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ANDY'S
NZ TOUR 2006
Throughout
March and April 2006, OzVPM Director Andy Fryar conducted
a series of volunteer management training seminars across
New Zealand in partnership with Martin J Cowling.
Read
about Andy's adventures below
The
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AGAIN AND REFLECTIONS - 9/4/2006
The
experience of travelling throughout New Zealand was
a wonderful one and I am pleased to report that I
believe the New Zealand volunteering scene is in pretty
good shape. On reflection, I believe that the whole
sector - both in terms of direct volunteer management
practices and also infrastructure support is still
at a place where it is growing and willing to learn
from the experiences of other people and places around
the world, but also develop a uniquely NZ model for
volunteer involvement.
I
found my time and dealings with Volunteering New Zealand
and the Volunteer Centres of Auckland, Wellington,
Christchurch and Dunedin to be experiences where there
was a very real sense of excitement and enthusiasm
about the work of volunteers and the broader impact
that volunteerism can have on our communities. I also
found in the dealings that Martin and I had with the
Office for the community and voluntary sector that
there is again a genuine desire to get the mixture
of government support 'right' for the benefit of all
New Zealanders.
It
was a terrific experience and I am indebted to everyone
who helped to make out time in New Zealand such a
successful one. I'd particularly like to thank the
President of Volunteering NZ, Alison Marshall, for
helping to make the tour a reality in the first place,
and Tim Burns, the CEO of Volunteering NZ for his
tireless efforts in coordinating many of the logistics
with the volunteer centres we worked with. Under the
guidance of these two people, the future of volunteering
in NZ is certainly in a good place.
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QUEENSTOWN
& MILFORD SOUND- 8/4/2006
While
our tour is officially now over, I couldn't resist
showing a few shots from the location of the well
earned 'RnR' we planned to conclude our time in New
Zealand. We visited beautiful Queenstown, nestled
amongst the mountains and situated on a breathtaking
lake. If you have never had the chance to visit, make
the time now!
Our
visit to the South Island (and New Zealand) was topped
off with a day trip to Milford Sound, a world heritage
listed area about 4 hours drive from Queenstown. The
sheer majesty of the vertical rock faces of Milford
Sound (the effects of earthquakes and glacial ice
over thousands of years) as you take the boat cruise
around the sound area, is one of those things that
has to be experienced, as all the photos in the world
cannot do it any justice. Please enjoy the photos
below (Left: Queenstown Centre & right:
Milford Sound)
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DUNEDIN
- 5/4/2006
The
'Edinburgh of the South' was how Dunedin was described.
Founded by Scottish Presbyterians it is a hilly city
located on a wonderful bay. Dunedin is rich in its
heritage and has a fantastic array of buildings and
architecture to keep every tourist happy (not to mention
the country's most famous brewery!)
Dunedin
was the scene for our last training 'gig' of the New
Zealand tour, and being a slightly smaller city than
Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch didn't
stop volunteer program managers from the region making
it the largest group we trained on the whole tour,
with approximately 50 people in attendance. In fact
we even had VPMs from as far away as Wellington fly
in to attend the seminar. It was a terrific group
to work with and both Martin and I felt that the session
had a real impact for those who attended.
Below
left (Participants at the Dunedin workshop) and right
(Yours truly at the top Baldwin St - officially the
world's steepest street)
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CHRISTCHURCH
- 3/4/2006
Well
here we are in the lovely city of Christchurch, which
reminds me very much of Adelaide. For those of you
on the eastern seaboard who think Adelaide is boring,
let me assure you that the qualities Christchurch
and Adelaide have in common are that both cities are
quietly self confident, beautiful and culturally significant!
Both were also interestingly laid out by Col Light
with lots of open park space and wide open streets.
They are also sister cities which is quite appropriate.
Today
we were lucky enough to work with Volunteering Cantebury
in presenting another 'sold out' training workshop
today for over 40 volunteer managers which again was
very well received. Tomorrow we are off to Dunedin
which is further south here on the south island of
NZ where we will train on Wednesday. It was also great
to again have the opportunity to catch up with Mary
Wood who is one of the pioneers of the volunteering
sector here in New Zealand.
Photos
below (l-r) Martin and I with the Chair of Vol Cantebury
Jan Harrison, an example of the wonderful architecture
of Christchurch and me relaxing (it's not all hard
work!)
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WELLINGTON
- 31/3/2006
Today
was both busy and rewarding.
Martin
and I spent the morning addressing government officals
and those involved in government volunteer programs
at a special training session hosted by the Office
for the community and voluntary sector. The topic
for our session was 'Creating a pro-government volunteer
culture' and it was a terrific opportunity to share
our experiences from Australia and the many other
countries we have been fortunate to visit - and also
to learn of the great things happening in New Zealand
government circles.
It
is fair to say that the support shown to the NZ voluntary
sector is already strong, and with the commitment
of the government we have witnessed here, I only anticipate
an even stronger relationship developing over coming
years.
This
afternoon I paid a visit to the Wellington Hospital
where I had an opportunity to observe their volunteer
programs and to meet with key volunteer program and
hospital personnel to discuss ways that their programs
may be further strengthened. It was a terrific opportunity
to meet with people involved in local health based
volunteerism.
Wellington hospital
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| WELLINGTON
- 30/3/2006
Well
what a beautiful city - if you have never had the
opportunity to visit this great city make a point
of doing it somethime in the future
Today
was the second scheduled training session we are presenting
while here in New Zealand. Around 40 volunteer program
managers from right across Wellington attended the
session which was very well received. There was a
terrific cross section of volunteer programs represented
including staff from cultural organisations, recreation
and sport and of course health and community services.
The
day was nicely topped off with dinner at the home
of Tim Burns, the CEO of Volunteering New Zealand
and his wife Saria. Volunteering New Zealand are the
hosts of our tour, along with volunteer centres in
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
VNZ
are a relatively new organisation, having been formed
in 2001, but who are doing some great development
work for volunteering across this wonderful country.
Martin and participants at the workshop in Wellington
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| NAPIER
TO WELLINGTON - 29/3/2006
We
spent last night in the lovely and very historic town
of Napier , located about half way down the North
Island .
The
significance of Napier lies in its history, as it
was destroyed by New Zealand 's largest ever natural
disaster on the 3 rd February 1931 - an earthquake
measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale. Nearly every building
was destroyed or damaged and as a result the entire
town was rebuilt.
In
rebuilding, an 'art deco' style was chosen as the
preferred building method for three reasons - it was
in vogue, it was solid and it was cheap. As a result
Napier today stands as one of the best examples of
art deco architecture to be found anywhere in the
world. An example is pictured below.
Of
particular relevance were the efforts of volunteers
in the 1980s who recognised the unique character of
Napier and who fought to stop many of the town's buildings
being demolished in the name of progress.
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| HAMILTON
TO NAPIER- 28/3/2006
Martin
and I started the day with a breakfast meeting in
Hamilton with the President of Volunteering New Zealand
, and friend, Alison Marshall, who has been a leader
in the NZ volunteering scene for many years. Having
been the President of a national volunteering body
myself (Volunteering Australia), it is always a delight
to catch up with Alison and share thoughts about the
ways that volunteering is developing on a national
basis in other countries.
Following
our meeting we continued the drive south towards Wellington
. We chose to drive rather than fly so that we could
experience some of the beautiful NZ countryside.
We
made a couple of interesting stops along the way -
the first one at the Waitomo Glowworm caves, where
we had a chance to glide through a pitch black cave
on a boat and see the marvellous silent world of the
glowworm.
We
also stopped at the Huka Falls which is said to be
New Zealand 's most visited scenic reserve. Of particular
interest was the role of volunteers at the falls,
who through the creation of a separate not for profit
organisation monitor the car park and toilet areas
as well as provide a refreshment service / gift shop.
Pictured
below (l-r)
Martin
with Alison Marshall and a sign highlighting the work
of volunteers at Huka Falls
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| AUCKLAND
- 27/3/2006
Today
we presented the first of our series of workshops
titled 'Turn your organisation into a volunteer magnet'
here in Auckland , New Zealand 's largest city with
a population of around 1 million. The session was
attended by a good cross section of 40 volunteer managers
from many organisations in and around Auckland . It
was of particular interest to hear and learn from
the experiences of several ex-pat Aussies now living
in NZ and working within the volunteer management
field.
Following
the workshop we drove to the city of Hamilton where
we spent the night.
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