Clubnights

CLUBNIGHT PROGRAMME
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS
7.30 pm
Doors open at 7pm

The club is always interested to hear from anybody wanting to be considered as a Wednesday night guest speaker and is open to suggestions

If you have any suggestions for speakers, or would like to give a presentation yourself, please contact Graeme at clubnight, or email to graememcv2@xtra.co.nz

CLUB NIGHT PROGRAMME SEPTEMBER 2026

21 October: Mary O’Keefe – Life as a consulting archaeologist (small things tell big stories)
Mary’s talk will look at some of the projects she’s worked on as a consultant archaeologist, what she’s found, and how this information contributes to the story of what it means to be a New Zealander.
Mary is a consultant archaeologist, and has run her consultancy, Heritage Solutions, for 30 years.  Her work is primarily in development projects such as expressways and subdivisions, planning for archaeology in these projects, and undertaking on the ground monitoring during construction. Her work has taken her to many interesting corners in New Zealand and revealed many fascinating stories.  She is also the central filekeeper for ArchSite which is the national database of recorded archaeological sites, which contains over 80,000 sites.
Mary has previously worked for Department of Conservation and Historic Places Trust (now Heritage New Zealand). She is on the NZ board of ICOMOS Aotearoa New Zealand.  ICOMOS (the International Council for Monuments and Sites) is the heritage arm of UNESCO.  Mary is particularly active in the world heritage space for ICOMOS.  Recently she undertook an expert assessment mission for a proposed site in Victoria, Australia, assessing its suitability for World Heritage inscription.

As well 21 October: The Sales Table is back! 
Bring along all your goodies for sale to help raise club funds. Biscuits, cakes, fruit and veges sell best (you could say they go like hot cakes!) but there is also scope for clean tramping equipment in good condition and books etc. Larger items can be sold on a commission basis. Bring your good along by 7pm so that they can be displayed when the clubrooms open. Remember to collect unsold goods to take them home.

28 October: Darryl Carpenter – Farewell Spit to Slope Point cycle race February/March 2026
Tour Te Waipounamu (TTW) is an ultra-distance (mountain) bike packing race down the length of the South Island of Aotearoa New Zealand. Starting at Cape Farewell and finishing at Slope Point, the race is 1300+km with over 23,000 metres of climbing. Following a predetermined route, competitors have to ride, push and at times carry their bikes up, down and through some spectacular wilderness areas of New Zealand on a mixture of gravel roads, mountain bike single track, walking tracks, occasional tar seal (a luxury) and vague alpine routes crossing the likes of the Dampier Range, Stag Saddle, the Hawkden range and the Lammerlaws.     
TTW is gaining the reputation as the toughest bike packing event in the world. Now in its fourth (every second) year, the 2026 event proved to be just as hard as previous years. Darryl Carpenter completed TTW2026 and as the oldest competitor, had to draw on his many years of outdoor adventure and expedition experience to reach Slope Point within the 10 days allowed.
Come along for an evening of stories of the good, the bad and the often/occasional ugly of what it takes to prepare, train and then compete in TTW2026.
 
4 November: Open Night
This is the chance for club members to bring along their own slides and tell us about what they have been up to in the outdoors over winter and spring, since our last Open Night at the beginning of June. Please limit your presentation to about 10 minutes, so others have the chance to tell their story (usually about half a dozen presenters on the evening). If you have a longer presentation, contact graememcv2@xtra.co.nz to offer it as a full-length presentation in the New Year, perhaps using the Open Night as a teaser to interest the audience.
 
SPEAKERS FOR 2027
Thank you to all those who have contributed presentations in 2026. The Wednesday night programme is now full through to Christmas, but work has just begun on the list of speakers for 2027. Ideally, the aim is to confirm the programme through to the end of March before Christmas. If you have a talk to offer next year, please contact graememcv2@xtra.co.nz

Return of the Sales Table
Sales Table – sales start 7pm
The Sales Table will be on again third Wednesday of the month. Edibles, whether biscuits, cakes, jams, pickles or fruit and vegetables are the most popular offerings. Be there early (by 7pm) if you have items to sell, or if you want to buy some of the delicious home cooking. Please collect and take home any of your items that remain unsold at the end of the evening.
CASH ON THE NIGHT PLEASE

Contact Graeme McVerry graememcv2@xtra.co.nz ph 021 464349