My lesson for today - dont spend 20 minds telling your PC that it is wrong and you are right. RTFM.
http://docs.kohanaphp.com/helpers/url#site
does not do the same thing as
http://docs.kohanaphp.com/helpers/html#anchor
This fact has caused me a lot of frustration. Andnow Im cross at me because I should have known. Kohana documentation now duly downloaded and opened on the laptop screen for reference....
Joy