More of my Mates

Kevin was born in Taradale, in the North Island. He spent many years teaching at St Bede's College, Christchurch, and keeps up very active connections with the College through the Old Boys network and through managing St Bede's Press, which is a commercial enterprise situated at the college. He is still a regular golfer and a great "mixer", bringing home another perspective of what is happening around us.

Frank comes from Greymouth, on the West Coast, about 3 hours drive from Christchurch. He is one of those "giants among men" that the West Coast produces. He worked for many years in the Solomon Islands, trekking through the hills, putting up buildings and raising money for the Mission. At 60 he came back to New Zealand and took up work around Christchurch. It is an honour to be able to be in community with him in his retirement. (By the way, that is snow outside the window. I expect snow once a winter in Christchurch)

Jerome is a Christchurch man who spent 17 years working in a flour mill before joining up with us. He switched to farm work and looked after the finances of a large community. He is an avid reader of the newspaper and rides to miles on his scooter. A good observer of life, he is the "wise old man" of our community.

Some of my Mates

Lawrence was born in Christchurch and grew up beside the Avon River where he got into competitive rowing. He spent about 40 years of his life on charge of boats sailing around Bourgainville and to other parts of Papua New Guinea. He is great in the garden and I have watched him turn this wilderness area into a very productive patch.

Peter grew up in Ashburton, an hour's drive from here, and joined us a few months ago. I learned that he grows orchids and he had just completed building this shade house a couple of weeks ago, when I took this photo. He helps out in a parish several days a week and with his infectious humour keeps us in touch with what is going on.

Lawrie is our real "southern man" coming from Dunedin. He even drinks Speight's Old Dark beer. He worked as a groundsman for many years at St Bede's College in Christchurch and with his work in the pro-life movement, Christchurch is his second home. He is the kind of mate who when he sees something needs doing, slips in and does it.

Fred comes from Wellington (in the North Island) and so we have a lot in common. He has spent a lot of time teaching at St Bede's and at St Pat's, Timaru. He taught the last three Catholic bishops of Christchurch and on his 90th birthday recently, one of them paid a surprise visit. When he retired from teaching, he worked for some years in the Wellington Diocesan Administration.

I will introduce you to more of my mates later.

Christchurch Churches

With a name like "Christ's Church", this city took particular care with it's church architecture. The Anglican Cathedral holds pride of place in the city square with lots of people drawn around it and into it.

The Catholic Cathedral, with classical basilica proportions, compares favourably with many of the church buildings I saw in Europe.

There are many smaller churches and chapels of traditional styles in picturesque parts of the city. I chose this one because it is just across the lawn from our place.

The 1960's saw a "cultural revolution" in the western world. This was reflected in Church architecture. Again Christchurch was not to be outdone in taste and style. I first clapped eyes on this building in 1969. Locals call it the "Ski Jump" and one suggested that I include it.

We enjoy other people's pets

Isn't he a beauty! He came right up to my knee for this photograph. This was in the park round the corner.

We live at Number 11 Armstrong Village. So now we know whose feeding the ducks. It is the people at Number 10.

These are the young cats, a couple of properties along, enjoying the afternoon sun.

Life is not all rosey

Walking between the Catholic and the Anglican Cathedral with my camera last evening, I saw a man and woman having an argument. He hit her and she fell. The people in the car to the left were phoning the police as I took this photograph. As she got up and followed him, I noticed other men tracking them, ready to move to her protection.

Life is not all rosey in Christchurch. But like Wellington and Auckland, 'members of the public' will take action. The police arrived within two minutes, the man was charged with 'common assault' and they have a copy of this photo.

The People give life to the City

One of the great joys of coming to live in Christchurch is meeting up with people who I knew only in passing during my 50 odd years in the North Island. Beatrice and Fred Bouterey, I first meet over thirty years ago. On October 26th they celebrated their 60th Wedding Anniversary. One of their family took this picture of them with the certificate of the Papal Blessing.

It is great when families get together. At a barbeque recently, a guest, John Shortall brought out a bag of lollies for a "lolly scramble". I suspect that the Kutyn children had the 'home team' advantage.

People in the North Island ask me if we get whitebait in the two (dare I say "little") rivers that meander through Christchurch. Here is a photo I took Yesterday of a "whitebaiter"; I don't think that he was catching much.

Around the corner from our place is a sports park where people like to give their dogs a run. In this photo people are also playing 'Touch Rugby', which is a popular summertime sport in New Zealand.

Touring the World

As much as Christchurch is a delightful place to live in, I still like to see the rest of the world. Using a flight simulator, I have "virtually" landed a helicopter on the front lawn of the Taj Mahal. You can do what "real" tourists can't.

Though the picture quality is not great, it is made up for by the three dimensional effect of fly around the scene.

Sound adds another dimension to flight simulation, especially when one flies up close to the Niagara Falls.

Touring this way is rather like flying into a painting. In this case, it is a picture of Rio de Janeiro in the early morning.

Lyttleton Harbour

Just over the "Port Hills" from Christchurch is Lyttleton Harbour. This is an early morning view of the upper harbour, looking south.

And here is the "Port" from which the Port Hills take their name. My great grand parents arrived here from Belfast, Northern Ireland, in January 1876. The family says: "They carried the bags of the rich people over the Port Hills." People are a little bit class-conscious in Christchurch!

This picture is taken from west to east. You can just see the Port on the left side about half way along the shore line. I do most of my kayaking on this stretch of water, these days.

Looking north, this is Corsair Bay, a lovely spot, protected from the prevailing wind. You might just be able to see a bit yellow on the shore behind the jetty; that is my kayak.

Flying off a Carrier

"It's a really short runway"

"Woops ! Down we go"

"Over compensating ! Stalling !"

"That was close"

Christchurch, "The Garden City"

This is the first snap I took with my digital camera, back last August
This is the second snap.
This was in our "courtyard" in October
Now we are in November, in a park near by.

Introducing my Christchurch

We approach Christchurch, New Zealand, (by Microsoft Flight Simulator) towards the Port Hills.
This is the view from the Port Hills back towards the City Centre.
Here is our home with the Port Hills in the background
This is my community. (Back) Brother Lawrence Cole, Brother Lawrence Hamption, Father Kevin Manning, myself. (Front) Father Frank Kennedy, Father Peter Bradley, Father Fred Crombie, Brother Jerome Kennedy. I am sure you will see more of us.