“How would you like a trip to America for seven months on full salary, all expenses paid for both you and your partner. We will supply you with a new car to use during your stay and give you some one to look after your needs and make appointments for you?”          This actually happened…

Do you remember your first car? Mine was a VW Beetle. I needed to make a dipstick to find out how much fuel I had in the tank. Cars were very different in those days. Our first family car was a Ford New Beauty – my father was so proud of it. He called it…

We flew out of Auckland heading for Tokyo. I was sitting next to a window and shortly after takeoff, I was horrified to see a starboard engine on fire – going off like a blow torch. We were sitting opposite two stewards sitting for takeoff,  they turned grey.          The pilot of this Singapore Airline…

Moss Memories 18 – Singapore (1978/2006) I arrived in Singapore at 2a.m. I was very tired, having done a day’s work in Auckland before departing. When I arrived at the Holiday Inn counter I was shocked to find I did not have my wallet containing my money, papers, and passport. I must have left them…

         In London, I did the usual tourist things. Believe it or not, one thing I was keen to see was the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum, dated 196 B.C.  It was the key to discovering Egypt’s secrets.            While visiting the famous Temple Bar  I met a barrister who told me he…

         It’s hard to believe that money was restricted in the forties. All we were permitted in each port was US $8 and that didn’t go far.          My father, a man of initiative, had collected some US dollars for me and had also sent me sets of the new NZ Victory stamps. These were…

There were thousands of planes. Yes, thousands of planes – as far as the eye could see.  All being assembled –  presumable for the scrap yard after the end of the battle for Japan.  This was the first sight we saw as the New Zealand cruiser Bellona sailed into Honolulu.          I had helped decommission…

         While working in Singapore I was always one of the first people down for breakfast at the hotel and the first one to arrive at the Singapore Institute of Management. I spent the first hour getting my training room ready for the managers in my workshops. I tried to make it an interesting place…

One day I was lunching in Bangkok with my colleagues from the UN. There was a lull in our conversation. I asked them which Asian country do you prefer to work in? Much to my surprise, they agreed on Vietnam.          As I was about to go there to do a job for UN-Habitat, I…

There was a strong cold wintery gale blowing  in Wellington. I was cold and miserable. My phone rang. It was a Professor  Bewley from Massey University in Palmerston North.  “We need an emergency lecturer to go to the University of the South Pacific to teach agricultural extension. Some of the staff  have cleared off home…