Month: January 2019

Up until Thursday, January 24th, I had spent my time in Auckland exclusively on the North Shore. I was, however to spend my last day in New Zealand with my cousin Lynette, from the Tippett side of the family who lives in St Heliers. Cath drove me there in the afternoon and Lynette, husband Michael and daughter Georgia were all there to greet me. It was another glorious afternoon so after some general chat Lynette drove me and Georgia down to the waterfront. The tide was out, but the views of Rangitoto were still stunning.

We set off walking from Kohimarama in the direction of St Heliers and bade farewell to Georgia, who was off to meet a friend, and continued our walk in that direction. This was an area I once knew well, having stayed there frequently with a friend in my teenage years. I was impressed by the boardwalk, a new development, that now runs along most of the seashore.

As we walked I was delighted to see the New Zealand Kingfisher, a bird I had seen a number of times on this trip, but never in a good enough position to photograph. It was clearly hunting in the rock pools revealed by the very low tide,

We retraced our steps and continued on to Mission Bay where we sat for a while and chatted. There was a lot to catch up on, although Lynette had been following my blog, and had visited me in Chester in 2014. It was very pleasant indeed sitting there and watching all the birds hunting on the seashore. A container ship made a rather beautiful silhouette as it passed by.

A man sitting on the seat next to us had come to feed the birds and they came flocking to him, some even eating out of his hand.

After a very pleasant period in the shade; it was pretty hot in Auckland, we walked back to the car. When we returned to the house Daisy, their Labradoodle was there to greet me. Michael, Lynette’s husband said that he always took her to a park fairly early in the morning before it became too hot, so I said I would join him and walk around it. After a very convivial evening I retired to bed and was duly awake about 6am the following morning.

This was my last day in New Zealand and what a magnificent day it was. As soon as Michael was ready Daisy and I bundled into the car and drove the short distance to the park, which according to my photo is Madills Farm Recreation Reserve. Dogs are allowed on early in the morning. I had found that similar legislation had applied to beaches and other reserves, either early morning or late afternoon seemed to be doggy time, which, given how hot it was, was probably for the dogs’ benefit.

Daisy was clearly in heaven rushing round the park, but made a beeline for me when she saw me walking past.

After walking several laps of the park I made my way back up the hill which was a really Steep incline to their house. I had breakfast, did my last bit of packing, took some photos and then it was off to Auckland Airport. Lynette drove me through a number of streets that I had once known well and were little changed from my days at University, All too soon we were at the airport.

I left my cases at check-in and Lynette met me for a cup of coffee. We had one last chat then it was time to say goodbye to her and to New Zealand.

On the flight from Auckland to Singapore I was on the big 380 plane, with my pod in the upper deck. It was amazingly smooth on take off for such a large plane. My seat was wide enough for two people and the cabin crew were extremely attentive. I like the nice touches of Champagne before and after takeoff and the lovely white table cloth they put on your table in preparation for your meal. I had five hours to kill at Singapore so that was devoted to catching up with my blog. I had had the trip of a lifetime and it was really hard to leave all my New Zealand cousins and friends. Fortunately I am equally blessed with family and friends in Chester and England so that helped to dull the sorrow of leaving. One thing is for sure if I have the health and money to go again I most certainly will.

I hope my posts have given readers a good taste of New Zealand and thoughts for places to visit if they are able to go there. It is certainly a very exciting place with some real hidden gems. The architecture is distinctly different, but many places are modern towns and cities. The scenery is spectacular.

I hope to write some more blogs in April and May so watch this space.

When the early settlers came to New Zealand they brought a bit of home with them like English birds, Stoats, cats, Gorse and Bracken. New Zealand had only a bat as a native mammal so over the years these introduced mammals have reaped havoc and destruction on the native birds. Because of a lack of predators a number of them had become either flightless or poor flyers and were easy prey for the stoats and cats. Consequently a number were now either extinct or endangered. Some like the Moa had been hunted to extinction by the Maoris. Because of the proliferation of rats and stoats and the Australian Possums the only way that endangered species could be protected was to take them to islands, which were free of these pests. Tiritiri Matangi is one of these islands.

Cath had done a lot of sailing and remembered the island as a farm with pockets of native bush. There had been a light house ther; constructed in 1884 and lit on January 1 1885,, but little else. A huge planting programme was undertaken for ten years from 1984 to restore a lot of native bush and habitat suitable for the endangered birds. It was done by an army of volunteers and had been the brainchild of zoologist John Craig and botanist Neil Mitchell, but others also contributed enormously including a former lighthouse keeper. These days it is a very well established sanctuary and it is possible to see a number of endangered birds.

We took the ferry from Gulf Harbour on the Whangaparaoa Peninsular. We hadn’t booked, which apparently is normally essential and were lucky to find room and a 20 minute ride later we were there.

Anxious to set off so we weren’t caught up with other people on the boat, Cath and I were detained by a volunteer who insisted we must listen to the ranger, whom we couldn’t hear anyway. We had a map, which we’d received on the ferry and set off to walk around the whole island in the opposite direction from the majority of the others on the ferry. There is only one trip a day so catching the ferry back was rather vital. We were rewarded instantly with a rather good view of a Variable Oyster Catcher sitting on the rocks.

We were soon in denser bush and a black bird flashing by caught my attention. On closer examination I saw that it was a Saddleback, one of New Zealand’s most endangered birds. It was burrowing in the ground and flinging it over its shoulder, clearly looking for food. It was hard to get a good photo because the Saddleback was never still, but I made a video. The Saddleback has a brown section in the middle of its back that looks like a saddle.

I was extremely excited at seeing this bird, but unfortunately Cath had walked on and didn’t see it, but I couldn’t call her for fear of it flying away. As we walked on we saw a few little brown birds waddling about on the ground and in the undergrowth and thought they were some type of Quail. Upon reading our information leaflet we discovered that they were, in fact, the Fernbird, another I had never seen before. We were very fortunate to come upon three of them and they obligingly walked out into the sunlight. With their mottled brown colouring they blend into the grass extremely well.

I had been aware that there was a New Zealand South Island Robin, but I’d never known there was also a North Island version. Like its South Island counterpart it is also grey, but with a lighter grey breast, and less white. They are both inquisitive birds and it is plain to see how they would be an easy target for predators. We saw a number during our first couple of hours on the island.

The paths wound up and down steeply in places and we had to keep referring to our map to make sure where we were., the idea being to make for the most northerly point of the island where we were hoping to sit down and eat our lunch. There were so many amazing distractions on the way that we were taking our time tin reaching there. One bird I saw flying a lot was the Red-crowned Parakeet, Kakariki. It was one of the earlier birds to be reintroduced to the island and seems to be thriving. The problem with trying to photograph it is that it blends so well into the green of the leaves it is almost indistinguishable. I was fortunate to find one on the top of New Zealand flax, a favourite food of a number of birds.

Another bird that blends beautifully into the greenery of the trees is the New Zealand Wood Pigeon. Unlike the European bird, which is largely regarded as a pest the New Zealand bird, Kereru, is very beautiful. We chanced upon it gorging away in some tree. I was making a video of it when it came so close that it filled the entire screen. Trying to find it in the numerous photos I had taken was a challenge, but I did find a couple where it was more obvious. The white of its underneath makes the contrast, but even that could be mistaken for flowers or leaves from a distance.

Amongst the most elusive of the birds on the island is the Stitch Bird. Some movement in the trees attracted my attention and I was absolutely thrilled to see some flittering about by a partially hidden bird feeder. I saw them both in the tree and inside the feeder and believe they were Stitch birds rather than the North Island Bellbirds.

On of its characteristics is the upturned tail like a Wren. Again they are harder to distinguish in the bush.

Cath and I reached the point, which was in brilliant sunshine with view of the Whangaparaoa and out to Little Barrier Island.

We found a shady spot to eat our lunch and observe a few birds flying about, mostly Parakeet. Prior to lunch I observed Cath photographing something and rushed up, arriving just in time to see a Takahe. We learnt that there were two pairs on the island; one by the lighthouse and the other pair where we were. My photo is largely obscured by grass, but Cath took a good one. This bird was smaller than the ones I nad seen in Dunedin.

The east side of the island has more flax and less dense bush. It was lovely to see a type of gull resting in a tree.

We generally saw fewer birds here or ones we had already photographed and eventually we both ran out of batteries. There were some steep climbs and descents as we wound round pretty coves and eventually reached the lighthouse at the Southern tip of the island.

At the lighthouse we had a complementary cup of tea and made our way back to the ferry down the Whattle path. This had steps and had clearly been built for the majority of visitors to the island who go that way to the lighthouse.

It was a very exciting and memorable day and Aucklanders are very fortunate to have such a wonderful gem for bird life so close to the city.

After a day of recharging my batteries and generally relaxing on the Saturday, which included a nice walk around Little Shoal Bay Reserve with Lilly, Cath’s dog, Cath and I set off with her friend Di to Waiheke Island on the Sunday. We were able to catch a ferry from Devonport so, after purchasing our tickets, we went for coffee in the same place as I had had lunch with Barbara and Peter five weeks earlier. The trip to Waiheke was very smooth and relatively short and we were soon disembarking in glorious sunshine, a contrast to the overcast conditions earlier in the day.. We walked from the ferry terminal to Oneroa where we had a table booked at the Oytster Inn for lunch.

The bay looked beautiful and I recalled that back in December 1979 I had landed there in a seaplane. It’s so much busier now.

After a bit of poking around in the local shops, which included buying a new sun hat, I was starting to feel rather hungry. I had done a good walk along the beach at Milford and beyond that morning only to return and find the bridge up for the boats, which then required a longer route for the walk back to Cath’s, so I was definitely ready for food.

We had a nice table on the terrace of the Oyster Inn and asked the waitress to take a photo, which was not that good, but a nice record. After three attempts she almost managed to get us all in the photo.

I’d ordered John Dory fish, which my brother used to catch off the rocks in New Plymouth and was my favourite fish of all time. I was delighted to find it on the menu.

Waiheke is a place to go for a day trip these days, although many wealthy people from Auckland have second homes there. Oneroa is certainly a charming little place and we had a delightful day there.

Living as they do in such good weather, having a BBQ is a very common occurrence in New Zealand and Cath decided to have one on the Tuesday night. She is a highly organised person and all was prepared well in advance of the meal. I decided to contribute and made a pavlova. Although the wind had been pretty gusty earlier in the day it dropped sufficiently to make dining outside pleasant enough. Cath had purchased a rack of lamb and the largest sausages I’ve ever seen from the local butcher rather interestingly called “Well Hung”. That brought a number of ribald comments from the men, but it was very tasty meat.

Staying with Cath was great, because she likes to do the same activities, such as going to the gym and walking, but she was also keen that I should see some of New Zealand’s protected wildlife.

After my wonderful stay in Dunedin I set out on Friday 18th January on my way back to Auckland. This, however, was nothing as straightforward as going to Dunedin airport and flying there. My cousin Gail on the Tippett side of the family went off to France just before I got to Wellington. She did however tell me that our cousin Elaine is now living in Temuka, north of Timaru. Elaine is one of my oldest cousins so I was very keen to see her. This meant that I needed to take the bus to Temuka, stay for a few hours, pick up the bus to Hornby in Christchurch and take a shuttle to the airport where I was taking a flight to Auckland.

Lynn took me to the bus station around 8am and we bade an emotional farewell and I settled into my nice leather seat on the coach, placing my coat and sun hat on the rack above me. Dunedin had been a special place with all the family history plus the wonderful wildlife that I had experienced, not to mention Mungo the dog, who had become my companion on three early morning walks and my wonderful cousin Lynn, who had been so great not only at showing me all the family history, but also doing some fabulous meals for me. She has promised to send me a document called “Lynn’s Kitchen”. I do come from a family of great gardeners and it has enthused me to grow vegetables again in England.

After a relatively uneventful trip we arrived at Timaru, where our rather dour driver told us we all had to get off and if we weren’t back in 25 minutes the coach would go without us. Fortunately there was a cafe very close to the bus, so I gobbled down a biscuit and coffee and returned to the coach. An extremely chatty lady came to sit by me and I’d heard about most of the people she cared for when I came to the next stop, which she told me was Temuka. I could see my cousin at the bus stop and as the driver was pressing us to get off I grabbed my belongings and cases and left the coach. I was delighted to see Elaine, who at 85 still looks just the same and it was only after the coach had gone that I realised I’d left my coat and sun hat on the shelf. The hat didn’t matter, but the coast was the one with my football club crest on it and I was rather partial to it.

Elaine drove me to he home and after lunch we started looking at photos that I had taken of the family then photos she had of my father and his family. I was thrilled to see one when my grandmother was younger and with just six children instead of twelve, including my father, the eldest boy at about the age of 10.

Elaine’s daughter and granddaughter, Catherine and Addison also came over to meet me and we had a general chat about the family. They hadn’t met many relations so found some of the photos interesting.

Elaine drove me back to the bus stop in Temuka and we waited, and waited. The bus was 45 minutes late. I looked at my flight departure time from Christchurch and realised that it was going to be very tight. I did an internet search for flight times to see if there was a later flight I could get and while there was a 9pm flight I noticed that the one I was catching was delayed by 50 minutes. I messaged Lynn and she spoke to Air New Zealand who thought that I’d be in time for the delayed flight.

The bus driver arrived at Hornby, which was apparently the stop for the airport and I alighted with one other person who was also going to the airport. The driver assured us that the shuttle would be along in five minutes and drove on his way into Christchurch. After 25 minutes the shuttle hadn’t arrived and I was back in panic mode. After 30 minutes a mini bus towing a small luggage truck arrived and a tall lady took my luggage and transported me to the airport with great apologies.

I arrived at the airport to discover the flight was now delayed until 9.30pm and checked my luggage in. with a feeling of relief and not a little exhaustion I made my way to a place selling alcohol and bought a glass of wine.

The flight was further delayed and we eventually left two hours late. I’d let my friend Cath know that I was delayed by an hour, but even so she had been waiting over an hour. I was delighted to see her and to relax in the comfort of her air conditioned car on the trip back to Milford. I had come full circle from the start of my trip and had my last week to spend back in Auckland.

This amazing ecosanctuary, which evolved from an original idea for a giant aviary in 2005, now has a whole ecosystem for plants, invertebrates, birds and reptiles. It is in the Orokonui Valley found under Mt Cargill.

There are tuataras there, but my main target for the visit was to get a good picture of a Tui, which had been evading me the whole holiday. My hunt didn’t last long, because as Lynn and I made our way to the Tui Trail we were rewarded with instant views of them in the trees. The best place for viewing, however, was the bird feeding station, where they spent some time drinking water.

It was lovely to see the two white tufts on the breast and the iridescent blue on the back.

The Tui is quite large and is found throughout New Zealand whereas the Bellbird is mainly found in the South Island and South of Waikato in the North Island. It is quite a bit smaller than the Tui and easily camouflaged with its green and brown colouring. They both have beautiful bell like calls.

On our way towards the Kaka Track the New Zealand Robin suddenly flew onto the ground in front of us. It has completely different colourings from the European Robin, but the same legs, body shape and stance. This one seemed remarkably tame and almost posed for us.

We were very fortunate to see a Kaka hop down from a tree onto the feeder. I was able to make a video of this and the Bellbirds that became very excited and flitted from branch to branch.

After our excitement with the Kaka and the Bellbirds we carried on the track towards the Takahes. Lynn pointed out that people coming a couple of minutes later would have no idea there were Kakas up in the trees, but as we had seen one ascend we could see others; impossible to photograph of course. As we came round the corner for the Takahe area we were overwhelmed to see two Takahe. This flightless bird is the largest member of the Rail Family and at one time was thought to be extinct, but was rediscovered in 1948 in a remote valley of the Murchison Mountains. They have been mostly kept on remote islands away from predators so it was wonderful to find them in this ecosanctuary on the mainland.

After our amazing time at Orokonui Lynn was very keen to show me Port Chalmers where my Great, Great Grandfather and family had landed after their epic voyage from Scotland. We stopped on a hill overlooking the harbour, where there is also a statue of Captain Cook and Lynn took a few photos.

We descended the hill and came into a beautiful bay where Lynn was keen to have lunch at a lovely pub with a view across the bay.

Mungo, Lynn’s Fox Terrier had joined us for our trip and hopped up beside me while Lynn was away.

After and excellent meal of fish and chips washed down with some New Zealand wine we set out on an exploration of Port Chalmers. It has a current population of 3000 and a little museum with lots of interesting items., mostly on shipping. The museum had a record of Holy Trinity Church, which had been designed by R A Lawson, my Great Uncle, who also designed Otago Boys School.

After a good wander around Lynn drove us up to a lookout point., which gave beautiful views across the harbour.

It was another amazing day enjoying nature and scenery with a touch of family history.

People who live in Dunedin and surrounding areas have access to some of the most spectacular places and wildlife in New Zealand. On Wednesday Lynn took me to Tunnel Beach, near St Clair, Dunedin. Here the sandstone rocks have been carved out by the sea to form arches and caves.

In the 1870s John Cargill had a tunnel hewn out of the rocks to allow for access to the beach so his daughters could swim. The tunnel is now open to the public.

There are enormous boulders on the beach as well as cliffs while the breakers chased us back to the tunnel entrance at high tide.

To get to the beach and area demands a certain level of fitness but the pull back upwards on the return leg is something else. Fortunately the hill climbing that I’ve been doing recently helped me negotiate the climb with relative comfort.

After our exertions Lynn and I found a nice cafe in St Clair and had a coffee and a biscuit. I had a very exotic “Seed Biscuit” made with Pumpkin Seeds and Sunflower Seeds amongst others.

After our light refreshments we wondered along the shore front. At the corner of the bay is a open air salt water swimming pool, which seemed to be popular.

We returned home and I had a bit of a relax ready for my wildlife safari with Elm Tours later in the day. I was hoping to see Yellow-eyed Penguins on the tour, but they don’t come out of the water until later in the day .

I set off on the Tour with seven other people and our guide, Shawn, who was very good and gave us lots of relevant information. Our first stop was Taiaroa Peninsular where we saw the Royal Albatrosses flying. They have an immense wing span of 3.3 metres and when they leave the nest will not return to land for three years or until they are mature enough to breed. Our guide pointed out that there were two varieties in the area.

After viewing the Albatrosses we were driven over the top of the Peninsular to Cape Saunders, which is a privately owned conservation area. Before we climbed over to the Bay we drove along a tidal inlet where we saw a number of wading birds like Royal Spoonbills and Stilts.

After winding our way up hill and around many corners of unsealed road we passed through a gate and came to a halt. A beautiful bay spread out before us with what looked like large boulders, but as we came closer transformed into sleeping sea lions.

When we arrived on the beach our guide explained that all the sea lions were males and are actually a type of seal and that this variety is endemic to New Zealand and now endangered. The females are smaller and generally avoid the male beaches unless ready for breeding. The males sleep in the day, but wake up as evening approaches.

I was very keen to see a penguin and Shaun pointed out the call of the Yellow-eyed Penguin so we knew they were about. We moved further down the beach just in time to see a penguin come out of the water and start to shake itself dry. We then went in the hide and immediately saw two in front of us at the edge of the hill. They have to walk up and over the hill to feeds their young. Gradually one by one the penguins emerged from the sea and started drying themselves out. Our guide told us that they liked to hang about and socialise. This was, however, potentially dangerous as the sea lions had been known to eat penguins on the beach. These ones, thankfully, remained blissfully slumbering. We were very fortunate to see so many that day. Just the day before the guide had seen only two.

We climbed up the hill to see if we could see the penguins returning to feed their chicks, but saw only one. When we returned to the beach the penguins were all gathering for their move up the hill.

By the time we retuned along the beach the sea lions were stirring. The young males like to play, but the mature males vie for supremacy; the most dominant male usually has the deepest voice.

As we were returning to the coach. Our guide pointed out penguin footprints in the sand.

After a climb back up to the van we were driven over some dirt tracks until we came to a stop at the edge of some cliffs. After a short walk downhill we came to a fence and directly below us was a fur seal colony where the babies were a range of ages from a few weeks to several months. Some of the young ones were very playful while the older seals just seemed to sleep. Shawn explained to us that a mature female Fur Seal spends the majority of her life pregnant. She has one week to mate after the birth of the pup and become pregnant again for another 242 days.

After a wonderful tour we made the long winding trek back to Dunedin, which was already lit up as we approached.

A truly wonderful day.

Today, Tuesday January 15, 2019 Lynn and Simon decided to drive Wayne and me through to Oamaru, 120 Kilomtres North of Dunedin. I began the day with a 6.5k walk with Mungo, their dog, and after breakfast we all piled into the car, including Mungo. The day which had begun rather overcast and cool improved as we drove North. On the way we called into Simon and Lynn’s crib (a small beach house) on the way to Shag Point. The house is in the throes of being renovated, making more room for extra guests.

From there we carried on to Oamaru, where my mother had lived with her cousins for a few months, during her twenties. The weather was starting to improve and I was able to enjoy the park and gentle beach created by the artificial breakwater. In the park birds and animals were carved into the trees.

There is a place where photos can be taken in a frame, which has the beach as a lovely backdrop. Lynn and I had fun posing in this for photos.

We found a very nice place called “The Brewery” for lunch and sat outside enjoying our meal in the sunshine; by now the weather was really beautiful.

After a very appetising lunch, relaxing in the perfect temperature of 19C , we went for a stroll along a very old street in Oamaru. The area is famous for its beautiful white stone, which has been shipped for buildings throughout New Zealand. This street has been used in film sets, notably “Mr Pip”. These days there are artisan shops in the buildings.

On the way back to Dunedin we passed Goodwood where our Hepburn ancestors had a farm. George the elder had the house Brooklands built for two of the sons, George and James. It was designed by Robert Lawson, husband of Jessie, a sister of these two boys and there were 500 hundred acres of farm sitting on the banks of the Pleasant River at Goodwood. The farm was bought in 1857.George died at the age of 24 from a heavy cold then David, their fourth son, went to live on the farm, but was killed in an accident on a horse aged 29.

The sisters made a journey from Dunedin, either by horse or by boat, to clean for their brothers. Sarah went by boat, normally a journey of six hours, but was caught in a storm and had to spend two nights at Port Chalmers https://www.electricscotland.com/history/nz/otago_part2c6.htm

At some point, possibly 1865 Andrew Hepburn, my great grandfather moved to Brooklands with his wife Janet Nimmo, nee Healey. My grandmother Catherine Hepburn was probably born at Brooklands, and the birth was registered at Palmerston.

Following our visit there Simon drove us along the coastal road by Kakanui Bay. At one point he stopped the car and I walked out to a point to take some photographs. I was delighted to see a group of shags sitting on a large boulder.

We dropped Lynn off at the crib and Simon continued up to Shag Point with Wayne and me. We had a magnificent view of Seals frolicking in the sea.

Having picked up Lynn from the crib she and Simon decided to drive us on another scenic coastal road on the way back. This took us past the beautiful Karitane Beach where Truby King founded the first hospital and developed the Plunket movement for babies. It was a really beautiful beach a wonderful end to a perfect day.

I’ve always been rather proud of the fact that my Mother’s mother came from a family who were original settlers of Dunedin, and that on that side of the family I am a fifth generation New Zealander. On the other hand I am grateful to my grandfather on my father’s side of the family, Tippett, for being born in Cornwall, which gave me patriarch citizenship when I decided to live in Britain.

The main focus of my visit to New Zealand on this occasion has been to catch up with as many family members and friends as I could. In addition I have been tracing family roots on my mother’s side of the family.

My Great, Great, Grandfather was George Hepburn, born in Fifeshire, Scotland in 1803. He emigrated in 1850 with his wife Rachel and a number of children aboard the “Poictiers” and arrived at Port Chalmers, the port for Dunedin, on 4th September 1850.

He was a prominent citizen in the early days of Dunedin and was an elder of the Presbyterian Church. He is buried at Southern Cemetry in Dunedin in the family plot.

His youngest son, Andrew, was my Great Grandfather, who was born in 1847 and died in 1929.

He married Janet Nimmo Healey on 19th July 1872 at St Andrew’s church, Dunedin.

Janet died aged 30 on 6 June 1883 after bearing six children.. Their eldest daughter, Catherine Healey Hepburn was my Grandmother, born in 1872 and she married George Porteous in 1898

George and Catherine had seven children. My mother Ruth, was the second to youngest.

My cousin Wayne and I spent yesterday in the Early Settlers Museum, Toitu. While a couple of the Hepburn boys, who were sons of George were thrown from horses and killed, the girls married into quite wealthy and prestigious families.

Jessie Sinclair Hepburn, born 1843 married Robert Arthur Lawson in 1864. Her husband designed Knox Church, the first church in Dunedin, Larnach Castle and Otago Boys High School.

My Great Grandfather, Andrew was a founding student of Otago Boys’ High School when it opened in 1863. However, the first site was further down the hill and subsequently demolished. His sister Rachel married William Downie Stewart on 29 October 1868. She had five children and died at the age of 33 on 11 November 1878

Their daughter, Rachelina is also buried with them at Southern Cemetery.

Rachel Hepburn and William Downie Stewart had a son, William Downie Stewart, born 1877 and he wrote a diary about the Hepburn family, their journey from England to New Zealand and the subsequent fortunes of the family. This has been reprinted by Don Hutton a descendent of William Hepburn, son of George and brother of Andrew, born 2 May 1834 and died 29 September 1887.

The reprint by Don Hutton is now available on line:

https://www.electricscotland.com/history/nz/otagondx.htm

Chris and John drove me to the Picton Airport yesterday morning only to discover that the flight conditions were not favourable for flying out of Picton and we were leaving from Blenheim instead. I said goodbye and waited for the shuttle, which transported me and two other passengers to Blenheim. After some delay we boarded the Sounds Air Cessna 208 Caravan and headed off for Wellington. In spite of the low cloud the flight was reasonably smooth. It was amazing to see the whole of Marlborough Plain almost entirely covered in vineyards, punctuated with odd buildings, which were no doubt the owners’. On the drive in we had passed some familiar names like “Stoneleigh”

After a slightly hard landing iat Wellington Airport the little plane taxied into its dock. Chris had given me the contact details of an old friend and after pushing my luggage up the arrivals ramp I saw him waiting for me. We had a great two hour catch up of the past 48 years after which it was time for me to return to the airport to catch my plane to Dunedin. I waved goodbye to Nigel with the promise to stay in touch.

The flight to Dunedin was very smooth and I nodded off for some time while we were up in the clouds. As we started to descend the area became much clearer and we passed right over Dunedin and continued further south, making a right hand turn to go further inland for Dunedin Airport. My cousin Lynn and her brother Wayne were there to greet me, much to my delight. I hadn\t seen him for over 40 years.

After a cup of tea Lynn’s husband Simon took us for a drive up Mt Cargill where we got some brilliant views of the city and area.

From there we headed for Baldwin Road, which is the steepest Road in the World. My late husband, Brian felt challenged to drive it in January 2006, but that is now discouraged so we decided to walk it instead. There are two extremely steep parts and although I’ve been doing lots of walking not a lot of it has been over sustained steep hills. Consequently I did have one small stop.

When you reach the top there is a water fountain and information about Baldwin Street.

Following our exertions; both Simon and Wayne also walked up it, we returned to Simon’s house where we enjoyed a lovely social, well earned meal.

I was very fortunate to have four beautiful days in Picton, both with the weather and the things I was able to do. My old university friend Chris and her husband John were very kind to me and I managed a variety of experiences. Chris is a keen swimmer and they are reasonably placed for the beautiful Waikawa Bay.

On the Wednesday morning, the day after my arrival I set off on my usual morning walk. Chris and I had been for a swim in the bay the previous day so I decided to walk there. I must have turned to the left too soon, because I ended up at the marina and tried to find a way from there without success. I retraced my steps and when I was almost back decided to go to the bottom of the road to make up some extra distance. There I found a lovely walk through mostly native bush that took me back to the Marina and this became the main focus of my walking for three mornings.

New Zealand has Agapanthus growing everywhere in great abundance and Waikawa Bay was a good example.

It was a really perfect day and we were soon loaded up in the dingy with Chris rowing out from the beach. It was a little choppy at first, but fairly soon the water became smoother.

As we came alongside a launch that was moored out from a small beach, I could see a couple of shags that had built a nest on the mostly unused boat. The male was on the lookout post.

We came into the shelly beach and Chris pulled the dingy into shore. It was an idyllic little spot, away from anyone else. We had a swim and some lunch, but as the afternoon progressed the wind suddenly whipped up and Chris was anxious to leave. All loaded up and with me sitting in the boat, Chris tried to board. Unfortunately a slightly larger wave caught her and she went sprawling into the sea sending quantities of water into the dingy. After emptying the dingy we set off and this time she boarded successfully. The water was very choppy, but we made it back to where we started just as the inter island ferry was passing.

While we were standing on the beach a Stingray came swimming past only a few feet from the shore. Chris says they are no problem as long as you don’t scare them.!!

Picton is very close to Blenheim where all the Marlborough wine is grown. We set out for lunch on Thursday at the Hans Herzog. Bistro, attached to their vineyards.. It was a beautiful setting.

We sat on the terrace for our meal which looks out over a tree shaded area.

After a delightful lunch we set off for an aeroplane museum, Omaka, designed by Peter Jackson, a well known New Zealand film Producer. There were all kinds of aeroplanes from both the First and Second World Wars. A number of them were staged in quite dramatic ways.