Bay Harbour: March 15, 2017

PAGE 10 BAY HARBOUR Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi
Wednesday March 15 2017
ews
Reunion celebrates
Danish settler history
ABOUT 70 descendants of
19th-century Danish settler Peter
Sorensen visited sites around
Banks Peninsula recently for a
family reunion.
Descendants met first at
the Greenpark Memorial
Community Centre before
spending the weekend visiting
various Banks Peninsula
locations associated with the
family history.
The reunion culminated with
a get-together at the Akaroa Recreation
Ground.
Mr Sorensen, a carpenter,
and his wife Rasmine made the
journey from Yding, Denmark, to
Lyttelton onboard the Cardigan
Castle in 1873.
Conditions in Denmark were
not good at the time and the
New Zealand Government was
initially recruiting immigrants.
The Sorensens’ children Karen
and Nielsine also made the voyage.
A third child had died of
cholera in London after arriving
there from Denmark and three
other children, Mary, Frederick
and Bodiline were born in New
Zealand.
The family settled, first at
Robinsons Bay, and then in the
GET TOGETHER: About 70 people attended the Sorensen
family reunion. ​
Little River area, and lived there
for many years.
Family members worked at the
Robinsons Bay, Springvale and
Tarawera mills.
The children married into
families in the Banks Peninsula
area and Christchurch, before
dispersing out to various farms
throughout Canterbury and
beyond.
Bodiline Sorensen worked as
a housekeeper for the Rhodes
brothers at Flea Bay before marrying
Greek-born Akaroa launch
operator Demetrius Koinomopolus.
They were better known locally
as Mr and Mrs Dominique.
Mrs Dominique, who lived to
94, was well regarded in Akaroa
for growing fruit trees and selling
the fruit and preserves. The
Dominique’s house at 20 Percy
St still has some of those original
apple and pear trees. She was also
known for her fine embroidery
and her marriage certificate,
which she worked in cross-stitch,
was on show at the Akaroa Museum
over the reunion weekend.
Many of the descendants at the
reunion came from Canterbury,
Otago and Southland. Some also
came from the North Island and
Australia, as well as as far afield
as Wisconsin and Vietnam.
Only one descendant of Mr
Sorensen lives on the peninsula
today, a great, great granddaughter
who lives in Takamatua.
SEND-OFF: More than 360 people farewelled godwits on
Friday evening. The birds have started an 11,000km migration
journey to Alaska. About 800 birds left last week with 750
expected to leave this week. “It was just fabulous to see so
many people taking an interest in these unique migrating
birds, it shows that people truly value wildlife in and on the
estuary,” Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust co-ordinator
Tanya Jenkins said.
ECLECTIC: The Hell Fire Club owner Roz Dixon celebrating
her new bar in the British Hotel in Lyttelton. The club had
a soft opening two weeks ago and the response from the
community has been “really good,” she said. Mrs Dixon hopes
the club will be a creative space for locals to go and perform
in a welcoming environment. PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
What happens
to the contents
of your green bin?
Come along to the
Organics Processing Plant
FREE OPEN DAY!
Saturday 18 March
10am–3pm
40 Metro Place, Bromley
(next to EcoDrop)
Parking onsite or
on Metro Place
Hosted by
• Plant tour every 30 minutes
• Tips and tricks to make your
garden grow!
• Prizes and giveaways
• Informative, educational and
fun for the whole family.
RED
GREEN
YELLOW
For more information, phone 941 8999 or
visit loveyourrubbish.co.nz
C’mon Christchurch
let’s get our
rubbish sorted!