Letter from Melbourne

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”Dickens was right. We are now living a tale of two cities, of two parts of the country.
One place where COVID is closing in, while the rest of the country cautiously pushes open its doors.

It feels rather frightening to be here in Melbourne. The red line on the graph goes up and up — 270 new infections one day, then 238, then 317, and then yesterday 428 Victorians newly infected with a virus that has taken control of so much of our lives that other experiences seem like an alternate reality. .

Records don’t matter anymore. Each day is a new record figure — I don’t notice. … Continue Reading

Know your town 

Early settlers 

William Smith family 

William Smith arrived on the  ship ‘Arab’ with his parents in 1841. His father, David, purchased land at Silverstream  where he built an eight roomed  dwelling for his family, wife Isobella and four children. There he ran a dairy farm  and bred draught horses.

Youngest son William purchased a block of land at Waihinga in 1867 . He built a homestead between Waihinga village and the Māori village Kaupekahinga. The road of the time forked in front of the Smith property to go on to W Bidwill’s property and the River Ferry and Inn. So W Smith was very central in those early times. … Continue Reading

Library News

“A library in the middle of a community is a cross between an emergency exit, a life-raft and a festival.  They are cathedrals of the mind; hospitals of the soul; theme parks of the imagination.  On a cold rainy island, they are the only sheltered public spaces where you are not a consumer, but a citizen instead.” – Caitlin Moran, author.

If you’ve been into the Martinborough Library recently, you may have seen the little teacup on the front counter; we are growing some grape hyacinths.  The Waihinga Centre environment is obviously conducive to good growing conditions, as they are sprouting fast!  Customers have enjoyed watching their progress and some have been coming in solely to see where they’re at!  It’s lovely to have a little bit of spring so close by.

Our Matariki children’s activities throughout July were wildly popular; we made things including stargazers, orbs, recycled-material stars, and origami star boxes.  We hosted a twinkly night-time story & craft session, which was a lot of fun. … Continue Reading

Martinborough Business Assn

At the end of last month we hosted our AGM and celebrated the achievements of the past year. Chair Allan Hogg will continue in the role and so now it’s time to look forward and the year ahead, and we are starting with Spring.

Just weeks away now and we hope to continue the buzz that has been keeping many members rushed off their feet!

We are excited to be working with Jazz Martinborough who made the decision not to run the usual festival year due to Covid 19 but to keep momentum going and it being such a hot spot on the calendar of events we are pulling it into a series of events to make sure we Spring into Action and keep up the Love local vibes. … Continue Reading