Beyond the Edge Beyond the Bar: 13.24 Te Awamutu: Scattershot Mementos

24.A Northward along NZ Route 3 South of Hamilton under a Brooding Sky, 19 May 2013

Winter is triply here in Te Awamutu. Firstly, meteorological winter began on 1 June, albeit nearby Mt Pirongia received its first snow flurries in late May. Usually the first snows don’t appear there until July, or so I'm told. Secondly, the winter solstice occurred on 21 June, so at least the days are getting longer, as they must in winter, although only by seconds now. Thirdly, we had our first real frost of the season under the full moon of 23/24 June. Winter is here.

Yet winter on the North Island is a gentle affair compared to winter in the Northern Hemisphere. After all, 81 percent of the Southern Hemisphere is covered by water, while 61 percent of the Northern Hemisphere is waterlogged. Seasonal weather swings are bound to be less severe south of the Equator, at least beyond the ice-olated Antarctic. Sure, they've had snow at lower elevations in the South Island. But that's customary. Only the likes of Tongariro and their surrounding territory have gotten good snow dustings here on the North Island.

While flowers continue to blossom in Te Awamutu, we can’t help but take note of the various calendars that at least notionally act as time-marks between one season and the next. Jean’s locum tenens service comes to an end on 5 July and shortly thereafter we’ll be leaving New Zealand for our home in the States, stopping along the way in Fiji and Arizona. We’re beginning to cast off, give away, trim down, set aside, save, and then pack up—test wise—so that our luggage comes within the weight limits set by Air New Zealand.

In the spirit of casting off, I’ve decided to devote this blogpost to gleaning photos that would otherwise be left behind—at least figuratively—in New Zealand. You'll find below a scattershot collection of New Zealand sights, in some cases landmarks, that I’d like to share. We’ll go from south to north across New Zealand.

The first set of shots (24.B thru G) were taken in Dunedin, which Jean and I visited in early April. In the 19^thCentury Dunedin was New Zealand's most populous city, first settled by immigrants from Scotland. It is home to the University of Otago, the country's oldest university. The campus is largely but not entirely bereft of buildings of note. The city, on the other hand, is well endowed with humane architecture endowed from its golden past. Foremost among these is the building that serves as the visual signature of the city, the Dunedin Railway Station. Dunedin is a hilly city nestled against the sea. The boundaries of the city are well-defined, which (among other things) means sheep may safely graze next to homes on the fringe of town (Photo 24.D). There are a number of prominent churches about town. Two that we saw inside and out are St Paul's Anglican Cathedral and the city's premier Presbyterian church, First Church of Otago.

24.B Dunedin Railway Station Clock Tower

24.C Vista of Dunedin

24.D By the Pacific at Dunedin

24.E St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Dunedin

24.F First Church of Otago, Dunedin

24.G Dunedin Railway Station Facade

Jean and I have spent a good deal of time touring New Zealand by car, bus, and train. Photos of the Northern Explorer appeared in the preceding blogpost. Below you'll see a photo (24.H) of the Jucy Cruize bus that we rode on a one-day round-trip (or return) journey between Queenstown and Milford Sound, described in an earlier post. Kiwi bus drivers face considerable challenges, not least that within the national highway system (signified as 'State Routes'), only about 2% of the roads are divided, grade-separated expressways (or motorways). Kiwi bus drivers and long-distance truck drivers are courteous and competent (so far as I've experienced). The Queenstown/Milford Sound one-day roundtrip must be one of the most challenging driving tasks in all New Zealand. That's why I have to post the picture of the bus. I didn't ask the driver, Oz, for permission to publish his photo. I'm happy to publish a portrait of the kind of machine that enables tourists to get to Milford Sound and back in one day, thanks to professional, dedicated drivers.

The photos from Lake Tekapo were taken on our bus journey from Christchurch to Mt Cook Village in early May. The Church of the Good Shepherd, on the south shore of the lake, was built in 1935 largely thru the donation of one lady (so we were told). It was the first church in New Zealand's arid grassland known as the 'Mackenzie Country' or 'Mackenzie Basin'. Sheepdogs are recognized as indispensable to the sheep ranching that characterizes the Mackenzie. Appropriately, a statue to these dogs has been raised near the Church of the Good Shepherd.

24.H Jucy Cruize Bus (aside Route 94, the Milford Road)

24.I Waiting at the East Portal of the Homer Tunnel, Route 94

24.J Southern Alps Seen from Route 94

24.K Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

24.L Bronze Statue of Collie Sheep Dog, Lake Tekapo

There's more to Christchurch than ruin left by earthquakes. The International Antarctic Centre, within walking distance of the city's airport, is worth a visit. And perhaps some day the city's renewed theatres will also again draw visitors. While much of the central city's high-rise buildings were devastated, one of the city's municipal office buildings survived intact, and therefore (I think) can serve as a memento of Christchurch's hope... along with the numerous, inventive container structures highlighted in a previous blogpost.

24.M International Antarctic Centre, Christchurch

24.N In a Simulation Chamber at the International Antarctic Centre

24.O Theatre Undergoing Reconstruction, Christchurch

24.P Municipal Office Building, a Christchurch Survivor

Wellington's Cable Car Museum rates a shot below. And Wellington's Old St Paul's, I thought, deserved more than the one interior shot I had previously shared.

24.Q Antique Cable Car, Wellington

24.R Interior, Old St Paul's, Wellington

During her locum tenens, Jean has served in three towns, two of which I've written about in posts: Te Awamutu (Blogpost 13.05) and Taumarunui (Blogpost 13.09). The third town, Te Kuiti, won't be featured in a blogpost, except for the photo below, showing part of the skatepark built in a corner of the town's former railway yard.

24.S Te Kuiti Skatepark

We made a brief foray to the Taranaki Peninsula (on the North Island's Tasman Coast) in late April. We stayed in the city of New Plymouth. Mount Taranaki (also once known as Mount Egmont) and New Plymouth never became the topic of a blogpost. I thought I should at least include a few photos from that foray among the scattershot of this post.

24.T Port Taranaki, New Plymouth

24.U Coastal Walkway in New Plymouth

24.V Mount Taranaki / Mount Egmont

This past Saturday, Jean and I paid our third visit to the Maungatautari Ecological Island Trust park. Herewith below are three photos, including a shot (the last) taken towards the Waikato River from a flank of Mount Maungatautari. It was a beautiful day.