Forty-seven Degrees South Latitude

Christchurch, New Zealand.

Leaving the grandeur of mountains and fiords at last, I took a bus from Te Anau down to Invercargill, on 24th September; we were soon in the rolling farmlands and neat little towns of Southland. I had mistakenly thought that this might be the "back of beyond", the wilder regions of New Zealand, but Southland is a vibrant, productive part of the country. It is a major agricultural area, and industrialised: there is a huge aluminium smelter on the coast, which incidentally is powered by the massive Manapouri Hydro-electric scheme, where I had just been. I read that the bauxite ore is mined in North Queensland, semi-processed somewhere else, and smelted at Invercargill.

The city, obviously named for some place in Scotland, reflects the settlers' nostalgia in the street names, which are mostly the names of Scottish rivers: Dee, Don, Spey, Tweed, Ettrick. As luck would have it, I had picked a bed & breakfast lodging very close to the bus stop at Queen's Park, a short walk from the city. It's a plain wooden cottage, with corrugated iron roof, and my hosts made me really welcome. They made me feel at home, and said I could come and go as I pleased, they did not lock the house! Coming from South Africa as I do, one can imagine how different this felt (in this day and age).

My first reaction on turning into the main street, Dee Street, was the architecture of the cityscape: there are no high-rise buildings! It was rather like looking back to the 1930's, or thereabouts, a lot of the buildings of two and three storeys have been preserved, and the facades decorated in the original styles. The Grand Hotel, at four storeys, was about the highest in sight, like an Victorian or Edwardian period piece. The ground floor levels were re-vamped, and done up as shops and offices, with more modern frontages. From the gigantic landscapes of Fiordland, I was transported into a cityscape where almost every street contained some architectural curiosity. With camera clicking busily, I walked the streets until sunset, which in itself was quite photogenic. The old City Hall, now a theatre, has been decorated in blue and cream, and is a gem of the late 19th or early 20th century. The Law courts are a remarkable contrast, the old courthouse is a rather severe single storey building in a 1920's or 30's style, immaculately maintained. The Justice Department must have run out of space, as they have built a nine-storey block next to the old court, about the highest building in town! The street is occupied by many solicitors' and barristers' offices. If you happen to be in Invercargill, The Kiln bar and restaurant is excellent, it is obviously the meeting and eating place of the legal fraternity. In my time around the city, I found some quite remarkable examples of architecture in what might be termed the Grand Manner: a Masonic hall, all massive pillars and brickwork; St Mary's Basilica, an ornate cathedral with a copper dome, built in 1905. I gathered it was the parish church for the catholic community; the Basilica stood out above the low-rise cityscape, not ugly, just somewhat incongruous. next door are the very neatly-kept Otepuni Gardens, with the Otepuni Creek flowing through, and the spring flowers just coming out: more camera-clicking -- one cannot resist the brilliant colours in the gardens, exremely photogenic.

Gardens and parks are a common thread running through my experience of New Zealand; parks and gardens, even the flower-beds on the traffic islands, are meticulously trimmed and cultivated, the edges immaculate and the flowers in formal lines (where appropriate, of course!). I admire the community spirit of a nation who are able, and willing, to put on show even the smallest towns. I could list them all, but that would be tedious; Queen's Park, Invercargill; Victoria and Hagley Parks, Christchurch, the War Memorial Gardens in Blenheim, where I am typing this now (3rd October), are gorgeous displays of gardening enthusiasm. To the prospective traveller in New Zealnd I would say: by all means see the grandeur of the mountains and the fiords, the fertile plains, the lovely coastline, but don't neglect the towns and cities, the are wondrous things there too.

This post must go up now: if you still have an interest, there's more to come, and I have a whack of pictures to show. See you around!