August 2025

Book Discussion Group
The book for September is “All the Broken Pieces” by John Boyne. John Boyne is the author of “The Boy in Striped Pyjamas”
This is noted as an incredible feat of storytelling that revisits characters from the above book and particularly Gretel and what became of her.
John Boyne is the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

U3A Cycling August
We have 2 organised rides each month, on the 3rd Monday and the last Friday. We ride mainly on dedicated cycleways. Each ride has 2 start points to accommodate distance and speed preferences of the members. It seems to be working well. Most members have e-bikes.
New members are always welcome.
On Friday 1 August we cycled from Fitzgerald Ave to Scarborough on the Rapanui- Shag Rock cycleway and the Te Ara Ihutai Coastal Pathway. There were 10 of us. This was a bonus ride for August.
On Monday 18 August we rode from Lincoln to Motukarara Railway Station. There was low fog over the wetland which didn’t clear completely until we were back in Lincoln for coffee. There were 6 of us on this ride.
On Friday 29 August we cycled from Swans Rd to North Beach for coffee at the
Brighton Beach House then back through New Brighton. We enjoyed seeing the
progress on the Avon River Trail which is being upgraded ( a new bridge is in place due to open in September) and the new development in the New Brighton Mall area. It was a beautiful “almost spring day” which all of us enjoyed.

History
This month we will be reading unit 7 of ‘The Shaping of the Modern Mind
As we adjust to living in a global village, the meeting with other cultures and religions leads to new issues. This unit will focus first on the expansion of Western influence and then on its impact on religious belief.

Scrabble “Plus”
Our Scrabble Group meet twice a month, on the second and fourth Tuesdays. As we meet in private homes our numbers are limited to the 10 current attendees.
Depending on how many turn up, we generally play two games of three people at the dining table and up to four can play at the card table we all pitched in to purchase for $40. We have an agreed set of “rules” which help our games flow better. The table,4 Scrabble sets, dictionaries, etc, travel between the various hosts’ homes. It all seems to work seamlessly.
This is an easy group to manage as the group is so supportive of each other, offering to host when the list of upcoming dates is emailed to them and always ready to help each other out when unforeseen things happen. It is a privilege to be part of such a friendly group whose relationships have spilled over into every-day activities like lunching or spending time together, sharing books and movies we have enjoyed, as well as cards and board games. It’s more than “just Scrabble”.

Singing Group
If you would enjoy singing songs from the Beetles, ABBA, Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon and many other favourites please consider coming to our group. We are not a choir, just people who enjoy singing, which is very good for our mental and physical well-being.
Our next scheduled get together will be at Te Hāpua (Halswell Library), at 1.30 pm in the Piharau Room on the 18 September. Please bring a gold coin donation to cover the room hire. Just let me know if you would like to join us.
Lynne Bull

Photography Group Report
At our August meeting we looked at what to focus on in bird photography, settings for low light photography and how to take good photographs of mountains by remembering to use the rising sun, finding an interesting foreground such as a reflection, and the overall composition.