Category: NZ Army

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Life in the South: Recent Images in the Life of a Southern Man June 13

Ocean Ridge Kaikoura. A great spot.

Kaikoura local. Chilling out.

Kaikoura. The coast north.

Mt Diamond. Hunter Hills South Canterbury. Home.

Redcliffs Chrischurch. Sunrise in June 13

Port Hills looking down into Lyttleton. May 13

Yomping it with the Army. Otago May 13

Sunrise over South Shore Christchurch, May 13

These boots were made for walking. Army May 13.

Roast lamb. Gold!

A Southern Man giving an ANZAC address. 25 April 3013.

Te Papa, Wellington. April 13

Hunter Hills. Garden at home. April 13

On the move. May 13.

Back yard. Hunter. May 13

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"Keeping the Peace" – Someones Got to Do It!

A foreword Greg wrote in my book that means a lot.

As you go through life people tend to come and go. Some mates stay a short time and others are a constant & stay forever. These long term friends know a lot about you (some would say too much so you better stay close) and have shared lifes journey. If you add to that shared experience through good times and bad then you form a close bond.

A life long friend of mine is Greg Allnutt. Our paths crossed intially during sport in primary school when country schools got together in South Canterbury sometime in 1980 or 81. It wasn’t until third form and High School that we became good friends and throughout our high school years we were in the same class. We played rugby together and used to stay at each others place. He lived in the Waimate township and I came from a farm in the Hunter Hills. Good friends we were and we had a lot of fun. 
Greg was a keen outdoor lad. Fishing, hunting, camping, a great runner, a talented swimmer and a bit of a nut on the rugby field with blistering tackles. He had a great sense of humour, an angry side if pushed (and he often was) and was known to hold a grudge until such time as he could pay you back in full! He was good on his feet public speaking and did well academically. At the end of our sixth form year Greg went into the NZ Army as a Cadet. His trips home on leave and the stories he told influenced my decision to join the Army myself.
In January of 1987 I joined the Army and after year of intial training and study at University was sent for my Officer Training at the Officer Cadet School in Waiouru. Greg was also in this class as was another good school friend, Nathan Richardson. That year was a blur of leadership training, fitness, academic study and practical assessment in leadership roles in wet and cold situations that deprived us of sleep & food. We loved it (well looking  back on it). At the end of that year our paths seperated as we pursued our careers in different locations but continued to cross. I worked with Greg on promotion courses, sometimes as students together, once he was instructing, we shared a trip to Hong Kong and an operational tour in Angola (but not at the same time). We flatted together for a while, socialised together and had a similar circle of friends at various times. Over our many years as mates we have played sport together, been wet, cold and hungry, tired, partied, celebrated weddings, laughed,  & stayed in touch. Often it would be years between seeing each other.
So I wasn’t surprised when he decided to write his book because he had a hell of a story to tell. I first knew of it when I got an e-mail out of the blue seeking permission to use my photo & name. I was also stoked to be one of the first few to get a copy to read. “Keeping the Peace – A Kiwi’s Modern Conflict Experience” is a tale of Greg’s operational postings into conflict zones with the New Zealand Army. It also tells of his life leading to enlistment and some of the events along the way. I really enjoyed reading it, not just because I knew much of his story and many of those featured in the book, but because I learnt quite a lot about him. His perceptions, insights into life overseas with the Army and his reflections made it a book I read in only several sessions. 
The thing I admire the most about Greg (besides his courage to write his story) is that he is a good genuine bloke. He is a straight shooter, he has a wickedly sharp wit and most of all we can get together and have a beer after over 30 years of friendship. 
Now thats a good Southern Man and an ANZAC who has done more than his bit for service of his country. New Zealand needs more Greg Allnutts……people who don’t just talk about things, they actually go into harms way and do things to make the world a better place.
Onward Greg and thanks for everything you have taught me over the years and the example you have set.
Like this? Check these other ANZAC Stuff I have written;



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A Christmas Collection – 2012 & Life in the South of NZ

It has been a busy year of work and life in the South. Here is a sample of some of the pics taken over the last 12 months. Wishing all a happy and safe Christmas and a happy New Year. Thanks for reading the blog and interacting. Enjoy some pics.

Sumner beach, Christchurch. A winters afternoon.
I just love this article. Bad guy who needs a slap gets one!

The Hill Block….South Canterbury. Hunter Hills.

A favourite spot. South Beach, Kaikoura, NZ…..dusk.

Army Reserve jungle training. Navigation check.

Harley riding. Mt Manganui, NZ

Lyttleton Farmers Market.

Captain Morgan visits. A fine drop!

Target shooting from 300 metres. NZ army.

Dusk, Redcliffs, Christchurch

The Estuary. Redcliffs, CHCH, Early morning.

Living the dream. Freedom on the open road.

Snow in Redcliffs Village.

A quiet rum. Nelson and Golden bay right on dusk.
An icon…..the turn off to Waimate, South Canterbury

South Otago. The beach between Hamden and Palmerston.

The bloody cat is an alien!

Farmers yarning!
The cat racked out mid winter in front of the fire.

Pet lambs for spring.

Army tucker. Feeding the troops, Dunedin.

Stanford University……learning new stuff.

The Hunter Hills provides some venison.

The out house on the farm. A quiet place to think!

Tahuna Beach, Nelson

Giving it some noise….Harley time.

The shearers quarters on the farm.

A quiet rum at home.

Christchurch humour. A Hotel is demolished.

Dawn ANZAC service, Christchurch. Because it is what we do & who we are!

Horse riding in the south.

Moving cattle on the farm.

Queenstown. Ben Loman Station.

Arrowtown, Autumn, 2012

Mt Cook and Lake Pukaki. The McKenzie country. Southern gold!

The Remarkables, Queenstown, Jan 12

Dawn, West Melton. A blistering early morning frost!

Full moon.

A New Years bonfire.

Arthurs Pass. The viaduct and the main road to the West Coast.

A southern icon. Cadrona pub, Wanaka. Jan 12

Otaio Gorge…..swimming on hot days.

Lest we forget. Otago, NZ

Calling it a day.

At home. A Southern Man!

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Some Pics of My Life in the South 2012

Mum feeding out to sheep. Heavy snow, South Canterbury. A few years back!

A farmer and her dog.

A new family of ducks…..The duck pond at the drive gate to our farm.
Out Harley riding. Freedom!

Backyard family soccer game! Serious stuff

Evening shot, Sumner, Christchurch…..home Sept 12

So true…….do something that scares you on a regular basis!
The farm 2012: A Southern man.

A friend of mine biking around Christchurch to Board meetings. An asian tourist took this pic of him at the lights and text it to him. Random!

I love this story from a US local newspaper. You need to try not to fall!

Navigating in the bush, Oxford, Canterbury. The Army Reserve jungle training.
A Harley “Ride for the Fallen”. President of the Patriots, a military charitable club is one of the riders raising money for the families of servicemen & women killed or injured serving their country.

The family cat is an alien….evidence in this pic curled up on the couch.

Can’t beat an army dinner. Dunedin Oct 12

A view from our Auckland office taken during a visit. A long way from the south!

Pet lambs. Rosey (junior) and George hoover some milk.

The road to Dunedin. The beach that parallels the Main Highway North of Palmerston.

Oh joy…..finding my seat at the primary schools 2 hour musical is right behind the woman with an enormous head = missed a lot of the action!

Ride for the Fallen. At Burnham military camp taking kids for rides and raising money for the fallen.
A cold spring morning……sunrise in Christchurch on a frosty morning as kids head off to the school bus. Aug 12

Walking on Sumner beach…..a chilly evening in Aug 12

Farmers yearning by the ute. South Canterbury.

A pic taken a number of years ago of the “hut”. An old (1880’s) cottage then shearers quarters at our wool shed on the farm. South Canterbury.

Feeding out on the farm after weeks of rain in August 12. A muddy job.

Leaving a few footprints on the beach south of Kaikoura. An early morning walk Sep 12

Brothers in arms about to go into action. Dunedin, Oct 2012. Inter Battalion rugby for the Army Reserve.
“Taking to his scrapers.” A soldier of the NZ Army Reserve moving fast. Arthurs pass training area.

A random lone sheep hanging out in the middle of a river bed. Lake Lyndon area, Arthurs Pass.

A soldier of the 2nd Battalion, NZ Army Reserve takes a breather. Canterbury.

Like these pics of life in the south of NZ. Check these other posting out;

Time out: Recent pics from the Beautiful south of NZ

The Blast ANZAC collection: 2011: A few memories

A South Island Autumn. May of 2012

Summer Holidays in the South & Other Places

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ANZAC Day: The true gold of ANZAC

Local men from Hunter district who served. Lest we forget.

As ANZAC day looms I always think of my military past. For many years it was 100% of my life, nearly 18 years serving as a Regular Army Officer and now after a 6 year gap, again in the Reserves. When I first left the Army I immersed myself in business to make up the skill gap that I felt I had as a result of so much time in one organisation. Now more and more I fall back on the extra ordinary grounding I got in the Army and the skills it taught me.  Sure I got a University education as well (BCom at Canterbury University) but those basic skills are the valuable ones. Things like accepting responsibility, leading, communicating, systems for administration, logistics. How to plan and think through problems. People skills, overseas experience, overcoming fear, physical fitness and the list goes on.

Shared experience = ANZAC Spirit. Hong Kong/China border 1991

ANZAC day for me is a time of remembrance. It is a time to think back on experiences, people, sacrifice and those who put country first. Those who didn’t make it home or were killed serving their country come to mind. The big campaigns which cost many faceless New Zealanders their lives and then more recently those killed in combat, accidents or in training that have a much more personal angle given that we knew them and had served together.

Many of my good friends still serve in the Army and some are in harms way right now. They hold senior roles of course nowadays but none  in the back of your mind you get that knot in your guts whenever there is a bad news headline in Afghanistan or some other strange place they may be serving. Many of my mates are now out of the Army and flung far around the country and indeed the world in roles ranging from Private security to private and big business. Most have been very successful in what they have pursued and of course fall back on many of those skills taught in the military.

Remembering those who didn’t get home= ANZAC spirit

I wanted to define what ANZAC day meant to me and whilst the dawn parade is certainly a focal point, I find myself looking at those around me who have not served. I look at their reaction and I wonder why they attend and what it must mean to them given they have not experienced the tight camaraderie the Army offers or the feeling of being in a tight combat team. I don’t understand how they view the day and the words said at services across the country.

No, ANZAC day is not really that big for me. Personally it happens many times a year when I share time with good mates who I have served with. The ANZAC experience for me is just as much about playing a good army mate at squash as it is about a dawn parade. To be able to tell yarns, swear  (one of the pleasures in life) and spend time is just as important. Having a coffee, phone calls, laughing, staying in touch are all pleasures. I love the way you can go months and years and then just touch base and not much has changed.
Last weekend a mate called on me who I had not seen for perhaps 10 years and we spent a couple of hours talking. Those are friendships that endure, like old school mates they are part of my community. They know me, my strengths, my weaknesses and we have common experience.
That is a gift the Army has given me for the rest of my life. Enduring friendships……now that is just absolute gold!

If you liked this ANZAC story you will love these others that I have written;

A visit to Crete: Some ANZAC photos (Link here)

Johnny McNutt: A Good Southern Bloke R.I.P. (Link here)

Bush bashing and finding the Canterbury lads: Gallipoli (Link here)

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The Blast Personal Gallery: Downtown the day of the Christchurch Quake

On the day of the quake we were surprised by a big aftershock which knocked everything off my desk. After getting out of our building, which thankfully sustained minimal damage, I was relieved to hear my family were safe. Later I was to find just how lucky my father had been to survive rock falls that destroyed my brothers home.

I was called by the NZ Army and asked to get into the Civil Defence HQ in Kilmore St and commence response planning until Regular staff could get into the city. The photos below are some of the images that I captured as I walked into down town Christchurch at a time when most were trying desperately to get out. It was obvious many were killed and our city was in a crisis. It was also a time to walk in the middle of the road through building rubble and to assist the distraught.

There are also some more general photos from around our broken city that I have chosen to share. Some things that I came across;

  • Walking with an upset woman who had been getting her hair cut and watched several buses get crushed. She was walking home to Oxford……about 50km just to get out of town.
  • Having to get past downed buildings,
  • Coming across people crowded silently around a car listening to the radio. Everyone in shock and disbelief as they heard the news and all complete strangers.
  • Silence in the city.
  • Having to assess whether the Copthorne Hotel was going to collapse on the civil defence bunker. I’m no engineer but it was leaning and 12 story buildings shouldn’t lean!
  • Walking through Camner Square as the injured were being gathered and attended to.
  • Hastily established cordons with Police and volunteers manning them.
  • Members of the public on traffic duty at major intersections keeping traffic going.
  • Mud and flooding everywhere.
  • Cars buried in mud.
  • Holes in the road.
  • Buildings full of water.
  • A real feeling of community…..people talking and helping each other everywhere.
  • The Mayor and his staff standing outside the art gallery after being evacuated due to an aftershock.
  • People crying and hugging one another.
  • A group of builders discussing whether to head home or stay with their building site that had collapsed. They were concerned it was a danger to traffic. Legends!
  • The initial briefings in the Civil Defence bunker and starting to get my head around what the emergency services were dealing with.
  • Seeing the first TV images of the PGC building and damage around the city.
  • Meeting my brother at his house on the way home and seeing it destroyed.
  • Ringing my father and telling him how glad I was he was still with us and unhurt.
  • The relief of getting home around 9pm to my family who had coped admirably.
  • Standing on the back lawn and looking towards the sky as aftershocks rolled through and being thankful that my family and I had survived something that could have randomly ended our lives.

I will remember this day and event for the rest of my life.

Stone buildings badly damaged and dangerous.
Armagh St looking West. People legging it!
Montreal St……gave this one the swerve as I walked past.
Sheer power. Tram lines.
Papanui Road…..a busted up home!
Needs more than a tarpaulin this one!
Inside the Civil Defence HQ. Controller Baden Ewart takes stock. 
Hmm…..Armagh St……going nowhere in this car!
Making temporary arrangements in the garden. A mate in Merivale.
My brothers house. A cliff falling, Dad in the house but unhurt. Bit close really!
Cramner Square. The injured and shocked.
Corner of Armagh and Durham St North. People getting out!
Looking North on Montreal. Police evactuating city. Normally traffic flows the other way. Note: Umm building lying in middle of the road. I had to run into the city along this street.
Jammed on Antigua St. Liquifaction and flooding outside office 15 minutes after the shake.
Looking East on Armagh St. Ground zero an hour after the big shake.
Working out…..A temporary office for RESULTS.com
Our Vege garden is destroyed: Redcliffs Supermarket will be rebuilt….in time!
Sumner residents meeting with Police. Cliffs, rockfalls, evacuations, Loos, water, mutiny, information yada yada!
The Merc in the hole….Waterfront Redcliffs stuck in a rut!
The dust settles. View from the top. Day after the quake overlooking the city.
Pre school and church hall in Linwood Ave
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Bush Bashing & Finding the Canterbury Lads: Galipolli 2000

I have been to Galipolli twice. The first time I did not land but rather cruised up the Dardanelles on a ship. The next time I joined the small group of NZ soldiers serving in Bosnia with NATO. It was the 85th anniversary of the landings so there was a huge crowd expected. We visited the museum the day before ANZAC day and got our heads around the sheer presence of the place. The museum is packed full of shocking photos, artifacts, human bones and interesting things like bullets that had hit each other in mid air and melded together! It was a day of taking it all in. I visited ANZAC cove where the Kiwis came ashore and saw the first cemetery that had New Zealand men. Many so young, most under 20.

ANZAC cove was quite an emotional sort of a place. As a soldier it was a campaign I had studied and heard so much about. It was a defining moment in the history of our country, certainly of the NZ Army. I think the thing that affected me the most was understanding just how far away from home these men were and just how big the task was they were expected to do first up in a long war!

ANZAC day itself was heaving. The Australian and New Zealand Prime Ministers were present and so were a large NZ Army contingent do the formal ceremonial parades and memorial guards. The Bosnia Contingent left two vans in the huge line of traffic and we walked the last few km to the Dawn Service. The road was littered with bumper to bumper traffic and there were many thousands of Aussie and Kiwi backpackers. The sunrise over ANZAC cove and the service gave the place a mystical feel and the crowd was very silent. The bugler doing the Last Post chilled us all.

The rest of the day was spent walking up the cliffs and visiting the ceremonys and many different battle memorials. I enjoyed the main Australian service at “Lone Pine” and then the New Zealand ceremony at the “Chunk Bair” memorial. The New Zealand Defence Force Cultural Group performed the Haka and the Prime Minister spoke. Turkish soldiers had a very high profile presence as part of the security. This first photo was taken at the Chunuk Bair Memorial.

After the service and reading the role of those killed from many New Zealand Regiments, we decided that rather than take the long track back down the cliffs, the direct “bush bashing route down a large ridge line would be a better way to get to the vehicles. The Infantry Section that was with us led the push with the scouts up front finding the way through heavy scrub, blackberry type bush, rusted equipment and trenches. After  a long walk through a river bed finding small plots full of Indian and Canadian soldiers, we came across a small cemetery of 25-30 plots. Closer inspection found it was in the main full of men from the Canterbury Regiment at “Outpost 1”.  This second picture is taken in this quiet spot.

Researching it after I returned to NZ it seems these men were killed trying to outflank the enemy. Caught in the open by raking machine guns. Our drivers walked back for the vehicles while the remainder of us waited in the sun in that quiet spot for several hours. I spent the time reading each headstone and leaving poppies.  It felt good to be with these guys for a while because given their location so far from the main walkways it was obvious not many visited them.

Gallipoli for me was just somewhere I had to go in my life. It was a “bucket list thing” I now realise and the experience was amazing. Turkey is such a full on diverse place but the people are warm and friendly and whilst they without doubt enjoy the tourists dollars that the area brings, they genuinely seem to care. The plots and sites are well tended and looked after and their attitude is quite refreshing. Then there is the carpet trade they rob you blind on, but that is another story!

As ANZAC day rolls around I always reflect on those guys who stepped up, got stuck in and now lie so far from home. That is why we remember them.

Like this article? Other ANZAC Tributes and Topics

ANZAC: Johnny McNutt- A Good Southern Man: RIP Published 21 Apr 10

The “Ted d’Augvergne Bottle in the Hotel” story. A tale of intrigue from Waimate, NZ. Published 19 Apr 10

Who the Hell is Private David Nelson Wright? A local man killed in Vietnam. Published 5 Feb 10