Nelson Airport in a different light….

Red lights flashing at Nelson Airport tonight….

luckily it seems like a practice run at New Zealands 4th busiest airport.

Certainly had my attention for a moment there….but when I spotted other vehicles already there …and then saw some appliances arriving with lights all a blaze it was obviously a practice

How else, under normal circumstances would normal vehicles (as in cars) usually get there before all roaring and dancing fire engines or ambulances?!?

In the old days growing up in Stoke I recall the siren always going off at 7pm on a Tuesday night for a practice drill (I guess that’s what they call it) at the local Stoke fire station.

Although can’t help wondering how the pilot of this departing Sounds Air flight was describing the event to his passengers.

Same again for these folk arriving on an Air Nelson Q300. Hopefully they were pre-warned.

One suspects an interest in…

numerology for this vehicle spotted locally.

Is that a river there..

no that’s just the tide, that fills the Waimea Inlet, the largest estuary in the South Island of NZ, twice a day.

There’s only two seawater entrances, one to the east, Blind Channel next to Nelson Airport,

and this one at Mapua on Rabbit Islands Western side. (photo above shows tide almost too strong to row out to your moored yacht, so “power” was required today, Sunday.)

With the opening of the latest bikeway of the NZ Cycleway, there was a need to get from Rabbit Island,

across this channel to Mapua and the mainland as it were.

Enter the newly introduced “flat bottomed boat”

Don’t know if Top Gears Jeremy Clarkson would like…

what a Kiwi has done / converted out of his beloved brand.

Brings back childhood memories….

Two tugs and we’re done…

……like regular readers here will know, I’ve mentioned previously ….ok..on just a couple of occasions before that Port Nelson just happens to be Oceania's busiest fishing port, but……where would it / we be without “help?”

No no no, not that sort of help….

Here’s where Huria Matenga comes into his own…

and with a bit of help from his smaller brother…..

…W H Parr…well I think they call it “teamwork”…

but at the end of the day……together they end up getting the “job done.” because Australasias busiest fishing port, well it really couldn’t function 100% if there wasn’t teamwork. Luckily teamwork is a real big thing locally here in Nelson….

It filters right down the line…otherwise you’d have to ask yourself why would this rather large lady (quite familiar to Kiwis) above grace us with her presence?

…we’ll look after other Ports tugs too.

Nelson has established itself as not only a maritime hub, but concentrated efforts from all the usual suspects, has meant the formation of a very credible aviation hub locally, affectionately known locally as the NAC ( now there’s an acronym for old timers if there ever was! :-)

Where is this strange man….

and his friends….

why in Nelson of course….actually they are in Richmond

 

near 3 Brothers Corner… and readily for sale (well, examples like …replicas I mean….) so that you too, can have them in your garden tomorrow.

With so much beautiful natural wood around us, why shouldn’t we take advantage of it to create “garden soldiers.”

Nelson to host Coastguard NZ Annual conference

According to media reports it will be held in Nelson this weekend with local MP, Nick Smith, officially opening it on Friday.

One of the important things the conference will do, is to honour the fantastic efforts of the organisations volunteers.

As Australasia's busiest fishing port,Port Nelson needs to have such a service on standby.

SOURCE – Coastguard New Zealand

What we call “Art Deco”…

….and here’s a great local example pictured above.

While I’m at it, I should not forget to mention that NZ’s BRANZ have launched a website specifically tailored to renovating…and it covers homes built in the exact period mentioned above…so for .more details head on over to the address below.

http://renovate.org.nz/art-deco/

When the skies construe…

to put on a show, they don’t do a bad job in Nelson.

Bit big to fit in the lobby…

 

of the Rutherford Hotel I’m guessing?

Chris’s Mural is almost “lifelike”….

You can view it too at the top of Trafalgar St in town adjacent the “Church Steps.”

Nelson…in the morning

guess you got to say we really are blessed…

Couple of visitors this week…

as well as the regular Air New Zealand flights…

we were buzzed by this RNZAF Hercules last night

and Air National’s Vincent Aviations Whisper Jet late last week (interestingly enough arriving a day before planned local regional shooting of Sir Peters next big movie)

and judging by his spectacular rate of ascent, I don’t think he was going back fully loaded.

UPDATE - PM

Unsure if she is some replacement scheduled flight or not, (Air National usually specialize in charters) because nothing untoward showed up on the in/out screen on my phone……

….but Air Nationals Whisper Jet (curious about that name – just listen to her when she lands and you’ll understand why that name has been applied)

……well, she was back at NSN again this afternoon.

I reckon thats Nelsons last….

…winter snow up there on those Western Ranges.

Wonder what this driver likes to watch on TV?

…spotted locally.