JUNE 2023 ACTIVITY

 June Speaker - Terri Walsh

Our 10 Minute Speaker in June was Terri Walsh. During the 1970s, as a member of SAFE, (Save

Animals From Exploitation) Terri fought for the rights of animals, which to that point hadn't had

much of a voice.

Her first protest in New Zealand was in Queen Street and involved circus animals which were kept

caged for the time they spent in circuses. There were only a few protesters and access to the

media wasn't easy. Overseas publicity got into the papers here, more people became aware and

joined the organisation. NZ media started to turn up and report on protests, helping to spread

information about how animals were being treated. In New Zealand, while the weather was not

harsh, intensive farming had begun and  burgeoning-battery hens, and pigs were being

caged, sometimes in pens in which they couldn't turn round.

Terri got permission to go into a slaughter-house in the 1980's, a move which stopped live animal

exports for a while. After the circus protests, she had a call telling her that a "hit man" was after her. She reported it to the police but was told that nothing could be done until she had been hit. She was amused. SAFE expanded hugely and people are much more aware of animal rights. Dog racing is banned, but we still have rodeos.

SEPTEMBER 2022 ACTIVITY

September Speaker - Cherie Nelson

Cherie Nelson, who is a volunteer with the Whangarei Volunteer Coastguard and President of

the unit, was our main speaker. Their unit consists of 63 units around the country that make up Coastguard New Zealand, which is a charity that saves lives at sea and maritime and rescue service. They work closely with NZ Police and the Rescue Co-ordination Centre when the

need arises. The first coastguard unit was formed in 1898 and was manned by volunteers. This is still the case today and they now have 2000 people who are giving their time to keep people safe on the water. 70% of the funding comes from the national membership scheme for boaties and 30% comes

from a service agreement with the New Zealand Government. If you are a coastguard member and require assistance out on the water, help to get to safety will be free. If you are not a member, the help will be there at a cost of $280.00 per hour (this price might have increased by the time you get to read

this). 

Whangarei Coastguard have 22 wet crew trained volunteers as well as 5 shore crew and 8 trainees

who have joined in the last 3 months. Last year they brought 258 people home to safety. 2082 volunteer hours were water hours, training, administration and maintenance. Cherie – who works full time, is also doing training modules to become a senior crew member. This was just a little insight to the lives of many busy people who continue to give so much to New Zealand and where we would all be without them I hate to think. Thank you Cherie for all that you and others who are working with you do, to keep so many people safe and happy on the water.

Review by Shirley Royds

AUGUST 2022 ACTIVITY

 Kawakawa Railway Trip

On 16 August 2021 members and friends boarded a bus bound for Kawakawa for a trip on the Bay Of

Islands Vintage Railway. Weather was not too good but the rain held off. The train trip was longer this time as the obstructions from the first trip had all been cleared. We went as far as bridge 5 on the edge of the wooded bridge that crosses the Tirohanga. The guide on the train was very informative about the BOI railway. He explained that it was used to move the coal mined in the area out to the coast to be shipped elsewhere. The railway was started in 1864 and has continued until today with few interruptions.

During the height of the coal mining period the area boasted around 2000 people, all that remains now are one or two farm houses. The plan is to build the railway through to Opua to link up with an old steam boat, which is under reconstruction at present, to create a one stop tourist attraction by both rail and sea around the Bay of Islands. This will create more employment in the region and add to the tourist attractions in the mid north. I purchased two booklets on the railway and the surrounding area and I am willing to share these with anyone interested.

Report by Sue Lovelace

August Speaker - Steve Jennings

Our main speaker for August was introduced by Annette, his name is Steve Jennings who is in charge of operations and safety manager at the Whangarei Airport. The airport is co-owned by Ministry of Transport and the Council. Ministry of Transport are responsible for the air side of the airport which means the runways and surrounds, while the Council is responsible for the land side which is the maintenance of the buildings etc. Because Air New Zealand have put on an extra flight and have had over 700 landings in the last three months the airport now requires a Rescue Fire Service. Apart from getting funding from Ministry of Transport and Council all the planes that use the airport have to pay a landing fee and although the fees are not high – it’s a case of every little helps. Also anyone who uses any of the buildings surrounding the airport have to pay rent or a lease. The car park is another source of income – the first hour is free, after that is is $1.00 per hour but the price is capped at $10.00 for 24 hours and if a car is there for more than a week the price will be no more than $200.00. There are 5 full time workers and one part time as well as Mike (Manager) and Steve.

Covid caused a lot of changes to be made quickly and they only had notice 6 to 12 hours before the general public was told so things like security, masks, signs and sanitiser were some of the things that had to be done very quickly. The question was asked “Is NEST going to come to the airport”. Steve’s answer was “more than likely” and the reason given was because the airport is certified and signed off so the cost of going anywhere else would be much greater. So far $1,000,000.00 has been spent and there is still a new building and modifying two other buildings still have to be done. The new building (at this stage) is to be built around the Church Street area (close to Hill Street) and the plan is to put up noise walls as a barrier for houses and at this stage it is not expected that helicopter training will not be at the airport. If you plan to be flying anywhere in the future, allow plenty of time because the cut off is half an hour before departure, this decision is made in Auckland so the local attendants are not able to help those who arrive late. Thank you Steve for your most informative talk. We wish you all the best for the future.

Review by Shirley Royds

FEBRUARY 2022 ACTIVITY

 The Geriatrics

Our first meeting of the year was pumping with music. It was so lovely to see everyone enjoying the Geriatric band and club members singing along.

Ten-Minute Speaker (Sandy Livingstone)

Sandy told us of his early years during the war and being bought up in a small fishing village. During the 1950s times were pretty tough and a lot of people were only working three days a week, so at a young age he ran away to work on a boat. He was told that the boat may not be returning for two years and asked if he would like to go back home but with no money, this was not an option so he sailed off to Canada, where he saw lots of ice but no polar bears.

Being on ships gave Sandy the opportunity to see a lot of places and at one stage he was told that he should go to New Zealand, the reason being that the lifestyle could suit him. When Sandy arrived he found that – pubs closed at 6pm and in his words – everyone was sober by 7pm. Shops were shut at the weekends. However, he also had the good fortune to meet his future wife – Joan.

I am sure there would be a lot more to Sandy’s talk, but with only 10 minutes we were able to hear sometime of his early years. Thank you Sandy for talking to us this morning.

SEPTEMBER 2021 ACTIVITY

A Trip Down Memory Lane

(in lieu of a main speaker)

Brian and Anne Hewitt: The first image is of Anne's box collection, and the second is Brian's camera collection.

The next image is of the tea set used at the marriage of Fiona Smith's grandparents, Thomas Berry and Alice Foxcroft, on 4th March 1910.

Next is an image of Kathy Terry and her sister's Norwegian dolls.

Here you can see a child's 'grain' sewing machine made in England (circa 1949) from Eileen Soper, along with her grandmother's vase.

An interesting one from David Hodgson, his mother's crystal perfume and powder receptacles that are labelled as 'Lalique' (David is doubtful). Aladdin also belonged to his grandmother.

And from Margaret Westgate, Hummel and Capodimonte figurines and a Royal Copenhagen vase.

And more porcelain from Denmark from Trevor Hitchcock.

This pottery collection is from Sue Lovelace.

And a personal favourite (Ed) from Mike Blong's grandmother's collection.

Ten-Minute Speaker (Trevor Hitchcock)

Trevor opened his talk saying this was a ‘Martha Stewart’ talk. Trevor met his wife Pauline while he was doing his National Service. His boss was called Windy and he ran the show. Part of Trevor's job was to take reports up to the typing pool and that is where he met his future wife. As they started their life together they came to an agreement that Trevor would look after the outside of the house and Pauline would look after the home and cook the meals. This happy and wonderful marriage lasted 58 years.

After the funeral of his wife at St Stephens church Trevor took a long walk trying to come to terms with what life would be like on his own. As the days went on and the realisation that he would now have to cook his own meals, he raced out and bought two can openers. After a while the tinned meals lost their appeal and a friend Maurice suggested that Trevor take Senior Chef classes. So Trevor arrived at his first class to find that there were old codgers like him and six women. The women in the group have coped with cooking for large groups in the farming community but now they were on their own, cooking for one was difficult. After a few classes Trevor managed beans on toast, with a few sliced tomatoes for decoration.

The other dilemma was how to look after a home on his own. Running the dishwasher was fine until the sediment on the plates went rock hard, then he resorted to hand washing. Overtime Trevor managed to operate the vacuum cleaner, do the laundry, and struggle with the fitted sheets and steam iron. On talking to a friend at the golf club about all the things he had to learn about keeping house a fellow member sitting nearby commented "How big is that guy's castle! Thanks for the reminiscences Trevor.

AUGUST 2021 ACTIVITY

Waipu Trip

We had 18 members car-pooling to Waipu for our visit to the museum. Jackie a volunteer at the museum gave us a very entertaining history of the McLeod clan and how they came to settle in and around Waipu. Jackie herself is of Nova Scotian descent and has researched her family's history in the area. Norman McLeod was born in Scotland into a Presbyterian family, later to become a minister of the church. He was too extreme for the local community so decided to emigrate with his wife and nine children to Nova Scotia Canada. This did not work out well for them so they, with their whole community moved to America. Time and conditions were hard and so another move was planned to an island off the coast .Amongst farming and fishing they became ship builders. This island became too overworked for the growing community so yet another move was planned.

This one taking them to Australia in the middle of the 1850’s. Attempts were made to integrate with the locals but with the high moral standards set by the Minister they failed to settle in either Melbourne or Adelaide. They made their way to New Zealand arriving in the south of the North Island and making their way north to the to the Waipu district. Here they settled in as farmers, timber workers and general commerce workers. Clan members settled to live in groups according to their occupations. Schools were built in Waipu and then later in Bream Bay as the families expanded. Norman McLeod by this time was an old man but still stuck to his old extreme ways, scolding his wife for having a bow on her bonnet. The museum is a testament to the clan’s search for the perfect place in which to form a community for their future. Following the presentation, members had a walk through the museum or went in search of morning tea.

Main Speaker (Kevin Salmon)

Kevin provided us with an entertaining and very useful talk about Alzheimer's. Confusion and memory loss are some of the first signs that all is not right. At present it is estimated that 70,000 people in New Zealand are suffering from this and by 2050 there is expected to be 150,000 who will require help to live at home or be in care. Kevin had another thought that with the baby boomers requiring retirement villages for their living, it could be that in years to come there could be a surplus of them. Maybe it could become a chance for first home buyers!!! It was also interesting to hear that the population of Northland in 1970 was 100,000 people and at that time there were 304 hospital beds available – how times have changed, our population is now 194,000 and we have 284 beds available. It is not surprising to hear that care is not getting better and that, being short of 100 doctors for our area, we are going to have to do our very best to look after ourselves and give a helping hand to others that we see in need. Also mentioned was having a will and Power of Attorney done. I noticed a lot of hands went up for this but to the ones who haven’t done this yet, please put it on your ‘to do’ list. There are two (2) powers of attorney – one is for your financial affairs and the other is for your care and welfare. Kevin, we thank you for your most entertaining and interesting talk to us and wish you all the best.

Ten-Minute Speaker (Jim Beniston)

Jim gave us an insight to what it entails to be a volunteer for CPNZ, which is short for Community Patrols of New Zealand. This position is being the eyes and ears for the police who they work closely with to make New Zealand a safer place for us all to live. Time is spent checking residential, business and industrial areas, also looking out for stolen cars as well as any other suspicious activities. When Jim worked in the Whangārei area the hours were from 9 pm to 2 am and in the early days, volunteers had to use their own vehicles and received a payment of $20. Nowadays a vehicle is provided and they are never sent out on their own. A lot of the time can be quite unexciting as there is nothing out there to see apart from the odd stray cat having a wander but of course there are the other times when other things are happening. I think it is our best interest to take extra care and be aware of things that are happening around us when we are out and about and it’s a big thank you to Jim and all the other people who are working to keep us all safer.

Keep up the good work.

APRIL 2021 ACTIVITY

Hobbiton

On Sunday April 18 our team of 35 met promptly at 8.30am to board our Clarks bus for our trip to Matamata so promptly that we departed ten minutes ahead of schedule. Our first comfort stop was Warkworth where coffees were consumed, then through the Auckland traffic using the bus lanes down to Mercer for lunch – (bacon butties – yum). Because Matamata could not accommodate us all we went to Podium Lodge, an Olympic themed motel in Cambridge. We all checked in and then travelled on to the farm where the Hobbiton movie was set and where the “Lord of the Rings”, and the Hobbiton Trilogies were filmed by Sir Peter Jackson.

On our tour we were joined by another group and our tour guide was a very articulate and witty young man who proceeded to outline the work which started in March 1999 to create 39 Hobbit cottages using untreated timber, plywood and polystyrene. An oak tree was bought in from Matamata and artificial leaves were bought in from Taiwan and wired onto the branches for the film “Lord of the Rings”. Also for the “The Hobbit trilogy in 2009. These were all rebuilt of permanent materials and the oak tree which stands high above the village or Shire was an artificial tree made of steel and silicon again with leaves wired on and this confused the birds who landed on the leaves when the wind blew. It still looks very real. An artificial pond which was made for the film became a home for a colony of frogs whose croaking was drowning out the actors dialogue. So the frogs were caught and relocated, only to return the following day. The first film took three months to make, the next only 12 days. At its peak there were over 500 people on site.

Our guide also told us some of the “tricks” used by the filmmakers to get the results required. Very clever and funny! The walk around the ‘Shire’ takes about one and a half hours. While the footing was reasonable, the path is quite steep in places and some of our group required buggies. This writer knew nothing about Hobbits or Gandalf and was lost listening to our guide – unlike Sue Lovelace, who was very familiar with the stories. However I marvelled at the whole set up which is so real even down to the washing on the line and firewood at the door. Many photographs were taken by both groups with most seeming to need to be photographed standing in the door way of one cottage or other. This did cause some delays, but finally we all came together for dinner in the Green Dragon dining hall.

Dinner turned out to be an absolute banquet with the tables groaning under the weight of the food prepared and when we had consumed this we were presented with dessert which was just as delicious. No one went hungry. As stated this writer was a reluctant traveller to start, but I can confess I really enjoyed the experience and was impressed by the whole organisation (ours and theirs)! One other plus for me was as a newish member of Onerahi Probus, I got to know my fellow members better. To people thinking of visiting Hobbiton, please go and see for yourself, don’t let your lack of Hobbit knowledge deter you. You will enjoy the experience. Also a big shout out to our bus driver Darryl Meehan who was so pleasant and obliging. Hopefully this is not the last time we see him.

Hobbiton report courtesy of Jim Beniston

Zealong

The guide was very good and had all the facts at her fingertips, and we did not even have to leave our bus. The statues around the grounds were all in keeping with the theme of tea growing and brewing. The high tea was amazing, the guides took some of the food to our driver as did some of our members, in fact he may have ended up with too much. The shop was well visited by our members, several of us came away with bags of goodies. All in all it was a perfect end to a really good weekend.

Zealong report courtesy of Sue Lovelace

Thank you to the Community Funding and the Lotteries Commission for making these trips possible.