Newsletter - March 2025

Greetings from the President:

I have received a lot of positive feedback about our opening series Experiments, Discoveries and More. Across the diverse range of very technical subjects, I couldn’t help but be impressed with the depth of knowledge of the speakers and the high calibre of the presentations themselves. For every delivery, passion was never far away and thank you to Pam Hurst and Dick Clayton for putting it together.

Our new series, The Great Outdoors, has been arranged by Linda Winskill and Richard McElrea and it is looking like we have another treat instore! Enjoy the between-series break everyone and catch up soon.

Series Two: The Great Outdoors

March 31	Sarah Lyttle Chief Executive Officer NZ Nature Fund	Saving Threatened Species – the Work of the N.Z. Nature Fund Established in 2000, the NZ Nature Fund works with DOC to protect our most valuable and precious habitats and wildlife. The Tara iti/NZ fairy tern and the Auckland Island/Maukahuka projects are the two most recent examples of the trust’s work.
April 7	Lou Sanson QSO NZAM former Chief Executive Antarctica NZ former Director General DOC	NZ’s World Leading Approach to Managing Protected Areas Lou Sanson will talk on why NZ’s National Park and Protected Area system is so important to NZ and his personal efforts to change how we work with others to protect and restore them.
April 14	Dr Clare Worley Senior Lecturer School of Physical and Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science UC	Galactic Archaeology in the Southern Sky Dr Worley pursues research in the field of Galactic Archaeology which seeks to unravel the formation and evolution of the Milky Way.
April 28	Andris Apse MNZM internationally recognised wilderness and landscape photographer	The Deep South – My Photographic Journey with Particular Reference to New Zealand Including the Subantarctic Islands. During a career spanning forty years, Andris Apse has won many major awards. His address will include material from his most recent book, The Deep South- from the Wilds of the South Island to Antarctica (2022).
May 5	Geoff Spearpoint QSM, conservationist, tramper, mountaineer, author and photographer.	Shelter From the Storm: Mountain Adventures and Restoring Backcountry Huts. Geoff Spearpoint has had a lifetime in the great outdoors, in New Zealand, the Himalayas, Northern Patagonia, Antarctica and elsewhere. His extensive writing includes, as co-author, Shelter from the Storm, The Story of New Zealand’s Backcountry Huts (2004).

Interest Group News

1. Art Appreciation Group visit to Christchurch Art Gallery.

Report from Julie Foley: this group recently had its first guided gallery visit for 2025.

The group viewed a current exhibition at the Christchurch Art Gallery, One O’Clock Jump: British Linocuts from the Jazz Age and enjoyed a discussion over coffee. If you haven’t seen this exhibition yet, it is well worth seeing. 

We want to acknowledge the dedicated work of Margaret Nicholas who has been leading the group since it started in July 2014. Many of the people who joined then are still part of the group. For 2025, she has handed on the responsibility for organising the visits to Julie Foley, but Margaret will still be part of the group and contribute to the guiding.

We will aim to have about 8 art visits during the year, usually on a Friday morning. Our next visit will be to The Arts Centre on Friday April 13. For most visits we set a limit of 20 people, on a first come, first served basis, because of space limitations in galleries. If you are interested in being on our mailing list, contact Julie Foley at foleyfamily@xtra.co.nz

2. Places of Interest visit to the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, Wigram.

Report from Richard Pickering: we were given guided tours by two volunteer staff who talked about the history of Wigram airfield and its evolution to its present position as a major aircraft museum. The guides showed us selected aircraft and described their history in peacetime as well as during the world wars. There are several engines that give insights into their development over the years. A scroll of honour on one of the walls presented the names of all Airforce staff who had served and one can find details of their service. There will be open days in April when the public can explore the newly-acquired Hercules. I’m sure many of us will take advantage of this opportunity.

3. French Chat Group

Bonjour à tous. Bienvenue à l’invitation pour entendre parler de notre groupe “French Chat”. Nous amusons beaucoup et apprenons beaucoup encours de route….

So far we have had four meetings with lots of fun. At each meeting the format is the same i.e. we choose a topic and then jot down some words which may be useful. The next topic is My Home and the idea is to say what you can about it e.g. the address, the number of rooms, room names, colour, furniture etc. It doesn't matter if you say a lot or a little or if you understand only a little of what others say. One or two members are expanding their vocabulary with Duolingo, on-line, relying on dictionaries or even Google translate. The next meeting is on April 2nd at 2.00pm at Villa 30, Lady Wigram. Don’t be shy, give it a try, c'est amusante!   Contact Brenda 027 375 8109

4. Movie Group

The recent movie outing to The Last Journey was enjoyed by all. We had the theatre to ourselves and it would be nice to think we could fill every seat on our next in-between-series visit. The photo shows members enjoying lunch together afterwards in The Colombo Shopping Mall. There is a great variety of food on offer – the dumplings are especially good – and it was nice to get to know other U3A Godley members. Thanks to Jill Halliburton and Pam Craig who organised the outing.

Morning Tea

Please come and enjoy a cuppa with others every week. On the last day of every series we have a catered morning tea, 9.45-10.15am. All welcome.

Subscriptions A very big thank you to the many members who paid their subscriptions promptly this year which makes life so much easier for Deb Rowley our Treasurer. To those who haven’t yet done so, the annual subscription of $60 per person is due 31 March. Online payments are preferable (bank account 03 0830 0467355 000 with your name in the reference field please). New members are welcome to attend a couple of meetings first, but we then ask that prospective members pay their subscriptions before attending further meetings.

Next Places of Interest Trip

Behind the Scenes at Christchurch City Art Gallery, Wednesday 30th April, 10.30am.

A guided tour for about one hour to see non-displayed exhibits and conservation of artworks. Meet at the Museum itself at 10.15.am Please get in touch by email or text before 25 April.

Richard Pickering pickeringx2@yahoo.com 027 252 1652