Bay Harbour: July 28, 2021

14 Bay Harbour News Wednesday July 28 2021
In Brief
TREE PLANTING AND
WORKING BEES
A number of community
planting events in the Banks
Peninsula area are coming
up over the next month.
On Saturday, there will be a
working bee at Barnett Park,
starting at 1pm. On Sunday,
there will be another working
bee at Orton Bradley Park,
beginning at 10am. Visit Trees
for Canterbury’s Facebook page
for more information.
MORE CONSULTATION
PLANNED FOR DIAMOND
HARBOUR PROPERTIES
The city council has resolved to
undertake additional targeted
consultation regarding the
properties at 27 Hunters Rd
and 42 Whero Ave in Diamond
Harbour. Planning is currently
underway and the city council
aims to begin community
consultation from mid-August.
The land was originally in
the Long Term Plan for fast
track disposal for property
development, but submissions
called for community
consultation prior to sale.
Treasures
from the
past
HMAS Sydney (D48) at Lyttelton in 1946
PHOTO: Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum
collection
​
HMS TERRIBLE was one of
six majestic class light aircraft
carriers commissioned for the
British Royal Navy during World
War 2.
Laid down in 1943, launched
late 1944, she was too late for war
service.
Acquired by the Royal Australian
Navy in 1948, she was
renamed His Majesty’s Australian
Ship Sydney (III) in honour of
the light cruiser HMAS Sydney
(II) that sank in 1941 with the
tragic loss of all aboard.
HMAS Sydney (III) finally
sailed from Devonport in the
UK in early 1949, bound for
Australia with a complement of
Hawker Sea Furies on board.
HMAS Sydney visited New
Zealand several times over the
next two decades, although the
photograph shown here, docked
at Lyttelton Port, is somewhat
ambiguous as to the date.
The reverse of the photo
reads ‘17 G082 / HMAS Sydney
berthed at Lyttelton / (about
1946) / photographed by / F E
McGregor / Z236.’
The estimated year 1946 is
obviously too early as the carrier
remained in the UK until 1949.
However, if you look closely, the
planes on deck appear to be Sea
Furies, indicating she was in
active carrier service at the time.
Sydney’s first visit to New Zealand
was in February 1950, when
she called at Milford Sound,
Akaroa, Lyttelton and Wellington,
arriving in Auckland on
March 15.
The next recorded visit to
our shores was between March
and August 1953, but only to
Auckland on return from the
coronation of Queen Elizabeth
II, with representatives of all
three branches of the Australian
and New Zealand defence forces
on board.
Finally, it appears that it
was only after Sydney’s refit
as a training ship, minus Sea
Furies, that she returned to New
Zealand on her first training
cruise in May 1955.
In the years afterward, HMAS
Sydney trained in our fair waters
several times.
She also served as a troop
transporter, which included
transporting the first New
Zealand infantry force sent to
the Vietnam War in May 1967.
Decommissioned in 1973,
she was sold for scrap to South
Korea.
Given this brief history, it
would seem certain then that the
arrival in Lyttelton Port pictured
above would have to date from
sometime between February and
mid-March 1950.
If you can corroborate or
correct that date for us please
email Te Ūaka Lyttelton
Museum: info@teuaka.org.nz
Vashti Johnstone
Little River Gallery 31 July – 24 August
Vashti Johnstone is a contemporary New Zealand painter,
new to Little River Gallery, but not new to exhibiting. Living
and working on the South Island’s West Coast she has been
a student of visual language forever, formalising her innate
need to express and articulate with a Diploma in Painting,
Aoraki Polytechnic (2001)
Johnstones’s oeuvre applauds the vitality and importance
of making art. Respectful of and roused by the lineage of
creators who have gone before her and create alongside her,
she pushes her practice in energizing and innovative ways,
layering her charcoal and her paints into a colourful language
that transcends beyond words.
Echoing men and women known to Vashti, people who are
present and others who have gone before her, Authentic
Whisperings explores the tranquillity of people as they expose
their flaws and vulnerabilities to the light, attaining wisdom,
legitimacy and peace within the authenticity of their own skin.
Authentic Whisperings
31 July – 24 August 2021
littlerivergallery.com
Main Rd, Little River | 03 325 1944
art@littlerivergallery.com
Vashti Johnstone
Authentic Whisperings
31 July – 24 August 2021
✓ Co-educational, Years 1-8
✓ Small classes
✓ Specialist teachers
✓ Traditional classrooms
✓ Academic rigour
✓ Musical excellence
✓ Christian values
✓ Before & after school care:
7.30am - 5.30pm
✓ Central city location
Taking enrolments for 2023.
Some places available for 2022.
St Michael’s
Your school at the heart
of the city since 1851
littlerivergallery.com
Main Rd, Little River | 03 325 1944
art@littlerivergallery.com
OPEN DAY: WED 4 AUGUST
www.saintmichaels.school.nz 249 Durham Street 379 9790