Friday, 28 August 2026

Tripping Again...

With winter sliding slowly away towards spring we have decided to get away for a few days to Nelson at the top of the South Island. The last time we visited Nelson was March 2021, but the deciding factor for visiting was not only the length of time between visits, but also that my last long service recognition trip (from my airline service) expires in December so it needed to be used and Nelson being a single sector destination so it is easy to get to.


An 8:00AM arrival combined with a 3:00PM motel check-in meant that we needed to fill some time. So we drove to Blenhiem, some 65 km to the east. A visit to a store for her indoors was followed by a pub lunch then a visit to the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre. This place has superb displays of WWI and WWII aircraft. The WWI section is hugely influenced by Peter Jackson who has a passion for the era and contributed heavily.



Clearing the Red Baron's crash


A difficult landing...
 
The WWII section has a smaller number of aircraft, but is just as impressive.






We had been here before, some five years ago, but it was well worth a return visit.







6 comments:

  1. This looks like a great air museum!

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    1. Its a really well presented museum. There is also a well done presentation on Stalingrad with movie standard special effects and an excellent collection of uniforms.

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  2. Nice, Mark. I have been to Blenheim once overnight for work but didn't see much and have never been to Nelson, but I think we have a kinda, sorta plan to "do" the top of the S Island - plus most of the W Coast (we have been to Hokitika and Greymouth but little else.)
    How was the weather - I heard it was heavy rain and flooding in Wanak area today......?

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    1. It is a nice part of the country. Back in 2020 we did a great trip from Nelson, down the Coast, to Wanaka and onto Akaroa. The weather was OK...the worst was much further south...we had a bit of a drizzly day on Thursday then it poured down just as we boarded our plane to come home.

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  3. WWI is my favourite era for planes, so nice to see those. Have a great holiday.
    Stephen

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    1. Thanks Stephen...it was a nice few days away.

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