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 Pamela at clubnight, or email to pamela.campbell@xtra.co.nz

CLUB NIGHT PROGRAMME APRIL 2026
15 April: Andrew Robinson- Hopkins-Huxley New Year 2026
From the end of December Andrew Robinson led a group of seven on a two-week long trip to the middle of the South Island to explore the Hopkins and Huxley river valleys and to visit the historic East Ahuriri hut. Come along and find out which of the trip’s objectives were met and which weren’t and the reasons why
Also 15 April: Sales Table 7-7:30pm
It’s the Sales Table night again. Please bring along your items to sell by 7pm, either as a donation for the club to sell, or for a fee for costlier items where you would like to recoup some of the cost. Remember to retrieve your unsold items at the end of the evening. Food items such as baking, honey, jam and relish, vegetables and fruit are consistently the best sellers. Purchasers, remember to bring cash.

22 April: Graeme McVerry – Rafting the lower reaches of the Grand Canyon 50 years ago
Graeme McVerry was fortunate as a non-geologist to tag along in March 1976 on Caltech’s Spring break field-trip to the Grand Canyon for graduate students in geology. The trip was led by renowned Colorado Plateau geologist and astro-geologist Gene Shoemaker, who trained the Apollo astronauts for their walks on the Moon (and much later co-discovered a disintegrating lump of rock as it hurtled through space and televised its impact into Jupiter). On the way to the Grand Canyon, several detours were made on dirt roads to study geology related to the evolution of the Canyon far to its west in the Mojave Desert. The group then gradually descended on the only road to reach the Colorado River within the canyon’s 450 km length, passing through about 1.4 billion years of the Earth’s geological history. After reaching the Colorado River, we rafted to Lake Mead through the final 90 km of the magnificent Grand Canyon, studying rocks, identifying strata and tackling a few rapids along the way.

29 April: Lex Grubner – A thousand-kilometre journey to the head of the Amazon River
In ancient times, the few explorers who ventured into the Amazon River told exaggerated tales of mythical creatures and strange tribes which the general public had no choice but to believe. Hear and see what it was like to travel up the Amazon river to Manaus, almost 1,000km inland via small cruise ship as part of a 23 day trip from  Rio de Janeiro in Brazil to Miami USA. Do Piranha fish really rip the flesh off your leg as soon as you touch the water, or is this just one of the tales?

6 May: Jonty Crane – Exploring remote trails in Ladakh, Indian Himalaya
Jonty Crane shares an epic three-week journey through Ladakh in the Indian Himalaya, following remote trails to ancient monasteries and palaces. The hike included around 40 river crossings, breathtaking (literally) mountain scenery, and an ending that didn’t quite go to plan.

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