The latest edict from Uniting Church re no singing is a pain but we managed OK this morning with five different 'volunteers' out the front to lead the three hymns, helped greatly by the Rev Dr who has a very good voice. Not sure why this latest order when other restrictions have been relaxed
You pump out more from your lungs in singing than in talking, and the more pumped out the greater the risk of spreading something. St Sanity has stopped singing, save for 4 from the choir (some of the actual people vary from week to week, with a couple of constant stalwarts) standing a goodly distance from the congregation. Madame and I mouth the words behind our masks for hymns and those parts of the service which are sung.
It's not so much the church issuing an edict, rather that the Uniting Church HO is keeping local churches informed of what the government is permitting from time to time. Probably unnecessary but better to be safe than sorry. I don't know if the Moderator of the Uniting Church is closely involved with the State Government (the one which looks after this) but the Catholic and Anglican (and on at least one occasion the Greek) Archbishops of Sydney meet regularly with either the Premier or the Health Minister to be told what's now permitted.
We are in the same region as @Dennis the Menace but the diocesan bishop has permitted congregational singing to resume so long as all are masked and social distancing is observed. Our relatively small congregations across the three centres mean that we have no problem in meeting these conditions. Our towns and villages have been COVID-free for 8-9 months.
Tasmania varies from church to church. The cathedral in Hobart has a full robed choir which is singing the services and even held 9 lessons and carols. However, some other churches aren't permitted to sing at all. One Launceston church has only recently been allowed to sing a final hymn before which the congregation is invited to leave if singing causing them anxiety. The choir has virtually been put out to pasture. Amazing when you consider that Tasmania is probably one of the safest places in the world with no evidence of the presence of the virus.
The latest edict from Uniting Church re no singing is a pain but we managed OK this morning with five different 'volunteers' out the front to lead the three hymns, helped greatly by the Rev Dr who has a very good voice. Not sure why this latest order when other restrictions have been relaxed
My local is singing, so I chose to go to a neighbouring one's "BBQ", except that this year their annual BBQ was not a BBQ but a BYO (everything) and there was no food sharing. Nevertheless, the fellowship was good and the younger ones played park cricket.
I'm hoping for a better year this year, but not really expecting to be able to visit LKKson2 in Kawasaki. It's a good thing we visited in November 2019.
I'm glad my brother in Chicago and his wife visited for a short time at the beginning of last year. I don't have a clue when I will see them again. Their 2 weeks annual leave would be taken up by NZ's quarantine.
I still fully support the need for this, even though I regret it.
I don't know how it works here Galilit, I do follow the news reasonably closely, but I haven't seen or heard of any changes for those who have been vaccinated. I know it may sound overly cautious, but they may wait until the vaccine has been rolled out here. Certainly there is a push from business people in Queenstown to open the borders wider.
Galilit - "The borders will remain closed until the nation is vaccinated and protected". Jacinda Ardern quoted in the Guardian. Nothing about entry of those already vaccinated. She also says it "will be a full year programme. Sorry.
Personally unaffected, except for asthma exacerbated by smoke. We're a long way from the fire. Our large colleague, whose Ship name I've forgotten, is in the hills, packed and ready to go if necessary. John Donne is way south. Adam Pater is also far enough away not to worry.
Galilit - "The borders will remain closed until the nation is vaccinated and protected". Jacinda Ardern quoted in the Guardian. Nothing about entry of those already vaccinated. She also says it "will be a full year programme. Sorry.
Bugger!
Maybe I'll try the "dying of cancer" one like that bloke in the news ...what's happening to him anyway?
(It does make sense though)
The guy with the brain tumour is in. He will do his time in quarantine as I understand, it but there is room for individual exceptions.
I am glad I am not the one making these decisions, as I understand it the buck stops with Duncan Webb (can't remember his title but he's head of the army). I'm sure there is input from medical people too.
I think Jacinda's stance may become a bit more flexible as the vaccination programme rolls out, but she' not going to make promises that may come back to bite her on the bum.
Just thought- If you were intending to stay here and are still a NZ citizen then you could apply and do the whole managed isolation thing.
That is as far as I know - don't let anything I've said stop you from exploring your options fully as my only sources are what I read in the news. Pull strings if you know any.
I think the sticking point will be getting a place in a quarantine facility. I have heard of a few people who travelled out of NZ getting stuck and not being able to return quickly because of not being able to get a place.
That would be a nightmare gustava. I understand people book their plac, which is held for a number of days while they scrabble to book aflight
There are emergency places available, and a decision can be appealed. There's an article in today's Stuff that I've just read that gives further information on the man with a brain tumour and includes the number of requests granted and refused.
I have no reason to believe my brother up north with Parkinson's is terminally ill yet - but I hope he holds on for another couple of years so the brother is the US can come home to say "Goodbye" and that in the meantime none of us is run over by a bus.
We were fortunate that he and his partner visited a couple of months before that lockdown.
Hello Ship mates. John Donne (admirer) as mentioned by rexory above or Coot, now with amended life (ahem). I have moved another 100km south from where I was in Perth. It is lovely here. We have not been affected by smoke from the ongoing bushfire - tragically 81 homes are lost as of tonight, but people are safe.
It looks like our snap 5 day lockdown will be lifted tomorrow and there has been no community transmission. There was to be an ordination service in my Diocese on Saturday but it has been postponed (plus the pre-ordination retreat could not take place) - which was a good call, since tho the lockdown is lifted, only essential travel is allowed and not across regions so we would not be able to get to the cathedral.
Praying for the ordinands and quiet shipmates we have not heard from. Best, M.
Welcome back, as you see it's a lot quieter around here than it was.
Happy Waitangi Day everyone.
For anyone who doesn't know this is Aotearoa/New Zealand's National Day and celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the nation's founding document. Like many treaties it has not been fully honoured by the Crown.
Accepting your last sentence, I still think it's fair to say that NZ has managed its internal relationships between those who were there when the British arrived, and the new arrivals much better than we did. Not to say that things are perfect, but here they are still dreadful.
Gee D, I think we are a long way from perfect. To be honest though, from what I know of Australia's track record that would be one of the strongest reason I have for not wanting NZ to become united with Australia.
One of the things that is long overdue and gives me hope for the future is that, starting next year, NZ history will be a compulsory subject in secondary schools with input from Iwi (tribes) on what happened in the area in which the school is located. I am hoping that the local High School that offers classes for adults will include it in their night school curriculum.
It always amazes me that the Maori arrived as recently as they did - after Magna Carta and not long before the Wars of the Roses to look at it in terms of the English history which formed so much of my education (and quite likely yours). The First People here arrived 60 millennia ago - and look how we treated them.
Genuine question (my knowledge of NZ history is in minus numbers) - if the Maori didn't arrive until the fifteenth century, where did they arrive from?
Some good research done on that, but basically (I am researching and writing about this in a book I am currently writing, and copyright is my own):
The great Pacific migrations from approximately 1200 years ago can be traced through linguistic and genetic studies, and suggest that the cultures of Australian Indigenous and Polynesian peoples have vastly different back-stories, buried in countless millennia of different journeys. As sea levels rose the Australian Indigenous cultures were separated from other peoples (though records from the Northern coastline of Australia suggest trade between Australian Indigenous and south-east Asian cultures existed long before modern contact began). The seas rose markedly some 10,000 years ago, and after a further five millennia the advent of sail led to new migration, eastwards and southwards from east Asia, across Melanesia and on into the Pacific. The Lapita peoples appear to have spread, haphazardly perhaps, across the islands of Melanesia and southern Polynesia, but not as far south as Aotearoa. Polynesian mythologies speak in interrelated mythological and mytho-historical terms of expansions south, retreats north, and the final arrival of Māori on Aotearoa’s shores around 1200 c.e. Archaeological evidence suggests a second wave of Lapita or post-Lapita expansion some two to two and a half thousand years ago. A further wave of settlement, south from the Micronesian region and east from the regions around Vanuatu and New Caledonia, serves as a reminder that there was no unified movement of peoples across the Pacific. Arrival of Polynesian peoples on the shores of Aotearoa (and the Chathams) was a comparatively late development.
I find it interesting that the migrations never drifted (against the wind admittedly) slightly further west to Australia
Edited to add: I wasn't meaning the "good research" was mine ... the footnotes to this chapter make clear that others have done the hard yakka, though they're not directly quoted in this passage. In particularly I have leaned on the work of Atholl Anderson
I will keep an eye out for your book. I hope you bring it to our attention when you publish it. If I can't afford it myself I am good at making requests that the library buy books.
Hey Zappa Christchurch forecast temperatures today would suit you - 36C!!!!. Apparently the hottest temperature will be about 7 pm. Tomorrow it's forecast is 34C but by Friday we are back to 16 C with some rain.
Since I'm contemplating a move to Oz from the Canadian prairies, I've been skimming this thread. I read the above temperature as -36C (normal where I am!) several times. Had to shake my head a few times before I realized that was not a minus sign but an n-dash 😂
And that was in cool Christchurch @questioning! Yesterday here in our Valley was 32C and predicted to be mid 20's today, with a gentle cool change. High humidity in keeping with our La Nina summer.
I will keep an eye out for your book. I hope you bring it to our attention when you publish it. If I can't afford it myself I am good at making requests that the library buy books.
That'll be a few years I'm afraid. I'm onto Chapter One And A Half of an estimated 17 But unlike my previous it will have pictures
And that was in cool Christchurch @questioning! Yesterday here in our Valley was 32C and predicted to be mid 20's today, with a gentle cool change. High humidity in keeping with our La Nina summer.
questioning - the thing to remember is that there is even less one Oz climate than there is one Canadian. Not even one Sydney climate but rather there is a range of them from the coast to well inland, from near sea level to slightly elevated, from well timbered to bare plains.
Out of interest I did some quick googling on NZ and Christchurch temperatures. Hottest ever was 42c (which is also a national high), luckily I was living elsewhere at the time. Lowest Christchurch has ever been is minus 7c whereas the lowest ever NZ temperature is minus 22C at a place called Ophir in Central Otago. I vaguely remember having passed through there at some time.
Mum's forebears almost went to Canada, but the ship for Christchurch sailed first, The story is apparently that an attempt has been made on the lives of the father and son over a court case, so they left in a hurry - how true it is I don't know.
@Gee D , I've been doing a lot of reading about Australia, and have become very aware of the diversity of climate. It, like Canada, has its extremes. They are, however, different kinds of extremes. I'm accustomed to places like Vancouver - temperate and wet; the Okanagan which has areas that are semi-desert with constant wind; as well as the Prairie with it's bitter -40C (with windchills that reach into the -50s) in winter and summers that can reach into the high 30s Celsius. I've also spent time in Ottawa, which can get very cold (-40 not unheard of there, either, but becoming less common) and hot and muggy in the summer. I've never experienced anything like Oz's outback or the tropical north, though.
Mum's forebears almost went to Canada, but the ship for Christchurch sailed first, The story is apparently that an attempt has been made on the lives of the father and son over a court case, so they left in a hurry - how true it is I don't know.
I have in-laws who emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands. They were heading to ether Australia or Canada, but the Canada opportunity came up first. Not nearly as spicy a story as yours, though.
Temperatures below zero in the State capitals are rare, but pretty frequent in Canberra. Nothing like your -40 though. Apart from Hobart, State capital and Canberra maximums frequently exceed 30 though. Sydney is very humid in summer as is Brisbane, the others less so.
I had to look up Okanagan, and came across the Shuswap River - I like that name.
a place called Ophir in Central Otago. I vaguely remember having passed through there at some time.
It's a beautiful spot with a stunning bridge ... has become something of a centre for eccentric poets, potters and the like. Who I suspect are well equipped with thermal smalls.
When visiting Central the difficulty is that there are many stunning places. I went through once with a friend who is a historian and knows the area well -it was fascinating.
I have a week at the end of the month when I was thinking of visiting my brothers in Wellington, but I'm tempted to head south instead, except that's about when the Uni starts again and there will be heaps of people. I'd probably be better to go near the end of the year - or stay home and save for an e-bike.
Or do the adult thing and get new glasses - sigh - being a responsible adult can be quite boring sometimes, which is why I try to avoid it as much as I can.
Comments
I would find not singing really difficult - unless I were at a Quaker Meeting.
It's not so much the church issuing an edict, rather that the Uniting Church HO is keeping local churches informed of what the government is permitting from time to time. Probably unnecessary but better to be safe than sorry. I don't know if the Moderator of the Uniting Church is closely involved with the State Government (the one which looks after this) but the Catholic and Anglican (and on at least one occasion the Greek) Archbishops of Sydney meet regularly with either the Premier or the Health Minister to be told what's now permitted.
My local is singing, so I chose to go to a neighbouring one's "BBQ", except that this year their annual BBQ was not a BBQ but a BYO (everything) and there was no food sharing. Nevertheless, the fellowship was good and the younger ones played park cricket.
I'm hoping for a better year this year, but not really expecting to be able to visit LKKson2 in Kawasaki. It's a good thing we visited in November 2019.
I still fully support the need for this, even though I regret it.
Bugger!
Maybe I'll try the "dying of cancer" one like that bloke in the news ...what's happening to him anyway?
(It does make sense though)
I am glad I am not the one making these decisions, as I understand it the buck stops with Duncan Webb (can't remember his title but he's head of the army). I'm sure there is input from medical people too.
I think Jacinda's stance may become a bit more flexible as the vaccination programme rolls out, but she' not going to make promises that may come back to bite her on the bum.
That is as far as I know - don't let anything I've said stop you from exploring your options fully as my only sources are what I read in the news. Pull strings if you know any.
There are emergency places available, and a decision can be appealed. There's an article in today's Stuff that I've just read that gives further information on the man with a brain tumour and includes the number of requests granted and refused.
I have no reason to believe my brother up north with Parkinson's is terminally ill yet - but I hope he holds on for another couple of years so the brother is the US can come home to say "Goodbye" and that in the meantime none of us is run over by a bus.
We were fortunate that he and his partner visited a couple of months before that lockdown.
It looks like our snap 5 day lockdown will be lifted tomorrow and there has been no community transmission. There was to be an ordination service in my Diocese on Saturday but it has been postponed (plus the pre-ordination retreat could not take place) - which was a good call, since tho the lockdown is lifted, only essential travel is allowed and not across regions so we would not be able to get to the cathedral.
Praying for the ordinands and quiet shipmates we have not heard from. Best, M.
Happy Waitangi Day everyone.
For anyone who doesn't know this is Aotearoa/New Zealand's National Day and celebrates the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi the nation's founding document. Like many treaties it has not been fully honoured by the Crown.
One of the things that is long overdue and gives me hope for the future is that, starting next year, NZ history will be a compulsory subject in secondary schools with input from Iwi (tribes) on what happened in the area in which the school is located. I am hoping that the local High School that offers classes for adults will include it in their night school curriculum.
The great Pacific migrations from approximately 1200 years ago can be traced through linguistic and genetic studies, and suggest that the cultures of Australian Indigenous and Polynesian peoples have vastly different back-stories, buried in countless millennia of different journeys. As sea levels rose the Australian Indigenous cultures were separated from other peoples (though records from the Northern coastline of Australia suggest trade between Australian Indigenous and south-east Asian cultures existed long before modern contact began). The seas rose markedly some 10,000 years ago, and after a further five millennia the advent of sail led to new migration, eastwards and southwards from east Asia, across Melanesia and on into the Pacific. The Lapita peoples appear to have spread, haphazardly perhaps, across the islands of Melanesia and southern Polynesia, but not as far south as Aotearoa. Polynesian mythologies speak in interrelated mythological and mytho-historical terms of expansions south, retreats north, and the final arrival of Māori on Aotearoa’s shores around 1200 c.e. Archaeological evidence suggests a second wave of Lapita or post-Lapita expansion some two to two and a half thousand years ago. A further wave of settlement, south from the Micronesian region and east from the regions around Vanuatu and New Caledonia, serves as a reminder that there was no unified movement of peoples across the Pacific. Arrival of Polynesian peoples on the shores of Aotearoa (and the Chathams) was a comparatively late development.
I find it interesting that the migrations never drifted (against the wind admittedly) slightly further west to Australia
Edited to add: I wasn't meaning the "good research" was mine ... the footnotes to this chapter make clear that others have done the hard yakka, though they're not directly quoted in this passage. In particularly I have leaned on the work of Atholl Anderson
I will keep an eye out for your book. I hope you bring it to our attention when you publish it. If I can't afford it myself I am good at making requests that the library buy books.
Since I'm contemplating a move to Oz from the Canadian prairies, I've been skimming this thread. I read the above temperature as -36C (normal where I am!) several times. Had to shake my head a few times before I realized that was not a minus sign but an n-dash 😂
That'll be a few years I'm afraid. I'm onto Chapter One And A Half of an estimated 17
questioning - the thing to remember is that there is even less one Oz climate than there is one Canadian. Not even one Sydney climate but rather there is a range of them from the coast to well inland, from near sea level to slightly elevated, from well timbered to bare plains.
Mum's forebears almost went to Canada, but the ship for Christchurch sailed first, The story is apparently that an attempt has been made on the lives of the father and son over a court case, so they left in a hurry - how true it is I don't know.
I have in-laws who emigrated to Canada from the Netherlands. They were heading to ether Australia or Canada, but the Canada opportunity came up first. Not nearly as spicy a story as yours, though.
I had to look up Okanagan, and came across the Shuswap River - I like that name.
It's a beautiful spot with a stunning bridge ... has become something of a centre for eccentric poets, potters and the like. Who I suspect are well equipped with thermal smalls.
Beat me to it. Great countryside.
Or do the adult thing and get new glasses - sigh - being a responsible adult can be quite boring sometimes, which is why I try to avoid it as much as I can.