Photoprint for Sale: Mt. Cavendish Gondola And Terminus, Christchurch, New Zealand

This is an original photoprint from my personal collection

Size of image is 30cm x 46cm (12" x 18").

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. urban p. and p. in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz or 09 4159 701.

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Photoprint for Sale: Ancient Totara Tree Above Port Levy, Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

This is an original photoprint from my personal collection

Size of image is 30cm x 46cm (12" x 18").

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. urban p. and p. in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz or 09 4159 701.

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Photoprint for Sale: Jetty At Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

This is an original photoprint from my personal collection

Size of image is 30cm x 46cm (12" x 18").

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. urban p. and p. in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz or 09 4159 701.

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Photoprint for Sale: Picnickers at French Farm Bay, Banks Peninsula, New Zealand

This is an original photoprint from my personal collection

Size of image is 30cm x 46cm (12" x 18").

Price is $NZ 50.00 inc. urban p. and p. in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz or 09 4159 701.

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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Prints For Sale: St. Luke's Church, Little Akaloa, Banks Peninsula

This print is identical to my original drawing that appeared in my book 'Country Churches of New Zealand'.

Size of image is approx. 19 cm x 29 cm .

Price is $NZ 59.00 inc. p and p in NZ.

Please contact me at donovan@ihug.co.nz

© DON DONOVAN. donovan@ihug.co.nz 
www. don-donovan.blogspot.co.nz
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New Zealand Odyssey: St. Patrick's Church, Akaroa

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.

 

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There's a lot of joy in the design of this church by Maxwell Bury, architect. I mean, just look at those barge boards, they're an inspiration and almost a promise that religious observance doesn't have to be solemn. I did this painting in 1987 but I know that the building hasn't changed since then. It was built in 1865 and added to in 1886 and 1893 when the tower was built.

One of Maxwell Bury's instructions to the builders was: 'Piles should be charred to prevent decay... windows will be made by cutting the shape out of the wall planks...' I can't imagine any work like that being permitted in the 2000s but I'll bet the timber didn't rot and the building doesn't leak!

© DON DONOVAN 
donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Brookshaw Woolshed, Pigeon Bay, Banks Peninsula

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.

I particularly remember that day in 1987 when I painted the woolshed. It was warm and dry and the heavy scent of lanolin sat on the still air like an exotic perfume. As the day warmed the timbers of the old building creaked a little as they moved in a continuum of movement that had gone on for many decades leaving the clapboards uneven, distorted and a delight for the artist.

Pigeon Bay was named for the abundant flocks of native birds - kereru - found there by European sailors in the mid-nineteenth century. The sailors killed them for food remorselessly; these days, thank heaven, the birds are protected.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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New Zealand Odyssey, Okains Bay Store

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.

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Okains Bay, one of the many identations that form the periphery of Banks Peninsula, is relatively remote. Which explains why, in an age of 'samey' supermarkets the local general store breathes tradition and history. 

When I drew it in 1987 it had just been taken over by a male solo parent who'd gone there for a quiet life and who could keep an eye on his two sons who were at the school directly oppostite the store.

It was a community gossip hub and nothing much had changed, including the two solid kauri counters, since the store was built. 

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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A Post-and-Rail Fence Near Akaroa

New Zealand’s modern, standard, utility farm fences usually comprise three basic ingredients: 1. Preserved pine poles. 2. High tensile steel wire. 3. Pine battens.

The poles, pinus radiata preserved in all sorts of toxic chemicals in order to resist decay both above and below the earth, are augured into the soil a few metres apart. Upon them, tightened like guitar strings, are attached up to seven high-tensile steel wires, the horizontal gaps between them narrowing as they near the earth, all secured into the poles by galvanized steel staples. In order to keep the gaps constant, battens 7o mm in section and long enough to extend above and below the wires (but not to touch the earth) are strung at 600mm intervals.

This everyday fence will enclose sheep and cattle. It is highly efficient. It is about as romantic as a fly-struck ewe’s daggy bottom.


But the fence in my photograph is an old technology built with craftsmanship, built to survive, built of materials that will outlast any modern farm fence by a factor of ten? twenty?


It’s called post-and-rail, it’s entirely made of New Zealand native totara, it is untreated and will last underground without rotting. The rails are simply inserted into morticed holes; depending upon the number of rails will be the fence’s stock-retaining efficiency.


The photograph was taken near Akaroa on Banks Peninsula. Akaroa was founded by French settlers in 1840. The surrounding farm sections were laid out over the following years. As the fence is close to the township it could be more than 150 years old.


© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Akaroa, Banks Peninsula, Canterbury, New Zealand

Akaroa is the oldest European town in Canterbury. It was founded in 1840 by some would-be French colonists who never actually got to colonize it because the British pre-empted them but who nevertheless managed to stamp an unusual Frenchness upon the town. In more recent years the locals not only realized what a draw card its origins were, they actively promoted it by squeezing every last drop out of its Gallic origins. At least half of the streets have French names such as Rue Jolie and Rue Lavaud (earlier known as Jolie and Lavaud Streets) and the tricouleur accompanies the New Zealand ensign and the union flag on festive occasions.

Akaroa township started life as Port Louis-Philipe but soon took the Maori name of its South Pacific inlet (Akaroa means long harbour) which, like its neighbouring Lyttleton Harbour, is a flooded extinct volcano.

By 1844 its population comprised 60 French, 20 German, 40 British and 97 ‘aborigines’. I guess the ‘aborigines’ were in the area long before the Europeans arrived and, indeed, there is a tiny Maori ‘kainga’ (village) to the south of the town to this day.

Akaroa’s population swells each summer with tourists, and grows, too, with new residents seduced by its natural magnificence. As gems go, Akaroa is lustrous in the extreme and well worth the long winding journey over the volcanic hills of Banks Peninsula from its nearest big city, Christchurch.


© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Akaroa: The Gaiety Theatre

This imposing building in Rue Jolie was opened in April 1879 by the Oddfellows Friendly Society. In those days Akaroa was pretty remote, its largest neighbour city being Christchurch a long, hard road journey away and character-forming by boat trip round the indentations of Banks Peninsula.

In those days also there was a top-hat-and-morning-coat need for dignity and so any public building – town hall, bank etc – had to have a classical facade even if what lay behind was pretty ordinary. It was turned into The Gaiety Theatre later and is still the town’s theatrical hub and public entertainment venue.

The architect was A.W. Simpson of Christchurch. The whole building, including its faux Corinthian capitals is made not of stone but of wood. In the words of W.S Gilbert, who would have understood entirely the need for dignity, ‘things are seldom what they seem’.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Akaroa: The Coronation Library

This charming little building in Akaroa was once the town’s main library but now it’s kept for ‘heritage’ and as a source of reference.

While it’s claimed to date from 1875 – the design of Sam Farr an architect from Christchurch who had lived for some time in Akaroa – it’s not that original. It was a bit dilapidated by 1911 and the funding opportunity of having a memorial for the coronation of George V was applied to the library’s re-building. New foundations, a new front (somewhat influenced by the William Morris ‘arts and crafts’ look from England) and a new roof transformed Farr’s old building into Akaroa’s Coronation Library.

Today it benefits from loving care derived from a determination to preserve Akaroa’s history and keep the town’s appeal for tourists and residents alike.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Duvauchelle Hotel: What’s In A Name?

Not long ago this was called Hôtel des Pècheurs in evidence of how close this area came to being a French colony. Duvauchelle was named after two brothers who, in 1843, had acquired sections at the head of Akaroa Harbour from the colonially minded Nanto-Bordelaise company: they never took up residence.

In 1851 the first inn at Duvauchelle was opened by Francois Le Lievre, a member of one of the original French families brought to Banks Peninsula in 1840. He also ran a ferry service to save travellers who’d tramped across the hills from Lyttelton Harbour from having to make the last hard plod to Akaroa.

But the recent name change is by no means the first. Ben Shadbolt, an ex-convict from Van Diemen’s Land (a.k.a. Tasmania), bought Anderson’s Accommodation House at the head of the bay in 1861 and named it, appropriately if unoriginally ‘The Travellers Rest’. Ironically a condition of the licence was that Shadbolt was sworn in as local constable; thus the poacher turned gamekeeper! He and his wife, Elizabeth, were at the heart of the community and, with his larger-than-life ebullience, he was famed as a racehorse owner, trainer and breeder, farmer, forest owner, local politician and proprietor of a coach service.

The Travellers Rest burned down in 1876 whereupon Shadbolt erected ‘The Somerset’, a palatial affair named after Elizabeth’s birthplace in England. For six more years The Somerset served the travelling and resident communities with grog, sustenance, accommodation, travel and a post office; but a wowser arsonist maniac, who laid fires in a number of Banks Peninsula hotels, burned it down in 1882: that, coincidentally, was the year of Ben’s death.

The redoubtable Elizabeth rebuilt the pub, which has lasted well over a century with few changes apart from odd additions, several changes of name – ‘The Crown’, ‘Duvauchelle Hotel’ (deja vue), ‘The Bricks’ and then the penultimate ‘Hôtel des Pècheurs’ – exotic and complete with accents Françaises. The biggest change was that the road now passes what was the back of the pub and so it’s back to front.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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One Out of The Box

One of the joys of retirement is the almost complete lack of timetable constraint. When everyone is at work in the middle of the week you can look out of the window at a lovely day and say, ‘Let’s go for a picnic - now!’

I’m sure this is what these two were doing when I came across them by the still waters of French Farm Bay on Banks Peninsula. It was a perfect early autumn day, ‘one out of the box’, and apart from my brief presence (which neither of them noticed) they had the bay all to themselves.

Banks Peninsula is like that, there is an uncountable number of these wonderful coves and beaches most of which are the outer indentations of what were once two massive volcanoes now known as Lyttleton and Akaroa Harbours. There’s room for everybody in this easily accessible and yet almost remote corner of what some people call God’s Own Country: New Zealand.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Delightful Dilapidation

When I was watercolour illustrating ‘New Zealand Odyssey’, a book I did with co-author Euan Sarginson, I would have fallen in love with this barn that I discovered and photographed recently at French Farm on Banks Peninsula. Euan used to say of me that anything that was falling to pieces took my fancy!

Look at it; a collage of corrugated iron and weatherboards patched and patched again to the point where the original has probably been completely replaced.

I love the rust, it begs its share of the watercolour palette’s ochres. I love the sagging roof (straight lines are so boring) and the dead tree that writhes in sympathy against the dun-coloured tussock hills.

To me this old barn is gloriously photogenic; I suspect that to the farmer who owns it it is nothing more than a huge pain in the arse!

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz
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St.John the Evangelist, Little River

This handsome little church was built in 1924 for the Little River (Banks Peninsula, Canterbury) Roman Catholics. It replaced a converted! old school that had had a sacristy and sanctuary added to it. Apart from that nothing much seems available in the histories. Who was the architect? How much did it cost to build. Who built it?

It’s not a particularly unusual building; its charm lies in its location. It stands at the south end of Little River village which itself could almost be called the gateway to Banks Peninsula being on the main road between Christchurch and Akaroa whose charms have steadily increased its tourist load year by year. The main road follows the line where the volcanic hills of the peninsula meet the billiards table flat lands of the Canterbury Plain.

A railway, whose rail-less permanent way banking still exists ,runs almost parallel to the road between the foothills and Lake Ellesmere. It’s now a cyclists’ track.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Open 7 Days 37. Okains Bay Store

I wrote and illustrated ‘Open 7 Days’. It was published in 1991. It’s a series of freeze-frames of some historic New Zealand general and convenience stores as they were preserved in the last decade of the 20th century. Bit by bit, on this blog, I re-publish some of the entries from that book.

OKAINS BAY STORE

Okains Bay, Banks Peninsula.
Proprietor: Chris Stanger.

Chris Stanger is a solo parent. He finds living in Okains Bay perfect for his lifestyle because while he works the shop, his sons go to the school whose front gate is less than a gumboot’s throw across the road. Chris, a mechanic by trade who has served time as a truckie, took over the store in 1987 for a bit of peace and quiet. He now looks after the needs of about forty families, but gets very busy for eight weeks in the summer when the local camping ground accommodates about 400 holidaymakers.

Because Okains Bay is so isolated, Chris doesn’t quite suffer the problems other country storekeepers have of competition from big-town supermarkets. That means he carries a more comprehensive inventory of groceries, dairy lines, petrol and oil, hardware and home-brew supplies. The store has the postal agency and is the fire group’s call-out point. It also provides a focus for news and advice, and Chris often finds himself consulted about marriage guidance, household budgeting, fixing the car, employment and how to achieve a successful home-brew.

It’s a great old building, very original, with two old kauri counters in the shop. When things are quiet in the winter, Chris manufactures garden gnomes – a gang of seven plaster dwarfs – which he sells, either naked or painted, both in the store and to garden centres in Christchurch – The Big Smoke north of the Port Hills beyond Lyttelton Harbour.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Hôtel des Pècheurs, Banks Peninsula

I wrote and illustrated ‘The Good Old Kiwi Pub’. It was published in 1995 and was a snapshot of some New Zealand pubs as they were at the end of the 20th century. I have decided to share some of the entries from the book from time to time on this blog.

As with the streets of Akaroa, the names of both the Hôtel des Pècheurs and its settlement are evidence of how close this area came to being a French colony. Duvauchelle was named after two brothers who, in 1843, had acquired sections at the head of Akaroa Harbour from the colonially minded Nanto-Bordelaise company: they never took up residence.

In 1851 the first inn at Duvauchelle was opened by Francois Le Lievre, a member of one of the original French families brought to Banks Peninsula in 1840. He also ran a ferry service to save travellers who’d tramped across the hills from Lyttelton Harbour the last hard plod to Akaroa.

Ben Shadbolt, an ex-convict from Van Diemen’s Land, bought Anderson’s Accommodation House at the head of the bay in 1861 and named it, appropriately if unoriginally ‘The Travellers Rest’. Ironically a condition of the licence was that Shadbolt was sworn in as local constable; thus the poacher turned gamekeeper! He and his wife, Elizabeth, were at the heart of the community and, with his larger-than-life ebullience, he was famed as a racehorse owner, trainer and breeder, farmer, forest owner, local politician and proprietor of a coach service.

The Travellers Rest burned down in 1876 whereupon Shadbolt erected ‘The Somerset’, a palatial affair named after Elizabeth’s birthplace in England. For six more years The Somerset served the travelling and resident communities with grog, sustenance, accommodation, travel and a post office; but a wowser arsonist maniac, who laid fires in a number of Banks Peninsula hotels, burned it down in 1882: that, coincidentally, was the year of Ben’s death.

The redoubtable Elizabeth rebuilt the pub, which has lasted over a century with few changes apart from odd additions, several changes of name - ‘The Crown’, ‘Duvauchelle Hotel’, ‘The Bricks’ and now ‘Hôtel des Pècheurs’ - exotic and complete with accents Françaises. The biggest change is that the road now passes what was the back of the pub and so, like the Hukerenui Tavern, it’s back to front.

Ah, yes - and they’ve painted it white since I did my illustration. Oh well, as the French say, ‘Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose…’

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Country Churches of NZ 90. St. Luke's, Little Akaloa, Banks Peninsula

I wrote and illustrated Country Churches of New Zealand. It was published in 2002 by New Holland, Publishers and is still on sale in bookshops. The publishers have kindly agreed to me re-publishing some of the book’s images and descriptions in this blog.

ST. LUKE'S, LITTLE AKALOA

'On a knoll entirely surrounded by oaks and rhododendrons. Whisper of leaves and sea. Tuis calling. Church built 1906 but graves older. Oldest I can find is 1891. Wonderfully done inside. Superb marriage of English and Maori Anglican.' (SKETCHBOOK NOTE)

St Luke's at Little Akaloa - a bay on Banks Peninsula - was financed by funds collected in the early 1900s from as far away as England.

But one man contributed more than any other: J.H. Menzies, who not only made handsome donations but also designed and built the church, carved its Mt. Somers stone font and altar, gave all of the furnishings and executed the rich Maori carvings and decorations of the interior. Even the ceiling boards are carved to look like raupo thatch as it would be seen from the inside.

© DON DONOVAN 
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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