Today in NZ history- 20/08/1904 - First use of kiwi as unofficial national symbol? The New Zealand Free Lance printed a J.C. Blomfield cartoon in which a plucky kiwi morphed into a moa as the All Blacks defeated Great Britain 9–3 in the first rugby test between Motherland and colony. This may have been the first use of a kiwi to symbolise the nation in a cartoon.
- 20/08/1940 - Turakina sunk by German raider in TasmanIt was the first naval battle in the Tasman Sea. The New Zealand Shipping Company freighter Turakina was intercepted and sunk by the Orion nearly 500 km off the Taranaki coast with the loss of 36 lives. Twenty survivors were taken prisoner.
- 21/08/1915 - New Zealanders attack Hill 60Hill 60 was the last offensive action fought by the New Zealanders during the Gallipoli campaign. The ‘abominable little hill’, as it was dubbed by Brigadier-General Andrew Russell, saw bitter fighting between New Zealand mounted riflemen and Ottoman troops in late August 1915.
- 21/08/1958 - Auckland pedestrians begin 'Barnes Dance'Auckland became the first New Zealand city to introduce the ‘Barnes Dance’ system, which stopped all traffic at intersections, allowing pedestrians to cross in any direction at the same time.
- 20/08/1904 - First use of kiwi as unofficial national symbol?
Monthly Archives: October 2012
Roof work done
A lovely calm, warm day in Martinborough today: perfect for lifting the new roof again so Bill Stephen could finish his wiring. And for placing pink batts. Rooftop conference. Bill the sparky at left, Bruce and his offsider Dylan. #*
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Subbies are here
Things are moving. Subcontractors have been in and out and I’ve had to stay over, doing my project management thing and helping make quite a few decisions. I really need to be in Wellington as well, to pack up my … Continue reading
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Joinery in – most of it anyway
We arrived last night to find that the new room was completely enclosed – the French door and windows were installed. The only door that’s not installed yet is the future back door. It can be seen leaning in position … Continue reading
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From Fugues to Finales
Today we went to a very pleasant afternoon of chamber music, titled From Fugues to Finales. It was organised by the Greytown Music Group as part of the town’s weekend arts festival. This scratch group, tongue-in-cheek-named The Ultimates, was made … Continue reading
Joinery arrives
On Thursday our aluminium joinery arrived from Fisher Windows in Masterton. Hopefully all the joinery will be installed during this week. #*
Weatherboards going on
This week Bruce has followed up this week’s wrapping of the house extension by installing the weatherboards. They’re only ‘tacked on’ at this stage – they will be permanently nailed up with a nail gun once the inspector has been back … Continue reading
All wrapped up (I wish)
Bruce and Dylan wrapped the house extension today in Tekton. This has to be done before the weatherboards are nailed on. Tekton, an American product, is coated spun-bonded polypropylene. #*
