Hotel

An old building just outside of Ahaura, which is about 30 minutes from Greymouth.I would say that at some point or another many years ago it probably was a hotel but not anymore, it looks like it is privately owned.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's Signs.

140

 

In one of the main streets in town is this colourful building, it's also where my dentist is. It was built in 1902 as a dental surgery by architect firm Gillies and Spence for Mr R. Richmond and has been used by dentists ever since. 

Linking up with Tuesday Treasures and Happy Tuesdays.  

Blue Baths 1933

 

The Blue Baths is in Rotorua and was opened in 1933 with the aim for the building to promote the town for it's geothermal qualities. When the town was founded in the 1880s the goal became to show people how tourism could grow. The building above shows it's affinity with the art deco era with it's curves and rounded windows. 

The pools inside offered mixed men and women bathing together facilities which would've been scandalous back then. When we were there a few years ago it was closed sadly as I would've liked to have taken photos of the interior. The water in the pools is apparently taken directly from the geothermal piping in Rotorua so I could imagine it being quite hot.

Tea rooms above the blue baths February 1965, G. Riethmaier, National Publicity Studios

Photo from 1936, Auckland Weekly News, Kura Heritage Collections Online.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, All Seasons and Wordless Wednesday.

Out with the old

See the red building in this photo? It's one of the old original hotels in town that's in the process of being demolished. When we driving past today we could see a specialist team of people going in and out as they were getting rid of asbestos - I expect the next step will be to remove the historical period features inside before tearing it down. Sad really but with alot of buildings in Greymouth not being earthquake proof, not many of them are going to last.

We've had a very quiet last 2 days. Yesterday, Christmas Day, we basically vegetated, ate and napped. After working all of last week we just needed to relax so it's been nice. Leave me a comment to let me how you celebrated the day. A Kiwi tradition we have here is to buy packets of empty brandy snap cases and fill them all with whipped cream - so far we still have half left.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Royal Hotel

 

On one of Greymouth's side streets is this beauty. Originally named The Wharfe Hotel (I'm assuming because it's next to the Grey River) and built in 1876 it was renamed The Royal Hotel in 1903. The original burned down in the 1930s and was rebuilt (as per photos below and above).

Photo from between January 1950 and December 1969 - Alexander Turnbull Library.

After new owners completing extensive renovations inside it is now up for sale and unfortunately is earthquake prone like many buildings on the west coast. The hotel has been empty for about 5 years and is due to be demolished at some point.

Linking up with Weekend reflections and the Weekend roundup.

Westport BNZ

Westport is one of those towns that was first settled in the 1800s by immigrant gold and coal miners. This building on the main street has been around since 1867 and was used by the Bank of New South Wales (which is in Australia) until 1967. These days it is used by a different bank Westpac.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs.

Greymouth Courthouse

 Another heritage building here is this one, looks a bit foreboding and reminds me a bit of the old section of Mount Eden Prison. It was built during a major period of government construction, it reflects the state of development in the first 45 years of the town's existence.

It has a category 1 historic places listing from Heritage NZ and was in use until 2007 when a new district courthouse was built. These days it's also earthquake prone and unable to be used. btw that's my little car in the middle of the photo.

Linking up with Weekend Reflections and the Weekend Roundup.

Blackball Hilton Hotel

Just out of Greymouth is the tiny town of Blackball where there are houses scattered here and there along the main street including one that has it's front fence covered in conspiracy theory signs but this historic building is the local hotel - the Blackball Hilton is famous for it's dispute with being the place that the Labour Party was formed over a pint of beer. The town had the longest running miner's strike which happened in 1913.  

Linking up with Through my lens, Travel Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday

St Mary's Catholic Church

In Hokitika is this beauty of a church named St Mary's Catholic Church, why it's so grand and ornate who knows? This caught our eyes last week on the first day of our holiday. In 1912 the parish building committee agreed to call for tenders for a new church so a Greymouth architect named John Thomas Watson prepared a concept design in Roman or neoclassical architecture.

Alfred Luttrell won the tender and although he was guided by Watson's work, he introduced significantly different aspects. The previous 1866 church was demolished in February 1914 and Bishop John Grimes laid the foundation stone a month later. Owing to the outbreak of WW1 and funding difficulties it wasn't until 1920-21 that the portico and tower were added. The church was built of double brick but in 1927-28 the plaster was finally applied and the building achieved it's final appearance.

In 2004 the church was registered with the Historical Places Trust but unfortunately following a structural assesment triggered by the Christchurch earthquakes in 2011 the church was closed to the public in 2012. 

Linking up with Our World Tuesday, Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, Travel Tuesday, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

The grand Mangonui Hotel

This grand old lady is one we've driven past a few times now. The Mangonui Hotel is in the heart of town and was first built in 1905 by John Bray. It's the 4th hotel in the area - the first was built in in Mill Bay in 1842 named the "Donnybrook" but burned down in 1873.  

Mangonui is one of those places where fishing is an important local industry with snapper, kingfish and crayfish being caught.  The local Mangonui fish and chip shop has been well known over the years to cook the best takeaways in the country, we haven't eaten there yet but we probably will once we go out for road trips.

Have a good weekend. Kia kaha

The old Grafton Bridge Flats

See that building on the corner? It's known as the old Grafton Bridge Flats - 5 years ago they were up for sale and despite looking it's age some of the flats are still being lived in by tenants, probably university students or nurses who work across the road at the Auckland Hospital.

According to the Timespanner blog, the land that it sits on use to belong to the Wesleyan School that shifted to Three Kings but kept the land as an endowment asset. This makes sense as my dad's great grandparents were of the same religion and they lived in the city as well in the late 1800s.

I haven't been able to find the exact age of the buildings but from my research I've established that there have always been shops below the flats from this advertisement in the NZ Herald 1927:

And this advertisement from the Auckland Star 1927 wanting a tenant for one of the balcony flats which would've overlooked the entire city:

The only other photo I've managed to find of it is this one from when it was for sale through Bayleys Real Estate but you can see parts of Parnell, Ponsonby, Sandringham etc behind it.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and My Corner of the World.

Hotel de Brett's Spotty History

One of my photography passions is photographing some of our country's old buildings, this is one is packed with history. Hotel de Brett's is located on the corner of Shortland Street and High Street, it's listed as category 2 under the Historic Places Trust.

These days it's a boutique hotel but it first opened in 1841 known as "The Old Commercial" being Auckland's first hotel.  It operated for 118 years until a fire burned most of it down, Dominion Breweries refurbished it in 1959 and renamed it what it is today.

In the 1980s I worked in Auckland city for about 1 years and remember this old icon well as it has hosted many kiwi bands such as Th'Dudes and Hello Sailor.  In the late 1980s it became a backpackers hostel then in 2006 four hoteliers returned it to it's former glory.

The interior is a mixture of NZ art and design with retro 1950's chairs and couches - I'm pleased it's still being used personally.  As for the spots on the road I've since found out that Auckland City Council had them painted due to this particular place being being a high pedestrian used road. They are meant to draw awareness from all road users to be sensitive to other road users - it's a good idea and should be used in other places too I think.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday.

Edith Cavell Nursing Home

On the outskirts of Paparoa, a town about 20 minutes West of here is this wee gem, actually I shouldn't say wee as it is quite an extensive property. The old Nurse Edith Cavell Memorial Hospital is a shadow of what it once was. It's now privately owned, but about 12 years ago when my ex husband and I were looking at buying a house we were shown through this by the owner. I would've loved to have bought it but sadly he wanted more money than what it was realistically worth.

The day we visited 2 weeks ago there were workmen renovating the outside around the side and I didn't like to go in without permission from the owner. A bit of history says that it opened in 1917 and was named after Nurse Edith Cavell, a British nurse who had been executed by the Germans in Belgium in 1915. The hospital was closed in 1974 and is still privately owned but for over 5 decades so I'm sure that many local babies were born there. Apparently it has 4 bathrooms, high stud ceilings and a massive coal range - all of which could be beautifully restored. I wish I could buy it - oh the history!

And here is the lady herself.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and  My corner of the world

The Old Post Office Guest House

One of the local icons in the nearby town of Paparoa is this historic building called The Old Post Office Guest House. Built in 1903 it was originally a post office for the town made of Kauri with an iron roof. Next door to it use to be a butcher's and a saddlery, both of which are no longer there, but this one has been renovated and is now a bed and breakfast. It is now managed by a lovely couple named Deb and Kelvin.

News from me: I finally got one of the jobs I went for, start training next week - looking forward to it.  And if someone could send some fine weather instead of the constant rain that'd be great. What's news with you?

St Michael and All Angels Hakaru

This wee church is somewhere I've been meaning to visit for a while. St Michael and All Angels Anglican Church is in Hakaru, about 10 minutes out of Mangawhai.

Built in 1887 it replaced an earlier church that was there in 1861 but as the community grew the original one became too small and was moved to Hukatere later on. This one is made of Kauri, cut and milled locally with an iron roof.

Graves in the cemetery include those one person from the South African War and 2 from World War One. The front memorial gates commemorate a local man named Frank Wintle who was killed in the North African desert in World War 2.

There are quite a few local names I recognized such as Tantrums, Stewarts, Blackwells and Wintles - descendants of those names still live around the area today. Unfortunately the doors were padlocked and we couldn't get inside to take interior photos.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday.

Devonport's Esplanade Hotel

In the early 1990s I worked here in Devonport on Auckland's North Shore for a couple of lawyers. In those days the town was even busier than it is now. After nearly 25 years we visited the town again so I should show the other half. The Esplanade hotel in the foreground was built around 1900/1901 by a builder named Archibald Grandison and because it overlooks the harbour it quickly became a popular summer seaside resort back in those days. Over the years it's become a place where bands played and workers enjoy a cold drink after work.

Devonport is filled with old Victorian wooden villas and historic buildings, as you can see in the photo. These days it's still a busy place and the buildings are filled with unique shops and businesses. The day we were here the rain gave us a brief reprieve so I was able to capture some blue sky but it didn't last for long.

Linking up with My corner of the world

Opotiki Maori Pou

This rather impressive carved pou (post) sits in the middle of one of the main streets of Opotiki in the Bay of Plenty. Apparently it represents a variety of activities from the 19th century settlement of the town including including agriculture, horticulture and trading.

Behind the carving is a historical building known locally as the Old Bridger's Building and was once a drapery store. Over the years it has been used as a government office building, for education, dental surgery, factory workshop and a restaurant/cafe.  These days there is a small mural on one side and a jeweler's on the other side but there are various buildings in this town that look just as empty and unused.

Linking up with Our World Tuesday and Wednesday Around the World.

Pakaraka Holy Trinity Church

Recently on a drive home from Paihia we took a different route than we normally take and stopped to explore this church in Pakaraka.

The Pakaraka Holy Trinity Church was built around 1850-51 by missionary Henry Williams and was opened in 1873.

The first and third sons of Henry and his wife Marianne farmed here in this area for many years. I don't know about you but those stained glass windows are awesome are they not?

Henry was the leader of the Church Missionary Society mission in NZ in the first half of the 19th century. He entered the royal navy at 14 years old and came here in 1823. The Bay of Islands Maori people gave him the name Karu-wha (meaning four eyes) as he wore spectacles but he was known more widely as Te Wiremu (Wiremu being the maori form of William).

The church and entrance (as above) are gothic in style, there is a slim steeple and the original tower apparently blew down in 1946 but was replaced in 2001. Henry's best tribute was in 1867 on the day he died 2 local tribes had planned a battle to settle a land dispute.

The old man's well respected mana (meaning power) that when the warriors heard the news both sides put their weapons down and joined the mourners.

Linking up with Wednesday around the world and Our World Tuesday.

Russell's Custom House 1870

Russell, one of the oldest historical places in NZ, full of old buildings and houses. This one was once the first customs house built in 1870 from an original design by W.H. Clayton, the first colonial architect to our country.

Over the years the eventual drop off in shipping to this area meant the house was no longer needed and the Police department agreed to take it over. There is a huge Moreton Bay Fig tree next to it that was also planted the same year by Mr E.B. Laing who was the first collector of customs from 1870 to 1886. What a view they would've had from here though!

The Opua Stephenson's Store

It took me quite some time to write this post yesterday and I'll explain later on....but on a recent road-trip through Opua this building caught my eye on the way home. We drove down a small road and I was able to take a photo of this gem.

According to my research, and there wasn't much out there, this was originally the old Stephenson's Store on the waterfront which was a 2 storied combination of a boarding house and store. This is on 6 Beechy Street but apparently numbers 4-7 on this road were purchased by the Bank of NZ in 1883 and a couple of years later 2 retail stores appeared, the one above and one which was a bakery.

It is now being used as luxury rental accommodation and the rooms cost $110 nzd per night, there are some lovely reviews being left about it too.

Back to the first sentence. I often wonder how reliant we are on the internet. Since we've lived here in the last 6 months our internet throughout the far north has been cut off twice through no fault of our own. The first time about a month ago apparently someone accidentally cut through a fibre cable in another town, it took about 2 days to repair but our provider gave us free gigs through our mobile phones so we were able to connect through a hot spot. This time a road slip in Whangarei was the cause and the contractors had to repair the fibre cable for a 1km distance.

So how relevant is technology and the internet these days? Quite relevant I've found out - mind blowing considering when I was growing up we didn't need it for entertainment. We made our own and it was mostly through visiting friends, going bike riding, catching the bus places etc.

I wonder if we would ever be able to live without it? hmm...