Interview with Joe Tomlin

Interview with Joe Tomlin, born Wellington, 1920. Mentions training as a watchmaker, then going to England in World War II where he trained in instrument factories. Refers to meeting and marrying his wife in England. Describes arriving in Tairua in 1968 and building a house. Talks about the shifting sands and channels at Tairua and the effects of tides and storms. Describes building a model of the church for Father Bennett, the materials used to build the church, and how the stained glass window was made and framed. Recalls how Tairua was once a bit wild and he could shoot mynah birds out of his bedroom window. Mentions night rescues at sea and designing a beacon for the harbour entrance.

Discusses being the local fix-it man for Tairua including for tradepeople. Describes trips to Fiji every few years to service and repair clocks. Details making tools to repair faulty imported earrings, and then making equipment to make faceted earrings. Recalls he was one of the earliest skin divers in the area, and developed the "hubble-bubble" for underwater diving. Describes contract work done for NZED using the hubble-bubble to lay cables under Cook Strait off Ohau Point. Details his invention of a two-man underwater chainsaw driven by an 8 horsepower petrol motor. Recalls the work he did during World War II in England as a bomb site and automatic pilot leveller led to work after the War servicing instruments for a local gliding company for which he received free flying time. Describes how this led him to build a Jodel D11 aircraft in his basement, its test flight over Whitianga, and selling the aircraft when he turned 80. Comments on testing altimeters for the CAA, describing how he built and calibrated a mercury barometer for the task. Discusses motorbike racing with a 1925 AJS Big Port motorbike. Mentions he brought a 350cc radial valve Rudge back to New Zealand after the War and converted it into a trail bike.

Interviewer(s) - David Rushforth

Arrangement: Tape numbers - OHC-014713

Quantity: 1 printed abstract(s). 1 C60 cassette(s). 1 interview(s). 1 Hours Duration.

Finding Aids: Abstract Available - abstracting complete OHA-5308.

Search dates: 1920 - 1968 - 2005

Original recordings not available for playback. Surrogate copies will be provided.