Nick Papa- 18.03.1940 - 24.07.2009

Uncle Steve, Nana, Me, Dad and Uncle Nick, March 2009

Uncle Nick worked 363 and a half days a year. He closed his shop on Christmas Day and on ANZAC Day morning. Uncle Nick was always there. As children we would make play houses from his road signs and wooden fruit boxes. We would go into the orchard with Uncle Nick when he picked fruit. When we were older he allowed us to serve customers in the shop. We loved using the till and the electronic scales. Uncle Nick patiently taught us how to use them. Uncle Nick never displayed his emotions openly, but that really did not matter. And sometimes you could tell what he was thinking even if he did not say anything.

Uncle Nick gave a speech at his 40th birthday party. He said that now he was 40 he would have to start slowing down. That was his understated sense of humour. I thought that he was being serious- when you are 8 years old 40 does seem pretty old. Uncle Nick always knew what was going on in Kumeu and Huapai, often from his customers. If he knew something that was likely to interest you he would not just tell you straight off. He would hint at it and try to get you to guess what it was about, just to the point where you started to get a little annoyed.

Uncle Nick went to the markets early in the morning every Monday and Thursday. We would occasionally go with him, getting up at what seemed to us to be an unbelievably early hour. It was surprising to see Uncle Nick in a completely different world, a world where he seemed completely at home. It was amazing to watch him deal with ease with an auction process that to us was almost impossible to follow.

He loved to tell us where he was when significant events happened. He told us that he was in the orchard picking fruit when when the news came through that President Kennedy had been assassinated. He was proud of the fact that he remembered seeing American soldiers in a military jeep when they were stationed in NZ during Word War 2.

After selling part of his property in 1997 he went on what was only his second trip overseas. Although he said that his trip to Australia did not really count anyway as in 1973 you did not have to take a passport. He visited Croatia and the United States, two places that he had really wanted to visit. One of my great pleasures in life was just being able to pop in on him and Nana, knowing that they would be there. I really enjoyed visiting them on a Friday or Saturday night and watching a game of rugby or rugby league with them. When I was there Uncle Nick would usually check the value of his shares on teletext. The shop was very successful in later years. He developed a reputation for selling white fleshed nectarines and peaches, which he moved in large quantities. He really did seem content and very happy with life. It is so hard to imagine that he will not be there any more.

Uncle Nick was an orchardist. Uncle Nick died from the effects of liver failure. Dad was with him when he died. We loved Uncle Nick and will miss him very much.

Podgora- Part 3

On Monday evening I had dinner out with Bepica, my grandfather's cousin. I then had a very pleasant chat with Bepica and his wife Ilonka on their balcony overlooking Podgora. On Tuesday morning I had morning tea with Lili, Lada and their friend Carmela. Niksa cooked a nice lunch and Mate, Nikolina, Marion and their families came for lunch. It was a relaxed afternoon. After lunch we spent some time in Vlado's courtyard (I am obliged to mention that Vlado feed us some very nice prsut) and then I went with a walk around the old village with Niksa and Marion, Niksa acting as tour guide. In the evening I watched "Naked Gun 3" with Niksa and Ana and Ana kindly did yet more of my washing. This morning I visited the cemetary and had a nice lunch with Vlado and Tatjana and the ubiquitous Huso. I had a very nice time in Podgora.
In the afternoon I drove to Dubrovnik. Dubrovnik and the surrounding region are completely separated from the rest of Croatia by Bosnia and Hercegovina, which extends all the way to the sea at the town of Neum. So a drive to Dubrovnik requires a drive through Bosnia and Hercegovina, which does not take long, as the coast is only about 10km long. The nuisance factor is that it is impossible to buy car insurance for Bosnia and Hercegovina in the UK, which means that the drive, while short, is completely uninsured. Of course nothing happened, but I could not help feeling a little nervous. I arrived in Dubrovnik at 6.30 and found accommodation without any problems. The weather continues to be sunny, with temperatures in the low 30s.

Podgora- Part 2

Later on Sunday afternoon Niksa took me to the park on the Biokovo mountain and to the summit of Biokovo. The drive was hard going for Niksa in a small car, without power steering and on a very narrow and steep road with many hairpin turns. The summit, Sveti Jure, is at approximately 1700m, so it was quite a drive. The views from Sveti Jure were amazing, especially as the air was very clear that day. In the evening I chatted to Ruzica, a cousin of my grandfather. Ana make a very nice meal of roast chicken and pasta, which she was concerned to discover was similar to the meal I had had for lunch at Tatjana and Vlado's. Of course I was not concerned at all. On Monday I joined Lada and Zoran for their daily visit to the beach with their children. I had lunch with Niksa and Ana, Niksa's children Mate and Nikolina, Nikolina's husband Marion and their children Lucija (3) and Patrick (a few months old). Mate's son Ivan (9) was there also. Lucija is lovely. Ivan can only be described as precocious- his English is already very good, even better than Vlado's. Lunch was very good and was courtesy of Marion. Mate and I in the yard of the "Papa house"-

Podgora- Part 1

I arrived in Podgora on Friday. Podgora is a town in Dalmatia in Croatia. Both of my grandfathers came from Podgora and my father's mother came from Zivogosce, which is a few miles south of Podgora. Podgora is idyllic, with lovely beaches and a relaxed atmosphere. Not far behind Podgora, the Biokovo mountain rises up almost vertically to well over a 1000 metres. But the best thing about Podgora is visiting my charming and very hospitable relatives. While I've been here I have stayed with my father's cousin Niksa and his wife Ana, who have been incredibly accommodating. I spent most of Saturday with my father's cousin Lili, her daughter Lada and son-in-law Zoran and their three very cute children Petar (5), Vid and Iva (2 1/2 year old twins). I had a lovely and very relaxed day with them. On Sunday I had lunch with another of my father's cousins, the lovely Tatjana and her irrepressible husband Vlado. I had a very nice lunch, which was made by Vlado. In the picture is Vlado (on my right) and Huso (on my left). Huso is the local gardener and a popular guy.

Pula

Pula's most famous sight is the fantastic Roman colloseum-

There were some other interesting Roman remains in Pula, including a triumphal arch. It was very hot in Pula, in the 30s. The colloseum and other Roman remains were in the central city, which is always interesting, as the remains can appear just around a corner on streets that are otherwise "normal". On Tuesday evening, I went with Tomislav and Miha, two "typical" Croatian guys, to a nightclub in town. The place was packed and most of the crowd appeared to be made up of teenagers or at best people in their early 20s, although Tomislav and Miha were convinced that they were older. Anyway, it was interesting and Tomislav and Miha were good company. In the morning I slept longer than I had intended, because of the night out, so did not leave Pula until after 11. I had another 600km drive, to Podgora. Most of the drive was on a very good motorway, with a speed limit of 130km/h. I arrived in Podgora at 8pm.

Istria

On Monday I drove from Munich to Porec in Croatia, passing through Austria and Slovenia on the way. Driving can be a bit frustrating as you pass so many places on the way that would justify a stopover for a day or two. Hopefully I will be able to visit some of the places I by-passed on the journey back. The only event of note on the drive to Porec was being pulled over by an unmarked police car a little bit south of Munich. I did not know what I could have done wrong but I was nervous. Were they going to fine me for not using beam deflectors. I had bought all the required equipment for driving in Europe- fire extinguisher, warning triangle, reflective jacket, first aid kit etc. In the event they searched me and the car for drugs! I am not sure what justified the search other than I was driving a foreign car, but I saw no point in arguing the toss. After making a thorough search of the front and back of the car they lost interest and opened the boot but did not search it. Which was just as well, because I had 20kg of cocaine hidden in the tyre well.
Porec is in a region of Croatia called Istria, which is very near Italy and which has been controlled by the Venetians and Italians at various points in history. The architecture of the cities is quite "Italian". Porec's most famous sight, the Euphrasian Basilica, is a world heritage site. The Basilica contains amazing Byzantine mosaics, which were created in the 6th century.

On Tuesday, as well as sightseeing in Porec, I visited Piran, a city on Slovenia's tiny coast. The Slovenian coast is also in Istria, crammed between Italy and Croatia. Piran is another very Italian town, with narrow alleys and stucco clad buildings. It has an impressive cathedral, which was unfortunately closed for viewing between 1 and 5pm, "siesta" time. From Piran I drove to Pula, also in Istria. I am staying in a camping ground with a very nice beach.

London, Aachen, Munich

I spent some of last week dealing with car issues. I caught up with Jo and discussed our respective travel plans and the pleasure of not working. And Ben and Zoe continued to enjoy the presence of my lap top.

I got away on Saturday morning, taking the ferry from Dover to Dunkerque (white cliffs pictured) and then driving through Belgium to Aachen in Germany. Aachen is most well known for its cathedral. Yesterday I drove from Aachen to Munich, a trip of 620km (my longest one day drive ever) on the autobahn. Not particularly exciting or picturesque and the excitement of no speed limit was limited by my not particularly sporty car and frequent stretches where a speed limit of 60 or 80km/h in fact applied. Driving on the right has not been a problem, although it is hard to get it wrong on the motorway. It helps being in a right-hand drive car- for me a left-hand side driver's seat is more difficult to get used to than driving on the right. I stayed in a suburb of Munich last night at a hostel. I had a pleasant night with Nick and Gemma, a young English couple. I also chatted to Eric from Florida who looked a lot like a character from the Simpsons.

London

I caught the ferry from Rosslare in Ireland to Pembroke in Wales last Sunday. I had originally planned to spend two weeks travelling in Wales. But I lingered too long elsewhere, so my time in Wales was a total of 3 hours, the time it took to drive from Pembroke to England. On Sunday night I stayed at Nikki and Olly's place in Chippenham. Nikki made a very nice dinner and plied me with pimms.

On Monday I drove to Jane and Ian's. I am staying with them at the moment. I have spent most of the week planning the next part of my travels, working through two months of mail and organising things for my trip into Europe. It has been great spending time with Ben and Zoe, my nephew and neice. I went to their annual sports day on Friday, which was fun. The weather has been great, reaching the 30s earlier in the week.

On Thursday evening I caught up with Mark in London. The weather was very pleasant and very different from the weather during winter...

Summer inTrafalgar Square:

Winter in Trafalgar Square: