Any place with a fountain in memory of a dog gets my vote.
In the 1930s Paddy the Wanderer made his home on the Wellington docks.
Much loved by locals, Paddy had a slap-up funeral. And money was raised for a fountain for dogs - and humans.
Wellington provides more reasons for plaudits. It has splendid manhole covers …
… and some wonderful 1930s buildings.
It also has a marvellous, pre-war railway station where I take this picture in the main booking hall.
On the less marvellous side, Wellington has scooters for rent. I consider them a pedestrian menace and am sorry to hear they may be coming to Toronto
In 1931, Napier, on the North Island’s east coast, had an earthquake even worse than Christchurch’s. More than 250 died and the town was levelled. Despite the devastation, Napier was rebuilt in remarkably quick order. And in a style that today means it’s one of the world’s best examples of art deco.
Local newspaper.
Hawkes Bay Chambers, a law firm.
Futuristic light pole at the former Ministry of Works.
My favourite, at least for the name.
And this 1933 building, although not strictly art deco, more classical revival. I just like the bird.
Napier is another New Zealand town with stylish manhole covers. The sunrise motif was popular in the Thirties.
Arriving in Tauranga, we pass Mount Maunganui - more a high hill - and onlookers.
Once on shore about the only picture I much like is this one on a bluff overlooking the beach.
Auckland, where I’ve had happy visits over the years, provides another manhole cover …
… street art …
… and locals out for Saturday lunch in the sun.
Kathy and Michael, who helped make this trip so enjoyable, disembark for a month in New Zealand and the Cook Islands. I return to Australia.
The trip back allows reading of a purchase from a secondhand bookshop in Hawaii. On a ‘mixed bag’ shelf I came across a tattered 1968 paperback copy of Norman Mailer’s The Idol and the Octopus. Acerbic sketches of Kennedy, Johnson, his thoughts ‘On the Womanization of America’ and ‘A Cure for Juvenile Delinquency’ pass the time.
Among the shipboard acquaintances I’ve made is a lady who happened to witness the aftermath of a long ago murder I covered at the Royal York, Toronto’s grand old hotel. We reminisce about blood stains on the carpet. The stories I could tell ...
Next and final post covers Melbourne and Sydney.
