Tangata whenua welcome, Last Great Air Race: London to Christchurch

October 1953

"Photo taken by Pete Basire at Christchurch airport October 1953. My late father, Peter Basire, a keen plane enthusiast and photographer came to Christchurch from Wellington for the arrival of the planes in the Last Great Air Race: London to Christchurch October 1953. Peter Basire, took many photos of this event, he took many good photos of planes including planes in the air, the several photos I have selected show people; including families and children, welcomes, a plane in motion, and planes being serviced. This photo shows the Tangata whenua welcome of the manuhiri tūārangi, the winner of the Transport Handicap section, as per the KLM Liftmaster. The captain intended to welcome the kaikaranga with a kiss, to find things are done differently in this part of the world [with] the hongi, however my father’s photo appears to capture the moment he tried to give her a kiss." - Contributor's note

Creator: Peter Basire

Area: North West / Airport

Contributor: Barbara Newcombe

Source: Entry in the 2020 Christchurch City Libraries Photo Hunt

Source: View in Canterbury Stories

Reference ID: CCL-PH20-236

Uploaded by: CCL Photo Hunt

Copyright status: In copyright

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License