Donovan’s World

A pretty little Anglican church in a peaceful Waikato settlement.

It wasn’t always so. This town was the headquarters of Rewi Maniapoto, supreme Maori commander in the 1863-64 war against the British.

The church, designed by Reverend Philip Walsh of Taranaki, came later. It was opened on Monday 5 December 1881 with a packed congregation of 90.

It was locked and silent on the day of my visit, but as I sketched, a young mother and her three children arrived in the summer evening and had a picnic under the trees.

© DON DONOVAN

donovan@ihug.co.nz

I wrote and illustrated Country Churches of New Zealand. It was published in 2002 by New Holland, Publishers and is still on sale in bookshops. The publishers have kindly agreed to me re-publishing some of the book’s images and descriptions in this blog.

 
Under its roof of distressed shingles, St John’s is fighting a brave battle with ‘progress’ beside the busy highway.

Cracked tombstones have been salvaged and laid horizontally into cement, which is a good idea for beating vandals but a shame that it has to be that way. Fortunately a memorial installed by the New Zealand Government to the memory of Maori heroes who died in the battles of Hairini and Orakau in 1864 is untouched.

It’s no accident that St John’s, built in 1854, looks like St Paul’s at Hairini - they were both designed by the same man, Reverend John Morgan.

© DON DONOVAN
  
donovan@ihug.co.nz

When I re-visited the Pukekohe East Presbyterian Church on 7 January 2001 it had become the Pukekohe East Church Creative Centre. Were it not for the creative centre it would, I’m sure, have become derelict.

Its simple form belies a romantic history too long to recount here. The wording of the Historic Places Trust plaque at the gate sums it up:

© DON DONOVAN   

donovan@ihug.co.nz

With pinpoint precision, Rob Hayman dates the establishment of his shop as 20 October 1916. It was a Loan and Mercantile stock and station store and continued as such (although later owned by Dalgetys) until 1971, when it was turned into a fruiterers by Parbhu Patel.

Patel - nicknamed ‘Boxer’ - was one of Waverley’s characters. He was particularly famous for a very potent curry powder of his own blending, which is still sold in the Waverley Fruit Supply to gourmets who pop in for it from all points of the compass. ‘Boxer’ Patel lives in Huntly now, having sold the store to Rob and Colleen in 1988.

The match-lined inside walls of the store and the front verandah are original, but the thing that appealed to me most was the colour scheme, which owes nothing to Coca-Cola or Four Square - it came straight out of paint pots of Rob Hayman’s choosing.

Since 1977, when the Haymans moved here from Taihape with the Post and Telegraph Department, Rob has built up a horticulture business growing export melons for Japan and other crops for the local market. This dovetails neatly with his Waverley Fruit Supply, and no doubt accounts for the high quality of the produce.

Creative spelling!

Waverley is a peaceful little town, but there was a particularly nasty battle in the district during the Maori land wars of the 1860s. The town was called Wairoa then, and remains of a redoubt can be seen just along the road from the store.

© DON DONOVAN

I came down from a visit to the Tuai Power Station, just below Lake Waikaremoana, at a height where snow flurries had made me keen to seek a better climate at sea level. I had turned at Frasertown to take the inland road to Gisborne and soon, at a point exactly where a traveller in times past would have welcomed food, drink and warm shelter, I found the Marumaru Tavern.