Grandad's photos

Now that Datsta has gone to New Plymouth to be a rally car again, the search for something to go on the trailer is underway. This one looks pretty interesting (photo by david), I may need a dead possum to strap on my helmet! (Sorry Dave, been cleaning 15GB from your computer).

You will be pleased to hear (I'm sure) that I bought the car today, Saturday, from the builder, Jim Baird, and now I am the owner of a 1928 Model A Special.

I don't really want a dead possum on my hat!

First event is a hillclimb 19th Feb. I need to find out before then:
how to make it run properly
how to drive a car with no synchro and the accelerator between the brake & clutch
4 wheel drum brakes with rod actuators
aaah... getting hysterical... ROTFL

You can see below how people tried to make us feel untrendy at the Chateau with their cats-eye headlights, but in David Ave, Manurewa, we are very comfortable with square headlights, 2 letter plates, grey cars, and.... R31 Skylines!

A sunny day arrived as we booked out of the Chateau. We checked out the Ridge Walk which takes 30 min and leaves just above the visitor centre, climbing up to some panoramic views.

Then back up to the Top of The Bruce, where we found the chairlift working for the first time in 8 days. $40 return for two, and up we went. At the top is a restaurant, and the weather was so good we enjoyed a coffee with views sitting outside with snow around the tables, looking down on the clouds. It is about a two hour trek to the crater lake from that point, but we will keep that for next visit.
We checked out the views then down on the chairlift and headed for Dave & Ruth's for a pleasant night on the shores of Lake Taupo.

The Tama Lakes walk is about 5 or 6 hours return, via Taranaki Falls. The weather was fairly cold and cloudy. The walk on a marked track goes over mainly tussock country that is snow-covered about half of the time.
Tama Lakes are explosion craters.
A wide variety of plant life can be seen, including mountain daisies , lichen and hooded orchids.

We had a very nice BBQ with Pete, Cathy & Sam, and Dave & Ruth, then departed Napier next morning for the Chateau. We have always wanted to stay there, and the summer room rates are not too bad. They upgraded us to a premium room with a mountain view, on the 2nd floor in the new wing opened in 2005. We checked out the Top of The Bruce, it was very cold and blowing, the chairlift had not been working for a week.
'Faith moves mountains', they say, so Julie tested it out. Not much movement there.
Stunning views to Ngauruhoe and a huge chasm to the right of that spot.

A row of idle snow making machines had a carpark of their own.

At the Chateau, the 1929 building design seems to frame the views. It has had a few tales to tell, being taken over by the NZ Govt as a mental hospital at one time, closed down at other times due to finances or eruptions. But it is thriving now and 40 rooms have been added in the new wing.
The views from the lounge are stunning, we watched the sun set on Ngauruhoe next to a warm open fire and a beer in hand.

We noticed that our '88 Skyline was the only car in the carpark that didn't have cat's eyes headlights or a three letter number-plate.

Hi guys - I have used small images for all you people on dial-up....

We had two nights in Napier before going to the Chateau. Here are some pics of our visit to Te Mata Peak, and a couple of vineyards. Te Mata peak is on the right of this valley, and down below the peak is Craggy Range Vineyard, which had $60M spent on development (including a vineyard in Marlborough) and the restaurant in the round building is ranked in the top 75 in the world. At the other end of the scale is Akarangi Vineyard, which operates out of the old Clive Presbyterian Church that was moved here from Clive after religion went out of fashion, and has two classic cars (Triumph Mayflowers) rotting away quietly by the hedge.

Te Mata Peak has a nice nature walk with a redwood glade.

This shot is of a new Monarch butterfly, hatched about 1 or 2 hours before. It was drying out its wings, but could already fly. It must need time to sort out its multicellular vision, as it was blind as a caterpillar and couldn't see much as a chrysalis. Now it can fly, dodge enemies, find swan plants, find a mate, find nectar in flowers, and if necessary, fly 1000 miles to winter over and return in spring. Does it still remember how to walk on a leaf with 16 feet?

Happy New Year! This may well be my last film camera telescope photo. It was taken in Manurewa, Auckland, with 1600ASA film, on a Nikkormat EL with 210mm zoom, F4.5, 70 second exposure, piggy-backed on a 6" motor-drive telescope for tracking. It's a digital photo of a print enlargement of about a 25% crop out of the best negative. It's not as good as Hubble's picture, or this one also from Hubble