WIZwireless

Good Morning Masterton.

Good Morning Castlepoint. Looking lovely as always.

Kia ora everyone, just a bit of a heads up in front of the incoming cyclone that's due to hit us this weekend. We're as prepared as we can be. We've got generators fuelled and with trusted people in case there's extended disruptions to electricity supply and roading on our more isolated and vulnerable sites that we may not be able to access immediately ourselves.

We've just replaced the batteries at Flat Point, which were getting a bit tired (sneaky screenshot off the camera of Shaun working out there today related)

Our sites have battery backup and in the event of solar panels being damaged, should run for several days without intervention. If the wind and rain is as significant as predicted, there may be damage to poles, electronics and antennae so I can't guarantee seamless connectivity but in the event of a power outage at your home, if you can power your WIZwireless equipment via a generator, or battery/inverter, you should have connectivity and communication to the outside world.

Our first priority is the safety of our team, and we'll be following Civil Defence guidelines. If there is any damage or faults, we'll be attending as soon as it's safe to do so, prioritising transmission towers and triaging based on number of subscribers affected.

Batten down the hatches, stay safe, and we'll see you on the other side. I'll be updating as and when I can with any pertinent information.

Look after yourselves and each other. Kia kaha Wairarapa. Thanks for supporting local.

It never hurts to help. Wairarapa is our home and we're behind you all the way.

It's a really special feeling when people want to support the work you're doing, as they see the value in it too!

We're so grateful to Ben and his exceptionally hardworking team at WIZwireless Masterton, for coming on this journey with us. They have very kindly set us up with connectivity and security cameras in Tinui.

Please support their local business where you can, they are incredibly generous in their support of our rural communities with their network, sponsorship and expertise.

Happy Easter and thankyou to Ben and his team from The Kitchen Fairies!

www.wizbiz.co.nz

Kia ora all, and Cape Palliser in particular. Throwback to last Friday, when the ever-present, apparently invincible Shaun, and our new team member Shane visited perhaps our most inhospitable site, above Kupe's Sail. This site services Mangatoetoe Grove, and isn't an easy trek. It's steep, rocky, and unreachable by vehicle (yep, even a quad) so it's a pack in, pack out situation. The lads put in a valiant effort to punch through the flying bugs, (ants?) ongaonga and scrub to get there and make a welfare check after the southerly storm, do some maintenance, and to eat their sandwiches in one of the most beautiful places in Wairarapa. It's not an easy life, but it has its perks sometimes.

They've made sure everything is squared away, ship shape, and prepared to stand tall against the next slideshow that nature's going to throw at us. Come at us, six monthly "once in fifty year" weather events, we're ready.

We've also added a new camera at the site to https://wizwireless.cam/ for those of you who use them.

Be excellent to each other, and remember that it never hurts to help.

-Ben, Gemma, and the WIZwireless team

Kia ora WIZwireless whanau, and anyone else reading this.

It's been busy. We've got Riversdale Beach, Dalefield, Western Lake, Woodside, and Martinborough back up to full spec, and after a heroic effort from Shaun to get the ute and SXS from Riversdale, through Kaiwhata to Flat Point, (pic very much related), Flat Point is now back online, so as soon as the power comes up, everyone will be connected. Castlepoint is back up, thanks to Steevie. The whole team has been racking up kms dealing with damaged equipment, coordinating with emergency response teams, and doing what we do best - keeping Wairarapa connected.

We've still got a lot to do as electricity is restored to the region. There's going to be a plethora of blown power supplies, fried radios and what-have-you as a flow on effect of trees hitting powerlines and letting the magic smoke out of the electronics. We had to prioritise our response based on numbers of connections affected, so thank you to everyone for your patience as we worked through yet another weather bomb battering our region.

This is the third "once in fifty year" weather event we've experienced recently. It's a challenge that we're committed to meeting head-on. To everyone who's supported us as we work through this, thank you. Linespeople, roading contractors, farmers with chainsaws and tractors clearing roads, first responders, council staff, WREMO, and whoever it was that put a road cone and an electric fence reel with orange warning tape across Belvedere Road so I didn't drive into downed powerlines in the semi-dark the other morning.... Thank you.

To the WIZwireless team, you've been exemplary. Long hours, stressful situations, can't thank you enough. When it calms down a bit, there's a shout coming your way.

Thank you Wairarapa. You're amazing. It's awesome to see locals coming together to support each other. If you've got connectivity issues after your power comes back on, give us a holler. We can't fix what we don't know about. Take care of yourselves, and be excellent to each other. -Ben & Gemma

Morning all. There's a bit of damage out there. Currently we have outages across the entire Wairarapa, including but not limited to: Ponatahi, Longbush, Western Lake, Featherston, Greytown, Carterton, Ihuraua, and Mauriceville.

As I'm sure everyone knows, there's trees and lines down all across the region, loads of road closures, and thousands without power. We'll be attending sites as soon as it's safe to do so.

Look after yourselves and each other. I'll try and keep everyone updated as much as I can but we're going to be pretty busy for the next couple of days.

-Ben

Kia ora all - the South Coast is getting hammered. As of right now, we're solid but things may change. As always, we'll do our best. Hang tight, stay safe.

Update: We're back on main links. Have a great weekend all.

Hey all - Minor issue with our upstream provider. Everyone will be on reserve link for a short time as our secodary failsafes kick in.

Thanks for your patience as we work through this.

-Ben

Merry Christmas, and thank you from the WIZwireless team.

Kia ora to all of our , supporters, subscribers, neighbours and friends. We want to take a moment as we (sort of) wind up for the year to say a big thank you to everyone who's backed local in 2025. We're not just your ISP, we're your neighbours, and we're incredibly proud, grateful and humbled to be part of the Wairarapa community.

It's been a big year for WIZwireless. We've upgraded a heap of sites with more to come early next year (pic related - Homewood Station last Thursday), improved resilience across our network, and got through some extreme weather events with only a few minor battle scars.

It's always been incredibly important for us to give back to the community. Here's a few great local causes, organisations and events that we've been delighted to contribute to this year in our own small way. In no particular order:

Scarecrows Big Day Out,
Ngahuia Wild Bird Rescue,
Wairarapa United,
Mauriceville Country fair,
Gladstone Sports & Social Complex,
Carterton Junior Cricket,
Wairarapa Community Law,
Life Flight, Wairarapa RDA,
Wairarapa Cancer Society Inc,
Ngawi Sports Fishing Club,
Wairarapa A&P Society,
Multiple rural schools
Multiple community halls, from Tinui to Ruakokopatuna and Ngawi
Greater Wellington Regional Council flood warning systems
Masterton, Carterton and Greytown Mens Sheds
FENZ - Wainuioru, Tora and Tinui Rural Volunteer Fire Brigades
Wairarapa Netball
Pink Ribbon Breakfast
Whakaoriori Air Scout Group.... and many many more.

We've also planted over 1000 natives in Carterton, Masterton and Lake Wairarapa, locally sourced from Piwakawaka Plants and He Kotare Nursery.

Over the Christmas and New Year period, our dedicated team will be on call to help you with your connectivity needs. Our office hours will be limited, but as always we're just a phone call or an email away. Please don't be shy, we can't fix what we don't know about.

From all of us at WIZwireless, have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday period. Be safe, be sunsmart, back your local, and be excellent to each other.

If you've made it this far, thank you again and here's to an amazing 2026.

-Ben and the WIZwireless team