Rex Bunn | Independent Researcher (original) (raw)

Videos by Rex Bunn

This video edit is from our 2016 scuba rushes in Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Footage was shot a... more This video edit is from our 2016 scuba rushes in Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Footage was shot around the (now superseded reports), of Pink and White Terrace locations in Lake Rotomahana. This video accompanies my 2020 "Surveying+Spatial" article "Reconciling New and old Surveys of the Pink and White Terraces (Vol. 102, June, 2020). It details the basin-shaped vents and wave terraces we filmed on the lake floor. I think earlier investigators confused these on sonar with Pink and White Terrace basins. The bubble plumes over them ought to have been a surface tell-tale. On studying their sonar software and later analysis, it seems likely they only visualised the alleged-terraces months later, after editing out the water column and its bubble plumes. These probably obscured the alleged terraces during the expedition. If so, they created an artefact in doing this. The Terrace basins were of course, imperforate structures and so could not emit gas to create bubble plumes. Simple really.

10 views

These video rushes are of the first contemporary scuba dive into Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Th... more These video rushes are of the first contemporary scuba dive into Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. This lake lies in a volcano crater, produced by the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption.

Lake Rotomahana is the site of the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', the legendary Pink and White Terraces. These were the largest silica sinter terraces in the world. The old lake was largely destroyed in the 1886 eruption: the terraces assumed lost. New Lake Rotomahana is ~10X the area and ~12X depth of the old lake.

Two weeks after this February 2016 dive I received the lost field diary of Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter. This had lain, forgotten in a Swiss archive for 156 years. Dr Hochstetter was the famous 19th century geologist, cartographer and artist who conducted the first geological survey of New Zealand.

His survey diary provided the first survey evidence of the Pink, Black and White Terrace locations ... and they are buried on land, not in the water as others have claimed. The truth is still out there

13 views

Papers by Rex Bunn

Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Jun 13, 2024

This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location o... more This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location of a lost Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. Their location has been debated since 1886 when they were buried in a volcanic eruption. The paper develops a parallax methodology with a Skyline Gauge to test all 1886-2024 claims to the White Terrace location. Methods include photo-interpretation, photogrammetric optics, topography and forensic cartography. The results show nearly all claims have significant errors. The Gauge location is consistent with the coordinates provided by the 1859 Hochstetter Survey and the Hochstetter Paradigm.

Smart Tourism, Oct 6, 2023

Food Technology Australia, 1986

Abstract: This research paper was the first to examine the use of rice meals in typical Australia... more Abstract: This research paper was the first to examine the use of rice meals in typical Australian processed meat foods.

Tait, C., Cummines, W., & Bunn, A.R. The use of Riceflour in Emulsified Fresh Sausage. Food Technology in Australia, Volume 38, 1986.

ESS Open Archive, 2024

This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location o... more This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location of a lost Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. Their location has been debated since 1886 when they were buried in a volcanic eruption. The paper develops a parallax methodology with a Skyline Gauge to test all 1886-2024 claims to the White Terrace location. Methods include photo-interpretation, photogrammetric optics, topography and forensic cartography. The results show nearly all claims have significant errors. The Gauge location is consistent with the coordinates provided by the 1859 Hochstetter Survey and the Hochstetter Paradigm.

Frontiers in Earth Science, Mar 11, 2020

Academia letters, Apr 29, 2022

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jun 29, 2020

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 2, 2017

Authorea (Authorea), Jul 10, 2023

The Journal of New Zealand Studies, Dec 20, 2016

Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Jun 7, 2017

Smart Tourism, 2023

The most famous tourist attractions in the southern hemisphere, in the nineteenth century were th... more The most famous tourist attractions in the southern hemisphere, in the nineteenth century were the Pink and White Terraces-New Zealand's lost Eighth Wonder of the World. They were assumed lost in an1886 eruption. The unpublished 2018 data from passive seismic stations across the Lake Rotomahana overflow in the Taupō Volcanic Zone are examined for evidence of acoustic interfaces that may be traced to Te Tarata, the White Terraces, the stations were coincidentally placed over the reported course of the Kaiwaka Channel buried in the 1886 Tarawera eruption. There was no seismic evidence of the Channel at the reported altitude under either the Smith-Keam or Hochstetter paradigms. This absence is strong empirical negative evidence that the Kaiwaka Channel did not flow beneath today's Lake Rotomahana overflow, as has been assumed since 1886 under the Smith-Keam paradigm. Unlike the seismic and GPR Black Terrace Crater and Te Tuhi's Stream (aka Black Terrace Stream) bed evidence obtained by the same 2018 survey-there is no evidence of a pre-1886 eruption paleochannel beneath today's overflow saddle at the lake and at the Kaiwaka altitude under the 1886 Smith-Keam paradigm or the contemporary Hochstetter paradigm, the latter based upon Hochstetter's unique terrestrial survey of the Rotomahana Basin. The study reports strong empirical evidence contradicting the assumed Kaiwaka location and with it, the assumed locations of old Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces. The Smith-Keam paradigm is thereby confounded. The seismic data provide concomitant empirical evidence for the Rotomahana altimetry and topography reported by Bunn and Nolden, who locate the Kaiwaka Channel 440 m west of the seismic stations. The Pink and White Terraces can no longer be assumed destroyed. They may yet be explored and recovered.

Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2023

This research utilises Ferdinand von Hochstetter's unpublished November 1860 Folio of survey data... more This research utilises Ferdinand von Hochstetter's unpublished November 1860 Folio of survey data from the first major terrestrial topographical and geological survey in New Zealand. The Folio data enable reconstruction of the survey across the North Island to Lake Rotomahana, with unique bearings to the lost Pink and White Terraces. Prepared for cartographic production in Gotha, Germany, the Folio features marginalia by cartographer August Petermann and Arnim Welcker. It validates Hochstetter's 1859 field diaries and Rotomahana Basin topography navigating to the Terraces. The Folio survey coordinates indicate the Pink and White Terrace springs lie buried beneath the shores of Lake Rotomahana. The Folio locations are consistent with earlier survey Diary iterations. They triangulate with the Basin topography and align with Mātauranga Māori. Complementary with recently published research, the Folio data provides historical primary source evidence for the search for the lost Terraces at Lake Rotomahana.

Academic Journal of Hydrology & Water Resources, 2023

This research to locate the lost Black Terrace was motivated by scientific, lay, and indigenous t... more This research to locate the lost Black Terrace was motivated by scientific, lay, and indigenous tourism interest in the Taupō Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, wherein lies buried a lost Eighth Wonder of the World, the Pink, Black and White Terraces. The Black Terrace was undocumented until 2017 and its location was unknown. This paper compiles evidence to relocate the Black Terrace site, so that site investigation may be undertaken, to recover siliceous sinter terrace material for chemical and textural analysis. This research triangulates the location, relative to the companion Pink and White Terraces; via spatial, georeferencing, survey resection, Mātauranga Māori, photogrammetric-optical, trigonometric, cartographic, and topographic evidence; over Google Earth™. The evidence triangulates with the Black Terrace lying beneath a forestry road, providing sub-surface imaging, drilling, and excavation access. Given the 2021 ownership change of the site and the nearby tourism projects; this research has considerable significance for the new indigenous owners of the Black Terrace. It has broader implications for investigating and potentially recovering the Pink and White Terrace sites.
NB: The published version of this paper is the uncorrected galley proof, apparently published the day before I received the galley for author's corrections.. I refer readers to the preprint which provides a better grasp of the research and has optimal illustration quality.

This video edit is from our 2016 scuba rushes in Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Footage was shot a... more This video edit is from our 2016 scuba rushes in Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Footage was shot around the (now superseded reports), of Pink and White Terrace locations in Lake Rotomahana. This video accompanies my 2020 "Surveying+Spatial" article "Reconciling New and old Surveys of the Pink and White Terraces (Vol. 102, June, 2020). It details the basin-shaped vents and wave terraces we filmed on the lake floor. I think earlier investigators confused these on sonar with Pink and White Terrace basins. The bubble plumes over them ought to have been a surface tell-tale. On studying their sonar software and later analysis, it seems likely they only visualised the alleged-terraces months later, after editing out the water column and its bubble plumes. These probably obscured the alleged terraces during the expedition. If so, they created an artefact in doing this. The Terrace basins were of course, imperforate structures and so could not emit gas to create bubble plumes. Simple really.

10 views

These video rushes are of the first contemporary scuba dive into Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. Th... more These video rushes are of the first contemporary scuba dive into Lake Rotomahana, New Zealand. This lake lies in a volcano crater, produced by the 1886 Mt Tarawera eruption.

Lake Rotomahana is the site of the 'Eighth Wonder of the World', the legendary Pink and White Terraces. These were the largest silica sinter terraces in the world. The old lake was largely destroyed in the 1886 eruption: the terraces assumed lost. New Lake Rotomahana is ~10X the area and ~12X depth of the old lake.

Two weeks after this February 2016 dive I received the lost field diary of Dr Ferdinand von Hochstetter. This had lain, forgotten in a Swiss archive for 156 years. Dr Hochstetter was the famous 19th century geologist, cartographer and artist who conducted the first geological survey of New Zealand.

His survey diary provided the first survey evidence of the Pink, Black and White Terrace locations ... and they are buried on land, not in the water as others have claimed. The truth is still out there

13 views

Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, Jun 13, 2024

This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location o... more This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location of a lost Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. Their location has been debated since 1886 when they were buried in a volcanic eruption. The paper develops a parallax methodology with a Skyline Gauge to test all 1886-2024 claims to the White Terrace location. Methods include photo-interpretation, photogrammetric optics, topography and forensic cartography. The results show nearly all claims have significant errors. The Gauge location is consistent with the coordinates provided by the 1859 Hochstetter Survey and the Hochstetter Paradigm.

Smart Tourism, Oct 6, 2023

Food Technology Australia, 1986

Abstract: This research paper was the first to examine the use of rice meals in typical Australia... more Abstract: This research paper was the first to examine the use of rice meals in typical Australian processed meat foods.

Tait, C., Cummines, W., & Bunn, A.R. The use of Riceflour in Emulsified Fresh Sausage. Food Technology in Australia, Volume 38, 1986.

ESS Open Archive, 2024

This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location o... more This empirical research analyses a unique vintage photographic plate that confirms the location of a lost Wonder of the World, the Pink and White Terraces. Their location has been debated since 1886 when they were buried in a volcanic eruption. The paper develops a parallax methodology with a Skyline Gauge to test all 1886-2024 claims to the White Terrace location. Methods include photo-interpretation, photogrammetric optics, topography and forensic cartography. The results show nearly all claims have significant errors. The Gauge location is consistent with the coordinates provided by the 1859 Hochstetter Survey and the Hochstetter Paradigm.

Frontiers in Earth Science, Mar 11, 2020

Academia letters, Apr 29, 2022

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Jun 29, 2020

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), Nov 2, 2017

Authorea (Authorea), Jul 10, 2023

The Journal of New Zealand Studies, Dec 20, 2016

Journal of The Royal Society of New Zealand, Jun 7, 2017

Smart Tourism, 2023

The most famous tourist attractions in the southern hemisphere, in the nineteenth century were th... more The most famous tourist attractions in the southern hemisphere, in the nineteenth century were the Pink and White Terraces-New Zealand's lost Eighth Wonder of the World. They were assumed lost in an1886 eruption. The unpublished 2018 data from passive seismic stations across the Lake Rotomahana overflow in the Taupō Volcanic Zone are examined for evidence of acoustic interfaces that may be traced to Te Tarata, the White Terraces, the stations were coincidentally placed over the reported course of the Kaiwaka Channel buried in the 1886 Tarawera eruption. There was no seismic evidence of the Channel at the reported altitude under either the Smith-Keam or Hochstetter paradigms. This absence is strong empirical negative evidence that the Kaiwaka Channel did not flow beneath today's Lake Rotomahana overflow, as has been assumed since 1886 under the Smith-Keam paradigm. Unlike the seismic and GPR Black Terrace Crater and Te Tuhi's Stream (aka Black Terrace Stream) bed evidence obtained by the same 2018 survey-there is no evidence of a pre-1886 eruption paleochannel beneath today's overflow saddle at the lake and at the Kaiwaka altitude under the 1886 Smith-Keam paradigm or the contemporary Hochstetter paradigm, the latter based upon Hochstetter's unique terrestrial survey of the Rotomahana Basin. The study reports strong empirical evidence contradicting the assumed Kaiwaka location and with it, the assumed locations of old Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces. The Smith-Keam paradigm is thereby confounded. The seismic data provide concomitant empirical evidence for the Rotomahana altimetry and topography reported by Bunn and Nolden, who locate the Kaiwaka Channel 440 m west of the seismic stations. The Pink and White Terraces can no longer be assumed destroyed. They may yet be explored and recovered.

Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences, 2023

This research utilises Ferdinand von Hochstetter's unpublished November 1860 Folio of survey data... more This research utilises Ferdinand von Hochstetter's unpublished November 1860 Folio of survey data from the first major terrestrial topographical and geological survey in New Zealand. The Folio data enable reconstruction of the survey across the North Island to Lake Rotomahana, with unique bearings to the lost Pink and White Terraces. Prepared for cartographic production in Gotha, Germany, the Folio features marginalia by cartographer August Petermann and Arnim Welcker. It validates Hochstetter's 1859 field diaries and Rotomahana Basin topography navigating to the Terraces. The Folio survey coordinates indicate the Pink and White Terrace springs lie buried beneath the shores of Lake Rotomahana. The Folio locations are consistent with earlier survey Diary iterations. They triangulate with the Basin topography and align with Mātauranga Māori. Complementary with recently published research, the Folio data provides historical primary source evidence for the search for the lost Terraces at Lake Rotomahana.

Academic Journal of Hydrology & Water Resources, 2023

This research to locate the lost Black Terrace was motivated by scientific, lay, and indigenous t... more This research to locate the lost Black Terrace was motivated by scientific, lay, and indigenous tourism interest in the Taupō Volcanic Zone in New Zealand, wherein lies buried a lost Eighth Wonder of the World, the Pink, Black and White Terraces. The Black Terrace was undocumented until 2017 and its location was unknown. This paper compiles evidence to relocate the Black Terrace site, so that site investigation may be undertaken, to recover siliceous sinter terrace material for chemical and textural analysis. This research triangulates the location, relative to the companion Pink and White Terraces; via spatial, georeferencing, survey resection, Mātauranga Māori, photogrammetric-optical, trigonometric, cartographic, and topographic evidence; over Google Earth™. The evidence triangulates with the Black Terrace lying beneath a forestry road, providing sub-surface imaging, drilling, and excavation access. Given the 2021 ownership change of the site and the nearby tourism projects; this research has considerable significance for the new indigenous owners of the Black Terrace. It has broader implications for investigating and potentially recovering the Pink and White Terrace sites.
NB: The published version of this paper is the uncorrected galley proof, apparently published the day before I received the galley for author's corrections.. I refer readers to the preprint which provides a better grasp of the research and has optimal illustration quality.

This short paper published certain key research findings from the project.

Author: BUNN, Rex Title: Poultry trussing options for processors / Rex Bunn In: "World Poultry"... more Author: BUNN, Rex
Title: Poultry trussing options for processors / Rex Bunn
In: "World Poultry". - Vol 17, No. 7 (2001), p.. 22-23
Subjects: Poultry industry
Cota: GPPAA REV
Type of document: Printed Text
Country of Publication: Netherlands

Quest for the Pink and White Terraces- Book II, 2020

Quest for the Pink and White Terraces- Book I This extended, softback edition of "Quest for the P... more Quest for the Pink and White Terraces- Book I
This extended, softback edition of "Quest for the Pink and White Terraces" recounts the author’s seven-year quest for a lost Eighth Wonder of the World.
Book I 'The PAWTL Project', records the 2014 ‘PAWTL Project’: to drain a high lake and recover a lost "Eighth Wonder of the World": The 'Pink and White Terraces' in New Zealand. Volcanic activity forced the project suspension, as we were to start work with giant siphons and Hero's Fountains. I applied for three Guinness World Records for my engineering designs to lower Lake Rotomahana by 30 m and expose the terraces, which earlier investigators thought lay in the lake.
Book II, The Hochstetter Survey begins in 2016 when the author, (writing Book I as an honorable failure so PAWTL could benefit future Pink and White Terrace researchers); connected with Dr Sascha Nolden, curator of the Hochstetter Collection Basel. Serendipitously, Dr Nolden possessed the unknown field diaries of Dr Ferdinand Hochstetter, the eminent 19th century geologist, cartographer and draughtsman. Hochstetter visited the world-famous Pink and White Terraces in 1859. The Pink and White Terraces around the lake, were the site of the 1886 Mt Tarawera volcanic eruption. Lake Rotomahana was blown out over the surrounding country and a new crater lake formed over decades. New Lake Rotomahana is some ten times the area. In the chaos, the locations of the Pink and White Terraces were assumed lost for no survey of their locations was remembered.
Hochstetter’s diaries were repatriated to New Zealand in digital form and sections written at Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces, passed to me. From the PAWTL project, I saw they assisted our search for the Pink and White Terraces. We translated and deciphered the German, Maori and English entries. The material contained a unique compass survey of Lake Rotomahana and the geothermal features around it. These silica sinter terraces, springs and geysers made the lake a favoured destination for tourists from Europe and the Americas. The work progressed through field work, the PAWTL2 Project and six survey iterations until in 2019, I published the final survey. Instead of the Terrace locations being in the new lake (implying they vanished in the 1886 eruption as generations of geologists assumed), the locations lay across the shores and so may have survived. If they survive, even in a damaged state; they may yet be reinstated as the premier tourist attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, as they were in the 19th century. This primary survey evidence, disturbs geologists and a scientific debate developed. At least 22 articles, lectures and books from seven groups comprise this debate. Hochstetter's survey provides the only primary, pre-eruption survey evidence of the Terrace locations. The author is the most widely-published living specialist on the Pink and White Terraces.

Quest for the Pink and White Terraces- Book I, 2020

This extended, softback edition of "Quest for the Pink and White Terraces" recounts the author’s ... more This extended, softback edition of "Quest for the Pink and White Terraces" recounts the author’s seven-year quest for a lost Eighth Wonder of the World.
Book I 'The PAWTL Project', records the 2014 ‘PAWTL Project’: to drain a high lake and recover a lost "Eighth Wonder of the World": The 'Pink and White Terraces' in New Zealand. Volcanic activity forced the project suspension, as we were to start work with giant siphons and Hero's Fountains. I applied for three Guinness World Records for my engineering designs to lower Lake Rotomahana by 30 m and expose the terraces, which earlier investigators thought lay in the lake.
Book II, The Hochstetter Survey begins in 2016 when the author, (writing Book I as an honorable failure so PAWTL could benefit future Pink and White Terrace researchers); connected with Dr Sascha Nolden, curator of the Hochstetter Collection Basel. Serendipitously, Dr Nolden possessed the unknown field diaries of Dr Ferdinand Hochstetter, the eminent 19th century geologist, cartographer and draughtsman. Hochstetter visited the world-famous Pink and White Terraces in 1859. The Pink and White Terraces around the lake, were the site of the 1886 Mt Tarawera volcanic eruption. Lake Rotomahana was blown out over the surrounding country and a new crater lake formed over decades. New Lake Rotomahana is some ten times the area. In the chaos, the locations of the Pink and White Terraces were assumed lost for no survey of their locations was remembered.
Hochstetter’s diaries were repatriated to New Zealand in digital form and sections written at Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces, passed to me. From the PAWTL project, I saw they assisted our search for the Pink and White Terraces. We translated and deciphered the German, Maori and English entries. The material contained a unique compass survey of Lake Rotomahana and the geothermal features around it. These silica sinter terraces, springs and geysers made the lake a favoured destination for tourists from Europe and the Americas. The work progressed through field work, the PAWTL2 Project and six survey iterations until in 2019, I published the final survey. Instead of the Terrace locations being in the new lake (implying they vanished in the 1886 eruption as generations of geologists assumed), the locations lay across the shores and so may have survived. If they survive, even in a damaged state; they may yet be reinstated as the premier tourist attraction in the Southern Hemisphere, as they were in the 19th century. This primary survey evidence, disturbs geologists and a scientific debate developed. At least 22 articles, lectures and books from seven groups comprise this debate. Hochstetter's survey provides the only primary, pre-eruption survey evidence of the Terrace locations. The author is the most widely-published living specialist on the Pink and White Terraces.

My research and thesis was correctly described by one Australian reviewer as the 'seminal work' o... more My research and thesis was correctly described by one Australian reviewer as the 'seminal work' on the subject in the country. This work and the associated articles published in the USA, UK and Australia projected the linkages between changes in the economy and changes in community health. In those days this linkage was by no means accepted and I like to think this book had a role in the following paradigm shift.
The thesis findings had to wait thirty-six years for gene science to develop and illustrate my posited 1978 pathway for stress transmission between generations. See Slavich UCLA at doi.org/k4f and below a citation from Coghlan 10/4/2013...
"A review published last month highlights research demonstrating how psychological stress leads to long-lasting changes in genes that trigger chronic inflammation. This is bad news – chronic inflammation can raise the risk of heart attacks, depression and even cancer.
While the studies focused on stressors such as loneliness and social rejection, the biological mechanisms involved are thought to be triggered by any sudden or chronic psychological stress, such as losing a job, home or welfare support. "Insofar as our genomes are responsive to such threats, there exists the possibility that our genes may be partly responsible for links between financial crises and health," says George Slavich of the University of California at Los Angeles, a co-author of the review (Clinical Psychological Science, doi.org/k4f).
There is already historic evidence of increases in mental health problems and heart attacks following job losses. A study as far back as 1979, for example, showed that in the UK between 1936 and 1976, deaths from heart disease began to rise between two and three years after periods of high unemployment, and continued for a decade. [Judging by the time series year points, this is likely to be my Australian research, misquoted.] A 2006 study in the Netherlands covering the years 1815 to 2000 showed that generations born during recessions have abnormally high rates of early death.
So what's going on? During stressful events, the brain and other parts of the central nervous system flood the body with stress hormones such as cortisol. These activate cell surface receptors that instruct the cell to switch on genes that stoke inflammation. The result is a surge of chemicals that accelerate wound healing and combat infections."

Sons of Asclepius is the first biography I've undertaken, though The King's Crew is a unit histor... more Sons of Asclepius is the first biography I've undertaken, though The King's Crew is a unit history and uses a similar research approach. The subject of Sons of Asclepius is the unsung Australian intellectual and surgeon Dr Tony Parker whose life, like that of many intellectuals...did not quite work out as he may have hoped. In fact, it ended with undeserved humiliation and distress.
Tony Parker was my third and final mentor and he significantly shaped my young life. I was privileged to work along with him for near seven years, hence I approach his biography with a great deal of first-hand insight into the man and also with a great deal of affection. This is fortunate for the work as he reminded me a lot of Socrates in his approach to life, and like that philosopher left few written records. What he left to me, I've appended to this book.
Sons of Asclepius also includes a first brief biography of Dr Richard Parker, Tony Parker's elder brother and one of the unsung medical heroes of the WWII Burma Railway.
This book is really a sequel to a 1995 Woollahra Library, Sydney exhibition of WWI glass-plate photographic images, entitled Rose Bay Memories. This Parker family collection of images is available online for free download and ideally should be browsed before taking up my biography.
Sons of Asclepius has been delayed some forty-two years by my other life priorities. The delay has seen the passing of most of those involved in Dr Parker's demise, and this enables me now to make a forensic approach to his biography... without fear or favour.

Rex's latest 2014 work The King's Crew is the 460 page illustrated Unit History of No. 14 Squadr... more Rex's latest 2014 work The King's Crew is the 460 page illustrated Unit History of No. 14 Squadron (City of Gisborne) Air Training Corps. It features 350 illustrations, charts and tables. This is one of a very few Air Training Corps unit histories written since the ATC was founded by AIRCDRE John Chamier in WWII, and is the most complete and comprehensive ATC unit history published to date. Given the national development history of the ATC in this country hasn't been published as a book since 1963, I included chapters on the UK genesis of the ATC as well as on the early development in New Zealand. Uniquely, the 2022 edition softback and original ebook have a companion multimedia film "King's Crew". This is sofar available only as a download in ".pptx" file format, and hence cannot be listed on Amazon.

Motorcycle Crankcase Ventilation' by Rex Bunn is the first book ever published on this subject: y... more Motorcycle Crankcase Ventilation' by Rex Bunn is the first book ever published on this subject: yet it is one which affects riders of any vintage, classic and modern motorcycle at some time. It is available only as an ebook on Kindle.

The comprehensive 454-page book (650 Kindle pages), has 311 photos, charts and illustrations. Chapters are included from AUT Engineering School and US colleagues. While research-based, it is plainly written for the everyday rider, as well as for racers, tuners, mechanics and engineers. Rex includes chapters on making and installing your own crankcase breather, as well as sharing secrets of the breathers art. This book plainly shows how to improve crankcase breathing, reduce power losses and cut oil leaks on nearly any four-stroke motorcycle.

The book describes the development history of motorcycle crankcase
ventilation, and shares forty selected case studies from the thousands on the authors files: from Ariel to Moto Guzzi, from Norton to Yamaha.

Much original research into crankcase ventilation is published, along
with a review of the latest advances in race engineering. Rex is
the designer of the "Bunn Breather Kits" used around the world, and
now shares his research findings showing just how to conserve and develop our motorcycle engines

'Motorcycle Blow-by: A Shower of Sparks' is the new abridged version of my 2013 work 'Motorcycle ... more 'Motorcycle Blow-by: A Shower of Sparks' is the new abridged version of my 2013 work 'Motorcycle Crankcase Ventilation'. These are the first books published on this subject: one which affects riders of any vintage, classic and modern motorcycle at some time. Both are available as Kindle ebooks.

The abridged 228-page edition (329 Kindle pages), is published for the rider who wants a simple guide to fixing oil leaks and other signs of motorcycle crankcase ventilation problems, without the history, research and technical developments in the subject. This abridged version is also profusely illustrated with photos, charts and illustrations, enabling easy design and fitting of breathers and details on fitting the older Bunn Breather Kits. It is plainly written for the everyday rider, as well as for racers, tuners, mechanics and engineers.

Rex includes chapters on making and installing your own crankcase breather, as well as sharing secrets of the breathers art. This book plainly shows how to improve crankcase breathing, reduce power losses and cut oil leaks on nearly any four-stroke motorcycle.

The book includes forty selected case studies from the thousands on the authors files: from Ariel to Moto Guzzi, from Norton to Yamaha. Much original research into crankcase ventilation is published, along with a review of the latest advances in race engineering. Rex is the designer of the "Bunn Breather Kits" used around the world, and now shares his research findings showing just how to conserve and develop our motorcycle engines

Book Description Publication Date: November 3, 2013 The revised, extended third edition of Rex ... more Book Description
Publication Date: November 3, 2013
The revised, extended third edition of Rex Bunn's popular 2007 work. This new 2013 e-dition has 46 pages of new material, including updates for the Bonnie Index to 2013 and a section on buried treasure.

A different and fascinating new look at classic motorcycling with an international flavour - sure to appeal to all owners (and intending owners) of classic bikes. "Classic Motorcycling" is about buying, riding and maintaining classic motorcycles. It comes complete with sections on survival rates of classics and their price appreciation over recent years with future predictions, and is literally packed full of advice for both aspiring and experienced owners. From choosing the right bike, training for today's traffic, clothing, safety, maintenance, how and where to buy those all important spares, equipping a workshop, projects to improve most classics to simply experiencing the joy of ownership - its all here.

The first edition of this popular 2007 work. A different and fascinating new look at classic moto... more The first edition of this popular 2007 work. A different and fascinating new look at classic motorcycling with an international flavour - sure to appeal to all owners (and intending owners) of classic bikes. "Classic Motorcycling" is about buying, riding and maintaining classic motorcycles. It comes complete with sections on survival rates of classics and their price appreciation over recent years with future predictions, and is literally packed full of advice for both aspiring and experienced owners. From choosing the right bike, training for today's traffic, clothing, safety, maintenance, how and where to buy those all important spares, equipping a workshop, projects to improve most classics to simply experiencing the joy of ownership - its all here.

ISBN : 9780473210632, 2012

A Multimedia film. The unit history of 14 Squadron (City of Gisborne) Air Training Corps. A multi... more A Multimedia film. The unit history of 14 Squadron (City of Gisborne) Air Training Corps. A multifile format which includes soundfiles (MP3 and WAV) of Lancaster bombers and their crew; spoken history; power points; pictures and music excerpts.

This short film clip comprises the rushes from footage of the first ever scuba dive into Lake Rot... more This short film clip comprises the rushes from footage of the first ever scuba dive into Lake Rotomahana in New Zealand. This high-country lake replaced an older lake, roughly a tenth the size; when Mt Tarawera exploded in 1886. The new lake formed in the volcanic crater.
Our February 2016 dive was to explore and hopefully locate evidence of the real locations of the 'Pink and White Terraces', the 'Eighth Wonder of the World' in the nineteenth century. These were wrongly assumed to have blown skyward during the eruption, in the absence of much evidence and given some inept government investigation.

While we did find tantalising evidence, hard evidence escaped our team. The dive however was memorable for it's being a first in the 130 years since the Tarawera eruption and we saw spectacular scenes above and below water.

Paradoxically, a fortnight later the lost 1859 survey of Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces came into my hands. Dr Hochstetter's field diary obsoletes all previous research and speculation into the fate of the Pink and White Terraces, by my analysis of his data, providing GPS coordinates for their locations.

As a result, the research process behind the lake dive was redundant and abandoned. Instead I spent the next two months reverse-engineering the Hochstetter Survey, and compiling his bearings to deliver the Terrace locations. Finally the 130 year history of this wonder of the ancient world, could now be written.

Struggle to the Stars is an eighty-minute film; the first national Air Training Corps (ATC) docum... more Struggle to the Stars is an eighty-minute film; the first national Air Training Corps (ATC) documentary from any country. It coincides with the centenary of WWI, the 150th anniversary of Cadets in New Zealand, the run-up to the ANZAC centenary and the 75th anniversary of the ATC; and the imminent Dambusters remake in New Zealand.
It recounts the 1941-2014 development of the ATC in New Zealand, seen through the eyes of an East Coast ATC unit, number 14 Squadron. It dramatises the experience of ten boys struggling into manhood with ATC officers as their mentors and role models. These scenes re-create life when the Corps was its peak...with aeroplanes, camps, shooting, frank humour, old cars and motorcycles, historically-correct profanity and Cardinal Puff. I’m producing it as one of the ten boys, and as it happened.
The documentary builds on the author’s 2012 multimedia film King’s Crew. That film was the first complete ATC unit history. It is the pilot for Struggle to the Stars.

King’s Crew, Multimedia Film Edition King’s Crew is the multimedia film edition of the 14 Squadr... more King’s Crew, Multimedia Film Edition
King’s Crew is the multimedia film edition of the 14 Squadron ATC Unit History book The King’s Crew. The film edition complements the book. The media combination produces a unique audio, visual and written unit history development history of this typical New Zealand Air Training Corps (ATC) squadron i.e. Number 14 Squadron Gisborne.
The dual unit history was five years in research and production. The film runs for fifty minutes on your PC, laptop, tablet or video projector. The written history is a 400 page ebook. King’s Crew is certified by the NZFC as a New Zealand animated multimedia film.
The film is narrated with a musical score and 142 aviation clips. It includes the complete 1941-2014 Honour Roll as well as access to extensive photo and memorabilia collections covering the squadron’s and the ATC proud history. There are several compelling sections including the Bomber Command anthem “Lie in the Dark and Listen”, included by permission of Noel Coward’s estate, as well as a rendition of the long-lost (and profane) RAF WWII ditty ‘Job Bunt’.

2006- Bunn, A.R. Bunn Breather Kit. Australia Patent 2006100947 “The BUNN Breather Kit has been d... more 2006- Bunn, A.R. Bunn Breather Kit. Australia Patent 2006100947
“The BUNN Breather Kit has been developed to operationalise the DAPPER-Conversion technology granted patent number 2006100505. After continued field testing I document several practical dimensions to the technology that were apparent at the time of first filing, but were not able to be operationally specified until the BUNN Breather Kit was developed. The BUNN Breather kit is now a viable, physical means of installing the DAPPER-Conversion on a range of motor vehicle engines, chiefly motorcycles. The schematic diagram showing the BUNN Breather kit installed on a typical motorcycle engine, is shown in the attached specification drawing. There, a BUNN Breather Kit Inlet valve is connected via a rockerbox, cam-box, timing case or other suitable engine compartment. The Inlet and Exhaust connections may be reversed to fit particular engine configurations. The BUNN Breather Kit Inlet line terminates with an approved air filter. This filter contains an oiled-cotton medium, to prevent the ingress of dirt into the engine. The air filter is washable and re-usable and while intact, provides a flame barrier. The BUNN Exhaust Breather valve and line is connected via the crankcase, timing case or other suitable compartment connected to the crankcase. This line may be connected through an oil trap or condenser chamber, on certain engines, and for racing engines, may be required to terminate in a catch-bottle. For many road motorcycle engines, especially classic and vintage engines, the oil trap facility may not be required, such is the effectiveness of the BUNN Breather, at reducing and preventing oil blowing out the engine breathers. This line may also be used for emission control purposes, to recycle blow-by gases into the engine air intake, providing ordinary precautions are taken against backfiring creating a flame-path between carburettor and crankcase.

2007- Bunn, A.R. and White. D. Bunn Counter-Revolutionary Racing Breather. ... more 2007- Bunn, A.R. and White. D. Bunn Counter-Revolutionary Racing Breather.
Australia Patent 2007100399
“The Bunn Breather Racing Kit is developed to further operationalise the DAPPER-Conversion technology granted patent number 2006100505, and the original Bunn Breather Kit granted patent number 2006100947. The special breathing requirements of classic sports and racing engines lead to this second implementation of the DAPPER technology, via a fundamentally redesigned breathing kit. It uniquely exploits the concept of “counter-revolutionary breathing” embedded but not developed in the original DAPPER research and patent. Counter-revolutionary breathing is defined as the variable adjustment of the crankcase air flows and air pressures created by the DAPPER-Conversion, to achieve maximum engine power development over a target rpm range, whilst optimising engine oil viscosity, lubricity and film-forming ability under extreme racing conditions.

The first part of the required innovative step lies in observing that the prior art looked on racing engine crankcase breathing as a means of collecting the blow-by expelled by a sporting engine, separating the air from the blow-by and entrained oil, and either collecting the fluid residue in a catch-bottle for disposal, or draining the oil and blow-by back into the engine from some form of external oil-trap. No prior art has explored the implications of separating blow-by from engine oil within the sporting engine, and selectively pumping the waste out of the engine; as by the vacuum-distillation process created by the BBRK. This inter alia helps maintain oil volume, lubricity and viscosity; all vital factors in racing engines.

2000- Bunn, A.R. Glen et al. Chicken Trussing- UK Patent 9806359.7 This patent was... more 2000- Bunn, A.R. Glen et al. Chicken Trussing- UK Patent 9806359.7
This patent was for the invention of the world's first automatic poultry trussing production system, using an edible collagen truss. The system was designed to mechanise a heavily labour-intensive production stage, while relieving teams of female workers around the world, who suffered terrible RSI wrist injuries from manual poultry trussing.

2006- Bunn, A.R. The DAPPER-Conversion. Australia Patent 2006100947 “The DAPPER-Conversion ... more 2006- Bunn, A.R. The DAPPER-Conversion. Australia Patent 2006100947
“The DAPPER-Conversion System- is a ‘Powered, Purging, Flow’ solution for classic engine crankcase pressure problems, blowby purging and oil leak resolution. This system is designed for classic motorcycles, which pre-date the various country regulatory authorities’ requirements to recycle blowby, via PCV systems. The DAPPER-Conversion system employs twin breathers and novel twin opposed valves, to form a powered (vs passive), blowby and pressure exhausting pump. The flutter valves have one moving component, the floating seal, and are designed to operate at very low pressures, and with minimum weight and inertia, so as to facilitate pumping effectiveness. A large calibre, one-way Exhaust breather, with an oil-trap, condenser and return, is installed in the crankcase. A smaller calibre, filtered, one-way, Inlet breather is installed into the rocker covers in the top end. As the piston descends, crankcase blowby gas is compressed and forced out the Exhaust breather. On the next upstroke, the Exhaust breather closes and the top Inlet breather opens, admitting fresh air. This flows down to the sump. Air inertia slows its passage. Over successive strokes, the blowby gas is diluted and evacuated, as fresh air enters the engine and continuously flows down through and out the cases. The Exhaust breather by design passes airflow at up to three times the rate of the Inlet breather, helping to ensure that the crankcase never becomes pressurised. As well, the top Inlet air has to find a tortuous path down to the output breather, and this introduces a lag, and helps to flush corrosive blowby gas out of the engine. Thus, the average crankcase pressure should never exceed atmospheric pressure, and be typically below that. Hence, oil leaks are encouraged to stay inside the engine.

2014 TTA and PAWTL Project plenary conferences

These PowerPoints are the short 55 page [RaisingMayday2022WorkX.pdf] and long 28 May, 79 page [Ra... more These PowerPoints are the short 55 page [RaisingMayday2022WorkX.pdf] and long 28 May, 79 page [RaisingMaydayMan28.5Work.pdf] versions of the 2014 PAWTL Project pitch. A third TALT, 81 page version was prepped for the planned July 21 presentation to TALT, but the project was suspended before that version could be delivered. PAWTL was the 2014 progenitor to my 2017-2018 PAWTL2 Project. Both aimed to relocate and if possible recover the Pink, Black and White Terraces: the lost New Zealand "Eighth Wonder of the World" at Rotomahana. In 2014 I first accepted the 2011-2014 claims by GNS Science et al i.e. that they had located the in situ Pink and White Terraces on the bottom of new Lake Rotomahana. On that last May delivery, I recall advising the audience that I no longer believed the GNS et al location claim for the Pink Terrace and that from their evidence and my research, it lay closer to the shore in shallower water. When the Hochstetter Survey surfaced in 2016, providing for the first time survey coordinates for the lost Terraces: I realised my 2014 doubts about the GNS et al claims were well founded. This pitch was researched and developed full-time over February-June 2014 and delivered to key politicians and tribal meetings of the Tuhourangi Tribal Authority, with Ngati Rangitihi Hapu leaders attending later presentations. My liaison (appointed by Todd McClay MP) to introduce me to Te Arawa was Col. (retd.) Leith Comer. The TTA accepted and approved the project after three major presentations and their exhaustive examination, over 4/4/2014, 1/5/2014 and 28/5/2014. By the latter date, I also lodged three Guinness World Record applications for my engineering designs of giant siphons and a Hero's Fountain. We also increased the budget allocation for the EIS to $1m i.e. to cover the predicted requirement to examine both lakes and the Tarawera River to the sea. The TTA with my encouragement was to take over PAWTL, a Social Enterprise entity. The company organigramme and board were set, with balance sheet and capital plan. Dr Cornel de Ronde of GNS Science was invited as a director. Ironically, on my birthday 26/6/2014, I received a warning from de Ronde which forced me to suspend the PAWTL Project and today it remains suspended. In 2014 the Project was subject to commercial secrecy and accessible only under an NDA. Now eight years later, it should enter the public record as the material in it may assist future Terrace investigators. Regards, Rex Bunn.

Summary:- This Royal Society lecture first reprises the PAWTL Project, triggered by 2011-2012 GN... more Summary:- This Royal Society lecture first reprises the PAWTL Project, triggered by 2011-2012 GNS Science research at Lake Rotomahana, which reported the rediscovery of the Pink and White Terraces, New Zealand’s eighth wonder of the world. PAWTL would lower the lake, expose the Pink and White Terraces, and restore them as the leading tourism attraction in New Zealand. This was projected to double inbound tourism and transform the Rotorua economy.

Next, we move to Sascha Nolden’s recovery of the forgotten 1859 diary by Ferdinand Hochstetter, one which contained survey data for old Lake Rotomahana and the Pink and White Terraces. The bearing array was reverse engineered to identify Hochstetter’s survey baseline. Survey iterations were performed to reconstruct the lost Lake Rotomahana over today’s topographic map. Forensic cartography delivered control points to warp Hochstetter’s survey maps over the new Lake Rotomahana map. The Pink and White Terrace locations now appear mostly on land and partly beneath the new lake.
Excavation is conceivable for the Black Terrace and possibly for Te Otukapuarangi. The Pink and White Terraces may once more delight visitors in Rotorua via the suggested Terraces Track, linking the Tarawera Trail with Mt Tarawera and passing over the Pink, White and Black Terrace sites. The traverse would rival the Tongariro Crossing, and help relieve excess tourist load on it.
Slides from this lecture can be viewed at www.slideshare.net/RexBunn

Rex talks to us about King’s Crew, which is the unique Unit History of an exemplary Air Training ... more Rex talks to us about King’s Crew, which is the unique Unit History of an exemplary Air Training Corps Squadron, No. 14 Squadron ATC, between 1941 and 2011. This is not merely a book, it is a multimedia history which gathers together the stories and photos of cadets who served over the 70 year history. It is the only known complete history of an Air Training Corps squadron in New Zealand.

Radio New Zealand, 2018

A March 2018 interview on Radio New Zealand; one held over from 2017. On this I previewed the 201... more A March 2018 interview on Radio New Zealand; one held over from 2017. On this I previewed the 2018 research which reviewed and improved the accuracy of our 2017 derivation of Hochstetter's Lake Rotomahana 1859 survey.

The associated RNZ Image Gallery inserts the latest findings into the public record as of March 20, 2018. It contains my material on the first altimetry of the Pink and White Terraces, as well as my location findings for Te Tuhi's Spring (the third, so-called Black Terrace) and the predicted location of Black Terrace Crater, lost from the historical record in the 1890's.

Link to broadcast and image gallery:- https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2018636848/pink-and-white-terraces-final-location-discovered