Past Event – BCA Chair visits New Zealand (South Island) and Hobart, Tasmania RCS branches-April 2024

I visited Australia early April 2024 to spend some time with family. However, I felt this was also a great opportunity to meet with their New South Wales, Sydney, Royal Commonwealth Society (RCS) branch and to subsequently travel to New Zealand (South Island) and Tasmania, given I was in this part of the world, to meet their RCS branches. The BCA is itself a branch of the RCS.

In the event, despite a number of emails to the Sydney branch letting them know I was visiting Sydney (which I did between 18-19^th April) and would like to meet them, no response was forthcoming. Sydney itself was very impressive particularly the Queen Victoria building opened in 1898, a historic five level covered shopping arcade and the Sydney Opera House (where I went to see a play ‘No pay, no way’ mixing political satire, hilarious plot twists and sharp dialogue to create a memorable experience with much laughter from beginning to end).

On 23 April, I flew from Sydney to Christchurch, the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand, to visit the NZ Canterbury RCS branch. Christchurch was named after Christ Church college at the University of Oxford. Many of us may recall Christchurch featuring on our news in February 2011 when it suffered a major earthquake; many of the city’s buildings collapsed. Even today some await restoration though funding seems to be an issue, others have been demolished to make way for new modern buildings constructed to withstand earthquakes.

The branch had responded positively to meeting me whilst in this part of the world. Thus, on the following day, 24 April, I met with two charming ladies, Christine Hainstock, ONZM (Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit; equivalent to our OBE) the President of the Christchurch, Canterbury branch of the RCS and Lorraine Logan QSM (Queens Service Medal), the Secretary of the Canterbury branch. Sitting outside a historic building we talked over coffee (which seems to be the favoured drink over tea) about their branch activities, structure, finances, their challenges and successes. Whilst it would be unfair to compare our two ‘associations’, there were a few things we did learn from each other which could be to our mutual benefit. The Branch did however appear to have a good working relationship with their government which enabled them to broaden their outcomes; they were also financially stable having come into a sum of money from a bequest. The spirit of co-operation and partnership in New Zealand was apparent.

Clearly, whilst in Christchurch it seemed sensible to get to know the city better thus, I took a tram ride around the city, a punt up the river Avon which flows through it (by the way, the river is named after the Avon in Falkirk, Scotland and not the Avon which flows through numerous counties in England), visiting their excellent Library and Botanical Garden.

By the way, 25^th April, my still being in Christchurch on this day, is always a national holiday in Australia and New Zealand. It is ‘ANZAC’ day (Australia and New Zealand Army Corps), a National Day of Remembrance. It honours the courage and sacrifice of those who served in the first world war and later conflicts. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey, together with other allied troops. The campaign was a failure with the allies suffering a large number of casualties. Circa 11,000 Australians/New Zealanders died in the 8-month campaign. By the time the campaign was over, there had been some 250,000 casualties on both sides.

As planned, on Friday 26^th April I flew from Christchurch, New Zealand to Hobart, Tasmania, the later, an island 150 miles South of the Australian mainland being the smallest state of Australia, in order to meet the Southern Tasmania RCS branch. 

Again, I had received a positive response from the Southern Tasmania RCS branch as to my meeting up with them. Sadly, their President, Mr Barry Smith, OAM Hon, (Order of St John) was on the Australian mainland that day so could not meet me but their treasurer, Mr Lance Burns and his wife Yukiko, were very pleased to do so.

I travelled to their home on the morning of the 27 April set in an enviable location overlooking the river Derwent and coast.

Lance had arranged an Itinerary for my visit; thus, we departed visiting Kingston Beach, then the Mount Nelson Signal Station (built in 1811 to alert of the city of alien ships approaching) Alexandra Battery, through the suburb of Sandy Bay to the city and across the Tasman Bridge, visiting Lindisfarne (ANZAC Park), Kangaroo Bluff and Rosny Hill, then back across the bridge back to city and on to their church, St George’s, built in 1838.

The following day, 28 April, before returning to Sydney, I visited the local museum with the particular aim of seeing a Tasmanian Tiger, (also known as ‘the thylacine’) a wolf sized carnivorous marsupial that once roamed the island, sadly having become extinct in 1936 due to extensive hunting, disease, competition with dingoes, human encroachment and climate change. Clearly the exhibit I saw had been the subject of taxidermy.

Lance discussed the activities of the Southern Tasmania RCS branch which in some ways were similar to those of Canterbury. The branch was also in a good financial position and like Christchurch did not have such as broad an agenda as us in Birmingham.

As Lance said, ‘Hands across the water’. Thus, I returned to Sydney and on to Gosford, NSW, to continue my stay with family.

The people of Australia and New Zealand are very welcoming. It was clear that many of the issues that are on the minds of us in the UK are on the minds of those here; they share similar concerns re the environment, migration, the health service, price increases and the negative impacts of social media.

The world is a smaller place than we might imagine.