Southern YarnThe February 2013

N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E D O W N U N D E R C L U B O F W I N N I P E G I N C .

downundercalendar

find us on facebook or the webwww.downunderclub.mb.ca

email: info@downunderclub.mb.ca

MARCH5-pin Bingo Bowling

Saturday March 7th, 7:00 pmWindsor Park Lanes, 678 Elizabeth RdA great night out for bowlers and non-bowlers;we’ll even take wicket keepers and fielders!Teams and individuals are welcome. Fast, funand fabulous for all ages. Bowling will be$15.00 for adults, kids under 10 free, andincludes 4 games, snack foods and prizes.Contact Terry (204-663-6549) to reserve yourspot.

APRILANZAC Day

Saturday, April 27th, 6:00 pmScandinavian Cultural Centre, 764 ErinMake a date to commemorate ANZAC Day witha memorial service, singing of our nationalanthems, and a delicious POTLUCK dinner. Thisis always a memorable event, so come and be apart of it and the fun to follow. And don’t forget– the Bar will be open.

Getting out for ournational days

Celebrating our nationalholidays is an excellenttime to get together to cel-

ebrate, share dinner and tuck intoa big, tasty birthday cake.

The Munn family had no prob-lem gathering outdoors in theirsnowy back yard donning Aussieclobber (above).

Australia Day and Waitangi Day cel-ebrations contiued, attracting members andsome special guests out to our annual clubgathering at the beginning of this month.

We had nine entries for the pasta sauceevaluation and birthday cake big enough tosend extra pieces home. Our trivia and depthof antipodean knowledge was plumbed witha great quiz, with a variety of prizes.

We also had a special presentation fromGregory Bryan whose book recounts his 450km walk through the Australian outback, fol-lowing the steps of writer Henry Lawson.

It was great to see some new folks along-side long-time members of the club.

RSVP: If you let us know you are coming,we can be ready for you! RSVP to 204-228-9959 or email social@downunderclub.mb.ca .

Advertise in The Southern Yarn. Contact Jenny(228-9959, info@downunderclub.mb.ca) for allthe rates. Send your submission by email toinfo@downunderclub.mb.ca or mail to PO Box1655, Stn Main, Winnipeg MB R3C 2Z6.

The Munn family managed to gather outdoorsdespite the wintery days around Australia Day.

online

There were many new faces at this year’sclub gathering marking the 2013 AustraliaDay and Waitangi Day. Photos: Hydesmith.

2 The Southern Yarn • www.downunderclub.mb.ca February 2013

G’day, Well, I’m idleno more – back at the keyboard foranother Yarn. Counting the one I did

for Jenny back in July last year, this will bemy 4th. I will be pleased to receive a bit offeedback. Perhaps we could introduce “Let-ters to the Editor” to the Yarn? (well, what doyou know!? one just arrived… see page 4).

Of more concern, as I write, is the devas-tation for many folk in Australia – heat-waves,fires and now floods, again! We lived in Laid-ley, Qld, for 15 years until coming here in ’91.We had up to a foot of water through our yard2 or 3 times during that period (houses areup on stumps) – our neighbor would get awarning call from friends on a farm up thevalley, and they in turn would alert us. We’dget busy and move toys, bikes, chickens, lawnmower, vehicle, etc.. It has now happenedthere twice in the last 2 years! This one isworse than in 2011 - with 28” falling at thehead of the valley in 24 hrs there was littlechance of avoiding the inevitable rush. Bund-aberg is the worst hit with over 2000 homesgoing under – again much worse than 2011 –their bitter taste of what Winnipeg suffered in’50, before the “ditch”. We’ve got a foot ofwater in our yard here, now, too! Luckily it’sin the form of snow.

Speaking of “Idle no more” (if you’re notin Canada and haven’t heard of it – Google),it got me thinking of the other situationdownunder: Australia’s and New Zealand’sfirst peoples had similar experiences toCanada’s. I don’t intend to comment on thepolitics or motivations behind how it allwent down, and continues to, but I wasreminded of a book I read some years backabout the early interactions in Australia –especially between the early explorers andthe Aborigines, and in particular the sensi-ble approach taken by Charles Sturt, p.6.

Gordon Keatch is back on deck with his“Getting to Know” member interviews: thismonth he gives us the fascinating storybehind our multi-talented Greg Link. Alsowe’re very fortunate to have the insights ofMurray Burt in helping update us on Com-monwealth news.

Thanks to this month’s contributors,including Tim Sinclair-Smith who introducesus to Hudson.

Enjoy! Charlie

Ihope everyone is enjoying this once in alifetime weather (hopefully once isenough) anything below minus 25 is

just plain cold. I held

back thispresident’smessagefrom our edi-tor so I could tell you all about our tripdown to Pembina ND on Sunday after-noon/evening to do a good deed. As some ofyou will know both Panda and Winston arerescues from Hull Haven Border Collie Res-cue. So Sunday afternoon on behalf of thetwo of them we procured a van and loadedup with 9 dog kennels and headed for theborder. Our mission, to be the last leg in atrip which started two days ago to rescue 9dogs from shelters in different states. Thesedogs were for no reason other than they hadbeen abandoned, had been sentenced todeath. These dogs had come from differentrescues in the states and are on their waynow to caring homes in places like Thomp-son, Vancouver and Winnipeg. When wemet up with our counterpart in Pembinaand did the transfer the dogs were under-standably a little scared but consideringwhat has happened to them, over the lastfew days and before that, very receptive andfriendly. Two had been chained up all theirlives, one of these dogs, Daisy a 5 year old

border collie with grey and whitecolouring is one of the friend-

liest and most delightfuldogs I have met, she isadorable. They were allwell behaved, though one,if given a chance would

have bolted and at only 6months old very strong too.

Another, very shy little dog tested Kerry’spatience in getting him out of his kenneland after she did and got him outside stoodin the back yard of our delivery address andwatered the snow like a champion.

The border guards in both directions,once they heard what we were there to dowere very helpful and the US customs offi-cer even let Kerry cross the border withouta current passport when we told him wewould only be about an hour.

Next time the call goes up we’ll bethere. I’m not telling you this for thanks,the dogs themselves did that in a way noperson could ever do, but some time if youget the chance to help one of the rescueorganisations, go ahead, it’s a great feeling.

Hope to see all of you at theAustralia/Waitangi Day event.

Terry

editoriallyyours

Charlie Powell

president’sramblingsTerry Roberts

(403) 270-4414 Phone1-866-470-4414 Toll Freeinfo@downunder-travel.com Lower Level, 121, 14th St. NW Calgary • www.downunder-travel.com

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Mr Squiggle’sMiss Pat diesPatricia Lovell, themovie producer behindAustralian classicsand but better knownto children of the ‘60sand early ‘70s as MissPat from the TV show ,has died aged 83.

News Ltd websites report Lovell died onSaturday from liver cancer with her children,son Simon and daughter Jenny, by her side.

Lovell began her career in radio and tele-vision and apart from also appeared in theoriginal TV version of Beauty and the Beast.

She became the anchorwoman for theearly morning Sydney Today Show in 1969,where she later met director Peter Weir whowent on to direct the Australian Film Insti-tute (AFI) award-winning films Gallipoli andPicnic at Hanging Rock. [Read more link]

Earliest convict arrivals recordedonlineThe arrival records of the First Fleet, andsome of our most famous convicts, are nowavailable on the web.

RECORDS OF THE EARLIEST convictarrivals to Australia have been made avail-able online, to mark the 225th anniversary ofthe arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney coveon 26 January 1788.

Sentenced Beyond the Seas is a digitalproject run by State Records NSW. Thearchive, now available online, contains scans

of the original arrival records of convictsbetween the years 1788 and 1801.

There are more than 12,000 namesamong the records for this period. [Readmore link]

Arrival records of first beerbrewer in AustraliaAmong the digitized records is a convictwhose name survives as a brewery, knowntoday as James Squires. James Squire wasthe first person in Australia known to havesuccessfully grown hops for the purpose ofbrewing his own beer.

Here,fishyfishy…The big onedidn’t getaway from 7-y e a r - o l dHunter Scott,whose 133kg

striped marlin is the talk of the Bay ofIslands Swordfish Club.

The Kerikeri boy - who weighs just 23kghimself - was out fishing with his fatherAdam and grandparents Keith and Christinewhen he felt the pull of what he thoughtmight be a big fish just off Nine Pin Rock.

“We thought it was a little shark but thenGranddad shouted out it was a marlin. Hesaw it jump just after we hooked it,” saidHunter.

“First the line was going out ... and thenI did a few unwinds but then it took all of thatline back out ... I did a few more winds anddad said it was 30m of line left so I keptwinding and you saw this thing comingtowards the boat.”

It took an hour and a quarter to haul in.His arms took a beating.

“They’re not sore now but I was reallytired afterwards.” [Read more link]

Bypass helps right wrong frompastWaikato Expressway project goes some wayto remedying Maori grievance over road-works done in 1960s.

Maori fortifications from one of thefiercest battles of the 19th century land warswill be commemorated as part of a $105 mil-lion highway bypass of Rangiriri in theWaikato.

Preparatory work is due to start thisweek on the project - another link in the$2.4 billion Waikato Expressway - which willmove State Highway 1 to the west of Ran-giriri and a hill which was the most heavilydefended point in a battle in which up to 130British and colonial troops and 41 Maoridied 150 years ago.

Motorists will not be the only beneficiar-ies from late 2016 of a straighter alignment,closer to the Waikato River, for the new 4.8kmstretch between Te Kauwhata Rd and Ran-giriri to be built by Fletcher Construction.

The project will also go some waytowards remedying a grievance held byWaikato Tainui Maori over the constructionof SH1 in the 1960s through the middle ofthe old Rangiriri pa site and a trench whichextended much of the way from the river toLake Waikare to the east, an escape route formany of the defenders. [Read more link]

NZ broadcaster Holmes diesTOP-RATING New Zealand radio and televi-sion broadcaster Sir Paul Holmes has died.[Read more link]:

Ken Clark…(retired in NZ)…basking in 28 - 38 C. weather in Hawke’sBay and hope that you are over your real coldweather.

We have been in Winnipeg each of thepast two years and had lunch with AlenHansen and Gordon Keatch but not had timeto come to a Down Under Club meeting. Per-haps in 2014 if all goes well.

Kindest regards to all in the Down UnderClub. Ken[read more news online of our PDF version]

February 2013 www.downunderclub.mb.ca • The Southern Yarn 3

newsfromOzsource: Sydney Morning Herald, unless noted.

newszealandsource: NZ Herald, unless otherwise noted

Kiwi Installations & saleskiwiinstallations.com

Roll-up Security Shutters,decks, fences and more.

Free in-home/cottage estimates.

Call Terry 204-229-6642 or 204-663-6549

Greg Link

Although Greg is a Winnipegger, hehas developed a close affinity withAustralia. He grew up in North Kildo-

nan, completing Business Administrationand Business Teacher Education at Red RiverCollege after high school. He then relocatedto Thompson, Manitoba for three years,teaching at the high school for two yearsbefore becoming an Educational ComputerConsultant for one.

While in his third year in the North, hereceived a wedding invitation from a friendin Canberra. As we all know, it is tough to flyto Australia for a weekend so he sent videogreetings along with several resumes for herto distribute. The Victorian Ministry of Edu-cation happened to be recruiting Businessand Computer teachers, so in 1989 he head-ed off to OZ, landing at East Loddon School,located near Bendigo, Victoria.

He played hockey during his time in Vic-toria, traveling to Melbourne to play with theleague premier Saints for a season beforebecoming the playing coach of newly estab-lished Bendigo Raiders hockey club. TheRaiders won the premiership their first yearin the league and he was subsequentlyasked to coach the Australia Under 21National Development team to tour NewZealand. After a year and a half in Victoria,he went North again, this time to the tropicsof Townsville to teach.

In 1991, Greg became a dual citizenbefore returning to Winnipeg to teach at TecVoc High School. Greg’s wife Kim is also aWinnipegger and co-owner of Sokal Indus-tries, makers of custom-built trailers. Theyhave three children. 21 year-old Rachel is inher third year of Sciences at the University ofWinnipeg. Mitchell, 19, is in second year inCommerce at the University of Manitoba.Michael, 18, attends Kildonan East School,and is expected to graduate this year as anHVAC technician. All three work as life-guards for the City of Winnipeg. Six years ago,Greg took a six-month leave of absence andthe whole family went to Oz, visiting friendsand acquaintances from Adelaide to Cairns.

Two decades later Greg still can be foundat Tec Voc. His role has changed as he nowfacilitates Career Development and Appren-ticeship placements for high school studentsand recruits high school graduates for theirhighly touted adult Aerospace program. Our

members are encouraged to contact Greg atgreglink@wsd1.org if their business oremployer needs skilled workers or if theyhave friends or family interested in a careerin Aerospace.

Greg coaches the golf team at Tec Voc,and stays active cross-country skiing, snow-mobiling, and, of course, playing hockey.Seeing the world is a passion of his as he hasbeen to several countries including Russia,Finland and South Africa this past year.Greg’s family was shy and didn’t want theirpicture published so he included a photofrom a school visit during his conference inDurban, SA.

Greg was doing some work around theEast St Paul Community Centre about nineyears ago and was introduced to the DUCWby Peter Debenham. As always, another inter-esting find from our membership ranks.

Gordon Keatch

4 The Southern Yarn • www.downunderclub.mb.ca February 2013

gettingtoknow…members of our club

Letter to the EditorHuge thanks to Kerry Nowicki, Margaret Munn and Judy Powell for all theirhard work in the kitchen at the recent Australia Day and Waitangi Dayevent.

Everyone contributes to the success of these events in one way oranother, but some members go above and beyond so others can have agreat time.

I know they’re not in it for the money, or the accolades, but it wasgreat to have Kerry, Marg and Judy working behind the scenes to keepthe noodles and the food flowing for the rest of us, and making sureeverything was cleaned up afterward.

Maybe next time, some of the rest of us can man the kitchen, so tospeak, and let those three get out front to enjoy the festivities more.

Thanks also to David Denesovych and Charlie Powell for managingthe bar, and to Debbie Griffiths for the delicious and spectacularly deco-rated cake. Thanks to each of you – your hard work is appreciated andacknowledged.Jenny Gates

All About Hudson the polar bear

(See story on page 6)

Birth Date: October 11, 2011Age: 16 months oldWeight: 410 pounds (January 2013)Parents: Hudson’s mother Auroraresides at the Toronto Zoo. His father, Inukshuk, visits the Toronto Zoo forbreeding purposes.Diet: Hudson’s diet includes jumbo smelt and herring, carrots, Vitamin Eand Thiamine supplements.Nickname: At the Toronto Zoo, Hudson was known as “The Ham”. Hecould be found gallivanting around his enclosure and entertaining Zooguests with his hilarious antics. He loves to be the centre of attention.

Greg Link visitinga school in Africa

Large person’s fall couldcollapse NZ block of flatsSome flat dwellers have been living danger-ously in Wellington. Testimony to that is thattenants poured out of a block of flats afterHousing New Zealand said its façade was soweak that “a large person falling in thewrong place could have caused masonry tofall off the building.”

The exodus was sparked the week after 131residents were given just seven days to leavethe Gordon Wilson Flats. The letter said thefacade had deteriorated seriously since con-cerns were first raised about problems in 2010.

“In the worst case it is even feasible that alarge person falling heavily at a critical loca-tion would provide a sufficient force to dis-lodge elements [and force a collapse],” theletter from engineering consultants warned.

The letter followed a site inspectionwhich said that in addition to this ongoingproblem of … pieces of concrete falling fromthe building, recent inspections haveexposed an even more serious problems.”

In particular, concrete had cracked andfallen away around pins holding supportingcolumns in place, so that some columns andprecast panels could fall away with only a lit-tle force.

Fiji’s military boss’s rejection ofrevised constitution dismayssecretary-generalThe military government in Suva has reject-ed a draft revision of the country’s constitu-tion that was solicited to set in process anend to Fiji’s suspension from the Common-wealth.

The document was prepared by a FijianConstitutional Commission, chaired by ProfYashpal Ghai, a scholar of internationalstanding on the subject of constitutional law.

Ghai, a professor at the University ofHong Kong, had been engaged to hold wide-ranging committee hearings to solicit publicviews on reforming the law in the southPacific nation and frame the new constitu-tion in Commonwealth terms.

In London, the Secretary GeneralKamalesh Sharma called the decision toreject the constitution report “regrettable.”

After an unsettled two years that dis-placed the elected government, in May 2000,Armed Forces Commander CommodoreFrank Bainimarama emerged as pro-tem pres-ident and had directed a militarily-drivenadministration ever since, promising from

time to time eventual free and fair elections torestore democracy. His administration, whichsplits the nation racially between Hindu andaboriginal, has grown increasingly harsh.

Kenya likely to offer electionexcitement next monthKenya heads to the polls on March 4, so ifyou are headed there as a tourist be aware ofthe security situation. Remember, more than1,000 people died and 600,000 were dis-placed in the inter-ethnic fighting that brokeout during the disputed 2007 last election .

Also, the prospect for April doesn’t exact-ly augur peace. That’s when four Kenyans —including Uhuru Kenyatta, a frontrunner inthe 2013 election — will face trial before theInternational Criminal Court (ICC) for theiralleged role in post-election violence.

And with the stakes for political power soacrid, the risk of violence is high in the raceto replace president Mwai Kibaki.

Some of the threats ahead embrace ten-sion fuelled by the political unrest and adegree of anti-western feeling. Kidnappingin some areas in support of insurgents is aconstant danger. Indeed, a number of fatalambushes occurred last month and autoshave been fired on by a gunman dressed in apolice uniform. And the UK Foreign andCommonwealth Office has also reported aspate of grenade, IED and armed attacks inNairobi, Mombasa and Garissak, likely elec-tion-related activity.

Oz family survives flames withheads just above water“We saw tornadoes of fire just comingtowards us,” Tim Holmes told ABC reporters.“And the next thing we knew, everythingwas on fire, everywhere all around us,” TimHolmes said.

Holmes and his family narrowly escapedthe flames bearing down on them by jump-ing in the water, neck deep, and stayed therefor three hours at the edge of their property,taking refuge under a wooden jetty.

He was describing the terror he and hisfamily— his wife, Tammy, and their fivegrandchildren, aged 2 to 11 — experiencednear Dunalley, in Tasmania, in one of theworst seasons of wildfire that swept wideswaths of the country this summer

The Holmes’ harrowing experience wasmatched by thousands of families all overAustralia, with some loss of life and billionslost as livestock and properties were turnedto ashes.

“For us, there was no other escape … Thedifficulty was there was so much smoke andembers, and there was probably only 200

millimetres to 300 millimetres of air abovethe water,” Holmes said.

Despite the hot temperatures, the waterwas very cold and the family huddled togeth-er for warmth.

Kiwi made new boss ofCommonwealth Foundation The Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand of NewZealand is the new chairman of the Com-monwealth Foundation in MarlboroughHouse, London. Appointed by heads of gov-ernment, he will serve an initial term of upto two years.

Sir Satyanand was governor-general ofNZ from 2006-2011 and previously spent twofive-year terms as one of the country’s parlia-mentary ombudsmen

He expressed delight at the honor andsaid he looked forward to advancing thefoundation’s encouragement of civil societyand professional organizations.

As chairman of the foundation, SirSatyanand will preside over its board of gov-ernors, represent it at intergovernmentalmeetings and events, and promote the Foun-dation’s vision and values.

Vijay Krishnarayan, CommonwealthFoundation Director said: ‘We are honouredto welcome Sir Anand Satyanand as the Com-monwealth Foundation’s new chair. Hisbackground and experience will be realassets to the Foundation and help advanceits agenda of citizen participation and inclu-sion in governance systems.

The new Hobbit magic drawsfans to New Zealand Hobbit appeal has surged since the film’sworldwide release, and with that travel web-sites are reporting huge growth in searchesand bookings for New Zealand, Fairfax Newsreports.

Tourism chief executive David Perks saidhe had noted a growth in interest in NewZealand as a travel destination in Britain,“and a much more positive vibe about book-ings” since September.

The international media coverage ofWellington’s hosting of the premiere had clear-ly increased the city’s global profile, and thiswas expected to lead to a surge in bookings.

“We were really pleased how much cover-age we achieved. We knew from whenWellington hosted the last Lord of the Ringspremiere The Return of the King) in 2003that coverage meant a significant surge inbookings, but we weren't sure how differentglobal financial conditions would affectthat,” Perks said.

- Murray Burt

February 2013 www.downunderclub.mb.ca • The Southern Yarn 5

commonwealth place by Murray Burt

Board of DirectorsPresident: Terry Roberts Vice President: Peter MunnSecretary: Margaret MunnNewsletter Editor:Charlie PowellTreasurer: Peter DebenhamSocial Coordinator: VACANTMembership:Norm GriffithsPast President: Lynley Davidson

This newsletter can be downloaded in PDFformat from the website. Thank you to all ofour contributors within the club, fromoverseas and information services. Layoutby design@hydesmith.com

The Southern Yarn is published by the DownUnder Club of Winnipeg, Inc. (DUCW). Theviews and opinions expressed bycontributors to this publication are notendorsed by, nor do they necessarily reflectthose of, the members of the DUCW. TheDUCW and the Editor of The Southern Yarndo not accept any responsibility for thecontent or accuracy of information orwebsites contained in this publication.Articles may be republished withpermission of the Editor.

T H E D O W N U N D E RCLUB OF WINNIPEG INC.Station Main, PO Box 1655, Winnipeg Manitoba Canada R3C 2Z61-204-832-4405info@downunderclub.mb.cawww.downunderclub.mb.caLike us on facebook!

6 The Southern Yarn • www.downunderclub.mb.ca February 2013

Early contact: AustraliaSome years back I bought a book edited byTim Flannery, titled “The Explorers”, froman ABC store in Australia. It’s an anthologydocumenting almost four centuries of explo-ration and includes the work of Eyre, Giles,Hume and Hovell, Leichhardt, Mitchell, Stu-art, Sturt, Wills, and many others. Oneepisode, involving Charles Sturt, has stayedwith me.

The picture above shows Sturt and hisparty in a desperate situation. But look close-ly up on the left bank: there is a native run-ning hard and about to dive into the river. Heis a “chief” who Sturt had encountered earli-er and made peace with. This man had sub-sequently realized the danger from the nexttribe further along the river and took action.His courage and timing were perfect andenabled Sturt to maintain his reputation fornot killing any aboriginals. This other refer-ence takes up the story:The day of 23 January, 1830 takes us to the dra-matic and dangerous happenings of the Murray-Darling junction. The sail had been hoisted for thefirst time, and the boat was speeding when, withoutwarning, the men saw the river shoaling fast. Ahuge sandbank, projecting nearly a third of the wayacross the channel was crowded with hostile Abo-riginals. The boat ran aground. The crew were sit-ting shots; an engagement looked certain. “Themen were given guns but instructed not to fire untilI had discharged both my barrels.”

An intervening chief to which Sturt had previ-ously held out a peace offering, swam across thestream. He was a man of authority, and he persuad-ed them to lower their spears. Watchful, but cooland entirely fearless, Sturt kept control of the situ-ation. The peacemaker received a gift; guns wereput away and the boat pushed off the sandbank...“Then it was just as she floated again that our atten-tion was withdrawn to a new and beautiful streamcoming from the north.” It was the Darling. Theexplorers proceeded upstream followed on bothbanks by Aboriginals, curious and chattering vol-ubly, still armed but not so ill-disposed. Macleaythrew them a tin kettle as a further peace-offering.

[Read more link] Charlie Powell

Introducing Hudson…G’day all, Even though the weather is thecoldest it’s been so far, it didn’t stop Assini-boine Park Zoo from giving a warm welcometo Hudson, a 16-month-old polar bear.

Born at the Toronto Zoo in October 2011,Hudson was the only surviving cub in a litterof three and was closely monitored and caredfor around the clock by Toronto Zoo veterinarystaff for the first three months of his life.

The move to the Assiniboine Park Zoomarks the next step in Hudson’s life as hecontinues to mature into an adult male bear.This is so exciting for all of us at the Assini-boine Park Zoo and a big step forward in theZoo’s polar bear program.

The International Polar Bear Conserva-tion Centre (IPBCC) will be Hudson’s tempo-rary home for the next 16 to 18 months untilthe completion of the Journey to Churchillexhibit in 2014. The outdoor enclosure at theIPBCC has been renovated to specificallyaccommodate polar bears and is three timesits original size. A key component of the new10-acre Journey to Churchill exhibit current-ly under construction, the IPBCC supportsand facilitates research efforts that con-tribute to environmental and wildlife educa-tion and the conservation of polar bears andother Arctic species.

As Hudson nears the age of maturity, thehope is that he will be paired with a femaleand contribute to the Species Survival Plan(SSP) breeding program. Assiniboine ParkZoo has had a long history of conservationinitiatives and participation in the SSP andcurrently has several species that are part ofthis program. With so much happening at theZoo, now is a great time to come and meetHudson.

Come say G’day and watch him play inmid February! Also keep an eye out for a bitof an Aussie touch at the Zoo this summer.

Tim Sinclair-SmithDirector, Zoological Opera-tions, Assiniboine Park Zoo

Proudly printed in Winnipeg byKendrick Quality Printing Ltd.

whoknew?Things you may not know

epagesfor news that just would not fit in the print issue

February 2011 www.downunderclub.mb.ca • The Southern Yarn • e-page 7

Oamaru Scott 100On February 10th 1913 the Terra Nova arrived offNew Zealand’s little Harbour of Oamaru bearing thenews of Scott’s Antarctic expedition and its fate.

This momentous epic of exploration will bemarked at the point of return from the Antarctic inthe Oamaru Harbour February 6th to 10th 2013.

Oamaru Harbour will come alive with the cele-bration of a golden age in exploration. 100 yearssince the Terra Nova arrived off Oamaru Harbourthe town will host five days of events including seaand land activities, education and adventure pro-grammes, art, theatre, literature and lectures.

AustraliaIn 1913, February saw the turning of the first sodfor the Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta section of the trans-continental rail-way, a landmark for Australian infrastructure. This is a black-and-whitephotograph of the construction camp train used by workers buildingthe Trans-Australian Railway track between Kalgoorlie and Port Augus-ta from 1913 to 1917.

100yearsagohostory from downunder

The Terra Nova

Hello from Lucia in NZSummer here is great …and fortunately notlike last year which was the pits. Still inChch .... altho have been flitting around theSouth Island at times.... and have had beau-tiful sunny days for the most part ..... in themid to high 20s - Love it.

Was in Picton visiting with a schoolfriend last week and it is so lovely all aroundthat whole area. Was in Kaiteriteri for a fewdays last year and with my friend who doesthese mini trips with me each year, we weregoing to do Nelson this year, but she is com-ing with me to Rarotonga in April, so maybeNelson will be next year.

Take care and Greeting from sunnyChch :-) :-) Lucia

Links:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_Nova_(ship)http://www.ticketdirect.co.nz/event/season/939http://www.canberra100.com.au/calendar/view/303/glorious-days-australia-1913/http://vrroom.naa.gov.au/print/?ID=19394