Feb 12 - Heading to Christchurch

Our mission for today was to head north back to Christchurch. During the drive out of the city which isn’t all that exciting, Linda played a video for us. it’s a promotional video made by Grand Pacific Tours featuring “Ruby and Gerald”, two frustrated travellers who had NOT chosen to travel with GPT. Ruby sported, first a dung-brown velour pant suit, and then a Pepto Bismol pink dinner suit. The whole thing was done with the wonderful cheeky Kiwi sense of humour.

We passed through the little town of Moeraki, noted for its unique large, perfect round boulders, measuring up to about 7 feet in diameter. Local Māori legends explained the boulders as the remains of eel baskets, calabashes, and kumara washed ashore from the wreck of Arai-te-uru, a large sailing canoe. There is a complex, geological explanation that explains how mud, fine silt and clay, cemented by calcite ended up being round. The tide was in on the beach so we didn’t get to actually see these natural wonders.

Another interesting element of this area is the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum. When built in the late 19th century, it was the largest building in the country, noted for its scale and extravagant architecture. While some of its treatment regimes are now considered barbaric, Seacliff was groundbreaking in some parts of its treatment programme, with noted medical reformer Truby King appointed Medical Superintendent in 1889, a position he held for 30 years. Patients were 'prescribed' fresh air, exercise, good nutrition and productive work (for example, in on-site laundries, gardens, and a forge) as part of their therapeutic regime. King is credited as having turned what was essentially conceived as a prison into an efficient working farm. Another of King's innovations, was his implementation of small dormitories housed in buildings adjacent to the larger asylum. This style of accommodation has been considered the forerunner to the villa system later adopted by all mental health institutions in New Zealand.

We also passed the Totara Estate - the farm where the meat was for the very first frozen shipment to England was sourced in 1881. This was the very beginning of what continues to be a key element of the New Zealand economy.

We had our mid-morning tea/coffee break in the town of Oamaru. European settlers came to this town in the late 1840s and early 1850s. With very few trees in the area, builders turned to the plentiful supplies of local limestone for their material. The Victorian precinct/neighbourhood in southern part of Oamaru's main commercial district ranks as one of New Zealand's most impressive streetscapes due to the many prominent 19th century buildings constructed from this material. Detailed carvings and grand pillars adorn the buildings. It was as if we had been transported to Greece for our break time.

In August 2016 Oamaru made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest gathering of steampunks in the world. Steampunk is a quirky and fun genre of science fiction that features steam-powered technology. It is often set in an alternative, futuristic version of 19th century Victorian England. The steampunk future is driven by unusual steam-powered devices, like those featured in the writings of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne, and in TV shows such as Dr. Who.Läs mer