This here is a Bitsa Page

Stuff that has caught my interest and you too can be a part of this page if you have anything of interest you wish to post. Click Here and send it to me. Please make sure any photos are not too big because my computer will spit the dummy and I will have to replace the rubber bands to get it running again. I also reserve the right to edit or refuse to publish any material I regard as objectionable . Lets face it, the President in a G-String held up with braces is not where we really want to go.

Some Old Places

The South Coast Ritz

This shot is taken from the waterline at low tide so if they are right about

this global warming stuff this place is pretty much buggered if Iceland melts.

Tom told me this was really upmarket as far as cave huts go because it gives you two options when it comes to

heat reticulation. I don't quite know what that flash word means but when I poked my head in the door it looked

like if the weather was coming from the north you lit the fire on the left.

This here is the pantry.

If you have a very careful look it has everything you need for a very compfortable stay.

Note the frypan in the middle which is probably the only thing you really need in this cupboard.

Everything else in there is a luxury including the bog paper.

Remember there is a whole ocean just outside the door where you can rinse your hand off.

Here are the two sleeping platforms which sleep from a couple of blokes up to a dozen.

Depends on how close they are, or want to be. Tom assures me they are made out of soft wood and women! do not dispair.

I'm more than confidant real blokes will make room for you!!

This photo has me concerned.

This is the rear end of the sleeping platforms but I want you to focus on the serious crack in the rock face to the right. Everybody knows Wellinton is built on a major earthquake fault but when I left that cave Tom was adamant the place was totally safe. He didn't actually say it in so many words but I got the impression that the timber supports from the sleeping platforms and the structural infusions in the rock had been sanctioned by the Eartquake & War Damage Commission. I have been accused of telling the odd bit of bullshit on the rare occasion, but this time I have to bow to superior knowledge.

Tom and the author sitting patiently waiting for the auto timer on the camera to fire up.

This frame puts a perspective on the relative size of the place.Kia ora Tom.

Awesome day and I got to see some big country that reminded me of home.

This photo was sent to me. It is of the same hut and is said to have been taken in the 1930's.

Siberia Station

This photo taken around 1962 is the woolshed on Siberia Station out the back of Hunterville. Through a kids eyes that old shed was the best playground you could ask for. We used to acquire the lead off the roof when we needed to make sinkers for eeling and when the wool bales were stacked 3 / 4 high it was a ready made adventure playground. It was huge and well before its time having a full set of yards under cover. Rumour has it that the owner who had it built approved the plans but decided to check the layout before he left for England for a couple of years. (Sailboat days) When he saw it marked out on the ground he reckoned it wasn’t big enough so he stepped it out himself and moved all the pegs, leaving the builders in no doubt that’s where he wanted the corners. When he got back the bloody thing was huge and he found out that marks on the ground look a hell of a lot smaller than the end product. The trucks belong to Hills Transport who did all the carting for the Station at that time.

Left is the swing bridge over the Turakina River and right is a topdressing plane that bumped into the ridge killing the pilot. The guess is that he crossed through a saddle in the first ridge but couldn’t make the next so he tried to turn down the gully but his wing clipped and swung him into the hill. He died on impact and they had to pack him out, and ‘no’ it wasn’t on this horse because on the rescue mission they were in too much of a hurry to take a camera. This photo was taken a few days later before they removed the wreck and the horse is one of the Jacks. Over the years Dad had three greys called Jack. Frosty Jack, Supple Jack and Jumping jack but I cant remember which one this was.