Daily Photo – Puketapu and the Sir John McKenzie Memorial

I was heading for Palmerston and the Sir John McKenzie Memorial, which sits on top of a prominent hill overlooking the town, near where he spent many years of his life. Given the fact that the memorial is a cairn on top of a hill that is over 300 metres high, Sir John must have been a person of some importance, which he was.

Hailing from the Ross-shire region of Scotland, he emigrated to Otago in 1860, eventually settling on a farm he named in the Shag Valley, near Palmerston. At the time, much of the land was owned by wealthy landlords who hoarded the best properties. Over time, he grew tired of this and spent years working his way up through local councils, proving that he actually knew his stuff about soil and sheep, before eventually moving to the “big leagues” in Parliament. There, he teamed up with a group called the Liberals and, when they won a massive election in 1890, he became Minister of Lands. He introduced the 999-year lease, allowing settlers with very little capital to get onto the land without having to buy it outright. He also passed the Land for Settlements Act 1894, which gave the government the power to compulsorily acquire large, under-utilised pastoral estates and subdivide them for small-scale family farming, and he established the Department of Agriculture to provide farmers with scientific advice, export grading standards, and pest control. What all this meant was that by the time soldiers returned from World War 1 they were able to purchase small parcels of land around the country and essentially start to rebuild their lives, which in turn gave birth to the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association (RSA), a fixture in every small-town across the country. Like I say, an important figure in the grand scheme of agricultural New Zealand.

When I set out, my plan had been to swing-by the monument (and tackle the arduous climb to the stop) and take in the great views that expand out in all directions and before leaving adjust my gaze over the horizon, let the wind blow through my hair and embrace the serenity. Alas, it was not to be. By the time I arrived in Palmerston, I had already spent a large portion of the morning walking boardwalks, strolling near streams, and detouring along dirt roads, leaving no time at all for my planned amble up the side of a steep hill. So, instead I settled for a view of the Sir John McKenzie Memorial from street level before returning to my vehicle and rejoining State Highway 1