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Eelco Boswijk

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 12:10:41 +1200

Eelco Boswijk: Never a Dull Moment

Eelco Boswijk 19 Dec 1992. The Nelson Provincial Museum, The Nelson Mail Collection, C13423
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Listen to the 2012 Spectrum broadcast on Eelco ...

One-time owner of Nelson's iconic Chez Eelco cafe, Eelco remembered his rich life as he approached his 80th birthday.

Born in 1929 in the village of den Dolder in central Holland, Eelco enjoyed a happy and secure childhood. The middle child of five, Eelco was born after one of the coldest winters on record: " My mother used to thank me for keeping her warm!" Eelco's mother was from Freisland in the Netherlands and spoke the Freisian language, which Eelco understood.

His father was a psychiatrist at a large mental hospital:

"Like all Dutch boys we had small or second hand bicycles. Nobody had a car in the neighbourhood- maybe a few doctors but my father didn't- he was a nature man."

The German occupation of the low countries in 1939, marked the end of Eelco's carefree childhood. "As kids we were always watching the Germans after they came into Holland- following them on our bikes, watching what they were doing- we were just curious."

However the reality of the war soon began to bite. Eelco says his older sisters who were good looking blond girls, were messengers for the Underground. Halfway through the war, the Boswijk family were kicked out of their hospital house and his father was imprisoned in Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany.

"My mother had to drag five children to another part of the village. The war made life difficult for the people. The Nazis were terrible."

"My father spent two years in Dachau. He was so anti-German but he survived because of being a doctor and he was always helping other people. He lived only half a year after returning from Dachau - he died of heart failure."

By mid-1944, the war was beginning to turn. The Boswijk family lived near a military airfield and in August 1944, American liberators dropped bombs on the airfield. Eelco remembers it was summer and there was a lot of dust in the air which obscured aircraft views of the target. " A bomb exploded in the front of our house - there was a crater as big as a room. My sisters were in the backyard and the bomb fell near them."

When the war was over, Eelco went back to school but he says he was not academic, and after his father died, his mother suggested he try a new life in a new country. "You could get immigration help to go to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. I said I'd like to go to New Zealand because before the war I'd been given some New Zealand stamps with a Maori motif and they were my favourite stamps.

"My family stayed back in The Netherlands and my mother died a year later. My sisters stayed and my brother went to Canada. He became a Canadian and I became a Kiwi and I never had a moment of regret about it."

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines were flying Dutch immigrants to Sydney to be reunited with relatives and had organized special flights for Dutch women married to soldiers in Indonesia. In 1951, Eelco flew with them, arriving in Auckland via the flying boat from Sydney after a five day journey.

He wanted to work on a farm and the Labour Department placed him in Christchurch where he was met by fellow Dutch man, Gerrit van Asch. Eelco worked on the farm for two years, improved his English and in the process found a second family. "It was in the Hoon Hay Valley. I milked the cows- every day was a new day. It was quite amazing because I got on so well with the family." but there was more to see and do for the young adventurer. The next five years saw Eelco working on farms, driving trucks and working in restaurants around New Zealand. " I found work all over the place. I would hitchhike and I could fit in anywhere. I liked New Zealanders, I saw these people as good people."

In 1958, Eelco returned to The Netherlands and with his brother, Bart Jan, planned to return to New Zealand in a VW combi van, traveling through Africa and then sailing for New Zealand. The roads were rough in Algeria and Morocco and one day as they crossed the Moroccan desert, a land mine exploded, completely wrecking the van. Bart Jan's pelvis was fractured and while Eelco was uninjured, he had to leave his brother in the hostile desert and retrace their path on foot across the landmine-spiked land to find help. After 53 hours, Eelco's brother was located by French rescuers, who found another landmine just three metres from where he lay.

Eelco returned to a depressed New Zealand, arriving in Wellington on a cold, windy day, with no prospects. In 1982, he told the Nelson Mail's Dave Manning: "It was a long day in my life. I had no money and didn't know where I was going.

"When I came back the second time, I lived in Auckland and worked in one of the first real coffee shops in New Zealand. I'd never had coffee in Holland but now, I would be happy to drive around with a bag of fresh ground coffee in the car just for the smell," he smiles.

In 1960, he hitched a ride from Auckland to Nelson with a Dutch friend. "He was a salesman, so I came for a ride. He knew some people and I stayed doing various jobs. I was going to move on but the coffee house idea was bubbling away, so I looked around for a space. In Auckland I'd learnt how to set up a café."

Chez Eelco, Jan/Feb 1962, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Geoffrey C Wood Collection, 1191 fr3
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Social life in provincial New Zealand in the 1960s was a bland landscape of milkbars and 6 o clock pub closing. There was nowhere to go after the ‘Pictures' (movies), so when Chez Eelco opened at the top of Trafalgar Street in 1960, up to 500 people would be waiting to get in late on Friday nights.

"People welcomed it. It was quite amazing from the beginning because it was a new thing in society. It would fill up from the early days."

‘Meet you at the Chez' was a common catch-cry in Nelson for more than three decades. The European- style café at the top of Trafalgar Street, with its Bohemian décor, hosted theatre, film and classical and jazz evenings - and there was always a warm welcome for artists. Works by Toss Wollaston, Jane Evans and Sally Burton, as well as many others were hung in the exhibition space.

"I'm not an artist, but I appreciate it. I enjoyed artistic people- they got an idea and had the energy. I was happy if I could help by listening and putting a bit of energy into it. Yes there were lots of dreamers but I listened to them. I take people as they present themselves."

One of those dreamers was Suzie Moncrieff. " There was a lovely lady in my coffee house looking very frustrated. She said she had an idea and needed some money for it. I gave her a cheque (for $1000). Things still had to be developed- it was still an idea. I could never have imagined what Wearable Arts would turn out to be. It was in the minds of these lovely women but it was fantastic to be involved."

Other people remember Eelco's generosity. Margaret Jackson , the musician, remembers, "He did lovely things. When we first started a Montessori school in Nelson, Eelco, who had been educated at a Montessori College, lent us money to buy the equipment from Holland.

"Anybody who walked into the Chez would feel they had come home and you don't find that very often. He was so generous. He would give old people meals- deliver them to their homes - and he would give street kids old buns from the café. Once when our daughter had a terrible accident and we were staying up at Nelson Hospital with her, Eelco sent meals up to us every night," she says.

Margaret says Eelco was also a social butterfly who loved women. "He was a very good looking, sexy man, and women fell at his feet. He just adored women. He made every woman feel special- it could be the oldest, ugliest woman in the world.

For its founder, Chez Eelco was always about creating a social space, which he maintains was uniquely Nelson. " I never compared myself to Europe- I'm not there, I'm here. It was popular because it wasn't pretending to be anything- it was just itself."

When it's suggested to Eelco that Chez Eelco was a fantastic venture, he nods his head and says ‘Yes, yes' but he does not regard himself as a mentor or icon. In fact while he acknowledges the gesture of the bust at the top of Trafalgar Street, he seems a bit bemused. " They have even put me in steel. I feel a bit sorry for him because he's cold out there.

There is a sense of wonder about how good life has been to him. "I have been a very lucky boy. I have enjoyed anything I have done. I have always lived in the moment. You just have to get on with things- there is no time to lose. I have always been positive- it probably came from my parents. I had a lovely wife (his ex-wife is potter, Christine Boswijk) and we had three lovely children.

"I'm a bit of an escapist, but it didn't matter because I have lived life to the full - and Mt Cook is still waiting for me to climb!"

Footnote: Eelco has donated his extensive archives to The Nelson Provincial Museum. The large and varied collection includes extensive records, memorabilia, correspondence, and printed materials such as labels for the famous mussel chowder and Chez Eelco's unique map tablemats. "This will make a fascinating research collection and ensure that the history of The Chez and Eelco's contribution to developing Nelson culture won't be forgotten," says Judith Taylor, Head of Collection Services,The Nelson Provincial Museum.

This story was written by Joy Stephens and published in Wild Tomato http://www.wildtomato.co.nz/ in September 2008.

Pioneering women artists

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 08:51:23 +1300

FRANK, Rosaline (1864-1954)

Rosaline Frank, The Nelson Provincial Museum, Tyree Studio collection

Rosaline Margaret Frank (or Rose Frank) was one of New Zealand's first professional women photographers, and the first in Nelson. She was born on 21 December 1864. the daughter of Christopher and Emma Frank and was a foundation pupil of the Nelson Roman Catholic Convent.

At the age of 21 she went to work at the Tyree Photographic Studio in Trafalgar Street, Nelson, which was opened in 1878 by William Tyree. His brother Frederick worked with him for some years. In 1895 she became manager of the studio with power of attorney for the business. William Tyree moved to Sydney, Australia, later that year and Rose continued running the studio in Nelson, also acting as agent for William Tyree's acetylene gas generators.

In 1914 Rose Frank purchased the studio and continued to operate it under the original name until her retirement in 1947 aged eighty two. Rose Frank is considered to be the first woman in New Zealand to have been professionally involved in photography. She was also actively involved in art and music.

In 1948 the Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, purchased some 1,100 negatives she had stored in a strongroom. Just before her death Rose Frank gifted the Nelson Historical Society the remaining negatives (between 110,000 and 120,000) which are held at the Nelson Provincial Museum. She died in 1954 aged eighty nine. Rosaline's main interests were photography, art and music. It was Rosaline who preserved the Tyree glass plate negatives.

Rosalina McCarthy, who became Nelson's second professional woman photographer, urged local photographers and business people to donate to a memorial headstone to Rosaline Frank. Rosalina has also written a biography on her predecessor.

NAYLOR Marjorie Eleanor Froom (1909-1985)

In 1932 Marjorie Naylor had taken over and continued the Nelson School of Painting in Hugh Scott's studio. She was involved in the Nelson Suter Art Society for many years, exhibited in the gallery and had a studio in her home in Bridge Street Nelson. [The small house beside the Suburban Bus Co., currently Wills jeweller]. Miss Naylor became well known for her portraits and landscapes, with her works in the permanent collection of the Suter Art Gallery and galleries throughout New Zealand and overseas. The director of the Suter Art Gallery, at the time of her death, described Marjorie as a shy, retiring person, a meticulous individual and one liked by many people.

HARRIS Emily Cumming (1837?-1925)

Emily was born about 1837 and arrived in New Plymouth in March 1841 with her parents, a brother and two sisters. Her father, Edwin Harris, a civil engineer and surveyor, was also an artist. Her mother ran two schools in New Plymouth and Emily became an assistant teacher.

The Harris family moved to Nelson from Taranaki in March 1860, at the time of the Waitara War. Edwin was a drawing master at Nelson College and then, for nearly twenty years at the Bishop's School. With Emily he conducted a private drawing school. Emily and her sisters also ran an infant school in Nelson, in which Emily bacame a drawing teacher.

All three sisters painted and sketched, but Emily was sent to Hobart to study art. Emily Harris was, of necessity, one of the few pioneering women artists in New Zealand to try to earn a living solely by painting and teaching drawing.

Emily's diaries, held by the Taranaki Museum, detail the difficulties she endured in exhibiting. To be an artist in New Zealand's small community meant making the effort to transport work for exhibitions outside Nelson. Her great love was New Zealand flowers and plants. She also wrote several small books on New Zealand berries, ferns and flowers. Many of her paintings [63] are in the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington.

2009

Other notable women artists of the region

Sarah Greenwood
Mina Arndt (1885-1926)
Lady Mabel M. Annesley (1881-1959)
Jane Evans (1946-)
Dorothy Kate Richmond (1861-1935)
Peggy Laird (see Nelson Pottery story)
Nina Davis (1914-1995)
Christine Boswijk (c.1940-)

Wearable Art

Taking art off the wall and onto the moving body^TM in rural Nelson in 1987 led to the establishment of one of New Zealand's premier cultural extravaganzas that continues to "wow" audiences.

The WOW^® Factor

World of WearableArt’s Heather Palmer, left, and Suzie Moncrieff, with wearableart garments, Geneomo, created by Sally Burton, left, and Toi Yasa, created by Letty MacPhedron, right. 2004.[Martin de Ruyter, Nelson Mail, ref. 79322]
Click image to enlarge.

When Nelson painter and sculptor Suzie Moncrieff wanted to promote the tiny art gallery she ran as a co-operative with friends, she came up with an idea that evolved into one of New Zealand’s leading cultural extravaganzas, The Montana World of WearableArt Awards, known as WOW^®.

Armed with $1000 prize money given to her by local arts patron and café owner, Eelco Boswijk,¹ Suzie called for designers to take art off the wall and place it on the human form.² The first wearable art awards at the William Higgins Gallery in Spring Grove in 1987 were a huge success.

Despite Suzie’s concern that many of the entrants had not really fully understood her art on the body concept, some entering colourful knitwear instead, she felt there was enough interest and support to take her dream a major step further.

The next year she and her sister, Heather Palmer, staged a much larger version of the show at Nelson’s largest venue, the Trafalgar Centre.³ Throwing fashion out the door and transforming a catwalk show into a fully theatrical extravaganza was part and parcel of the move to the Trafalgar Centre and Nelsonians responded in droves.

The show grew bigger each year, with designers from throughout New Zealand, and then the world, working tirelessly on their personal interpretations of the award categories to produce a winning garment. With categories as diverse as South Pacific, children’s, illumination illusion, man unleashed, avant-garde, and the perennial favourite, Bizarre Bra, there is something to satisfy the most active design imagination.

Staging, lighting, costuming, dancers, musicians and performers support the choreographed entry garments and the show has attracted the support of the likes of the New Zealand Royal Ballet, contemporary dance group Black Grace, opera singer Jack Bourke and Maori singer/songwriter Hinewehi Mohi. WOW^® has been described as “Mardi Gras meets Haute Couture”.⁴

Borderlines, by Janet Bathgate of Nelson: South Pacific Section of the 2007 Montana World of WearableArt Awards [Martin de Ruyter, Nelson Mail, Nelson Mail digital photo, Ref 170459 2]
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Each year, thousands of visitors flocked to Nelson in late September to see the show, which eventually spilled across two weekends. In 1999 WOW^® won the Supreme New Zealand Tourism Award.

The World of WearableArt and Classic Cars Museum opened at Annesbrook in 2001. This allows people to see some of the garments up close, while still experiencing some of the theatricality of WOW^® alongside an extensive collection of classic cars in the gallery next door.⁵

To the widespread dismay of Nelsonians,⁶ it was announced in 2004 that WOW^® had reached its creative and commercial limits in Nelson and would move to Wellington in 2005. Access to a bigger and better equipped venue, a larger population and more corporate sponsors would allow the show to further develop.⁷

Audiences increased by 50 percent the first year in Wellington and now more than 35,000 people see the show each year.⁸ The 20^th anniversary show was staged in 2008.

While the show has moved to Wellington, the birthplace of WOW^® remains firmly in Nelson, where a large team plans, choreographs, scripts, directs and produces the show for months before it moves to Wellington just weeks before opening.⁹

2008

Read another version of this story by Sarah Butterworth, Nayland College, 2010 [PDF] : The World of WearableArts

Kupe and the Boulder Bank

Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:51:21 +1200

The distinctive Boulder Bank protecting Nelson Haven, known to Māori as Te Taero o Kereopa, was named to commemorate exploits during Kupe's visit to Aotearoa in about 1350.

Kupe pursued a giant octopus, scourge of Kupe's fishing ground in Hawaiki, across the Pacific to Aotearoa, finally dispatching it at Whekenui Bay, Tory Channel. Before returning home Kupe visited Nuku-waiata to gather fish, shellfish, and birds for the long journey north. Two of Kupe's men, Pani and Kereopa, who wished to remain with tangata whenua , absconded in canoes after kidnapping Kupe's daughter.

Kupe's pursuit of Pani and Kereopa. From Mitchell H & J. Te Tau Ihu o Te waka v.1.(Topo data Eagle Technology & Linz and cartography Moira Jackson Assoc). Permission must be sought for further use of image.)
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Nelson's Boulder Bank. Image courtesy Nelson City Council
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Kupe launched his waka in hot pursuit, dashing through Aumiti and into Tasman Bay. The fugitives threw Kupe's daughter overboard, forcing him to divert to rescue her, prayed for currents, whirlpools and storms, and created reefs and rocky headlands. Nevertheless, Kupe's Matahourua steadily gained on them until the runaways separated as they coasted towards Whakatu.

Kupe first pursued Kereopa who paddled towards the shore. Kereopa offered karakia, which caused boulders at the foot of Horoirangi¹ (Mackay's Bluff) to fall into the sea and create a barrier between his waka and the Matahourua. No matter how hard Kupe's crew paddled, Kereopa's boulder bank grew apace, and they could not outstrip it. Kereopa landed and fled inland.

Kupe then turned his attention to Pani who had circled back towards Rangitoto. Pani also invoked deities and taniwha to whip up storms and violent currents to impede Kupe, but without success. When Pani's party swung around the northern tip of Rangitoto into the passage between it and Takaporewa their canoe was overwhelmed in rips and all drowned. Kupe witnessed the tragedy and named the passage Nga Tai Whaka Hoki Hoki a Pani, or the wild seas which caused Pani's canoe to overturn, and now known as Hell's Gate.

The overturned canoe became a rock formation named Te Waka a Pani; Pani's daughters became an unusual large split rock, Nga Tamahine (the daughters) a Pani, and his slave (mokai) also became a rock known as Te Mokai a Pani. In a cave nearby, Te Ana a Pani, Kupe trapped Pani's spirit forever; a loud moaning noise can be heard when tides surge into it - Pani's eternal grief over his downfall.

Kereopa escaped. His name is perpetuated in senior lines of Ngati Kuia and other South Island tribes; some southern Maori claim descent from Kereopa through his marriage to a Waitaha woman.²

Many other features of Te Tau Ihu , especially in eastern parts, were named for events during Kupe's visit. Naming or renaming the landscape was a sign of taking possession in Maori tikanga.

2010

Note on the geological origins of the Boulder Bank

The 13.5km long barrier spit sheltering Nelson Haven is a unique geological feature composed of granodiorite pebbles, cobbles and boulders derived from Mackay Bluff, north of Glenduan. The granodiorite was intruded into the earth's crust 140 to 145 million years ago at the beginning of the Cretaceous period. Subsequent uplift and erosion has exposed the granodiorite, angular pieces of which fall from the bluff where they are transported by coastal longshore currents in a southwesterly direction. Because the granodiorite is very hard, with few planes of weakness, the pieces do not readily disintegrate. Instead, as they abrade against each other they become progressively more rounded and smaller as the distance from Mackay Bluff increases. Movement of material is still continuing, requiring regular dredging of The Cut, an artificial shipping channel into Nelson Haven that opened in 1906. Today, the Boulder Bank is managed as a scenic reserve by Department of Conservation. Land access is gained along Boulderbank Drive, signposted at the northern end of Nelson Haven on State Highway 6 or from Glenduan sited 15km north of Nelson.
Information supplied by Mike Johnston, Nelson geologist, to Janet Bathgate for publication on a Nelson City Council Interpretation Panel

Lake Grassmere

Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:52:36 +1200

When Kupe circumnavigated New Zealand, c. 900 AD, Maori tradition is that he was obstructed by the inhabitants in the vicinity of, what is now, Lake Grassmere. In revenge Kupe turned the sea onto their plantations thus making Lake Grassmere.¹The Maori name for the lake is Kapara-te-hau.

Lake Grassmere. Photo courtesy Dominion Saltworks
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In the era of Te Rauparaha there was a massacre in this area. The great chief had come from the North to take ducks to preserve in fat for winter food, but Ngai Tahu heard of this plan and waited in ambush. The ambush resulted in three hundred deaths and only thirty escaping, including Te Rauparaha who had to swim out to a canoe. Tradition tells us that the canoe was already fully laden, but a woman was pushed overboard to make room for the great chief! ²

Plan of land taken for Aviation purposes. Marlborough Museum.
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In the era when there were several whaling stations along Marlborough's East coast, the area was known as Cobbler`s Hole.³

Until World War II the Lake remained in a more or less natural state, i.e. dry and dusty during the summer months and covered in water during the winter. In the spring a number of birds would nest in the lake area. These included swans.

Around 1940 railway-men working in the Kaparu area just north of the lake found fragments of egg-shell believed to be from moa eggs. My father had a collection of about fifty such fragments that he had collected.

In 1938 the Government of the day had a survey plan drawn up for approximately three-quarters of the lake area, being the area east of the railway line, and the next year this was officially designated as Land for Aviation Purposes. Subsequently an airfield and a bombing range were established in the area. These were used for training pilots based at Woodbourne during WWII. Incidentally, in later years Peter Skellerup, a Director of Dominion Salt, used the same airfield when making quick business trips from Christchurch.⁴

Lake Grassmere Saltworks, 1960's. Marlborough Museum
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During the early years of WW II George Skellerup , a Christchurch businessman, was trying to re-cycle old tyres, as rubber was a rare commodity at that time, and he required salt to do this. Importing salt in large quantities was unlikely to be approved by the war-time government, so he looked around for a way to make salt locally, and thus the salt works at Lake Grassmere was born. Requirements for making salt were: a large area of flat land, near the sea, which would retain water; low rainfall; high evaporation (wind and sunshine); and proximity to transport (road, rail etc.) He found these requirements at Lake Grassmere; and on 23rd. December 1942 he was granted a "Licence to Manufacture Salt". Actual construction of the necessary ponds etc. started in 1943.⁵

Farming and salt manufacture haven`t always got along well though! In some of Marlborough's droughts the local farmers have considered the possibility of artificially inducing the clouds overhead to drop rain on their land, but Dominion Salt has made it clear that it may pursue legal action to stop such an undertaking. On the one hand a long period of drought promises a `bumper` salt harvest, while the same season causes farmers loss of production (and income).⁶

²⁰¹⁰

The Brothers Islands and Lighthouse

Tue, 05 Oct 2010 18:43:57 +1300

Off the north end of Arapawa Island in Cook Strait lie a group of islets known as The Brothers. In Maori tradition, these are Ngawhatu Kai-ponu: ‘the eyeballs that stand witness’, the eyeballs of Whekenui, the giant octopus Kupe killed in Tory Channel, placed in the Strait to bear witness to his victory and form beacons of dangerous waters. Old-time Maori when crossing Raukawa (Cook Strait) would shade their eyes with leaves to prevent ill fortune until past these rocks.

Captain Cook’s Endeavour nearly foundered on The Brothers, due to the strong tides running through the Strait – a longboat was put down for the sailors to tow the ship to safety, but fortunately the tide changed in time for him to sail away.

Brothers Islands Lighthouse. Picton Historical Society.
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In colonial times it was decided to build an English-style lighthouse on The Brothers, which proved to be a difficult job. It took 60 days merely to land the necessary equipment and men, then the builder and his working party remained on the exposed rock for the best part of a year, arduously winching every ton of building material and stores up to the site. Then came the even trickier task of landing the more fragile lantern with its lenses and light apparatus, and to haul it to the summit.

The light was first switched on in the lighthouse on 24 September, 1877. In August 1954 it was changed over from kerosene to electric power. Power was supplied by three 10 H.P. diesel engines coupled to three 6.8 k.w. generators, with only one of these running at any one time, while the other two were kept in reserve. The changeover to electricity did not affect the character of the light or its flashing in any way.

During these years lighthouse keepers were in residence on The Brothers. They received their stores by ship from Picton, and sent off a weather report on local conditions at 4:30 am daily, then every hour on the hour till 4 pm.

Many local people had contact with the lighthouse: apart from the Keepers, there were the crews of Enterprise I & II, the supply launches. Dale Connor worked on the first one for some time. ‘Every fortnight you’d take out coal, meat, all the stores, all that side of it, diesel fuel. Out at Koromiko, the little shop out there that’s now closed used to be owned by Leo Fields. He’d been a lighthouse keeper, and he used to supply all the groceries and that for The Brothers,’ he said. Jim Cook was sometimes taken out by helicopter for emergency electrical repairs.

Once a year a nurse from Picton went out to check all their First Aid and medical equipment and all their drugs and medications. Dawn Woodward (formerly Whyte) when District Nurse, did the last service before automatic lights were installed and men no longer lived on the site.

Brothers Islands Lighthouse. The Enterprise unloading supplies. Picton Historical Society. Click image to enlarge.

‘I regarded that as one of my most memorable journeys,’ she told me. ‘At The Brothers there is no way of mooring the boat or tying it up to a jetty, as it’s just a pile of rocks in the middle of Cook Strait with very strong currents and tides. And so while the boat is unloading, they have a crane on the shore, on a reasonably flat piece of ground, and they use nets for the cargo and a box like a tea-chest to put people in. The captain spends the whole time just moving the boat backwards and forwards keeping it away from rocks and currents and as smooth as possible so they can unload and reload the ship. It takes some time, and when it comes your turn to go ashore, they say, “When I say Go, get in the box and keep your head down.” And then they swing you across the ocean and on to this little concrete platform, and there you are. The seamanship displayed that day was excellent, and needed close cooperation of the crane operator on shore.’ The ship was Enterprise II. Her captain was David Williamson and crew members were Barry Nitz and Bernie Olsen.

In 1970, the Brothers Islets were declared a sanctuary by proclamation. Nothing must be added to the existing fauna and flora, so the men couldn’t have pets, or even establish a garden. There would always be the danger of ‘foreign’ seeds spreading. A tame tuatara came into the keeper’s house on every evening at 7pm. ‘You can set your clock by him,’ said Keeper, Frank Williams at the time. ‘Regularly he goes round all the windows, eats any flies and checks up on the men. Then he’s off again.’

In March 1990, the automation of The Brothers Lighthouse marked an end of the era of resident keepers. The last keepers were Tim Watson, Ian Hargreaves, Bill Megennis, and Charlie Wills.

This story is adapted from one written by Loreen Brehaut for the Seaport News, 2010

Tahuna Beach

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:54:45 +1300

Tahunanui Beach did not exist when Nelson was settled by Europeans. What is now the beach was once mudflat near the edge of the main channel draining the Waimea Inlet. It has taken a mere 100 years for Tahunanui Beach to build, with sands from Tasman Bay. Such is the nature of beaches and coastal dunes – they change with the movements of wind and sea, and are transitory formations.

Tahunanui beach (2006) – Les Dunford on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesdunford/322247040/
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The area known today as Tahunanui is geologically very young – formed within the past 6,500 years, after the sea rose to its present level and formed Tasman Bay. Locally, the sea cut into a gravel fan deposited by Jenkins Creek and Poormans Valley Stream and formed the Monaco Spit. Winds and sea currents then formed beach ridges of sand and gravel over the area we know today as Tahunanui. The gravels lying under today's beach sand were largely derived from the Port Hills. While this was happening at Tahunanui, Rabbit Island and other Waimea Inlet islands were being formed by the dominant longshore drift which shifted material in a south easterly direction from the Motueka River.

On the Sands, Nelson [when the beach was still rocky] The Nelson Provincial Museum, Copy
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In the 1840’s, records of the landscape began to be documented by European settlers in the form of maps, charts and written descriptions. The main channel draining the Waimea Inlet was called the Waimea River by settlers, and it crossed through the present-day beach. An intertidal sandbank – the Waimea Bank – extended from Rabbit Island towards Bolton Hole and was exposed at low tide. Bolton Hole was formed at a point where the Waimea and the Maitai Rivers met.

Some time in the 1870s a new channel broke through the Waimea Bank, possibly during a storm or series of storms. At around the same time the Waimea River, at the head of the inlet, discharged most of its flow into a channel that headed west to Mapua. Without a scouring flow through the old eastern channel it slowly filled with sand and, by 1882, is recorded as being dry. Meanwhile, the new channel started to shift sand underwater towards Tahunanui Beach. and the Boulder Bank – narrowing the accessway for ships entering the Haven and starting to fill Bolton Hole.

By 1882 the fairway, for ships rounding the bottom of the Boulder Bank to enter the Haven, had been reduced to 1800 feet wide (550 metres) and 7 feet deep (2.1 metres) at low water springs. By 1898 the encroaching sandbar had reduced the fairway to 900 feet wide and ships were having to negotiate a tight passage to enter the Haven at high tide. This was hazardous, so in 1899 a cut through the natural formation of the Boulder Bank was recommended. After much public debate as to the wisdom of tampering with nature, a new entrance to the Haven was created by blasting and dredging a cut through a low point in the Boulder Bank. The cut opened for use in 1906.

Tahuna beach - Nelson PhotoNews (1966, August 20), no.70 http://photonews.org.nz/nelson/issue/NPN70_19660820/fig-NPN70_19660820_050a.html [The area at Tahunanui Beach, better known as the "back beach", is to undergo major development in the future. The area on which car racing has been held in the past will be converted into playing fields and the present playing area has been suggested as the site for a tourist hotel.]
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F.N. Jones: Crowd at Tahunanui Beach, Nelson, ca 1928: 1/2-032897-G Federick Jones. Alexander Turnbull Library http://mp.natlib.govt.nz/detail/?id=31986
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While changes were occurring out around Bolton Hole and Haulashore Island, Tahunanui Beach was steadily building up with sand. By 1900 the area we know today was largely formed, but most was an intertidal sandbank and completely covered with very high tides. The sea wall around Rocks Road was completed in 1899. This had the affect of stopping natural sea erosion of the base of the Port Hills and Tahunanui Slump, preventing natural gravels and sands from being transported onto the beach area.

During the 1890's the beach was mostly gravel, much of which had been taken over a period of 27 years for road building in Stoke. This was stopped in 1889 at the insistence of landowners Edward Green and Mathew Richmond.

The beach did continue to change however. By 1904 a line of sand dunes had formed (in line with the intersection of Tahunanui Drive and Beach Road, well south of present-day Bisley Walk) with dune vegetation established above the reach of the tide. Ten years later, the front dunes were well established and the eastern ‘back beach' area was drying out. The dunes were considered so permanent that a recreation ground was established, the first of many developments which were to follow.

Since 1935 it has been possible to record vegetation lines at the beach with assistance from aerial photography. Blind Channel has been moving eastwards at an estimated average rate of 3.85 metres per year. Vegetated dunes that once provided some protection for the Motor Camp are currently not present. The central area of the front beach has been through a period of erosion and sand-building. Vegetation on the eastern-most area of the front beach has been through several periods of change, including the building of a car park in 1958 and the realignment of a stormwater drain in 2005.

Tahuna dunes (2009) - tahunanui beach nelson, heather Camp on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/heather/3298964585/
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Erosion

Since the 1950's the eastern movement of Blind Channel has washed away some 250 metres of the western end of the front beach. But whether this is a constant trend isn't known. The sea and its dynamics are always changing. What is known is that the quantity of sand that moves around Tasman Bay, most of which eventually ends up to the south of the Waimea Estuary, is increasing. Thus any erosion that does occur at Tahunanui Beach is localised repositioning of the sand within the stockpile. In the future there will still be a beach at Tahunanui, but no one knows exactly what position it will be in and exactly what mix of rock, gravel and sand it will consist of.

A community coast care programme has worked to protect the dunes since 2005, using sand trapping barriers and vegetation, including pingao Desmoschoenus spiralis and spinifex Desmoschoenus spiralis and spinifex Spinifex sericeus.

The information in this story was written for the Nelson City Council Heritage plaques at Tahunanui Beach, 200

Wakapuaka Cemetery

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:58:59 +1200

Wakapuaka
Over the years the spelling of this area has altered between Whakapuaka and Wakapuaka, as has the pronunciation, depending upon changing dialects. The name originates from the legendary explorer Kupe. When his two canoes arrived here, his crew were struck by the similarity of the bay to a fishing ground called Whakapuaka back home, so they named the area after it.

Map of Wakapuaka Cemetery
Click image to enlarge or download PDF

The headland on which the Cemetery sits is rich in history, trees and Nelson Haven views.

Looking S. towards Wakapuaka Cemetery c1910 - Today's highway is built on reclaimed estuary, Nelson Provincial Museum.
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The Cemetery
The land, 14.04 hectares, was purchased by the Superintendent of Nelson in 1859, and opened as a cemetery two years later. Most of it was administered by Trustees, but it was handed over to Nelson City Council in the 1880s. A remaining small area, administered by Church of England Trustees, was transferred to the Council in 1999.

Since 1861 some 16,000 people have been buried at the Cemetery. The first recorded burial was that of Grace Annie Everett, child of 16 months, buried 8 December 1861. This, and other early graves, are found in the Anglican Section near the top of the hill amongst the oak trees. Amongst them are those of some notable Nelsonians:

surveyor and artist John Gully
educator Matthew Campbell
goldminers Elizabeth and George Moonlight .
the Maungatapu Murder victims - five men who were robbed and killed on the inland Maungatapu Road in 1866. (The attackers were hanged and buried in unmarked graves just outside the consecrated ground of Hallowell Cemetery, Shelbourne Street.)
explorer and surveyor Thomas Brunner

Other major features and graves in the Cemetery include:

Gargiulo Memorial Gates (main entrance)
The gates were erected in memory of Italian immigrant Mariano Gargiulo.
A grave with Hebrew script.
Click image to enlarge
Hebrew Section
Hebrew script appears on some graves in this small section, located through the gate to the left of the chapel.
Chapel of St Michael (lower Roman Catholic section)
The Chapel was used until 1979. It is dedicated to Nelson's first Roman Catholic priest, Antoine Marie Garin. He established schools for the education of young Roman Catholic's in Nelson. Garin College is
named in his memory.
Grave of Thomas Cawthron (Presbyterian new)
This grave features a prominent headstone. Cawthron was a well known local benefactor. The Cawthron Institute was established with his generosity, which included a large reserve of land at the head of the Brook Valley for a water works reserve. This land is now the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary for native wildlife.
Trask's Angel (presbyterian new)
An angel watches over the grave of Francis Trask, mayor of Nelson 1890 - 1900. The Hardy Street gates of the Queens Gardens are dedicated to Francis and his wife Emily.
First European Woman in Nelson (General old)
Near the top of the hill lies Ann Bird (nee Haycock), said to be the first European woman to set foot in Nelson. After the death of her husband she took over running their butchery business.
A Royal Grave (General old section)
West Indian Laura Duffus married Polish Prince Alois Konstantin Lubecki. Laura and her two sons arrived in Nelson in 1894, following the death of Prince Alois.
Returned Services Section (RSA on map)
Established in 1947, those buried here are predominantly New Zealand World War 1 and World War 2 Expeditionary Forces, returned servicemen and women. Some Australian, British, Canadian and Indian service people are also here. Spouses are now allowed to be buried alongside the people already here.
Early view from the Roman Catholic Section of the cemetery. Nelson Provincial Museum Tyree Photo 1002. Click image to enlarge
Tobacco Man's Memorial (22a Roman Catholic section)
A hotel verandah post stands over the grave of Cecil Conrad Nash, pioneer tobacco grower of Nelson. He was reputedly offered a bribe of thirty five thousand pounds by overseas interests to stop growing tobacco, and the decision to refuse the offer was made while leaning against this post.
Adams Memorial Gates (onto Atawhai Drive)
‘Touch Not the Cat Bot a Glove' Upon the death of Percy Adams in 1930, his widow had the cemetery gates, complete with his family crest, erected as a memorial. The ‘bot' in the motto means ‘without' and serves as a warning to be careful. The crest was granted to the Adams family during the crusades in Palestine and was given also to MacIntoshs and McPhersons, who were part of the original House of Chatten in Scotland. Percy Adams owned Melrose House, an historic home and grounds available for public use, sited on the corner of Brougham and Trafalgar Streets, Nelson.

Nelson Cemeteries in history

Haven Cemetery - Malcolm Place, The Cliffs: 1840s - 1868
Quakers Acre - Rutherford Street: 1854 - 1875
Hallowell Cemetery - Shelbourne Street: 1840s - 1885
Trafalgar Street Cemetery - Fairfield Park: 1851 - 1910
Wakapuaka Cemetery: 1861 - Present Day (limited burials)
Hira Cemetery (Family and local resident burials)
Seaview Cemetery, Stoke: 1960 - Present Day
Marsden Valley Cemetery: 1956 - Present Day

2011

Nelson Haven and Trafalgar cycleway

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:48:33 +1200

In pre-European times the Haven and the Maitai River formed a mahinga kai or food gathering destination for Maori. Seasonal camps were occupied to gather nature’s bounty.

Charles Heaphy sketch (1852) Maitai River showing hop gardens and windmill. Nelson Provincial Museum. AC815
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At that time the tidal mudflats extended much further inland than is the case today. In later years, properties on Wainui and Weka Streets were washed by high spring tides. Weka Street was named after the wetland birds once common in the area. The flats were used for target practice, with permanent rifle butts built in the 1890s, and they provided a great playground for childhood boating activities.

Reclamation in Nelson Haven. (1885)Note Trafalgar Park at Maitai River mouth. Nelson Provincial Museum, Misc 1/2 47
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From the 1950s this area was gradually reclaimed, using spoil taken from adjacent hillsides and town refuse, providing an area for active and passive recreation. In 1983 a new road entrance to the city came with the opening of Queen Elizabeth II Drive, forming the boundary of recreation zone land along the Haven (now Neale Park, Founders Park and Miyazu Gardens).

In 2005 the Trafalgar Cycleway/ walkway was opened, running from Trafalgar Street to Atawhai Drive, adjacent to Neale Park and Queen Elzabeth II Drive. This was extended to Clifton Terrace School in 2008, to become the Atawhai shared pathway.

Places along theTrafalgar shared pathway:

Grove Station
Constructed in 2004 as a town stop for the Founders Park Railway Line. A plaque there commemorates the start, in 1960, of a proposed railway to Blenheim which did not proceed.

Looking across the tidal estuary to Nelson from Cemetery Hill at high tide (1890). The area covered by water has all been reclaimed. Nelson Provincial Museum Tyree 8X10 279. Click image to enlarge

Peace Grove - Kia Hora Te Maungarongo
Planted to commemorate the United Nations International Year of Peace.

Guppy Park
Syd Guppy was an active participant in a great number of different sports and then gave his time in local and national sports administration.

Neale Park
Named in honour of ER (Gar) Neale, descendant of a pioneer family, who became deeply involved in the Nelson community. He served as Mayor and local Member of Parliament and had strong sporting interests, particularly cricket.

Wakapuaka Cemetery showing the tide covering the area now reclaimed (1893). Nelson Provincial Museum. AC295
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Newman Grove
Sir Jack Newman, a descendant of the pioneering Newmans transport family, carried on its traditions. He was a prominent figure in the community and gave strong support to the establishment of Founders Historic Park. Rotary Club members planted Newman Grove in natives as a backdrop to the Miyazu Gardens in 1990.

Haven Holes Esplanade Reserve
This area adjacent to QEII Drive was created in the late 1990's/ early 2000's, from council deposited dredgings from the Nelson Marina development. In 2005 it was planted and managed to create a habitat for coastal and marine birds. The area has significance for Iwi as a traditonal food gathering place, a habitat for taonga species and is of spritual significance.

This information is taken from a Nelson City Council heritage plaque, 2006

Lily Robertson and the Lighthouse

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:33:39 +1300

My Life by Lily Robertson (1878-1956)

Nelson Lighthouse

Excerpt from the Lighthouse by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, from Lily's diary.
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My birthplace was at the home of my Grandparents, "Britannia Heights'. When some weeks old I went, with my Mother, to my home at the Nelson Lighthouse where I lived till I was fourteen(1892).

It was a happy life for us children, I being one of a family of ten - six sisters and three brothers. We had to go to school in a small boat and missed many days when the weather was rough. If the SW. wind was strong and we were not able to get home at night, we were given a signal and we would stay with our Aunty for the night, and that pleased us very much.

We attended the Toi Toi School, so it was a long way to go. Sometimes if the wind was strong when going home at night, the boat would land us a mile up the Boulder Bank and we had to walk home.

We children used to catch lots of fish with the lines. We also had a net which we set, and one day when we went out in the boat to take it up we were excited as there was a five foot thresher shark in it and we had to tow the net to shore to get him out. The net was very much torn, but Father mended it for us.

Lily Kidson, age 17, c. 1895 [family photo]
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In those days there were a good many sailing vessels coming to Nelson. One night, while a ship was anchored at the back of the Lighthouse, two men deserted ship and came ashore on a raft and walked up the Boulder Bank on to the mainland. They left their swags on the raft as they were soaking wet and too heavy to carry, so Father spread them out to dry, and not being very old then, I was greatly taken with a large tin of all kinds of buttons which one of the men had collected on his travels.

There used to be a waterman at the Port who kept a boat for hire. One day five young lads hired this boat and we saw them going up the harbour with a south-west wind to help them along, but returning was not so easy as they could not get back against the wind, so as night was coming on, my brothers went to their assistance, and we kept them till the Pilot boat came for them. I am sure there were some anxious mothers that night.

At one time there were a lot of goats on the Haulashore Island, and as there was no water there, they used to come up to our house looking for some. One day Mother was baking and put her bread outside to cool; when she looked out, the goats were having a good meal!

Kidson family home - Nelson Lighthouse (family photo)
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We had a small garden which we made from soil carted in the boat from Wakapuaka. This entailed a lot of work, but we were proud of our little garden. We had to depend on rain water and, as we only had two tanks, we were often out of water. In the dry weather we had to cart water from the mainland by boat. We used to fill one boat so that it would just float - that was for washing and household use. We towed that one, and brought a very large cream can of clean water for drinking in the other boat. The roofs of the houses were painted at one time with white lead in the paint, and all the family were very ill indeed from drinking the water - the smallest child of four years passed away.

We children had a tame seagull - it had lost half a wing so we fed him on small fish we speared in the pools at the back of the Lighthouse. This bird was very knowing, and when a hawk came he used to make for the water so that he could fight the hawk off, but sad to say, a sea hawk came one day and settled in the water beside him, and that was the end of our seagull. But, it was also the end of the hawk, as Father went out and after a lot of trouble he shot him.

One thing I remember, though I was very small, was a large whale on the end of the Boulder Bank. (The end of the Boulder Bank in those days was not a great way from the Lighthouse - it is now nearly down to the entrance). Men were trying out the blubber when a ten foot shark came up the harbour. The tail of the whale was at the water's edge, and the shark took it clean off. The men folk were very excited. They baited a very large iron hook, which we had for years, with a piece of whale and threw it out; the shark came and took bait, hook and all, just bit through the rope. We only had a small boat at the time, so the men waited till the shark got down to the entrance. As it could easily upset a small boat, the men were taking no chances. They hurried across to the store and got another hook, put wire on it instead of rope and caught the brute. It had two rows of the most awful teeth.

Kidson family (family photo)
Click to enlarge

We were a very healthy family. I don't think we had all the children's complaints. Fruit was a great treat for us, so we were very excited when some kind people brought us a case of apricots.

Father and Mother lived at the Lighthouse for twenty-seven years when, sad to say, Father passed away (31. 7.1892). He always used to say he would never leave the lighthouse until he was carried away, and it was a sad day for us when the funeral started in the Pilot boat with the Union Jack draped over the coffin. Father was only 55 years old. Mother was left with five children to provide for, the eldest one a cripple so with a small amount of money she thought it best to buy a home. She managed to get a suitable place for 250 pounds (Bank House, 8 Russell Street), so we packed our few belongings. We only had a two- roomed house at the Lighthouse and one room was in the basement, so we did not have much furniture. We came away in a small sailing vessel to make a new home and with 50 pounds in the bank, Mother began her task, the age benefit then being 15/- a week and no children's allowance to help one along.

Russell Street to Kaipara Lighthouse

Mother used to take in a boarder when she could and go out nursing to anyone close to home. My sister, younger than I, went to learn dressmaking. She had to go for twelve months without pay, so that was a bit hard. I, being then fifteen years old (1893), went to my sister who lived at the Kaipara Lighthouse. Poor Mother was grieved at my going so far away, but it meant one less to provide for, and it was thought best for me to go.

We had an awful trip. Everyone, even the Stewardess, was sick. The boat went from Nelson to New Plymouth direct, then on to Onehunga where my sister and her two small boys met me. We then went to Auckland by train and then to Helensville. We left Helensville by paddle boat for the Pilot Station at Pouto where we had to land in a small boat, then drive in a spring trap five miles along the beach, the sea washing around the horses feet, and at last climb a steep sandhill. Well, I thought the journey would never end. There was nothing to see but sand and more sand - that was the Kaipara Lighthouse. There was another keeper and his wife living there, as well as my sister and her husband. They had two daughters my age, so that was very nice for me. The Lighthouse and the dwelling houses were built on the only spaces of solid clay formation that was there. The sand formed a bank round the houses four feet high, and the sand round the old stable was nearly on a level with the roof. When it was very windy the Keeper had to do some digging to get the door open for the horse to get out in the morning.

Back to Nelson

There were a good number of Maoris living near the Pilot Station. Once we went to a double Maori wedding; the food, cooked in the usual Maori way was real good - a pig roasted whole and plenty of pudding and cakes. We went to the Maori Church to see them married. We had to keep on our feet as the Church had been varnished with a not too good brand of varnish, and if you sat down, you had trouble to tear yourself away. The Maoris had a good time - danced all night, slept all day and danced all the next night. All the little Maori children were very happy running in and out.

I spent two very happy years at the Lighthouse. When I left my sister and the boys came home with me on the Government steamer "Hinemoa". We were taken on board from the beach opposite the Lighthouse over the breakers in one of the steamer's small boats, then we came out over the Kaipara bar. We were a week on board the "Hinemoa" as all the buoys had to be lifted and cleaned all the way down to Wellington. It rained most of the trip down and the food was not of the best, so altogether it was not a very pleasant time. We were very pleased to embark on another boat and arrive home to have a nice cup of tea and a rest. I was then 16 years (1894) and had to start to do a spot of work, so I used to go to anyone who was not well and help with the housework. The wages were small, five shillings a week, sometimes less, though in those days everything was much cheaper.

We lived at the Port and we girls used to attend the services in the Port Mission Hall. It was there I was prepared for confirmation and confirmed at the All Saints Church . We had very good congregations at the Port services. Everyone thought a lot of Rev. Bennett, and he was very good to everyone. He took our choir to Motueka to the opening of the Maori Church. We went over in a small steamer called the "Lily'. Rev. Bennett took his small organ and we sang hymns all the way over. The Maoris met us with their conveyances and welcomed us waving green plumes and we proceeded to the new church. We had a beautiful dinner, all cooked according to Maori custom, which we enjoyed very much. Then the Church was opened, a great number attending the service. In the evening the Port choir gave a service of song which raised a good sum toward the Church fund. We arrived home at a late hour having had a very enjoyable day, which I will always remember.

A short time after that I went into dressmaking with my sister. We had to work in town and walk home to lunch every day. A tram bus used to run with one horse, which was put on either end. We went so slowly, we were often home before it, so we only patronised it in wet weather. Sometimes it would run off the lines and the passengers would help lift it on again. My wages for sewing were 1 pound a week, half for my board and the rest to clothe myself. We never spent much on amusements, just made our own fun, went picnicking and had to walk everywhere we went but we enjoyed ourselves.

Frank and Lily Roberston (family photo)
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After I had been sewing some time, my sister Charlotte at the Cape Foulwind Lighthouse took ill and sent for me. I stayed seven weeks. I came home and took up my work again. I had charge of the skirt room. Sometimes we would have some forty skirts in all stages of the making. I had ten girls in the room with me, so it was a busy time and also a happy time.

After being there for some years, I changed my name and my husband and I went to the country to live, (Brightwater) where we spent a very happy life. We have a family of five Sons and one daughter, all now married and have their families. We have fourteen grandchildren living not far away from us, so we have much to be thankful for.

I must say here, an Uncle used to drive a butcher shop on wheels with one horse. It had two steps into the back with a block in the centre and meat along each side.

I must now close this little story of my life.

2009

A note about Lily Robertson and her family

This story was written by Lily in the early 1950's and was submitted by Robyn Marshall (her great grand-daughter)

Martha Lilian Kidson (27.5.1878 - 30.5.1956) married Francis Graham Robertson (Frank)

Lily is the grand daughter of Mr John Kidson (married to Ameila Tuck) who escaped from the Wairau Massacre. Her father came to Nelson in the ship Bolton on 15 March 1842 aged 5 and her mother, Martha Newport, came to Nelson the same year in the Sir Charles Forbes aged 1 year.