A few in New Zealand if anyone is here or visiting...
I understand there is a cafe in Waitomo, near the famous Waitomo Caves, that is situated inside a Bristol Freighter aircraft (this used to be at Waihi but shifted to Waitomo).
Also, at Woodbourne, Blenheim (opposite RNZAF Base Woodbourne) is the Argosy Cafe, which has a Armstrong-Whitworth Argosy in its back garden.
The RNZAF Museum at Wigram, Christchurch has a good little cafe, I used to often go there on weekends for lunch when I lived on the base there.
There's a good cafe at Ardmore too with lots of Warbirds photos. They do a fantastic breakfast, and it is right on the end of the runway so you eat to the sound of Harvards and other warbird greats taking off and in the circuit.
Also at Hobsonville village in Auckland, just down the road from RNZAF Base Hobsonville where I was based in the early 1990's, I used to often go for breakfast on Saturdays at a themed cafe called the 'Ventura Cafe'. This cafe reflected the area's history with the Ventura medium bomber, which were based at RNZAF Station Whenuapai during the war - just down the road. It had loads of really excellent photos and bits of memorabilia. I don't know if it is still there though, and cannot find a listing in the White Pages online, so it may have closed down.
At the big hotel complex at Hamilton International Airport (formerly RNZAF Station Rukuhia), there's a bar that also has a lot of photos of Venturas, but these reflect the days when the RNZAF's aircraft were lined up on the same spot in the Rukuhia Graveyard, awaiting smelting.
I don't know if there is a cafe at Wanaka or at Motat, possibly both. But one final one I can think of that is of aviation interest even if they don't have much to show (I'm unsure as I haven't been in there yet), the Bush Inn tavern in Riccarton, Christchurch. This is an ancient pub, and I used to pass it at least twice a week while I lived in Christchurch, but never learned its significance till recently. Before the war, going back to the very early days of the Air Force at Wigram, the Bush Inn was the original Officer's Mess for the base. This is despite being quite a bike ride away as such. The officers would go there for a few drinks and a meal, and I'm not sure but may have lived there too. When war came and a proper Officers Mess was built on the base, the Bush Inn remained popular as a drinking establishment. Some bright person put up some large sheets of paper on the wall and got every person who passed their Wings course at Wigram to sign it over a period of several years in the war. This is now in the RNZAF Museum and quite a prized piece, as it has autographs of many of the greatest pilots this country produced! A nice piece of history.
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best, tom
) best, tom
i'll have to try it out!! best, tom
