Life in New Zealand with a Stroke

by David G. Ray

Since my last contribution, the Stroke Club to which I belong, has enjoyed a games afternoon and two weeks later, a recital by a group of bell ringers. The games consisted of Indoor Bowls from which a team was picked to represent our club at the district competition between Stroke Clubs, a competition we won last year. Those of us who could not or did not play bowls enjoyed a game of Scrabble. The Bell Ringers were truly magnificent. As Edgar Alan Poe wrote, we enjoyed the "tintinnabulation of the bells." The group, which had enjoyed success in competition with similar groups in Australia, played a variety of classical and easily listening music.

In the later part of March and early April, my wife and I travelled to Invercargill to attend a family wedding and tour the South Island. The first part of the journey was to travel across Cook Strait in the interisland ferry the "Arahura" You will recall the in last month's report I recalled a sinking of a earlier ferry at the entrance to Cook Strait. The day we travelled the sea was absolutely flat calm, the only movement of the ship being forward. Three hours later the vessel docked at Picton in the Marlborough Sounds. The voyage through the Sounds is beautiful with bush covered hills on either side. There are oyster farms in the sounds besides many holiday and permanent houses dotted about the sides of the hills.

After driving off the ferry we left Picton and drove the 157 kilometres to Kaikoura. The first part of this journey is over a road surrounded with very dry fields. In fact all the upper part of the east of the South Island has been suffering from a severe about which has had an adverse effect on the flocks of sheep in the area. Driving down the eastern side of the South Island, the fields we extremely dry down as far as south of Dunedin. Returning to our trip, the road continued along the Kaikoura coast. The coast was washed by rolling waves with the colour of the sea a beautiful shades of blue and green. This coast is very popular for surfers and fishermen alike. At Kaikoura we booked into a motel for the night.

Kaikoura is a very popular area for holiday makers. Besides fishing and surfing tourists can also go whale watching, swimming with dolphins and seeing a variety of sea birds. My wife and I went whale watching many years ago. We boarded a launch and sailed a few kilometres off shore. We soon came across a group of small killer whales but the most exciting scene was that of a huge sperm whale sunning itself on the surface of the water. After a short while it raised its massive tail and disappeared under the waves. It was not a sight that you easily forget. You can get more information on www.whalewatch.co.nz .

The next morning we left Kaikoura for Christchurch, the largest city in the South Island. The drive a distance of 183 kilometres, took us along the end of the Kaikoura coast across some rolling hills and onto the flat Canterbury Plains. Again the dry countryside was evident. The fields supported many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle but many grape vines showed that wine making was becoming very popular. After visiting relations on Christchurch we travelled on to Timaru (160 kilometres away) where I was born nearly 70 years ago. Timaru is a busy coastal port situated about halfway between Picton and Invercargill. I left Timaru to work in Wellington in the New Zealand Customs Service in 1955 and except for 3 years in Belgium have lived there ever since. I suppose everyone has a soft spot for the area they were born and grew up in and I certainly have about Timaru. However we spent the night there and carried on to Invercargill.

Timaru is also a great holiday spot, especially in the summer. The beach there, called Caroline Bay, has a summer carnival with plenty of concerts and other carnival activities. In my youth my parents and I used to fish off the rock wharf known as the Marine Parade. That was 50 years ago and the harbour and beach area has changed considerably. We spent the night there and carried on to Dunedin and Invercargill the next day.

Next month I will cover the drive to Invercargill and the wedding of my niece.

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