New Zealand Odyssey: Kaiapoi Rail Yards.

'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.

The only excuse I have for including this illustration from 'New Zealand Odyssey' is that the shapes appealed to me; oh - and, of course, it's a very New Zealand sort of scene. 

NZ railways have only ever been attractive when their forms have been dictated by their functions. Some of the most beautiful of forms have been the viaducts and spirals that have been forced upon the engineers by the landscape. At a more mundane level, railway sheds have a character all their own like this one at Kaiapoi - a concerto of corrugated iron and a money-spinner for manufacturers of ochrish paint!.

Kaiapoi took an awful battering in the 2010 and 2021 Canterbury earthquakes but I'll bet this shed, if it hadn't already been deliberately demolished, survived. My drawing dates to 1987.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Ohoka House (1870), Rangiora, North Canterbury

'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 found this stately old house in North Canterbury in 1986 resplendent with its decorative barge boards, slate roof (from Wales?) and red bricks. Looking at it twenty-five years later I wonder how it coped with the Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Brick buildings suffered terribly; indeed a near contemporary of Ohoka, the Deans's family home at Homebush, was almost completely destroyed.

In some ways, Ohoka appears a bit brooding and grim, a bit Dickensian, but a happy family - dynasty - would have put the lie to that. I know nothing of the family, the architect or the builders.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Old Union Rowing Club, Avonside, 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.

These wonderful buildings stood beside the Avon River near Oxford Terrace in 1987 when I did this drawing. Clearly much loved with fresh paintwork, the one on the right was the Union Rowing Club and the small neighbour belonged to the Naval Association. I was puzzled about the rowing club because the Avon was very shallow but I think the building had been constructed when a weir downstream, later removed, held water back thus raising the level.

Look at those wonderful decorative shingles on the gables. Nobody bothers with such detail  these days.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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New Zealand Odyssey: The Red Post, Culverden

'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.

The thing that fascinated me about this fork in the road from Christchurch to Hanmer (left) or Waiau (right) was the red post stuck in the ground on the other side of the road (under the sign). It was a survey marker the original of which was installed in 1871. Because it was red, the area around it was known simply as 'The Red Post'.  It was even included as that in railway plans until the name was superseded later by Culverden.

It's still known as Red Post Corner and the post, which some twit once painted yellow, is still there and painted red again. (Or it was in about 1987). Is it still there?

© 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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New Zealand Odyssey: Reid's Store, Maruia

'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.

This old store stood at Maruia, on the Lewis Pass road across the Southern Alps from Canterbury to Westland. I did the black and white pen sketch in 1986 feeling pretty sure that the building was coming to the end of its life.

On the uneven clapboard wall of the doorway at the right end there was the notice board (below) tattered, corners missing, years of pin holes but showing a spark of life among the local villagers whose existences could have been quite hard - especially in alpine winters.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Mayfair Theatre, Kaikoura

'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.

This is how Kaikoura's Mayfair Theatre looked around 1988. It still looks the same today except that it's had at least one paint makeover since then - I suspect many more than one.

The simple, symmetrical art deco building comes as a bit of a surprise as you travel along the foreshore of the Kaikoura Peninsula whose architecture is largely New Zealand suburban seaside 'gothic' built around the late nineteenth early twentieth centuries. Kaikoura is one of those resorts whose populations swell enormously in the holiday season; otherwise I doubt that the small town could support a healthy theatre.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: The Door of the Old Uruwhenua Schoolhouse

'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.

When working on illustrations for 'New Zealand Odyssey' I was always delighted when the opportunity came to play with textures. The old Uruwhenua school house was nothing much to look at but its door was a fine mix of flaking colour and stressed dilapidation. How long before I did this drawing the school closed I don't know but I'll bet a large number of cats, rats and possums used that convenient hole on many later occasions.

I gave the original drawing to a friend in Sydney.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Tophouse Cottage Mailbox

'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.

The New Zealander's capacity to recycle imaginatively was encapsulated in this enchanting mailbox by the roadside at Tophouse on the road to Nelson. 

On a tree stump rests the remains of a 'Diabolo' 50 gallon pump (which in itself is a piece of functional sculpture); on top of that a horizontal oil drum, and beside all a standard US-type mailbox. The word 'MAIL', which indicates that the occupier takes the Nelson Mail newspaper, somehow appears back to front. Don't ask me how or why, I can't remember, I did this drawing in 1988.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: The Old Longford Store, Murchison

'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.

The Old Longford Store, five kilometres north of Murchison, looked like this in 1988. It long ago closed down. Now worse for wear, rusty roof sagging, it's just a memory. I actually remember when it was a functioning shop in the 1960s!

The finger post points up the Mangles Valley, to a trout stream I much wanted to fish when I arrived in New Zealand from England in 1960. I was fortunate to meet a man whose farm straddled the river and we've been friends ever since. The original of this drawing hangs in his house. I can't think of a better place for it to be.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Bush Hut, St.Arnaud

'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.

A typical bush hut such as you would find anywhere in the back blocks of New Zealand. It's constructed of vertical boards and battens with a wooden floor, a corrugated iron roof (what else?) and a triumph of rusty steel sheeting for a chimney. In 1988, this example, at St. Arnaud, south of Nelson, was close to a main road but I doubt if there was anything grander than a pony track when it was built. 

With that size chimney it would have had such a fireplace that on a cold night, when the logs were roaring, people inside would have had trouble avoiding roasting themselves! I wonder how many sausages and gallons of beer have been consumed here over its lifetime? And I wonder whether it's still there?

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: The Remains of Glenhope Railway Station

'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 used to be a railway line from Nelson to Glenhope - a long time ago - and in 1988 this is what part of the station building's remains looked like. You could still read 'Luggage Room' and 'Telegraph' lettered over the doors.

Old buildings that are still standing are rarely left unused in New Zealand, especially in farming areas, and the station was amply stocked with winter feed on the day I visited. Surprisingly the roof iron was still in good condition but it was along time since it rattled from the vibrations of a docking locomotive.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz 
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New Zealand Odyssey: Commercial Stables, Murchison

'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 have no idea how old this building is but I reckon that when I drew it in 1988 it was well over 100 years old. Can't you just hear the hooves and the rumble of iron-rimmed wheels echoing through that archway to the forge beyond? 

Murchison was, is, not only an important farming area but also has a romantic gold history revolving round the powerful Buller River and its tributaries. I first went to 'Murch' in 1960 just after arrival in New Zealand and made lifelong friends who farmed on the Mangles River where brown trout haunted the stones like nuclear submarines!

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: St. George's, Motupiko

'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 'discovered' this charming little church concealed behind a screen of trees when I was travelling the road between Murchison and Tasman Bay. I'd stopped to look at the map, and there it was, hiding; nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, I later included a new painting of it in my book 'Country Churches of New Zealand'; this is what I wrote about it:

'I think it among the prettier of the churches I've painted, probably because the architect, Stead Ellis, incorporated some window, bargeboard and buttress detail that takes it beyond the ordinary.

'It must have looked superb with its original shingle roof. It's Anglican despite the corbels of its window hood-mouldings bearing the St. Andrew's crosses more associated with Presbyterianism. It was consecrated on 30 September 1892.'

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Belgrove Railway Station Windmill

'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.

It is claimed that this is the best remaining example of a wooden railway windmill in New Zealand. Apparently it was used to pump water into locomotives about to make the steep climb to the tunnel through the Spooner Range south of Nelson. This one operated between 1898-1955 and was still standing proudly in 1988 when I drew it. 

You don't see a lot of pumps like this in New Zealand but Australia's full of them, and so is Texas (which is the only US state I've ever spent much time in).

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: Wakefield Post Office

'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.

Wakefield is a small village south of Nelson; small, yes, but proud enough to have built this heroic post office in 1909, and what a fine building it is. I did this drawing in 1988, seventy-nine years later, when the officers at New Zealand Post were still in the habit of raising the flag each morning to signify that they were in business.

Alas, as with most New Zealand Post Offices it not only shut down but even those left don't fly the flag these days; more's the pity. The building is still there but I have no idea what it is used for.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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New Zealand Odyssey: Tophouse

'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.

The Tophouse road runs between St. Arnaud and Kohatu. It used to be the main connexion between Nelson and Blenheim but now it's an interesting secondary route. Tophouse homestead started life as a hostelry in 1887 and much history took place within its walls, some of it grim. In 1894 a lodger murdered the licensee and held a woman three childen captive before doing the sensible thing and committing suicide while besieged. Exciting stuff: there are still shot marks in the cob walls.

There was a lowering sky when I painted it. I probably overdid it but there's plenty of drama in that Payne's grey sky!

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: The Silversmith's House, Whanganui Inlet

'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.

Whanganui Inlet, in the top left hand corner of the South Island, is so remote that this house came as quite a surprise high on its hill in thick bush looking towards the west, the Tasman Sea and Tasmania. Although, for some reason, I couldn't get very close to the house its design looked equally astonishing, in 1988 in a country full of mediocre architecture, this was impressive, imaginative and unique.

It was identified as 'The Silversmith's House' and when, recently, I asked around, I was told that it had probably been built by its first owner, a jeweller, Peter Meirs who now lives in Golden Bay.


© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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New Zealand Odyssey: Bendix Washing Machine Mail Box, Pakawau

'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.

New Zealanders have a reputation for lateral thinking that requires to be exemplified in a book about the special qualities of this country. On our Odyssey we saw many varieties of mail box where the 'postie' collected and deposited letters and parcels every day. This one took my fancy. It is the internal workings of a Bendix washing machine no longer given over to churning and spinning. One imagines that the owner could not bear to throw the washer away when it could still have a useful function.

It was by a country road at Pakawau in the north-west corner of the South Island.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

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New Zealand Odyssey: The Rat Trap, Upper Takaka

'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.

This drawing was done in 1988. I've drawn the pub several times since and it appeared in my book 'The Good Old Kiwi Pub'. This is what I wrote about it then:


'The Rat Trap, built in 1903, guarded the only road exit from the Takaka Valley to Riwaka, Motueka and the market gardens of Tasman Bay. I painted it on a number of occasions because it offered such a welcoming prospect after the breathtaking descent into the valley from the limestone heights of Takaka Hill-the "Marble Mountain".


'While well-known all over Nelson Province, the pub was never more popular than in the late 1930s when more than five hundred workers were constructing the hydroelectric dam in nearby Cobb Valley. That’s when the Upper Takaka Hotel was given its nickname. Life was hard at the remote dam site and the men sometimes became ’stir crazy’, so much so that absenteeism, caused by workers not returning to camp after making supply trips, became commonplace.


'"Where are the men?" the overseer would demand.


'The answer would come, "Caught in the Rat Trap!"


'They solved the problem by buying truckloads of beer from the pub and selling it in the works canteen. They bought so much that the Rat Trap’s beer sales were greater than any other pub in Nelson Province.  


'It’s still possible to get trapped in Golden Bay if the hill is closed by snow and ice but, sadly, you won’t find comfort at the Rat Trap; it burned to the ground on 19 May 1994. It’s a tragic story; a husband and wife were proprietors and she, with tortured mind, fired the place which had trapped her and turned her into what her defence counsel at her arson trial described as ‘a lonely and terrified woman’. With heartening compassion the jury found her not guilty.


'I grieve for her, her husband and the old Rat Trap.' 


© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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