Grandad's photos

Here's some of the things from my photo albums. When I was about this big, holidays at Raglan were the usual summer event, swimming and catching sprats. That's Robertson's Ford Consul, the 4 cylinder low powered version of the Mark I Zephyr.



And I went to the 1963 Grand Prix at Pukekohe - look, no Armco, rollcages or seat belts! I wonder if the Orchid Special ran in the sports cars? Hard to take race car pictures with an Agfa Clack.



The Auckland Harbour Bridge was a major project, here is a picture in 1958 from Ponsonby and another in 1959, taken from the Northcote end. Workers used to work under sea level pouring concrete in the foundations, living in a compressed air environment.



Aeroplanes were always an interest, here are some pictures from an airshow at Rukuhia in March 1962. These DC3's were converted to have extra large windows and called ViewMasters, operated by SPANZ (South Pacific Airlines of NZ). Not for long, as happens to small airlines competing with Government monopolies. Bristol Freighters flew the freight and carried cars across Cook Strait.



A Vickers Viscount in NAC colours, arriving in the rain at Whenuapai 1960. That was the Auckland International Airport then, and turboprops were 'the new sound in the sky'.