This being a Club Assembly with a difference we had the novelty of receiving President Gerald’s presentation via President-elect Sandhya in his absence overseas.

The general gist was – business as usual – no change to membership fees, existing fund-raising programmes to continue under the same management, donations to Bellyful ($1000), $500 to Tasman relief fund and $2500 set aside to sponsor worthy students to the Science Summer School. Board responsibilities rolled over from last year with few changes – Joan replacing Malcolm as Secretary and Malcolm taking over the almoner’s role from Geoff Shapland.

Both Malcolm and Dennis were thanked for their crucial roles in the running of the club over the last year as was Ian Handisides for his organising of social functions for our enjoyment and fellowship.

Roger Purdie (Treasurer)  - Thumbnail – about 2 years late but very welcome!

Born in Paeroa but a local since the mid 50s, Roger came through the St. Kents schooling experience and completed a BCom at Auckland University, fitting in his studies between many an appointment on a golf course. His accountancy skills were put to use at the IRD briefly, then South British Insurance before a lengthy stint at the Horotiu freezing works (interesting life experiences and insights here) followed by time with AFFCO. His main working life however was with Rank-Xerox (now Xero NZ) as a management accountant from which he retired after 40 years in 2022.  

Married to Sue (1978) they have two adult children who, by their choice of tennis as a sport, seduced him away from the golf course and had him trained for and acting as a linesman at tennis tournaments both in NZ and overseas for 22 years.  Highlights include watching John McEnroe play Pat Cash and Martina Navratilova against Monica Seles in exhibition matches. He also is a chair umpire in significant tournaments including Davis Cup fixtures.

Somehow in such a busy life he has found time to be on management teams for the Howick Club, Cockle Bay Tennis Club (15 years on committee, one as President), a local Wine Club and now Pakuranga Rotary. His golf handicap may have suffered as a result but not so his (and Sue’s) enthusiasm for riding the great bike trails of the country.

Towards the end of the meeting Graham Kearns gave an in-house tutorial on the use of Club Runner – accessible as an app. on phones – a reminder that there’s not much to know about our Club that isn’t instantly available.

Del Johnson gave a plea for interested people to consider forming a working group, and possibly a trust in the future with the goal of turning the Rotary Walkway into an avenue of substantial artworks. Watch this space!

We arrived to a blustery Glasgow a few days ago; fortunately it was not a day or so earlier as the worst of the storm that hit Scotland had passed. Whilst windy, at least it was mostly dry so able to make the most of the daylight hours and have a good look around mainly using the ‘Hop on, Hop off’ buses. A lot of work is being done to ‘tidy’ the city for the 2026 Commonwealth Games. On our third morning, after breakfast at the famous Macintosh Tea Rooms, we collected our rental car and headed north to Fort William. The idea was to have a few short drives each day as jet-lag was still a factor. 
 
Tricia discovered that the Hill House designed by the same Charles Macintosh in 1903 was located in Helensburgh on the way to Fort William. A slight detour was necessary to visit but well worth it. I won’t bore you with details but the design and construction at the time was considered unique. For those interested in looking further it is just a case of googling ‘Hill House Helensburgh’. Plenty of info there!
 
Fort William is a small town and used by many trekkers as a base for climbing Ben Nevis. I say ‘climbing’ but at only 1,345 metres it is more of an amble! As a comparison Mt Pirongia is almost 1,000 metres. 
 
Our next drive was to Portree on the Isle of Skye where we were staying for two nights. Again it was purposely short at just under three hours for a direct drive. As the weather was still a bit patchy we decided to take the ‘bird in the hand’ approach and took a more scenic route once reaching the Skye. Scenery was quite rugged and dramatic; even though it was mostly dry, the strong wind made for an interesting drive. The real bonus of this route was stopping, albeit briefly, at the Talisker Distillery. Needless to say Tricia drove the rest of the way to Portree!
 
The first couple of hours today was quite rainy however again the wind took control and within minutes of a heavy shower, that had blown away and it was dry. We drove around the northern part of Skye with various scenic (and windswept) stops along the way. Tomorrow we head back to the mainland and further North to Scourie. Hopefully the conditions will improve.
 
Going back to when we planned this two week drive around Scotland we had hoped to be able to book accommodation along the way rather than be bound to a set itinerary. We did a lot of research and realised that August was not the time to be doing that; the Travel Agent in me took over and accommodation bookings were made for the whole time. Just as well as every hotel or B&B we have passed so far has had a ‘no vacancies’ sign out front; even many of the camp grounds are displaying ‘fully booked’ signs so some of those in camper vans will be roughing it. Sleeping in the back of a car would have been a terrible result!  

On Monday evening two local schools gave us plenty to think about as they took part in The Holyoake Annual Debate. The moot was "This House Believes in New Zealand city life is best. St Kentigern College debated the Affirmative and Pakuranga College argued the Negative.Teachers from Sacred Heart College Adjudicated. St Kents argued that living in a city was the best because it provided jobs, medical care, homes, education,natural spaces and community, as well as plenty of activities. Pakuranga argued that rural life provided all these things and more, often more cheaply. The adjudicators considered that St Kents best agued the moot and awarded the debate to them.

Bet Holyoake presented cups to each member of the winning team along with the big cup for placement in St Kent's trophy cupboard.

While we waited for the adjudicators to complete their discussion considering the winners of the debate Members and Guests were treated to a presentation from Sandhya Govind outlining her journey and many business opportunities on her way to Auckland. She began in India then Bangkok followed by a stint in Dubai then finally on to Auckland. One wonders how she managed to produce 3 children as well as creating businesses along the way. Sandhya is currently compiling a book of crossword puzzles for publication next year.

I have been adding words each Bulletin that have changed meaning. In rrsearching that its clear that there are also words that have quite recently changed thanks to the internet. hile their original definitions are still in use, their new online meanings have become so widespread that they often overshadow the old ones—at least, in most contexts.

Troll

Old meaning: A mythical creature often found in fairy tales, often living under bridges and harassing travellers. 

New meaning: A person who intentionally stirs up trouble or provokes others online. They typically leave negative or inflammatory comments to get a reaction. 

Actually when we think of the traditional troll hiding under a bridge there is not much difference to the modern troll hiding behind their keyboard.