'Woodwork by Malcolm' Page has been updated
I have been away for work yet again....where have I been this time I hear you ask...
Thursday 28th April 2016
I arrived in Wellington on a cloudy day. (but not windy!!)
I headed to my hotel The Angus Inn situated in Lower Hutt, where I will be working tomorrow. This is about 30 minutes from the airport.
Mr Pickles a 32 year old Cockatoo who lives at the Angus Inn
After checking in I headed back into the CBD.
I headed off to Te Papa to the 'Gallipoli: The Scale of our War' Exhibition.
This ground-breaking exhibition tells the story of the Gallipoli campaign in World War 1 through the eyes and words of eight ordinary New Zealanders who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances.
Each is captured frozen in a moment of time on a monumental scale - 2.4 times human size. The large-scale sculptures took a staggering 24,000 hours to create, and countless hours were spent researching their rich histories.
In total, 2779 Kiwis lost their lives on Gallipoli, and many others were scarred forever.
At Baby 700, he reinforced the Australian line, but his right arm was smashed by a bullet while holding off a Turkish attack. He was stretchered to the beach and evacuated that night.
Lieutenant Colonel Percival Fenwick was one of our first doctors ashore. In the next god-awful 24 hours, he treated hundreds of us Anzacs on the beach.
Fenwick was no stranger to the battlefield - he'd served in South Africa 15 years before - but this was a different sort of war.
He set up a casualty station and did his best to sort out systems and get us more supplies. But endless hours treating the sick and wounded took their toll. He was shipped out, ill and exhausted, after two months - in Gallipoli terms, a lifetime.
Private Jack Dunn
'A sentinel found asleep or drunk at his post while on active service would, if the character and the circumstances of the offence were sufficiently grave, be liable to suffer death'
This is the moment Jack Dunn heard he'd got off his death sentence. You can see him in the lower left of the image below - bare headed, arms to his side, back to the camera.
Lottie (Charlotte) Le Gallais was a military nurse on board the hospital ship 'Manheno', which set out from Wellington in July. She hoped to meet up with her brother Laddie, who was stuck on Gallipoli, but their paths would never cross.
In November, all Lottie's letters to Laddie came back to her. An official black stamp read: 'Killed, return to sender'. He'd been dead four months, but only family back home had received the news.
Lottie wrote: 'So there it is. No mistake. Laddie is dead. I felt sick'.
Private Cecil Malthus - "We were racing ahead, for about 200 yards we sprinted, thinking oddly how beautiful the poppies and daisies were, then from sheer exhaustion we rushed to ground in a slight depression and lay there panting...Hugging the ground in frantic terror we began to dig blindly with our puny entrenching tools, but soon the four men nearest me were lying, one dead, two with broken legs, and the other badly wounded in the shoulder"
Maori Contingent - Machine Gun Section
"Warden...was shot and fell back amongst us in a heap. He managed to say "carry on boys", then died....."
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| Private Colin Warden |
"Donald Ferris was shot through the head...Private Friday Hawkins ...shot through the wrist....
I also did not reign long for I was shot through the body at the base of the neck'."
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| Corporal Friday Hawkins |
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| Private Rikihana Carkeek |
By just looking at these photos it is hard to imagine the scale but check out the ones below, it may give you a better idea.
Not a lot I can say about this exhibition except 'AMAZING'
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| Pukeahu National Park |
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A memorial to all medical personnel, stretcher bearers and ambulance drivers who served alongside New Zealand troops in wartime.
I have not written anything as the photos say it all.
Both of these were great exhibitions, but if you were going to one I would recommend 'The Great War' Exhibition.
Anyhoo....
Time to move on to something more cheerful.
To buy the PB you knock on the window and someone serves you.
When you have finished your PB you can recycle your jars by leaving them at F & F, where they have a container for you to leave your jars. How neat is that.
Next a wander down Cuba Street, The Bucket Fountain
Time to head back over to Lower Hutt as I have a busy work day tomorrow.
Friday 29th April 2016
Checked out of the Angus Inn this morning and headed to work.
After a busy day I headed back in to the CBD, I am staying at the IBIS before heading home tomorrow afternoon.
First up tonight I decided to go up the Cable Car (and back down again!). I was the only person on the Cable Car when it came back down.
The view from the top of the Cable Car
After arriving back from the Cable Car I went for a walk through the city.
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Saturday 30th April 2016
Up bright and early, and what a stunning day it is, I grabbed some breakfast before heading back up the Cable Car to go to the Zealandia Wildlife Sanctuary
View from the top of the Cable Car.
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| Valve Tower |
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| Valve Tower and Electric Boat |
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| Shags nesting |
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| Lower Dam |
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| Takahe |
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| Tui |
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| Hihi - Stitchbird |
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| Tower |
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| Korimako - Bellbird |
The Straight Track
This wide straight path continues the track from Campbell Street, Karori. The easy grade would have been ideal for horse drawn carts or sleds to deliver the timber, coal and heavy machinery used in the construction and operation of the head tower.
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| Upper Dam |
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| Upper Dam |
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| Swing Bridge |
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| Toutouwai - Robin |
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| Kaka |
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| Kaka |
By now its 2.00pm time to head back to the city and grab my suitcase before heading to the Airport.
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| Smaug - The great dragon of Middle-earth |
Saturday 2nd April 2016
Today Michelle took me to Mexico (the restaurant not the country!!) for lunch.
I have never been there before and it was amazing.
Pan fried mushroom, queso fresco, roast papa, coriander with blackened onion cream
Michelle also gave me this beautiful bouquet of flowers.
