Planes and some good walks

Every year, we try to catch up with old friends for a long weekend.  They live near  Wellington, our capital, some 650 km from our home and what we normally organise is a meet-up at somewhere different in NZ or the Pacific Islands; giving us the opportunity to see and do different things.  This time was at Mount Maunganui in the north island's Bay of Plenty.

Apart from the pleasure of catching up with friends, I was particularly keen to visit the Classic Flyers Aviation Museum at the Mount.  For some reason, it's not particularly well publicised but as a lifelong aircraft enthusiast, I was keen to see what they had on display.  To say that I was well-pleased is an understatement and we were all pretty impressed.

The museum consisted of a display hangar which was packed to the gunwales with aviation-related items, plus a restoration workshop which we didn't have time to visit.  Here are some photos to give a flavour of what they had on display.  

General view of hangar

Additional general view of hangar

Part of a B-17 fuselage mounted on a wall was particularly interesting.  It graphically showed how little protection there was for the crew from anti-aircraft fire or enemy fighters.  Seeing the bomb rack inside the fuselage was a sobering moment, if a stray round or two had penetrated the fuselage at that point.  Also, the lack of insulation and heating made things pretty unpleasant for the aircrew.

Bomb rack with bomb bay directly below

A couple of photos of B-17 anti-aircraft armament below:

Browning  .50 calibre machine gun

Ball turret

Stepping back to the early days of flight, Kiwi Richard Pearse was experimenting around the same time as the Wright brothers.  Here's a replica of his plane and some supporting notes.

The Pearse monoplane

Richard Pearse

Although many WW2 aircraft used the "shark tooth" insignia on the nose, the best known application is on the Curtis P40 - looks quite intimidating.  This version has the V12 Allison motor, not the Rolls Royce Merlin.

Curtis P40

The Catalina flying boat fuselage shown below is an interesting exhibit.  I wasn't aware that it had attachment points for jet-assisted take off (JATO) to reduce drag during take off on water.  There's still a flying Catalina in NZ which I saw landing at Lake Taupo about 20 years ago.

Consolidated PBY Catalina

The Harvard was a trainer used by the air force in many countries as a stepping stone to combat aircraft.  There are quite a few Harvards flying with the NZ Warbirds.

North American Harvard in USN livery

The Avenger was a WW2 torpedo bomber and I was surprised to see just how big it is.  Notably flown by George HW Bush in the Pacific theatre of war.

Grumman Avenger

The Skyhawk was the primary NZ Air Force combat aircraft when we first came to NZ.  My lasting memory of one was sailing in a coastal regatta when one flew fast and low over the fleet.  Loud as heck and we never saw it coming.  Turned out that it was being flown by a pilot who also raced in the same yacht class as us!  This exhibit was equipped with a rocket pod, Paveway guided bomb and canons.

Douglas Skyhawk

The De Havilland Vampire and subsequent Venom were early UK jet fighters. The vampire entered service in 1946 but the Swiss aircraft shown below was in service until 1990!

Swiss DH Vampire

DH Venom cockpit - rudimentary and small by today's standards

There were lots more exhibits inside which I've omitted for brevity but it would be poor form to leave out the pedal-operated models built for kids visiting the museum. A nice touch.

Recruiting future pilots

There were also a number of outside exhibits, some of which I photographed between passing showers.  These are shown below.

F86 Sabre

De Havilland Heron and Vampire

WW2 Dambusters bouncing bomb and Grand Slam penetration bomb

The "Mount" as it's referred to by Kiwis is an extinct volcano at the end of a peninsula.  There's a 3 km walking track round the base and for the adventurous, a track to the 235 metre summit. A brisk walk round the base taking in the sea views was sufficient rehab for my healing femur!

Mt Maunganui (file photo)

Jennie, Georgina and Mike about to start the walk

To the north of Mt Maunganui is the Te Puna Quarry Park, maintained by volunteers.  Covering about 35 hectares, it's a disused quarry with paths of varying elevation through all sorts of different plants, both native and exotic.  Another great venue for strengthening the leg muscles.

A park trail

Just one of the many species of plant in the quarry

About half an hour from where we were staying, there are the McLaren Falls and rapids.  Situated right by the road, no walking was required to enjoy the sight of the rapids which had a good flow thanks to recent rain.

McLaren Falls, Bay of Plenty, NZ

Great company, great food, lots to see and plenty of exercise - what's not to like?

Small Victories

The content of this post might not seem much to most people but a series of small wins has made the world of difference to me. Having had both knees replaced due to accumulated sporting injuries and then snapping my femur in a mountain bike accident late last year has meant that for nearly 2 years, normal activities have been somewhat curtailed, not to mention varying levels of pain which is pretty wearing.  Although I generally have a positive outlook on life, physical restrictions also take their mental toll.

Today was a big step in the right direction with the first ride on my mountain bike since the accident. (HERE). That ride could have happened several weeks ago but psychologically, I kept putting it off as memories of the accident and rehab was still a bit raw and a mental block.  Time to put my big boy pants on today and get out there.

More nervous than I look!

It was only a 10 km ride, mainly on tar seal with just a bit of level gravel thrown in but the impact (perhaps a poor choice of word) was both confidence inspiring and wonderful.  The femur still niggled a bit but with a pre-ride warm up and taking it fairly easy on the ride, most of the pain had actually disappeared by the finish.  A sore butt and aching wrists due to ergonomic differences between the MTB and static bike aren't really relevant.  Heart rate was ok too on the hills although they weren't substantial gradients.  These should get even better.  Someone who is not me in our household has issued a dire warning about not riding gnarly off-road trails again.  This is on pain of death so good behaviour would be the safest bet.

Ride data - not too bad for a 77 year old geezer

Most people hate strange noises which they can't track down, particularly when it applies to their method of transport.  For over a week, we've had a buzzing sound in the MGB.  It only happened over a very narrow rev range and we couldn't agree where it was emanating from.  It was driving me nuts so I went for a drive with the express intent to track it down.  Anybody following would have wondered what the heck was going on with lots of body movement and head swivelling trying to pinpoint the noise.  It didn't seem to happen at the rev range whilst the car was stationary which made things more difficult.  The photo below was taken at one of the stopping points where this anomaly was discovered. It's actually quite a scenic spot where there is a working vintage gold ore crusher. (Details HERE)

Two vintage bits of machinery - one 100+ years old and the other made in 1972

It wasn't until nearly the end of the drive when the source of the buzzing noise finally revealed itself.  It was coming from the right hand fresh air vent on the dashboard.  The movable centre where the air direction can be changed vibrated against the outer casing at certain revs - some sort of harmonics.  Why it suddenly chose to start doing it is a mystery.

The solution was surprisingly simple.  I found a flat piece of clear plastic packaging medium in our recycle bin and cut a piece to slip between the movable component and outer frame.  The mild interference fit still allows adjustment and it's an invisible repair.  The photo below shows a tiny sliver of the plastic shim as it is being pushed into position at the left hand end of the right vent.

Another small victory!

The supply of potable fresh water around the world seems to be an increasing problem.  It's not only through drought but crumbling infrastructure (old piping or inadequate size) is impacting on the development of housing and commerce throughout the world.  The house which we now live in was built in the 60's as a holiday home on the edge of Coromandel harbour away from reticulated water supply in the village.  The only water source was rainwater collected in tanks.  Eventually, reticulated water was laid on our road but a permanent below ground connection to established properties was a major and expensive exercise because of the steep topography and vegetation.  We've occasionally run a hose to the reticulated water connector at the roadside after long, dry periods or lots of visitors but in the main, tank water collected from the roof has been just fine.

The problem is that with the house being old, filtration was pretty crude, particularly from a biological perspective. We've never got sick but maybe we were just plain lucky. Local tradesmen like plumbers are pretty good at their job but are a nightmare in getting them to turn up when they promise and good communications are rare. Because of this, we sat on our thumbs and did nothing, despite it being on our important task list.  Then lady luck shone on us with a flyer dropped in our letter box.  It was from a small specialist company dealing with rainwater systems who operated out of the Bay of Plenty and Waiheke Island - not a million miles from us (WEBSITE HERE).  To cut the story short, we met the owner, liked what we saw and he's just finished stage 1 of our upgrade.  New filter systems on the storage tank infeeds, biological and particulate filters on the feed to the house plus cleaning and sterilising the storage tanks. Some additional upgrades yet to come.  All completed in a day and a half with a very high standard of workmanship and quality components.  It's probably fair to say that he's cost competitive against local plumbers too because of his specialist knowledge.  I'd call that another victory!

An extremely tidy filtration system 

Storage tank with 2 stage particulate inlet filtration

Going back to the potable water problems in many parts of the world, I'm surprised that the relevant authorities don't encourage greater use of rainwater.  Ok, our storage tanks are old fashioned but new designs are relatively unobtrusive and can even be built into the walls of structures, just like a neighbour's house.  Food for thought?

To sum up, a series of small wins with good outcomes are definitely able to give a real mental lift! 

A great day for bikes and cars

We belong to a classic car club in the next town to where we live but have also just joined the one in our own town (village really with a population of ~1600) as it's growing nicely with a good mix of vehicles from all corners of the world.  After calling the local car club president a few days ago to find out a bit more about it, we were invited to join them the following day on a short(ish) run up the coast to socialise and view the vehicles owned by two of the members at their country property.  

We duly met up in the village and headed off in a convoy to Karen and Brian's place.  Here are some of the vehicles at the rendezvous.

2022 5 litre Mustang with hot motor - sounds fantastic

An eclectic mix of vehicles in the photo below.  The Mk3 Ford Zephyr behind the Mustang belongs to a "mature" gentleman and his wife who live in the south of the south island and just happened to touring in our area.  Mk 3's originally had a 2.5 litre straight 6 engine but this one was a real "sleeper".  Looking pretty standard from the outside apart from mag wheels, the owner had fitted a tuned and bored out 308 V8.  By the way it accelerated away from the rendezvous, I'd imagine that taking it on at any traffic light grand prix would provide quite a shock to the other driver.

Some of the vehicles on the run

Arriving at the entrance to Karen and Brian's property produced an unplanned event.  They have a long driveway with a double gate near the main road.  There was a plate sticking up in the centre of the drive for the 2 parts of the gate to locate against.  Unfortunately, it was a tad higher than the rear muffler assembly of one of the modern Mustangs and pulled the assembly clean off!  Fortunately, there didn't appear to be any damage and just required a refit.  Our MG exhaust pipe was in the danger zone too but a bit of manoeuvring avoided any embarrassment and the offending plate had been removed before it was time to go home! 

Karen and Brian's property was beautifully secluded, a mix of bush and paddocks with a great view back to Coromandel Harbour and parking on one of the elevated paddocks made for a great photo opportunity.

What a stunning parking spot!

Gorgeous native bush all round the property

Glorious views back to Coromandel Harbour

There were several sheds of various sizes around the property, all filled with vehicles and motorcycles of various vintages.  I couldn't help comparing it with the UK "Late Brake Show" on YouTube where rare finds are uncovered after sitting for many years.  However, in this case; Karen and Brian's collection were either roadworthy or being actively restored.  Let's start with some bikes....

In the first shed, there were a number of bikes.   I think that the Norton 850 Commando is a 1974 model by the paintwork - the first I've seen in the flesh. The BSA B44 Victor was a throwback to the mid-late 60's when 4 strokes were still competitive moto-cross machines.  So simple to work on compared with modern bikes.  There were also some Japanese trail/enduro bikes wedged into a corner which were difficult to photograph.  I'd imagine that they were probably from the 80's.

British iron from the 60's and 70's

There were also 3 Harley Davidsons of various types, one of which was a side valve model from 1942.  It was in immaculate condition and in regular use.  It had the slowest stable tickover of any i/c engine I've ever heard - you could count the beats!

Being kicked into life

In one of the larger sheds was a legendary Triumph Trident triple being rebuilt.  The frame and engine are from a 1969 model and the rest from other models and years. It was particularly poignant to see one as we used to see them raced in the late 60's and early 70's in the UK.  The howl from an open 3 into 1 megaphone will never be forgotten!

An early superbike - the Triumph Trident

The photo below is of an early Land Rover in what I reckon is a perfect setting.  The goat skull on the radiator grill is also a nice country touch.

The perfect men's shed

A closer look at the Land Rover

A larger shed contained some wonderful treasures - some of them not covered in this post as I didn't get round to it..

There were a couple of V8 engines on stands, one of which doubled as a test bed and was occupied by a flathead - provenance unknown.  Lovely restoration job.

This is a PROPER guy's shed!

330 Chevrolet small block engine for sale

One of the vehicles in the shed was a 1954 Ford F100 truck which was being lovingly restored in tasteful hot rod style.  Paintwork was flawless as was the engine bay with the non-standard engine. From memory, it's a Ford 385 but I might be in error about the size.

Motor in the Ford F100

My best mate Rick in the UK is always amazed at the amount of activity in NZ regarding classic cars, bikes and aircraft.  I guess that given our population of about 5.2 million, it is rather surprising and long may it continue.  It was a privilege to get out with the car club and to be hosted by Karen and Brian.  Thanks so much everyone and see you again soon.

50 years in NZ - where did the time go?

Jennie and I married in 1972.  She was teaching at a school in Northamptonshire UK and I was a member of staff at Cranfield University in Bedfordshire.  Harold Wilson was the Prime Minister of the UK and things weren't going at all well for the economy.  A couple of Kiwis undertaking postgrad studies in our department suggested that we look at moving to New Zealand.  Trudging through wet snow on a Boxing Day, I broached the subject with Jennie who took little convincing, even if the initial plan was to just go for a couple of years as a sort of working holiday.  I was offered a great job with NZ's largest manufacturing company at the time and in early April 1975, we arrived in Auckland courtesy of Air France (well, their Pacific arm called UTA, dubbed Unlikely To Arrive).

Right from the get-go, we were made to feel very welcome both by the company and Kiwis in general who still possessed a national "can do" drive and humanity which seemed increasingly hard to find at a political level in the UK.  Any intent to return was quickly abandoned and we became NZ citizens as a commitment to our new home.  Now 50 years have passed in the blink of an eye and we have absolutely no regrets about the move, apart from the distance from our remaining relatives and oldest friends.  Even that distance has seemingly shrunk with current travel options.

Being a keen photographer, what I've done is attach a few photos from those early years through the decades to the current time which will undoubtedly provide a laugh regarding hairstyles and clothing.  It's only of marginal comfort that many others dressed in the same manner!  Seriously though, having a decent photographic record of our NZ lives is pretty pleasing and can be passed down the generations. 

Here we go...

1975

We'd only been in the country for a couple of weeks and bought a bright orange Ford Escort to explore the countryside.  The photo was taken in a geothermal area not far from where we lived.  I think we can avoid any critique of my black checked slipover, checked flared pants and Zapata moustache.

Oh dear, the not-so swinging seventies

1976

We took up sailing with the local club on a hydro lake.  The Frostply-class yacht was a lovely boat and we won the club champs in the first year. Sailing with one's wife can be challenging as they don't like having orders barked at them, causing a certain degree of disharmony. Jennie became pregnant which was a good excuse to stop sailing and I had a further season with the daughter of a club member as crew. Heather had an excellent command of bad language if she thought that my instructions were unreasonable!  After a further season, peace reigned with a number of solo yachts after Heather went to university.

Frostply class "Ariel" at Lake Ohakuri

1982

We had become naturalised citizens in 1980 (I think) to show our commitment to NZ.  A couple of promotions saw me in the position as Mechanical Engineering Manager at our biggest pulp and paper manufacturing plant, with as much time tackling union problems as pure engineering.  That didn't often spill over into leisure time and we developed some great friendships from that time which still last today.  The following photo was taken at a BBQ next door at Ian and Raewyn's place.  My choice of casual clothing hadn't improved with the oriental beer shirt but Jennie looked a million dollars to make up for my shortcomings.  Little wonder she's laughing.  

Is Jennie laughing at my shirt?  Even Lyndon is shocked

1983

By 1983, we had the full complement of children and marked it with a family portrait.  I'd mercifully toned down my choice of clothing but Big Hair and large spectacles were "must haves" among the female population.

Coming to grips with a young family

1987

The tyranny of distance became apparent with the passing of Mum back in the UK.  Fortunately, I made it back in time to say goodbye, mainly thanks to a travel agent who was, and is; a very dear friend.  One of the very few downsides of living on the other side of the world. Our CEO called me in when I got back and as a compassionate gesture, gave us the use of the company executive apartment in Auckland for a long weekend.  The amount of food and liquor they'd stocked the apartment with had to be seen to be believed!  It's personal gestures like that which are never forgotten.  It was also the same year that my closest friend and work colleague in NZ lost his life in a car accident.  Jennie and I went with the police to break the news to his family. That's something in the darker moments which will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Executive apartment - Mount Eden, Auckland

1988

It was actually 1987 which rekindled my love of motorcycles. I'd been to Auckland to pick up a yacht sail and next door was a Honda dealer.  I totally fell in love with a Honda GB400 in the window.  The salesman spotted a sucker and the purchase was inevitable.  Jennie wasn't best pleased but got her own back by buying a piano which was roughly twice the cost of the Honda - ouch!  The photo was taken in 1988 after I'd fitted an aftermarket fairing.

 

Honda GB 400TT and a rekindled love of bikes

1991

The kids were growing up fast and we had our first ever holiday without them as one of their godmothers volunteered to look after them.  We headed for Bali and had a wonderful time.  The car in the photo belonged to the Balinese factory owner who made a suit for me and sent us back to the hotel in it after measuring.  The only downside of the holiday was getting a stomach bug the day before we flew home. A bit touch and go despite swallowing a handful of pills before heading for the airport!

The Indonesian equivalent of a vintage Rolls Royce.  Surprisingly good actually

1992

The whole family get on so well and delighted to say that the typical teenage troubles turned out to be practically non-existent, with great school reports too. I'm also inclined to think that growing up in a mill town with a mix of backgrounds and ethnicities was good preparation for later on in life.

School days

1999

A wonderful and moving occasion when Lyndon, our eldest son graduated from Otago University in the south island. A great experience for him too as many of the Otago traditions, particularly at his college; parallel those of Oxford and Cambridge. Formally dressing for dinner is just one of those traditions. He subsequently took a further degree in Auckland.  Immensely proud parents. Like many other parents, we dropped him off at the halls of residence when he started his degree with not a dry eye in the car when it was time to leave. Our first-born had left the security of home. 

Academic study wasn't solely down to the kids.  A job change within my company saw me being responsible for implementing the international ISO 9000 quality assurance system at numerous sites.  For credibility with external auditors and customers, I was required to take the postgrad quality assurance course and exam at Massey University. Studying again in my 50's was bloody hard work!

Otago University, Dunedin.  The day after Lyndon's graduation

2001

Our second son, Kerryn, had almost completed his degree at Massey University in the north island when it was time for our daughter Victoria to start hers at Canterbury University down south. Both occasions were far less emotional, thank goodness.  We combined making sure Victoria was settled in with a month's holiday in the south island, touring in Jennie's first MX-5 sports car and having all sorts of cool adventures.

One of these adventures was a trip by quad bike into the foothills of the Remarkables mountain range. Jennie wasn't too keen initially and I kept my mouth shut when I discovered that the quads were 2 stroke "screamers", not farm machines!  I needn't have worried though as Jennie was a fast learner under the watchful eye of an instructor and she left me for dead on a tricky downhill section strewn with rocks!

2 stroke quad bikes in the foothills of the Remarkables

2002

2 down, one to go.  Kerryn graduated with honours from Massey University and once again, we were enormously proud parents; partially for their academic success but mainly because they had grown into hard-working, caring and independent young adults.

Graduation day, Massey University

2010

After completing a psychology degree with honours, Victoria studied part time for her psychology Masters, graduating in 2010. We made sure that none of them had debt when leaving uni to give them a good start in life but they were under no illusion that they now had to use their education and not come to us for handouts!

Graduation day, Canterbury University

2019

After a career of long hours and also prompted by several company ownership changes, I decided to retire in 2008 at 60. We moved permanently to our beach property and apart from a consultancy project with my old company, we slipped into retirement mode pretty easily. Work on the property and sea fishing from a runabout were regular activities but we also volunteered as tutors for Senior Net, a nationwide organisation for assisting seniors with computer-related matters.  That was really enjoyable and great value to both us and local senior citizens.  We also travelled a great deal with trips to Australia, Alaska, Canada and through Asia and Africa.  We had some wonderful holidays but from a personal viewpoint, Africa just squeaked home in first place.   The wildlife and scenery and travelling by 4x4 was spectacular.  Hard to pick a single thing but ballooning on the Serengeti at dawn, followed by a champagne breakfast straight after the flight was pretty darned special.

Dawn on the Serengeti

2022

Riding motorcycles had been my passion since the age of 16.  I realised that to safely extend my riding into the older years, I needed to upskill and regular readers of the blog will have seen a lot of posts about me joining the NZ branch of the UK Institute of Advanced Motorists in 2011 (now IAM Roadsmart) to be formally trained in police roadcraft.  Passing the advanced test, then Observer (mentor) and Examiner was a massive honour but even more importantly, it's allowed me to ride (and drive) safely for longer than I otherwise would have done, plus pass skills onto other riders who wanted to lift their game.  The photo was taken at home just before going for a ride with treasured friends.  Despite a few niggling problems with the KTM 790 Duke, it was the one which made me laugh more than anything I'd previously owned.  It was a hooligan of a bike, always encouraging immoderate behaviour - a good bike to finish my riding career on.  It was right up there in terms of favourite bike ever but just shaded by the Triumph Street Triple which did everything brilliantly. 

The hooligan KTM 790 Duke

2023

It turned out to be something of a watershed year.  Older bodies don't bounce well and as I'd got pretty much all I wanted from motorcycling, it was time at 74 to retire from bikes before age and physiology became a significant factor.  Sea fishing, travel and mountain biking were already in place as fall-back activities but Jennie had dropped a bombshell in 2021 that we should think about buying a classic car to do more stuff together.  There are plenty of posts about the squabbling which went on about what to choose but the 1972 MGB GT turned out to be perfect for us and a lot of fun.  I don't miss motorcycling as the fall-back plan has worked out just fine. The photo was taken at an MGB 60th Anniversary event in Auckland.

A great turn-out of MG's - Auckland

For quite some time, Jennie has been a volunteer with the Coromandel School of Mines Museum. In recent times, she's had the role of President/Chair and has been involved with a number of significant projects to keep exhibits relevant.  2023 saw her project manage the installation of a building which was originally used for manufacturing dairy products for an early settlers residence (butter cheese, etc).  That consumed massive amounts of time but the end result was spectacular.  Here she is in her finery at the grand opening by the Coromandel Peninsula Mayor.  Everyone was hugely impressed, not least me with respect to the project feedback!

Jennie at the opening of the museum creamery, 2023

 2024

Another action-packed year although we would have gladly avoided some of the action!  Long overdue knees were successfully replaced over a 2 year period and I ran out of talent on my mountain bike, resulting in a broken femur on a gnarly local trail.  They're all documented in the blog so a short mention is sufficient.  We also had a wonderful holiday in Australia's Outback, travelling by 4WD truck.  It was an amazing experience which shouldn't be missed.

Prairie Hotel - Parachilna, South Australia.  A real gem in the middle of nowhere

Christmas was spent on crutches at our younger son's place.  Our 5 grandchildren were present and a photo of them in bright matching Christmas PJ's is an appropriate way to end the post.

The grandchildren - Christmas decorations in their own right!

It's only when putting together a post like this when you realise why 50 years has passed in a flash with so much going on.  There are plenty of other happenings too but they'll never see the light of day in print.  Any regrets about the decision to move to NZ?  Apart from the previously mentioned distance from family and old friends, none at all.  Nowhere is perfect but it's been a blast and long may it be so!