The Enid Blyton Society

My adventures have taken me to the Southern Hemisphere now. I have been traveling around New Zealand for a month studying very exciting things such as volcanoes and faulting in very exciting locations such as Mount Doom and a coastline I could well believe is the setting for Demon's Rocks, and slightly less exciting things such as rockfalls and geohazards in others.

I am currently living in Christchurch and will be attending university till November. I will have a spring break (ha! Two spring breaks in 2016!) sometime in September, I believe, and would love to meet up with forumites.

I know Aurelien is in NZ - what part of the country are you in? Is there anyone else?

Nice to hear from you, Ming. You certainly are a well travelled young woman.

Always wonderful to hear from youm Mingus. If your studies take you to Perth Australia, I'll be available for a meet up.

It's good to hear from you and to learn that you are enjoying your time in New Zealand, Ming.

I know we did have a member — RDMorrell or something like that — who had the NZ flag for an avatar, but I don't think he's posted in a while. There are a few Aussies here, though...

Yes, I thought of Rowan too. He hasn't looked in since February, it seems.

The person who springs to my mind is Terry Gustafson and I believe he does check these forums fairly regularly. I am sure he would be delighted to meet a Journal cover girl, Ming!

So glad you are having a wonderful holiday in New Zealand, Ming - you are so adventurous and well travelled you put me to shame!

Ming, if you get to Adelaide, South Australia, we have a spare room and would love see you.

cheers
Sue

Greetings, Ming, from the old codger in Auckland, way up the length of our North Island. WELCOME to New Zealand!

Lately I've been over at LibraryThing, posting contributions to the Reviews section of the British adult writer L. P. Davies (1914-1988). Luckily, Eddie Muir knew this, and e-mailed your first post on this thread on to me. (Thanks, Eddie. Much appreciated.)

Even to a New Zealander like me, Christchurch is freezing C-O-L-D at this time of the year. If you arrived straight from Bangladesh it wouldn't have taken you long to notice this.

If you flew in during daylight hours, and had a window-seat, you may have got a great view of that long landscape wall that we call the Southern Alps. Just one of the many geographical features on offer here for those interested in geomorphology and geology. Since arriving, you will also have seen what still remains of the Christchurch earthquake damage from several years ago.

These days I don't go out and about nearly as much as I once did. Problems with stamina aka energy levels, poor eyesight, a hearing loss, etc. Some of your fellow-students will be able to describe just how spread out my Auckland is, and give graphic descriptions of the joys of driving on the motorways and main roads up here.

I should mention that traveling in a car or other small vehicle on New Zealand's open roads (ie. outside speed-restricted areas) is rather more dangerous than you might be expecting it to be. Take care.

Cheers,
Aurélien Arkadiusz

Courtenay and Daisy, I believe that Mr. R. D. Morrell's home town is Wellington.

'Aurélien Arkadiusz'

Thanks to everyone who invited me along to Australia! I might have to give that a pass since I'll need a separate visa and I don't know how time consuming and expensive it will be, though I will try to look into it.

Tony Summerfield wrote:The person who springs to my mind is Terry Gustafson and I believe he does check these forums fairly regularly. I am sure he would be delighted to meet a Journal cover girl, Ming!

I can't believe it's been ten years! Tony, I've emailed you about Terry's contact details.

Aurelien wrote:Greetings, Ming, from the old codger in Auckland, way up the length of our North Island. WELCOME to New Zealand!

Aurelien! Thank you. I've spent a night in Auckland already. But I'll be in Auckland again on my way home, sometime in mid-November. I'll probably spend a few days there then, so if you want to meet up, do let me know!

Even to a New Zealander like me, Christchurch is freezing C-O-L-D at this time of the year. If you arrived straight from Bangladesh it wouldn't have taken you long to notice this.

It's actually not too bad. It hasn't dropped that much below freezing yet. I haven't been in Bangladesh since January - I came straight from New York. Much colder there! Upstate NY winters are legendary. But I did hear that winter isn't properly here yet, so maybe I'll take back my words soon enough.

If you flew in during daylight hours, and had a window-seat, you may have got a great view of that long landscape wall that we call the Southern Alps. Just one of the many geographical features on offer here for those interested in geomorphology and geology. Since arriving, you will also have seen what still remains of the Christchurch earthquake damage from several years ago.

I did see the Southern Alps from the plane. I also spent some time in Kaikoura, where the Alps meet the coast, and a couple more days in Castle Hill, which are the eastern foothills of the Hills. Since our arrival in Christchurch, we have seen the remaining damage from the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence. There is a church in the business district which is almost completely destroyed, and our instructors were telling us of how many homes were badly damaged. The CBD in particular is in bad shape - walking through the streets is very sad, because so many of the buildings are just falling apart, and many more are being demolished.

We also were up at Rapaki, where rockfalls have been triggered by the CES - and they are some enormous boulders. The houses at the base of the hill apparently had boulders tear through their walls. Very terrifying.

It's nice to hear from you!

It's fascinating to follow your travels, Ming - although it does seem like your itinerary is forcing you to miss out on summer! Leaving America just as Summer starts, going to New Zealand for the winter, then only staying until it starts to get warmer in November?! I bet you'll be glad of some warmer weather by then!

There is a Blyton fan, Dora - I believe she might have only posted on the Yahoo Group - who lives in Christchurch. I have her email address if you would like it. Not sure if you ever met with her or not.

Thank you, Mingus. And I'll keep my fingers crossed, that you'll make it here.

How are you, Mingus....?