CAMPBELL-RAOUL ISLANDS' ASSOCIATION (INC.)

NEWSLETTER N0.8                        AUGUST 1970

Association Officers 1969-70

Patron
Air Vice-Marshall A.H. Marsh, C.B.E.

President
Geoff Kape

 

Secretary		Treasurer
Richard Lovegrove		John Caskey
Committee		Honorary Members
Tony Bromley		Mr.A.I.E.Bacon (early settler Raoul)
Colin Clark		Mr.M.Butterton (N.Z.Met.Service)
Ed de Ste Croix		Mr.H. Carter (N.Z.Met.Service)
Ralph Hayes		Mr.H. Hill (N.Z.Met.Service)
Peter Ingram		Mr.I. Kerr (N.Z.Met.Service)
Vince Sussmilch		Mr.C. Taylor (Ex Agriculture Dept.)
Dave Thorp

 

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT:

GREETINGS! A tremendous evening's entertainment was afforded the fortunate 48 members who attended the Film Evening in Wellington 18 July (the final programme for 1970). It was good to see Dr Janet Brown, Sister Jean Jenkins, and Bill Whitley and his wife (who incidentally had travelled up from Christchurch for the occasion), among the audience. Our thanks to those who organised the excellent supper.

1970/71 EXPEDITIONS:

The strain of waiting for notification of selection is now over, and I offer congratulations to the successful applicants for the expeditions to both islands, particularly the two Leaders - D.J. Laws (Campbell Island) and, Ron Craig (Raoul Island). We are confidently expecting 100% enrolment. In the Association from these Expedition members, and place perhaps a little unfairly the onus on the Leaders to ensure that this happen ! Over to you gentlemen.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:

This has been confirmed for Saturday 3rd October, commencing at 2.00 pm, at the Kelburn Weather Office Conference Room. This is an important function, at which you have the opportunity to participate in the election of officers, and in the general functioning of the Association. While the A.G.M. is certainly important and we do want you all to attend, the evening function ("Annual Reunion") is the event of the year. This is planned to commence with cocktails at 7.30 p.m., and will again be held in Wright Stephenson's Conference Room with food supplied by the famous Beefeater Arms Restaurant. Make a decision to be there!! We plan an informal atmosphere in which you can exchange reminiscences with your old expedition buddies, Good Food - Good Entertainment, and Good Liquor. We confidently expect a record attendance, and you will already have received the proposal form for your own tickets, so let your Committee have an early indication of your intention to be with us in Wellington on Saturday, October 3rd.

Regards,
G€off Kape

••••••••••••••••••••••••

BOOK REVIEW

RECOMMENDED READING:

"The Kermadec Group"
The unvarnished truth about Sunday Island - a land of dreams, edited by A.M. Venables.
Published by the Walsh Printing Company, Auckland, 1937.

This little book (52 pages) with the extraordinary long title appears to have been compiled by Mr Venables so that the future settler on Raoul Island would know what he was in for. He does this quite well, describing the climate, what will grow well and the pests to be expected. But he got to the publishers a little late, as 1937 saw the arrival of the Government Survey team, which among other activities, arranged the transfer of the only freehold land back to the Crown. This freehold property, which is in partly the same area now occupied by the station, consisted of 275 acres originally granted by Government to Thomas Bell at the end of the last century. It had passed through several owners and was finally sub-divided into nine lots of which A.M. Venables had purchased one, the whole being under the Trustee, Alfred Bacon (our Association's first Honorary Member) for the Sunday Island Association.

The author adds a rather stern warning to the would-be settler, not "to put off until tomorrow what well could be done today." On page 19 he intones: "This is the secret of the failure of all the settlements on Sunday Island. It has a most peculiar influence on the white man; the most energetic person under ordinary conditions becomes listless and lethargic after two or three weeks' residence on the island. Every person enjoys the best of health on the island and it has been noticed that the women folk resident there are exceptionally healthy and energetic, so that the climatic conditions do not seem to affect them adversely; and this, probably was the secret of the Bell family's success, as their women folk were the guiding and driving force of their settlement."

Perhaps this is the true reason why the Ministry of Transport wisely does not permit the ladies to accompany present day expedition teams. An interesting lunch hour's reading for you Wellingtonians at the Turnbull Library.

Pierre 6/8/70

·····················

"BACK TO CIVILISATION"

The following article is printed through the courtesy of the "Tussock Grasslands and Mountain Lands Institute".

Four hundred miles south-east of N.Z. lies Campbell Island. Today it has a meteorological station manned the year round by nine or ten men living n comparative comfort. But for 36 years, from 1895 until it was abandoned in 1931, it was leased by the N.Z. Government as a sheep-grazing run. The several syndicates and owners who held the lease employed shepherds to muster and shear their sheep. These men lived on the island for at least a year at a time, often in very primitive conditions. The last shepherds were marooned there for two years when no steamer was sent down for them.

We have been lucky to meet Mr Alex Spence of Goodwood, near Palmerston the only one of that party still alive. Mr Spence is a quiet, now elderly man but we think readers will understand the hardships these men put up with from his story. We are sure you will enjoy this tale of sheep farming 40 years ago.

••••••••••••••••••

I had been working on Redcliffs station for five years and since I'd come out from Scotland just after the First World War, I thought I would make the trip back to see the Edinburgh Exhibition of 1930. Then I saw an advertisement saying they wanted an extra shepherd on Campbell Island for 8 months. They would pay £2-10-0 a week wages plus an extra £1-10-0 a hundred for shearing and f'ive shillings a skin sealing bonus. What better chance to save a bit of money and still be back in time to go to the Exhibition? Wright Stephensons took me on.

I was told I'd return when a steamer called some time in March (1930) but the agreement also said "or until such time as it can be arranged to bring him back". A fellow didn't think twice about those words at the time. We were told to have 40O wethers mustered in and ready for the steamer to pick up and, of course, the wool.

SOUTH:

I sailed south in May 1929 on the "Kotare", a small coastal steamer of 130 tons. It wasn't supposed to carry passengers so I was signed on as a steward. Harry Warren was with me. Harry was the brother of John Warren who with his nephew Arthur leased the island for a rent of £50 a year. Arthur, a young man about 25 years old, first went down in December 1927. Jack followed later. He was 50 but he could run like a hare. Harry was about 42 years old. He had been down before but was going back. This was his second try. He'd gone south in December 1928 in the "Eleanor Bolling" - a supply ship of the Byrd Expedition - but the weather was so bad and the visibility so poor that the captain decided it was impossible to put in.

Harry and I never got there this time either. The "Kotara" got lost even though it had three spare captains aboard for the trip, and we were out for a fortnight. Such foul weather blew up that in the end we had to turn back. The little boat nearly foundered. At one stage I remember the old cook came down with his false teeth chattering. He said, "The Captain says the boat's sprung a leak and won't last half an hour. Have you got a whisky?" “No", I says, "it's down in my gear." The boat rose up sharp on a wave. I crashed down the ladder I was holding on to and hit my head on a stove. I woke and felt the water sloshing around me and a light bulb above me and I thought, "What the hell1 s happened? I must have got drunk and fallen down in the gutter somewhere under a street lamp." I got back to my bunk.

The alarm clock fell off the shelf, hit the floor and started ringing. A£ter a while it rolled against the wall and stopped, then it rolled and started ringing again. I took it into bed with me.

Luckily the wind eased and the seas dropped a bit and we eventually got back to Bluff.

It wasn't until August 1929 that we finally landed on the island. We had our dogs, a years food and clothing and spare parts for the island's launch. It had a broken clutch and had been laid up on the slip for 13 months. We got it fixed in the first few days after we arrived. Then we floated it off and had a bit of an argument whether to put it back on the slip or leave it riding at anchor. We left it. During the night a proper gale blew up and when we got up in the morning there was no launch. We found her wrecked later on Kelp Point. It was a great loss - it would have saved us miles of walking to start mustering. All we had left was a dinghy and a punt like a big square box. The wool was usually stacked in this, 20 bales at a time, and the punt pulled out hand over hand along a line from the jetty to he steamer. It had pens on it, too, for sheep.

 

The Wrecked Launch		Harry Warren's turn as cook

THE STATION:

Well, we loaded the last season's wool on to the steamer and it sailed off leaving us alone on the island.

Campbell Island is about 28,000 acres in size. I would say over a third of it, all the lower slopes, was covered in dense scrub, thinning out to big tussocks and Campbell Island lily as you got higher. Those snow tussocks would get up round your waist when they weren't burnt. We burnt them when we could but it was generally too wet to do much. It was just like the country in the back of the Lammerlaws and Lammermoors - peat swamps and such like. The northern end of it was the best - it was limestone, and the few wild cattle lived there. They didn't breed much and looked like a Shorthorn type.

It was a rough, hilly island with several rocky peaks - the highest was Mt Honey which would be a little under 2,000 feet. There were three or four others only a bit lower than this. I was told the island had been an old volcano once.

One day after we'd been there a while, Arthur and I climbed up one of them called Dumas. When we got high enough to look out to sea, away to the south­ east we were surprised to see what looked like a full-rigged sailing ship. But after peering through the telescope we realised it was a huge iceberg hull down on the horizon. When we got to the top, we saw another only six or seven miles away to the north-east. And further round there was yet another, the largest of the three -it looked like Mt Cook gone for a swim. Broken ice had stacked up all along the rocks.

The main harbour was called Perseverance Inlet, after the name of the vessel that discovered the island. It was an inlet about seven miles long and at the head of it, in the fork of two arms, was our homestead and buildings.

The old weatherboard house had been built about the turn of the century as a two-room cottage, and four bedrooms were added later along the back. One of the rooms was almost full of books; I think every boat that came in had brought some. Another room was a grocery store. We had tanks for rain water and wood­ burning stove. We cut the wood for it from a sort of she-oak scrub about two miles down the inlet and ferried it back in the punt towed by the dinghy. The rest of the buildings were another store room, a wool shed that held about 300 sheep, and a shed with a couple of tons of petrol for the launch, stacked in tins. There was also a sheep-dip and yards. There were quite a few holding paddocks around the homestead and a couple of fences to cut the island in three. We put one of them up. It was only a mile long because of the way the main inlet went right into the island.

THE SHEEP

There were about 4,500 sheep on the island, about half of them wethers. We kept the wethers on one side of the dividing fence after we built it and ewes on the other. But there was the best part of a thousand more wild sheep there too and the wild rams caused us a good deal of trouble. We must have had every different breed of sheep on that island. The early sheep would have been Merinos or half breeds but I think Romney, Lincoln, and Corriedale rams had all been used at one time or another. When I was there there'd been no rams taken down for ten years. We just used to sort out the best looking ram lambs when they came in and cut the rest.

The sheep were very bad with hydatids. It was the hardest thing in the world to get a descent liver – the worst I’ve ever seen, and the lympho was something terrible. The big boils would break open on the flanks of the sheep. I don't think there was any active footrot, but the feet used to grow like boats, though, on the peat. Without a word of a lie the foot of the wild sheep were sometimes eight inches long and they'd grown out and turned round. When you clipped their toenails and let them go it was the funniest thing you ever saw - they'd run away with their feet going right up past their ears.

We had a fairly set pattern of work for the year - at least, that is, when -the weather would let us. We didn't go round the sheep at lambing. There were no horses, it was all walking, and since the ewes were separated from the wethers only in the last year we were there, it would have been hopeless to think of lambing them. We marked most of the lambs at shearing time but the lambing percentage wasn't very high. I'd say about thirty to forty per cent was all we'd get. The ewes were lambing practically all the year round with the wild rams, and the lambs had quite a lot of natural enemies. Although we had no wild dogs or pigs there were "sea hens" - big brown birds (skuas) that used to get down on quite a few lambs. We killed them if we could. 1bey1 d dive at you and you could hit them with a good stick.

We'd start shearing about January, but because of the weather it was a long drawn out operation that often carried through to April. We four did the shearing ourselves and occasionally I managed over a hundred a day. Due to a shortage of wool-packs most bales were pressed to well over 450 pounds. We took out about 120 bales of wool when we finally left the island.

We'd turn the sheep back after shearing and muster them again in the autumn for dipping. This muster only took about ten days because the lambs were bigger and we didn't have to wait for the sheep to dry this time. We didn't wean the lambs because there was nowhere to wean them to anyway. We'd put the rams out after the dipping but didn't go near the sheep again from then until the shearing muster.

SEALING

Most of the winter we spent sealing. The owners had the right to take 400 skins a year. We'd go down the ledges on a rope to get at the fur seals under the cliffs which were up to 800 feet high. One bluff was 100 feet straight down. We were all new chums at skinning seals and pretty slow and awkward at the job. We'd pull our selves back up the cliffs on the ropes carrying the skins in sacks on our backs. The skins weighed only two or three pounds each. When we got them back to the homestead we'd salt them down in barrels. There were a lot of seals and sea-lions, sea-elephants and sea-leopards on the island. It was nothing unusual to find a sea­ elephant lying right up on the verandah of the cottage at night. We saw quite a few whales too, even in the inlet itself, and here and there around the coast there were these trypot boilers still sitting there, and the foundations of old whaling huts. At one place there was the remains of a big whaling station. We sometimes used one shed as a back hut when we were out mustering.

On the way down we had called in at Port Ross in the Auckland Islands, though nobody lived there then. There were quite a few graves, some of them of guys wrecked on the Adams Island. I think they had been he survivors of the wreck of the "Dundonald." We cleaned the graves - you know how superstitious sailors are, they reckoned it was their duty. There were a few graves on Campbell Island too. You have probably heard of the legend of the Scottish princess who was deliberately marooned on the island. There was a grave by the remains of an old hut that we knew as hers, with quite a bit of heather growing by it and the only flax bush on the island.

There was also another grave with an iron cross on it and an inscription reading "Remember your Sleeping Brother". We found two other graves too, one of them with beach stones around it, after we had burned off the tussock once. The cross had fallen down and we couldn't tell what had been written on it.

THE LONG WAIT

As I told you we went down in August 1929 with enough food for a year. We mustered the sale wethers in for the boat in March as we'd been told to do but the boat didn't arrive. We held the sheep in the holding paddocks; there was ample feed and we just shifted then from one paddock to another.

We didn't worry when no boat came - we always expected one to come in any day. When we'd left to go down it looked as though the Russians were going to start a fight and we thought there must be a war on. We didn't have a radio. So we held the sheep in till about June and then let them go. Eventually we shore two seasons there and still no boat came down to relieve us. We just carried on the same each year and took the sheep down to the jetty again next March and once more turned them out in June, June 1931 that is. What had happened was that with the slump, the price of wool had dropped so low that the stock firm didn1 t reckon the wool would be worth enough to send a boat down for it. We were told later that people were writing to the papers saying the Government should send a boat down for us, but the Government said it was none of their business.

Before I was there, Norwegian whaling boats going south used to call and collect about 400 sheep to freeze on the way down for stores, and would call again on the way back for more. But something went wrong - perhaps they'd had some tough ones rung on them. They never came back and that was another disappointment to us too.

SHORT OF FOOD

When the steamer didn't turn up that first March and the months went by, we realised that we'd have to start rationing ourselves. Some of our stores started to run out. We'd been out of flour and tinned milk for over twelve months. Rice, sago, and split peas were ground up in a mincer to make porridge. We had tea and sugar right to the last and plenty of salt, which we'd brought for the skins. Of course there was mutton, and we ate it every way possible. We even made black pudding from the blood, and occasionally killed and ate shags. But we never killed an albatross - we were very kind to the albatross. We were rather proud of him, and our island was his main nesting ground. We had mixed success growing vegetables in the summer months, and the rats got most of what did grow. There were rats all over the island. We killed a couple of wild cattle and packed the beef in the seven miles on our backs. We were told that years ago pigs were put on the island for food for castaways but they must have died out.

We had no accidents except once when I went to castrate a big old brush ram and it kicked and the knife went through my hand. It got better. Jack Warren dislocated his ankle when jumping off a bark while out mustering. He found himself stranded in the creek bed, and we were well out of sight. So he turned his foot round, hit it with the palm of his hand, and it went back in again. But his leg was black for weeks.

Luckily we never ran out of tobacco. We ran out of matches early on. We made our own out of brown paper and sulphur and you could strike a flint stone and steel and get a spark. Our kerosine ran out too but we found we could make candles from tallow.

Even with things getting a bit tough at times, we got on together. There were never any disputes or arguments. Terribly nice fellows they were. For the two years we were there we didn't know the rest of the world existed. We always seemed to be making or patching something. Our clothes fell to bits and we just had to patch up the old things that we had. We were like scarecrows but there was nobody there to see us anyway. There were plenty of books to read, and I read books there that I'd never thought of reading anywhere else. There was an old gramophone with records, and we wore the spots off the playing cards until they were useless.

THE RESCUE

One day in March when we'd been there 18 or 20 months, Jack set out for the old whaling station to get a barrel to put seal skins in. When he climbed out above the homestead, he saw seven Norwegian chasers laying in a bay in the shelter of the island. They were obscured from the homestead but he thought one of them would be going round to the harbour to load our wool for sure. He could have signaled them easily with three fires. He didn't, and when he got his barrel and climbed back to the ridge - a seven mile walk - the boats were well out on the horizon. By cripes, he was popular!

We were all out mustering on Filhol Peak when the boat finally came in. It was August 1931, and I think from memory it was a Sunday. I saw these two, Arthur and Harry, running up through the sheep and wondered what had happened. They told us a boat was on the way in. Jack and Arthur went on home and Harry and I gathered up some sheep for mutton and dog tucker and drove them back.

The steamer, the old "Tamatea", had been out for 16 days from Invercargill and was out of tucker too! They'd expected to get some from us! They'd sheltered near the Auckland islands from a big storm and then hadn't been able to get bearings from the sun, and had gone away south of us. They came in and landed and saw no launch (you'll remember it was wrecked) and no dogs. They reckoned we must have tried to get back to New Zealand and foundered. But at the home­ stead they found the range was still warm and the clock ticking so they knew we must be somewhere about.

They took us on board and gave us a feed of what they had. About the only thing we had left was a packet of cornflour which we'd kept in case someone took crook.

The weather was bad and we didn't leave until the Thursday. The actual loading of the wool took us only two or three hours (25 tons of it), but we also had to cart fresh water to the ship. We filled the punt three times with water and took it to the ship's side and they pumped it into their tanks with their own pumps. It was a terrible rough trip back. The Captain said it was the worst he'd known in 37 years. It was so bad that I lost some dogs drowned and they'd been tied up high on the boat deck. It wasn't worrying me - I was as sick as a dog myself.

When we finally got to Bluff the Captain signed the crew off. But during the night he found the boat was sinking at the wharf with the pounding which the wool bales in its holds had given it. So he had to dig some of his crew out of bed and sign them on again to go back to the ship and pump it out.

The final irony was that they only got enough for the wool, in the end, to barely pay for the boat going down to get it. There was nothing left over for the Warrens or for me. I spent about three months trying to get my wages out of the stock firm but I gave it up in the end. The old solicitor said "It 1 s a blue duck, but you’ve had a holiday for nothing!" Nothing ? - 450 quid it cost me and that'd be nearer £1,500 today. Well, I ask you - what would you have said ?

Abridged - Ed.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

NEWS FR0M THE ISLANDS

RAOUL ISLAND

The following article was received from Roy Swain, Officer-in-Charge, by radio telephone on 8th August.

The 1969/70 Expedition has been extremely lucky with regard to the number of visitors to Raoul. The summary of these would make Thomas Bell's mouth water, were he with us.

December brought the U.S. Ice-breaker "Burton Island" and 3 Airdrops.
January, an airdrop and the G.M.V. "Moana Roa".
February, an airdrop.
March, H.M.N.Z.S. Waikato, mail delivered by helicopter.
May, an airdrop, plus two Orion aircraft with those mysterious canisters. The "Sundowner" (yacht) called with its international crew - German, Australian, Kiwi. During their visit the crew members were able to contact families in their respective homelands using Roy's ham radio equipment. Another yacht- "Nessie II".
June - H.M.N.Z.S 1 a "Waikato and "Otago" brought in M.O.W. electricians and equipment to replace the electrical reticulation system.
July - a return visit of the ''Waikato" to repatriate the electricians, and two more airdrops. A yacht the "Hi Hi So" a 38 footer, called in to take mail out for the boys. Note: Members of the 1962/63 Expedition may recall the visit of the Australian yacht "Kilki" with Stan Field (skipper) and Clive? (crew member). Kilki was Aboriginal for water fowl. Stan Field is the owner-skipper of "Hi Hi So". (Editor).
August - a ketch "Salem I" put in for repairs to its generator and engine. The skipper had cut his finger en route and the hand had become badly infected. Massive doses of penicillin were administered to the patient on Raoul, and the infection subsequently brought under control be fore the vessel continued its voyage. An airdrop is anticipated in the near future to replenish the island 's medical stock. It is understood that another yacht is somewhere between Auckland and Raoul, so more visitors can be expected.

The job of renewing the electrical reticulation has been a big job, but is nearing completion, with the bulk of the work being carried out by the team on Raoul. Building repairs, maintenance, and painting goes on.

Earthquakes occurred at regular intervals during the first three months of the expedition year, but seismic activity has been very quiet. In one sharp jolt the metal-pit on Boat-Cove Road cascaded down, and rubble completely blocked the road, and a portion of the No.1 Paddock fell away to the beach below. This has now become the Beach Paddock. Some submarine volcanic activity was observed about 200 yards off shore in the centre of Low Flat.

There are now two herons resident in Blue Lake area, together with pukekhos and about 40 ducks. Parakeets have put in occasional appearances on Raoul.

Although no major hurricanes have been experienced the island has had a few gales. Over 20 trees have come down on the roads, and a large portion of the road around Bell's Ravine was washed out to sea.

The regular task of lubricating the Boat-Cove foxway cable with cardium compound caused a little extra excitement recently. While heating the compound some spattered the ground and "flashed" and in no time acres of the steep hill-side were ablaze. A firebreak was put through and the fire burned itself out in a fortnight when it reached the Nikau rain forest area.

Ewan Thom (the farmer) who won the first six months goat shooting, has captured more goats with the aid of his dog "Lad" than any of the others have managed to shoot in the second competition. John Hunt (mechanic) had a shot-gun sent up to the island, but after firing at a big billy goat at point-blank range, and the goat shaking its head and running off he has since dispensed with the might weapon. A nanny goat captured three weeks ago has since given birth to a kid in captivity.

The legend of large mails going out from Raoul continues. Over 1,000 pounds of mail was uplifted by helicopter to the "Waikato" in July. The Postmaster rubbing hands in glee at the stamped sales in excess of $35 for the occasion.

A multi pronged concrete kedge anchor weighing 1,100 pounds was successfully laid off Fishing Rock, but in less than 24 hours a storm smashed the mooring marker off and what might have been is lost forever beneath the waves.

The regular twice weekly commercial flights pass over Raoul 2:40 a.m., and seem to be using the island for navigation aid.

Roy has logged over 16,000 contacts on his amateur radio equipment, including 250 countries.

While the information was being passed over R/T a large cruise ship identified as one of the "Fairsea/Fairstar" line glided past, about three miles off shore. Although the year is coming to a close it is to be hoped that the "Visitor's Book" will receive further additions.

•••••••••••••••••••

C.AMPBELL ISLAND

The following article was received from Peter Julius, Officer-in-Charge, by radio telephone on 11th August, who in the course of conversation mentioned a new record that they had established – 54 minutes of sunshine recorded for the month of June.

Nothing seems to come round more frequently than the requests for contributions to the "rag". If nothing else, it can be said that he Association offers opportunity in plenty to improve ones journalistic talent. Life on Campbell has been extremely hectic - every effort being centred around the re-building of the wharf and this has created many problems, both here and at higher levels. Shortages of materials, transport, etc. were overcome and we are pleased to report the foundations and framework for bearers are complete and now ready for decking. More pleased however, to report the finish of nearly 50 man-hours of diving, (wet suit and snorkel), to clear the sea-bed and set boxing for underwater concrete foundations. The forty degree water temperatures will long be remembered.

Social highlights of the year started with our Mid-Winter Dinner on 20th June. Truly a gastronomic masterpiece which lasted five hours ans set the scene for a hectic session which lasted into the wee small hours. Such a sumptuous repast would evoke too much jealousy if the menu were to be reproduced on these pages. The following day saw six hardy souls and "Peggy" enter the water for our traditional Mid-Winter swim and leave it even faster. Our challenge to the Campbell Island pin-up girl, Relda Familton, and the WNTV1 staff to emulate our performance was taken up in a blaze of publicity and resulted in the raising of over $100 for the Intellectually Handicapped Children. This was a really heart-warming experience for us all.

July 7th and the U.S.A.R.P. research vessel U.S.S. "Eltanin" paid a most welcome visit with mail, hardwood beams for the wharf, and some urgently needed mechanical parts. Top marks to our cook who, within ten minutes of going on board was seen with his arms around not one, but all three of the young ladies (research assistants) on the ship. Ostensibly he said, to pose for photographs??? This information was speedily passed on to Head Office who promptly extended his tour here by another year to give the rest of us a chance to combat his fatal charms with the fair sex.

With only two months before servicing we look forward to the completion of the many small jobs that remain, and to the welcome arrival of our successors, and trust that they too may enjoy the challenge and good fellowship of "Island Life" as we have.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••

1970/]1 EXPEDITION TEAMS

CAMPBELL ISLAND

 

 

RAOUL ISLAND

 

 

"S N I P S"

Dr Robin Adams, Superintendent of the Seismological Observatory, left recently to take up a twelve month appointment as a research seismologist at he niversity of California, Berkley. Our congratulations Robin, and hope we may receive a Newsletter contribution on your American exploits be ore you get caught driving up Lombard Street!

•••••••••

A small presentation was made to Dr Janet Brown at the Film Evening (18/7/70)to mark her departure from Ministry of Transport Medical Directorate. During her brief comments in reply "Dr Janet" recalled one or two real-life dramas that had occurred on the islands during her term. These anecdotes would be enjoyed by all our members, and maybe with a little coercion "Dr Janet" will commit her memoirs to paper, for our benefit.

•••••••••

One member of the 1970/71 Raoul team is known to be doing a three week 'Islands' Cruise on the "Kuala Lumpur" - Tonga, Western Samoa, Fiji, Noumea. It may take at least a year to recuperate.

•••••••••

The wife of one of the Association Committee Members - Peter Ingram- recently produced a second heir. Congratulations Peter and Pam!!

•••••••••

M.V. Holmburn scheduled to depart for Campbell Island about 3rd October, and from Wellington for Raoul about 14th October.

•••••••••

Bill Hughes (Ministry of Works Building overseer, and no stranger to Raoul and Campbell Islands) and his wife Dot attended our Association's recent film evening, and were still bubbling over with the recent trip to Osaka, Expo 70, and South-east Asian countries. Hope to see you at the Reunion again.

•••••••••

Literally hundreds of regular Sunday 2ZB listeners have asked me when John Hunt is going to land that 250 pound groper up at Raoul, which they've been hearing so much about. You will have to redeem yourself John, before you return home.

•••••••••

Our congratulations to Dave Camm of Raoul and Campbell Administration Office who left the Ministry of Transport recently on promotion. Hope you'll retain your close interest and roll along to the coming Reunion.

RICHARD LOVEGROVE Editor