New Zealand Odyssey: Dowson's Shoes, Riccarton Road, Christchurch

'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.

You'd only see a thing like this in New Zealand; an old building with nowhere to go, its life extended by being turned into some sort of warehouse depôt for shoes. Somebody had hopes for it once; look at those quoins up the corner walls and the decorated pediments over door and windows.

Its brick construction suggests to me that if it hadn't already gone by then, the earthquakes would have demolished it. Good idea, really. So dreary.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Christchurch Boys' High School

'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 cannot for the life of me remember what this building at Christchurch Boys' High School was for. It might have been an old gymnasium. I was intrigued by it because despite it being a gloomy looking thing, somebody went to the trouble of designing it - even to the curlicued lightning conductor on the pyramidal roof. It must have resonated with some old boys because one of them bought the original off me for a decent sum!

It's all brick and such structures did not survive too well in the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. I wonder...

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Synagogue, Gloucester Street, Christchurch

'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 wrote and illustrated a book 'Country Churches of New Zealand' and being so irreligious that I could be labelled atheistic-ecumenical, I wanted to put all denominations' churches into it. 

But the title excluded town churches and so, regrettably, I couldn't feature this synagogue. It's four square and proud and that star window is bold as any rose window in any Christian cathedral, I'll bet it looks great from the inside. 

I believe the temple survived all the Canterbury earthquakes.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Antigua Boat Sheds, Christchurch

'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.

There's nothing else quite like the Antigua Boat Sheds anywhere else in the whole of New Zealand. Like huts wearing college blazers, they've been on the city's Avon River since 1892. They were a delight to illustrate in 1987 and, after the awful earthquakes of 2010 and 2011, I hope they've survived.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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Canterbury Earthquake: Terrace Station, Hororata

This is my watercolour from ‘New Zealand House and Cottage” of  Terrace Station, Hororata. It has been in the Hall family since 1862 when it was bought by John and Rose Hall. John, later knighted, became prime minister of New Zealand from 1879 to 1852.

His descendent, Godfrey Hall and his wife, Peggy became friends of ours in the 1960s and we often visited them at Terrace Station. It is now occupied by his daughter Kate Foster and her husband Richard.

I telephoned Kate just after the Canterbury earthquake to see if there had been any damage. I was horrified to hear that of the house’s seven chimneys, six had tumbled; there was much more damage but it was too early to assess its full extent and Richard and Kate were clearly in the middle of trying to sort themselves out, so I left her in peace – well, from me, anyway. But not before she’d told me that the church Sir John had founded, St. John’s. Hororata, had lost half its stone tower which had fallen through the west end of the nave.

Terrace Station homestead will survive but it’s a sobering thought that nothing is for certain – the house withstood nearly 160 years before Nature took its price.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

Canterbury Earthquake: Heathcote’s Valley Inn Destroyed.

This watercolour of mine accompanied my post (search ‘Valley Inn Heathcote’) when I blog-published my book ‘The Good Old Kiwi Pub’

In 1877 the Valley Inn, with its trapeziform rooms and not a right-angle anywhere, became a licensed hotel. 133 years later, on 4 September 2010, it was so ravaged by the Canterbury Earthquake that it had to be destroyed.

These photographs were sent to me by Paul Corliss, author of ‘In The Shadow of the Rock’, a history of the Heathcote Valley. The ‘rock’ is Castle Rock which stands above the valley (see left of picture below). It was split asunder by the earthquake, sending house-sized boulders tumbling. Miraculously, nobody was hurt.

© DON DONOVAN & PAUL CORLISS

donovan@ihug.co.nz