Tag: books

THE RETIREES VISIT THE SOUTH ISLAND ACROSS THE DITCH blog 495 Episode 7

19TH MAY TO 10TH JUNE 2026

Day 17 Nelson

Our accommodation was just on the outer edge of the centre of town. We had not made any forward plan about the next day beyond looking around the CBD and we would take it as we found it. We awoke and decided that we would eat breakfast at a café. The CBD was close but not that close so we bundled into the car and parked where we could and started the exploration of Nelson but the shops were in most cases closed for the weekend. We were on the hunt for a cafe and noted the town centre was interconnected with arcades. The town’s designers must have had the notion that arcades were the retail design of the future. Travelling through just one arcade we came to what would have to be one of the smallest of coffee shops – takeaway only. That would not suit so across the road and down the end of another arcade we found our breakfast destination. Finishing breakfast, I noticed a neighbouring building – a two-story barber’s shop with a delivery hoist on the first floor. I thought that was unique but in a heritage sense maintaining a disused warehouse.

Photos             tiny coffee shop, and barber’s shop.

We motored around Nelson then drove along Queen Elizabeth II Dve, toward Picton, and then back to Wakefield Quay and Rocks Rd. At some point we turned around to head back to the motel and in doing so we noticed the Boat Shed in Wakefield Quay. I don’t know how we missed it earlier particularly with a container ship tied up nearby. We pulled off the road to visit the café and faced a public warning notice on the handrail announcing that there had been a sewerage spill and that contact with the water was not advised. Well, we had no intention of swimming, but we would check where the café drew its water. On entering the café, we became aware this was a restaurant. They were happy to serve coffee so long as we finished by 5.30pm. Also, they assured us their water didn’t come from the harbour – what a relief. A picturesque site but the menu was a bit rich for us, so we moved on to obtain our dinner elsewhere.

Boat Shed Cafe inside the Shed and view to the strait container ship, and public notice, .

Day 18               Nelson to Kaikoura   

We left Nelson and travelled into the Marlborough district and vineyards. There were a few things we wanted to do on the way to Kaikoura one being to visit the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre at Blenheim. Located in a hangar in Omaka aerodrome on the outskirts of Blenheim, Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre houses an astonishing collection of World War I and World War II fighter planes, along with artefacts and possessions from the battlefields of Europe. Inside, the story of the people who fought on both sides of the lines are brought to life through a series of stunning displays and dioramas. Covering everything from legendary heroes, like Eddie Rickenbacker and Manfred von Richthofen, to local New Zealanders who travelled back to Europe to defend the crown, the museum’s two exhibitions are fascinating and sobering.

Lord of the Rings director, Peter Jackson, brings his personal collection of war memorabilia to life in the stunning Knights of the Sky exhibition. The exhibition features several re-enactments of real-life WWI battles, with each scene being brought back to life with unerring realism through dioramas produced by Wingnut films, accompanied by unbelievably believable mannequins from award-winning special effects company Weta Workshops. There is a picture of Captain Clive Franklyn Collett MC (28 August 1886 – 23 December 1917) in the museum. He was a World War I flying ace from New Zealand credited with 11 aerial victories. He was the first British or Commonwealth military pilot to use a parachute, in a test. While serving as a test pilot, he crashed to his death in a captured German fighter. There is a diorama of the Australian soldiers having shot down the Red Baron’s Fokker Triplane stealing his boots and later the original fabric fuselage cross cut from the side of the Red Baron’s Fokker Triplane displayed in the museum.

The Museum, the DC3, the café, the planes, diorama of German plane in flight, life size German plane, more planes, de Havilland DH2 “Scout”, British plane and USA ambulance, Fokker E III Ein decker, French Breguet 14 A2, bomber, Curtiss MF Flying Boat, British fighter plane RAF R.E.8, planes, British Vickers Vimy, 2 x diorama “Over the trenches” RAF S.E.5a, diorama “Crashed in a tree”, German Siemens – Schuckert D.IV, French biplane Nieuport model 27 and Nieuport 24, diorama “Australians down the Red Baron”, Pfalz D III, British De Havilland DH4, Halberstadt D.IV, early machine gun carrier, Captain Clive Franklyn Collett MC (28 August 1886 – 23 December 1917) tries his parachute, original fabric fuselage cross, cut from the side of the Red Baron’s Fokker Triplane.

You can tell how impressive this museum is by the photos I have taken. History presented vividly. I have not included Pfalz D III, British De Havilland DH4, Halberstadt D.IV, early machine gun carrier, Captain Clive Franklyn Collett MC (28 August 1886 – 23 December 1917) tries his parachute. I don’t know why but those pictures when posted are viewed in landscape.

We then called in at Villa Maria Vineyard Cellar door where we did a wine tasting and picked up two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc for our card games, followed by Tekahu O Waipuna Library and Art Gallery.

After lunch in the café, we journeyed onto Kaikoura and our apartment at Waves Kaikoura Waterfront Apartment. Easier said than done. Finding how to access our apartment was not so easy. To gain access saw Kerry running around trying to interpret the means of gaining access. After an hour of stuffing around we finally had the formula to access the keys and codes to get in up 2 flights of stairs.

The apartment was quite acceptable for us to share. So we had a few hands of cards then off to bed so that we were up bright and early for the THE RETIREES VISIT THE SOUTH ISLAND ACROSS THE DITCH blog 495 Episode 8.

THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – SAN FRANCISCO USA

We arrived in San Francisco on time and ready to start our holiday. Our son Ben arrived at the airport as planned and Angus is with him to greet us. It is great to see both and during the ride to their home we hear all the gossip about Felix George our 1-month-old grandson number 9 amongst grandchildren. Angus is a little uncertain as we drive to their home. We are having a brief stay so that we don’t disturb their routine greatly. Part of the plan is to stay at the motel shown below for a couple of days and catch up with them each day. Peet’s coffee is nearby and we make use of that along with Taco Bell which we gave a big swerve. Felix at 1 month.

Jee greets us with Felix in her arms, and it is a great start to our holiday. Angus introduces Felix to us and I share some toast with Angus – peanut paste and honey I recall. Kerry gets as many cuddles as she can with Felix.

The few days fly quickly, lunch with Dad (Ben) at his new work (well a café near work really) and playing with Angus who loves building forts and racing his cars through the fort and knocking it all down, but we now have a game of “lets clean up”. Next is a jigsaw puzzle then cleaning up out in the yard. Kerry is cleaning the leaves off the back deck, and I am helping but Gus wants to help so he gets the broom, and we all play let’s clean up.

And so it goes, nothing special just being together.

We visited the local “Farmers Market”. Angus was somewhat disturbed by the spider on the wall of this house. Whilst there we notice there is a lot of street art in downtown Alameda and we captured a few to show you. Kerry and I took a walk through Alameda and stumbled across a museum of pinball machines from their inception to today. Every kind of machine I have seen and many I had never seen. We took photos to record our visit and spoke with the owner who serves behind the counter and gave us the run down on how it all started with the purchase of some of the earliest machines.

All in all, a couple of special days. On our last day Ben picked us up from the Motel to visit Jee with Gus and Felix for final farewells and then dropped us at the airport with plenty of time to catch our flight to London via Chicago, but it would prove not a smooth transition. Our flight departure is delayed then our flight arrival is also delayed by a plane broken down in the air gate meant for us to dock. Read about it all in my next blog “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – SAN FRANCISCO USA to LONDON HEATHROW UK”

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI TO POLIGNANO A MARE”

POLIGNANO A MARE

This town was one of the towns we wished to visit. Our research showed that it had many points of interest and it was on the itinerary prepared by Chat GPT. Irresistible wouldn’t you say. Robert thought so and agreed it was worth a visit. Our train was loaded with beach goers and we were concerned that we were going to be crowded out.

It is a town in the municipality of Metropolitan City of Bari, Puglia southern Italy, located on the Adriatic Sea. My research showed there is a tour of sea caves by boat that can be taken from the town. That interested me but as I have said before we were there in winter and out of season, so it was closed for the season. After arriving on the train there was a short walk to the city gate – oops it was closed also but then it’s not really in operation anymore.

The area has been settled since prehistoric times. It is believed to be the site of the ancient Greek city of Neapolis of Apulia. Thanks to its strategic position on the Adriatic Sea, it soon became a trade centre. The Byzantine Empire, in the 6th century, turned it into a municipal structure; subsequently, it was dominated by the Normans. Under the Aragonese crown, Polignano reached its peak in both economic and cultural terms.

Not to worry, the crowd who came on the train with us showed us the way into town and moved on quickly down the road until reaching a bridge showing exactly why people come to here – the breath taking vista out to sea, not the black cat on the rock ledge but rather the natural rock walls holding the town out of the sea. People do live here – notice the washing on the line and the altana on the roof (Italian roof top terraces). Everywhere in town brings you back to the coastline.

Excited by the movement above us we went back to the City gate and found a passage onto the rocky escarpment above us into the houses on the cliffs. The views were fantastic – all along the coastline houses and building clung to the cliff face, even into the inlet below. The sea caves were quite obvious but the tours were not running so further disappointment that we had chosen the wrong season. We had hoped to have lunch at a restaurant in the walls of the cliff face but it was closed of course for the winter season. You can see the entrance to the restaurant in the photos below. Still we were able to weave in and out of the passage ways all appearing to be alive with lights and decorations. We stopped for lunch after which I was weary and we decided to make our way back to the station.

In one of the piazzas, we discovered a memorial to the soldiers lost in WW1 & WW2 – not often have I seen these memorials in rural Italy. Kerry found one of the oldest olive trees we had seen so she gave it a hug for good luck.

The trip on the train to Bari was comfortable and I even had a nap – the photos don’t tell you how far we would walk through these towns and I can tell you I needed the nap. Tomorrow will be a very big day with a trip to Taranto in the very south of the Italian peninsula so be on the lookout for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI TO TARANTO”

“THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to MONOPLI.”

This town was not on my itinerary either but that was part of Robert’s plans/expertise – to know what he wanted to do and drag us to these spots. It was quite exciting guessing his motivations. Monopoli is on the coast of the Adriatic Sea in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. As we strolled through the town towards the port, Robert guided us into a church quite different to the gaudy monuments typically found in Italy. Plain unimposing exterior with a very clean line inside leading to its purpose of prayer in the Christian faith. My first photo is the back of Robert’s head and the train directory identifying our station. Note his yellow jacket. Workplace Health and Safety dictates that he is clearly visible. You will observe this when we visit the church.

Monopoli was to provide quite a few unexpected sights. We crossed the town square and entered the port side where waterside apartments, fishing vessels, cargo ships, and expensive looking waterside houses of various eras hidden down narrow lane ways could be found. The last photo below is part of the square but on the opposite side to the fountain – a very large square for the town.

Once we had entered the port area it was quite obvious that the old and new sat comfortably together. Fishing continues to be an occupation in Monopoli and walking along the edge of the port we came upon a sight I was not expecting – a local fisherman repairing his nets on the port side surrounded by his mates chattering away and him focused on getting the nets ready to go fishing.

We are here out of season, so all the blue tourist boats are in the harbour. Our guide, wearing the brightest yellow jacket (it was cool, but he had to be seen), worked our way through the narrow lane ways filled with shops and apartments. The sign board below is but a few of the shops. The wine shop had its door handle made to represent its products. Check out the photo of the ancient downpipe set into the newly painted brick wall

Every turn he took we seemed to be losing our way but he always seemed to come back to the waterfront, always finding something old and something new side by side along the way. The garrison castle on the waterfront, now abandoned, told us something of the need to fortify against water borne menaces such as pirates and invaders. We could only access one part of the fort.

We could tell this was off season – there was no washing hanging from the lines between the holiday apartments. During off season repairs are performed. Actually there were times when our guide was reference the gps to find our way.

In the photo above you will notice a cathedral, the Basilica Cathedrale of Madonna della Madia in the background. It’s grandeur drew us to it. Our guide, distracted by his phone, missed the house with farmyard doors which appeared entirely out of place. The Basilica of the Madonna della Madia or Santa Maria della Madia was granted the status of a minor basilica in 1921. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary under the title of the Madonna della Madia, after an icon kept here. It shows the former wealth of the town with its ornate interior.

It seemed like hours that we had been ducking in and out of little lanes and not one coffee shop was open. Finally as we left the Basilica our eagle scout smelt or spotted an inviting coffee shop and it was time for a cuppa which got Kerry very excited and Robert curious as to why he had not found this place previously. Refreshed we headed back to the station and returned to Terni.

Well we were well and truly knackered particularly knowing we would do it all again tomorrow at Polignano a Mare. Stay tuned for “THE RETIREES GO AROUND THE WORLD – BARI to POLIGNANO A MARE”