Source: New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF)
The New Zealand Army’s Sergeant Shaun Taylor jumped at the chance to return to the Cook Islands as he grows his resume of building work from the heat of the tropics to the sub-zero temperatures of Antarctica.
The Troop Sergeant is again taking part in Exercise Tropic Twilight, which this year is carrying out work on the small island of Ma’uke.
Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, this year’s exercise involves more than 30 personnel from the NZ Army’s 25 Engineer Support Squadron, 2 Engineer Regiment supported by a medical team and troops from Australia, Fiji, Tonga and Vanuatu.
The team is carrying out maintenance and improvements on the island’s solar farm, water infrastructure, school and halls during the exercise.
Sergeant Taylor, who grew up in Whakatāne but has whakapapa back to Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toarangatira, was part of the 2015 Tropic Twilight, on the island of Penrhyn in the northern Cook Islands.
“I had no idea I’d come back. When I heard that we could potentially be deploying here I was pretty keen. I’m always keen to get out and do what we do.”
Sergeant Taylor joined the NZ Army in 2011 and the following year started his carpentry apprenticeship. One of his first deployments was in a humanitarian assistance role, fixing infrastructure in the Solomon Islands. He has posted twice to Antarctica to help maintain McMurdo Station.
Besides construction work, he has taken part in Gallipoli commemorations and spent seven months with the multi-national force manning the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.
Another highlight was spending two years at the NZ Army marae, Rongomaraeroa-o-ngā-hau-e-whā, working in cultural education.
Sergeant Taylor said his role on Ma’uke was to support the commander and managing the troop.
“I’ve got a good feeling so far. I think we’ll achieve all our tasks. We’ve got some really good military tradespeople. I’ve got no doubt we’ll smash all the work out.”
The team hadn’t dealt a lot with solar installations, but they will install solar units to power the bore pumps that deliver water to the island’s 240 residents.
“Our guys are quite new to the whole solar thing. They’re just delving a bit more into it. It’s not part of the initial apprenticeship, so that’s going to be a good learning experience for them,” Sergeant Taylor said.
“I don’t think any of it’s going to be too much of a challenge. Our guys are really capable of doing the work.”
Sergeant Taylor said he was also the unofficial cultural lead for the group.
“I speak te reo Māori and that’s very similar to Cook Island Māori so I’ve been able to speak quite openly with the locals. Our reo is very similar. I’d say it’s 90 percent the same. There are just little differences here and there.
“All the locals seem really happy to have us here too. So I think that’s going to be a big part of the success here.
“We are simply here to be active in the neighbourhood of the Cook Islands and show that we value our partnership with them. This work is the way we can show that.”
