The Sutton railway station was once a busy wee place as locals came and went from the Strath Taieri area to Dunedin. These days, still visible inside the small, disused station, etched into the timber are the names of locals that date back nearly to the turn of the century. Some of them include the initials of soldiers from the area who served in the First World War, among them are the initials of A.C Peat.
At the age of 21, Arthur Charles Peat left Sutton in late 1914 and was enlisted for ‘The Great War’ as a member of the Otago Infantry Battalion on the 13th December 1914. On board the vessel the HMS Tahiti, his journey from Sutton took him firstly to Egypt where in early April he wrote to his brother Jack. In his letter he wrote about spending three days on the Red Sea before getting sight of the Suez canal. He wrote about saluting other ships as they passed, about buying fruit off the locals and disembarking to a train to head through the canal. He went on to write about meeting some of his mates once they were in camp and how they went into Cairo to have a look at the sites, commenting that he had only seen the pyramids from a distance. Wanting to ensure his letter went out on that day’s mail, he ended by promising to write all the news and tell all about the sights next time.
Arthur and the Otago Infantry Battalion were then shipped out to Gallipoli as part of the Gallipoli campaign. At Chunuk Bair on 7 August, 1915 Arthur Charles Peat was killed in action.-
I’ve had this building sitting in the back of my mind as a subject I’d like to do something with for a while. However, every time I’ve been past the light has been wrong or the outside has been blocked by cars, buses, trucks and utes. Fortunately, recently I discovered the whole area all but empty which gave me lots of time to work out exactly what I wanted to do.
This is another image about the passing of time, the pace of life and the passing of thought. It’s about a moment’s reflection and a projection towards the future. I’ve always found dusk and the end of the day a very contemplative period.
The Otago Peninsula is starting to have a growing fascination for me and its wondrous landscape. It really is a diverse place. On the peninsula the weather is constantly changing which can prove challenging. It also provides a terrific element for subject matter.
The corner of Water and Vogel Street is set in heart of Dunedin’s Warehouse Precinct. There you’ll find Vogel House which during the 1980s and 1990’s was used as a music venue for bands that were part of the Dunedin Sound. It was a popular rehearsal venue for musicians that included the popular group, The Chills who recorded their single Doledrums there in 1984.
On Sunday evening I was planning to walk to the beach in the early evening. I had a spot on the rocks all picked out and I was in the middle of getting my gear ready, when the weather turned. A southerly blew in from the south bringing with it thunder, lightning, heavy rain and strong wind gusts. It really was an intense front of weather and I was really glad I was caught in the middle of it. Instead, I processed this image of the lovely stained glass window at St Paul’s Cathedral here in Dunedin.
It’s that wonderful time of year when the morning sun is starting to have a tiny bit more heat in it as it rises over the Dunedin Hills along the Peninsula. With the changing of seasons from Winter to Spring, the early morning sun when accompanied by clear, cloudless mornings creates a lovely dawn glow as it strikes the front of the various buildings around the city centre.
The other morning I managed to catch the last of the early morning sun hitting St Joseph’s Cathedral before it disappeared behind a large bank of cloud.
Dunedin has some magical spots on the coast to catch the sunset. There’s an endless supply of locations to catch the suns last rays of the day. This spot is not far from my house where on a night like this you can see the sunset along the coast with the city lights in the distance.
The Ravensbourne overbridge is a wonderful piece of subject matter. I’ve seen it in many works of art. There’s a form and structure to it that makes it work artistically.
Here in Aotearoa as we close in on the end of the winter months, the sunlight hours are getting slightly longer, and there’s a definite shift towards spring appearing around the city. Of course, with spring approaching, that means summer is only just around the corner!
The intricate and elaborate Pai Lou archway that stands out front of the Lan Yuan Gardens in Dunedin is quite a beautiful thing. The other week, after having a very tranquil walk around the gardens, upon leaving I took a moment to view and appreciate the Pai Lou archway. From a distance, it looks quite impressive, however up close it’s absolutely magnificent. I left having a whole new appreciation for it.
When Edinburgh butcher David Bethune came to Dunedin he went in search of land and eventually bought the area now known as Bethunes Gully in 1878. On the large property he set up a sawmill, brick kiln and slaughter yard where he lived and worked for a number of years, until he moved his family further into the city and was declared bankrupt in 1889. The gully then became overgrown and disused until one John Begg Thompson purchased it in 1916. Thompson then leased the property to the City Council until his death in 1955 when it became city property.
For reasons I don’t know and I can’t explain, it had been some time since I’d been to the Esplanade at St Clair. I used to stop off quite regularly however, recently I realised it had been a good month or two since my last visit. So, I decided to stop off on my way home last night. It was dusk, and the early Friday evening foot traffic was starting to populate the local bars and restaurants as dusk took hold.
This is the last image in a series I completed based on a section of the Dunedin street, Musselburgh Rise. Recently, I’ve been thinking more about images in series. I like the idea of creating artwork in series as it allows me to explore a particular theme or subject matter in greater detail. In this case I wanted to focus on an ordinary, suburban street and photograph it at night for a different feel.
My wander around Dunedin city brought me to Dowling Street. The bright sunlight was already making its presence felt, creating silhouettes of the buildings as the morning took hold.
It occurred to me the day that it had never occurred to me how the Pacific Ocean was named. In 1520, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan set out on a little expedition to find the “Spice Islands” in eastern Indonesia. After making his way through some rather rough waters in Chile, he came upon the calm and peaceful waters of the Pacific Ocean. Mare Pacificum, meaning “peaceful sea.”
The weather could best be described as awful. It could also be referred to as dire, atrocious or ghastly. The day had started out with rain, then the wind hit, the rain got harder, then it turned to hail and the temperature hadn’t reached more then five or six degrees. So, it seemed logical to go indoors and visit a local museum.
I found my way back to the Steamer Basin which is part of the wharfs on Otago Harbour. A short walk over the railway tracks, it’s relatively close to the nearby Queens Gardens, The Exchange and a range of eating establishments. Unfortunately, to get there from the city, you have to walk over an overbridge which you have to share with traffic that also wants to cross the railway lines. Why on earth previous city councils haven’t thought to build a pedestrian only walkway from the Queens Gardens to the Steamer Basin I really can’t say!
Switzerland vs New Zealand at Dunedin Stadium – Buy
What a wonderful night it was last night at Dunedin Stadium for the Football Ferns Fifa World Cup pool match against Switzerland. Heading to the ground on what had been a lovely Dunedin day, it dawned on me that I didn’t really know much of the Ferns history. I couldn’t tell you how they qualified for the World Cup or who any of the players were. Yet, somehow it didn’t seem to matter. I wasn’t going along with expectations of performance from certain players. I was simply heading along for pure enjoyment.
So, for 90 minutes (plus injury time) we cheered, we yelled, we screamed, we roared, we clapped our hands and we stomped our feet. Willing the Ferns to find the back of the net. Yes, there was a lack of goals (0-0), but what the match lacked in goals it made up for with share enjoyment. Long may it continue.
I made my way to the Vauxhall Yacht Club which is located on the shoreline of the Otago Peninsula. The previous two evenings I’d visited the same location, only to find the sun had already disappeared from sight. Being a tad late on the preceding days hadn’t been the end of the world, I was there to get a specific shot that had been monopolising my thoughts. Upon arriving at the Yacht Club, I was delighted to find the sun seemingly suspended just above the Dunedin skyline. It created a brilliant glow of light stretching out across the harbour. I stood and watched the sun slowly disappear from sight. Then, once it had gone, I returned to my car and headed for home.
It was a quarter to 7 in the morning and my head was throbbing. The previous evening I’d decided it would be a good idea to get up early and capture the sunrise at the beach. The idea had been sound in theory, however now in the early morning dawn I was starting to have my doubts. My temples had a pulsating sensation which told me I either had an intense hangover or a head cold was coming on. Since I hadn’t been drinking the night before, I deduced it must be a cold.
After ten to fifteen minutes of taking photos of the sunrise as the dawn broke, I made the decision to go in search of another coffee, hoping it would help.
The other day, I found myself carefully and conscientiously navigating the Dunedin one way system. It was raining, and having left the Otago University area and heading south in my car, it was as I passed the Dunedin Railway Station that I began to ponder. You see, the Dunedin Railway Station is currently undergoing a multi-million dollar upgrade and has been surrounded by scaffolding and covered in white plastic wrap to allow workmen to complete the restoration without being impeded by the weather. So, as I drove past the railway station, I took a moment to look at the covered building and tried to figure out what it used to look like without all the white wrapping paper. Not being able to remember, I went in search of a photo to remind myself.
City streets seem so empty when it’s dark and there’s no-one around. I guess that’s what makes them interesting. Street lights like these are great just after it’s rained because the all the surfaces have a shine to them and the light reflect really well. When the streets are empty at night you get all sorts of options for where to shoot from without having to worry to much about being in the way. Then, if you can get something large like a bus streaking through the image the effect is awesome.
I arrived at St Clair Beach just in time to see the morning light change into a brilliant orange glow that filled the sky. I parked my car and headed along the Esplanade, past the Pier 24 Hotel, The Longdog Cafe and The Saltwater Pool heading for a high bank of ground that looked out to sea and the point of Lawyers Head in the distance. It seemed strange to have the place to myself. Usually, at this time in the morning there were people running and walking before work, but today the only other person I had seen was a dog taking his owner for a walk. I watched them for a few minutes with interest. The dog owner, a man with an extreme lack of enthusiasm, was only matched by the dog’s extreme overexcitement. It was a battle of wills which the dog was winning and impossible to imagine any scenario that would result in the dog calmly returning to the man’s car anytime soon.
The light continued to change and the day was creeping in. It was that time in the morning when the earth seemed to wake and the streets became busy. It was also time for me to leave.
With a bit of unexpected time on my hands, I went for a walk in the Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Gardens. The garden was quiet and tranquil with the only other people there being two gentlemen who were deep in concentration over a chessboard.
It had been raining since early the previous morning. I had hoped it would clear but with every passing minute, it was becoming obvious that the weather had settled in for a long stay. The rain seemed to be passing over in patches that varied between light drizzle and heavy rain. Summing up the situation, I decided that I was going to get wet no matter what I did and with that, I went for a walk on the beach.
I left the Chinese Gardens and headed across the road into Queens Gardens, a triangular garden filled with lawn and surrounded by trees and statues. Sitting close to the city’s Warehouse Precinct, Queens Gardens is a popular place due to its close proximity to the Railway Station, the NZR Bus Depot, The Early Settlers Museum and the wharf. Originally known as The Triangle, at the time of the 1860’s Otago Gold Rush, the many notable buildings that overlook Queens Gardens give an indication of just how wealthy the Otago province was while the rush was in full swing.
One lunchtime I went for a walk through the Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Gardens. The gardens were quiet with the only other visitors being two men playing chess by the tearooms. It really is a tranquil, peaceful and serene place near the Dunedin Railway Station, Queens Gardens and Toitu Otago Early Settlers Museum. The garden is an authentic Chinese Garden that was created with the support of the Shanghai Municipal Government. It is New Zealand’s only authentic Chinese Garden and when it was opened, one of only three outside China.
There have been some wonderful sunrises in Dunedin lately and even better sunsets. At the moment, here in Dunedin, as we move through autumn and slowly approach winter, the sun has been setting at 5:30pm. Meaning, the long summer evenings are definitely gone and the chilly winter nights aren’t far away. However, recently the evenings here have been still and warm, resulting in some lovely sunsets.
… from a Small City. My daily musings from Ōtepoti to get you inspired. Read the blog, view the photos, embrace the creativity.
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Railway Station at Sutton – Buy 
