Welcome!

G’day and Kia ora to all Kiwis and Aussies
in Manitoba and beyond!

Welcome to the Down Under Club of Winnipeg. We’re a social club based far, far from our original homes and hold regular events for members and guests. We also produce a monthly newsletter about connections in our new community and all things happening down under. Go on, explore our site and consider joining our group. Hooroo, mates!

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Australian colonialism presented on local theatre stage

OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD

a play by  Timberlake Wertenbaker
Directed by Dr. Bill Kerr

April 2 – April 5, 2025

John J. Conklin Theatre, Gail Asper Performing Arts Hall
150 Dafoe Road, West Taché Arts Complex, UM Fort Garry campus

Wednesday to Friday – 7:00 p.m.
Saturday – 2:00 p.m. 

Purchase tickets

Our Country’s Good stages the landing of the First Fleet and its transported prisoners who enact the first theatrical production in Australia.  Both highly comic and greatly troubling, the play suggests that theatre can enable positive futures while also acknowledging the pressing need for a just post-colonial future.

Tickets for Our Country’s Good are $10.00 plus Eventbrite fees and can be purchased online. You can also follow along with the theatre students on Instagram as they prepare for the production @umanitobatheatre.

Presented by the Department of English, Theatre, Film & Media‘s Theatre Program. Produced by special arrangement with THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING COMPANY of Woodstock, Illinois. Set design by Bill Kerr with students Martina Caceres and Deklan Jocelyn. Additional design elements by technical staff Shane Stewart and Karen Schellenberg along with students from the production lab of THTR 3000. Promotional design by Joseph Ogbonnaya. 

Yarn March-April 2025, plus Trivia

The March-April issue of The Southern Yarn is ready for you in glorious full colour. Come check it out by clicking on the image of the front page, or perhaps you are one of our postal  subscribers, in which case you will be eagerly awaiting the swift delivery of the B&W version on distinctive yellow paper, by our venerable postal network.


As promised on page 5 of the newsletter, the answers (and JUST the answers)  to the trivia questions are below. Don’t look until you’ve tried to answer from the questions first.

Australia Trivia Answers

  1. Wombat
  2. Steven “Bradbury”
  3. “Harold Holt” Memorial Swimming Centre
  4. 1932
  5. Daintree Forest
  6. Hugh Jackman
  7. Macquarie Island
  8. Parkes, NSW
  9. 1974
  10. Neville Bonner
  11. Daryl Braithwaite
  12. Sydney Opera House
  13. Women first gained the right to vote in the Colony of South Australia in 1894
  14. Opal
  15. Platypus

New Zealand Trivia Answers 

  1. Green
  2. Edinburgh
  3. For Valour
  4. Xena
  5. Black Ferns (are one of the top women’s rugby teams in the world).
  6. Moas
  7. Peter Jackson (for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)
  8. Rutherfordium
  9. Sir Russell Coutts
  10. Australian and Pacific
  11. 53
  12. Baldwin Street in Dunedin is the world’s steepest residential street a gradient of 1:2.86 at the steepest point.
  13. Lemon & Paeroa
  14. Adventure
  15. Blow on it

 

Yarn for September-October

The Southern Yarn for September and October is ready.

guest editor: Jenny Gates

It’s a lot of work and a big commitment to produce a newsletter on a regular basis, and because we’re so appreciative of Charlie Powell’s efforts, I’m guesting here in his stead. Thank you, Mr Editor.

In this our 75th year, there is much to celebrate, not the least of which is we are still a going concern and an active club with a committed executive driving things along. And to make the year even more special, we are planning on a wide swath of events for you to enjoy.

On September 27, a group of us will be at the Blue Bombers game to cheer on the team and Aussie punter Jamieson Sheahan. And that will be followed by our very special 75th anniversary dinner (p.1), as well as the AGM at a new, more relaxed venue – more info on that and other upcoming events in the Nov/Dec issue. In this issue, enjoy reading about the golf tournament (p.1), Toby and Jen’s adventure and the Haka Camp report (p.3), news from down under (p.4), a new book from a new member (p.5), the next installment in our history (p. 6), the AFL update (p. 7) and all about birds (p. 8).

Thanks to Charlie, Peter, Toby, Penny, Mike, and our advertisers. Enjoy the read. — Jenny