FMD, University
U
ty of Waiikato
Issue No: 66 – Nove
ember/Decemb
ber 2008
Chrristmas Message
On
nce again we have reached
d
thee end of anotther long and
quite hard year, and I think
wee are all looking forward to
t our well deeserved two
weeek break.
I want
w
to thankk you all for the hard wo
ork over the
last year, and
d congratulaate you on the many
ach
hievements within Facilities Management,
M
nottwithstanding
quitte
trying
sometimes
circcumstances to
t achieve theem in.
200
09 looks to be
b another faairly challenging year but
witth effort by all
a of us to see the positiive side of a
diffficult budgett position, I am confideent we will
maake the most of the situatiion.
New Waikaato Pathwayss College building nears completion. The
t building in
i use
All the best oveer Christmas and the New
w Year and I official opening is likely to be mid February, with the
th
ollowing
wee
ek.
The
new
enlarged
fac
cilities
will
pr
rovide
from
the
fo
will see you all again once more on thee 5 January
most of the
e teaching faccilities in onee location, as well as a purpose
hereafter in some cases!!
or fairly soon th
built admin
nistration area. This will also relieve congestion in the
Regards, Jo
ohn Cameron adjacent EA
AS building.
John Badh
ham
RNZZAC Reunion (submitted
(
byy Laurie Drum
mmond)
Welcomee to our new Electrical Traades Assistan
nt, Ub
Van
Jaars
sveld.
Ub
is
o
originally
from
m
South
Afric
a and
Recently I attend
ded a reunion of the Royal New
N Zealand Armoured Co
orp
has
been
here
about
fo
our
d in Waiouru. Whilst there
held
b’s main hobb
by is
years. Ub
werre many highliights of the veery
triathlon
(maybe
give
tthe
tirin
ng weekend sp
pent in the “H
Home of
a
bike
race).
chippies
the Tankies”, I sh
hall write abou
ut a few
his issue and will
w follow up with
in th
morre rambling neext year.
Ub is marrried to Terri, our
Security Administrator
A
r.
Havving planned to
t travel to Waiouru
by myself
m
in my own
o transportt, I was
surp
prised to recceive a phon
ne call from the Army saaying they had
arraanged travel for me from Hamilton
H
to Waiouru
W
and reeturn. I was paart
of a small group
p of retired soldiers bein
ng transported down to the
tusssock. Amongsst the group were 5 old soldiers of the
t original 4th
4
Arm
moured Regim
ment who had not been to Waiouru since they had
emb
barked by train to fight for our country 68
6 years ago. I was humbled
to be in the prresence of th
hese quiet unassuming
u
m
men
who we
ere
a country. On
O arrival the
ese
prepared to sacrrifice themselvves for King and
umatua of the RNZAC were treated with great respectt and honour. A
Kau
pow
whiri was follo
owed by aftern
noon tea then
n we were all transported to
t
our accommodati
a
d people we
ere
on. The old
accom
mmodated in luxurious rooms whilst the
rest of
o us were putt up in the old
d barracks‐ ahhh
the nostalgia,
n
the memories and
a
the storiies
told that
t
night in the three diffferent bars we
w
visited
d in camp. Neext issue I shall describe the
eventt and some of
o the new and not so ne
ew
technologies that I was allowed
d to use/ driive
hoot with.
and sh
If you seee Ub around,
Please inttroduce yoursself
and makee him feel at
home.
The photos show th
he old soldiers (too proud to
t
be pushed
p
around the Army Museum
M
in wh
heel chairs).
Energy performance
p
ccontract updaate
A partneership betweeen Honeywelll controls and
d the
UoW to install techn
nology on Hiillcrest Campu
us in
o reduce expeenditure on energy
e
‐ perio
od of
order to
contract = 6 years.
The latesst report:
The com
mmencement date for the savings phasse of
this projeect was the 1sst of February 2004.
The totaal savings in last quarter were $80,673.00.
This brings the totaal savings fo
or the projecct to
6.00.
$893,786
The Univversity is on target to exxceed one million
dollars in energy eexpenditure by contract end
(Februarry 2010).
Robin Dunmall (20/11/08)
It’s that time of year again ‐ the crew in Knighton Lake harvesting weed. Pictures
provided by Blair McDonnell (21/11).
FMD Social Club
A big thank you from the Social Club
committee for all the support in
buying raffles and lotto numbers.
Also thanks to those who have
attended the sausage sizzles,
functions, and joined us on the
bus trips.
Have a safe Christmas/New Year!
Social Club Boat Trip to Rangitoto Island (8th November)
We made an early start to meet the boat to take us to Rangitoto Island,
which is usual with the bus trips heading to Auckland, stopping on the
way at Mercer.
After finding the boat moored at the Viaduct Harbour, we climbed on
board for the trip across the bay to the island. It was a nice clear day, a
bit cool otherwise great weather and on the way we sighted the Spirit of
Adventure out on the water. There was a bit of difficulty coming in
alongside the jetty at Islingston Bay, something to do with a cross
current, which meant it took approximately 15 minutes to tie up and let
us all off.
Once on land we wandered around a bit before finding the old hall
where we had lunch. The hall was made from blocks cut from volcanic
rock and in front of that were the remnants of a tennis court, used in the
1930’s. Beside the hall was an old Bach (Bach 114) that is being
renovated. We could have a look through thanks to the people doing the
renovation work. It was quite interesting talking them; they told us about
the history of the building, about the American soldiers that were here
during the WWII and some of the history of the island.
After lunch we had a bit of time to do some exploring, but not enough
time to complete any of the walks that are available. Instead we walked
to Motutapu Island, which was just over a little bridge, up a hill towards
the DOC Field Office and over a couple of paddocks and found several
storage bunkers, used by the soldiers during WWII, buried in the side of
the hill. Inside were some old metal beds, along with several old wooden
windows and doors. Outside one was a metal ball, apparently sitting over
a hole in the ground. We took a picture of the view from near the top of
hill before returning back to the boat for the trip back across the water
to Auckland where we had a little tour of the Viaduct Harbour and saw
several very large expensive yachts before we tied up at our boat’s
mooring. We headed back to Hamilton around 4:30 stopping at Mercer
for an early dinner.
A pleasant days outing was had by all. Thanks to Tom and Linda for
organising the trip.
To the right are some pictures taken during the trip (from top to
bottom):
•
•
•
•
Bach 114 (we spent a bit of time in here).
View from the top of the hill.
One of the bunkers in the hillside from the war.
Another shot of a bunker with very large metal ball outside (not
sure what that was for).
Write‐up and pictures provided by Faye Kett
Facilitation will be produced monthly. This publication is available online at http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fmd/
For communications relating to the FMD newsletter please contact Judy Swetman, ext 4980, email [email protected].