Onekawa School ANZAC display

Earlier this week I walked past a school in Napier and was impressed by their school gate signage.  This school is well known for its great displays :)
  

Another painting I found at CAN with a story :)

The other day I visited the art gallery again.  I found this paintings a man canoeing at Pandora :)   It reminded me of the times I had canoed there.  Without meaning to detract from the painting I shall tell you about them.  

Let me start by saying I have canoed else where over the years.  I enjoy it.  The first time my oldest son and I canoed at Pandora we rented the canoes from a place beside the pond. There is a bridge (not the one shown in the painting below) and when I went under it I got caught up in the swiftly flowing water and tipped out.  I learnt that it is not wise to keep money on oneself when canoeing.  I lost $20.  So canoeing that ended up quite expensive.  

Last time my oldest son and I went with my youngest son and daughter, who was on holiday from up north.  That was quite an experience too.  My daughter nor my youngest had been canoeing before however my eldest son is a Sea Scout leader (as well as a land Scout Leader) and so he is very experienced on the water.  This time we used canoes from the Sea Scouts.  We thought wed manage fine with the two novices. That was until my daughter drifted away and did go under that bridge.  Luckily some stones under it stopped her from going any further.  She too found the current too strong and couldnt row back towards us.  Dont get me wrong the pond isnt really bad current wise.  You just have to selective where you row on it.  It pays to stay with the group you are with.  We had to rescue her.  There was a lot of rowing that day.  

We also found a huge fishing net and decided to put it in my canoe to get it back to a the Sea Scout den where we thought it would be dealt with accordingly.  We didnt just want to dump it anywhere in case it got back into the pond again.  Fishing is prohibited at Pandora as there are many wildlife birds that live there.  It was very long and heavy and I had trouble getting it back to shore but didnt want to give up.  I ended up swimming a lot more than I had wanted to and pulling the canoe behind me.  In the end I ran out of puff and a man saw me going no where fast.  He was lighter than me so he jumped on top of the net in the canoe and took it to the den.  I slowly walked back once I got to shore.  I was very grateful to him.               

Kayaking on Pandoras Pond

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ANZAC Day 2015

Today is ANZAC day here in New Zealand (and in Australia).  This is our national day of remembrance.  ANZAC day was originally to remember the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps who fought at Gallipoli in World War 1.  Now it remembers all Australians and New Zealanders who have and do serve and have died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.  

As a Scout (Kea the youngest of the scouts in New Zealand) I went along to the Civic Service.  We marched into Memorial Square along with other uniformed community groups including the New Zealand Defence Force, New Zealand Cadet Forces, the police, the fire service, St Johns Ambulance services and schools.     To read more about ANZAC day read this :) 

This is the wreath that out scout group made 

representatives from our group in the middle of the photo after laying our wreath 

In the afternoon I went to see this stage show.  A friends daughter was in it.  I was impressed with the quality of the acting and the threatre group whom put it on.  It tells the story of six Napier families whose sons go off to fight in world war one.  I liked that I was able to go to the last performance on ANZAC day (I have been recovering from working (its been busy!!) the last two evenings its been on).  I especially liked the fact that in the play there was mention of local road names therefore making it that much more real.  

On the way home afterwards I took a few more photos at Memorial Square.

our wreath in amongest a sea of wreaths

Found this at the local school 

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Toadstools

On one of my daily walks this last week I found these.  With it being Autumn here now in Napier there are a lot of them about.  

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Do Not Go Where The Path May Lead . . . (Words 3)

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Art Deco Mural

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Remembrance Day

On Tuesday some of the Scout group I belong to (Im a Kea Scout Leader - Keas are the youngest scouts in New Zealand the 5 to 8 year olds) along with another scout group, The Sea Cadets and a lone Ranger Guide got together at Memorial Park.  The children along with the help of the RSA (The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services' Association) lay out and planted the White Crosses in memory of the men from Napier who fell in the First World War.  The crosses will remain here until the day after ANZAC day on the 25th.  The Scouts also join a big parade and memorable service then too.  

my youngest hes a Cub Scout

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After the crosses were in the ground there was a small service :)

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Earthquake Photos Found

This is the last post in the series I have been doing on what I found when I visited the  Council Chambers the other day.

In the top photo was part of Napier before the 1931 earthquake
In the bottom photo the same area after it

Photos of Napier city the destruction the earthquake caused

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Treasures in the Napier City Council Chambers

Im in the middle of a series on what I found when I visited the  Council Chambers the other day.  I have noted where some of these treasures came from some I have not.  

These were presented to Napier from the Cook Islands to commemorate the signing of the friendship between Rarotonga, Cook Islands and Napier City Council

This was presented to the City of Napier on the occasion of the 40th Twin City Anniversary with the City of Victoria 1973 - 2013

while not a treasure or gift I was taken by these door knobs

This statue is the Goddess of Friendship and Purity. according to the sign.  She was a gift from Victoria British Columbia in 1982.  She is life size.    

Art Deco Posters

Im in the middle of a series on what I found when I visited the  Council Chambers the other day.  You are invited to view yesterdays post to see the Time Capsule that is there.  I will be posting a few more days worth of this series over the next couple of days.

I found these and explained to one of the workers there that is much easier to photograph these here.  Than on the side of the busy main roads and expressways that lead into Napier where there are copies of them.  They are used as welcome signs to Napier.  

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Time Capsule

The other day I visited a building - the Council Chamber - I have never visited before and probably wouldnt have, had it not been for this blog.  I found it interesting and will post some more posts about it in the next few days about what I saw there.

The main reason I visited it was because Id seen an article in one of the local papers about a time capsule that is housed there.  It was sealed in 1974.  It contains forms that were written up about babies that were born in the fortnight leading up to it being sealed.  On the form where there footprints of the babies as well.  There is also a child's plastic ride on trike - they were new at the time.  There is a packet of welding rods, the town clerks suit and a dress donated by the mayoress.  Some school students contributed  family trees.  Retailers and businesses contributed many items too.  The last item to go into the capsule, under the dome, was a 16mm film which had never been viewed by the public.  It was an edited film of the lead up to, the filling up of and the official function of the closing of the capsule.  The capsule holds enough so that there will be able to be a large exhibition when it is opened in 2074.  Although it was quite ordinary items in those days it will be interesting then as its not stuff one would normally keep otherwise.

so highly polished it picked up a lot of referlctions from the rest of the room 

Blythe Memorial Fountain

This fountain has been repainted and given a bit of TLC recently.

In 1884 William Blythe founded the Clive Square Improvement Society.  He worked tirelessly for 20 years supporting the gardens development.

Although the fountain was damaged  in the 1831 earthquake it was restored.

Between 1920 and 1962 the water in the fountain was turned off.  

I think its neat that the council has cared enough to give it a bit of love :)

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