History
Giant eagles not just the stuff of legends
Reprinted from the University of Canterbury’s “Chronicle” – 18/02/05 Gigantic eagles swooping from the skies to rescue Frodo and Sam in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy may not be just the stuff of legends and fairytales, according to research published this week in the journal PloS Biology. Dr Richard Holdaway with a moa…
New Zealand church youth education 1925-50
Dorothy – 30/07/04 Church going and Sunday observances between 1925 and 1950 continued unchanged for many families in many churches.In Otago and Southland many churches retained the earlier strict ideas and young people’s church activities filled Sunday mornings and afternoons. In some parishes Sunday School was held during the morning church services leaving the afternoon…
Loathe thy neighbour
Reprinted from Canterbury, the magazine for alumni and friends of the University of Canterbury – Volume 1, no. 1 – Winter 2004 Diana Moir – 23/07/04 “Ever since New Zealand declined to join the Australian Federation in 1901, Australia and New Zealand’s national stories have ignored each other,” Dr Philippa Mein Smith says. “Yet that…
New Zealand church going pre-1925
Dorothy – 02/07/04 Church going was an accepted part of the week for many families in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Whole families would attend weekly services, often walking quite long distances to church – dressed formally in their best clothes. Children were expected to sit beside their parents through a service which…
Brunner Suspension Bridge
Sandy Robertson and Neville Bennett – 28/05/04 The weather forecast is of prime importance when you live on the West Coast. Neville and I listen avidly to the five day forecast before making our plans to visit at the weekend. The weekend of the reopening of the Brunner Suspension Bridge was no exception. But the…
Fred Preece of 28 Maori Battalion
Gabrielle Huria – 14/05/04 A look at the life of Fred Preece, a surviving member of 28 Maori Battalion Gabrielle Huria Reprinted with permission from the Ngai Tahu magazine, “te Karaka” Fred Preece Click here to view a larger version These days the CNN embedded reporters bring war to the comfort of our living room….
Wellington’s Karori Wildlife Sanctuary
Dorothy – 07/05/04 Right in the heart of Wellington the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary sited in a former reservoir catchment offers city dwellers and visitors the chance to walk in New Zealand native bush that still covers much of the Wellington hillsides. More than that because of its predator-proof fence walkers may see any of a…
Spectre of the Brocken on Mt Robert
Peter Hunt- 13/2/04 The name Spectre of the Brocken conjures up mysterious images seen on mountains in Germany. In 1780 the name was given to the phenomenon seen on Mt Brocken when an enormously magnified shadow of the person watching was cast on a bank of cloud. It can happen when the sun is…
Dinosaur Exhibition success
Report from Otago Museum – 27/11/03 The biggest dinosaur exhibition ever seen in the southern hemisphere has outstripped all previous Otago Museum visitor numbers by attracting more than 50,000 people, making Chinese Dinosaurs a success of Tyrannosaurus proportions! On closing, 50,196 visitors had viewed the exhibition of real dinosaur skeletons from the Beijing Natural History…
Trip from Nelson to the Franz Josef Glacier in April 1920
Diary written by Amuri Hunt – Published in NZine 24/05/02 Friday April 23rd 1920 Left Nelson in the Dodge about 8.45 am. Father, Iva, Ethel, Norman & I. Left Highfield at 1 pm on the Glacier trip. Father, Alton, Tommie, Iva, Uncle George, Nurse Bielby, Norman Jack and I stopped at Murchison at the Commercial….