Tuesday in Christchurch

Today I went to Antarctic New Zealand to go through Scott Base reports from the 1960/63 era. Unfortuantely they no longer had the Base reports only those from the field parties. I manages to photograph the revalant ones including the full naval report on the Endeavour's trip. Good I thought but when I got back to hotel and transfered all the data to my Ipad I notice I had the wrong year. The report I photographed had the ship leaving Wellington on the 27 December 1960 and I left on the 27 December 1959. However the rest of data was well worth the trip.

In the afternoon I went to the Wigran Airforce Musuem to get some photos of the Antarctic Flight Auster (the real one) and Beaver (not the real one its still in the Antarctic afer crashing). The museum has improved considerable since my last vist many years ago. The main hall is even better than before.

I saw the Auster, but the Beaver was not on display. However after asking I was taken down to the storage hanger and got a few photos of the beaver packed away in partly wrapped in plastic.

The Auster

The Beaver packed away in the spare hangar

We talked about the crash and Bill Cranfields lone flight in the Auster to rescue the crashed crew. Also about how Bill with no flying to do became our cook for few days at Scott Base. While talking we went into another hanger and saw the progress on the Vildabeest's reconstruction. Although work has stopped at present the fuselage frame work is complete and some panelling is in place. Sorrow no photo I was so interested I forgot to take any photos.I went back to the main building while looking at the upstairs display I had a vist from Bill Cranfield. Evidently he had been next door and person I had been talking too got in touch with him.

Finally be leaving I took this photo of the wall of knitted poppies. The poppies had been knitted by many people throughout the Christchurch area to commenorate the 100th anniversary of Gillipoli.

Tommorrow I fly home.

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Monday, drive to Christchurch.

First, Sunday night a David's. An extremely enjoyable evening going through two sets of Antarctic slides taken during the 1960 winter by our leader and doctor. As there were so many I had asked David to slect those taken-in or around A-hut, our kitchen, mess hall, radio room and leader's office. One-by-one we went through the slides with me identify what was happening and who was there and David methodically record the details. It was marvelous reliving the social side of that 1960 winter. I had forgotten the birthdays we celebrated and the good times we had. The Carpenter cutting his cake with a tenison saw and the Doc's birthday cake in the form of a red cross and decorated with surgical instruments. Made me remember my cake with a minature Auroral Radar hut and aerials.

I had often told the story of one Sunday when it was the docs turn to cook, he used a large hypodermic syringe to inject the steaks with rum. Sure enough there was a slide capturing him in the act.

Come nine o'clock I headed home--it was freezing and snow covered the roof of the car.

At David's we had made arrangements for lady doing a series oral histories for the Antarctic Society to meet me at the hotel before I left for ChCh. The next morning it was even colder and the receptionist told me the northern exit from Dunedin was blocked by ice and snow. It was just after this that oral historian rang me to say she wouldn't be coming in. She lived 40 km inland and everthing out there was covered in snow.

I packed the car and about 9.30 I was heading north first for Timaru, then Ashburton, and then onto my hotel. I had planned to call in to a book shop and an Air Museum on the way. However, once I got the inside of the car warmed up no way was I getting out until I was at the Hotel in ChCh. The camera stayed in my bag so Monday has no photgraphic record.

Just for those who like some illustration here is another photo from the portal and one of large metal flies climbing the wall.

 

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Sunday, Books and Steampunk

Left the hotel about 9.30. The car started and I drove down to Historic Precinct. An area of restored Whitestone buildings that was once the bussiness hub with banks, hotels, grain and woolstores. Today this area is shops, galleries, and best of all second hand book shops. Of course I was there early--nothing opens before 10 am--so I took a few photographs.

The SteamPunk Museum

The pub we drank in yesterday

As soon as Adventure Books opened I went in and was welcomed by the owner and given a tour of the shop and learnt the layout of the books. Niel was right--he highly recomended this shop--the shop was a gold mine of Antarctic books. Just so many firsts I could not believe. Books that you only see on the Internet.

One of the many unlocked cupboards

OK, kids don't panic I didn't spend all you inheritence. I thought I did pretty well, I got about $90 discount and free postage. Now Jane you can worry, but not too much as I didn't buy any books from the closed glass cabinets. Although I had the cabinets opened so I could photograph all the books to consider them later after I am back home.

Once I had finished with the books I skipped across to the SteamPunk Museum. Here the hilight was the Portal. A small room about 3 metres square lined with mirrors and an arrangment of hanging things and lights. Before entering you push a big red button and step into the room and the show starts. Although the rooms seems to be infinite in all directions only three people can enter at one time.

The rest of the museum was excellent with a lot of fun SteamPunck items. Well worth a visit.

A bulldozer and the obligatory airship.

The days started out cool but not cold, however by midday it was freezing. After stoping at Countdown for a bottle of wine I was back at the hotel about 1.30 pm. Had lunch, wrote this blog and soon will be going out to Davids for dinner and viewing of some slides taken during the 1960 season at Scott Base.

A bulldozer and the obligatory airship.

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Saturday Oamaru

This morning at 9 am I was ready to set out for Oamaru. I packed my Jucy rental car, put the key in the ignition and tried to start the car. No luck. After several attempts to ring Jucy eventually I got through and eventually the AA arrived. By 10 am with the car started I headed off to Oamaru. At Palmerston I stopped. I remembered that my Aunty Mabel always addressed letters to me to Palmerston, not Palmerston North, and this was were my mail ended. While here I took a photo of a commenrative tower on a distant hill top that I had seen, only as a small black dot, on previous trips to Dunedin. With the aid of Canon stablisation and 30x telephoto I got this hand held shot.

The tower I had only seen a dot on the top of a hill.

Once in Oamaru I contacted David Harrowfield, an Antarctician, Historian, and author of many books. He picked me up from ther hotel about 1 o'clock and we had an interesting afternoon, finally dropping me off back at my hotel just in time for the TV news at 6 pm. First we went out to two Antarctic huts then to the wharf were Pennel and Atkinson from the Terra Nova landed in 1913, the wharf master's hut and the path they took to the Harbour Master's house and the post office where the report of Scott's death was sent back to England before being made public in NZ.

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The two Antarctic huts

the wharf where Pennel landed

The watchman hut.

The commemorative oak tree plant just after the landing

We discussed my book on my time at Scott Base and he gave me a copy of his "What Ship" Lieutenan Harry Pernnerl's Antarctic Legacy with an interesting signing comment and dated the 23/5/205 my 77th birthday.

From here I was introduced to the owner of Adventure books, Bill Nye, who I will be visiting tomorrow morning , then onto the Scott brewery where we talked, drank, and had a pizza. Tommorrow afternoon I am off to David's to see some Antarctic slides. He has all the slides from Jim Lennox-King, our leader at Scott Base in 1960 and Colin Bailey, our doctor. It will be good to see slides from my contemporaries.

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Friday Dunedin, The Regent Book Fair

Today is the day of the Regent's 24 hour book fair. A book fair I have'nt been to for several years. Although, in the past I went for several years with my daughter Jane and her husband Gary. Then the book fair spread across the whole theatre including the large stage area and had continual entertainment for the whole 24 hours. Jane would go down and queue, waiting some times for four hours for the doors to open. She would always be amongst the first in the there. We would stay within walking distance and go back every few hours to check the new books that were continually being brought out. We stopped going after new management took over and appeared to offer only 'nice' looking books. The number of books had reduced and only took up a small proportion of the Theatre. They appeared to have discarded all the old books, the type we wanted to look at. After that fair we and some of the other book collectors and buyers from the North Island decided not go back. However after a few years away I have decided to try the again.

I walked down to the Regent theatre arriving at 11.50 am, ten minutes before opening. Bad news the queue didn't even reach half way to the corner. In past it would been around the corner and at least 200m up the street. Not a good sign.

Once inside the only books in sight where on the stage and a small area in front of it. The old fairs used this spance and had table-tops arrange along the ailse on the backs of all the downstair theatre seating. A tremedous spread of books.

I climbed onto the stage and began looking through the books. It had been a while since my last book fair but I soon got into the swing of pushing passsed people and falling over the dealers large bags they pushed ahead of them as they fossicked for the best books. I was in book fair mode. A quick look along the tables of interest, I had found nothing when I saw sign. "Price books down stairs". I limped down narrow stairway to two rooms under the stage. The first, not very large with four tables around the walls. One with New Zealand books--none that interested me. Another with piles of those short lived books about sporting people--why they even bothered to price them I don't know. The rest of the books tended to be of the coffee-table genre. The other room down stairs was much bigger and more books but at least half were fiction. I did however manage to pick a one Antarctic book.

After about one and half hours, that was it, my book fair was over. And to think that the following is how they described it on their Internet site: The Regent’s 24 Hour Book Sale is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s biggest events of its kind and people schedule it into their calendars well in advance.

Outside I took this photo just to show I can capture interesting old buildings. Maybe not as interest and as grand as those Continental buildings my daughter is currently posting on her blog, but I had to do something because I knew the book fair couldn't compete.

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Thursday in Dunedin

First I went to Hard to Find (but worth the effort) secondhand book shop. Although not far from the hotel I took the car. It had satellite navigation I didn't.

The shop was up a steep flight of stairs but did have a chair-lift. Did I use it, of course not I am not a invalid I just have bad knees and problem climbing stairs.

The shop had plenty of books and some couches to sit and contemplate your purchases. Unfortunately not many interesting Antarctic books. I was told that the good books were in their Internet shop behind a set of glass doors and not open to the public. Although there was a notice on the door saying that staff would do a search for you. However, I needed to see what they had and check it against my database so I decided to leave that until I got back to the hotel. Especially since last night I had mastered the hotel's WiFi.

However I did find one book that I last saw in Victoria on Vancouver Island. Then I didn't buy it but this time I did.

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Second Hand Books, Expedition 2015

My Second Hand Books Expedition or one week in the South Island doing Dunedin's Regent 24 hour book far, checking out the local book shops, and then heading north to Christchurh. On the way stopping a couple of shops in Oamaru and while there visiting couple of old-book shops and visit two old Scott Base huts. Huts where spent two Antarctic winters. From there Timaru and anothe book shop then onto Asburton. No, not another book shop but this time an Aircraft Museum. From here a day in Christchurh then fly back to Palmerston North get my car, pick up my cat and head for my Villa at Summerset on Summerhill.
This morning set off for Dunedin early this morning eventually arriving at 2.30 pm. Picked up my rental car, set my Navman, and follwed its instruction to ther front door of my Hotel. Once I dumped my luggage I set off the main street, just one block from the hotel. My first job was to buy a warm windproof jacket. Something I had been meaning to do since I lost my last one. A very good one it was too. Made in Scotland and bought the last (and only) time I was in Bath back in 2000. I thought that Dunedin being so much further south (colder for you Northen Hemisphere readers) they would have a better selection. Wrong again!

If I get the WiFi sorted out I will post this to my Blog via Email. My daughter seems to be able to do it so I can't see why I can't. My prevoius blog explains how she is travelling from the Black sea to the Atlantic on a River Cruise or was until just past Vienna the engine blew-up. Her blog has been excellent and a very good friend from Canada has challenged me do the same. So this is the first. I will get around to pictures next time.


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