- ASTRONOMY: The night sky opens up to show things we may have only dreamed of! The group meets at the Planetarium from 1.30pm to 3.30pm on the Thursday following the second Wednesday of each month.
- BOOK DISCUSSION: Meeting on the afternoon of the fourth Wednesday of every month, in the Hastings Library, the group discusses a wide range of books of interest.
- BUSH WALKING: The aim of this group is to encourage those who have never done much bush walking to try it. Also it is to encourage people to enjoy places in HB that they may have never visited before or wouldn’t necessarily go to on their own. We will share cars for transport and take our lunch with us. This group activity will be on the second Wednesday of the month
- CLASSICAL MUSIC: The group listens to the music of a variety of composers, based on video recordings and learning about different styles and how music progressed. Meets monthly, on the second Tuesday afternoon.
- COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD: Countries of the World – looking at countries in depth, aspects of their people, history, culture, language, religions, food, geographical features and their place in the world. Second Thursday afternoon 2 – 4pm each month.
- CYCLE FUN: This group will hit the cycle-ways around Hawke’s Bay in the mornings of the first and third Wednesday each month, weather permitting! This is an opportunity for people who want to cycle for fun and will not suit serious cyclists or keep-fit fanatics!
- DANCE AND BALLET: A group that will appeal to lovers of ballet and other performed dance, meeting in the afternoons of the third Wednesday each month to watch DVDs of ballet and other dance.
- EXPLORING POETRY: On the third Friday, 10-12 pm, at Diana and Richard Jennings’ home. The group writes, reads, and enjoys poetry of all sorts, from the near ridiculous to touching the divine. Don’t let the thought of writing poetry put you off. We have our moments, we have our times when we can’t think of a thing to write; but we also have times of revelation as we amaze ourselves at what we’ve created – and we have plenty of laughs! Come and try us out!
- GEOLOGY for STARTERS: This is a One Year course on general geology, taught using the computer and is not oriented towards New Zealand geology. Members will learn the rudiments of general geology in the comfort of lounge chairs. Day and time TBA
- GREENFINGERS: Meeting on the first Tuesday morning each month, the group shares gardening tips, exchanges ideas (and plants), visits gardens, and listens to talks on how the experts do things.
- HEADS OF STATE: From 2-4 pm on the second Friday of each month, at Diana and Richard Jennings’ home. Group members take turns in researching and presenting facts about Heads of State. To date we have covered American Presidents, Russian Presidents, United Nations Secretaries General and New Zealand and United Kingdom Prime Ministers. During 2023, as yet to be decided, but we may cover French Presidents, Australian Prime Ministers or, possibly, English Monarchs – we’ll see how we go!
- HISTORICAL AMBLERS: Historical Amblers is a friendly group that meets on the fourth Thursday afternoon of each month (weather permitting), to walk to, and around, places of historical interest in Hastings, Napier and Central Hawke’s Bay. Members of the group will be required to contribute to the planning by suggesting places of interest to visit and a contact person.
- ITALIAN: Members learn Italian language (mainly written) and culture. Group meets first and third Tuesday mornings of the month.
- LIVING LANGUAGE – NEW WORDS: A group which will activate your reading knowledge and increase your word power. The group meets on the second Monday morning of the month at 9.45 (for morning tea – gold coin donation) till 12 noon. As a member of the group, if you see a word and do not know its meaning, you write it down in your notebook, look up its meaning in a good dictionary (NOT Wikipedia) and add the meaning into your notebook. Try to have 2-3 words each month. When the group meets: A) each member reads out their new words to see if others know the meanings, thus expanding everyone’s vocabulary (for example, what is a Quahog?). B) Then, secondly, members share their interpretive reactions to a single word or phrase which has been given at the end of the previous meeting (examples: ‘FIRST’ and ‘TELEGRAPH POLES’).
- LUNCH GROUP TUESDAY: The group meets on fourth Tuesday each month, to have lunch at a different restaurant each time.
- MAHJONG: This group meets every Wednesday morning in the Hastings Library.
- MENTAL ARITHMETIC – methods and tricks: Impress your friends! Beat the calculator! Sharpen your brain! Stave off mental decline. The group meets on the first and third Wednesday mornings of the month.
- METEOROLOGY: This group meets from 2pm – 3.30pm on the last Thursday of each month in the Hastings City Art Gallery. New members are welcome, with basics being covered.
- OLD MOVIES: The group meets on the last Monday afternoon of each month from May to October to watch a variety of old/classic movies on DVD – musicals, romances or whodunnits and even some in black and white (with no violence or bad language).
- OPERA ON VIDEO: On the second Thursday afternoon each month this group meets to watch DVDs of operas.
- QUIZ TIME: Meets 2-4pm on the third Monday of the month at Summerset in the Orchard in Ada Street. Each member comes prepared with 10-12 general knowledge questions which they will put to the other members of the group. The questions can be based on a theme, or completely random. We have a break for afternoon tea.
- SCIENCE: TOPICS OF INTEREST: Participants can take turns at presenting topics of interest from science to be discussed by the group which will meet on the mornings of the second and fourth Wednesdays each month.
- SOCIAL HISTORY: In this course, members research and discuss how people lived at a particular time. Meetings are in the mornings of the first Wednesday each month.
- TEXTILE ART: Join a small group of people who are interested in exploring the process of experimenting with textiles and mixed media. A group who is willing to be surprised and delighted by the results created. You will be taken through a series of simple workshops of which everyone can be a part. You will experiment, play and manipulate through processes where there are no rights or wrongs. It is about having fun and being in the enjoyable company of like-minded people. This group meets on the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month from 9.30am to about midday, with morning tea included. All materials will be supplied with plenty of samples to help you on the way.
- TRAVEL: This very sociable group meets on the second Thursday morning of each month to hear accounts of travel to various countries and to get travel advice.
- WORD GAMES AND BRAIN GAMES: Meeting on the afternoon of the first Tuesday each month at Summerset in the Orchard. Brains are stimulated by the puzzles and games, while word power is increased.
Daily Group Schedule 2023
| Week One | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Textile Art | |
| Tuesday | Greenfingers Italian | Word Games and Brain Games |
| Wednesday | Cycle Fun Mahjong Mental Arithmetic Social History | |
| Thursday | Petanque | |
| |
| Week Two | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Living Language | |
| Tuesday | Classical Music on Video | |
| Wednesday | Bush Walking Mahjong Science: Topics of Interest | |
| Thursday | Petanque Travel | Astronomy (if following 2nd Wednesday) Countries of the World Opera on Video |
| Friday | Heads of State |
| Week Three | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Textile Art | Quiz time |
| Tuesday | Italian | |
| Wednesday | Cycle Fun Mahjong Mental Arithmetic Social History | Dance and Ballet |
| Thursday | Petanque | Astronomy (if following 2nd Wednesday) |
| Friday | Exploring Poetry |
| Week Four | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Old Movies on DVD (last Monday of the month, from May to October) | |
| Tuesday | Tuesday Lunch Group | |
| Wednesday | Mahjong Science: Topics of Interest | Book Discussion |
| Thursday | Petanque | Historical Amblers Meteorology (if last Thursday of the month) |
| Week Five | Morning | Afternoon |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | Olde Movies on DVD (if last Monday of month May – October) | |
| Wednesday | Mahjong | |
| Thursday | Petanque | Meteorology (if last Thursday of the month) |