Buzzy Bees on the Harbour

As I wander about our office I often glance at the Harbour, having a lovely view across to Oriental Bay.

Sometimes the view is just the pristine, sparkling glory of the sheltered inner harbour.

Occasionally, the view is accompanied by the percussive smoke of a salute fired from the ceremonial battery at Point Jerningham.

(Have a look at the larger version - click on the photo - and spot the muzzle-flash!)

On some days the air is so sharp and clear, especially in winter, the ice on the mountains behind the Orongorongas is almost within arms reach, and aircraft approaching the airport look in imminent danger of crashing.

On other occasions, one sees rowing skiffs heading out to practise, or yatchs stretching their sails.

Yesterday it was jet-skis, ploughing up the otherwise calm waters off Oriental Bay.

The Cuba Street Carnival, 2009

Last Saturday was the annual Cuba Street Carnival in Wellington.

Desiree was keen to see the Parade in the evening, so we did. And so did, perhaps, 149,998 others. Needless to say the City was packed.

We made our way to the corner of Taranaki & Ghuznee Streets, and got to within about 3-4 people from the edge of the parade, and decided that was about as close as we could get.

So there we stayed. And watched and waited. The Parade did go past, although it was quite slow, with long gaps between floats at times.

It was terrific, however. Full of light, colour and energy, and reflecting the diversity of the City.

The proof, as they say, was in the clicking. So, of course, there is a slideshow of photos.

A Polygot Ancestry

I happened across a couple of family history website recently, that have provided useful information about some parts of my ancestry about which I know very little.

The Blair Campbell Family site has some useful information about the Blair and Stevenson families.

These two families are related to the Clearwaters from whom I am descended.

The Forrester & Maitland Family History collates entries from the "Cyclopedia of New Zealand" and lists many Forresters from Invercargill. My father's mother was a Forrester; she died a few weeks after giving birth to her second child, my Aunt Moira. I knew little about her family, so this site filled in a few gaps very nicely.

However, the exercise, useful as it was, prompted some other thoughts. Having updated my database, I prepared a report on my ancestry, to see the 'gaps' filled and the chart extended.

Having done so, the extent of the tree became obvious. So I re-focussed the Report on Charlotte. The resulting Report shows that we can trace our family back some 14 generations, to Rotterdam, Holland. I hope that will be of interest to Charlotte, after her recent visit to Amsterdam and avowed intention to live there.

Because in addition to the number of generations we span, it also shows the diversity of our 'ethnicity' - Irish (green boxes), Scottish (blue boxes), Dutch (orange boxes), and American-Dutch (, oh and a little English thrown there as well.

I was also interested to see just how many branches of the family are Scottish - arguably we are Scottish more than anything else.

Sevens Heaven

I don't usually wax lyrical about sporting events - no, honestly, I don't! Well apart from basketball!

But this past weekend Wellington has played host to a round of the IRB Sevens. Now what is special about the Wellington Sevens is the party atmosphere which takes over the city.

It starts with a parade through the middle of the city on Thursday, and then the games begin at the Stadium on Friday afternoon.

This year's parade:

The DominionPast photographers had a busy couple of days, and took a bunch of photos of the crowd.