Welcome to Winton

Welcome to Winton, the heart of Southland,  that’s what the sign said.  Looking for our stop for the night, we drove past a huge paddock full of stooks of wheat waiting to be harvested (we think).

Stook Meaning:  “A stook, also referred to as a shock is a circular or rounded arrangement of swathes of cut grain stalks placed on the ground in a field. Typically sheaves of grains such as wheat, barley and oats may be 'stooked' so they are ready for threshing”.

Welcome to Winton

Stooks as far as the eye can see

Here’s our stop for the night, the  Winton Golf Club.  “Welcome, campers”, says the friendly sign.  The club offers powered sites, showers and toilets, and as a bonus, a free washing machine.  The afternoon sun filtered through a stand of poplars.

Winton Golf Club

Established in 1861 the town of Winton was named after Thomas Winton, and became an important stop for those on the way to the goldfields.  Farms running both sheep and dairy herds abound, and the town’s biggest industry is sawmilling, with timber being processed for both the local and export markets.

But Winton has a dark secret.  It was of the home of the notorious Minnie Deans, who became the first – and only – woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her story exposed the stark realities of paid childcare and the lack of choice that many women faced in this period.  She had looked after children, for a fee, since the late 1880s at her rural Winton home, The Larches. At any one time there could be up to nine children under the age of three in her care, and an investigation took place after several suspicious deaths.  Mrs Deans was hanged at Invercargill gaol on 12 August 1895, earning the dubious honour of being the only woman ever executed in New Zealand.

 Minnie Deans of Winton

Dark secrets aside, Winton seemed a very pleasant town to us, a mixture of old buildings and plenty of more modern ones.  I love the pretty little colonial timber churches like this and the Holy Trinity Anglican Church had to fight to survive.   Built in 1876, it fell into disrepair and was threatened with demolition in 1979.  After a .lot of hard work by parishioners and friends, the church was rededicated in 1981.

  Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Jamieson’s Building was another in town which had a chequered life.  Built in 1894, it survived two major fires in 1901 and 1921.  The Jamieson family ran a bakery and restaurant on the ground floor and lived upstairs.  In 1894 the Southland Times newspaper described the building as “the finest building in Winton and a most decided ornament to the town.  The building is still involved in the food trade (take-aways)  to this day. 

Jamieson’s Building

Here is a selection of other interesting old buildings in the main street.

The Old Post Office

The Winton Hotel Established 1889

The Railway Hotel Established 1861

Back in camp to cook the evening meal and later in the evening a most glorious sunset filled the sky.  Out came the cameras to capture this lovely sight.  A great finale to another good day travelling and exploring our wonderful country.

Sunset over Winton

Old Mandeville Airfield & Croydon Aircraft Company

Total Nights and Distance Travelled on Tour to Date = 43 Nights & 2024 Kms

 

Our departure from Gore was delayed while we left the caravan on site and drove up SH94 to the historic Old Mandeville Airfield.  Lots of blokey stuff here, starting off with a Rogers steam engine, manufactured by Paterson’s works, in New Jersey, USA.  This engine once ran on the Kingston to Invercargill line and Gore to Kingston.  When it was no longer required it was dumped in the Oereti River (as many old engines were) before being rescued and sent to Mandeville.  When funding becomes available the plan is to lay track to circle the Mandeville airfield and offer steam train rides.

 

Rogers steam engine

The Croydon Aircraft Company restores vintage aircraft and for the price of a gold coin donation visitors are welcome to view the work being undertaken and wander around to their heart’s content.

  Some of the Aircraft under restoration

Manufacture of a Laminated Propeller

 

A visit to the Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre right next door had on display a large number of restored  and airworthy aircraft.  This is the largest collection of De Havilland aircraft in the southern Hemisphere. If you wish you have a ride in any number of these aircraft this can be arranged for a few dollars.

  View of the hanger of the Heritage Centre

Who remembers flying in one of these DH’89  Dominies?

 

The “Moth” cafe and restaurant is the former Mandeville Hotel.  While the Gore district was declared “dry” for 51 long years during prohibition, Mandeville was not.  The drinkers from Gore who had the ways and means to travel popped up to this pub and enjoyed their tipple of choice.  The large size of the building shows just how busy it must have been during those long years of  prohibition

Time for a coffee at the former Mandeville Hotel

 

This is venue that all blokes should put on their must see list as the manufacturing side of the business is awe inspiring operation both in the quantity and the workmanship of the work undertaken. Then there is the heritage site  with all of the different De Havilland aircraft on show.

Romany Rambler: Travelled 22,216Km; 389Total Nights

Snapshots of Gore

There is of course much more to Gore than illicit moonshine whisky.  Anglers come from far and wide to try and catch one of the local brown trout during the fishing season.  In fact, the “Welcome to Gore” sign shows a monster version of one of these fish.  Designed by Errol Allison in 1989, the brown trout statue was commissioned to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Gore Lions Club.

Welcome to Gore

We had found the Flemings factory in Invercargill a couple of days ago, and here in Gore we came across the Flemings Creamota Mill building, constructed in 1892, emblazoned with a picture of “Sergeant Dan, the Creamota Man”.  The iconic Sergeant Dan was used as advertising way back in the 1920s to promote the sale of Creamota porridge made from locally grown oats.  Kiwi mums made big pots of the stuff and ladled it out to their children for breakfast during the cold winter months.  If we were lucky, we got to put some brown sugar and cream on top of our plate of porridge, but usually we just poured milk over it.  It was both yummy and warming, and no doubt the mums liked it as it porridge was quite a cheap breakfast.  Those were the days.

Sergeant Dan, the Creamota Man

The modern looking clock tower  houses the clock mechanism and bells from the Post Office Tower, which were commissioned in 1906.   This was dismantled in 1945 and the clock and bells were stored until the new tower was finally erected 50 years later. The “Westminster Chimes” clock was made in England by J B Joyce and Co, and the bells were also made in England by world-renowned John Taylor and Co.   The clock mechanism and full descriptions of the parts can be seen through the glass windows at the bottom of the tower.

    The clock tower

Looking through the windows

Gore is known as the Country Music Capitol of New Zealand, and the Gore Country Music Club’s “Hands of Fame” monument features the handprints and names of well known Kiwi musicians and singers. 

Posing in front of the “big guitar”

We are certainly enjoying our stay at the Gore A & P Showgrounds.  We are parked up on hard standing next to the grand-stand, have power available, as well as showers and toilets and a water supply.  What more could we need?

Our camp sites in Gore

There was a lot of “horsey” sounds coming from behind a stand of trees so we wandered over to have a look.  The Southland Shafts and Wheels club were busy preparing for a “Fun Day” and were busy harnessing up their horses.  We watched as a part Clydesdale, part Morgan horse had a gig attached ready for a trot around.

Gently does it

The club has a large collection of gigs and equipment all safely under cover in a huge shed.  Fancy little ones, big heavy carts, a gypsy caravan, and everything in between.  There must be a whole lot of serious money in this collection, which no doubt has been loving collected and restored over the years. Today was a fun day for the club and they were having an outing without any competitions, although there was one horse being reacquainted with harness as he was to be used in a ploughing competition shortly.

A view of the shed

Heavy duty drays

Even a Gypsy caravan

So you can see, there is plenty going on in Gore.  And as a nice finale to our time here, we are off to the Gore Town and Country Restaurant just over the road tonight for a Sunday Roast for dinner.

Gore – home of Hokonui Moonshine

Total Nights and Distance Travelled on Tour to Date = 41 Nights & 1960 Kms

Hokonui Moonshine, also known as Hokonui Hooch, has been synonymous with this part of Southland since the 1800s.  I was looking forward to visiting the Hokonui Moonshine Museum in Gore, and I wasn’t disappointed one iota.  

The drunkenness of early whalers and sealers and some settlers came head to head with the temperance group who had no tolerance with “demon drink”. The passing of prohibition in this area led to 15 hotels being closed down, which lasted for 51 years.

Hotels closed due to prohibition

Into this mix comes the Highland Scot family of McRaes, emigrants who brought out their stills, equipment and whisky making expertise to the Hokonui area of Southland, in the new colony of New Zealand. 

  Illicit whisky still in the bush

Bottling the product

Our visit started with a film in the small theatre starting with the story of Scotland and the McRaes and how they came to move to New Zealand.  The museum presents both sides of the story, with the McRaes out to make a living, and thundering sermons from the pulpit.

Sign the pledge to stop the demon drink

Moonshiners get caught, arrested, and sent to trial, while the whiskey just keeps fermenting on in even more hidden stills tucked away in the hills.  The displays moved us on past the whisky stills, through the church and the prohibition meetings, and finally into licensed premises. 

Some consider whisky as aquavite – the water of life.  Known as the shortened “usque” or “uiskie“ in Gaelic, the name changed to whisky by the 17th century, which described the malt distillation of the Scottish Highland stills.  

This is an outstanding museum, both informative and entertaining, reasonably priced with a discount for seniors.  To complete our visit as we exited the display area, we were offered a “wee dram” of the very best Hokonui Moonshine.  Yes, it’s still produced and bottled to this day, although it is all quite legal now.  If it is to your taste, you can buy a bottle to take home with you, or perhaps some of those whisky flavoured chocolates.

Romany Rambler: Travelled 22,152Km; 386 Total Nights

Bluff – home of the Oyster

We couldn’t stay in Invercargill without having a trip down to Bluff.   Jack Spencer landed in Bluff in 1824 and founded one of the earliest settlements in New Zealand.  The small town has a natural harbour and a history of whaling, sealing and shipping.  Bluff never aspired to the dizzy heights of the wool rich towns like Oamaru, and is still very much a working town.  Known for it’s oyster dredging industry, Bluff is home to the best oysters in the world.  It’s true, we ate some last night!

Up the 876ft Bluff Hill we drove to get to the lookout for an overview of the surrounding area.  The circular viewing platform was not here on our last visit many years ago, and was completed in 2001.  And what a view we got.  Bluff is made up of a very flat landscape, and we could see the town, Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter, Stewart Island, and a host of other smaller islands.

Stewart Island in the distance

The town of Bluff

The world famous Stirling Point signpost was attracting plenty of photographers, everyone wanted to stand in front and get their photos taken, us included.  The signpost points the way to twelve locations, including the South Pole, Wellington and London.  Geoff and Robin set up their tripods each, pushed the necessary buttons on their cameras, then raced back to join the group for our photos.  Stirling Point was named after Captain William Stirling and a whaling station was sited here.

  By the famous signpost at Stirling Point

A giant chain reflects the story of Maui, who was a Polynesian voyager with special powers, and how New Zealand came to be.  The stories tell how he pulled up Stewart Island from the ocean floor to be the anchor-stone for his canoe.  Maui was then able to cast his line and haul out the giant fish which became the North Island. 

 

What’s this – shades of the UK.  Seems we have a Land’s End here in New Zealand.

Land’s End at Stirling Point

Driving back down the hill we stopped off at Memorial Grove,  dedicated in 1946 to honour the men from Bluff who had died in combat.  Twenty five trees were planted in the grove by schoolchildren, and a further 300 were planted around the perimeter.  The grove is a very peaceful place in which to remember fallen servicemen who gave their lives.

    Anzac Memorial Grove

After our picnic lunch on the waterfront amongst the seagulls, our next stop was the Bluff Maritime Museum, with an extremely reasonable $3 entry fee.  The displays covered all things nautical, from whaling, oyster dredging, ship wrecks, and to the more modern Seacat guided missiles from HMNZS Southland.

 

  Displays in the Maritime Museum

Just a few steps away was the oyster boat “Monica”, ready and waiting to let us experience a little of the oyster dredging days when the ship worked in Foveaux Strait collecting these tasty shellfish.  The ship was built in 1909 and had quite a varied career before being converted to a fishing boat, and arrived in Bluff in 1937.

Oyster Boat Monica 11

Robin didn’t take much persuasion to step into wheel house.

Climbing down the extremely steep and narrow set of steps, we had to duck our heads as we entered the working part of the boat.  The smell of oil from long ago voyages permeated the air and we commented that there really wasn’t an awful lot of working room for big burly blokes.

Sink & Oil burner stove below decks

  There was more room to move up on deck with the dredges being lifted overhead by the winch.

Dredging baskets

Muffy was pleased to see us on our return and really, really wanted another nibble at that cat nip.  She’s got quite a taste for it now, so I hope she doesn’t go into withdrawal when we move on tomorrow.

Muffy nibbling on cat nip

Staying at the racecourse there are all sorts of things happening.  We took a stroll around the grounds and came across a couple of members from the local wood chopping club – a typical Australasian sport.  They take part in competitions and told us that if it wasn’t for their sponsors donating the cost of logs for them to chop to pieces, it would be a very expensive sport indeed.  Greyhound Trial Races were held in the early evening.  Later this evening a wedding will be taking place in the Members Stand.  It could well be a rather noisy night.  We will be sorry to leave this handy location – we are on power, with water and toilets available.  But it is time to move on, and tomorrow we head off to Gore.

Just like being in London

Walking through the set of handsome gates and into the 200 acres (80 hectares) of mature trees, gardens and manicured lawns sprinkled with fallen golden leaves.  “This is just like being in London”, I commented, “all we need now are some squirrels scampering around”.

Entrance to Queen’s Park

The Feldwick Gates are named after benefactor John Feldwick who bequeathed 20,000 pounds in 1913 to developed the park.  Emblazoned with Invercargill’s original Coat of Arms, which features a plough, a sheaf of corn, and a wool bale, depicting the farming wealth of the province, and a ship indicating overseas trade.

The original Coat of Arms

Tranquil duck pond 

We joined other walkers enjoying a morning walk up the broad tree lined avenue, past rose gardens filled with colour and ambled around the Japanese garden where a worker was carefully raking the stones between the small bushes.  Away in the distance was the band rotunda.

Walking down the avenue

Wonder if the city band still comes out on Sunday afternoons to entertain the citizens, or if this was a thing of the past?  We didn’t appreciate just how much area the park covers, as the grounds continue just as far in the distance from the rotunda as they did to reach it.

Jenny and Derek at the band rotunda

A statue in the Children’s Playground is by English sculpture Sir Charles Wheeler, and was unveiled in 1966 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother.  This lovely park is a credit to the City of Invercargill.

In the Children’s Playground

The area outside the park gates is just as attractive and the water feature invited closer inspection.  This is surrounded by brick plinths topped with roundels featuring New Zealand native birds. 

Water feature playing

Fantail on kowhai branch

And just to remind us that this part of the coast can be treacherous, this display outside the Information Centre shows three anchors of ships lost in the area.

  Lost at sea

There’s no doubt about it, Invercargill city is a lovely place, and we are certainly enjoying our time here.  With the innovative “no fees” policy, the city attracts many Polytechnic students to enrol down here in the deep south, which makes it a very vibrant city indeed.