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Dates & News:

ZimDog News, can be accessed from: www.vanerp.net.

Zimbabwe Kennel Club:

The Zimbabwe Kennel Club office will now only be open on a Friday each week, 14.00-16.00 CAT.

Local Shows and Fairs

Bulawayo Combine Shows:
Have postponed till later this year.

MLKA & HKC Shows:
They have booked their dates for 28 & 29 June 2008, with imported Judges. Put this in your diaries.

Mukuvisi Shows:
All sponsored by PEDIGREE and proceeds to help the S P C A in the wonderful work they do for all animals

Come and help raise much needed, and ever increasing, funds for the S P C A on SUNDAY, 30 MARCH at Mukuvisi Woodland & Nature Reserve - and help Mukuvisi along at the same time, by joining in the first of the FUN SHOWS for this year Walk assembles 07.30, departs 08.00 Fun Classes commence 10.00 Polish the pooch, save the pennies and come join in some fun All sponsored by the world's favorite pet food Flyers now available for this Fun Show and also for the Fun Show on SUNDAY, 25 MAY Sponsored by PEDIGREE 

News:

Sunday 16 March saw two AGM’s with both taking place and closing within the half hour or so. Not much was needed to conclude these two events.

ZKC: Chairperson’s report sounded same to last years. Election of members: standing again for their second year: Mrs. A Bowling Scott, Mrs. L de Sousa and Mrs. J Schreiber. Nomination was in for Miss J Way and the Chair persuaded Miss E Caminade Levault to come onto the committee.

The secretary gave the figures of registered dogs: Hound 38, Gundogs 23, Terrier 3, Utility none, Working 10 Herding 1, Toys 5. Total of 81 registrations, 44 were transferred, 10 imported, 14 exports and 10 dogs were made into a Champion. In 2007 there were 108 members, losing an average of 20 each year.

Zimdog of the year: In 1^st place Jane’s Labrador, 2nd place Mrs. E Rust Scotty, 3^rd place Caminade Levault Great Dane, 4^th place Athena’s Salonica's GSD

Pedigree pup of the year: 1st Mrs. E Rust Scotty, 2^nd Geraldine’s Dobermann, 3^rd Gill Houghton’s Y Terrier, 4^th place McKinlay’s Aphenpincher.

KCH: This meeting was conducted in an even shorter time. Chairman’s report etc. Members for the new committee: Dick Cory, Linda Lamb, Pippa Cory, Ursula McKinley and Naomi now as the new caterer.

A dog is truly a man's best friend. If you don't believe it, just try this experiment. Put your dog and your wife in the boot of the car for an hour. When you open the boot, who is really happy to see you!? 

KCH farewell in February and March

"Zimbabwe's Traveling Man"

7^th Saga

After some 14 +hours flying time we came in over Aotearoa - the Land of the Long White Cloud - to Auckland in the North Island, my erstwhile home for so many years, and then on down to Christchurch in the South Island - home of the Canterbury Crusaders for the rugby aficionados!!!  Whilst in Christchurch I stayed with a friend who had stayed with me in Harare when visiting Zim some years back, and then took the first flight up to Nelson the next day - all told that little lot took 5 days!!!

So, we are here finally - walking the visiting dawg twice a day cos this property doesn't have a fence round it!!!  This item wasn't actually on my manifesto when planning this holiday!!!  A small attractive coastal town, with a small port sitting on the very northern tip of the South Island and I am writing this sitting on my friends' Deck overlooking Nelson Bay - a pleasant spot, but then New Zealand is a beautiful country, somewhat pricier than I remember it from previous visits though.  My friends, Mary and Peter, have driven down to Christchurch for a few days, so I'm house and dog sitting!!!  Somebody should remember I'm supposed to be on hols!!!  Yesterday it poured with rain all day and blew a gale;  today, however, is nice and sunny - doubtless due to the several withering and snide conversations I had last night with the Witchdoctor!!!  And I threw some bones too!!! 

I should mention to any of you contemplating a similar trek around the globe, that I am now the dubious possessor of so many different types of converters, transformers and adapters, that I could set up shop!!  Canada and the States are on 120 w of course so I had to buy a converter which screwed into their system.  NZ is on 240 w like much of the world, but has plug sockets just like 120 w, so I had to go and buy an adapter for that lot, then when u start throwing in all the IT bits and pieces and ers and ors, you've got the start of a shop my friend.  Am now away to soak up the sun - if it stays fine long enough;  the weather is patchy to put it mildly.  I had plans to spend time on the beach - any beach - but they are so far away as to make walking an impossibility and one would have to be run around to and from the beach/s which has rather spoiled this aspect of my stay in Nelson and I may move on up to the Tauranga/Mt Maunganui area in the North Island sooner rather than later.

However, today is Christmas Day and as it's been raining since the crack of dawn, I decided to set off on a brisk walk anyway to what turned out to be a delightful Japanese Garden built some years ago by the City the to honour a previous Mayor of Nelson who apparently had contacts in Japan.   It does seem odd though, having come from a country like Canada who is knee deep in Christmas, to come to an area where one could be forgiven for thinking it had been forgotten!!  Also, I still haven't been able to  unearth the Nelson Kennel Club who have an All Breeds Ch. Show on at the end of January (but I cannot stay in this area that long), neither unfortunately am I able to stay in Wellington for the Basset Hound Club's Ch. Show also at the end of January.  There is a thriving  Nelson Suburban Club though, where we ate royally at their Christmas Smorgasbord, and who cater for an amazing range of interests, i.e. a non-casino gaming room/live entertainment of Fridays and Saturdays/quiz nights on Tuesdays/membership draws and raffles on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays/cards/darts/golf/indoor bowls/netball/pool/rock 'n roll/snooker/softball/aerobics/social dancing/yoga/line  -  dancing/clogging  -  a m a z i n g -  is all I can say!!!   Their Standard of  Dress gave me a giggle - Minimum Dress Code - shirts, shorts, surfers, footwear.  Not Permitted - singlet, work boots, bare feet!!!!!

8^th Saga

Thursday, 27th December saw us driving from Nelson, through the Richmond range of mountains, via the Rai Valley and Havelock to Picton - the ferry across Cook Strait that divides the North and South Islands of New Zealand.  There is much afforestation in the area which was good to see.  Many people have said that the 3 hour ferry crossing from Picton to Wellington is the finest in the world and although I would not go that far myself, it certainly is a most attractive crossing and the ferry boats are well appointed and equipped, and carry both cars and foot passengers.

From Wellington we drove up State Highway 1 through Papaparaumu/Foxton/Bulls to Taihape where we spent the night in one of the multitude of  motels that have always blanketed New Zealand.  At 06.00 the next morning I was to be seen strolling round the streets of Taihape!!  Good ole Taihape - u haven't changed a bit - you're still a lovely lil New Zealand farming town.   One interesting development since I was last up this road was the huge increase in the areas growing vines and New Zealand wine certainly is growing apace.  Judging by the number of wind sox and landing strips that I saw dotted around the farms, the Kiwi farmer is as fond as ever of his own plane for getting around!!   An hour or so later we passed the extinct volcano, Mount Ruapehu and Mount Ngha?????  Next  along the lakeshore of Lake Taupo and on up to Rotorua, the big geyser and thermal area of New Zealand - in my early days in NZ I once fried an egg on the roof of my friend's car!!!  By then we were close to the Mount Maunganui area where my friend, Kate, and her 3 sons -  Andrew, Matthew and Luke now live (ex Bulawayo and Harare and all well settled into Kiwi life).  Needless to say, in the couple of days I've been here all my time has been spent on the miles and miles of beaches in this area.  This afternoon we got back from the beach to hear the news that Qantas are on strike!!! Guess who's flying on Qantas next!!!

 Well, being a Sunday there was nothing for it - but back to the beach!!!!  One of the many beauties of these miles and miles of unspoiled beaches is the lack of people - you're on your own patch so to speak!!   Anyway, having got my sun brolley, scoff and chair organized, I set about, finally, getting my new mobile up and working - finally!!  It's only taken me 8 weeks!!!  I phoned just about everybody I knew in Kiwiland to say I was on the airwaves again and by the time Kate's 3 boys arrived, I had 37c left, so they had to hightail it to the nearest Vodaphone shop for a new supply of airtime.

We are now into the New Year and have been spending time at a very good club in Mount Maunganui - the RSA Club, people helping people and this Club, too, like the one in Nelson, has a fantastic range of activities for its Members, i.e. full size tables for billiards/snooker/pool, a stage, dance floor, huge lounge with 2 separate wall screens showing different Satellite channels, bar, commercial caterer with a wonderful menu (plenty for vegetarians - I can actually eat there!!!), a large modern library for their members, cards, 8-ball, golf, indoor bowls, outdoor bowls, walking, fishing chess - I really can't go on because I haven't managed to get right round the building yet!!  Colin Meads, the great All Black, was a guest earlier this week.  And still the sun shines -  so it's back to one of the innumerable beaches round the Bay of Plenty - I'm as brown as a berry!!!

Two elderly gentlemen from a retirement centre were sitting on a bench under a tree when one turns to the other and says: "Slim, I'm 83 years old now and I'm just full of aches and pains. I know you're about my age. How do you feel?" 

Slim says, "I feel just like a newborn baby." 

"Really!? Like a newborn baby!?" 

"Yep. No hair, no teeth, and I think I just wet my pants."