22nd New Zealand Veterans' Golf Croquet Championship

was held last week at the Manawatu Association in Fielding. The lawns were completely different to the lawns we who play in Hawkes Bay are used to because they were exceptionally dry and very very fast. This stood us in good stead for the next tournament in Wanganui where the lawns were equally fast.

I played pretty indifferent Croquet and managed to come somewhere in the middle in the doubles and singles events.

However the company was excellent and overall the tournament was a success and some very good acquaintanceships were formed. Which was good because some of the people also followed on to Wanganui and the socialising was excellent.

The following photos are a sequence of a jump shot by one of the top players, Bill Heavy. On this occasion it failed because the lawn was so good for jumping that the ball hit the top bar of the hoop. On my fist jump of the day I actually jumped over the top of the hoop. He is playing the blue ball.

A Few Days in Feilding: Interesting people, Scrabble and Saint Petersburg

I'm home.

One of the Good Things about going away to tournaments is that you meet some lovely people. Sometimes you also see new places although on the whole all I saw was one new croquet club (Feilding), a new (rather old) motel room and a bit of Feilding by night which is rather less than inspiring, presumably, than Feilding by day which, to be frank, does not strike one as the tiniest bit inspiring.

I did, however, have a wonderful time.

I arrived in Feilding early on Tuesday evening. A married couple from our own Club were already there. They very kindly took me under their wing. The evening started with a little relaxation and a Thai carry-out that was both delicious and contained more food than I suspect the average Somalian family has in a week. It was then announced that Tuesday was their Scrabble night. Now there are certain things in life I have never liked and managed to avoid with great success. Scrabble is one of those things. Board games is another.

However I decided that, in delightful company, even a game of Scrabble was better than reading even a good book in an indifferent motel room with nowhere even to go for a decent walk. I had a great time. I came third, of course, but next time.....

I seem to have arrived at a stage in life when not only am I doing new things but have discovered that it is a good idea to go back and have another try of some of the things one has previously tried and discarded.

The next night we went out for a meal and then played Saint Petersburg: a board game in which you acquire workers for income, build buildings for fame, and attract aristocrats to your city in order to gain the most fame at the end of the game. Ignorance is bliss. I chose the correct strategy and won. The next night we played again. I chose the incorrect strategy and lost. But next time......

Good Heavens! The next thing I will be attempting cryptic crosswords. Bye the way what is "Beef or game" in 6?"

Off to Feilding and Wanganui

I'm off in half an hour to Feilding (yes it is Feilding. Driving through the place people often wonder where the C is. No not the sea (Feilding is quite a way from that) but the C being the one that ei is supposed to follow.

Feilding is named after Col William Henry Adelbert Feilding who was a director of a group called the Emigrants and Colonists Aid Association. The aim of the Association was to reduce unemployment in England by creating new settlements in the colonies. The Colonel travelled to the 'New World' to buy land for these settlements. He ended up in Manawatu where he bought 100,000 acres of land from the Government for £75,000. The area became known as The Manchester Block and 2000 settlers were provided with free passage over 5 years. The first 23 arrived on 22 January 1874 and were the founding citizens of Feilding.

I'm going there to play in the New Zealand Veterans Croquet Championships.

Then I'm off to Wanganui to play in their Annual Tournament.

Until I return I suspect that this will be my last posting.

Bye bye for now.

Full Moon - Almost

Tomorrow is the Full Moon. Last night Wendy and I sat on the deck in the late (and early) hours chatting about Jung, Neitze, Voltaire and eugenics and the sort of thing one just chats about at that time of night. We also thought about the moon that was providing the light which enabled us to locate our wine glasses on the table. So I thought I would share it with you in case you can't see it tonight.

A Fence is a Fence for A' That

I was looking out from the Cottage the other day and across on a hillside opposite I became aware that there was something odd about the fence in this picture. Curious.

The Cottage: A Different Perspective

I have lived here for over three months and had not, until a few days ago, been into the paddock in front of the house or over to look at the orchard. Everything looks quite different from down there. Oddly the apple trees look much smaller than they do when viewed from the house.

The Flag of New Zealand

The New Zealand Flag as it is today was brought into being on 12 June 1902 and is the symbol of the realm government and people of New Zealand. Its royal blue background is reminiscent of the blue sea and clear sky surrounding us. The stars of the Southern Cross emphasise this country's location in the South Pacific Ocean. The Union Flag gives recognition to the Country's historical foundations and the fact that New Zealand was once a British colony and dominion.

The need for a flag of New Zealand first became clear when a New Zealand built and owned trading ship Sir George Murray was seized by Customs officials in the port of Sydney. The ship had been sailing without a flag which was a violation of British navigation laws. New Zealand-built ships could not fly under a British flag because of New Zealand's colonial status. Among the passengers on the ship were two high-ranking Māori chiefs. The ship's detainment was reported as arousing indignation among the Māori population. Unless a flag was selected, ships would continue to be seized.

The first flag of New Zealand was adopted on 9 March 1834 by a vote made by the United Tribes of New Zealand, a meeting of Māori chiefs, who later made the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, at Waitangi in 1835. Three flags were proposed, all purportedly designed by the missionary Henry Williams, who was to play a major role in the translation of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. The Chiefs rejected two other proposals which included the Union Flag, in favour of a modified St George's Cross or the White Ensign. This flag became known as the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand. The need for a flag was pressing, not only because New Zealand-built ships were being impounded in Sydney for not flying a national flag, but also as a symbol of the independence declared by the Māori chiefs.

The flag is still flown on the flag pole at Waitangi, and can be seen on Waitangi Day.

After the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the British Union Flag was used, although the former United Tribes flag was still used by a number of ships from New Zealand and in many cases on land. The New Zealand Company settlement at Wellington, for example, continued to use the United Tribes flag until ordered to replace it by Governor William Hobson in 1841.

The first flag of New Zealand to be based on the British blue ensign was introduced in 1867 following the Colonial Navy Defence Act 1865, which required all ships owned by colonial governments fly the defaced Royal Navy blue ensign with a Colonial badge. New Zealand did not have a Colonial badge, nor indeed a Coat of Arms of its own at this stage, and so the letters "NZ" were simply added to the blue ensign.

The current flag was introduced in 1869. It was initially used only on government ships, but was adopted as the de facto national flag in a surge of patriotism arising from the Second Boer War in 1902.

There is some debate today as to whether New Zealand should have a new flag. A subject to which I will, doubtless, return.

A Morning on the Beach

Last Sunday morning David, Fraser, Catriona and I went to Napier. We went to the Sunday Market and had an ice cream (Mr Whippy type! Hooray!). Then we walked along the black volcanic beach. Fraser, as always, managed to be upside down at some point. Then the young members of the group went on a sort of assisted big jump. I suppose that, secretly, I'd rather have like to have a try too. Needless to say Fraser managed to be 'adventurous' in his jumping and was allowed to do summersaults.

Supermarkets

In the last Posting I mentioned that I'd called in at Pak'n Save. We have three Supermarkets on the periphery of the centre of Napier. If you stand in the position where I took these photos this is the view that you get of each of them.You will note that the architectural merit of supermarkets in New Zealand is no better than that in countries everywhere that I have been.

I generally shop at Countdown because the layout suits me and the fruit and vegetables are better than Pak'n Save in my opinion. Pak'n Save has an excellent wine selection and is generally thought to be the cheapest in town and you don't have to wait at the checkouts in the way that you do at Countdown and Woolworths (although the times even there are short compared with a wait in a queue at the Coop in Stornoway). I'm not sure why I don't shop at Woolworths because, although it's the smallest of the supermarkets and the most expensive, it does have things the other shops do not stock.

A Couple of Uneventful Days

After a series of postings about what I considered to be interesting things I thought I'd go back to the more boring topic of updating you on what I'm up to. In truth I feel rather like Elizabet Taylor's seventh husband on their wedding night: I know what's expected of me but I've no idea how to make it interesting.

Yesterday (Saturday) was a day for Croquet but it started with very heavy rain sweeping across the orchard in front of the Cottage making that look very unlikely. By 0930 it was down to drizzle so I decided to go to the Club on the chance that it might not be heavy rain down there on the plain and that if there was I'd do some shopping.

On the outskirts of town where a dual carriageway starts I realised that the car coming towards me was actually on my carriageway. This was not looking like a Good Day.

When I arrived at the Club I realised that the ground was dry: the Club had had no rain. Explain that.

I played over six hours of Croquet which probably meant that I walked about 6 or 7 kilometres during the day. I had three excellent games of Golf Croquet in the morning and then in the afternoon I discovered that I had an Association doubles match - my second - which had been arranged without me knowing. It was a good match too (helped by our win by one hoop!).

I didn't reach home until after 7 pm but apart from a call at Pak n Save for some provisions I can't for the life of me recall what I did between 1620 when I left the Club and when I arrived home. That was only 24 hours ago - this is not a Good Sign.

I went to June's this morning to do a few things to her computer and have a bite of lunch before returning home to watch the A1 GP which was, today, held in Taupo. What a difference from the GP 'proper': frequent overtaking and thrills and spills galore.

Today the weather in Napier has been dreach and miserable with lots of light, drenching rain. But whilst the rain meant that I couldn't see the hills behind which I live from the road home from town, the rest of New Zealand is suffering the driest conditions for decades and there are fires everywhere. We are an Island of rain in a sea of sun. Bummer.




On the right is my Association Doubles partner, Frank. He is one of the Club's very experienced players. He and Noel, another very experienced player, decided to take on Colleen and I who are two new recruits to Association. He has just performed a wonderfully consistent shot: golfers will admire the fact that Frank's head has stayed in exactly the same place throughout the shot until just after the strike.