It is now 100 years since the beginning of the Great War. The first infantry from Otago and Southland left from the Dunedin Railway station 100 years ago this week. The country with the highest proportions of deaths per head of population was New Zealand.
Yesterday I went to see the Procession to the Station and the ceremony that followed.
Yesterday I finally climbed Mt Cargill. It is the highest mountain in the Dunedin area. I can see it from my front gate and last week it was covered in snow. You can drive to the top, the TV mast is there, and I did so with my sister back in March but it was covered in cloud. Yesterday we went up the hard way on foot, shorter but steeper. It is is 676 metres high and the carpark, where we started, is approximately 100 metres.
This photo is not mine and shows the Mountain in mid-winter, much like 2 weeks ago..
We sat on the sunny north side for lunch and I took this photo looking north to Blueskin Bay and beyond.
Then we went to the top where there was still some ice on the road.
A view of Otago Harbour
A view of the city of Dunedin
A closeup of the suburb of Brockville. My house is about the centre of the photo.
I was going to write about Music in Dunedin but then this clip was sent to me. Another great reason for living in Dunedin.
I do not go every week as I only have one mouth to feed but try to visit every 2 or 3 weeks. Had to go last week as I had not been for 10 weeks, being in Europe. There had been floods then snow and many farmers were cut off. There were probably less than half the usual stalls and it was showery. Still I managed to stock up with eggs, cheese, pies, vegetables and finish with my regular crepe.
I spend a lot of time criticising the bishops of Sydney for good reason. But unlike a certain mad priest in England who, because he was badly treated by one bishop has it in for all of them, I know that most of them are doing a good if difficult job.
Back in 2006 or 7, when I first began to seriously consider Dunedin as my future home, I discovered the blog of then Archdeacon Kelvin Wright, vicar of Roslyn and was impressed. I followed his blog as he planned to complete the Camino de Santiago de Compostella. In 2008 all was put on hold as he dealt with prostate cancer but he and his wife, Clemency, completed about half in 2009.
I first visited St John's Roslyn on my second trip to Dunedin, this time with my sister, in November 2008 and introduced myself to him. I was a bit astounded and had mixed feelings when it was announced in late 2009 that he had been elected bishop of Dunedin. So I was only a parishioner for 4 weeks before he was consecrated bishop and left the parish. I attended his consecration and was amused to find myself seated next to the wife of the bishop of Nelson. Nelson would be the one diocese in New Zealand where I would not feel comfortable. It has a history of a close relationship with evangelical Sydney but, while the bishop has aligned himself with Gafcon, he has not been as obnoxious in his comments as Jensen. We, (his wife and I) had a pleasant conversation while waiting for the service to begin.
Now Kelvin and Clemency have just completed their pilgrimage on the Camino and I have followed his blog with interest. It has not been without incident. First Kelvin had problems with his achilles tendon but after prayer by other pilgrims he seemed to make a remarkable recovery. Far worse, a few days later, Clemency fell in the shower and they had to make an ambulance trip to hospital. Thankfully there were no bones broken but she had to complete the pilgrimage (just over 100km of the total 800km) by bus. Although you may not have time to read his day by day description, I do recommend "Why Pilgrimage" Part of his comments there follow: Personally, I am not convinced that prayers said in front of the bones of
some dead bloke are any more effective than any other sort of prayers,
even in the highly unlikely event that the skeletal remains belong to
one of the apostles. I don´t think that the sheer hard work of walking
hundreds of kilometres across a foreign land earns any sort of favour
with the almighty. But I know that making pilgrimage is a spiritual
practice.
All spiritual practices have this in common: they confront us with the
limits of the false self, so that we can recognise those limits and grow
past them, and this is precisely what the Camino does. It is a tool, in
other words, whereby we make real Jesus invitation to leave ourselves
behind in order that we might find ourselves. The Camino Santiago de
Compostela is not a pleasant and refreshing walk through beautiful
Spanish countryside. It is not an interesting historical and cultural
walking tour. Or at least, it is not just those things. The Camino
challenges and searches and judges. The Camino exposes us, we who
answer its call to pilgrimage. The myriad defence mechanisms we call our
personality are opened up and shown for what they are and the result is
not diminution but expansion; a contact with the true self and with the
great one whose ground, Says Meister Eckhart, is the same ground as
that of the true self.
And then after finishing and greeting Clemency on the final day, they went and worshipped at the cathedral in Santiago with the amusing but emotional Botafumeiro
The first thing for me to do was to visit the crypt and pray before the
bones of St. James. I´m not entirely sure why, as readers of previous
posts will know, but somehow, for me the Camino was not complete until I
had done this. There in a small cellar, down a flight of steps was a
silver casket containing James´ mortal remains. A young woman prayed
before them and then pushed several copies of her CV through the grill
to lie before the coffin. Unemployment is high in Spain, and I guess
both her faith and her intention were obvious, and I found the sight
intensely moving. I knelt there and remembered several things. A parish
priest who, at the end of his pilgrims blessing had asked us to pray for
his parish when we got to Santiago. Then a farmer tending some strange
(to me) crop on a sunny hillside. I smiled and waved to him and he
stood, raised both arms and cried out ¡Hola! ¡Bien Camino!¡Rece por mí cuando llegue a Santiago! Hello! Good Camino! Pray for me when you reach Santiago
So before I spent time holding my children, my grandchild, my diocese,
my family, before God I remembered that farmer and his nameless crop and
the parish of Arzua. Bless them all, my Lord and make of them what you
intend.
Thanks be to God for their pilgrimage and thanks be to God for directing me to this diocese. Kelvin is not Anglo-Catholic although the Jensens probably think he is but he is open to the Mysteries of our faith. He is very much into meditation. He is inclusive although more circumspect on such matters since becoming a bishop.
A few months ago I met him in the local hardware store and had a brief chat, then 5 minutes later we met again in his local supermarket and, as it is not mine, he was able to direct me to what I wanted. Now that is a helpful bishop.
I probably would have small disagreements with him at times, we are both human, but I am very grateful to be in the Diocese of Dunedin.
I attended for the 3rd time. Saturday was postponed as heavy rain began about an hour before, thankfully just as I started to get ready. Sunday was much nicer and less crowds than usual so I managed a front position. I had a sausage sandwich then hot cinnamon and sugar nuts with mulled wine while I waited. Unfortunately my camera battery ran out half way through the fireworks. In preparing the movie for uploading, I discovered that lightening the picture made it a bit blurry.The theme was "A Frosty Night"
Actually it was not too bad a night. We had more frost a week earlier and heavy frost is forecast for this weekend. We had snow yesterday, quite heavy while I was waiting for the bus to go downtown, but very little settled and rain with strong winds last night have washed it all away.
It is now Boxing Day in both Sydney and Dunedin. I have been reading the Dunedin News.
An article http://www.odt.co.nz/news/national/192275/festive-season-holds-little-joy-christchurch written by a Dunedin journalist currently with family in Christchurch is quite sad.
" I pass the abandoned church where Christmas carols will not be sung "this happy morn". I pass the Postshop from where no Christmas cards were sent and a row of shops whose eftpos machines were silent this holiday season. I pass, also, the place where in February a man, quietly eating lunch in his van, was crushed to death."
Then I read about Christmas day in Dunedin http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/192272/cruising-through-yuletide. There were 2 cruise ships in port and the Taieri
Gorge Railway carried 520 cruise ship passengers ( a record number)and other tourist sites recorded high numbers.
Comments (after finding many shops closed)
""But it's a beautiful place, and we'll be back," she said."
"This stop is a chance to get a decent cup of coffee, because you don't get it on the ship.
"We planned this to be a relaxing day, just sitting here, looking at the Robbie Burns statue."
While so proud of Dunedin and so thankful to be living there, I feel so sorry for Christchurch.
Jan Porter, of Brisbane, agreed. She was happy just to sit and admire the city's beautiful buildings.
"I even appreciated the seagulls - they're cheeky."
The Dunedin Octagon occupiers have gone. They have been there 66 days.
Online comments from our city paper.
Our Mayor said "While most people would agree with many of the issues raised, "the issues the group chose to highlight were overshadowed by the rights and wrongs of occupying a public space.
"I believe there is a residue of support for the causes they are highlighting, but the message I am getting from the community is why are they there this is our space and it looks awful."
One online comment to our local newspaper (my bold).
'Did the protestors achieve anything?
Did they? Absolutely. The proved beyond any doubt that there are people with great passion matched with equal parts of stupidity alive and well in Dunedin. The protestors claimed to represent 99% of the population. Not only do I think that rich, but I strongly suspect they thought that they had a mandate to do so despite quite a few of the 99% being against them.
Of the people I mix with, the majority thought their protest pointless – not because their goals weren't genuine enough, but because they utterly failed to meaningfully convey those goals. No one anywhere could have pleased these protestors. They wanted to change something but they each had a different something!
I support the right to protest. However when that protest is as poorly defined as the Occupy movement is, I think that right becomes weakened. I strongly doubt the protest had broad public support.
My message to the protestors: we all know of the problems of capitalism, please go and invent a new economy and prove it can work – this should about 5 decades. Then get back us on your solution. We'll be delighted to know more.'
and
'This is the best Christmas present the Octagon could have received. Thank goodness it’s over.
We will all be able to walk again through our beautiful Octagon with our heads held high and without the embarrassment of chalk graffiti, tattered tarpaulins flapping in the breeze and lawns turned to mud.'
The council spent $3500 replacing the turf after the number of tents had dwindled a few weeks ago, They will be assessing today what more will be needed to repair the damage.
The photos of an Episcopalian bishop (retired) climbing a fence in his purple cassock to break into private property in New York was embarrassing.
I am on a high today (with a slight headache due to age)
Three nights of music in Dunedin.
Wednesday night it was the New Zealand Symphony and their string ensemble presenting "Strings Possessed"
The guest soloist violin was Ilya Kaler with their own Hiroshi Ikematsu on double bass. The program was:
ROSSINI Sonata No. 6 BOTTESINI Gran Duo concertante PAGANINI Il Palpiti variations by Rossini TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade
Thursday night was to hear Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir present Voices of Aotearoa with music including Maori instruments and pieces by New Zealand composers such as Helen Fisher, David Griffiths and David Hamilton as well as Britten, Purcell, Hildegard. The progam is listed at http://www.chambermusic.co.nz/artists/35-voices-new-zealand-chamber-choir/voices-of-aotearoa/
Finally Friday night was very different. Elton John in Dunedin's new covered stadium. I bought my tickets in February. It was stupendous. Perhaps for me the most moving moment was when he told us he was in a most happy period of his life with his partner and young son then sang "Can you feel the Love Tonight"
If health matters create the only real downside of my move to New Zealand, Music certainly makes up for it.
Last Wednesday I attended a performance by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra at the Town Hall. It was excellent. The second half was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Ode to Joy"
The soloists were all Kiwis who are now making names for themselves overseas. Madeleine Pierard soprano Simon O’Neill tenor Jonathan Lemalu bass Sarah Castle mezzo-soprano
Simon studied at Otago University and Jonathan grew up in Dunedin. They were accompanied by the NZ Chamber Choir and the City of Dunedin Choir. I think about 100 voices. The conductor was Pietari Inkanen who is the Musical Director of the Orchestra and is originally from Finland.
By chance, I also heard Beethoven's Ninth just 4 weeks earlier when I went with my sister to hear it played by the Australian World Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choir at the Sydney Opera House. I am far from being an expert but I thought the performance in Dunedin was just as good if not better. It would have been helped by the fact that I was sitting much closer at one third the price.
In Sydney the first half was Brahms Academic Festival Overture which was also enjoyable and a modern Australian work "Vexations and Devotions" by Brett Dean who also conducted his own piece. It was one of the most horrible things (I would not call it music) I have ever had to sit through.
I was therefore a little nervous at seeing the first half in Dunedin was also a modern piece Kaitiaki, Words by Witi Ihimaera and music by Gareth Farr. However it was also enjoyable, very impressive in parts. It was written especially for this performance. Ihimaera says the work is, for him, a mihi aroha or a greeting of love across space and time to honour Beethoven.
A week earlier I also attended the Town Hall for a "Last Night of the Proms" by the Southern Sinfonia and the City of Dunedin Choir. This is usually held in February but the Town Hall will be closed for renovations next year and they decided to hold it to coincide with the England team playing several Rugby World Cup matches in Dunedin.
I always love this and think it was actually better than in February. They also played the 1812 Overture, another favourite of mine, and had a cannon.
The week before the Sinfonia played for the G&S society's performance of Utopia Ltd.
I also attended the Sinfonia in August with Brahms Symphony No 1 and Nikolai Demidenko playing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3. Unfortunately the NZ Symphony's visit in August was cancelled due to the heavy snow. I could add a short Organ concert in the Cathedral one recent Saturday afternoon.
As mentioned the NZSO musical director and regular conductor is Pietari Inkanen who is very cute.
I have found an interview he made with the violinist Hilary Hahn who also played at an earlier concert here in Dunedin.
It was sunny then, you can see my footprints when I collected the daily newspaper earlier. It was delivered but there is no school, buses are not running and they have advised only essential travel.
The following were taken at 12.40pm
But now 10 minutes later the sun is out again. I may go for a walk.
Road from city to airport was closed this morning but now open but that does not mean the road up the hill to me is open. However all flights were cancelled until 12 when I last looked but cannot access the site at the moment.
Oh Oh, started to snow again, perhaps I will not walk just yet.
Nearly every Tuesday I join a group to walk in nearby areas. Two recent walks were cancelled due to snow and by the forecast next Tuesday will be also. Last Tuesday was a glorious day and the temperature rose above 11'C although it was only 3'C in the morning. We walked to Heyward Point.
First we were above the entrance to Otago Harbour and looking across to Taiaroa Head Lighthouse where the albatross nest.
Then we walked around the Point with a few sections not meant for people like me who suffer from vertigo.
Lunch was at KaiKai beach.
We had to gain permission to cross a farm. I do not mind sheep but young inquisitive heifers are a different proposition. I waited until I had passed the gate before taking this photo.
I moved here 18 months ago and chose to live in one of the higher suburbs above 300 metres. I was very disappointed last year when there was no snowfall before I left for my overseas trip in early August. There was a light fall the week after I left but 2010 had less snow than anyone could remember.
Ten days ago there was a fall for about an hour and I was very excited and took photos.
There was another fall two days later but during the night and it melted fairly quickly.
However today there has been quite heavy snow all day and I have made a movie (with appropriate dramatic music).
Since making the movie, there has been even more snow although I managed to go for a short walk in a break.
I am landscaping the front garden and purchased plants last week. I laid them out yesterday but need to think more before actually planting them in the ground.
I know those who live in the Northern hemisphere will not be impressed but I grew up in the "Land of sunburnt plains"and have always dreamed of living where it snowed.
I returned home yesterday and now have to get back to normal. My home and car were both in good condition.
Garden November 1, 2010
The weather in Dunedin is lovely and sunny although the breeze was a bit cool
yesterday afternoon. I am told Dunedin had its mildest winter in 20 years.
I spent 2 days in San Francisco and rain was forecast on both days although it mainly fell overnight. One day was spent shopping. On the other day I would have liked to visit Golden Gate Park but with rain forecast I stayed closer to shelter. I walked through China Town, down to the Embarcadero and around the waterfront to Fisherman's Wharf. As the weather was not too bad, I took a ferry cruise out to the Golden Gate Bridge before catching the Cable car back to my hotel to collect my luggage and head for the airport.
Photos of Golden Gate Bridge and the sea lions at Fisherman's wharf. Finally one of my front garden this morning which will need to be the focus of my activity for the next month.
It is 6 months next week since I moved to live in Dunedin. I am still in love with the city.
On Tuesday my walking group climbed up the Otago Peninsula. I was not sure I would be able to go as on Monday there was a severe frost and when I drove down the hill at 12.30pm the paths on the shady side were still white. The council spreads grit on the road but there are still warnings about black ice. However Tuesday was much warmer and there was no sign of frost. It was a beautifu lday and I took the first two photos from the top of the peninsula looking out at the mouth of Otago Harbour and across the hill called Harbour Cone which we plan to climb in November after I return from my world trip.
We had lunch under one of the many old trees and later as we descended we looked back at the city.
Thanks to Birdie for encouraging me to take my camera. I did not buy a camera for night work and rarely do anything more than point and click.
However here are the photos from last night. The first shows the Anglican Cathedral on the left and the Town Hall Clock Tower on the right.
Then I managed to shoot a short movie and upload it to Youtube
Finally the more professional production at the Otago Daily Times.
Here in Dunedin it is the shortest day of the year and the sun rose at at 8.20am and will set at 5pm. Back in the Blue Mountains, where I use to live, it rose at 7am and will set at 4.54pm which actually surprises me. I have had difficulty dealing with the sun in my eyes in the middle of the day here for a few weeks. Apparently even though the day is only a little over an hour shorter the sun must travel lower on the horizon.
Last Saturday was the Mid Winter Festival in the Blue Mountains. Next Saturday there is a Mid-Winter Lantern procession in the evening here in Dunedin.
Back in 1976, I spent December in England and January in France and Italy. I remember thinking it strange as the sun set about 4pm in London while in Paris it set later but did not come up until nearly 9am.
This morning was quite warm and driving home from a luncheon about 2pm the sun was in my eyes. However it turned cold and wet about 3pm. They forecast snow tonight down to 500 metres but I am about 300 metres. A week ago they forecast snow down to 100 metres but the wind was from the south west instead of south and it was beautiful blue sky. I have seen snow falling twice since I moved here but not settling.
I did have thick frost a few weeks ago.
Since moving to Dunedin I have been able to attend many more live music performances than I was able to attend in Sydney. Although Sydney has the world renowned Opera House, Sydney Symphony and Australian Opera the performances tend to be very expensive and I had the problem of a 2 hour journey home, not very pleasant in the evening. My sister and I had a subscription and attended the afternoon symphony performances over the last few years but this was only 4 or 5 times each year. There were a few local musical performances in the Blue Mountains or Penrith.
In the 4 months I have been in Dunedin I have attended one performance by the NZ Symphony and 3 performances by the Southern Sinfonia. They have all been excellent, costing about $25 or $30 and I have been home in less than 20 minutes after the finish. I also attended a concert by Dame Malvina Major, and a performance of the musical Dusty and the Cologne Philharmonic performed Vivaldi's Four seasons.
Last Sunday evening I attended the Knox Presbyterian church which was celebrating its 150th Anniversary. Their choir combined with that of the Anglican cathedral and the Dunedin City choir to perform Mozart's Requiem. David Burchell, the Cathedral and City organist performed Haydn's Organ Concerto in C as well as accompanying the choirs
The whole performance was excellent.
I was interested to read a history of the Knox church which is the 2nd Presbyterian church in Dunedin. Dunedin was found by Scots and so the Presbyterian church is more numerous than the Anglican. The First Presbyterian church dominates the city but I believe is more conservative. The Knox church voted in the National assembly to allow same-sex partnered ministers but was not successful.
I have found a video of the Knox church on You-tube although the tourist cannot spell Dunedin.
I have also included one small section (not from last Sunday) of the Requiem for your enjoyment.
Tonight I am attending the Regent Theatre in the city which needs upgrading and there is a variety concert with all genre of music not just classical. Not sure it will be to my taste but I was invited by new friends and it is in a good cause.
Snow is forecast for tonight so I hope it does not start until after I get home. If the roads are open tomorrow afternoon I may attend Faure's requiem to be performed by the City Choir in the Cathedral.
Dunedin is certainly living up to my expectation of providing me with a lot of music experiences.
A retired teacher librarian who loves travelling especially by train and wastes a lot of time on the Internet.
An Anglican who knows God loves me as a gay man.
Moved at the beginning of 2010 from the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia to Dunedin, NZ.
One of the best things I ever did.
I became a New Zealand citizen on 2nd March 2016
I will always be an Aussie by birth but am proud to be a Kiwi by choice.
