"My wife's daughter and her husband have recently moved to Whanganui and we wanted to visit them as well as visit the observatory and catch up with Whanganui relatives."
Mr Davison left New Zealand in 1973 and spent 25 years in Australia where he met his Kiwi wife Jude Brazendale, and 17 years in Oxford, England.
"I specialise in aviation/defence image making, hold a defence security level of secret, and have flown in hundreds of classic, military aircraft.
"I spent 20 years with Lonely Planet, Berlitz, Insight Guides and many more.
"I travelled the world for them many times."
Now living in the picturesque village of Cordes-Sur-Ciel in southern France, Mr Davison said he and Jude moved there "on a whim."
"It is a beautiful village, built on a small mountain, so it has a triangular shape and looks fantastic on misty days when it rises out of the cloud."
Mr Davison's cousin Ash Ward still lives in Whanganui where his father, William Herschel Ward was honorary director of the observatory from 1927 to 1959.
The cousins are close in age but because there were a lot of children in their parents' families, they are different generations.
"My grandfather died of peritonitis long before I was born," said Mr Ward.
"I did spend a lot of time at the observatory when I was a kid and I am still very interested."
Mr Ward has recently retired from his work as a telecommunications technician and says he would like to spend more time studying astronomy now.
He and wife Junette say they were pleased when former Whanganui Museum director Eric Dorfman expressed an interest in doing restoration work at the observatory.
The Ward Observatory's nine and a half inch refracting telescope is the only one of its kind in New Zealand.
In the early 1900s, Joseph Ward and assistant Thomas Allison located 88 double stars with the aid of the telescope.
The stars are listed as "Ward doubles" in international catalogues.
The astronomical society gave the observatory to the Wanganui City Council in trust for the citizens of the city in 1926.
Joseph Ward's descendants say they would like to know that it will be here for future generations.
Jon Davison also has a connection to another Whanganui landmark.
His engineer grandfather, Harry Keningston was involved with the construction of the Bridge to Nowhere.