Then.....and now.

[Motu]

Looking through some old photos for something,I came across these ones and thought I could link them to a ride and photos I took at new year.

Back in the '70's I knew a guy who had a bach at Aotea Harbour,which is between Raglan and Kawhia.I used to go down there a bit,and ended up buying a section myself.When no one else was there I used to take my girlfriend down....ahem.I was half shares in a 14ft tinny with the bach owner.Aparently the bach was two sections from the beach,you had to walk over a hill and down to the beach....but I never saw that.The bach faced the sea,just walked out the door and down the yard to the water.

At some point a storm changed the harbour bar,and the tide started to erode the flat land where the small settlement was,it had taken the hill and the complete other section before I went there.The first photo shows it after a bad storm,and where I used to drive around the back and park my truck,now I can't get it around behind (or in front?),you wouldn't want to get less than a metre away from that bank,it was pretty unstable.Fortunatly before the house was washed into the sea it unexpectedly burnt down.The second photo shows what was left after the fire.That is my tinny pulled up on shore - luckely he had the forsight to drag it over to my place before he set the f.....um,set off for home.....

Next is the photo I took at New Year,almost the exact spot of the previous photo,you can see the big dune on the opposite side of the harbour.If you look closely,behind the bike the grass is a different colour,that is reclaimed land.As I was looking at the old site,a guy came over who had a bach on my old section - he came over to talk bikes,but there was a lot more to talk about.The Council did nothing about the erosion for many years,but finaly after a residents petiton they reclaimed the land and put up a sea wall.

[miSTa]

Great story Motu.

The wife and I spending a week there nearly 20 years ago (a former workmate had a bach there but we pitched a tent on his front 'lawn'). The background looks familiar but not the foreground, all I can really remember is it being very hot and the damn fish on the waters edge not taking the bait so we could fish for dinner.

[Motu]

Some may be wondering about my pick up,so here is a photo taken the same day.It's a 1954 Austin A40 pick up - they stopped the A40 Devon in 1952 I think and made the Somerset,but kept the Devon body style for the pick up to the end of the A40 line.Originaly they had a 1200cc ohv motor,what would become the BMC B block,17in wheels and were so low geared that 40mph was the cruising speed,and there was a warning on the drivers door not to use 1st gear.I got it for $100 off a friend,the tray had rotted and he made that simple one with plywood floor and folded 16 guage sides.

I was given an A60 Cambridge in Taranaki and drove it home and wrecked it.I rebuilt the 1622cc motor,new pistons and the whole works....then fitted it to the A40.I couldn't use the A60 gearbox as it was too long and the chassis had a big X member,but I fitted the A60 diff and front hubs and brakes.I sits on the 13in A60 wheels.It has been a bit dechromed,the pick up didn't have the chrome Devon grill,and I used a few less bars...no front bumper and some moulding at the front.The flying ''A'' is still a fixture though.When I got it the colour was dark green,I had more paint,but didn't like it.We were repainting it,and put in some ''steel wheel'',the paint used on wheels - this lightend the green nicely,and gave it a metalic look....interesting in an enamel.

But now my lady and I were living together and had several bikes and two cars.She was always pestering me to get it a WoF,but it never would - I never got around to hooking up the handbrake.The A40 had a rod linkage,the A60 had cables - I would have to get a new set of cables made and modify the A40 mechanism to take a cable hook up,not impossible....but why bother? Worked good enough for me.But the killer was the front end - the front shocks were the top arm and inner bushes,and the king pins were a special stepped pin including the lower knuckle.In 1977 it was going to cost over $400 to get the front end up to WoF standard.A friend had been pestering me for sometime about it,so finally I plucked my good motor and let him take it away for $50.Actualy he towed me home behind his 351 powered Pop.My little truck ended up with that 351 and a nice wellside.....did some good times on the 1/4.

I only mounted the powerpole to the roof when stopped.....

[Crasherfromwayback]

Like this is great to see and read.
Top Show!!

[bungbung]

Some colour correction

[Paul in NZ]

Far out - you are scaring me...

My Dad used a BRG A40 wellside for his work hack (He was a mechanic who owned his own workshop etc) for years. Later he replaced it with a same colour A40 'Countryman' which was the A40 Devon station wagon, more a panel van with a fold down seat.

Eventually the van shat it'self and dad got the apprentice to rebuild it as a project over a fair old while. Dad had upgraded to a more modern ute so he sold me the A40 for $150 which was great because it ran well but because it had been a garage hack for yonks the back was greasier than Elvis presleys Deep frier and it definately smelt of old engines. Not really a chick magnet.

I could squeeze my Norton Domminator engined dirt bik into the back if I removed or turned down the bars and if the van got full of dirt it didn't matter...

After 3 months Dad go sick of his apprentice being late for work so he bought it back for a small gain to me and that was that with A40's (or so I thought)

Not long after I built my first chopper (technically a bobber) and hooked up with the 'Christchurch Custom Motorcycle Club' and one of the leading lights ran a hot A40 pickup with a one piece flip up front, dual headlights, all finished in gun metal grey....

I'd swear it was dads original hack...

[Motu]

Wow,that's pretty flash....but it didn't look that good in real life.

Here's a Google Earth of Aotea Harbour,the settlement is on the green stretch on the southern side of the harbour mouth.You can see the dark blotch of the sand bar in the harbour mouth,this directs the tides along the southern side of the mouth,eroding the land.If the bar was clear the tide flow would be less fierce there and the erosion stop.Dredging the bar would cost a fortune,not really worth it for less than 100 people...nature put the bar there,leave her to it.

The tide flow was very fast - you'd see boats standing still with the throttle wide open,toss some drift wood in and you'd have to jog to keep up with it.We used to walk out to the sand bar at low tide and collect shellfish,then walk back - water up to my chest and fighting the current.Kinda stupid,but it was fun...

[Rossi Gal]

What a cool Pick-Up. Cool lil story Motu! lovely out that way..

[Paul in NZ]

But do you still own the section???

I smell a land claim in the wind...

[Motu]

No,I sold it in about 1979 sometime - it's now a beach front section,wish I hada known that was going to happen.Apparently if the bar moved and the land started to rebuild (it's just sand) then the original owners have a claim on the new land....the ownership never disapears....