Wally's tales

How my ideas have changed. When we arrived into the Christchurch region, our first priority was to buy a home. We were looking to buy a house possibly our last but one with a river frontage. I was attracted to the beautiful Avon River areas. My wife had similar ideas, so after discussion we both decided if possible to buy a home close to, or even alongside the river. Earth quakes back then, was something that never even entered our minds. If we were going to have one, surely it would be far off, possibly in the Main Divide which geologist fingered as a potential site and over due for a shake. We can now can count ourselves lucky, that we didn’t get that wish. Sections close to the river, or even near the river banks, or even close to the bridges, and there are many. They were all badly effected by the shaking. After the quake the land in the areas mentioned didn’t behave at all well. Lands close to the river were found to be unstable, and tended to slide, or slump towards the centre of the river. The Bridges didn’t behave all well either, access to them in many cases was blocked by physical damage. Most riverside land, opened up, or moved considerably. Of course in doing so, caused serious damage to many of the nearby homes, which up to this point, we thought was a most desirable area.

My other criteria, for the perfect home was to get up high for a view, or even close to the Sea Coast. Both choices were in many cases, depending where you selected, would also have been a big mistake too. Many Homes around the New Brighton Red Cliffs general areas were badly effected by slips, others were in danger from boulders that were in a plentiful supply, and scattered around the hills higher up. These with a nudge from the earth quakes, sent much loose material and boulders from higher up the hill, tumbling down into settled areas. This threat was from material that had been in situ for thousands of years and not considered a threat. This was wrong too as it turned out, some homes that were in the path of material rolling down the hill, which turned out to be extremely lethal. Some of these lumps of loose debris, weighed several tons.

Anywhere else in the world being close to the sea would have commanded a premium, but not so here. For some reason or another most of the Christchurch foreshore is not considered prime building area. There is another phenomena, and that’s liquefaction which can be a real pain in the Butt. Your home can be inundated with half a metre of liquid mud and sand half a metre deep that bubbled up from underground. This is no respecter of where it can strike after a quake, and now some of this land is to be destroyed together with the homes built on it. This liquid mud and sand is just as likely to actually appear inside your home. Unfortunately there was no notice, or any clue or precursor where this could happen, and give you a warning of impending danger. This misery that has been wrought onto many home is unbelievable. Much of this phenomena has been confined to the Eastern areas. So bad in some places, that the Government has now stepped in and writing off whole suburbs, as the land is deemed unsuitable, and hostile to good living. They are now in the process of buying homes, with the express purpose of destroying them because the ground is so unstable, and nothing can be done to rectify the situation on such a scale.

What the earthquake did do and it did well and that was to flag many building materials to be avoided when any future rebuilding takes place. Many of the material that would not be prudent to rebuild again seeing how it failed so badly in the shaking. Roof Tiles were an example that behaved badly in some nearby homes, some lost the lot. Brick veneer, if this is not tied securely to the frame, it will fail. and if it stood up. For certain it would be badly cracked and in many cases it will require complete replacement. Many are reverting again to galvanised iron as a roofing option. It would seem we had forgotten just how practical it was. Stacked stone looks attractive too, but not when it’s scattered around on the ground.

It you are in the market for the construction for your new home it would pay to wander around the suburbs to see how various building materials behaved for yourself.

My earlier notes regarding the Mount Erebus Aircraft Crash, attracted a lot of comment. Some did not agree with even a little of what I had written. So with these notes, I have decided to expand a little on my comments. Some continue their campaign which they have stepped up to exonerate Capt Collins of any responsibility, for the Mount Erebus accident. And carry on their stubborn refusal to accept the findings of the chief of Air Accidents Ron Chippindale. These are not only individuals, but some have called on the assistance of so called professionals, Lawyers, and the odd Powerful Friend. They have been beavering away, working night and day, muddying the waters as to whom is responsible, and who is to blame. Their game plan is to shift the blame onto someone else, away from the flight crew. So lets blame the management, perhaps even the Navigation Dept. For that matter it does it even matter who, and if they were actually on board the aircraft of not.

However it’s important when dealing accidents that we never lose sight of the facts. For a start, Capt. Collins was flying a well found aircraft. It was operating in calm air, right up until the moment of the crash. Also, it was fully serviceable and under his control. It was almost as if it was a deliberate action, to fly the machine into the ground. With all the fudging by interested parties, that is being carried out, they all tend to ignore this fact. And don’t forget the Pilots Assn. they too will always be on the side of the pilots. All looking for the same thing. How to shift the blame away from the flight crew, and ultimately the pilot. In fact they will blame anyone that shows any sign of weakness, and able to be named culpable. Whenever lawyers enter into any equation, you should know that they never give up, and will keep on hammering away with their version of what’s the truth.

Are these people ever responsible for their actions? No matter what has happened somebody else is always to blame, and they will make it sound so convincing. But nothing will alter the fact that the Aircraft deliberately descended against posted instructions, as well in this case, a gross departure from good piloting technics. I might add, until it flew into the lower reaches of the Mountain, it was under perfect control. However descending when they couldn’t see the ground. At this time they didn’t even know exactly where they were. There were clues however, if you were able to pick up on them. The VHF signal from McMurdo sound was suddenly lost. This signal is. ‘Line of Sight’ so something was blocking the aircraft from receiving it. A mountain perhaps? Even the RADAR which the Aircraft was fitted with. This was meant to be used for the weather, but I knew pilots had used it for other purposes, such as detecting land masses. Much of my information came through Bob Pech an American senior pilot for National Airways Florida who actually flew Air NZ’s DC10’s in the ‘offseason’ when his company leased the aircraft.

In fact there is one group that no one seems to be speaking up for, and that’s the passengers and I now intend to do so. When you buy an Air Ticket today, there is an implied condition that you will fly in a well found aircraft. As well, looked after by a professional and fully trained flight crew. You don’t expect them to depart from good airmanship, and take unreasonable chances with your life, just so that you can get a better view. The way things have turned out, I don’t think in this case anyone is over concerned for the other two hundred and seventy people who were also on board. They had entrusted their welfare and as it turned out, placed their very lives into the hands of the pilot who was prepared to take chances, and whose judgment was faulty. Thank God this misplaced responsibility is rare, you don’t expect, or find maverick behaviour from these people very often.

Much has been made of the fact that the ‘way points’ had been altered. Altered or not, I’m surprised too that the flight crew were not working more closely with the navigation people, before departing for an area that has so many dangers, and is so unforgiving. Any prudent pilot should have made it part of his flight plan’s preparation, and actually had an briefing with the Navigation Department, to get some idea of what to expect, and exactly where they were headed. The flight crew would also need to know exactly what ‘Whiteout Phenomena’ is, and any other special action or care that should be taken on arrival to the polar region, for which they were totally unprepared and unfamiliar with.

After the report by Justice Mahon was tabled there was a clamour to grant him a Knighthood for this Erebus work. At this time Sir Geof Palmer was the minister of Justice, and as well the Deputy Prime Minister. He said then, he had no intention of granting Justice Mahon this honour. Even today he has no intention of changing this view. He further said, ‘Justice Mahon was a eminent New Zealander’, and ‘He did a lot of good work. But his Erebus report in his mind, was not one of them’.

I have been listening to Paul Holmes on the national Programme talking about the book he has just written on the Mt Erebus DC10 crash. ‘Daughters of Erebus’. He was endeavouring to elevate Captain Collins the pilot of Flight TE901 to hero status, where in my opinion he was guilty of gross ineptitude, and broke cardinal piloting rules when he descended below the minimum height that he was authorised to, under visual Flight rules, especially in an polar environment. More so when he didn’t know exactly where he was, he only thought he knew. As well, he was not familiar with polar flying. Air New Zealand actually had experienced captains with polar experience, but there was no way were they going to set foot on the flight deck of a DC10, because of the strict hieratical system exercised by the chain of command and further enforced by the senior captains. Further more Collins didn’t have a clue about polar ‘White Outs’. You actually have to experience this to believe in it. A mountain immediately in front of you, can just disappear. I was lucky, as I flew in Canada for one winter. Pilots are taught early in their training, ‘There are rocks in clouds’ Only problem with the DC10 pilots, they were in a cloud but didn’t know it.

Holmes in the time allotted to him by National Radio managed to bad mouth Ron Chippindale the inspector of Air Accidents, describing him as a lackey of the Government, somehow he also managed to include that evil man (Holmes words) Rob Muldoon who was the prime Minister at the time. He as indited because he had Air NZ model aircraft on his desk.

Much has been made of the change in the Way Points. However they had nothing to do with the accident, as they were not intending to land on arrival. I was also surprised that Capt Collins didn’t go acrosss to the Navigation Dept and discuss the route with them. However in most accidents there is usually a cascade of errors, that add up to the outcome. He starts off with the first by his laid back attitude, culminating when the aircraft crashes. One thing that could have contributed to this was Peter Muldrew. He was on the fight deck as the polar expert, on two occasions when he was asked ‘Where is Mt Erebus?’ He gave the reply. ‘Twenty or twenty five miles to the left,, when in reality, it was nothing of the sort, but right under his nose. The only problem was he couldn’t see it. Actually from listening to the transcript of the flight deck recordings, he actually didn’t have a clue where he was, and as things tuned out it would have been better had he said, ‘I don’t know’ As he was busy shifting land masses around to suit where he thought he was. Much was made of the Mahon report as an experienced Jurists and judge. But in my opinion he had been talking down to people, far too long, and he was clearly out of his depth in this case.

It was said that Mahon not being an Airman, he should have had expert help. Well he did, Air Marshal Sir Rochford Hughes retired, he was sitting with him as the Air Expert, and to assist him. But Mahon chose pointedly to ignore him, and any advice he was given was contrary to the report he wrote. He had already made up his mind, and wrote his report without any of his expert import.

The Army has a museum at Waiouru. I have never seen it, but one way or another it keeps getting into my life. I have been to Waiouru several times, but all those trips were before the museum was built. My opinion of the place has never changed. It is a desolate and isolated and well fitted for what it, an Army camp. But completely the wrong place to site a museum.

My story starts when a National Bank Architect, Dyson, I can’t now remember his Christian name, called to get my opinion as a member of The Returned Soldiers Assn. This was relating to the construction of a proposed Military Museum. A commendable concept, and it was further proposed that, it was to be situated at Waiouru. He was in charge of the steering committee, and things had progressed to the point, where they now had concept drawings. Unfortunately for me, and voicing my feelings regarding to where the museum was to be built, I suggested that, this was bad planning, and I tossed cold water on the scheme, further more, I considered the whole idea was balmy. This was not the reply he expected. So I didn’t get asked again for any further input. I added, the only redeeming feature that I could see was, you could buy land at ‘give away’ prices in Waiouru. In my opinion the whole idea was stupid, not a practical concept no matter how you looked at it. The one thing they were missing and that was foot traffic, which in this case would always be limited. Visitors could only be obtained from passing traffic, which always would be small in number. Nobody would be making a dedicated visit to this place, situated more or less out in the wilderness.

However I was to become mixed up in museum matters again. About this time, a son in law of Georges Montagnat, decided he wanted to mine some of the rivers on the West Coast for Gold. George said ‘Would I take financial control of the operation, and he would give me 10% of the operation’? Told him I had no faith what so ever in the operation, and certainly didn’t want or need the 10% sweetener. Investigation showed that there was gold in the rivers, but it was in deep crevices covered by very large boulders which would need to be removed to get at the pay dirt. Unfortunately scattered here and there, were large lumps of good quality greenstone, which soon attracted, ‘son in laws’ attention. Gold was quickly forgotten, and greenstone was now the moneymaker. This revenue was never put through the company’s account, being treated as a personal enterprise. As luck would have it, a $50,000 contract was obtained to build a Greenstone wall. Yes, you guessed it, for the Waiouru Museum. It was called, ‘The wall of tears’. Well named for what happened later. The Maoris by now had been alerted, and they went after the money. ‘Son in law’, ended up in court, and was lucky to get off and ended up with a substantial fine. No profit in that operation, so after the dust settled, I wrapped up the operation, and shipped the diggers over to New Caledonia.

The museum was completed and it became the Nation’s repository of military stuff, as well as valuable medal and memorabilia that families had intrusted into their care. This trust was betrayed as security was so lax. Thieves broke in and stole many sets of valuable medals. These were recovered after paying what amounted to a ransom. Now we have discovered this month that it looks like that the curator has been guilty of maybe helping himself too, perhaps even stolen and selling many sets of medals. Sometimes the Military are incredibly stupid. These items are valuable and easily sold. Have these buffoons never heard of audits. Anyway I have just come off the phone and was talking about visitation. This person said that they had twice called into the museum while motoring to the North, but that was yesterday. Today we fly to most places and that makes the place even more isolated.

During the War and in that period, the main form of transport to get anywhere in New Zealand, was by rail. Bus services were still in their infancy, in fact you could say next to non existent. When we went onto a War footing it brought about many changes. For a start the mobilisation of all manpower. Some folk were being directed into the Armed Services, others into what was deemed essential work. The fabric of the whole Country was disrupted, some women were going to work for the first time, taking over the jobs the menfolk were leaving. As a result many of populous were now living away from home. The main aim for every Soldier, Airman, or Seaman, now in Camp, was when they managed a leave pass, to get back home and enjoy again the comforts we had left behind. Anytime a pass was issued, we were off. Keeping in mind, of how we were going to get back again to our unit, or station within the allotted time. I know with my father who was stationed at Harwood Airport, it was his foremost thought, to get home whether it was by a regular, goods, or milk train. Passenger trains were always filled to overflowing. He seamed to know more about rail timetables, and special trains, than the rail folk themselves. You never worried much about a seat, should you have been lucky enough to find one. Just getting on the train was good enough. You could always sit on the kitbag of dirty washing you were taking home. Some people didn’t need a seat, I don’t know what they were looking for, but they wandered from one end of the train to the other, something they did all night.

I can’t now remember what the cost of a fare was, but it must have been very reasonable, as it never was factor in whether we took the journey home or not. It took about 12 hours to travel from Christchurch to Port Chalmers, with a couple of refreshment stops at one of Stations that were set up for this service. Ashburton, Timaru, Oamaru, and Palmerston. A ten minute stop was all it took to grab a cup of tea or coffee, served in a very thick cup. Ham sandwich made with fresh bread, or a hot pie. All no nonsense food. This you took back on board the train, a guard came round and collected the dishes later in a kerosene tin. A head count had been phoned through, of how many were on board the train to give the caterers some idea of what to expect.

Travel to say Auckland, was another matter all together. The trip to Christchurch as normal, and those travelling on to Auckland remained in the seats, or took the chance to obtain another quick meal at a railway dining room in Christchurch. Not much choice again, but very quick service, savoury mince on toast, or sausages gravy and mash, filling and cheap. Getting back onto the train which was then shunted through the tunnel to Lyttelton, until it was alongside the Ferry. On the Ferry which was a daily service, one Ferry sailed each way. On board you either had a cabin to yourself or shared or even a MOF, which was ‘mattress on floor’. Or you could sit in the lounge, for the overnight crossing, and drink beer. Tea and wine biscuits were served, but if you crossed a steward’s hand with silver, say five shilling, just magic. All sort of benefits flowed your way. Some people never worked this out, and couldn’t understand why some of us seemed to be the favoured ones. You also on board had the chance to order a breakfast for a nominal cost. Normally bacon and eggs toast, coffee, which you were served in the dinning room before disembarking.

The berthing was something they were very good about, and so they should be, they did it every day. You then struggled with your luggage across the road, about 200 metres into the Wellington Central Railway station. Forget the idea of a taxi, as there wasn’t any animal like that back then. Arrival at the station, check in your luggage, and then wait all day until the limited departed in the early evening. There were trains that departed in the morning of the same day, but they would have been specials. Anyway after another night of travel sitting upright in the coach, you arrived in Auckland grubby, tired out.

Now if you thought that was complicated, you should have tried a journey from say Dunedin, to Nelson. Dunedin to Christchurch sector as normal, but the line to Blenheim had not been completed, so you had to leave the train and take a short trip by road. Then rejoin the rail again where it had reached, before building of the track was discontinued. This sector was self contained and served only Marlborough, being completely divorced from all other New Zealand Rail. This section ended at Blenheim, or Picton. The next part of the trip was by road, on what they called a Notional Railway. It was rail again, but in name only.