The Rat King – Buy 

While I was in the Animal Attic at the Otago Museum it also gave me the opportunity to view the single greatest exhibit on display in the building. The Museum has many fascinating sights including the skeleton of a 17 metre long fin whale which has been hanging from specially designed and built iron girders since 1883. Before going on display, the whale was owned by Captain William Barry, an ex-whaler who made a living from lecturing throughout New Zealand. After exhibiting the skeleton at a store in Nelson, he toured the country with the whale and at one point held a dinner party in its jaws. However, as impressive as the fin whale is, it doesn’t beat ‘The Rat King.’ 

A Rat King is formed when the tails of a group of rats become tied together in a way that they cannot escape. Usually the tails are knotted and entangled with straw, hay, hair or other material found close to their nests. Whenever I’m at the Otago Museum, I make a point of visiting the Rat King. It consists of eight Black rats whose tails are tangled together with horse hair. The rats had fallen from a nest that was located in a local shipping company shed in the 1930’s. I’d like to own it. I’d put it on display on the mantelpiece in our living room. I think it would really tie the room together however my wife disagrees.

Michelle Beevors – Anatomy Lessons – Buy 

My next stop was the Otago Museum. I didn’t have a particular reason to be there beyond it was indoors and they would let me take photos. On the top floor in the Animal Attic I found a special exhibition of life-sized sculptured animal skeletons by artist Michele Beevors, all of which feature knitted anatomy. It was very interesting in a sorrowful kind of way.

Olveston – Buy 

After being in the rain for some time, I decided I needed an indoor location to photograph and dry off. Somewhere I could happily wander around and leave wet footprints as a sign that I had been there. For a while I’d been meaning to visit the grand, stately home of Olveston which is located in an inner city suburb and this appeared to be the perfect time for a casual wander around the place.

Halfway Bush – Buy 

Further down the hill the fog had grown thick. The rain hadn’t eased at all, if anything it became more intense. It had turned into a heavy mist that managed to settle on every surface imaginable. Cars appeared out of the gloom from Three Mile Hill and disappeared just as quickly. It was like a great nothingness had settled over the city. It was then I decided that I was wet enough for one afternoon. I made up my mind to find an indoor location to wander around and photograph for an hour or so.

Trees & Bush On Three Mile Hill – Buy 

Making my way back to my car, I decided to take a scenic route through the bush. Water fell from the trees in a steady flow. I walked through a thick bed of leaves and fallen branches before coming across a stream at the bottom of a bank. This I followed for a few minutes, scrambling over rocks and logs until I came across a closed access road. Emerging from the bush and stream, I located my car where I’d left it and discovered I seemed to be considerably damper than I had first thought.

Three Mile Hill – Buy 

The city had disappeared under a low cloud of fog and mist that had brought with it the type of gentle rain that never seems to get any harder nor go anywhere. My morning had been spent nearly buried under a pile of paperwork while at the same time spending many hours in front of a computer screen. As the clock past 1pm, I decided it was time for a change of scenery. Since the city was hidden by a white veil, it seemed only logical to head up into the hills where the roads snaked its way through the trees to the flat plains beyond.

Evansdale Glen – Buy 

The track which had obviously been recently maintained quickly narrowed into a gorge or ravine valley type area. Two minutes later I reached another fence line with a sign that said “Wild animal control operations using firearms are currently being undertaken in this area.” This brought an obvious question to mind. Should I be more worried about the wild animals or the firearms being used to control them?” More nervous than ever, I pushed on. 

As the track continued, a thought suddenly crossed my mind. Maybe the reason I’ve never heard of this place is because no one ever ventures out alive? Such are the dangers of the New Zealand bush or walking tracks for that matter. You not only have to survive the maniacs on the road just to get there, but when you do, there’s numerous water obstacles, hunters and wild animals to elude. What a glorious country this is!

The Otago University In Spring – Buy 

The Otago University is a grand place in spring. There’s lots of old buildings made of stone that have been lovingly carved and maintained over the years. Then, there’s new buildings that have been constructed giving a wonderful blend of old and new around the campus. In spring, it’s all linked together with colourful blossoms.

Robbie Burns – Buy 

It seems that statues of Scottish poet Robbie Burns are rather popular. As far as statues go, there are over sixty known memorials, statues, busts and fountains of the famous Scottish poet around the world with at least twenty throughout Scotland. In fact, there are at least three in Dumfries where he died aged 37 in 1796. That puts the famous bard third in line after Christopher Columbus and Queen Victoria in statues dedicated to non-religious figures worldwide.

Crawford Street in Dunedin – Buy 

If you try to imagine all of this area being water with the shoreline somewhere in the distance along the line of the buildings, it’s quite a change. Once where ships used to rest, a state highway now runs carrying all sorts of motorised vehicles. Some of which actually know what a red light means!

The Dunedin Hinterland – Buy 

The hinterland that lays beyond Flagstaff in Dunedin and stretches into Central Otago.

St Paul’s Cathedral – Buy 

It wasn’t long before I arrived in the Octagon. Only being a short walk on foot from the railway station and with it being a still and pleasant afternoon it seemed a lovely idea to enjoy the sunshine while admiring some of the older buildings in the city centre.

DCC Heritage Walk 1 – Buy 

Leaving the Dunedin Railway Station once all the passenger’s from the cruise ship had hurriedly departed back to Port Chalmers I took a moment to take in the quiet square that looked up Stuart Street to the Octagon. It was like the calm following a brief but intense storm. It was then that I noticed one of the City Council’s Heritage Walk plaques on the ground. I see these from time to time however I’ve never actually paid them much mind or contemplated doing the entire walk. I vowed this was something I was going to do before the year was out!

Dunedin Railway Station – Buy 

The other day I glanced past a brief news item in the local paper without giving it much thought. Some time later, I reflected on that moment wishing I’d given it more attention. The brief article stated that the Westerdam cruise ship carrying 1916 passengers and 817 crew was due to dock in Port Chalmers at 8am before leaving again at 6.30pm. The reason these details are important is that I found myself at the Dunedin Railway Station at precisely the time that every single passenger from the ship decided to look inside the foyer of the railway station. What’s more, having my camera setup on a tripod created a great deal of excitement and interest and they all felt the need to ask me what I was doing! This I didn’t mind however it was a bit repetitive.

Colours at Blackhead Beach – Buy 

Finding myself with a few minutes to spare and not having any particular plans, I headed out to a nearby beach as the last light was starting to fade from sight. It was one of those still, moody evenings where a touch of colour lingered in the sky for a moment before slipping from sight.

Merton – Buy 

I do like using textures in a photo, they’re a lot of fun and it’s easy to let your imagination go wide. This was an older photo I took one morning while travelling through Merton in East Otago. It was looking a bit bland so I got creative with a number of layers of textures.

Vogel Street – Buy 

Puddles can be a wonderful source of subject matter for photographs, the only problem is that usually you need to get down really low to catch the reflections. Typically it’s just been raining, meaning you need to be prepared to get your knees a little wet while keeping an eye out for traffic.

The Esplanade In Colour – Buy 

Beaches are amazing places at sunrise during summer. In the early hours when the day is still silent, the air is warm and the colours of the sky reflect in the surrounding windows it becomes a place of magic.

Larnach’s Castle Garden’s – Buy 

Now isn’t this what every garden needs, an oversized big red chair at the end of a forest path. If that doesn’t set the imagination alight, nothing will!

Waitati Sunrise – Buy 

This was a wee scene I spotted one morning while passing through Waitati. The sun was about to rise above the horizon and at the same time the pre-sunrise light was making all sorts of fun silhouettes on the shore of the bay.

Bethunes Gully – Buy 

It’s not always monarchs, lords and ladies and those who come from a high nobility that get places named after them. To prove this point, David Bethune is a good example. David Bethune started as a butcher in Edinburgh during the 1860’s before he emigrated to Otago with his family in 1862. Once living near Dunedin, and in between twice being declared bankrupt, he ran a timber business and slaughter yard in North East Valley. In his later years he developed a drinking problem before dying in 1903 at a boarding house in Dunedin. 

These days, his name lives on as the property where his timber yard once stood has now been turned into a 86 hectare reserve known as Bethunes Gully.

Purakanui Coast – Buy 

On a task to survey land in the South Island in the early 1840’s, it was Frederick Tuckett’s intention to travel by foot from Port Cooper (Lyttelton) to Otago Harbour. But, unable to find anyone to carry his bags he was forced to change his plans. Instead, he sailed to Moeraki where Tuckett landed. He walked down the coast to Waikouaiti, from there he set out overland to Otago Harbour, accompanied by three men from a local iwi. 

Upon arrival at Waitati, there was some debate. The men from the local iwi wanted to travel around the coast by way of Purakanui. However, Tuckett was focused on seeing the land behind the hills and so the party set off into the thick bush, hacking and slashing their way as they went. 

To the local Māori this was a foolish way to travel and implored Tuckett to stop and turn back but not to be deterred, Tuckett pushed on and until at last they reached a ridge where they caught sight of Otago Harbour. They camped and the next day pushed their way through the bush before emerging in Deborah Bay.

Ko te Tuhono, by Ayesha Green – Buy 

Officially, the Octagon in Dunedin was made a public reserve 168 years ago in 1854. The Octagon was part of English surveyor Charles Kettle’s 1846 plan for the new city which would feature a large Octagonal area in the centre of the city with a small octagonal reserve in the middle. 

Once construction of the new city started with dwellings of all kinds being added, the Octagon stood empty for many years before any major structure of any kind was added. The first being a monument to William Cargill who was leader of the Free Church migration to Otago which was erected in 1864. Since then, monuments have been moved, added and replaced. Star Fountains have been added and dismantled and all kinds of upgrades have taken place. 
One of the latest additions is this sculpture called Ko te Tuhono, by Ayesha Green.

Postscript: 100 in 20

Boating in Broad Bay – Buy 

When the New Zealand Company’s chief Surveyor, Captain William Mein Smith left Otago Harbour sometime in the early 1940’s, he wasn’t too impressed. 

Having been sent down from Wellington to report on the suitability of the harbour as a place for a settlement, Captain Smith spent five days taking a boat around the harbour before departing with the view that there was ‘little arable land in sight’ and not many ‘desirable places’ to build a town. 

In the years preceding Captain Smith’s visit, the Otago Harbour had become a busy place. There had been local Māori iwi living in tribes along the coast for some time but the arrival of Europeans, brought to the area to hunt Seals and Whales, meant a steady stream of boats started to grace Otago Harbour. The whaling station which was operated by the Weller Brothers from Sydney had based their operations near the harbour entrance at a place called Otakou and it had grown to be one of the biggest in the country. At its peak producing 310 tons of oil in 1834. However, by the early 1840’s the whale population had been hunted so extensively that there remained little money to be made and population numbers in the Otago Harbour significantly dwindled. 

When Captain Smith arrived a few years after the whaling industry ceased, he came to survey the region as a place for potential further colonisation. He found small pockets of both Europeans and Māori living in the area but he concluded that there were very limited suitable places to build a town. Before departing the Otago region, he did make one recommendation however, he concluded that if any region would be favourable for a town it would be the areas now known as Portobello or Broad Bay.  

Postscript: A little bit of Ōtepoti ….

A waterfall in the Otira Gorge by Petrus van der Velden – Buy 

What a joy Art Galleries are. That is, if you like wandering in silence looking at pictures. If you don’t, then I’d imagine they would be rather dull places. I guess it would be similar to expecting everyone to enjoy going to see the All Blacks at Eden Park or Manchester United at Old Trafford. Personally, I love art galleries so one afternoon having found myself caught in a rainstorm, I ducked into the Dunedin Public Art Gallery to pass the time until the rain passed. They also let me set up my camera for a bit as it was reasonably quiet.

Postscript: A little bit of Ōtepoti ….

The Dunedin Coastline – Buy 

In bright sunshine on a clear afternoon I found a track that led its way along a section of the Dunedin coastline. The grass was long and overgrown yet the track was well worn and showed signs of many travellers who had passed this way. I found a spot that looked out beyond the cliffs where I might view the changing tide and shifts in wind.

Port Chalmers – Buy 

Located 15 kilometres northeast of Dunedin city, Port Chalmers holds the unique place in history as the landing spot of the Scottish Free Church settlers in 1848, New Zealand’s first successful shipment of frozen meat departed for Britain in 1882 and the ill-fated Robert Falcon Scott expedition to the South Pole left Port Chalmers for Antarctica on 19th November 1910.

If you’re interested in a walk, you can start at one end of the main street stroll in one giant loop. There’s a charming mix of both Victorian and Art Deco buildings that make up the main street. The shops are the endearing type that sell pottery, hats, jewellery and fine art. There’s art galleries, community spaces, monuments and the traditional convenience outlets of takeaways, a dairy and chemist. The cafes and tearooms are the charming sort where you can happily spend an afternoon sharing coffee with friends. Leaving the main street, you can explore the Iona Church, the Lady Thorn Rhododendron Dell, The Port Chalmers Town Belt and The Robert Falcon Scott monument and Lookout. 

Finish by detouring up to the lookout to see the Hotere Garden Oputae. Situated on top of the Port Chalmers Flagstaff lookout, the garden was built in 2005 to mark the return of four sculptures to their home at Observation Point where they had previously displayed at the studio of Ralph Hotere. Somehow the Hotere Garden Oputae and seems to sum Port Chalmers up, a delightfully tranquil and charming place with some beautiful touches.

Surfing Life – Buy 

The lovely thing about New Zealand is that there’s always a beach to enjoy on a fine day, or a terrible day for that matter. I took this at Aramoana Beach which has fairly consistent surf with its optimum conditions being in Spring and Summer.

Outram Glen – Buy 

What a delightful place Outram Glen is. It’s such a popular swimming spot as families enjoy the river which is lined with grass, shrubs and gravel beaches. The town of Outram is close by and it’s also the start of a number walking tracks. Also, as a wee side note, Outram was the first town in New Zealand to have electric street lights.

The University of Otago Registry Building – Buy 

The University of Otago is a grand place in spring. There’s old buildings to wander around and through with spring colour popping up all over the place.