Auckland Shell Club

August Meeting
Our August meeting was chaired by Doug Snook with a good number attending, considering some key members were overseas including our President Heather Smith.
Correspondence from her told of her success at the Yeppoon and Townsville Shell Shows. The top award being the COA (conchologists of America) on one of her entries - a truely wonderful achievement.
Congratulations Heather! Are they still going to let you know where/when their shows will be held in future?
Peter Poortman on his overseas trip was to include a visit to his son on his 21st birthday in England.

The topic for the evening was Doug & Judith Snook's South Island trip earlier this year, their longest holiday ever - 10 weeks travelling with their 13ft Oxford caravan.
The trip commenced with several days journey to Wellington where they attended the Wellington Shell Club meeting at Jenny Raven's home and had a very enjoyable time despite the weather.
Then it was across to the South Island where they evidently managed to travel nearly every major road!
One of the highlights was a trip up Farewell Spit to the lighthouse for lunch. This is only possible with the licensed operators with 4 wheel drive buses.
They visited Westport and Panakaiki to be there for the full tide experience, only to find a flat calm so they had to buy a post card instead of photos. True to form, Doug managed to sell some shells in Hokitika.
While in Wanaka one of Doug's sisters rang to tell them about the tsunami warning due to the severe earthquake in Chile. She new her brother well enough to think he is bound to be near the coast somewhere, but they soon put her mind at rest by telling her they were on high ground inland.
The Catlins was an interesting area with nice beaches, bush walks, waterfalls, small lakes, caves, and best of all - shell collecting. There was also some interesting wildlife to spot, including large sealions.
At Oamaru they viewed the yellow eyed penguins and at night the little blue penguins, and in Christchurch they celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary with a special lunch.
They had such a great holiday that at the end they were not sure about going home quite yet.

Next Meeting
202 Gillies Avenue, Epsom at 7:30pm on Tuesday 14th of September (doors open at 7pm)
Heather will be sharing her trip to Australia including Townsville Shell Show, Keppel Bay Shell Show, Broome to Darwin with Outback Spirit Company, visiting many places including the Bungle Bungles and Kakado National Park.
Shell collecting in Darwin with Dr Richard Willan and birding, back to Brisbane and train to Gladstone to join the Brisbane Shell Club shelling on Gould Reef, Lamont Reef and Mast Head all in the Great Barrier Reef.

Shells for the evening - bring along any Australian shells to share.
Shell related news and items of interest (Eg. recent finds, media articles, etc.) are always appreciated.
A large variety of shells will be on sale - and bring anything you would like to sell.
Supper will be provided, as well as our regular shell raffle kindly donated by Doug & Judith Snook.

Some of the Shells Heather Collected on her trip

Shell Auction - Albany Hall, Saturday 23rd October 2010
There will be 269 lots of good NZ and WW shells and books for sale, so mark it in your diary now!
Viewing will commence at 10am, and the auction will start at midday - one hour earlier than normal because we must be out of the hall by 6pm.
The lot list is included with this newsletter - free Excel Viewer if required.

New Zealand Seashells Visual Guide
The new book "New Zealand Seashells Visual Guide" by Jenny Raven and Selwyn Bracegirdle is stunning!
This is a key publication for NZ shell collectors, comprising 76 A4 colour pages of over 800 species in a clear plastic protective sleeve.
The price for members of a Shell Club will be NZ$77.90 (a discount of $10 on the retail price), plus an additional $2 for postage within New Zealand.
Contact Selwyn Bracegirdle at creatus@paradise.net.nz or 04 9739410 for more information.

New Zealand Shell Show 2011
The Wellington Shell Club invites you to the next New Zealand Shell Show in Wellington at the Lower Hutt Town Hall from 12th to 13th February 2011.
The show will cater for most classes of molluscs and levels of collector. Dealers are very welcome and sales and trading tables will be available at the venue.
Shell show program, classes, rules, and entry form, as well as some information on transport and accommodation is now available from the Wellington Club's website at: www.clublist.co.nz/sites/wellingtonshellclub.aspx.
For assistance or information please contact the Wellington Shell Club secretary Deirdre Standish at deirdre.standish@clear.net.nz, phone 64-4-9041080, or write to: 4 Sharda Grove, Paraparaumu Beach 5032, New Zealand.

Poirieria Magazine
We intend publishing the next issue in December, so please get pen to paper and send your items to Jan or Patricia by the 15th October.
Anything related to shells or collecting would be greatly appreciated - Eg. shelling trips/finds, personal observations/tips, scientific research, historic anecdotes, notable washups, etc.
Please send to Jan Munroe at kevandjan@slingshot.co.nz, or 67 Oakway Drive, Albany, North Shore 0632.
Contact Patricia Langford on (09) 479 6149 if you have any queries.

Club Library
We have an extensive collection of books, magazines, and scientific publications available, as well as a biological microscope.

Other Club News
. We will need a new Treasurer and a new Porieria Editor next year. Please support your club - if you have the time and the skills for either (or both) of these positions then we would like to hear from you.

. Items of interest for the monthly newsletter are always welcome - email to peter.poortman@xtra.co.nz, or post to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

Previous Newsletters