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Background

SeniorNet Eastern Bays Inc., Auckland is a voluntary organisation for people over 55 with active minds and who want to keep up with the computer age. Complete novices through to more advanced users are welcome while new topics are constantly being added. We always like to hear from members as to what they would like to have taught. Experienced users are welcome as tutors and every one is encouraged to help with the running of the club.

Where and Who we are

Our new premises, including the main teaching and seminar room, are located at 75 Felton Mathew Avenue, midway between Glen Innes and St Johns. Our postal address is P.O. Box 18348, Glen Innes, 1743.

For more details on who we are and what we do, start by clicking here

Enrolment in Courses and Joining SNEB Itself

You can always leave a phone or email message but joining SNEB and/or Enrolling in courses directly through this website is now possible. For you or an already computer-savvy friend to help you, here’s how it works:

Click on the link to “Enrol Me” button from the menu on the left or here. The relevant page appears. On the left hand side, click inside the boxes of the course(s) in which you wish to enrol or go on the waiting list for. Now, on the right hand side, fill in the fields, as directed. Add any info or comments or your own and, finally, click the “Send” button, shown in green.

A confirming message will then appear and you can return to the home page by clicking on Rangitoto.

When you next open your emails, a copy of your enquiry will be received as further confirmation that the enrolment is being processed. If you do not receive this confirmation email, please repeat the routine, Email Us or leave a message on the SNEB voicemail at (09)578 0994.

Within a day or two, you should receive a further email, either notifying you of your place in a specific course or advising that you are on the waiting list for it and you'll be notified again when it is scheduled.

Engineers behind Auckland’s enduring character – work behind new book described at October meeting

Felton Mathew undertook the first official survey of Auckland, leaving behind a book of irreplaceable pencil sketches, trigonometric measurements and an indisputable place in the history of Auckland. His extensive exploration of the district is worth a touch of imagination as you travel the road named in his memory.

John La Roche brought much of that history alive for members at our October meeting when he showed photographs, sketches and diagrams focusing on Auckland’s engineering heritage. The bridge between colonial surveyor and the engineers who were soon to begin making an impact on the city’s development might be pretty shaky but nothing could be more solid than enduring features of Auckland’s built environment. From the office of the Auckland Electric Tramway Co. Ltd, built in 1902 to, say, the Sky Tower engineers have contributed to the multi-faceted character of the city and its environs.

A handful of years ago John was a member of the heritage committee of the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) which pulled together all the material which went into a booklet, Heritage Walks – the Engineering Heritage of Auckland.

Now he is watching for the postie to bring from Taiwan advance copies of the new book to be published by the Auckland chapter of IPRNZ – Evolving Auckland: the city’s engineering heritage. The book, which he edited, is to be launched in Auckland within days: will copies have arrived in time for the launch?

The book itself may still be in the mail but John and his wife, Sue, showed SeniorNet many of the graphics which were used and the stories behind the pictures and prints. Much of the reproduction quality, John freely credited to Sue – and as every member of SeniorNet knows, Sue has been both in the engine room and at the wheel of so much of what we have achieved over many years. “Our techno wizz”

Frequently during his presentation, John alluded to the work Sue had done with Photoshop to bring original work up to a standard any publisher would be happy to accept. Quite a skill, you appreciate, when you see what she started with alongside the finished job.

Evolving Auckland is the result of voluntary work over five years by members of the IPENZ Engineering Heritage, Auckland chapter. The engineering achievements which have provided the infrastructure of the region and underpin so many of its facilities should make fascinating reading, particularly considering the political debates which dogged or enveloped much of the work during concept stages. Many of the men – okay, there are now many women in the field but once upon a time a woman working as a professional engineer would have been unique – who contributed to the book were involved in the projects they describe. Water supply, wastewater collection and treatment, ports, airports, railway stations and energy supply … not one of them to be taken for granted and each with tale to tell.

John himself is worth a story but he’d probably downplay his contribution to society – village and global - with the suggestion many of his colleagues have done much the same. But perhaps not many have received a Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Auckland.

His concern for engineering ethics, environmental issues, overseas aid and disaster relief saw him a member of such groups as Engineers for Social Responsibility, Water for Survival and Register of Engineers for Disaster Relief. People living a hand to mouth existence, for instance, would bless him for the water projects he helped install in some of the remotest regions of the world.

He and Sue have spent thousands of hours of voluntary time in administration and fund-raising, spending less than two per cent of funds raised on overheads.

Evolving Auckland is just one more voluntary project. More about the book ($50 + $5.50 postage within New Zealand) comes from the website www.ipenz.org.nz/heritage/heritagebooks.cfm.

Christine Fleming

** Latest News: The container with copies of "Evolving Auckland" has been cleared so copies are now available to members, including by direct collection. Email Sue at suelaroche@xtra.co.nz but be quick.