After a week catching up with family and friends in and around London, we’ve now begun our cycling journey through northern Spain. The scenery has been absolutely outstanding and the weather kind!

We’ve loved riding through the small villages, and have just spent the past two days in Potes, which some of you may have visited in the Picos de Europa National Park. A real highlight to date. We now head back to the coast and follow the Nord Camino to Santiago de Compostela. 
 

In Potes we biked up the amazing Rio Deva valley. Incredible Karst landscape. Loving the old buildings (see picture of Tony standing next to one). Then a cold walk up the Fuente De gondola (another picture).

 

A big thank you to the Board for keeping everything running smoothly back home. I hope it’s not getting too cold yet — and interestingly, we haven’t spotted any Rotary signage along the way so far!

Adios
Bernie

 

After last Tuesday’s meeting, the Directors approved $1000 to help send 9 scouts and 3 leaders to the Scout Jamboree in Hamilton in Dec/Jan.

 

Also, the directors supported The CO Budgeting Service with $1246 to purchase 10 heat throws for the elderly and unwell.

 

Just a brief meeting.

 

 

Martin spoke mainly about his father who with some colleagues set up the research station in Lauder. The station had originally been quite close to Invercargill at Awarua which was in the end not an ideal site due to often foggy weather and therefore poor visibility.

 

A better site was needed and sites in both the North and South Islands were considered. Eventually Lauder in Central Otago was chosen because of consistently good weather in that area.

 

During WW11, Martin's father and colleagues after a crash course in radar technology helped the Americans find and destroy Japanese Radar installations in the pacific islands.

 

They later used this radar technology particularly at Lauder, to look at various environmental phenomena including aurora. The height of aurora can be determined for instance using radar technology.

 

 

It was the Cold War and global superpowers the USSR and the United States were in a rush to the stars. The International Geophysical Year (IGY), a period from July 1957 to December 1958, encouraged an increase of scientific interchange between East and West which had long been constrained by the Cold War.

 

The Soviet Union and the US began launching artificial satellites, seeing the world from a different perspective for the first time.

And a remote stretch of Central Otago in the middle of farmland began to emerge as a key scientific site. Niwa’s Lauder Atmospheric Research Station celebrates 60 years of science next month. The site was set up to study the Aurora Australis — the Southern Lights.

 

The very first iteration was an instrumented truck that was driven around the South Island looking for the best place for auroral studies before settling on Lauder. That was the original impetus for setting up the site in Lauder.

As the satellite era began to develop in the ’60s and early ’70s the site became a receiving station. At that time, you couldn’t hold much data on board a satellite so you needed a lot of stations around the world for downloads.

 

In the ’70s, as passenger airliner the Concorde began operation, there was an expectation that an age of supersonic travel could spread around the world. "The Americans and the Russians also had plans for similar aircraft. Aircraft flying in the stratosphere up to about 15km high were expected to emit oxides of nitrogen from their jet engines, affecting the ozone layer.

 

So, scientists at Lauder began measuring nitrogen dioxide in the stratosphere. In the early ’80s, information about an ozone hole in the Antarctic emerged and there was a sudden flurry of activity in the scientific community to try to understand what was causing it.

 

It turned out nitrogen dioxide measurements taken in Lauder were very important to resolving arguments about what caused the ozone hole and make it very clear that it was the chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) used as aerosol propellants and refrigerants.

 

That early data put the Lauder site on the map as an important measuring station for the chemistry of the stratosphere. Lauder might be almost unknown to many New Zealanders, but it was highly regarded in the international scientific community. There were about nine atmospheric scientists and technicians at the site.

The measurements made at Lauder are important because they provide a consistent, high-quality baseline and data has been consistently recorded for decades.

 

Satellites are great because they can make a measurement everywhere, but a satellite is only up there for a few years, possibly 10 if you are lucky, but then it will stop working, and there might be a gap before you can put up another one. In order to compare data from different satellites there needed to be something on the ground that would be a reference site, with clean background level conditions.

 

Lauder’s location was a site with very little pollution, and clean air with very few aerosols. There were many sites like Lauder in the northern hemisphere but very few in the southern hemisphere. Lauder was almost one of a kind and probably the best instrumented site in all of the southern hemisphere. Having something like the long-term stability of our funded science is really unique.

 

As well as maintaining instrumentation at Lauder, the team remotely controlled instruments situated in the Antarctic, Australia, Hawaii, and Boulder in the US. As well as sharing data with the international scientific community, the site hosts instruments for other scientific organisations in Germany, Japan and the US. It is very much a collaborative effort.

 

 

 

Nev talked about the iconic Goldrush Multisport Event which he established with Ritchie Bailey out of a ‘passion for Central Otago’ in 1997.  The Goldrush was a demanding three day 275 km individual or team event which included kayaking, mountain biking running and road biking following the trails of the Otago mining pioneers.

 

The event attracted 175 entries in the first year and doubled that the following year.  Four years later there was a waiting list of 100 with entries being capped at 500.  Registrations were made on-line – one of the first events to do so.  However, credit card details were manually processed at this stage!

 

The first race was run at a time when safety gear was not a consideration with requirements written  on one page compared to today when a book would be needed to cover all the issues.  Together with road safety for 500 entrants, this aspect became too much for the organisers and landowners who opened their properties for the race.

 

President Bernie formed a team with Bill Godsall ‘Bill and Bern’.  Other ‘names’ were Steve Gurney, Dougal Allan, Tim Pearson, Merryn Johnstone and you will know of many others. 

 

But it was not just the elites who were drawn to test themselves in this event, it attracted athletes of all ages and abilities with some secondary schools making it part of their curriculum.

 

Ritchie co organised the event for 13 years and Neville for 15 years.  Multisport took a downturn when focus shifted to the Otago Central Rail Trail. It must be very satisfying to have organised an event of this calibre. 

 

When a new member joins the Alexandra Rotary club, one of their tasks is to introduce themselves with a ‘new member talk’ to the club, explaining their background and life experiences.

 

There are however a number of other people that club members know very little about and these are wives, husbands and partners of Rotary members. These people often help in the background with projects and their help is invaluable in this regard.

 

The Alexandra Rotary Board have endorsed the idea of publishing information on these ‘supporters’ from time to time so that all of us have a better understanding of just how the club as a whole, functions.

 

Our first ‘helper’ is Nola Hambleton (Barry Hambleton’s wife). Her educational background is impressive. Nola has helped a lot with projects and more especially with Alexandra Rotary book sale preparations.

 

The following is a letter (edited) of appreciation to Nola for her contribution to education.

This letter (from Bill Smith a friend and colleague of Barry and Nola) is a heartfelt tribute to Nola’s remarkable contribution to education over the past 50 years.

 

It is clear that Nola’s dedication, passion and leadership have touched countless lives he says and communities both in New Zealand and abroad have benefited.

 

Nola’s career is truly inspiring, from early days teaching at Melville Park School in Mosgiel through to time as Principal of Manurewa South School. Nola’s commitment to nurturing and guiding students has been unwavering. The impact the Nola has made as a leader is further evidenced by her role on the New Zealand Principals Federation (NZPF), including two years as president and her representation at the World International Confederation of Principals Board where Nola also served as president. Such achievements are a testament to Nola’s vision, advocacy and the respect she has earned among her peers.

 

Nola’s time in the Republic of Nauru helping to establish a Teachers College contributing to the development of education on the island, speaks volumes about her drive to make a difference wherever needed. The international friendships and professional networks formed are a reflection of the high regard in which Nola is held worldwide.

 

Being awarded a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (MNZM) for service to education is a fitting recognition of Nola’s outstanding service and leadership. Nola has not only shaped schools and education policy, but has also inspired the next generation of teachers and leaders to strive for excellence and foster a sense of community.