The Growing Binnie Family

Welcome to members of the extended Binnie family. You'll find plenty of our family photos here on the site, mainly from since we arrived in New Zealand. Please feel free to leave comments, and if you'd like to share some photos of yourselves, we'd love to see them. It would be best to email them to us via the email link here, and please let us know if we can post them on the blog.

A warm welcome also from us in New Zealand to Jocelyn and her family. In response to Hillary's recent email welcoming Jocelyn to the binniefamily email list, Gill and I dug up this photo, which was originally extracted from Anne's album prior to our Lebanon visit in 1997. It's dated on the reverse, "Sep. 1996" and was taken during Anne (Binnie) and Aunt Maud's visit to the United States (Philadelphia and California). Click on the photo to see a larger version. We think it's Madeleine's writing on the back, which identifies the following:
L to R
Maud, Helene, Anne, (Bishara sitting), Nohad, Mad, Labebe, Jocelyn (sitting)

In my family tree, I have Nohad/Nouhad as the daughter of Nassima Wakim. Is this correct - now I'm not sure at all. Also, I wonder how Jocelyn's father Elias Makhoul fits in to the family? Is he related to Anis Makhoul and Amal Francis? There seems to be an extra generation in there somewhere.

Jocelyn, you are welcome to check the Binnie-Mansour Family Tree, although you will need to email me for a password to get into the site. There are plenty more photos there, many of them old ones from Lebanon in the 1940s to the 1960s, and your family may be able to identify some of the people in them. I hope so.

Hillary - thanks for the emails. It's always nice to catch up with our American cousins, and Gill and I appreciate your efforts at this too. I will post some more photos of our Lebanese cousins shortly, so watch this space.

Love from us all, Brett, Gill, Lesley, Camilla, Louise and Hannah

Miscellaneous family pictures - June & July 2006

Picnic on the lawn, Oropi - 2 July 2006

Camilla, Hannah & Lesley in the "forest" during the school holidays - 2 July 2006

Hannah & Louise with St Bernard dog and "snow", downtown Tauranga - 8 July 2006

A morning out on the Waikareao Estuary walkway - 3 June 2006

Louise, getting ready for the Oropi School "Crazy Hair" disco - 20 June 2006

Hannah, ready for her Pyes Pa "Formal" School disco - 22 June 2006

Lesley, Oropi - 2 July 2006

Me, painting cupboards for the girls' bedrooms - 3 July 2006

Hannah, Oropi - 16 July 2006

Views of Oropi in Winter - July 2006

Misty morning, a view across the fields from our house - 4 July 2006

Sunrise from the verandah - 12 July 2006

Frosty morning, looking up the valley from our back paddock - 29 July 2006

Gymnastics, Cross-country and Netball - May & June 2006

Hannah, playing netball for the Pyes Pa School team, at Mount Maunganui - 6 May 2006

Louise in the Oropi School netball team, marking her opponent - 6 May 2006

Hannah, after an inter-schools gymnastics event at Judea, Tauranga - 23 May 2006

Camilla & Louise running through the kiwifruit orchards in Kaimai Rural Schools Sports Assn. cross-country event, at Kaimai School - 7 June 2006

Louise and Camilla in their new netball uniforms, Oropi

Picnic at Te Puna Quarry Park with the McIntyres - 15 April 2006

Lesley with Bob McIntyre, picnic at Te Puna Quarry Park - 15 April 2006

Bob McIntyre and Jocelyn ... oops, no, not Jocelyn, some unidentified lady friend of Bob's then - to be honest, she looks a little worse for wear.

Gill, Bob McIntyre, Lesley & Jocelyn McIntyre

Lesley's birthday celebration, a day late - 13 April 2006

We celebrated Lesley's birthday a day late ... just a more suitable day because of Gill's work, that's all.

Visits to Balloons over Waikato Festival, Candyland & Hamilton Gardens - 8 & 19 April 2006

In early April we went to the "Ballons over Waikato Festival" in Hamilton for the first time. It was rather a disappintment, as the high winds precluded the hot air balloons from taking off, but Camilla, Louise, Gill and Hannah enjoyed a ride on the fairground attractions anyway.

Then, to celebrate Camilla & Louise's birthday on 19 April, we took another trip across the Kaimai Hills to Hamilton, where we visited Candyland, a sweet factory, and Hamilton Gardens. The first photo shows Camilla and Louise.

Hannah, with her handmade lollipops.

Camilla & Hannah at Hamilton Gardens - 19 April 2006

Louise, Hannah, Camilla & Gill in the Indian themed garden, Hamilton Gardens - 19 April 2006

Lesley & Brett in the Indian themed garden, Hamilton Gardens - 19 April 2006

Back to School & miscellanous - February & March 2006

Hannah & Louise getting ready for school

Hannah on her first day at Pyes Pa School - 7 February 2006

Francesco, teaching me how to make pecorino, Oropi - 9 February 2006

Me, negotiating purchase of sheep's milk for pecorino production - 19 March 2006

Hannah's 8th birthday: Louise, Hannah (cutting), Camilla & Gill, Oropi - 22 February 2006

Louise, Oropi - 22 February 2006

Lesley, off to school at 7.30 am, Oropi - 7 March 2006

Hannah & friend Sarah Coleman, at inter-school swimming competition, QEII Memorial Pool - 27 February 2006

Waitangi Day Dawn Service on Mauao - 6 February 2006

To celebrate the seventh anniversary of our arrival in New Zealand we decided this year to attend the Waitangi Day dawn service at the summit of Mauao, at Mount Maunganui. Although not the "official" national day of New Zealand, this day has great significance for most New Zealanders, being the anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. We, too, feel that it's a very special day, and although we only left Zimbabwe on the 7th and arrived in New Zealand on the 9th February 1999, it feels right to us to have this as our national day. We've been trying to attend the Mauao dawn service for some years, but it's such an early start that we haven't ever got our act together ... until this year. Friends Paola and Francesco had moored their boat in the harbour the previous evening and slept over, joined us on the beach at about 4.30 am. Fortunately, they had been woken up by the Maori warriors in their waka (war canoe) passing right next to their yacht, chanting in time to the paddling. We hadn't brought torches, but plenty of others had, and we fumbled with not too much difficulty up the hill, following the procession of warriors, who had by now disembarked on the beach. Once at the top, we were rewarded with a magnificent view of the bay, which slowly unfolded as dawn broke.

After a karakia from the local kaumatua, the Maori warriors did their hakas, the dignitaries made speeches, and there were prayers.




... and at the end of it all, everybody went back down to Pilot Bay, where the paddlers got back into their waka and paddled off around the harbour, while we adjourned to a cafe round the corner on Marine Parade for a huge breakfast. It had been an early start, but apart from that, not strenuous at all, and well worth it. I can't see us doing it every year, but it will be repeated!

Summer sporting events - February 2006

Training with the girls on the lawn for the Weet-bix Triathlon - 5 February 2006

Camilla, setting off on the cycling leg of the Triathlon, Pilot Bay, Mt. Maunganui - 26 February 2006

Louise, waiting to do the running leg, Pilot Bay, Mt. Maunganui - 26 February 2006

Louise, Anya (Hodge) and Camilla with their medals after completing the triathlon. Anya did the swimming leg of the course.

Louise, proud Dad, and Camilla, showing off their medals

9 March 2006 - Camilla & Louise, about to start the Inter-Schools Quadathlon, where each of them they swam, cycled, kayaked and ran. Fortunately, not too competitive an event!

Camilla, finishing off the cycling leg

Camilla, hauling her kayak into the water

Louise, about to start the swimming leg of the Quadathlon

Louise, finishing the swimming leg of the Quadathlon