Victorian Weekend in Oamaru

Oamaru is a town on the east coast of the South Island, in North Otago. Every year they have a Victorian weekend. Noreen was down there a couple of weekends ago so I thought I’d post a few of her photos.

Historically the town was important and grew to be one of the largest in the country by the end of the 19th century when Otago was the power house of the economy. Since then development has been minimal so the grand buildings (often constructed from Oamaru stone) seem out of place in such a small settlement.
There was a penny-farthing race.
Our friend Mr. Hart dressed up as a rozzer (I never realised the derivation of this term is so hard to track down - see here for some answers)

before performing with his mate John Jones (another ex-Morris Dancer) as Fat Boy and Slim.

Mrs. Hart blew her own trumpet (actually a trombone) in the brass band.

The local Queen presided over events and handed out certificates to worthy entrants.

The character in the self powered tricycle is the Wizard of Christchurch preceded by some members of Alf's Imperial Army.

The grand parade of worthy citizens

followed by some ladies of dubious virtue

and more matronly individuals.

Lastly, some more self-powered conveyances.

Roses bloom in springtime

One of the joys of living where we do is our proximity to the Botanic Garden. This is the Upland Road entrance, by the top of the Cable Car. It is a popular spot to get a good view over the city and harbour.
Within the garden is the Lady Norwood Rose Garden. Everything is looking vibrant and will be at its best in time for the annual rose festival next week.

These are Tropical Skies.

The café at one end of the Begonia House has improved its service and standard of food over the last couple of years. Any excuse for a cup of coffee!

Pictureless Post

There used to be a Saturday newspaper, pre-television, called Picture Post.

This post is bereft of illustration as Noreen has taken the camera south with her. If you are lucky I may be able to persuade her to record her adventures in a future post.

One of the interesting things happening in Wellington this past week has been Cartooning for Peace . As part of the event life size cartoons have been popping up around town. I saw them down on Queens Wharf.

I’ve added a link on the left to the Wellington Daily Photo blog. There are a number of such sites around the world so you can get a feel for what is happening in each location.

Stirring, drinking and voting

Sounds like a good song title!
Here we are on Stir-up Sunday – making the Christmas cake.


Jenny cooked a wonderful tea on Monday but she wasn’t impressed with me taking her picture. She is wearing her corporate gear as she had an interview during the day.
Andy brought a bottle of Roaring Meg which was very drinkable.
Today we voted in the general election. This is our nearest polling station, as you can see we don’t suffer from the long queues they had in America.
There was another voting place up at the shops. (My sticker says "Yes I've voted".)

The results are coming in as I write this. It’s not looking good for our party.

For those interested in soccer, on Tuesday we went to the under 17 girls soccer world cup at the stadium. New Zealand beat Colombia 3-1. It was a good match, although the conditions were quite atrocious. Jenny, Andy and I sat high up in the Yellow Fever (renamed White Noise for this match) section. There were quite a few of the die hards present and they kept up a good performance through the match. Probably the most apt chant was “You’re better than the Phoenix”.

Halloween

Friday was Halloween. New Zealand has adopted the American practice of children dressing up and going round houses and being rewarded with sweets and lollies. I can’t say I approve but our children loved it when they were small and so I suppose I am just being a Grumpy Old Bugger (and I’m proud of it!). Anyway, Jen entered into the spirit of the thing, dressing up as a scary witch.

One of the more imaginative visitors topically played on the fact that we are in the middle of a general election campaign. He dressed up as the truly scary John Key, leader of the National Party. We will not be voting for him.

The election is next Saturday. It’s not clear which way the outcome will go. After nine years in power the Labour led coalition are looking a bit tired but the alternatives are not encouraging. National would likely lead a right leaning coalition with various unreconstructed free marketeers and big business associates. I just hope the Greens increase their share of the vote. (We have a proportional representation system where the final composition of parliament is determined by the percentage of votes that each party gets.)