Last week our guest speaker was a Probus Club member, Merv Fowler, who spoke about Matthew Flinders in Australia and Mauritius. This was a fascinating account of a man of energy who achieved much before he died when only 40 years old.

 

Flinders completed the first inshore circumnavigation of Australia. He was in competition with French explorer Nicolas Baudin, as both sought to chart the coast of the southern part of Australia, with the first to do so having naming rights. These voyages had their troubles: Flinders lost eight men when their boat overturned near Cape Catastrophe, with their bodies never recovered. Flinders and Baudin met at Encounter Bay in April 1804.

 

Following the completion of his mapping of the Australian coastline, Flinders left Sydney for England in 1803. The voyage ran into troubles when two ships struck Wreck Reef and sunk. The crews built a boat on the Reef and sailed back to Sydney, where Flinders was given a small ship, the Cumberland, to sail back to England. He stopped off in Mauritius for repairs. Away at sea and without news, he was not aware that England and France were now at war and he was arrested as a spy on arrival in this then French colony. His incarceration would last almost 7 years, During this time he was treated well. He became fluent in French and used his mapping skills. He was sad to go when he finally left in June 1810.

 

On return to England, he immediately resumed work preparing A Voyage to Terra Australis, his account of his travels and the maps he produced, for publication. The book was finally published on 19 July 1814. Flinders died the next day.

 

Flinders is responsible for the name “Australia”. Early maps all called this landmass “Terra Australis” but Flinders considered “Australia” sounded better. He also thought it appropriate that the name start and end with the letter A, as was the case with many continents (Africa, America, Antarctica, and Asia).

 

Our next Club meeting is the Club AGM, to be held on Thursday, 28 November 2024 at the Royal Canberra Golf Club, starting at 12:30 pm.

 

To see the program of future meetings, visit: Rotary activities Spreadsheet.

 

If you are not able to perform your allocated duty, please arrange a replacement and advise President Russell (cc Bulletin Editor Stephen). Please advise Stephen of any planned absences to avoid being rostered on while away.

 

A Chorus of Women was pleased to accept an invitation to take part in the Australian Parliament House Christmas Choir Program 2024 because much of our original music goes to the heart of what Christmas means to us. 

 

In this half-hour program, we will sing up our hopes and longings for peace on Earth today, and peace with the Earth for the sake of humanity and all of nature.

 

A centrepiece of the program is a choral setting by Glenda Cloughley of words from remarkable letters that women of Britain and Germany exchanged at Christmas 1914 via publication in the international suffragist journal Jus Suffragi (as direct communication across enemy lines was not allowed). The piece opens with poignant words of Australian peace activist and suffragist, Vida Goldstein (after whom the Victorian electorate of Goldstein is named), also shared via Jus Suffragi at that time, which include these words that still apply today: ‘2000 years of the gospel of truth and men have again rushed to war’  

 

When we sang in Parliament House in March 2023 for our 20^th anniversary, parliamentarians commented that it is good for the Parliament to be reminded of the higher laws of humanity and duty of care for future generations and Earth.  

 

At this challenging moment in history, it would mean a lot to us if as many of our friends and supporters can come to the Marble Foyer for this event to create a crowd that magnifies our impact in a very busy last sitting week of Parliament. 

 

Program information is available at: https://www.chorusofwomen.org/Christmas-2024.

 

Therese and Andrew are back again and promise to keep us on our toes for another great night of Trivia – Wednesday 27 November!!! This has proven to be a fantastic evening with the extra bonus that proceeds support our efforts with poor farming communities in eastern Indonesia.

 

Book online at  https://www.trybooking.com/CUVQV
      Call Phil on 0406 930 835; or
      Email enquiries@nta.org.au

 

7am Lennox Gardens, Yarralumla.

 

 

Each year the Zonta Club of Canberra Breakfast participates in the UN “16 days of activism” in honour of the lives lost to domestic violence and to highlight our community need for change and respectful relationships

 

In seeking to uphold the United Nations Goal No5 to `Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’, we will continue our actions by:

 

We invite you to share with us and the Rotary Club of Burley Griffin in the ringing of the Peace Bell. The Bell will be struck once for each life lost, once for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, once for the children, once for the New Zealand women, and once for the men who have lost their lives through domestic violence. The Rhythm Syndicate Choir will bring their voices to the event.

 

While the event is free, we ask you to book through Humanitix (https://events.humanitix.com/nara-peace-bell-ringing/tickets?hxchl=hex-qrc&hxref=evt) as numbers are limited. We encourage you to gather from 6.30am for a 7am start and the event will close by 8.30.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

News Notes is sent out each Monday.
Please send items for inclusion to sjmcmillan1974@live.com by 10 am Monday.