Recently my doctor admired my walking stick. He asked if I had made it.

         I told him it was Australian Jarrah wood and I had purchased it in a shop at the Rocks, in Sydney, for A$159 – it was beautifully designed.

         When travelling I always tried to buy a local stick. Not only do I collect sticks but they are handy when you are flying.

         If you have a stick you are invited to board the plane early – giving you the chance to put your hand luggage where you are sitting.

         It was about sixty years ago when I started collecting sticks. My first stick was an old Irish Blackthorn Shillelagh – a beautiful old weapon.

         I was hooked on collecting from then on.

         My father had purchased it in an Opportunity shop in Auckland. I now have 125 sticks and canes.

         For some years my hobby was making sticks to give away to friends (as they aged. I would get old farm posts of native timber –  cut into stick sizes before shaping, polishing, and oiling them.

         My handles were usually made from deer antlers and attached to the shaft by a large nail – with its head removed. I would then glue them all together using polyurethane glue.

         It was an interesting hobby. I met all sorts of interesting people, not only stick collectors and makers but also an Ambassador and a Prime Minister.  After the P.M. retired he brought me some old posts from his farm.

         Many friends and family would give me sticks to add to the collection. All my sticks have stories to tell. Often I was asked to speak about my sticks. I would select half a dozen sticks and say how they were obtained.

         I could write a book about collecting my sticks and canes.

         One cane I purchased at a prison fair in Bangkok.

         Another from a church carving school in Honiara. Honiara, had been an old battle ground during the second World war.

         My silver plated Manila stick I suspect was made from the butt of an old Spanish pistol.

         While working in Sri Lanka, my colleague

I.M.Gunawardena, took a bus from Kandy to Colombo to collect and to present me his Grandfather’s beautiful old stick to add to my collection.

         One day I entered one of my sticks into the Waimate North A & P Show Stick Competition. I didn’t get placed but purchased the two winning sticks.

         I purchased a beautiful stick at a Turkish exhibition in Singapore. I bought it for my wife but she objected to being seen using a stick. It cost S$120 and was recently valued at NZ$360.

         I have enjoyed collecting. I have met interesting people, learned new skills, and collected bits of history.

         I am always thrilled when I see people using one of my sticks.

         One day I had a request from a family member of Professor Kevin O’Connor asking if I had any objections, to the stick I had made for him, being buried with him – I was honoured.

Geoffrey Moss(mossassociates.co.nz)

“A collector is always learning and exploring.”