Merry Christmas, Dear Readers!

 A Merry Christmas to Our Readers! We hope Santa was nice to you.

Have some fun!

A message to those we won't be spending Christmas with this year: 'Til our next meeting!

Looking for Santa on Christmas Eve

Have you seen him yet?

Home on the Afternoon Tram from New Brighton, circa 1910s

 Catching the tram to the Square from the Pier, New Brighton, Christchurch, circa early 1910. The pier is off to the left. Photo: F N Jones, Nelson. click on images for enlarged view.

The Esplanade, New Brighton, showing the Pier, band rotunda, and gardens, early 1900s. The new pier is proximate to the location of the one pictured and the new public library & cafe is about where the building is located in the picture.

The Tram Terminus at New Brighton, circa 1910s.

My Life in Postcards Blog - An Announcement

Main Street, Eketahuna, Wairarapa, New Zealand, circa 1909. Muir & Moodie.

click on image for larger view.

Announcing the birth of a companion blog to the New Zealand Journal: My Life In Postcards. Baby and father are doing well; we don't know who the mother is ;)

Readers of this blog may be interested in the new offspring for the simple reason that since it is authored by yours truly, a Kiwi, it will likely have significant New Zealand content though its editorial brief is much broader than that. The opening post is about a trio of postcards of Eketahuna in the Wairarapa of New Zealand - and "The Man".

We will continue, of course, our offerings here, as sporadic as they sometimes can be, on all things New Zealand that catch our interest and imagination.

Slip, Slop, Slap & Wrap - New Zealand Sun Smart 2006 Ad

SUN SMART courtesy of 'Cancer Society of New Zealand' and the "Health Sponsorship Council"; newzealand.govt.nz , www.sunsmart.org.nz

 

If you're going to be outdoors at New Brighton beach or elsewhere this southern summer, don't forget to "Slip, slop, slap and wrap", as Tiger advises. 

 

Those of us exiled to the frozen northern hemisphere shall fight off the frost bite and get in a little ice-fishing.

Ernie Hinds - The World's Original Fastest Indian? at New Brighton, 1914-1917

Ernie Hinds on a 1000c Indian motorcycle at New Brighton, circa 1914, 

The Press, Alexander Turnbull Library

In the early decades of the twentieth century, New Brighton beach, Christchurch, was a popular venue for organized motorcycle races. Ernest (Erie) N F Hinds was a leading racer, seen above with admiring fans on his 1000c Indian motorcycle.

Years before Bert Munro of The World's Fastest Indian movie fame, Ernie Hinds was scorching up & down New Brighton beach breaking Australasian records on his Indian. How many know of Ernie Hinds today, one wonders?

Motor World, NZ Truth, 27 January, 1917, p. 12

 Ernie Hinds on his 1916 Indian Motorcycle in Christchurch, 1916.

The Press, Alexander Turnbull Library.

Take a Paddle Before the Bikies Arrive - New Brighton, Christchurch, early 1900s

The Weekly Press, 31 May 1905, p. 40, Christchurch City Libraries.

With the advent of the infernal (!) combustion engine, a tranquil paddle at the water's edge on New Brighton beach was an endangered pastime for a few decades.

Above, the start of the 9 mile scratch race of the Christchurch Motor and Cycling Club's motor races at New Brighton Beach in 1905.