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What can I do to make a living here in Whitianga?

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September 2, 2025

Louis Theodore (Lou) Sikking – the man who changed the face of Whitianga died on 5 August. He was 88.

Lou Sikking has died aged 88. He was born in 1937 in Nederhorst den Bert, in the Netherlands, second eldest of seven children. At 18 he was conscripted into the army, and posted to the jungles of Suriname, in Dutch Guiana for two years. In 1958, having developed a taste for adventure, Lou applied to emigrate to New Zealand. It was on the voyage out that he first met Marianne, a young lady he would come to know very well. Marianne’s father worked for United Empire Boxes, and soon Lou was working there too. The couple were married and lived on the North Shore where daughter Miranda and son John-Paul were born.

Whitianga story begins

The family took holidays at Cooks Beach, and they first visited Whitianga in 1973 when Miranda cut her foot on an oyster shell and they took the ferry to the doctor on Buffalo Beach. One look and they were hooked. Lou approached real estate agent, Stan Holland with the words, “What can I do to make a living here?”

There began the story that led to many future developments in and around Whitianga’s main street.

First came Kingfisher Lodge in Lee Street, 6 motel units that soon became 13, on land that had previously been the Mulberries campground. Marianne recalls doing all the motel linen in her own laundry, “There was no alternative back then.” Soon afterwards Lou decided his guests needed more eatery options, so they developed the Kingfisher Restaurant on Albert Street, where Smitty’s Bar now stands. That property he later expanded into the Westpac Mall development. Lou also arranged bus tours for their guests. Wanting to give them the complete package, Lou and Marianne bought the Mobil gas station in Monk Street (now Gull), and Marianne often made beds, served gas and cooked for the restaurant all in one day.

After 30 years, the Lee Street motels were demolished, and with typical foresight Lou replaced it with the Twin Cinemas and a block of shops.

Very early on, Lou Sikking was invited to join the Whitianga Lions Club, which he threw himself into with his usual full-on enthusiasm. Lou earned many Lions accolades, the most prestigious of which was from the Lloyd-Morgan Trust Prize “for outstanding contribution and service to Lions.”

Every Christmas Lou could be seen pushing a wheelbarrow full of crayfish, selling tickets for the Lions raffle. He was made a Life Member in 2016. One tongue-in-cheek accolade read, “For his ability to rally Lions and his honesty and directness in the expression of his opinions and ideas.” Lou did not mince his words. Through Lions’ involvement in the Mercury Bay Museum Trust Board, Lou was appointed Treasurer and here too, he brought innovation to the displays and set the Museum finance on its feet.

Despite his full-on business schedule, Lou found time to own a yacht and sail it, and he developed a taste for ‘adventure flying’ with John Stephenson and the Mercury Bay Aero Club.

In recent years, and failing health, Lou Sikking has been content to tend his garden. He leaves his wife, his son and daughter, and four grandchildren – along with a memorial legacy of a bustling Whitianga main street.