I had a look around the old farm buildings at Matanaka, which is an old farm settlement near Waikouaiti. Set in an exposed paddock high above the Otago coastline, the farm buildings date back to 1840, making them the oldest surviving buildings in the country. Owner Johnny Jones had the reddish-brown timber buildings built in Australia before they were shipped to Jones’ farm and where they were constructed. The most intriguing of these is the three-seater communal privy which interestingly features a raised central seat. So thus the question is, would you prefer the raised central seat that is in front of the door, or one of the two lower seats that has a window view?
Given the nature of the forecast and the fact I was unlikely to see any form of blue sky for the next few days, I decided an early morning stroll would be in order before a predicted slow moving cold front hit. Not more than an hour ago I heard a weather forecast that included strong winds and heavy rain for the next few days. With that in mind I spent some time wandering around various streets that intersected Dunedin’s Exchange area.
It’s not often I publish photos I’ve taken with my phone (not that they are really phones any more), nor is it usual for me to publish the same photo on my blog as I’ve used on social media. I like to keep them different so people are seeing new things and not viewing repeated content however on this occasion I’ve broken both rules. The weather at the moment is pretty wild and this photo sums things up.
I took a little trek amongst the tracks at the top of Mount Cargill during a break in the weather while it was fine. It’s a very moody place and quiet dramatic and also quiet interesting.
This is the Tropical House at the Dunedin Botanical Gardens that has all sorts of plants that include palms, cycads, tropical trees and shrubs and others like banana and sugar cane. There’s also another two ‘wings’ to the Glasshouse that are the East Wing which has a sub tropical plant collection and the west wing which holds Cacti and Succulents.
I found this wee scene this afternoon. It was one of those lovely winter days where the weather was fine and still. In the sun the temperature creeped into double figures whereas in the shade it was still cool. As I enjoyed the sunshine that stretched across the Octagon I spied the Regent Theatre reflecting in the fountains.
There’s something about letter boxes on a gravel road that create an intriguing scene, particularly when there’s an intersection. Having left my car some way back, I’d been walking along the road for some time through a valley surrounded by hills and bush. Apart from the company of a few birds and a stream that occasionally followed me, I had the place to myself.
How I like the world in the early hours before sunrise. The only problem is that I like sleeping in so therein lines the problem. Every so often I tell myself I’m going to get up early and shoot in the morning. That lasts for about three days before I find an excuse to give it a miss. Maybe I need to change my routine slightly.
According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite is said to have created the rose when her tears mixed with the blood of her dying lover Adonis. The mixture of tears and blood created a stunning red rose bush when they hit the ground. When the Romans identified Aphrodite as the Goddess of Love, they also adopted the rose as a symbol of love and beauty. However, Shakespeare once wrote, “Of all flowers, methinks rose is best” and that sounds good too.
I found myself walking around the Otago Motors Exhibition at Toitu Museum on a Wednesday morning in December near Christmas. Since I was shooting inside at a museum on a summer’s day, it tells you all you need to know about the weather that day. It must have been raining because if it was any decent type of day I would have been outside somewhere. That, or I had an idea in my head I really needed to explore.
Here’s an image from the Esplanade at St Clair of the Shark Bell and the surrounding shapes. This is another shot where the simplicity of the structures and the spaces they create between each other really appeal to me.
The thing about exploring abandoned buildings is that you never know when you might bump into the owners and they generally want to know what you’re doing and why you’re there. This usually starts an awkward conversation with me having to give a reasonable explanation as to why for all intents and purposes I’m trespassing. Fortunately on this occasion the owner was pleased I wasn’t stealing firewood and ended up wanting some photography tips which I was more than happy to answer.
I can’t say I found this by accident because it simply isn’t true. I did however quite deliberately choose the day I went exploring around it. Old buildings like this are always fascinating and this one I looked at for some time before I found what it was that I wanted to capture, in essence I was looking for the passing of time.
It’s amazing how the weather can change over the period of a day. Take this photo I took this morning at about 8am at St Clair with the sky full of colour. A few hours later the day was grey, overcast and rain was falling. Unless you saw it, you’d never guess there was such a nice sunrise.
Since it was such a still and warm winter’s day here in Dunedin I went for a stroll. This is one of the images I took looking across the harbour to Portobello Road, Waverley and Otago Peninsula. How can you not love Dunedin in conditions like this!
Having spent a decent period of time taking in the light show called Mana Moana: Otepoti on Otago Harbour at the Steamer Basin, I headed for South Dunedin. King Edward Street to be more precise. For some unknown reason I felt the desire to wander along familiar streets that I hadn’t spent any recent time on. I started on the corner of Sullivan Avenue and King Edward Street and headed east in the direction of the beach. My intention wasn’t to get to the beach yet I wasn’t completely sure what my intention was at all. All I knew is that at some point I would find what I was looking for. I strolled for some time passing windows of pubs and restaurants that were filled with patrons who watched and followed my movements with suspicious eyes. I passed teenagers that were huddled in small groups in the light of an alleyway, busily vaping and taking long swigs out of soft drinking bottles that I suspected was some alcoholic concoction of rocket fuel.
After an unknown period of time I stopped on the corner of Macandrew Road and King Edward Street. In one direction a police car raced, flashing its red and blue lights while in the other an ambulance weaved its way through the intersection in front of me which had come to a halt for a few seconds. Watching a bus disappear into the distance, a lady drew up beside me, she caught my eye before remarking ‘oh well, nice night for a walk.’ As she headed off in the direction of the bus that had long since vanished, a man from across the street had come a little closer and remarked ‘I dropped my chip money, lucky I found it aye.’ He smiled a joyful grin and ambled down the street in the direction of the chippy.
Streets take on a completely different complexion at night when there’s limited light. I took this photo while out exploring some of Dunedin’s streets taking in the night vibes. In the town belt I found this bend in the road lit up by a single street light which I thought looked rather interesting.
It’s not hard to imagine that in the last moments of William Larnach’s life, he took a moment to say a prayer in the dark as he sat in Committee Room J of the Parliament Buildings in Wellington. The mail had come from the South just before 3:00pm and it was evident to all that he had expected important news. Now, with the letters in his hands, it was even more evident to those around him that the contents of the letters were of an unsatisfactory nature. He knew the outgoing mail would be leaving soon and with a look of extreme agitation, he quickly wrote responses to all three letters, put them in the out going mail and then retired to Committee Room J, locking the door behind him armed with a revolver.
If I’m being completely honest, I can’t tell you anything about these bands. I have no idea who the ‘Age Of Dog’ are or ‘The Clean’ or ‘The 3 D’s’ or any other of the groups that appear on this poster. I have no idea if people really did have fun on Zippy’s Last Tour, if ‘Go Purple’ were any good or if ‘The Bats’ performed before ‘The Verlaines’ or even if those are the correct names of the bands. I have however heard of ‘The Chills’ and I do know where The Crown Hotel is, so that’s a start. This only confirms my deduction that I should really know more about the Dunedin Sound than I really do.
I ended up exploring on the incoming tide and during mid afternoon below the Harrington Point Gun emplacements. It’s an amazingly fun and interesting coastline. It has all sorts of fascinating points to discover including the local wildlife which are forever close to hand.
Am I alone in thinking that I should really know more about Flying Nun Records and the Dunedin Sound than I really do? I came to this deduction after having to find out who ‘Snapper’ was. For the record, Snapper were a Dunedin band made up of Alan Haig, Peter Gutteridge, Christine Voice and Dominic Stones. I feel it’s rather sad that I had to look that up! This is part of the Dunedin Street Art Trail by Bruce Mahalski and can be found at the Crown Hotel.
How I like wandering looking at the space and shape between objects, it makes me think about the experience of seeing. Take buildings for example, buildings are great to photograph because you can do all sorts of things with them. They’re fascinating to explore at all sorts of angles from all sorts of positions and points of view. New buildings have different characteristics than old buildings which means that they interact with light differently and they are loads of fun to process in whatever programme you use. Personally, I think I like old doorways the most, however I thought this building corner in Dunedin was kinda funky with its dark windows.
This is a large-scale artwork done in charcoal and acrylic paint by artist Jon Thom which is on display at Toitu Museum which is called ‘Company Of Strangers.’ If you want to see more of his work checkout his instagram feed: https://www.instagram.com/jonthom_art/
These steps are one half of all the remains of the old vehicle bridge that once spanned the gap from the warehouse precinct to the harbourside. Originally made of Port Chalmers bluestone, the vehicle bridge was built between 1883 and 1886 and demolished in 1977 when it was replaced by the Jetty St overbridge.
I called in to the Dunedin Railway Station to have a look around while the rain passed overhead. Inside, one of my favourite things to look at is the wonderful stained glass window that sits above the entrance foyer on the second floor. Dating back to 1906, it was lovingly restored in 2013 at the cost of $24,000 and took over 200 hours to bring back to its former glory.
Englishman Sir John Coode had a plan. To protect Otago Harbour’s entrance from silting by directing the tidal flow, in 1880 Sir John cleverly designed two moles at the head of the harbour; one jutting out from Taiaroa Head and the other at Aramoana. Unfortunately the Harbour Board had over extended their budget at the time and consequently only the mole at Aramoana was built. Even then it was built to only half the height of Sir John’s specifications and by the 1920’s storm damage had destroyed a large portion of it.
It’s 2:35pm on a Saturday afternoon. I’ve been standing in the rain in town since 1pm and now I’ve relocated to a rugby ground in the Dunedin hill suburbs. The temperature is sitting around 0, the rain has turned to snow as flurries drift across in the wind which only drops the temperature further. Kick off is only a few minutes away. At the top of the bank, which is usually full of spectators, there are only a handful of people. As the snow sweeps across the ground, match referee Logan Whitty cuts a lonely figure completing his warm-ups in solitude, battling the wind, rain and snow. Already my fingers are going numb and for reasons that even I question at times, I’ll be choosing to stand in these conditions for the next 100 minutes.
Later, as I watched the time pass, the clouds began to break and sunshine slowly started to appear through the bleak clouds until the ground was bathed in sunlight. The sunshine hung around before dropping behind the hills that surround Dunedin until eventually the ground was left in the shadows. The forecast was for rain and strong gales in expsoed places. It must be winter!
The Privy at Matanaka – Buy or view the Ōtepoti | Dunedin gallery
Harrington Point
