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?
In comparison with a lot of countries, NZ has so far escaped the ravages of Covid fairly lightly with occasional lockdowns and other restrictions in various regions for varying periods. Whilst there were no outbreaks where we live, travel was difficult on occasions which curtailed going all that far. It was hellish tough on some sectors of the community and small businesses in particular really struggled. Our hearts went out to friends in that position. It's been an uncomfortable feeling that being retired helped us to lead a relatively normal but restricted lifestyle. Motorcycling and other leisure activities such as sea fishing took a hit but we still had plenty to keep us productively occupied. Looking back on the year, there was plenty going on and I've attached a bunch of photos which haven't been posted before. I suppose that it's a good means of raising the middle finger to the effects of Covid by celebrating some of the nice memories.
January
This was dawn from our deck on Jan 1st 2021. NZ was pretty much Covid-free at that stage and the summer weather held a lot of promise.
Coromandel dawn, January 2021
In a past life, I used to sail competitively. Even for people with little interest in sailing, NZ were defending the Americas Cup in Auckland in a new class of foiling yacht and the design captured the public imagination. They are capable of a little over 50 knots and very difficult to sail. Three months of racing and NZ went on to retain the Cup in March. The video below shows the NZ yacht Te Rehutai sailing from their base out to the race area. The buildings and traffic in the background serve to show how awesomely impressive these beasts are.
February
Out conducting potential new member assessments with the Institute of Advanced Motorists. It's always a real pleasure meeting riders who are keen to lift their game but every so often, you get to meet someone a bit special. In this instance, it was Barbara on her Yamaha MT-09. Barbara's partner David had been riding for many years so when Barbara decided to ride, it was a full-on commitment to excellence. Her early training to get a full license was with a riding school run by a former Chief Examiner of IAM. She then worked her way through the NZ-wide Ride Forever coaching programme and the California Superbike School track programme. Not satisfied with that, she has embarked on advanced police roadcraft training with IAM. Now that's dedication for you and boy, does it show in the standard of her riding!
Some old geezer and Barbara
My Shoei GT Air helmet has an internal smoked visor which is quite effective in most sunny environments. Where it falls short is on the coast road home where the reflection off the sea is horrendous and made even worse by diving into shaded areas of road thanks to overhanging waterside trees. From past experience, iridium-coated visors work pretty well, the downside being price. A genuine Shoei is about NZ$200, an expensive mistake if my memory was rose-tinted. Contrast this with an iridium visor ex-AliExpress for about NZ$60, shipping included so the risk was worth taking. Expectations weren't particularly high with respect to quality but what a bargain it turned out to be! Already set up for a Pinlock anti-fog insert, it was a perfect fit and 12 months later, the iridium coating is still in superb condition. Best of all, its reflective qualities work an absolute treat and it works better in low light than a solid tint. The gold coating looks pretty cool too.
Looks cool and works a treat
March
Nothing particularly noteworthy in March, some enjoyable local riding and a bit of sea fishing with Jennie. However, a chance photo taken from our garden turned out to be a particularly pleasing one. It was a hot day and storm clouds were boiling up over the nearby Coromandel Range. The noise of a piston engine from the sky attracted attention and there was an old Tiger Moth biplane flying towards the storm clouds. The pilot must have had second thoughts soon afterwards and changed course but the photo was quite dramatic.
Not where I'd choose to be!
April
The Coromandel Peninsula (The so-called Coro Loop road) is considered to be one of the great motorcycling roads in NZ. It's also a tourist mecca and at peak times, traffic volumes and poor driving standards seriously detract from the enjoyment of riding on two wheels. Weekdays are somewhat different and one of my IAM riding partners, Tony; had taken the day off to celebrate his birthday with a ride round the Loop on his Yamaha MT10 SP. It would be rude not to join him and we had an absolute ball. It was one of those effortless rides where everything clicked and it was like we were on rails. Not going particularly fast but maintaining good corner speeds with an almost complete absence of traffic - motorcycling heaven!
Birthday Boy Tony and me at Whitianga Harbour
We also spent a few days in the Rotorua area doing a few touristy things. With the absence of overseas tourists, the lack of crowds was really pleasant. My personal favourite activity was walking on the suspended walkways in the redwood forest. We did it during daylight hours and at night. The lighting and special effects at night were absolutely world class.
Part of the suspended tree walk, Rotorua
May
Plenty of rain in our district but it allowed me to take an arty photo of raindrops beading on a yucca plant in our garden.
A wet yucca "Sapphire Skies"
June
The start of winter, such as it is. The deciduous trees in the garden look a picture but will soon turn into a soggy mess. Unusually mild which why leaf fall is only just starting.
Early winter colours in the garden
A great day out delivering the first part of practical training for new IAM mentors, including two police officers. It started off in dry, overcast conditions and ended in heavy rain for the 160 km journey home. At least we got a variety of weather to practice our skills!
Some of the IAM team getting ready
July
We celebrated our 49th wedding anniversary at an upmarket lodge and out of the blue, Jennie suggested that we buy a classic car so that we could explore NZ's back roads and scenic spots in some style. Finding something we both liked was a major stumbling block until we found a 49 year old MGB GT in stunningly restored condition. However, taking ownership took 3 months thanks to the monumental incompetence of a government department which deals with transport matters. A complaint was jointly lodged by the vendor and ourselves which finally led to a formal written apology from the department. It's doubtful whether their processes will have changed as a result though.
Puka Park luxury cabins among the trees - bliss!
NZ native songbird, the Tui drinking nectar from our winter flowering cherry tree
August
The Covid Delta variant appeared in NZ for the first time and all sorts of restrictions were imposed as a result. Fortunately, our area wasn't affected and we were still able to travel to some extent. The lack of people from other regions made motorcycling a real pleasure and on one ride round the Coromandel Loop, we passed just 4 other vehicles over a distance of 200 km! I was also able to observe and test one of our IAM Trainee Observers (mentors) who conducted a coaching ride for one of our trainees. Delighted to say that he passed with flying colours. It was also my last official duty within IAM before retiring in December.
Trainee Josh (KTM 390) and a relieved but proud Chris (GSX-S 1000) on passing his Observer Test
September
Sometimes, unplanned events turn out to be the most memorable of occasions. I was browsing through an online NZ buy and sell website and happened to see a rocking chair for sale. It was made from a beautiful native timber called rimu in the 1980's by a craftsman in Northland for a couple who were downsizing and were reluctantly selling it. Showed it to Jennie and as we both loved the craftsmanship, we put in a bid and won it for the ridiculously low price of NZ$175! It was in flawless condition and clearly cherished. We met the vendors at a halfway point between where we all lived and took them to lunch - really enjoyed their company. It now graces our upstairs living area as an art object although it's supremely comfortable as well. Our daughter thought it was hilarious that "the oldies" had bought a rocking chair. Sigh....
Rimu custom rocking chair
October
All the bureaucratic bungling regarding the MGB was addressed (almost) and we finally took ownership - it was worth waiting for! It was also my 74th birthday and my present from Jennie was a robust trolley jack for doing routine maintenance on the car. Hardly romantic but just what I wanted! A fair bit of time since then has been spent on setting up a routine maintenance regime which is now almost complete (we hope). One little postscript about the bungling. When the new ownership papers arrived, the car had been mis-identified as an MGB Roadster, not an MGB GT. Keeping my temper, it took several protracted phone calls to the authorities to get the correct papers issued and they only arrived in the last week of December. Lord protect us from pen-pushers!
The MGB GT at the Firth of Thames, Coromandel Peninsula
November
With neighbouring regions locked down, it was a great time for social riding in our area with virtually no weekend traffic and perfect weather. Getting together with some of the IAM team from our region and riding on uncluttered roads was an absolute dream.
Meeting up with the team in the town of Paeroa
December
Whenever I'm in the nearby town of Whitianga, a quick trip to the grass airfield is often worthwhile as a range of unusual aircraft can often be seen there. A recent example is the De Havilland Chipmunk. Designed in Canada in the 40's and entering RAF service in 1950, it was a popular flight trainer. It was delightful to see the flight instructor swinging the prop to start it, then hopping in and taking off in no time at all. Wonderful to still see old aircraft in regular use.
Going through the starting routine
....and away we go
As of today, I've retired as an IAM Examiner and mentor after 10 years of lifting my riding to a level that I'm quite proud of, having never dreamed of getting this far. Also proud to have coached many others to attain their advanced roadcraft qualification and continue on to become mentors themselves. That's what you call a win-win. Just social riding from now on but also spending more time with Jennie sea fishing and enjoying the MGB GT. As mentioned in the previous post about keeping occupied during retirement, I've got plenty of fallback interests so boredom is unlikely to be an issue.
Who knows what 2022 and future years will bring but at least we can make the best possible use of our time whatever things outside of our control bring us. Every good wish for the future!
NZ is now at Level 1 in the fight against Covid -19. 22 days since the last reported new case and no active cases. What this effectively means is that life is pretty close to pre-Covid days for us locals apart from contact tracing controls still being in place. Now we have to get the economy moving again. There are strict border controls and entering NZ requires high level approval. Overseas film personnel associated with the new Avatar movie have arrived and are in quarantine and the same will apply to the United States Americas Cup Team next week. Both of course have strong economic benefits for the country.
I celebrated Level 1 by going for a decent ride on my home turf, the Coromandel Peninsula. It felt a bit odd because although all travel restrictions have been removed, there was almost no traffic on the open roads. Most people seemed to be congregating in the small towns, doing a bit of shopping and enjoying company over coffee. Suited me!
The largely deserted Coromandel Peninsula
Coromandel Harbour wharf - we live on the ridge in the background
It's now winter in NZ and although there are rarely frosts in our area, there is less food around for the native birds and it's noticeable that more are coming into the garden to drink nectar from some of our flowering succulents.
The Waxeye
We also get native pigeon, the Keruru; coming into the garden and eating leaves from the Kowhai trees and the small buds from our ornamental cherry. About half as big again as a European pigeon with spectacular plumage, they're amazingly indifferent to human presence. The one in the photo below let me get really close and didn't seem at all perturbed.
A fat Keruru
We've made good progress scanning our old 35mm negatives and slides although there's a long way to go yet. Apart from the time it takes, it's been a joy to jog forgotten memories and in some cases, having no memory of the circumstances the photo was taken in. It's actually good for the soul! I thought I'd share a few of the diverse discoveries.
On one of our holidays in Australia about 10 years or more ago, we discovered an aircraft museum inland between Cairns and Port Douglas. It was a bit run down but had an amazing collection of aircraft. One of them (haven't found the photo yet) Was a WW2 Bell Airacobra fighter with a contra-rotating propeller setup. The owner said there were only 2 known examples left in the world and he had been offered a couple of million bucks by an American who just happened by. He turned down the offer at that time.
De Havilland naval Sea Vixen (I think)
Sticking with the aeronautical theme, the next picture was taken in 1996 when I was working in the southern US. There was an open air museum attached to the SAC base at Barksdale, Louisiana with an amazing array of aircraft. The photo is of a rocket sled which was fired down the test track at Holloman AFB. It's the shell of the supersonic Hustler bomber from the 1960's - one of my favourite aircraft. Behind it is the business end of a nuclear missile - a Minuteman if I remember correctly.
Cold war weaponry
In 1985, we were on holiday in the UK and a mate and I took our boys to the Duxford museum. Another fantastic place for aircraft enthusiasts. I still have to find more film from the visit but the next photo is of a Gloster Javelin all-weather fighter, It served with the RAF from the mid-50's to the late 60's. I saw them flying at air shows as a kid but had forgotten how big they were for a fighter.
The Gloster Javelin
Back onto bikes, I attended a classic bike race meeting in south Auckland in the early 90's and there were some beautiful bikes there, both racing and in the spectator park.
250cc Ariel Arrow - incredibly loud
Beautiful Ducati desmo single - 350cc I think
Ducati Mike Hailwood replica - worth a fortune now
The next two photos which were taken by a mate have an amusing tale to go with them. I got back into bikes in 1987. It was only after its purchase that I discovered that I was riding illegally as my UK bike licence had expired. A check with the then Ministry of Transport confirmed that I did indeed have to re-sit both the theory and practical tests. The theory presented no problem but I could hardly turn up on an over-capacity bike to take my basic skills riding test, even if that first part was done in a car park. The only bike I could borrow was a 50cc Yamaha step-through from a mate's wife. As all good mates do, he turned up to take the piss and photograph the occasion. As an aside, the full on-road test which followed the car park component was an anticlimax. I knew the cop who took me for the test and he knew the circumstances of the re-take. He sent me all of 50 metres to go round a roundabout and return to where he was standing, then wrote me the pass. Reckoned it would be wasting everyone's time to take it further. The rest is history!
Setting off for the test
Cone slalom on a Yamaha 50!
The following photo of my Blackbird was taken the day after I rode it home from the dealer in 2001. My previous bike was a BMW K100 RS which was no slug. However, it didn't prepare me for the outrageous performance of the 'bird. I think that it was so quiet and effortless made it even more scary (and impressive). Owned it for 8 years. Totally bulletproof apart from the original stator which was a weak point on them.
One of the original superbikes
Still on things automotive, Jennie had a sports hatch in the mid-90's called a Mazda Astina GT. It went pretty well and the roadholding was fantastic. We gave it to our younger son for his 21st birthday present . Good thinking by Jennie as it was a good opportunity for her to get the first of her MX-5's.
Mazda Astina GT
The next photo was taken in the central north island of NZ among the active volcanoes.
MX-5 amongst the volcanoes
Going on annual school camp with the kids is a rite of passage in NZ and normally involves camping in the bush and long hikes. They were great fun. Here's me in the 1980's in the native forest near Rotorua.
Definitely not Crocodile Dundee!
Cataloguing all the negatives and slides has been great for the wetter and cooler days and there's a fair way to go yet. It's evoking some great memories and is something to pass onto our adult children.
