SPRING

Life in New Zealand with a Stroke

by David G. Ray

Yes it is spring here, the daffodils are blooming, the pear and apple trees are showing their promise for late summer and the grass is growing - too fast in our opinion. However members of the Lower Hutt Stroke Club have enjoyed two great sessions this month - one of games and the other listening to a group singing excerpts from opera, light opera and old songs.

The first session gave members the opportunity to have fun with each other, exercise their muscles with games of indoor bowls or their brains with games of scrabble. These type of events give stroke survivors the chance to interact with one another in a less formal way besides exercising their muscles in a more enjoyable manner.

Last week was our club's birthday and we were again entertained by the de Latour singers. We enjoyed them last year and we are certain to invite them back next year. All the singers are retired from the workforce but entertain groups such as our Stroke Club with songs that are more appropriate to our elder group.

This week also saw the beginning of Round Robin 2 races to decide which yacht will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup. The cup was originally won in England in the year 1878 and has been regularly contested for between nations since that time. Mostly the cup has been held by the USA but Australia won it in 1983 only for the USA to win it back three years later. After trying for many years the cup was won by Team New Zealand in 1995 who defeated the challenge of the Italian yacht in 2000. As I prepare this report a series of races off Auckland Harbour has begun to find out which yacht will challenge Team New Zealand in February 2003.

Nine syndicates are competing for the Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner of this cup will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup. As I complete this newsletter one series of races in the Louis Vuitton Cup have been held with teams from Switzerland and the USA leading. Each team is racing against each other over two series of races with one team out of the nine being eliminated at the end of the two rounds. This will be followed by another series of races to decide the ultimate winner of the Cup and which yacht will challenge Team New Zealand for the America's Cup.

The races are being televised live each day and my wife and I have found them to be most exciting. We will continue to watch them until the complete series finishes in February next year.

Finally we hope and pray that the Washington Sniper has been captured and that all in eastern USA can breathe easier. It must have been a worrying time.

Read 2002 columns by David

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