May 2013 - Lions Clubs New Zealand

SOCIAL REPORTWe have returned from our tour of the South Island, which included the West Coast, through theBuller Gorge to Westport, then onto Greymouth, Franz Joseph, and Haast. During this section ofthe tour we travelled down into a Coalmine at Deniston, on a very wet day, and followed this up witha visit to the West Coast Brewery, to ensure we were 100% wet throughout.We visited Cape Foulwind, saw the sights of the Buller River, and on to the Blowholes, where wegot wet from the spray, at high tide. We visited Blackball during Rush Hour (two trucks, one car,and another tourist) and tasted the world famous Blackball Sausages, and Black Pudding, then onto Greymouth for Shantytown, and the Monteiths Brewery.Our travels included a walk to the Franz Joseph, and Fox Glaciers and then travelling via the HaastPass to Wanaka, Cromwell, and Oamaru. We visited MacRaes Gold Mine, with the intention ofdoing the advertised tour of the Gold Mine, and the Processing Centre but the tour operator neverresponded to our telephone calls, or turned up on the day. (A call was made to the local ‘i site’ andtheir response was that it was a good tour, although he was difficult to get hold of).We walked along the beach to see the Moeraki Boulders, enjoyed High Tea, and Scones andvisited the Whiskey Tasting in the old Victorian Centre of Oamaru. After touring a few morewineries, we arrived in Christchurch a few days before the Multi-District Convention, intending tovisit the City Sights.The sights within the City Centre were very sobering when the tour operators advise that more than1400 buildings were to be demolished and only 900 or so had been completed. The City Centrewas very hard to navigate without some of the prominent landmarks gone.The Multiple District Convention was well run, and Roy and I were shocked when firstly he wasawarded an International Presidents award for the work done on Heads Up for Kids, and theSilverstream Lions was awarded the Ron Usmar Award for our Tree Hutt Project. The trophy wasrather large, and with our car already overloaded, we managed to convince our District GovernorRobyn Daniels to transport it back to Wellington for us.This was very fortunate because after the Convention we were staying at the Terrace DownsResort (about an hour out of Christchurch towards the Southern Alps, at the base of Mount Hutt).Our accommodation was a Villa overlooking the Golf Course with a view of the Mountain, and wedecided to purchase the weeks groceries, at Pak n Save in Christchurch, before we left for theresort. What a sight that was, because Cath and Jenny had to sit in the back seat before thegroceries were packed in, on, and around them.Roy had groceries at his feet, and on his knees, and groceries were also packed on the floor at thedriver’s feet. Although we stopped for coffee about 35 minutes from Christchurch, the ladies wereNOT allowed to get out of the Car and were provided with a takeaway. It was easier to relocatePotatoes, Bread, and Apples, to allow them some space to drink the Coffee than to unload them.We managed a number of games of Golf at the quality course which contained 10 lakes, and about70 sand traps. (Fortunately, they were selling Pond Balls at a reasonable price because we wereable to purchase some and return them to whence they came). We also enjoyed a night of finedining at the onsite Restaurant.Silverstream Lions Lines Page 8 May 2013