was being able to give people space. One family living in the boardroom. Um and that was fine. We were okay with that, and they were living in the boardroom for two weeks, and that that had two dogs as well.

Mandy 10:58

How did they go for food and that kind of thing? Were they using the food hub down the road?

Speaker 1 11:02

Or uh the the food um we we had plenty of food in the freezers, um, and because we weren't open for business, um the board approved us to use anything that we had. Um, in fact, there was a barbecue organized on the Thursday, I think the the um cyclone was on the Tuesday, and the council organized a meet at the golf club to let everybody know what was happening. And they they said um we'll we'll bring some sausages along and you can put a barbecue on. And I said, Well, we might need a little bit more than that, but we'll sort it. And um we ended up having three barbecues going. Um Mike van der Elsen came down, he was he was helping out with the barbecue, and we had 700 people turn up. So we also had the um the the beer, the beer and the beer fridge. Um we we said, well, we can't use that, so we might as well bring it downstairs. And we had a temporary bar going downstairs with the barbecue, and um I think we got through nine cakes. Yeah. So it was it was it was a strange atmosphere because obviously people were um very, very upset. And uh, but it also gave them the opportunity to give each other a hug, because um uh and also to meet the heroes that that were there on that night. Uh the fire, the the fire brigade were here as well, and not all of them obviously, uh, but they were here as well. And and everybody just came together and and and had a night, had a night out.

Mandy 12:23

Yeah, which is so good, and it's amazing that you could provide those resources.

Speaker 1 12:28

Well, we didn't we weren't the only ones providing food. There was people turning up with smoke fish, uh there was all kinds, so so uh we had we had plenty.

Mandy 12:38

In those sort of days, in that first week, what what kind of things did you have to set up at the golf club?

Speaker 1 12:45

The the council actually set up um their emergency um base here for a few days. So for that first week they were here, and then they moved down in the surf club when it got got cleaned up and everything. But um so the the council were here and and for that first week. Um after that um the clubhouse was available for anybody who needed it. So it's uh we didn't really need to set anything up.

Mandy 13:10

Going forward from there, and what were your sort of specific roles in the recovery as a golf club and as a manager?

Speaker 1 13:17

Right from the start, uh there was the Mirawai Community Emergency Network formed, and that was the day after the uh the cyclone, and so that was formed in the Metcare at the golf club, and we we we were part of that. So we had myself uh and Tolin Henderson, who's our operations manager, he he he he was massive in this uh this thing as well. He he he did a hell of a lot. Uh he was in that um that meeting as well. So they they were meeting every day, so that meant that because there was two of us, um, if one of us couldn't make it for whatever reason, there was always somebody from the golf club uh represented. And um that those those people that were actually um involved in those meetings, they're absolutely brilliant people that were they were lovely. And um we don't really see much of them now. I mean, Kathy obviously isn't isn't in the village anymore, but uh as the owner of the of the the cafe, she her her cafe was being used for meetings as well, and and and she was instrumental in in a lot of the stuff that we did. But that whole emergency team, um, they were fantastic. Fantastic. So I I I basically went to the meetings nearly every day, and if I wasn't there, Tolan was there as well. Um then and we would come back um with what was what they required us to do. So we would then go to the staff and club or the members and um and get them to help out with everything if there was any um food required or um or or clothing or anything that was needed, um, we we would be able to to convey that back to the members. So it was tough. We didn't actually know what to do, but then after a few days um it became quite routine, and we were able to um to to go to different members and different staff to actually ask them to help out. We also had um a fund being raised by the members, and we were organizing pretty much straight away we organized a fundraising event, um, which was to be held in April, and we managed to raise fifty-seven thousand dollars for the fire brigade at that at that event. And you know that that type of thing, members just they were happy, they were happy to give to help out the the to just to help out the community. Bearing in mind quite a few of the members are are actually part of the community as well, so they're they're all local members.

Mandy 15:35

Yeah. And uh it just seems amazing the way the club came together, you know, as you said, the members and also the staff and yourself, and you know, you kind of all rallied around to really support the community.

Speaker 1 15:47

Yeah. Well, I call it it's team Uro I. It's team Uroye.

Mandy 15:51

What have you learned about the recovery of an event like that as a as a golf club and as a manager? And what could you pass on to other communities?

Speaker 1 16:01

Wow. Um, you really need to expect the worst um and don't take anything for granted. That um with with something like that, it was it was horrendous, it really was. Um and if you're slightly prepared, then um fine, but you really need to be fully prepared for something like that. So now we've got a generator. We could we we um we spent uh fifty thousand dollars on a on a generator that's permanent here. So if anything happens, we have got that that that backup that um that the community's will have to come down if if anything, because quite often the Mirawai uh power does go out because you know it's it's quite fragile. So we're there. I mean we've got that generator. I think the surf club's got one now as well. And and that they are a a result of the um of of the of of the cyclo now. So being but just being prepared. We do have emergency bedding here as well, so that's all stock stacked away if needed in the future.

Mandy 16:59

That's good, and then you've often got sort of extra surplus food or food, you know, for the future in the freezer, so that's always a good resource.

Speaker 1 17:07

Yeah, and and we also now have uh a brand new head chef.

Mandy 17:11

So I mean that's the thing, isn't it? That you don't you don't really know what to expect and you don't necessarily think it's ever going to happen until it happens. And then you then you do a lot of learning and um and then you can actually prepare for a subsequent event.

Speaker 1 17:26

Exactly. And you you you also realise how how um helpful people can actually be. And some people just come out of the woodwork and say, I'm there, I'm helping. And you know, though those people are still here at the club, and and they will be there in the future. So uh you can rely on those people that were a a golf club with with um with members who really care about the community. So we're very lucky.

Mandy 17:54

Yeah, absolutely. And how did you feel as a golf club and as a manager again about the level of support that you received from other organizations like the local council or local government?

Speaker 1 18:08

Uh yeah, we we received support from uh from the council. Um well that we did have the cordon in place, and that meant that only locals could could go through. Uh the council, after a bit of persuasion, we said we really need to be open to be able to support the community. We need to be able to function. And um, if we don't have revenue coming in from golfers, we won't be able to help, and it and we just won't be here. It'll it's um we're not we're we're a not-for-profit organization, and um we can't afford to not have people playing golf. So um they allowed us to give them the start sheet for the next day was taken to the uh to the people at the cordon, and they were taking off people as they came in to play golf. And that that that was a massive help for us. If we weren't able to do it out, we wouldn't we wouldn't have been able to survive very long. Um so that was a massive help.

Mandy 19:03

Did you find that a lot of the community were coming to play golf as a sort of way to help them emotionally and sort of help with their well-being?

Speaker 1 19:11

Definitely, definitely. Um even just coming down and have a walk around this, and that's um and we were happy to to allow that. It wasn't a problem for us of all. But yes, it would love to see people here.

Mandy 19:24

Yeah, and it's great that there was somewhere that people could actually go to help with that.

Speaker 1 19:30

I mean that that barbecue proved that, that uh people were were uh stranded from one end of the village to the other. So they hadn't seen the friends from the other end of the village, and they came to the barbecue and it was very emotional, very emotional. Um so it was nice for them to be able to just go somewhere.

Mandy 19:48

Was there anything that you that you needed that you didn't have access to? I mean obviously the the generator came to you pretty quickly through the local electrician. But was there anything else that you might have needed that you that you couldn't access or anything else that you feel you would like to have if an event like that happened again?

Speaker 1 20:08

Uh not really. I think um I think we're pretty much covered for the future, and um we don't really um think that we won't be prepared for it. So I think we've got access to everything we need now.

Mandy 20:22

And how do you feel like the Mirawai community responded and and what do you think we did really well?

Speaker 1 20:28

Uh well the Mirror they came together. The Mirawai community um were there for each other, and it was amazing to see the the the response of of people that would came to volunteer volunteer at the surf club to take the um the food and and just to help out. There was an amazing response from the village. Um obviously there was a lot of people who were stranded, didn't have anywhere to live. So there was people there were people that came forward and said, I've got a you can live you can stay with us for a while. And uh it was just an amazing to see the community come together like that.

Mandy 21:03

Have you noticed the change at all in the way the community connect with the golf club?

Speaker 1 21:08

Uh yeah, it was there's there's um certainly uh the community have um uh realized that the golf club isn't um a place that's that you can't access. I mean it's uh it's it's part of we are part of the community. We're we're just sharing this land with the community. You know, it's um and I think they see that they they see it as a um hopefully as a part of the community because we we would like to be part of the community. And um a lot of golf clubs in the country are seen as um uh exclusive, um and we're certainly not, we're we're totally inclusive but for everybody. Um and and yeah, I think um golf clubs if you if you've got a community um on your doorstep, then you need to be part of it. You just can't exclude yourself from

Mandy 22:00

community and uh I'm very happy the community are um from the golf club now yeah and I I feel like it uh it sort of for me it's was a place is because I'm not a golfer it was a place that I didn't feel like I belonged but now there's definitely a bigger sense of belonging and connection to the club because I think I understand that you feel part of the community and you want you want us to feel part of the club even though we may not be members you know what I mean?

Speaker 1 22:30

Well we we we've got um right on the doorstep we've got the volunteer fire brigade and on the other doorstep we've got the volunteer surf life savers uh and and it's it's a it's it's a community it's a community to be proud of actually um Murawai is um is is very famous and and it's not famous because of the golf club it's famous because of the community with the cafe closing sort of later sort of probably what a year later you have stepped up a bit with cafe services haven't you? Well our cafe has always been open to the to the general public but we weren't allowed to advertise um there was a there's a rule that um you're only allowed a certain amount of cafes on on uh regional park and uh so we weren't allowed to advertise but uh we've we've got a few adverts out there that uh we're we're open to the public and um uh yes we'd be more than happy to to accept anybody into the clubhouse if they want to come for a cup of coffee.

Mandy 23:31

And that's especially needed I think now because you know the San Junes Cafe has been closed.

Speaker 1 23:36

It's it's there's a lot of uh well there's a lot of political stuff going on in the council and um and I'm not sure why they actually want to own cafe. It's just it's not really what they should be doing. And uh it's very sad that that cafe is is no longer in use. And we were very close with Kathy um and when she had that cafe running she she obviously went through the same struggles we did uh with covert and then then the um the cyclone and um and it it was in the end just just too much but um we we totally understand the struggles that that she had.

Mandy 24:16

Yeah um we were we were there for her and it's such a shame because she she did so much for the community she was the sort of another one of the meeting places but also she gave away free coffees and you know really even though it was hard on her financially she she was looking after the community.

Speaker 1 24:35

A legend a legend we miss her and we miss the cafe yeah were there moments of kindness or solidarity that really stood out for you um yes um the this obviously the the the passing of the two ref fire fire firefighters um that still brings a lump to my my throat um the a lot of the a lot of the fire service are are members here and um to see them lose two of their two of their mates and and family it was so sad to see that um and that that sticks out for me and still does it still does so remember seeing the the the the funeral procession with the fire bridge fire engine um and we were also uh at the time there was nobody else allowed in the village so it was it was pretty surreal really do you think this experience has changed how you think about extreme weather now terror certainly certainly um I'm not one of those people that just want to go into the uh argument whether it's man-made or not so I'm not gonna say that but it's but certainly the the the climate is changing and um and yes I think I'm more prepared for it myself and uh I think we should be prepared for major weather events but they they do seem to come across um quite suddenly and uh what have you learned about yourself through this event I learned that I've got an extremely extremely um helpful team and um and thoughtful team and and not just the uh staff but I've learned that the members are so caring and and also the board the the board at the time just said go for it and it's helping me so I've I've learned that that um uh teamaroye is is an extremely passionate and helpful bunch of people and where is the golf cup at now has it affected you financially uh no we're we're we're okay we're we're doing pretty well um the obviously there was the two years of COVID that um that was um challenging but we we we managed that and then there was the cyclo in the air that was again challenging we just put a few projects on hold and um one of those projects is the actual um refurbishment of the clubhouse and you've probably have seen that we've we've started that now and um it's due to finish in at the end of April so uh the the club is is in in in good spirits and and and financially it's um it's it's gone well um and once we got that new deck open um it's gonna be an amazing place to come down and watch the sunset. Yeah it's just such a fantastic location it's a great building it's gorgeous yeah it's awesome it's iconic the building as well so we're not we haven't changed the shape of it it's still that sort of Swiss chalet shape uh and um the the new deck is gonna have a last balustrade on so it's still so it's gonna be absolutely lovely.

Mandy 27:48

Beautiful and we'll all be down there supporting the golf club what advice can you give to people and communities or organizations like yours who are going through a similar event just be there for each other be there for sure and and just make sure your family and your close friends are are okay and then you can spread out from there and help help other people but just be there for each other.

Speaker 1 28:13

Is there something hopeful or meaningful you'd like to leave us with um Mirawai Golf Club will always be there for the the community if there's ever if ever any event like this in the future hopefully not uh Mirawai Golf Club will always be there to to help out commissioned and funded by Middleware Community Association supported by the Open Council Recovery Office by Tyler soundtracked by local middleware and people and response to everybody off you thank you to the middle I community for their employee and for sharing their story and thank you for