November 2020

Urban Explorers
Urban Explorers enjoyed our walks last month in the Southern Quadrant of the central city with Graeme. Most of us no idea of the progress that has been made in that area and learnt a great deal from Graeme’s knowledge of the inner city. This month we are exploring the Northwood/Styx Mill area. Ngaire

Scribes
We were pleased to have two new folk join us on Monday and we had a very pleasant session with lots of laughs. We decided that 7th December will be our last for the year and we will meet up again after ‘the silly season’ in February.

Family history group
A few of the family history group met on 3rd November spending time looking at one member’s variety of family trees and it was interesting to see the differing layouts and presentations of ancestral records. Another member shared with us a real gem – the transcription of notes kept by a well travelled Victorian great grandfather; his records of school life were hair raising to say the least! We are a small but enthusiastic group of amateur genealogists who enjoy their researching.
Carole and Julia

Cycling Group
Cycling trip to Twizel 3-5 October
Cecelia, Christine, Roger and I joined Russell & Jill at their Twizel house for a weekend getaway. We cycled part of the Alps to Ocean cycleway around Lake Ohau and Lake Pukaki on separate days. It was great being in different surroundings and the views were spectacular especially as there had been snow 5 days earlier. Luckily we cycled the Lake Ohau section the day before the terrible fire that devastated the Ohau village and surrounding area. We hope to do this again maybe in late March. Our thanks to Jill & Russell for their hospitality and showing us around the Twizel area. Cycling Group October ride
This month we rode out to Lincoln on the Little River rail trail from Marshs Road. It turned out to be a glorious morning with a NE wind to help us on the way. We stopped at The Lincoln Pantry for refreshments then headed back into a stiff breeze.
Next month we will meet in Hagley Park and ride to Northlands on the Northern Line beside the railway tracks then onto the Papanui Parallel cycleway to Bealey Ave and back to Hagley Park.
Our group meets on the last Friday of the month. New members are always welcome.

Quarry Group
The Quarry group meets on the first Thursday of each month at 10.00 am at the coffee cart next to the Quarryman’s house. We usually work for an hour and a half to two hours, depending on the task and the weather. Our latest visit was on 5 November, which was a hot day but the ranger, Nigel, found us a shady spot near the carpark, where we removed the growth around young plants. Although we take our own tools, Nigel does supply good gear if we need it.
We would love some new members to join our small group as there is a need for volunteers to help with the upkeep of the quarry. Lynne