whakarauika o whakaraupo issue 39 - friday december 14 ... filelyttelton - portal to canterbury’s...

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Issue 39 - Friday December 14 2007Whakarauika o Whakaraupo

A Project Lyttelton initiative in association with The Akaroa Mail

To contact the Lyttelton News team - Telephone (03) 328 9260 or email [email protected] Check out our upgraded website! www.lyttelton.net.nz

Ltd, who completed the lifting of the vessel using their 150-tonne crane together with two 100-tonne cranes.

Delivery date for the completed vessel is set for late January.It is being built for Ocean Fisheries Ltd, an associated

company of Stark Bros Ltd, and replaces a similar vessel - theFV Cressy.

mated with the aforemen-tioned it’s only appropriatethat we should have good ac-cess to it.

Not to mention the fact thatbus and bike should be one ofthe strings to any self-respect-ing urban transport portfoliobow.

That is along with light rail,bike and rail, extensive cyclepaths and bus priority lanes ofcourse, but I digress.

The point is that this is a sixmonth trial on the #35, andit’s very much a case of use itor lose it.

So if you Lyttelton cyclistswould like to retain this goodstart and possibly even extendthe service to every #28, whichreally would be a giant leap ofprogress, then get out thereand rack up a few journeys.

Joseph Burston

the car or slug it by bike overEvans Pass. (Or tougher stillthe Bridle Path!)

Now simply load up yourvelocipede on the easy-to-userack on the front of any #35,jump aboard, pay the normalfare and better still there’sspace for two so bring a friend.

Once through that tiresomeyet strategically well-placedbarrier, the Lyttelton tunnel,alight and unload the bike.

Alternatively continue onboard all the way intoLichfield Street before cyclingoff into the sunset, or to theuniversity or work or what-ever spins your wheels.

Recreational and commutercyclists of Lyttelton have beenwaiting for some time for thiskind of link through to greaterChristchurch and given thatwe are now happily amalga-

A good start….I am reasonably excited.Not as excited perhaps as if

I’d won Lotto, or as if theCouncil would implementmeasures to halt the urbansprawl that threatens to de-vour the hillsides betweenLyttelton and Diamond Har-bour.

But excited enough to putpen to paper and let you knowabout the new bus and bikescheme offered by ECAN andLeopard buses on the # 35 andrunning from Lyttelton to thecity and back every 30 min-utes.

In terms of improving traveloptions for both the avid bikerand not so disposed, this rep-resents a giant leap forwardfrom the original status quo.

Previous options were tosimply to take the bus, take

New name tosave confusion

Project Lyttelton is the new shortened name for the localcommunity group formerly known as Project Port Lytteltonor PPL.

The new name reflects more closely the nature of thegroup, making the name simpler and removing any confu-sion that the group is somehow linked or part of LPC,Lyttelton Port of Christchurch.

Lower Dublin Street was closed on December 4 as threemassive cranes and a heavy transport trailer moved the 16mfishing trawler designed and built by Stark Bros Ltd from theconstruction workshop to the slipway.

The moving of this massive object, weighing in at about 80tonnes utilised local resources and the skills of Titan Cranes

16m steel fishing trawler moved to slipway

Season’s greetingsfrom the

Lyttelton News team

Have a Safe andHappy New Year!

Making a splashfor the summer

Lyttelton pool will be openevery day over the holidaysexcept Christmas Day andNew Year’s Day .

Some great fun events havebeen organised for the chil-dren, as the inflatable will becoming to the pool Five timesthis season!

The first event is the end ofterm party – Friday 21st De-cember 2.00 – 5.00 pm.

During January the summertime crew will visit with the

inflatable on Friday 11th 18th

& 25th from 12.00 until 2.00pm. And the inflatable willreturn for the summer Streetfestival on Sunday Feb 24th .

Swim Smart swimming les-sons will start on January 7th

from 2.30 onwards.Other than the pool parties

two lanes will always be openfor adult lane swimming.

So parents, grab your togsand have fun with your fam-ily.

Going by bus to get that bikethrough to Christchurch City


2 - Lyttelton News - Friday December 14 2007

Kiwisportfun day

On Wednesday the 5th ofNovember the whole ofLyttelton West School wentdown to the Lyttelton Rec.grounds with the otherLyttelton schools for KiwiSports.

We were all split into groupsand then everyone went withtheir groups to do fun sports.

In the morning junior kidsdid these sports: parachutegames, obstacle course relays,ten pin bowling, ball relays,tug of war and dodge ball.

The seniors did these sports:touch rugby, T-ball, petanque,uni-hock and non-stop cricket.

After that we had a lunchbreak, the junior kids wentback to school and it was justsenior students left (years 6,7and 8).

After lunch the seniors didparachute games, obstacle re-lays, ten pin bowling, ball re-lays and tug of war and robthe nest.

At the end of the day theyannounced the winninggroups, points were given forfair play and achievement.

Lyttelton West had two peo-ple in the winning seniorgroup, they were Courtney andJae. The prizes were HackySacks and Frisbees.

Thank you so much to allthe staff, parent helpers and inparticular Jon Derry and histeam from Sport Canterburyfor all their hard work and or-ganisation.

It was a brilliant day, we allhad so much fun!

by Courtney Bamford

Farewellceremony

On November 29 a farewellfunction was held at LytteltonWest School for retiring Prin-cipal Philip Bull.

It was a superb tribute to aneducational career spanningover four decades, 21 years ofwhich was spent as Principalat Lyttelton West.

Approximately 90 peopleattended the function to ac-knowledge and celebratePhilip’s many achievementsand to reminisce about humor-ous moments and career high-lights.

One person would get outof their kayak and run alongthe others, Liam made it acrossand back into his kayak andChristy nearly fell in.

We then packed up the kay-aks and yachts, then we droveback to camp.

After we got out of ourwetsuits we went to play kickthe can which was actually atree stump, ouch!

Mr Barker got out the ar-chery kits and we all did somearchery.

Mr Barker then selectedsome kids to make the dinner.

Liam and I were the campcooks, apparently I am the bestmeat pattie cook, even thoughI am a vegetarian, funny that!

The day went very well andwas successful in every waywith every one returning toschool happy and tired after afun day at the beach.

by Daniel Herman

at the focus on external measures of suc-cess in contemporary society.

She hopes that people exposed to thework will feel empowered and challengedto reflect at a personal, societal and globallevel.

Angela has been working as an indi-vidual artist with funding support fromCreative Communities – Christchurch Cityand the Christchurch Community ArtsCouncil and believes this project is im-bued with a sense of authenticity, integrityand originality.

Public Art Launch – North Quad, ArtsCentre 3.00pm, Sunday 16th December,(Great Hall if wet).

Public Art Display – Cathedral Square,City Mall, Worcester Boulevard, Monday17th – 24th December.

Members of the public are invited toparticipate in the launch and exhibition ofa fresh and bold new work by artist AngelaK Maclennan.

One of three signs will be positionedeach day in the City centre during the weekleading up to Christmas, with the aim ofencouraging reflection and promoting asense of intrinsic worth during a commer-cially-intensive time of the year.

To stimulate thought on value, worth andexchange the artist says that she is promot-ing herself as a ‘real piece of estate’ andthat she will welcome tender bids as part ofa public presentation when the works arelaunched at the Arts Centre on Sunday theDecember 16 at 3.00pm.

Angela said that she is motivated to pro-duce this work because of a deep concern

local industry.If none of us buy these prod-

ucts, businesses are forced toclose or look for cheaper over-seas production options.

This comes with a cost.Less jobs here, loss of skills

and more CO2 emissions justgetting the products around.

I like to know the peoplearound me.

If you don’t socialise whereyou live, you don’t strengthenthe community around you.

When the community is vi-brant lots start to happen.

This is very evident inLyttelton today.

Creating a more self-con-tained village has benefits foreveryone.

A t Project Lytteltonwe are always onabout doing things

locally.For me it means doing

nearly all my shopping here,having most of my friendshere, doing most of my workand socialising here.

I basically concentrate allof my activities within thetownship of Lyttelton.

I want to do this for a vari-ety of reasons.

If I do things locally I canwalk or use very little petrolas my trips are quite short.

I’m saving precious oilstocks and being more envi-ronmentally friendly.

When I walk I’m also con-

Local - What’s the significance?by Wendy Everingham

On Friday the 30th of No-vember Room 5 pupils wentto Takamatua. We arrived atTakamatua at about 10:00 am.

We had a bite to eat then MrHobden taught us about thedifferent parts of the boats andhow to sail.

After that we got changedinto a wetsuit, then we loadedthe cars with the boats andgear and went down to thebeach. Some of us helped setup sailing boats while most ofthe kids went kayaking.

Sian and I went sailing,there was no wind until wegot out of the bay.

Most of the kids wentkayaking and had water wars.Sian went with Jae and theywere always capsizing.

Mr Barker did the “piano”with the kayakers.

To do the piano you had toline up the kayaks in row likepiano keys.

Lyttelton Westat Takamatua

necting with people.You get to know your envi-

ronment and locality reallywell.

When I shop here I’m help-ing to support our local busi-nesses. I’m also cutting downmy food miles.

Much of the food that I buyhere is either from the Farm-ers Market or local shops.

I try to buy things that arefrom New Zealand, so that’sbeing local but on a largerscale.

Why buy Australian toma-toes for example when the lo-cal ones are available as well?

I prefer to buy clothes andshoes that are produced here.

Again I want to support our

ers and programmes are uti-lized to their potential.

Quality teaching, studentachievement and providingstimulating educational oppor-tunities for all students willalso be a priority.

of 16 laptops and conductinga questionnaire of senior stu-dents.

Next year Andrew will befocusing on professional de-velopment for staff in the areaof ICT ensuring the comput-

Actingprincipalmoves up

The Lyttelton West Boardof Trustees is very pleased tobe able to announce that Act-ing Principal, Andrew Barker,has been appointed as perma-nent Principal for the school.

Andrew emerged from astrong group of applicants asthe best candidate for the po-sition.

During his time as ActingPrincipal this term, Andrewhas consistently impressedwith his communication skillswith students, parents andstaff; outreach into theLyttelton community; re-acti-vating of the school house sys-tem; regular sports instructionwith students; securing the pod

One of Lyttelton Community Garden’sgardeners presents…

‘Bold Investors Sought’

Retiring Principal Philip Bull


Lyttelton News - Friday December 14 2007 - 3

Summer Festivalapproaches

Planning for the next Lyttelton Summer Street Party 2008 iswell underway.

Keep Sunday February 24th free in your diary.Preparations are well advanced, the programme is almost

finalised and this year we will host a new music venue at theHoly Trinity Church in Winchester Street.

To enable our event to proceed again we have receivedfunding from the Christchurch City Council, Lyttelton Port ofChristchurch, the Empire Hotel, RDU, Metro, AndersonMcConnell Gilmore and Pub Charities.

Thank you all for supporting the Lyttelton Community sowell for this event.

Last weekend organisers held a festival fund-raiser aboardthe Steam Tug Lyttelton.

Festival organisers and supporters had a great evening to thesounds of the Sunshine Band and Woolley Fish. Everyone hadsuch a good time that we are planning to organise another justbefore the next Summer Street Party.

We all look forward to the annual festivals.To make them work we all need to contribute. So if you’d

like to help sponsor the local advertising, host a stall, be avolunteer or have some other idea we’d love to hear from you.Contact Wendy Everingham by telephone on 328 8359 or byemail at [email protected]

Shannon more aware.“It made me think more.”He now knows he has abili-

ties and that he can achieve.It “brought out the best in

me”, he says, “it’s an excep-tional thing.

“If you’ve got a reading ormaths problem the coursehelps build confidence.

“It helps find a job. It’s a lotto do, but it’s free.”

In July Shannon completedhis work with LAMP after ayear.

Since LAMP Shannon hasbeen doing a security courseunder the Salvation Employ-ment Plus scheme where he isworking on unit standards upto level 3 on security.

a NZ boxing coach – opportu-nities are opening up for himnext year to have sparing timewith professional boxers.

This builds on all the mar-tial arts training he has donesince he was seven.

Shannon has a sense thatthings are opening up for him,to be a recognised boxer isone of his dreams.

Taking that initial step tocheck out the LAMP coursewas a significant step in Shan-non’s life.

Doorways are now openingfor him. He has paved the way,making it easier for others whoknow him to embark on aLAMP course. He is a greatrole model.

and helpful and work to assist students todevelop skills for everyday life and to setand achieve realistic learning goals.

LAMP can also help students to gaintheir learner licence, National Certificateof Educational Achievement (NCEA) lit-eracy and Maths credits, National Certifi-cate of Employment Skills (NCES) and aFirst Aid Certificate.

In 2008 LAMP will also offer a freecourse based in Lyttelton.

LAMP at Lyttelton will be starting onthe 11th February .

When: Monday to Thursday from9:30 am to 12:30 pm school term time

Where: Yet to be confirmedWho can enrol: LAMP is available free

for all adults and youth who have few orno formal school or educational qualifica-tions.

A childcare subsidy is available for stu-dents with pre-schoolers.

Gettingthatacademicthingtogetherat lastLocal Lyttelton young

person ShannonMudge successfully

came through LAMP (Lit-eracy and Numeracy Pro-gramme) this year.

He achieved NCEA level 1.Shannon is “really stoked,

it is something I wouldn’t haveachieved at school.”

Shannon was finding mathsdifficult at school, he “wasn’tachieving much”, class teach-ing wasn’t working for him.

His teacher suggested thathe might like the LAMPcourse run at Linwood Col-lege, with its more individuallearning.

Shannon was not sure atfirst, but decided to give it ago.

So he visited the LAMP cen-tre, figured out what it wasabout, then started his newadventure into successfullearning.

Julie Cates from the LAMPcourse describes Shannon asa star pupil.

The style of teaching/learn-ing in LAMP draws out thepotential in students.

Shannon found the one toone teaching and focus onnumeracy and literacy whathe needed, it was a “wholenew learning atmosphere” forhim.

The classes are small andteaching is student-led. Shan-non discovered it was “reallyenjoyable”.

They went on frequent out-ings and he made friends.

The programme has made

Shannon is working hisway towards making an ap-plication to enter the PoliceForce – the lower age limit is21 so Shannon has a coupleof years to go yet.

Meanwhile Shannon is en-gaged in many things.

He helps out at theLyttelton Youth Centre, hehas gained his Code of Eth-ics to be able to help youth.

He has been helping at theLyttelton Recreation Centreover the last few weeks onTuesdays with little kids atthe gym.

He will help with the Janu-ary holiday programme.

Shannon is excited, re-cently he was approached by

LAMP has been available to adults inthe Linwood community at Linwood Col-lege since 2001.

LAMP has helped many adults and youthto gain the essential literacy and numeracyskills they need to move into further train-ing and employment and to become moreactive and informed members of their com-munities.

LAMP is more than sitting behind a deskworking on literacy and numeracy though.

LAMP is literacy and numeracy for lifeand this means getting out and seeing, andbeing part of, the community.

The many and varied recreational op-portunities LAMP offers are a much en-joyed part of the programme.

There are also plenty of opportunities togain basic computer skills as well as build-ing your self confidence as a member of afriendly and supportive group of learners.

Tutors on the programme are friendly

corporate sponsor can be an-nounced in the near future.

Currently we are planningto run a computer course, adigital photography course,parenting for teenagers and alocal choir group so we arevery keen to hear from anylocal residents regardingcourses that of interest or withthe skills to tutor.

In the future we hope toexpand the programme to awider range of communitieswithin the Banks Peninsula.

For further information weinvite you to contact Sue-EllenSandilands at the ProjectLyttelton office on 328 9243or Noeline Allan of the BanksPeninsula Community Imita-tive Project on 328 7173

Project Lyttelton andThe Banks PeninsulaCommunity Initia-

tives Project have been work-ing together to provide oppor-tunities for adult education onthe Banks Peninsula.

TEC Funding for AdultCommunity Education fromHagley College, LinwoodCollege has been approvedand it is hopeful thatHillmorton High School andCashmere High School mayalso provide for courses thatwill be available in Lyttelton,Diamond Harbour and LittleRiver in 2008.

A Lyttelton Lecture Seriesrun in conjunction with Can-terbury University is also onthe cards and it is hoped a

Banks PeninsulaContinuingEducationinitiative

LytteltonIdol

Lyttelton Idol will featureat the Summer Street Partyagain in 2008.

This year the competitionwill be sponsored by LytteltonPort of Christchurch.

The competition will beearly in the morning this time,running from 10.10 to10.50am.

Now is the time to startthinking about what you mightlike to do.

To register contact WendyEveringham [email protected] ph 328 8359.

All performers will get 2-3minutes. LPC to sponsor somegreat prizes.

Shedding light on LAMP


nity almost overwhelming.Oman did however limit the

number of warship port callsto the country, but had madeexceptions and provided ex-tra calls for New Zealand shipsand later Australian vessels tovisit the port.

As an aside, I was fortunateto be at HMAS Watson someyears later, when the Sultan ofOman was present in the Na-val Wardroom to be thankedfor his nation’s hospitality toAustralian ships.

Once again many of us tookthe opportunity to have a goodlook around this unique coun-try, certainly a land of con-trasts: alongside a modernfour-lane highway laden cam-els plodding along carrying allmanner of goods, old histori-cal buildings with a maze ofpower and telephone wiressurrounding them.

There was certainly plentyto purchase - gold, brass andclothing. When out touring,photography was not a prob-lem, but if people were to beincluded in the shot permis-sion had to be asked for first.

Some of the old forts thatwere still standing were veryinteresting, some of them be-ing well cared for. Oman wason a major trading route andmany of these forts were toprotect these trade routes.

At the time British, Austral-ian and New Zealand expatinfluence in the Omani mili-tary was very high.

Their military forces thoughsmall were well armed, effi-cient, and well trained.

The Omani naval units op-erated from near our berth andappeared to be operationallyefficient. The Omani Navyalso operated the sail trainingship Shabab Oman, formerlythe British Captain Scott. Aswe departed from Muscat wewere fortunate to see this shipunder full sail.

After our call at Muscat,Galatea and Plumleaf rejoinedus and the group continuedthe Gulf patrol.

During this time the UnitedStates Navy Carrier task groupheaded by USS America wasin close proximity to us, andwe exercised with this groupfor three days.

We were able to close towithin 500 yards of the air-craft carrier to observe flightoperations. The noise of thisoperation, its sheer size andfirepower was truly amazing.

All types of aircraft andhelicopters were operating.

Some members of our ship’scompany were transferred toUSS America and to USSMcInerny. Some crew fromthe America crossed to us forthe day also.

Leaving the US task groupwe had another four days un-til we arrived in the Pakistanseaport of Karachi.

An interesting caller at theport was the Russian researchship Iktiandr which carried adeep diving submersible, cam-eras on both sides busy.

While in Mauritius our Cap-tain, Captain CJ Carl, left usand we welcomed our newCommanding Officer Com-mander J E N Welch - thischange in command whilst ondeployment most unusual, butit was something that we hadbeen aware of when we de-parted New Zealand in No-vember.

Captain Carl was pulled(“Navalese” for rowed) ashorein the whaler by his seniorofficers. This is very much thenaval tradition for a captain toleave his ship when relinquish-ing command.

From Mauritius it was Northto the Arabian Sea, stoppingonce again at Diego Garciaenroute for stores.

We arrived a day ahead ofthe group to land an injuredcrew member for hospitaltreatment. In a gun turret ac-cident he had badly injuredhis hand.

While storing up the shipmany of us made our own pur-chases at the supermarket ofthe Naval PX Store, with DFspirits placed under lock andkey on board until arrival inAuckland. Electronics andother goods were also in goodsupply.

While in the Arabian Seaarea much of our time wasspent patrolling the Gulf ofOman area.

The shipping and air laneswere extremely busy and theOperations Room team had tobe on the ball.

Being in close proximity toOman and Muscat airport, ourembarked helicopter, alongwith Galatea, made regularvisits to uplift mail and stores,giving us our best mail serv-ice since departing Aucklandfour months earlier.

In this area the major ship-ping traffic consists of thehuge oil tankers proceedinginto the Gulf empty, loadingand returning out full. It is ofcourse for the protection ofthis trade that the US Navyprovided its task force and theFrench and our units workingin the area also.

With Iraq and Iran at warduring this time we were keptat high operational readiness.

Iranian aircraft in the vicin-ity were not an uncommon oc-currence.

On the 14th of February Can-terbury made a port call atMuscat, Oman while Galateaand Plumleaf called at Bah-rain. Our three day stop in thisbusy Moslem city was veryinteresting to all of us.

The Omani people werevery tolerant and friendly andthe hospitality of both theOmani and the expat commu-

competed successfully inmany East African Safari Ral-lies.

Many expats existed by im-porting much of their ownconsumer goods themselvesthroughout the year and couldnot rely on shopping locally.

The visit certainly gave usall a different view of life inthe Third World.

All too soon our visit to Dares Salaam was over, a visitwhich the British High Com-missioner deemed highly suc-cessful.

The short day voyage (fourhours) to Zanzibar gave us lit-tle respite from shore hospi-tality. Joining up again withour tanker Plumleaf, our smalltask group was again com-plete.

Once again gun salutes wereexchanged on arrival.

Zanzibar was very interest-ing; the old buildings and ar-chitecture seemed littlechanged over many years.

Much Arabian influencewas evident in the buildingsand layout of the foreshore andtown.

Zanzibar was once home toDr Livingstone, also a numberof minor sea battles werefought here during World War1.

The sinking of HMSPegasus by the Germancruiser Konigsberg occurrednearby in 1915.

A small island off the portwas home to a number of wargraves, these being tidied upby a work party of crew fromboth Galatea and Canterbury.

Many of us took the oppor-tunity to tour the island withlocal guides. Some of thebeaches with clear blue waterand white sparkling sand werequite stunning.

Departing Zanzibar on the10th of January, it was back toexercises and drills as for tendays we made our way toMauritius. Most of the timewe were just south of the equa-tor, ensuring we stayed clearof possible tracks of tropicalcyclones which are commonat this time of year.

Our visit to Mauritius waslow key; it was an interestingport to visit.

The showery weatherthroughout certainly did nothelp those out touring the is-land but a good run ashorewas had by many.

The local gardens with thewater lily ponds and a numberof large tortoises was also amust-see. This multi-culturalsociety was very diverse withAsian, African, French andBritish influences.

The economy was basedaround the sugar industry andappeared prosperous.

Ashore, one had to be verywary of the local “WhiteLightning” rum. It had a vi-cious and devastating effect.

HMNZS Canterburydeparted the Kenyanport of Mombasa

after a stay of over two weekswhich included both Christ-mas and New Year.

We were not sorry to be backat sea.

However the sea time wasshort as the task group, Can-terbury and HMS Galatea,headed for the Tanzanian Portof Dar es Salaam - Plumleafwould meet up with us at Zan-zibar.

This visit was to be of dip-lomatic significance.

It was the first visit by West-ern Bloc warships in over 18years. Tanzania for manyyears had been under the po-litical influence of China andthe visit early in 1983 sig-nalled a shift in the politicalalignments of the nation.

As the task group enteredthe harbour a 21 gun salutewas fired by Canterbury thisbeing returned by artillerysited on the beach.

A large crowd of local peo-ple was gathered on the beachto watch proceedings.

A round of diplomatic calls,visits, and official receptionsfollowed.

Hospitality offered to thetwo ships’ companies wasvery generous and offeredfreely.

This included many culturaldisplays of dancing and localcustoms.

Dar es Salaam was an eyeopener to many of our com-pany.

Tanzania was a very poorcountry, there was very littleto buy in the local shops, infact most were almost empty.

However there was littleevidence of malnutrition andmost of the local people wesaw looked well fed.

There was also little evi-dence of graft or corruption,in fact Tanzania offered a verydifferent comparison to herneighbour Kenya.

Much of the shipping in theport was unloading foreignaid. An American Lykes Linecargo vessel was unloadingcargo, all marked Aid fromthe United States of America.

The Tanzanian Naval Basebuilt by the Chinese was lo-cated opposite our berth.

Many of their patrol vesselswere of Chinese origin, someof them stored ashore undercover in high open sidedbuildings.

The expat community werealso very generous in theirhospitality to us.

I was lucky to meet a fam-ily of distant relatives here.

They ran the local Peugeotfranchise but could only im-port a limited number of vehi-cles, all of the same modeland colour. Bert Shanklandand his family had lived herefor many years - he had also

Boats are from left; Andiamo (Wellington), SouthernFun (Naval Point), Pretty Boy Floyd (Wellington)

In 1871 the schooner“Aspasia” 44 tons register,owned by Captain McLatchieand Captain McLellan, wonthe Lyttelton Regatta Cup.

Details of the event and theorganisation conducting theregatta are lost in the mists ofhistory.

Both yacht clubs inLyttelton that merged to formthe current Naval Point Clubwere established in 1920 forthe Canterbury Yacht & Mo-tor Boat Club and 1932 forthe Banks Peninsula CruisingClub.

Clearly there was organisedsailing before this time but therecords have been lost.

What is not lost however, isthe Canterbury Regatta Cup.

Aphasia’s trophy was pur-chased back by the Banks Pe-ninsula Cruising Club in 1995.

It was found in Nelson andhad been lying about for theprevious 132 years.

A handsome silver trophymade by Alstons & Hallam ofLondon, it is of considerablevalue.

Over Show Weekend 16-17-18 November, the cream ofthe Wellington and CanterburyKeelboat fleet again competedfor the Canterbury RegattaCup.

12 yachts from Wellingtonmade the trip south toLyttelton to compete against11 Canterbury yachts.

Racing took place onLyttelton harbour and the wa-ters of Pegasus Bay, com-mencing on the afternoon ofFriday November 6 until thefinal race early in the after-

noon of Sunday the 18th.This event was the largest

keelboat fleet assembled inLyttelton for many years.

Line honours was taken by“Pretty Boy Floyd”, a 12-me-tre Ross design from Welling-ton, with Southern Fun, aDavidson 36 owned and skip-pered by local Ian Franklinwinning on handicap.

The Canterbury Young 11mowners were looking forwardto racing with their Welling-ton opponents on home terri-tory and we saw a good battlebetween Lyttelton’s “ForeverYoung” (Dave Anderson” and“Simply Irresistible” (BrianWeenink) and the Wellingtonboats “Flying Boat” (MikeCalkoen), “Flying Circus”(Graeme Joy) and “YoungNicholson” (Kim McMorran).

The local Young 88 fleetwas also well represented.

Of particular interest wasthe entry of “Marangi”, a clas-sic 35-foot sloop that wasoriginally owned by theGough family of Christchurchfor many years since the1930’s.

Marangi is a previous win-ner of Lyttelton Regattas andis still sailing regularly inWellington.

The Naval Point ClubLyttelton acknowledges thesupport of the following com-panies with the organizationof this event - Lyttelton Portof Christchurch, Lyttelton En-gineering Ltd, Stark BrothersLtd, Franklin Boatyards, Cas-tle Hill Furniture, MontanaBakery, Duffy’s Rigging Serv-ices, Wellington.

The “Lyttelton Regatta”returns


The Canterbury Regatta Cup.

‘Canterbury’- An Indian Oceandeployment

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Every Saturday10am – 1pm

Lyttelton MainSchool, Oxford Street

www.lyttelton.net.nz

Supported by theLyttelton Harbour Business

Association

seven years, our children hadnot experienced a return fromdeployment like many othernaval families.

They finally consideredthey were a proper naval fam-ily as they took their loothome.

It is interesting to look at afew of the statistics for thisdeployment: Canterburyfuelled at sea 19 times fromPlumleaf or USN ships; car-ried out 7 light stores trans-fers and 1 heavy stores trans-fer at sea; steamed 33040miles at an average speed of14.5 knots.

As it was still the days ofrum issue, 417 gallons of rumwere issued. 25 of the ship’scompany met the captain atCaptain’s Table as defaulters;

hosting a reception for theNew Zealand Embassy - greatexcept for the fact the Ambas-sador was back in NZ.

Many in the ship were notamused.

Manila is a great run-ashoreport but not at the end of adeployment, however an en-joyable stop-over.

An interesting task for mehere was being sent ashore toretrieve one of our companywho had got himself in somestrife with the local police.

After much discussion, per-suasion, and a sum of cash(some would call it a bribe)being passed, the relievedmember of our ship’s com-pany was back safely onboard.

The lesson in this - do notget into arguments with thelocal police ashore, they arenot all as honest as we may beused to.

Leaving the delights ofManila, we passed through theSibuyan Sea to Cebu wherewe stopped only to fuel.

Many local traders did quitea bit of trade selling local sou-venirs, both for cash and forbartering for soap and otheritems of ships’ stores that mi-raculously found their wayinto the traders’ boats.

Yes, I still have the mag-nificent turtle shell that inthese more enlightened timesI would no longer purchase orbe able to bring into the coun-try.

Departing Cebu we contin-ued through the Philippine Is-lands to Port Moresby, PapuaNew Guinea.

In the harbour still visible isthe wreck of the Macdui,bombed and sunk by the Japa-nese in World War II.

After a two day call we pro-ceeded to Honiara and hometo Auckland where we berthedat the Naval Base on the 21st

of November.Arrival home from deploy-

ment is always a major event,not only for the ship’s com-pany but also for the families.

On return from a long de-ployment the ship anchors offOrakei wharf in Auckland har-bour, usually early in themorning, in sight of but some3 miles away from theDevonport Naval Base.

Customs and Agriculturethen clear the ship, but it isnot until 1400 (2pm) that theship berths at the naval baseand families are reunited withtheir loved ones.

With the ship having beenaway almost six months, muchserious shopping has beendone by the ship’s company,and many is the car that leavesthe naval base laden downwith the goodies purchasedoverseas.

As much of my service priorto Canterbury had beenaround the NZ coast for six or

For the last two days of thepatrol and the arrival atKarachi I was embarked onRFA Plumleaf. Plumleaf wasan older unit of the Royal FleetAuxiliary.

As we waited to berth atKarachi with some time stillto wait, we were able to moveamongst the vessels waitingto move to the breaking beachat Alang, including some in-teresting old ships.

The Chief Officer ofPlumleaf and I shared thehobby of ship photography sowe were both on the bridgewings taking photos as wepassed the waiting shipping.

All too soon we had to leavethe anchorage area and moveto our berth at Karachi.

Canterbury was at Karachifrom the 28th February untilthe 7th of March; our consortships in our group Galatea andPlumleaf departed on the 4th.

We farewelled them withmixed emotions; we had goton well, enjoyed the opera-tional work and the socialcompany with them. Thetanker crew had obviouslyenjoyed their operations withthe Kiwi leader of the group.

As she departed Karachi shewas still sporting the Kiwipainted on her funnel that hadbeen displayed there since shedeparted Bahrain, albeit bynow it sported bloodshot eyes.

We enjoyed the sights ofKarachi, and the shopping(brass, onyx, leather, carpetsand furniture), but entertain-ment ashore was somewhatlimited.

Never will I forget the sightof laden donkeys and skinnyhorses under great loads of allmanner of goods, of the hugeopen air laundry, of the largenumber of homeless sleepingon the streets at night, and ofthe many monuments scat-tered around this teeming city.

A visit to the militarymosque was made by anumber of us; once again lo-cal hospitality was great.

Our ship’s berth near theharbour entrance was a goodone for my ship photographyas all manner of shipping en-tered and departed the port.

Three pilgrim ships were an-chored in the middle of theharbour, possibly awaiting thenext pilgrim season.

From Karachi we sailedthrough the busy shippinglanes back to Colombo, fuel-ling in port for the first time infour months. Our first day inColombo, we had companywith our old friends USSAmerica and McInerny. FromColombo on to Singapore forall our last shopping beforewe headed south for home.

Canterbury departed on thehomeward journey from Sin-gapore on the 25th of March.

Our first port of call Ma-nila, three days here, the ship

lieve we were not equal butbetter.

HMNZ Canterbury andHMS Galatea were jointlyawarded the Wilkinson’sSword of Peace for their workon the Armilla Patrol in 1982/83.

The sword is on display inthe foyer of The Wardroom atHMNZS Philomel, Auckland.

As I was completing thisarticle, Canterbury was sunkas a dive attraction in DeepWater Cove in the Bay of Is-lands.

The last steam-poweredwarship in our navy, she hasserved New Zealand well inthe years since her commis-sioning in 1971.

Perhaps her sinking as adive attraction is a far morefitting end than being cut upby the breaker’s torch.

Farewell Canterbury F421.We were proud to serve in you.

only one person dis-rated, and38 as request men.

The canteen manager sold480,000 cigarettes, 31,000 softdrinks, 5,300 ice creams, 540films and 1500 Mars Bars(in10 days) - $53,000 spent.

The Canterburydeployments were certainlysuccessful, operating in anarea that until that time ournavy had not deployed to sinceWWII.

Also this Canterbury de-ployment was as Task GroupCommander, the only one ofthe four deployments to besuch.

To those of us in the ship’scompany, it was as well as theoperational challenges, an op-portunity to see parts of theworld and experience the cul-


Part 2by Bryan Shankland

tures of countries totally for-eign to us.

I believe the deploymentsof Canterbury and HMNZSWaikato to the Armilla Patrol(Indian Ocean) as support tothe Royal Navy gave theRNZN an opportunity to workclosely with and alongside ourRoyal Naval counterparts.

The culture and traditionsof our navy have always beenbased upon those of the RoyalNavy, with of course our NewZealand way of doing thingsand our Maori culture givingus our own unique traditionsand naval culture.

Until these deployments wemay not have felt ourselvesquite as good as the RN, butthese deployments proved thatdespite in some cases olderand not quite such good equip-ment, we were the equal ofour RN counterparts.

Certainly, man for man I be-

more in depth information and coverage through sponsoredshows.

Volcano Radio will become an integral part of this commu-nity. The skills, ideas and support from this community willcreate a uniquely Lyttelton and Harbour sound. Live to air willbe an important part of Volcano Radio.

Successful community radio requires support in a variety ofways. Contact Carmel Courtney [email protected] 1166 796 to see how you can become involved.

Planning is well underway for Volcano Radio’s going to airon Waitangi Day and its official launch at the Summer Streetparty 24 February. In the meantime broadcasts on 88.5FMoccur intermittently as testing and preparations continue.

Pictured are some of the people keen to get in behind thisventure into true community radio, getting familiar with whatis involved. A major feature of Volcano Radio – there will beno ads – is in response to strong feedback from a survey.Rather than unwelcome blasts to listeners’ ears there will be

originally called CavendishBay after him, but renamedErskine Bay after a popularLyttelton sea captain who wascommanding officer ofHavannah.

In 1912 it became HarmansRoad after 24 year old civilengineer/surveyor R.J.SHarman, who arrived in theSir George Seymour in 1851.

Harman was elected to theCouncil of the Society of LandPurchasers and set up a landagency.

He was also emigrationagent and later elected ontothe Provincial Council. Hewas a commissioner for theextension of Sumner Roadthrough Evans Pass to providetransport access between theport and the plains.

Hawkhurst RoadNamed after Lord

Lyttelton’s County seat in Sus-sex, England, originallyknown as Salt’s Gully, afterEli Salt (brick maker andbuilder) who built the firsthouse here and had brick-fields here and in Voelas Rd.

His bricks are still found inLyttelton marked with E S.

This road is still known as‘The Gully’ by many locals. Itwas a private road was takenover by the Council in 1897.

The bottom of HawkhurstRd, prior to the building ofthe 1964 road tunnel, wasoriginally called Jackson’sTerrace.

His parish included St Au-gustine of Canterbury Churchin the village of Flimwell inSussex.

Flimwell suffered in the1200’s under the retaliationsof Henry III when he had 300of the villagers beheaded.

Foster TerraceWas named after Mr

William Thomas Foster,Mayor 1929 – 31 and a mem-ber of Lyttelton BoroughCouncil for nearly 40 years.He was deputy Mayor at thetime of his death in 1945.

He was a member of theLoyal City of NorwichOddfellows Lodge, Lytteltonsince 1885 and its Secretaryof for 40 years.

He and his wife lived at 47Jacksons Rd from their wed-ding day until they moved toReserve Terrace 26 years later.

George Seymour QuayAfter one of the First Four

Ships.

Gilmour TerraceIn honour of Dr B. H.

Gilmour, Lyttelton physician,who died in 1948.

Gladstone QuayNamed after William Ewart

Gladstone (1809-1898) theEnglish Liberal Premier of themid nineteenth century.

Godley QuayAfter John Robert Godley

the agent for the CanterburyAssociation 1850.

Harmans RdOriginally called Cavendish

Road before 1912 after Hon.Richard Cavendish MP, Can-terbury Association member.

The actual port area ofLyttelton harbour was also

Days RoadAnother private road that

became a public street in 1897,named after George Day, thecoasting Master of theschooner Flirt.

The Day family settled inSumner in 1849 where theyhad an accommodation house.

Day worked preparing theimmigration barracks for thearrival of the First Four Shipsin 1850.

Donald StreetThis small street between

Lyttelton museum and TheBritish Hotel was so namedafter Dr William Donald, Portmedical officer who arrivedin 1848.

He was a medical practi-tioner as well as ResidentMagistrate, Inspector of Im-migrants, Provincial and Bor-ough Councillor and firstChairman of the MunicipalCouncil.

He was well loved as ‘theuncrowned king of Lyttelton’(and also noted for keeping apet monkey and magpie).

Dudley RdRev. Benjamin Dudley ar-

rived on Cressy with his wifeand 4 children.

He was the first vicar ofHoly Trinity Anglican Church.

The council took over thisprivate road in 1897.

Flimwell LaneIs called Jacob’s ladder by

older residents due to its manysteps!

The council took it over in1920. The origin of Flimwellis from the early landownerRev. Benjamin WoolleyDudley, who was curate of theParish of Ticehurst in Sussex,England.

Early deeds show he ownedthe land along whereCunningham Terrace nowstands. His land included partof R.S 40 and T.S291,292,299-301.

Cunningham is believed tohave built No 2 CunninghamTerrace for his residencec1874.

He lived in Lyttelton andbecame a grain exporterin1871 when, at the age of 30,he was said to have been thelargest grain exporter. Thatwas the same year he boughtPeacock’s wharf.

During his four years livinghere he was energetically in-volved in much work aroundthe port and borough ofLyttelton and his business wassaid to be worth £300,000.

He was a founder memberon the Harbour Board, itschairman from 1883 until hisdeath in 1896, by which timehe had moved to Merivale.

Cyrus Williams QuayNamed after J.R. Cyrus

Williams, the highly respectedengineer and secretary for theHarbour Board. Appointed asengineer in 1902 and respon-sible for major harbour im-provements.

His intricate 1924 scalemodel of the Port of Lytteltoncan be seen in Lyttelton Mu-seum.

Dalleys LaneThis West Lyttelton street

was named after the Dalleyfamily who were resident here.

Originally a private road,the Council made it a publicstreet in 1897.

Most famous of this familywas William (Bill) Dalley,born here in 1901, a renownedAll Black rugby player.

Brittan TerraceWas named after W.G.

Brittan, an early landowner.

Buxtons RdCaptain Tom Buxton owner

of several sailing vessels regu-larly called at port in the earlydays. This was a private roaduntil the council took it overin 1897.

Charlotte Jane QuayNamed after one of the First

Four Ships that arrived inLyttelton in December 1850.1950 saw the re-enactment ofher arrival using a suitablytransformed Darra.

Coleridge TerraceWas originally known as

‘Cut Through Lane’ as it wasa short cut from HawkhurstRd (then lower Jacksons Rd)to Winchester and DublinStreets before a landslip sepa-rated each end. In some booksit has been referred to as ‘cutthroat lane’ due to a misprintof the early name!

Later named Coleridge Ter-race after Rev. EdwardColeridge on the managementcommittee of The CanterburyAssociation (this was origi-nally Church land).

It was also known as ‘TheCutting’ due to excavationsbehind Lyttelton Club.

At some point after 1911, alandslip steepened the path onthe terrace separating No.10and 11 from the rest of thestreet.

College Rd and LaneNamed after the land on

which it stood, that belongedto Christ’s College that had itsearly beginnings in Lyttelton.

Cornwall RdKnown by locals as ‘Jack’s

Hill’ after the many minersfrom Cornwall who lived incottages in this area while theyexcavated the rail tunnel(1862-1867).

Initially it was called LittleBrenchley Road, until it waschanged to Cornwall Road in1912.

Cressy TerraceCommemorates one of the

1st Four Ships that arrived inLyttelton, December 27 th

1850.This was originally the old

Governors Bay road built in1865 and renamed Cressy Ter-race in 1912 after the buildingof the new road.

Cunningham TerraceWas named after wealthy

landowner and grain exporterof the pioneer period, PeterCunningham.

Lyttelton’s original streetseach represented an AnglicanBishopric of the mother coun-try to demonstrate the settle-ment’s Church of Englandlinks through the CanterburyAssociation’s 9 bishops:

Norwich Quay Norwich is the beautiful

East Anglian Cathedral Cityin Norfolk

London StAfter England’s capital city

Winchester StreetWinchester has the longest

Cathedral in Europe and isHampshire’s County town

Exeter StreetExeter is Devon’s County

town and its Cathedral has thelongest stretch of unbrokengothic vaulting in the world

Ripon StreetRipon in Yorkshire is Brit-

ain’s oldest city, being granteda charter by Alfred The Greatin 886

St. David StreetSt David’s is in

Pembrokeshire, Wales it isdominated by an historic cas-tle

Oxford StreetOxford is the county town

of Oxfordshire famous for itsuniversity

Canterbury StreetCanterbury in Kent has the

ancient cathedral that is theseat of the Archbishop

Dublin StreetDublin is the capital city of

Eire, it was a bishopric in1850

Many of Lyttelton’s streetsare named to commemoratethe people who contributed toour community over the last155 years.

Bridle Pathwas the original route over

the Port Hills that the earlysettlers took to reachChristchurch with the aid ofhorse or donkey.

Brenchley RdOriginally known as Goose-

berry Hill, Brenchley farmwas built here. The nameBrenchley came from the fam-ily estate of A.J. Alport’s wife.

Alport was an early mer-chant, clerk to Captain Tho-mas and responsible for hisaccounts in 1849, he arrangedthe only shipping link toSumner between 1850 – 51.

He was the first Master ofthe Lodge of Unanimity,Lyttelton.

Lyttelton roadnames andthe historiesbehind them

by Liza Rossie

More namesnext issue...



Volcano gets its voice

The Cut! website describesthe film…

“…stars “Elliot”; 16, whohas the common adolescentbelief that he is in a constantstate of separation from theworld. But when he sets outon a normal day, he finds theline between belief and illnessis becoming blurred.”

It further describes thefilm…”an incredibly profoundportrayal of a boy’s psycho-logical journey and sense ofalienation… superb directionwhich demonstrates a sophis-ticated understanding of cin-ematic language. The use ofsymbol is inspired. The arrest-ing powerful final imageleaves the audience reeling.The use of sound throughoutis fabulous.”

Margaret Jefferies

Well-insulated homes maydeliver a higher rental, whichis more than offset to the ten-ant by lower power bills andmore comfortable living. Nowis the time to start planning awarmer home for winter.

Register your interestthrough the Project Lytteltonoffice either by email,[email protected] or byphoning the Project Lytteltonteam on 328 9243.Followingregistration in the WarmLyttelton Project, Terra Lanawill perform a free home as-sessment.

They’ll evaluate your build-ing’s existing insulation, andadvise on the need for furtherceiling and/or underfloor in-sulation. Additional installa-tion of clean heating systemsis also possible under the in-terest-free loan, and TerraLana will advise accordingly.

Look out for the LondonStreet display and Terra Lanaadvertisements in the Akaroamail. These will explain howthe project works in more de-tail. For each installation car-ried out, Terra Lana has gen-erously offered to make adonation to help ProjectLyttelton fund further commu-nity projects.

This is a real opportunityfor families to improve theirhomes, and at the same timeprovide a model for how busi-ness and communities canwork together throughout thecountry to address the urgentissue of climate change andsustainable living.

Project Lyttelton has nego-tiated a bulk deal for this com-munity to retrofit their homeswith BRANZ-appraised, eco-logically sound insulation.

Energy Matters, a ProjectLyttelton initiative, isfocussing on makingLyttelton homes and build-ings more energy efficient.

The result will be lowerpower bills, healthier livingand working spaces, and tak-ing responsibility for mitigat-ing the effects of climatechange by reducing energyconsumption.

Project Lyttelton has nego-tiated with local companyTerra Lana to make naturalwool batting available to thecommunity at an extremelyattractive price. Terra Lanacreates natural wool insula-tion from waste wool recy-cled from carpet manufacturein a process that uses 700%less energy than fibreglassbatts.

In partnership with Claudeand Associates, carbon neu-tral marketing strategistsbased in energy efficientpremises in Ferrymead,Project Lyttelton has also ne-gotiated interest-free loans forhomeowners and landlords asthey do what is good for theirfamilies and for our planet.

Astute rental property own-ers will see that as energy con-sumption rating systemscome into being in the fore-seeable future, potential ten-ants will be able to identifymore desirable properties.

In the July issue of theLyttelton News I introducedyou to Lyttelton’s RudolfSteiner School student, IsaacStrati. Since then Isaac hasbeen busy with fellow studentscreating film. They have beenwinning awards.

The first was the best dramafor The Canterbury SchoolsFilm competition.

Then there were awards na-tionally from Cut!

Cut! The National HighSchools’ Video Competitionthis year had a record numberof entries. Judges were sur-prised by the level of sophisti-cation, commenting the stand-ard was even higher this year.The film “Elliot” won theRudolph Steiner team bestdrama and Isaac best director.

worked in extremely hot, dry,climatic conditions, madeeven hotter by the kilns.

Everything was dirty anddusty.

However there was a lot ofassistance given to the visi-tors like with the loading andunloading of the kilns.

There was a tunnel kiln witha rail track going through it.

This was working 24/7.The visitors threw a party

for all their helpers near theend of their time in FuPing.

The New Zealand and Aus-tralian ceramicists weremainly wood-firers. This wasdifficult in this area. So kin-dling and green prunings wereused.

Working with all the otherartists proved to be a very con-structive time. They sharedhelpful comments and tasks.

The deadline was alwayslooming. They worked allnight the night before theopening. It was tight, but theygot it done!

At the opening there weredignitaries, fireworks, ribbons.

Unfortunately there was norepresentative of New Zealandfrom Beijing as there was nodiplomat there at the time. Itdidn’t matter. The event wasmagnificent.

While In China Cheryl hadother interesting experiences– but that is another wholestory!

In February there will be anexhibition in the Art House ofnew work from 6 of those whowere in China – 5 New Zea-landers and one American.

Cheryl Lucas will be givinga talk at the Christchurch ArtGallery as Speaker of themonth, 20 February, about theChina experience.

away to the north east) Xian,the buried army area of China.So the museums will also be atourist attraction on that tour-ist track.

Each museum is enormous,constructed of brick by alargely female constructionteam.

Each building is erected si-multaneously as artists from aparticular part of the worldcreate ceramics to go on dis-play.

The task of creating ceram-ics in a four and a half weekperiod without knowing thematerials or the language wasa challenge.

But the Chinese were sowelcoming.

The potters were put up in ahotel on the site and workedin a factory alongside localworkers who were makingtiles and other building sup-plies.

The visitors had access toancient plaster moulds and redlead glazes, ‘tang glaze’,which are found no where else.

These traditional glazes areextremely toxic - local work-ers get covered with it.

For Cheryl it was difficultwatching the lack of safetyequipment, the Chinese hadtheir own way of dealing withit – sweeping up in the dustyconditions with a branch as abroom and scattering water todampen down the dust, leav-ing slippery puddles.

At first there was no run-ning water and sink, but thiswas installed when requested.

The co-working tilers alsobenefited from this.

Cheryl enjoyed workingalongside the locals – she en-joyed the rhythm of their days,their friendliness as everyone

Local ceramicist,Cheryl Lucas, earlierthis year spent four

and a half weeks in FuPing,China as part of a six-personteam of artists from New Zea-land together with a numberfrom Australia.

They were making ceram-ics for a new Australasianmuseum in China.

Cheryl has reflected in thepast that New Zealand wasdisadvantaged by its short ce-ramic history.

In China on the other hand,the process of ceramics is wellknown by many – and for along time.

But now she realises howincredibly freeing this NewZealand situation is.

Cheryl discovered that thelong Chinese history is a noosearound the neck for thosestruggling to develop contem-porary Chinese ceramics.

So this project in FuPing ofconstructing 9 -11 museumsfor contemporary ceramics ofartists from around the worldis helping break through thetraditions to let something newevolve.

So far there are French,Scandinavian and now Aus-tralasian and US museums.

FuPing is near (1 1/2 hours

Special guest Chinavisit by clay worker

by Margaret Jefferies

Film award for student Keeping Lytteltonand its people warm



14302

Natural Wool Insulation

NaturalWool BattingTerra Lana is supporting Project Lyttelton inkeeping Lytteltonians draught-free and warmnext winter through the Warm Lyttelton project:

• Free home assessment• Interest-free loan over 3 years• Warm Lyttelton unique project price• Ecologically sound, BRANZ appraised• Ceiling and underfloor insulation• Clean heat options also available

Offer expires end of February 2008.For each installation, Terra Lana will make a contributionto Project Lyttelton, to help fund further community projects.

Phone the Project Lyttelton team on 328 9243 andmake sure your family stays warm this winter.

Lyttelton Main School student reports

transported to a municipaldump.

Composting is also a gen-tle reminder of how much per-fectly good food we throw outin the western world. As youscrape the remainder of lastnight’s dinner into the com-post the disembodied voiceof your mother floats aboveyou saying, “wicked, wickedwaste.” Although that mightjust be me.

Unlike most journalists I’mnot going to pretend that mynew-found respect for garden-ing makes me an expert in thefield. Nor will I pass off agreat deal of knowledge aboutcomposting, gleaned with theaid of Google, as my own.It’s a little known fact thatjournalism degrees haveshortened to about 15 min-utes since the introduction ofthe ubiquitous internet searchengine. Instead following area few tips gleaned from mygreen-thumbed in-laws.

Crucial compost factoids:· It’s ridiculously easy.

Chuck a bunch of biodegrad-able stuff in a bottomless con-tainer (sitting on bare earth)and watch it rot. Keep abucket – or similar - in yourkitchen to catch the raw in-gredients.

· Compost doesn’tsmell. Personally I don’t addseafood or meat remnants.

· Insects help the proc-ess. Don’t spray your com-post with Raid (like anotherfriend of mine – I know somegrade-A freaks) the bugs dogood work!

· You can add a littlepaper to your compost. If thecompost will be used on thevege garden then avoid news-print (with potentially un-pleasant dyes) although thisis fine if you don’t grow yourown food.

· Keep the compostdamp to aid decomposition.

· Manure is an effectivecatalyst for your compost.

Good Luck.

I’ve always thought garden-ing was a joke. Along withspats, Betamax and the six-o’clock swill a reminder ofthe superiority of our modernage to those humble periodsthat went before.

Grannies gardened. Sophis-ticated moderns like myself,with a separate Facebook ac-count for my ego, hardlyneeded to listen to the wis-dom of the ancients.

I wasn’t quite as scarred byprevious generations as afriend of mine, John, in hisfifties. His father spent John’sentire childhood preparinghim for the next Depression;teaching him how to trap rab-bits and live off the land inpreparation for the next glo-bal meltdown. In light of thesignificant environmental dep-redations humanity now facesthis may have been excellentadvice, just a generation toosoon.

Whatever your thoughts onintergenerational wisdom,growing your own food is apowerful political statement.It is a simple pleasure not re-quiring the interference of acentralised government bu-reaucracy.

It tastes good, too. Youwon’t eat fresher and the en-vironmental benefits of nothaving your food flown infrom the Near East, or grownin a gas-turbine-heated glasshouse or with noxious chemi-cals are hugely significant.

Who knew compost couldbe so sexy? I had my head inthe compost bin recently tak-ing photos. It’s like a tropicalrainforest in miniature. Thecrazy forms of the moulds andfungus as they make lightwork of a half eaten bananabring out the DavidAttenborough in all of us.

Even if you are as painfullypink-thumbed as I am,composting still performs avital function. Fully half ofhousehold rubbish iscompostable. That’s an awfullot of apple cores that don’tneed to be put in a truck and

The joy of compostby Sam Masters for the Lyttelton News

Kristie. We did a tour aroundLondon Street. First we wentaround my school. Second wewent down London Street. Itwas a fun. After, we had morn-ing tea. Then we got on withthe rest of our day.

The talentquest

by Morgan TrestrailIt was the talent quest night.

I was really excited.When I walked into the

Loons Club it was so brightand the stage was set out socool.

I was wearing a really awe-some sparkling dress that Iborrowed from a friend.

All the performances wheregreat and suddenly it was myturn. I was so nervous.

When I walked up on stagethere where loads of peoplestaring at me.

I couldn’t believe I was upthere.

When the music started Idanced. At the end I was sorelieved that I got the danceright.

We did not win anything.But at least I tried.

I will do better next year.

helped us practise our songs.We have had such a good

year that we can’t wait for2008. I really don’t want tomove schools the year afternext!

Rapaki Maraevisit and BookWeek atLyttelton MainSchool

by Lucy Rossie age 9Everyone from our school

went to Rapaki Marae lastweek. After the porwhiri ourgroup designed Maori patternsor you could copy some. Nextwe did rakou, I learnt how tothrow mine to my partner andcatch the one they were throw-ing to me.

The last activity was to drawthe historic church building; Iliked the bell and put it in mydrawing.

After lunch we went downto the beach, we had a fabu-lous time!

Some of us played on therocks and some of us had apaddle. It was low tide so myfriends and I built a giant snailin the sand (see photo!).

The next day we all went toschool dressed up as bookcharacters for the end of bookweek - I was HermioneGranger from Harry Potter.

At Lyttelton Main we allhave a wonderful time.

Book Weekby Hamish Rossie

age 11Lyttelton Main School has

just had Book Week. This en-couraged children to readmore often, and everyone hada fantastic time. Lets start atthe start.

The week kicked off withthe Teddy Bears picnic, olderchildren were buddies for thejuniors, everyone broughtalong a teddy bear and a teddybear story to read. Parentsbrought picnics for their chil-dren and joined them on thegrassy for story time.

We then all zoomed downto the school library to have alook at the brand new BookFair that sold exciting booksto raise money for new booksfor the library. The library hasbeen upgraded now, with fivebroadband connected, flatscreen computers linked up tothe school intranet and also apod of ten wireless laptops.

Out of the funds raised fromthe book fair, the libraryearned $570 worth of newbooks!

Every day we had buddyreading with our partners. Thejuniors were very enthusiasticand brought in some of theirfavourite books to read to theseniors. We also had a bookquiz.

The grand finale to the bookweek was our book characterparade.

Everyone came dressed upas their favourite book char-acter: even some teachers! Iwent as Robin Hood. Thevariety of characters wasamazing! From Snow White,to Pippi Longstockings, theIncredible hulk and baby hulk,to Captain Underpants, HarryPotter to Pirates the kindycame along dressed in splen-did costumes too!

We all paraded down Lon-don street and everyone en-joyed it. What a week!

rected it. Then we had ‘Kidsfor Kids’ at the Town Hall withSuzanne Prentice. Earlier inthe year we were there forKapa Haka at the CulturalFestival. Whaea Gillian

In the last few months wehave had lots of things goingon.

In November we had theschools ‘Talent Quest’ at theLoons club, Mrs Lewis di-

Great things about Lyttelton Main School thisyear by Candice Milner age 9

Last Friday we had a bookCharacter day at LytteltonMain School. It was an excit-ing day. I dressed up as theTweevils with my friend. TheTweevils are off Bratz. I wasKassie. And my friend was

The book fairby Melissa Smith age 10



Rapaki Church by Ella Bergkessel, age 7.

whakarauika o whakaraupo issue 39 - friday december 14 ... filelyttelton - portal to canterbury’s...

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