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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.

I’m very fortunate to have family and friends in numerous lovely places in New Zealand. My friend Chris and her husband John live in Picton right at the top of the South Island. This is where the inter island ferry lands, but I decided that I would prefer the adventure of flying in a pretty small plane, just to recall some old memories.

The weather was pretty cloudy at Wellington airport as we set off at 8.05am and bumped our way up through the clouds until the sun broke through. Once we were over Cook Straight it became a lot smoother and the views were lovely as we approached the South Island. I could see the inter island ferry turning into Tory Channel.

We approached Picton from the South and flew in over the plains that lead to Blenheim , the most populous town in Marlborough. The weather had improved enormously by now and turned into the most glorious day.

As we descended, the hills and roads became gradually clearer and then we descended quite rapidly as we made our approach into Picton airport at Koromiko. The landing was pretty smooth and as we pulled up by the tiny house that serves as the loading bay and checking tickets for Sounds Air I started searching for my friends among the small gathering of people there. They were nowhere to be seen.

As it was a glorious day I was quite happy to wait and while away my time watching the plane take off again and try to photograph some tiny birds in a nearby beautiful tree; without success of course, but the tree is still pretty.

After some considerable time I began to wonder if my friends were waiting at the shuttle terminal in Picton so I tried to ring Chris on mer mobile phone, but there was no reply. After three fruitless calls I gave up. Shortly after Chris rang me saying,”Where are you, we’ve been looking everywhere for you?” I’m at Picton Airport” I replied. “Oh” said Chris”We thought you were at Blenheim; everyone goes to Blenheim.” “Well not me, I was always coming to Picton”. It turned out there was an Air New Zealand Flight arriving at Blenheim, exactly they same time as my arrival in Picton. They eventually picked me up and drove me to their home in Waikawa, just a little out of Picton. They have a beautiful view of the Bay at Waikawa from their balcony. Very soon I was enjoying the sunshine, view and a cooked breakfast.

Today has been very quiet after all the activity of the past three weeks. Doug and Merrilyn waved goodbye to me as I sat down on the bus from Hawera. The lady beside me showed no inclination to chat as some previous fellow passengers had, so I sat in silent contemplation looking out the window as I retraced my steps of the last trip from Palmerston North to Hawera.

I knew when we had left Taranaki as the lush countryside there with very large herds of cattle, grazing in one field, gave way to more sparse grass and fewer cows. There is still farming taking place,however, although I suspect more of these are beef cattle. One town, Bulls has enjoyed making the most of its name, with statues of Bulls and other entertaining signs.

It’s not easy to take good photos through a moving coach window, especially when it is very dull. On this trip we went through Fielding, a market town, which has grown considerably, and by the time we reached Palmerston North it was pouring with rain. I made my way to the same coffee bar and had a quick lunch before the bus set off again. I have been amazed at how many racecourses there seem to be, even in relatively small places. Hawera has one; we passed through Waverley and that has one and this one was some distance fromPalmerston North.

This isn’t the most scenic part of the country, being mostly flat until Levin, when the scenery starts to change and become progressively more hilly. Eventually the road hits the coast and there are views of bays.

The railway runs between the coast for much of the way into Wellington so its not the best position to photograph. The sun came out for brief spells and vanished again, not that I mind a cooler day after all the amazing hot days that I’ve experienced.

The bus unloaded the majority of its passengers at Wellington Railway Sation. I was torn between taking the ferry, which I’ve done numerous times, or taking a little twelve seater plane that takes thirty minutes. I chose the later option because I thought it would be a little more adventurous and bring back some memories of flying across Cook Straight in an open cockpit plane. The trip from the station to the airport winds around the coast and there are some nice views of the bay.

The hills rise steeply above the road and there are houses perched high above the road.

We reached the airport and my bus driver talked a taxi driver into queue jumping and taking me to The Airport Motor Lodge where I am staying overnight before an early flight on Sounds Air to Picton in the South Island.