News
March 2006: Korimako
In this bulletin we cover the period from roughly August 2005 to March 2006. Generally speaking things have been quite tranquil around here.
One sunny morning in mid-March, directly after breakfast, Willem and Leta were bird-watching before scooting off to their respective offices. There was quite a fascinating little bird feeding on nectar from the red-hot pokers that grow redirectly below the dining-room window in the garden of our Lynn Street home. After a good look at the bird and a consultation of the bird book we discovered that it was a female bellbird, Anthornis melanura, or "Korimako" in Maori. The female has a white dash under each eye, while the head of the male is more blue than that of the female. Although she was too busy feeding to sing, believe me bellbirds have the most beautifull and very distinctive song, sometimes described as "flute-like chimes". One hears them whenever out on a stroll in the bush or forest nearby.
Well then, what's been happening?
At the start of the last semester of 2005 Lisa was enrolling for her next batch of papers and since she had a small gap in the usual work-load, decided to also enroll for a Music paper: Musicianship Skills, simply for interest. However, there was one condition — Leta must also enroll so that mother and daughter can do this together. So after some humming and hawing and dithering, the deed was done. It turned out Lisa's programme was rather full and so Leta had to soldier on alone. The paper turned out to be very interesting. The final exam, sight-singing in front of two lecturers, was rather scary, but she survived it and the end-result was not too bad either.
We were pleased with Lisa's exam results for 2005, and she is continuing her studies in Psychology and German in 2006. She takes an active part in student life and enjoys the company of a good circle of friends.
Willem is still having a good time lecturing in the Computer Science department. The only hazard is exposure to weird germs brought to him by students from foreign countries. The poor man became very ill at the end of 2005 with a flu-like ailment that was very persistent for a while. He had the doctors a trifle worried, but luckily the anti-biotic did its job and he recovered. We still don't know exactly what it was.
He finds that the Chinese students like to demonstrate their appreciation of his teaching efforts in the form of small gifts at the end of the year. So we now have a growing collection of fans, good-luck charm type wall hangings, stress balls and the like. One student brought him some decorations to put up for the Chinese New Year.
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Leta's choir-singing is still a most enjoyable endeavour. On 1 October 2005 the City of Dunedin Choir and the Southern Sinfonia performed Mozart's Requiem and the reviewer called it a "spell-binding" performance, sending "shivers down the spine". Then on 13 December it was time again for Handel's Messiah performed to a packed Town Hall. The reviewer called this one a "truly magnificent" performance.
On a lighter note (literally) the choir joined in at the "Last Night of the Proms" concert on 18 February 2006. The Town Hall was again packed to capacity for this very popular concert. The programme ranged from the sublime (Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah) to the more light-hearted (March and Chorus, Voici la Quadrille, from Bizet's Carmen), and of course the second half included a fair amount of audience participation with "Rule Britannia", "Jerusalem", and the like, with plenty of flag–waving and red, white and blue balloons everywhere.
Let's back-track a little to the Christmas break. Willem, Leta and and Lisa travelled to Christchurch to spend the Christmas holidays with Jacques and Hester and her family at Twin Gullies. Yes, that's the same lovely spot where the two youngsters were married in 2003.
During our time there we explored Banks Peninsula and stopped to have a look at Saint Luke's Church at Little Akaloa. The church was built in 1859 and is a rather interesting mix of Anglican and Maori cultures. The outside looks like a typical Anglican church, but inside the decorative carvings abound with Maori motifs.
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Just up the road from Saint Luke's we popped in at Chorlton Hall for the most amazing Devonshire tea. The lightest scones with yummy strawberry jam and cream accompanied the tea, all served in fine chinaware. The current owners live in the hall; they showed us around their clutter of antiques, including about 30 clocks of the grandfather and shelf varieties. In it's hey-day Chorlton Hall was a community hall where dances and the like were held.
Needless to say, we had a lovely time with Jacques, Hester and the rest of the Hamiltons. The company was wonderful, the days warm and lazy, and of course our time there was over all too soon.
Now here are two anecdotes that might get you smiling:
The first concerns Willem. For six years here in our Dunedin home he has been dutifully putting his dirty clothes in the laundry basket in the laundry, even though there is a large rubbish bin right next to the laundry basket. Dangerous, you might say, but it has worked well. Until a couple of weeks ago when Leta noticed that the week is nearly over and washday looms, but the laundry basket is curiously empty. Yes, you've guessed it, Willem started absent-mindedly throwing his clothes in the rubbish!
Here follows Leta's story. One day at work, in the corridor, she noticed Michael Stedman (the chief executive of NHNZ) standing there and curiously stabbing his finger at a spot a short distance from the wall. Upon closer investigation Leta saw there was a tiny little spider hanging from its thread and it was at this thread that Michael was stabbing. So, thinking to help the poor man out of his predicament, she grabbed the spider's thread, lowered the spider to the floor and stepped on it. Michael's jaw dropped in amazement, "Why did you do that? I was trying to get him back to the wall so he can climb up again!" Said Leta, "Oops, sorry, South African reflexes!"
To end this newsletter, here are some snippets from our local newspaper, the Otago Daily Times:
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Dog in tree: This Fox-terrier must have scrambled down the cliff and walked out on the tree branch. There it sat yapping until a concerned citizen reported this to the fire service and two fire engines arrived to rescue the dog. The doggie was taken to the pound and soon claimed by grateful owners.
Dolphins: Kayakers on the Otago Harbour have a pod of about 50 dolphins for company during an early morning paddle in February. The dolphins came right up close to the city, apparently on the hunt for food. By late afternoon the dolphins had moved on out of the harbour.
Farmer's Market: Leta and Willem regularly shop at the Otago Farmer's Market, held in the parking lot next to the railway station, early each Saturday morning. We simply love the fresh bread, fruit, veggies, and meat that are available there. The pancakes and chocolates are good too, but not so good for the waist-line. The atmosphere is wonderfully friendly and like a weekly carnival complete with buskers. Friends meet and have breakfast there before moving on to the usual chores of a Saturday morning.
Shrek the Sheep: Shrek eluded musterers on Bendigo Station for about six years. Captured in a near wool blind state in 2004, Shrek was divested of his 20,5 kg fleece by former world champion blade shearer Peter Casserly while the world watched on television. Now Shrek is an icon of the South Island, going around at agricultural shows and all kinds of gatherings, fund-raising for the Cure Kids cancer charity. He was last seen at the Otago Anniversary Day fesitivities held in Mosgiel. Mmm... it looks like he is due for another trim from the champion shearer.
Twister: Early in March Dunedin suffered a brief but savage storm that pelted the area with hailstones and formed a water spout hundreds of metres high off the entrance to Otago Harbour. Apparently a water spout is like a tornado over the sea, a column of fast rotating air, which lifts sea water off the surface as it spins. The water spout moved away from the land, so it caused no damage.
Photos from the Otago Daily Times are reproduced with permission from the Editor.