Bay of Plenty Sun Club Newsletter February 2010

From the Editor

Looks like the days are starting to get shorter again. Not looking forward to winter. I feel like I haven’t really had a chance to enjoy summer yet and it is nearly over. One thing I am looking forward to is having Ralph and Sally back to act as caretakers for March and April as they start their annual migration north.

Coming events

Every Friday night Friday night BBQ and get-together following happy hour. BYO food and drinks.

March 20 Pot Luck Dinner - “T” party theme.

March 21 Committee meeting - 10:30am

March 28 Car boot and trailer sale - 9:00am - noon. Clothes on during the event.

April 2-5 Easter weekend

April 17 Pot Luck Dinner - theme to be decided by popular request.

May 9 AGM - 1.00pm

May 15 Neighbourhood dinner. It has been 4 years since we last had the neighbours over for dinner.

October 23-25 Labour weekend extravaganza and craft market - look out for details to come.

November 12-14 Phoenix shield challenge at WOS

Social Report.

Ngatuhoa

Thanks to the publicity given in the December issue of Gonatural and a little pressure from my boss to take another week’s holiday before the end of March I decided this would be a good opportunity to visit Ngatuhoa Lodge while the Free Beach group had it booked. Not knowing exactly what to expect in the way of activities we only booked in from Saturday to Wednesday. A pity really as we would have enjoyed the activities that were to occur during the rest of the event. The weather forecast was not looking very good as we prepared to leave home on our journey but we had committed ourselves and had our 85 year old companion, Patrick, wanting to go as well and I doubt if he would have gone without us. As it turned out the weather was generally favourable during our stay with only a few occasional showers.

During our stay Pat and I tramped to the Te Rere I Oturu falls (6 hours return) and the Ngatuhoa falls (1 hour). I also joined a group that tramped to the Tau Wharawhara Falls where we were able to see koura (fresh water crayfish). Patrick also did the walk to Ngatuhoa Falls. The highlight of the week had to be abseiling. We all had a go at this on an 8m wall and an 18m wall. Patrick is the oldest person to have done this at the lodge. While Pat and I were on one of our walks Patrick also had a go on the flying fox, for which he is now also the oldest person to do it at the lodge. I need to go back and have a go at this at some stage as I have never been on a flying fox before. When we booked to attend we were asked to bring a frozen chicken. These were cooked for us on the Monday night along with veggies and chips supplied by the organizers. This was a good opportunity to meet up with everyone and pass out some of our club brochures in the hope that some of the campers would pay us a visit in the future. Behind the lodge is a very nice nature walk where many of the trees are labeled with their names. Do you know how to tell whether a rimu is a male or female? We learned that the fronds of the male are very hard to touch and the females are very soft. Just like some of us.

Our biggest disappointment of the visit is that we did not stay long enough to enjoy the other activities such as the teddy bares picnic, kayaking, night walks, Friday night spit roast and seeing the bats flying in the evening. We did go looking for the bats one evening but I think we were a bit late for them. We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Ngatuhoa Lodge and would recommend members taking the time to attend one of these events at least once, and stay the whole week if you can. This is an annual event starting on Wellington anniversary weekend and finishing on Auckland anniversary weekend.

WOS mini-rally

BOP was well represented at WOS again this year. It was one of their best attendances for some time and seems to be becoming more popular every year. It was nice to see some of our club members featuring in the winners and runners up of the sports events. Congratulations to Ruth and Sean for winning the 8-ball and coming second in the darts, to Sam and Jenny for topping the golf competition and coming second in the bowls, Alison and Darren for coming second in the 8-ball, Jenny, Sean and Liam for their success in the gumboot throw. I guess 8-ball will be off the agenda for the Phoenix Shield if our success rate is anything to go by.

Meanwhile back at the club….

Our Friday night BBQs are attracting only a few keen members. We would like to see more people attend these if you can make it. We will keep these going until Easter. The February Pot Luck dinner was again well attended. A raffle was quickly arranged for the night and was won by Malcolm. It was rather coincidental that it was his birthday as well, but I can assure you it was fairly drawn.

Our next Pot Luck Dinner will have a “T” theme. Clothing, if worn, should begin with “T” and food items should also follow this theme. I can think of lots of tasty food and we do not want anything tacky. Toffee turnips might appeal to some people but not me. Have a think about it and see what you can turn up with. Hopefully we can get some tourists to visit the club for the weekend too.

From the Committee

The committee has been listening to suggestions from a number of members. As a result we will be reinstating the mini-ten court. This will be operating by Easter, although we don’t guarantee to have the backstop nets up at each end before then without the help of a few non-committee members. Contact Sam and Jenny if you would like to help out on a weekend between now and Easter.

We have allocated some of our meagre funds for a new swing and slide set to encourage more members and visitors with young children to come to the club. We have also replaced the cushions on the trampoline to make it a bit tidier and safer.

Does anyone know where to get a large sheet of plastic for use as a slippery slide? Young children seem to really enjoy this (as do one or two adults approaching second childhood).

We are also looking at the possibility of setting up a weekend custodian roster. If it is agreed by members we will initiate it during the daylight saving period following next winter. The roster will be only to cover weekends where we do not have a function or a caretaker on the grounds and will require the custodian to be on the grounds from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. They will have their camp fees waived when rostered on. Members interested in participating are asked to keep this in mind for the beginning of next daylight saving.

Obituary

As our well known and much loved fellow Club Member, Vernon Bell, passed away on Sunday morning, 7th Feb., after a long illness, I would like to mention a few details re. the time he spent as a Member.
Joining the Club in Dec. 1985, Pam & Vernon soon found they greatly enjoyed every aspect of Club Membership . . . the friendliness of other members and the whole Club ambience, the Bush Walks, the sporting occasions, etc. Vernon enjoyed immensely being involved in every part of Club life, including briefly at Committee level.
Pam would like to thank sincerely all those who have expressed their condolences and especially those who have called personally. The bouquet of flowers sent to Pam from the Club is absolutely beautiful and much appreciated. Thankyou.

Peter Cobb.

And finally …

I will be spending most of March working in Hamilton so the March newsletter may not eventuate, or it will be very slim in its content.