ANZAC day in Dunedin

I suppose nothing illustrates more the fact that I have not made such a huge move from Australia to New Zealand than the ability to attend an Anzac Dawn Service. It was great to see the New Zealand, Australian and British flags flying side by side.

The speaker at the service in Dunedin,  Air Commodore Baillie seemed to stress the partnership that developed between the two countries on that first Anzac Day and, when he said not only did the New Zealanders  and Australians become comrades in arms on the first Anzac day they also became mates,  I felt tears  running down my cheeks.

I have had nothing but welcome since my arrival (with occasional friendly ribbing).
Apparently I do not have a strong Aussie accent and many people mistakenly think I am returning home.  Of course I am bucking the usual trend of Kiwis to move to Australia.  I was amused when the removalists said my sister sounded far more Australian than me.

The dawn service in Sydney commences at  4.30am while most suburban ones start at 5.30 or 6.00.  The service at Gallipoli starts at 5.30.  In Dunedin the actual service started at 6.30am but dawn is much later down here.  I was able to get up at 5am and leave home just after 5.30 and still have a good position whereas last year I caught a train about 1.30am.

There were a number of differences. The Last Post and Reveille did not immediately follow  the Ode which is the norm in Australia.  There were less hymns. The catafalque party added a Maori warrior as well as representatives of the three services.  I do not know how he stood still all that time in just a grass skirt and loose cloak. I was glad to see, although barefoot,  he was standing on a mat over the marble surface. It was warmer than yesterday but the wind was brisk.

I was disappointed we did not sing the Australian national anthem.  In Sydney they do sing the New Zealand anthem but then it is not included in the services in suburbs and country towns. I guess there would be many more New Zealanders in Sydney than Aussies in Dunedin.  I was surprised that very few around me were singing and regretted that while I know the English I have not persevered in learning the Maori words. A phot of the cenotaph in Dunedin is on the right.

I attended the Dawn Service at Gallipoli in 2002 and here is a brief clip from the service there last year.

Travel to Queenstown and Christchurch

I promised to provide some photos of our journey to Queenstown.
I fell in love with Queenstown on my first visit back in 1967 and have always had a photo in my bedroom but I realised it was not the town for retirement.   It is now a busy tourist centre, especially for extreme activities but I still think the views are some of the best in the world. I enjoyed showing them to my sister.
From Dunedin on Tuesday we drove through the Central Otago towns of Middlemarch, Ranfurly and Alexandra, finally passing through the  Kawarau Gorge with a stop at the Roaring Meg waterfall, into Queenstown.

Wednesday was a glorious blue sky and we drove to Arrowtown which was once a centre of gold mining and walked in the old Chinese settlement as well as the heritage main street.

 We returned to our hotel about 4km out of town and took the free shuttle into Queenstown where parking is at a premium.

First up the gondola for a view over the town and Lake Wakatipu

then back down and a walk in the gardens followed by a seafood lunch

and then a trip on the steam ship Earnslaw.

Thursday was a quick drive of nearly 500km to Christchurch, stopping to view Mt Cook and again I do not remember such a clear view in my previous visits.

Then to the Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo
and a stop for lunch in Ashburton.











I wanted to arrive in Christchurch by 2.30 to give my sister sufficient time to visit the Antarctic Centre which is excellent.  However I was so zonked that when my phone rang and I was told they wanted to deliver my new chairs, I said : "Sorry you can't, I am in Antarctica"

On Friday we walked around Christchurch and visited the cathedral

before my sister caught the 1.30pm plane to Sydney via Wellington and I drove the 360km back to Dunedin arriving home about 6.30pm

Catching Up

Well trying to do so, anyway.

At the moment I am waiting for a plumber to finish installing a laundry tub so I can go down to the city and begin booking my round world airflights for August to November.

Things have been go go go since my sister arrived on March 23rd. Despite being older than me she has far more energy. When I wanted to have my afternoon siesta, she polished the furniture. When I wanted to rest after hanging 6 paintings/pictures, she insisted we keep on going (there are 33 of these throughout the lounge/dining and hall). She was in her element dealing with tradesmen and choosing colours while I absolutely hate it. The decorator gene which is suppose to accompany the gay gene does not apply to me eg I was amazed at having to decide between different shades of white for the bathroom tiles, white is white to me.  Sadly we had several explosions as we have had all our lives but these blow over. She admits she can be bossy and I know I can be lazy and hate making decisions.
I have had trouble finding time to read the blogs on my list let alone writing my own.

My sister arrived on the evening of March 23rd and stayed for 3 nights in the hotel where I had been living for nearly 8 weeks. The first day she saw the house, loved the layout and location but realised there was a lot needed doing especially as the previous owner was a DIY person who really had no idea.  I have seen a number of tradesmen scratch their heads in amazement.  We made many trips to Mitre 10 the mega hardware store in Dunedin. We also chose new dining chairs and a reclining chair so I will not need to lie on the lounge to watch TV in future. These finally were delivered yesterday.

The following day my furniture arrived, all 90 boxes.  Fortunately it was mainly in good condition. Some mould on a few items of furniture (Sydney's humidity?) which led to the polishing already mentioned and a few scratches. 20 boxes were of books which I only began to open yesterday. We moved in the next day, March 26.


I had already had new carpet laid in the lounge/dining to match the carpet the previous owners laid in the rest of the house only a few months earlier and had all the electrics checked and new power points installed.

Now we began the job of arranging for the kitchen to be completely remodelled and the bathroom/laundry to be renovated. This led to the choosing of colours etc already mentioned.  The bathroom is being done as I write and the kitchen cupboards will be a few weeks. New blinds through much of the house have also been chosen and will arrive in a few weeks.

We did manage to have a nice lunch the first Sunday at the beachside suburb (a late birthday lunch for me) and went on 2 walks with my walking group. The first was just a few hours to a nearby hill and past a lake while the second was on Easter Monday and we were away for 6 hours travelling to the mouth of the Taieri River south of the city and walking nearly 8km

Finally I took her away for 3 nights to Queenstown and Christchurch from where she flew home last Friday. I will post some photos of this trip in my next entry.

I am afraid I did not give as much time to Lent and Easter as I would have liked.
On Palm Sunday we attended Sung Eucharist at the local parish before going to lunch at the seaside.

My sister does not like the solemnity of Good Friday and I knew the long services would be difficult for her so we attended on Thursday night which has not been my custom in the past, living such a long way from my previous church.
The service was fairly informal and was held in the hall and we sat in a circle. We did not participate in the feet washing but were not alone in this. I knew my sister would be uncomfortable and must admit it would have been a first for me. The Eucharist was distributed around the circle as we each administered the bread and wine to our neighbour.

Then we processed in silence into the church where the altar etc was stripped before we left in silence. Both of us found the service very moving.

Good Friday has always been a very holy day for me but this year we just ate hot cross buns and fish meals to acknowledge the day.  In the afternoon we drove north along the beaches and bought an ice cream in a small town which would have been infra dig  for me in the past.

Easter Sunday we chose to go to Choral Eucharist in the cathedral as the family service advertised for the local parish did not enthuse me. The choir singing was beautiful but I did miss St James, King Street.

Unfortunately my sister had one of  her TIA turns. This is not unusual if we have to stand for long periods and there was a baptism of 3 adults so we had turned around in the pews to face the font. Usually she realises an attack is coming and sits down but she was embarrassed to do so and as I was facing away from her I suddenly realised she was falling onto me and luckily managed to grab her and sit her down with the help of one man. She lay along the pew for most of the sermon and as usual was completely recovered 20 minutes later. I do worry about her attending church by herself as the attacks mostly occur while standing for long periods.  There is a risk that one of these attacks may become a full blown stroke so your prayers would be appreciated.

Next year I would like to be in Sydney at St James for Easter but time will tell.

My sister says she enjoyed her 17 days in New Zealand although I felt too much of the time was spent in hardware and furniture stores or dealing with tradespeople. However it was good to have her advice and assistance (well most of the time).

St James and Jensen

Have been reading the April magazine from my previous parish.
A new rector  has just been appointed to St James, King Street.
Rev Andrew Semple is currently Dean of Bathurst.  He grew up in Sydney and was active in youth ministry in North West Sydney, a hot bed of evangelicalism. He was later involved in church work in the Diocese of Armidale, the other, less extreme, evangelical diocese in NSW.

However he studied at St Mark's Canberra and was ordained in the Diocese of Grafton.  I am not so happy that he seems to have spent much of his ministry as an Army chaplain but that is showing my prejudices.

His appointment had to be approved by Peter Jensen and in replying to a letter of thanks from the parish nominators, Jensen mentions that his parents met at St James, King Street.

Elsewhere in the magazine there is an historical article regarding a previous Rector and it mentions that in 1937  "Micklem’s resignation from St James’ led to a crisis over the appointment of a successor. Archbishop Mowll required the incoming Rector, the Rev. E.J. Davidson to make substantial changes to the liturgy including the replacement of the 11am Sung Eucharist or ‘High Mass’ with the service of Morning Prayer. This led to an exodus of parishioners to Christ Church St. Laurence. It was not until 1984 that Fr. Hughes, soon after his induction, restored most of the liturgical practices abandoned at St James’ in 1937."

Phew, that explains it, it would be a shock to find that Peter and Phillip Jensen were conceived as a result of a meeting in an Anglo-catholic environment.

Poland

The Mermaid statue in a photo I took in the Old Town market on my visit to Warsaw in 2008.

Worshipping in Dunedin

I am an Anglican. It is how I was brought up and, even in Sydney evangelical churches of the 50's and 60's, we followed a set liturgy with robed choirs and the priest wore a surplice and stole. I loved wearing cassock and surplice when I sang in the junior choir and later when I read Evening Prayer. After I gained an Arts degree from Sydney University I was so proud to wear my Arts hood when I preached.
Watching on TV the services in English cathedrals with processional crosses, candles and robed clergy always brings a lump to my throat.

I am quite happy for others to have simpler forms of worship but it is not for me. At school, my closest friend was a Presbyterian.  He was overjoyed to show me a book he was reading which described the Presbyterian church as the church of duty while the Anglican church was the church of beauty.  It was just gentle ribbing as we both shared our love of Christ even if our form of worship was different.

As the Sydney diocese began to become less and less Anglican, I searched out churches where they still used the services in the Prayer Book and the priest wore robes. It was a sad fact of life that there were less and less robed choirs as church attendance declined. I also gradually became accustomed to the modern communion service in the Australian Book of Common Prayer rather than the 1662 which I knew off by heart.

When I went to teach in Catholic schools I became used to making the sign of the cross and recognising the altar and the service of Mass was very similar to the modern service used in Anglican churches.

I have walked out of Anglican churches when the priest walks in wearing a collar and tie, as the anger I feel makes Holy Communion impossible.

It was a great joy for me to begin worshipping at St James, King Street. Of course the main reason was the acceptance of people of all sexualties but on the great Holy days when I attended Choral Eucharist rather than Sung Eucharist and we had a full procession with Cross, candles, incense and robes, I had trouble to stop the tears of joy from flowing.
Even on ordinary sundays when I attended Sung Eucharist, there was still the Cross, candles and robed clergy. I have come to love the dignity and meaning of the Sarum form of worship used at St James.

My first choice of worship in Dunedin has been St John's Roslyn. There is a robed choir and the priest wears robes. There is a processional cross. I am glad to see the church is nearly full most Sundays with many young families. I do not really like the service and hymns being projected onto the wall but guess that makes it easier for many. As an old, single, curmudgeon, I am irritated when parents allow their children to run around the church during the service. However the people have been most welcoming and I have come to know some of the men my own age over Morning coffee.

However I have wanted to experience some of what I missed at St James so have tried to attend the cathedral. On previous visits to Dunedin I attended the cathedral but both times were on Remembrance Sunday so the morning service was not the Eucharist but a special community service.

Since moving here, I have attended on Ash Wednesday and for the consecration of Bishop Kelvin. I attended Said Eucharist early one Sunday in the side  chapel as I was meeting overseas friends and showing them around the city for the day.
Two weeks ago I attended and discovered it was Commonwealth Sunday and again no Eucharist. This was mildly annoying as the cathedral website is hopelessly out of date and did not show this.

Today I have finally succeeded in attending choral Eucharist in the cathedral. The choir singing and organ playing was beautiful. The robed procession was good but no candles or incense. The congregation was smaller, although this might have been an illusion due to the size of the cathedral, and certainly older.

The greatest thing for me was that, although the Dean preached and presided at the Eucharist and his preaching is good, the assistant priests distributed and I received the bread from Rev Juan Kinnear, an openly gay partnered man. I hope one day to hear him preach and, even more importantly for me, to see him preside.

I will probably become a parishioner of St John's Roslyn but make an occasional visit to the cathedral.

I would like to attend a service at All Saints, Dunedin which is more high church but will leave that until after Easter.  It's webpage is also hopelessly out of date and is still advertising the Christmas services. Bishop Kelvin Wright is well in the forefront of communication technology and the webpage of St John's Roslyn is always up to date. I wish other churches would see the importance of this in these times.

I must admit to a longing for the services of St James, King Street but am glad to be out of the Sydney Diocese and know I could not have continued the 2 hours each way of train travel to worship there.

Need Help in Trip Planning

While a major reason for my big move was to leave the Sydney Diocese, an equal reason was to move to a cool climate and another was to free up the funds tied up in the block of land next to my house in the Blue Mountains.

I purchased the block a few years after the house in the mid 80's. It protected the view over the valleys from my house and I  enjoyed landscaping the upper section of it. I did not enjoy maintaining the garden as I got older.  It had a cliff of about 10 metres dividing the upper 20% from the lower 80%.  I do not remember when I last went down the bottom.  My house block was similar but the upper section was more  like a third.

A problem developed when I became eligible for an age pension from the government. The Australian government takes into account all assets other than the family home and block in assessing the amount of pension. They counted the neighbouring block of land as an asset but I could not earn any interest on it nor spend any of it.

I knew it would be very hard to sell on its own and most potential purchasers (young couples) of the house were uninterested in the extra land.  I was very thankful when a middle aged couple agreed to buy both.  I have allocated the money from the land sale to future travel.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I need to at least book my flights soon.

I have long ago booked and paid for 2 nights in Oberramergau (Sept 20&21) so planning hinges around those dates. I want a month in Europe before and a month in USA/Canada afterwards


A Round the World Trip allows 5 stopovers. I intend them to be Sydney, Bangkok, Frankfurt, Chicago-Toronto, and San Francisco or Los Angeles. Bangkok and LA or SF are mainly to allow me a good sleep as I detest long flights.

My vague itinerary at the moment is to arrive (after 10 days in Sydney) in
Frankfurt on Aug 20(1n)
Train to Copenhagen (1n)
Overnight ferry to Oslo(1n)
Train to Bergen (1n)

Board Hurtigruten ship for 10 nights cruising the Fiords up to Kirkenes and back to Trondheim

Train back to Oslo (2n)

Train to Copenhagen (2n) (I visited Oslo and Copenhagen in 1974 but guess they have changed)

Train- overnight ferry-train to London about September 9.


Undecided here for 10 nights except I have a dream to attend the Last Night of the Proms (ok in the park opposite) on September 11 and must be in Munich on September 19.

I have never been to Ireland, would love to return to Lakes District and have a friend in Bradford. (Have not been to UK since 1980).  Paris always beckons but perhaps I could give it a miss and hope for future trips as I spent 2 weeks there in both 2002 and 2007.

After Oberammergau, I hope to fly from either Munich or Frankfurt to Chicago on Sept 22 (arrive 23) and stay 2 nights. (I spent 24 hours there in 1999)

Back on trains I plan to travel to New York (undecided about travelling on Lakeshore Limited or Cardinal)

I want to worship with Rev Elizabeth at Chatham on September 26 and there is also a possibility of a Brokeback meeting in New York that weekend.

I have about 9 days to see Boston (was there in 1980), perhaps visit Fran in Albany (Hi Fran) and Motheramelia in Maine and see the Fall colours.

The last Cat from Yarmouth to Portland is about Oct 9 (2010 timetable not yet posted).

I have allocated 6 nights to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island then back on train.

Overnight to Montreal (4 n)

Quebec (2n)

Ottawa (3n)

Toronto (4n with a day to Niagara and back)

Not sure why I allocated the nights that way, am certainly open to advice there.

Then possibly 2 nights in either SF or LA. have been to both and prefer SF  but would like to visit a church in the Diocese of LA.

Finally Dunedin via Auckland.
(phew)

Some comments - I hate flying but know it is a necessary evil if I want to travel from the bottom of the world.  It is why I go for so long at a time - to make the trip worthwhile.

I love train travel and am quite fond of ship travel although am wary of a long cruise and this will be the longest I have ever spent on a ship at one time but hope the Norwegian scenery will make it all worthwhile. I think I would be bored on a long ocean cruise.

Would appreciate any advice either publicly or by private email (see profile).

Jensen comments : no surprise there

Peter Jensen who is titled Archbishop of Sydney has issued a tirade against the Episcopal Church and the confirmation of the election of Mary Glasspool as Bishop.

Well no surprise from this high priest of hate. I will no longer personally acknowledge his title.  I am overjoyed to have left the diocese he purports to lead. The gospel of hate preached by him and his cohorts has caused me and many others so much grief over the years.

I have met and read and heard Bishop Gene Robinson and consider his work and preaching to be an example of true Christian Love. From what I read, Mary Glasspool is like minded. I rejoice in the news that she is to be a bishop.

I only weep for the many people in Sydney who are turned away from Christ by the words and antics of the Jensenites. Some have found acceptance in other churches including MCC who has many ex-Anglicans among its members, many have lost their faith and a few (two I knew personally) have resorted to suicide. This is the evil that is generated by these so called ministers.

I thank God for keeping me safe through the years of living in that diocese and finally leading me to one of the parishes which do not toe the Jensen line.
Although the parishioners of St James, King Street are generally polite, there is always a titter of amusement throughout the congregation if Peter Jensen is mentioned and while he is prayed for in the usual way during the prayers of the faithful, most privately use the immortal words of 'Fiddler on the Roof' that Peter Jensen 'be kept far away from us'.

The only words of his that are worth quoting are:

"The election of Bishop Robinson in 2003 was not an aberration to be corrected in due course. It was a true indication of the heart of the Church and the direction of its affairs."

And I praise God that this is so. 

There are a number of reasons why I would not and could not move to live in Los Angeles but as already described in previous posts I have found a diocese in Dunedin and a Bishop who teaches and displays God's Love for all of Creation.

Sadly I now find it hard to recognise Jensen et al as even Christians. Their teachings display none of the Love of Christ found in the Gospels. Unlike them I do not pretend to know the mind of God but I do believe in His infinite Mercy. I will pray that they experience it and are turned from their thoughts of hate..

Muslim demands

News today from Australia that a Muslim leader advocates that some aspects of Sharia law should be allowed in Australia.   He is not advocating the draconian stoning of women for adultery nor cutting off hands for theft.  Rather it is something to do with divorce allowing the husband to decide if the children can go with their mother and her new husband. From what I know, Australian courts decide such matters taking most account of the welfare of the children and that is how it should be.

He cites examples where traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander laws are recognised. That is a completely different case. They were here first and had their land invaded. Muslim people have chosen to come to Australia and need to realise they therefore chose to accept the laws of their new country. Australia has a long history of immigration and I have never heard of the Italians, Germans, Chinese, Indians, Jews or Buddhists asking for special laws.

I have just moved to New Zealand. The laws are almost the same as Australia but there are some differences. However I will need to adapt where necessary.   I do not expect New Zealand to change to suit me. If a country had laws which were difficult for me to accept, then I would not move there.

The Muslims wonder why they have troubles being accepted in their new country. These sort of demands indicate why.

Bishop : Sermons, Photos and more

Bishop Kelvin has posted his first sermon as Bishop, the sunday after his consecration (about 12 minutes)

Also the sermon at the consecration by Alan Firth (about 15 minutes). I found this a very challenging sermon.

These are the first in the Diocesan sermon archive.

Also a description and excellent series of photos can be found at Anglican Taonga.