It's all work and no play being a scout leader ............

It's all work and no play being a scout leader ... er, except when you get to enjoy a coffee at the Cafe Paris. I hastern to add we were watching the scouts do a treasure hunt around Hokatika and the outside tables gave Roger and I a great vantage point to 'watch what was going on' while we enjoyed a much needed caffine fix.

The stonz-n-bonz Workshop

In the stonz-n-bonz workshop there were all the tools we needed to work the green stone. First of all we had to chose a design - we could either use a standard template or create our own. The design was then scribed onto a piece of green stone and cut on a diamond saw.



We then used a variety of drills and rotating sanders to work the stone. The stone had to be worked with running water to ensure the tools did not overheat.

Once the basic shape is completed, the stone is polished using wet and dry to get the required finish.

The final touch is to dip the green stone in oil and thread a string through the hole.

Hokatika - green stone carving - www.stonz-n-bonz.co.nz

On the Queen's birthday weekend, I helped take over a party of scouts over to Hokitika to do some green stone (jade) carving. Hokatika is a small town on the west coast of the south island of New Zealand. It was the centre of the gold rush that occurred in the late 19th century.

We did the green stone carving at Stonz 'n' Bonz (http://www.stonz-n-bonz.co.nz/)

We each picked out a design and we set about carving a piece of green stone. Steve, the owner, spent the day helping us to use the tools to work the stone into a pendent.

Steve was literally blown away by the effort and the quality of the work achieved by our scouts. It was a really enjoyable day - I thoroughly enjoyed myself!

This is a must do for any traveller who ventures to the west coast.

First Significant Snowfall of the Year

We experienced our first winter snow this weekend. A cold southerly front pushed its way across the south and north islands from the southern ocean on Saturday afternoon and dumped a good couple of inches of snow on the Canterbury Plains.







It only snowed for about an hour but it was still worth getting out the sledges. We intially went over to Cust cemetary but we later found an awesome place to sledge just to the north of Cust. A good time was enjoyed by all.

New Brighton Pier

The pier was opened on 1 November 1997, on the site of the original New Brighton Pier which had been demolished more than 30 years previously. It is the biggest ocean pier in Australasia.

The original pier was opened back in 1894 by the Governor General, Lord Glasgow, in the presence of large crowds who travelled to the beach by special trams. The pier provided the citizens of Christchurch with a recreational destination in the traditional British style - the pier had a “penny arcade” full of games and amusements and even a nightclub.

By 1965, the pier had become so run down that the council ordered that it be demolished. On the night of October 12, between 2.30am and 7am workmen, demolished the pier using a bulldozer. About 100 20 ft piles were winched out or cut off 18 inches below ground level.

A group of residents formed the Pier and Foreshore Society to try to save the pier and they continued to campaign for a new pier after its destruction. Thirty years of lobbying and fundraising in the community saw almost $2 million raised from the community which was matched by a further $2 million from the Christchurch City Council and a new pier design was finally approved in 1994.

The pier is used today for recreation and fishing. Hector dolphin can often be seen swimming in the waters immediately around the pier.

These historic photographs of New Brighton show the pier over the years.

Pier facts:
Length: 300 metres
Height: 7 metres above high tide
Width: 6 metres
Deck: 900mm thick pre-stressed concrete
Piles: 17 piles, 1.4 metres diameter, 20 metres apart

Is Madame Staying in the Chicken Palace or the Chicken Hut?

Once we had got settled into our new house we always intended to keep chickens. After buying 10 pallets of firewood for $200 I had more than enough timber to build a fine chicken residence.

My first attempt was losely based upon an A frame and is 8 foot long by 7 foot wide. It was a big structure and it was christened the 'chicken palace' during its day long construction. I was thinking that would be amply big enough to keep plenty of chickens for both eggs and meat. However, I had not reckoned on my two children, Jake & Kirsty, claiming squatters rights and moving in to immediately after it was built. It has now been reclassified as the 'childrens den' and is used for sleepovers - it can easily accommodate three youngsters on camp beds. I have since received requests to install a carpet and some shelves!

The Chicken Hut is again made from the firewood and is a much smaller affair. It will not accommodate children as the perch will get in the way (I have made sure of that!) but should be good for 6 chickens to live very comfortably.

Cow Sitting

Canterbury has had a very dry year and good pasture is currently at a premium. Our neighbours have six head of cattle and they were getting concerned about the amount of grass left on their section for the stock to eat. Their paddocks desperately need time to recover and they did not want to use the feed that they have put aside for winter.

We have not had the time to cut the grass on the other half of the section so we were very happy to put their cattle to work ..... cutting the grass and fertilising as they go. They are doing a cracking job.

Mark (our neighbour) has been 'testing ' the electric fence (without any test equipment ... he's a kiwi .... what did you expect?) and this has proved to be excellent entertainment throughout!!!

Hot Air Balloons

I was laid in bed on Sunday morning when a hot air balloon drifted by my bedroom window. It got me straight out of bed and running for the camera. It was magical seeing the balloon float past on what was a frosty morning. The balloon eventually came to rest in a farmers field about 400 metres from the house.

Tekapo B Hydro Power Station

The South Island of New Zealand has a network of lakes and canals for the storage and movement of water for the generation of hydroelectricity.

Tekapo B station (shown above) was commissioned in 1977 and is located at the end of a 26.4 kilometre-long canal which takes wayter fron Lake Tekapo. It was built on dry land and was surrounded by water after the Pukaki High Dam was built. About two-thirds of of the powerhouse foundation is now below the water level. There is a 147 metre height difference between canal and Lake Pukaki and it takes a bath full of water to pass through its turbines to generate enough power to boil a kettle.

Nominal annual generation: 800 GWh
Installed capacity: 160 MW

Mt Cook

Mt Cook has become a bit of a mecca for people seeking outdoor pursuits like ski-ing and mountaineering. There are some totally fantastic views and the coffee and cake is not bad either!

The Tasman Glacier

The Tasman glacier is close to New Zealand's biggest mountain Mt. Cook. The glacier looks more like a giant quarry than New Zealands biggest glacier. The rock rumble strewn across this hummocky landscape, called the 'surface moraine', is usually only a metre or two thick. Beneath it there is still a great dept of glacial ice - about 200 metres of it at the head of the lake rising to as much as 600 metres thick as you look into the distance some 9km away.

Like all glaciers in temperate parts of the world the Tasman glacier has been shrinking rapidly over the last century losing about 0.5% of its total volume each year. The accumulation of surface moraine is one consequence of this ice recession; so too is the down-wasting of the surface of the glacier and the formation of the rapidly enlarging terminal lake. Twenty yeears ago this new 'Lake Tasman' was little more than a scattering of sink holes. And 100 years ago you would have had to have been above where this photo was taken from to get onto the glacier surface.

All of the large natural lakes in the McKensie Basin were all created in much the same way when huge ice glaciers issuing from the Mt Cook region began retreating some 14000 years ago. Prior to that the Tasman Glacier had advanced to a maximum length of 85km with an ice surface 700 metres above the point where this photo was taken.

Tasman Glacier: Length 29km; Area 101km square; Maximum speed about 200metres a year (recorded near the head of the glacier).

England vs the Black Caps

Last night the 'Barmy Army' descended on the AMI Stadium in Christchurch to watch England vs Black caps in a 20:20 cricket match. It was a great game and the England team won by 50 runs. It cost just over NZ$100 for 3 adults and one child - about £10 per head.

The stand at the back is being redeveloped for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.

http://www.cricbuzz.com/g/NZ_ENG_FEB07-scorecard.html

NZ Post : Rural Letterbox Specification

Before you can receive or send mail in the countryside you have to get your letterbox registered with your local NZ Post shop. According to the NZ Post website rural letter boxes should:

• have a minimum size of 400mm deep x 270mm wide x 270mm high, with a flag fitted to indicate mail is awaiting collection.
• provide access by a front-opening, non-locking hinged door, facing off the road and fitted with a posting aperture large enough for medium letters to be placed inside without opening the door. The aperture should be no less than 125mm x 25mm
• have the street/road number of your property (if available) clearly printed on the box in numerals at least 25mm high

If your letterbox does not meet the above specification then your Rural Post owner/driver can refuse to deliver or collect your mail. However, most of the owner drivers are far more accommodating and will usually deliver to anything that just about resembles a letter box. They will even sell you a stamp!

I particularly like these two letter boxes that are to be found in rural Canterbury.

More details can be found here:

http://www.nzpost.co.nz/Cultures/en-NZ/Personal/ManageMailDelivery/RuralDelivery/

Are you too old to emigrate to New Zealand? Think again!

A retired dentist looks set to become New Zealand's oldest immigrant by leaving Britain to start a new life in New Zealand reports the NZ Herald.

Eric King-Turner, a sprightly 102 year old, is leaving behind his home in in the village of Titchfield, near Southampton, to start a new life in NZ with his 87-year-old wife, Doris. They plan to settle in Nelson which is at the northern end of the south island.

More details of this delightful story can be found here:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10485260

Cycling Proficiency NZ Style

Christchurch City Council encourage people to leave their cars at home and get on their bikes. However, the council puts its money where its mouth is and provides facilities so children can learn from an early age how to ride their bikes safely. The above 'cycle proficiency track' can be found just off Westburn Terrace in Burnside. There are roundabouts, level crossings and road junctions so the youngsters get their confidence before hitting the road. It is a great facility.

C-JAM : Home Comforts (Part 2) - The Dishwasher

Scouts leaders really hate being left with the washing-up so we have devised an ingenious way to get the washing up undertaken.

Yep, that's right ...... we get the scouts to do it!

C-JAM : Home Comforts (Part 1) - The Washing Machine

One of the joys of camping is taking with you as many of the home comforts as you possibly can. The Harewood and Bishopdale troop don't like roughing it, so we have taken to C-JAM our very own prototype camp washing machine to do the laundry. However, there are a few difficulties that need to be overcome ...... there is no electricity and no running water!

This is not a serious problem to the resourceful Kiwi scouts. The clothes are simply loaded into the machine and the door is closed. The soap powder is loaded into the soap drawer and the water is added from the water container. Then you need to add a willing scout ................... or kea in this case,

to turn the the bike pedal. It works like a dream but this prototype cannot spin - the next version will have a bicycle attached to provide the required gearing.

C-JAM : New Zealand Scouts Jamboree

The New Zealand Scouts have been holding their three yearly jamboree at the Canterbury Showground. 4,500 scouts from New Zealand and further a field have descended upon Christchurch and are having a great time. The activities have been very varied and have included caving, walking, climbing, sailing, canoeing and team games.

Bishopdale and Harewood Scouts are representing the Waimakariri which is part of the Torlesse zone.



The jamboree has a real international flavour with scouts from Australia, Hong Kong, Korea and the UK.

Bishopdale & Harewood scouts have been playing host to a number of girls from the Midlands in the UK. They have been having a great time and have taken in many of the sights of the south island during their stay. Will they want to go home? It is very doubtful!

http://www.scouts.org.nz/sanz/news.php?cat.13