Our vacation back in November proved to be an excellent time
for all of us. The five members of my
family and the four friends (two couples) who went with us got along well and
have similar interests. One couple owns
a winery near us and we’ve been friends for years. In fact, they’re the reason we’re not in the
winery business. (Growing grapes is
called farming, farming is not for someone who feels a need to be in control of
the situation, AKA moi). On the other
hand, We’re very interested in wine.
A relaxing afternoon at an excellent winery in the Hunter Valley. |
The other couple are Army Reserve Colonels and since I can
speak Grunt (Hooah?), we have similar outlooks on life. So, visiting Australia and New Zealand was a
great time.
One of the best, and unplanned, parts of the trip occurred
because we were on vacation during Veterans Day. While America seems to celebrate Veterans Day
more as “a midweek day off, prior to the mid-Winter buying frenzy”, New Zealand (which is where we were during
that week) celebrates Remembrance Day.
Remembrance day is a much more solemn day, much more like our Memorial
Day should be. I can understand why they
might do so. According to this
site, The percentage of the population
sent to fight in WWI from New Zealand was the highest of all the combatants. Additionally, almost 2% of the entire
population of the country was killed.
18,166 out of 1 million.
So, suffice it to say, New Zealand takes Remembrance Day
seriously. I’ve written about the museum
in Wellington, Te Papa, and its fabulous exhibit on Gallipoli. We visited that museum just prior to
Remembrance Day, and the exhibit was packed, primarily with school children on
official visits.
On the last day, the ship docked in Auckland and we
disembarked. We had cleared the ship by
about 9 and our flight wasn’t scheduled to leave until 6 PM, so we had some
time to kill. Fortunately, Celebrity had
booked a conference room at a nearby hotel where we could check baggage while
we waited for the shuttle to take us to the airport. We used that time to do some sightseeing.
Since I had allowed the family to drag me to Hobbitown(which actually was kind of interesting), I called in that marker and dragged
them to Tāmaki Paenga Hira
.
The name means “Auckland’s
memorial to fallen chiefs and their gathered taonga”. Taonga means treasure. So, the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Source |
Fortunately, it is also much like our Smithsonian and the War
Memorial was only a small part. The
females of the group went to the Maori culture section and stayed there for the
duration.
Small digression, as we were in line purchasing tickets, we
noticed the older couple in front of us had Texas regalia on. We asked where they were from, and they
replied with the name of our town. It
really is a small world.
In any case, my son and I had a great time.
I'm always enthused to see a member of my favorite airplane group. |
Along with a Merlin Engine, that would rotate the prop when you pushed the button. |
They had one other "airplane" on display.
V-1 Buzz Bomb |
When I saw the next object and knowing our host's enthusiasm for all things Waterloo, I knew I needed this picture.
This veteran actually fought at the battle, then was shanghaied into the navy serving on a couple of ships until retirement.
They had an entire room dedicated to the display of handguns.
They also had some very unique weapons. Bragging rights to the person who can identify this and why it is unique. *
I did not know that, other than the Air Force and Navy, the Kiwis also fought in Europe on the ground. The Museum had a section displaying memorabilia from their participation at Monte Cassino.
They had the ship's bell from HMNZS Achilles.
As well as some armor plating blown off in her run-in with the Bismarck Graf Spee. (Doh!)
They also had an interesting story about the innovative spirit in the Naval Enlisted Personnel in both the Kiwi and American Navies in the Pacific. Seems that as the Kamikaze threat heated up, some of the Kiwi vessels were light on AAA weapons. The folks on one of these ships arranged a trade with an American ship. They received two 20MM Oerlikon Guns and in exchange, the Americans got 2 bottles of Gin for each Gun.
I'm not sure if this is the right story, but I remember the exhibit saying something about minesweepers and ramming a submarine, so could be |
Crap, always one more switch to throw or button to push.
ReplyDeleteI had the feeling that Blogger was messing with you. They've changed some things (which aren't apparent) which make the interface less deterministic.
DeleteAs The Naviguessor mentioned in Sandy Eggo, "Freaking programmers at Google change things because they're bored, not because something needs changing!"
No, he didn't actually say "freaking." But I try to keep things family friendly here.
Another great post Juvat!
It is a sure sign that Gargle must have some non-essential employees.
DeleteI'd change "some" to "a lot of" but I think you're on the right track.
DeleteNice post Juvat, thanks!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it, thanks.
DeleteI guessed it was a cross-bow, but that's not much of a guess. The grenade part? I never would have guessed. I guess even RPGs had to have a first edition too.
ReplyDeleteThe grayish green part is a tube with a slit cut into it for the bowstring. Kind of innovative, but I'm wondering about the flight time/fuse time ratio.
DeleteAt the Reno Air Races in the paddock I saw a Merlin with the cam covers off and realized that it wasn't much different from an engine design today - minus the electronics.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the artillery piece, that whitish conical piece seems odd but i don't know what it does.
In Auckland a few thinkgs struck me - the beautiful harbor, and the plethora of sailing boats.
The amusement parks dedicated to the tourist trade.
The way the locals pronounce "Auckland" which i could never enunciate.
Yeah, I'm not sure what that was either, and the signage around the exhibit talked about Monte Cassino and Kiwi participation rather than the equipment. I'm sure one of the readers with land forces experience might be able to shed some light. Didn't have time to do much else in Auckland, but we did have a bit of concern when we left the Museum to find that bus service was interrupted by a protest downtown. Managed to make it back to the hotel in time though for a time "the issue was in doubt."
DeleteA nice capper to a wonderful trip. Something shared together but separately with the ladies, each happier where they were.
ReplyDeleteIt WAS a wonderful trip and we really enjoyed NZ. Unbelievably beautiful at every stop.
DeleteGreat post.
ReplyDelete"Why, that's obviously an AT crossbow" the smartarse in me said...
I've been thinking about building a survival hobbit house.
I'm reasonably sure that field piece is a QF 25 pdr. I believe the cone is part of the calibrating sight. It's got range and charge and shot scales and works a bit like a whiz wheel to yield the correct elevation setting. I read about the gun in a book by a Brit cannon cocker; name of the book slips my mind.
Good stuff and thanks for sharing.
That book wouldn't have been written by Ian Hogg would it?
DeleteNow that you mention it, I think it was his book on WWII artillery.
DeleteThanks. Once again your talents amaze me. An expert on Artillery who ranches and jumps out of helicopters in the middle of the ocean. Do you have any kind of costume to go with your superhuman power? JKOC!
DeleteHahaha! That's kind of a lame superhero lineup.
DeleteAs to the costume, weekdays:
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6D_CD3H6WRs/maxresdefault.jpg
Weekends:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HpsXCNujhzA/UMKGNRpx9kI/AAAAAAAASeM/LK0hcBk1oA0/s1600/StrangeloveKong1.jpg
A Slim Pickens fan I see. You and Juvat, Renaissance men.
DeleteI can see Shaun in the first one, me in the second (STRONG resemblence in the second, steely eyed stare masking a clueless mind)
Delete