Oamaru, The Crib, and more Family History.

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.