NationStates Jolt Archive

I saw a bit of Billy Connely going round New Zealand, and there was a pub he went to that had a great little story. See, in 1939, there was a soldier who was about to go off and fight in WW2. His train was gonna leave soon, and he stopped off for a drink. He bought two pints, drank the first one, then realised he'd have to rush to get his train. He instructed the barman to keep the other pint there for him, he'd drink it when he got back.

He died in Crete during the war, but the bottle he paid for is preserved in a glass cabinet behind the bar, with the bloke's picture underneath and a photo of the spot in Crete where he was buried.


I thought it was a great story. I wondered if anyone knew anything like that from near where they were from. Obviously, any story you know would be great, but if its something you've seen yourself, and you could post whereabouts in the world it is, that'd be fantastic

I've never heard that story before. Any idea whereabouts in the country it was/

I've never heard that story before. Any idea whereabouts in the country it was/

Sounds like something that might happen south of the Bombay hills, crazy people down there

I've never heard that story before. Any idea whereabouts in the country it was/
Argh, can't remember now.

An island, it was the anchor of the canoe in an ancient legend about how New Zealand was formed. I think it was there. Stewart Island?

Argh, can't remember now.

An island, it was the anchor of the canoe in an ancient legend about how New Zealand was formed. I think it was there. Stewart Island?

They have trains on Stewart island, that would make sence since the South Island is the canoe of maui or what ever his name was it was maui right?

They have trains on Stewart island, that would make sence since the South Island is the canoe of maui or what ever his name was it was maui right?
That sounds about right.

I haven't seen the program, but from recollection I think it was somewhere between CH-CH and Dunedin.
If you ever find yourself up near Cape Reinga, stop at Te Kao - about 40km south of the Cape. There's a small shop, school and Marae there. It's just before two one-lane bridges that are a couple hundred metres apart, so if you reach those you've gone too far.
Anyway, go up onto the Marae (you might want to ask the locals in the shop first) and check out a display case they have on the grounds.
It's got a bronze casing of a small New Testament bible with a bullet lodged in it.
Yep, the old story of a young local man being given a bible by his grandmother just before heading off to war and being made to promise to always have it in his left breast pocket, only to have it stop a bullet when he went over the top is in fact true.
If memory serves me correctly, he became a preacher when he came back.
It's pretty cool.

That sounds about right.

The South Island is Maui's canoe, stewart island is the anchor and the north island is the great fish he pulled up using his grandmothers jaw bone as a hook and blood from his nose as bait.