Ernie thank you for welcoming our family to BCC and being a source of wisdom and a friend. I will miss you.

We only got to meet Erny a few times but we know from all the stories and the family trips that he planned and took his large extended family on, are evidence of a rich life of love, generosity and thoughtfulness. The stories that I am hearing this morning only confirm my earlier assumptions. I'm glad that all his family have beautiful memories to help them get through their grief. A person is never really gone if you can remember them and recall their wisdom and funny stories.

We met Erny & Lyn many years ago when they were working in Australia next door to our business. We developed a friendship and started to go out on a few day trips, the first one being quite an adventure. We borrowed a friends boat and went to Sydney harbour on Australia Day to watch the annual ferry races. Unfortunately the boat broke down just before the race started and we started to drift into the path of the ferries. Thankfully we managed to get it started and move out of the way before getting run over. That was the start of a long journey with them. Over the years we have done many very enjoyable trips with them both in NZ and around Australia. We’ve been across the Simpson desert,to cape York, cape laveque, Central Australia,the Kimberly’s the Bungle bungles, western Australia and twice to NZ. We were always entertained by Ernys wonderful sense of humour and his adventures spirit. He loved to read and always had a story to tell. He will be greatly missed and we are greatly saddened by his passing. Your great friends from across the ditch. Colin & Ann Jones.