Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge, Travels

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Loose Nuts

The first time I  flew was from Australia to New Zealand, February 1989 – on the same day nine unfortunate people were sucked out of United Flight 811 from Honolulu. I didn’t hear about this for another day or so,  after having flown for the second time – this time in a tin can with wings. My unease almost spoiled my “Grand Traverse” of New Zealand’s Southern Alps, flying over ‘the largest glaciers, highest mountains and some of the most spectacular scenery in the Southern Hemisphere’.

Posted for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Vehicle Details

Here I was, thinking I was taking my life in my hands, daring such a trip in this little plane while, unbeknown to me, the remaining passengers on our bus taking the mountain route to our accommodation were in real danger. nz busDuring  the pre-tour servicing, the wheel nuts on the bus were tightened by hand, but someone forgot to come along and tighten fully with the machine.

I found out all this when we landed at the airstrip later. (The same airstrip I lay on watching the stars later that night – only I had no idea what the asphalt was in the dark. I thought it a road.)

The photo shows the bus-driver and a fellow tourist trying to either take the wheel off, push it on, or to straighten it so they could get stripped nuts off. They were at a photo-stop, I believe, when someone noticed missing nuts.  There was also the problem of not being allowed to interfere with the wheel that contained the mileage counter. Anyway, they salvaged enough nuts to go around to get to our destination.

We didn’t get our trip up to some famous mountain resort or homestead the next day, because the nuts had to replaced and machine tightened at the next town. Needless to say, it was a cautious trip down the mountain.

(I will have to find my notes to fill in the names of places, but I boarded the plane at Lake Tepako. )

nz plane

 

cees fun photo challenge
(Yes, I have changed the look of my blog theme, yet again.)

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22 thoughts on “Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Loose Nuts”

  1. Sue says:

    WAS THINKING OF SOMETHING ELSE WHEN I SAW THE HEADING “LOOSE NUTS”. YOU WERE ALL LUCKY THAT IT WAS NOTICED AT THE PHOTO STOP – DREAD TO THINK WHAT MAY HAVE HAPPENED. THINK I WOULD HAVE DECIDED TO FINISH OFF THE JOURNEY DOWN THE MOUNTAIN ON FOOT.

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  3. I think this tale worthy of a better post ! – it is vastly more deserving than to be a mere challenge !!!!
    It caused me to suck my breath in with horror on several counts, for instance …
    {grin}

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    • Ha ha ha! Depends entirely upon the pilot! I flew with a friend who took us into the airspace over Reagan’s library, while he was there, and the Secret Service was warning us off. Who took us down into Ontario airport’s airspace, not knowing that was where we were. Who, not when I was with him, but my then-good friend was, ran short on fuel in the desert, and chose the closest small airfield for them to land at–which happened to be a restricted military field! They were greeted surrounded by guns.

      I understand your husband can be trusted with turtles, and dogs, so he likely knows North from South. Although, you two do live along the coast, do you not? Perhaps he cheats, and simply follows the shoreline…

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    • Okay Tess, if you are really wanting to read about my three week trip to New Zealand, why not. Two weeks on the bus, and a week in the hire car. You’ll be sorry you asked. It will be fun to dig out the 1989 notebook, sort the photos and write it up. Historical adventure. 😀

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