To address the needs of communities affected by Cyclone Gabrielle the Anglican Church has established the Anglican Cyclone Gabrielle Response Group ‘Hāpaitia’. As part of that response the St John’s College Trust Board has released $250,000 in emergency funds for immediate deployment. Some would see this as a minimum response given the wealth of the…

FloodingWe are shocked at the pictures we see of the flooding in the North Island. While scenes of flooding from around the world and New Zealand seem to have flashed across our screen more often in recent years, this is still of a magnitude that we haven’t seen often in New Zealand. The utter helplessness…

I do grocery shopping the manly way: I know exactly what I want, what shop I will get it in and where in the shop I’ll find it. I’ve got the in-and-out mentality, rather than browsing. I do compare the ingredients and do research on companies, though, but try to keep my time in the…

During our holiday travels we also stopped briefly in Lawrence, Otago. As we were coming into the townI told the children about the association of this town with New Zealand’s national anthem. For here inLawrence, John Joseph Woods wrote the tune for “God defend New Zealand”. As you will probably know, the poem was written…