Greener pastures

Last night’s sinking sun gently illuminated the rolling hills to the west of Tumai and Waikouaiti, 40 km North of Dunedin.  Dunedin is the old name for Edinburgh, and for a while was the leading commercial hub of New Zealand.  Many Scottish immigrants came there in the 1800s and quickly set about turning the surrounding forested hills into pasture like in their homeland – they really were seeking greener pastures.

Meanwhile missionaries were inviting the local Māori to seek their Presbyterian God’s greener pastures. One of the peaks just off to the left  in this landscape is Mount Watkin, named after Reverend James and Hannah Watkin, two early Christian Missionaries who arrived at Waikouaiti in 1840.  Within weeks local Māori had ‘begun to abstain from work on the Lord’s day’ and by year’s end Watkin was taking two writing classes a day. James had a flare for languages and published one of the first books on the southern Māori dialect.  Hannah was meanwhile working with the Māori women, passing on domestic skills like sewing.

The missionaries also had their hands full taming the rabble rousers from UK living at the nearby Johnny Jones Whaling station.  It’s no easy task to manage a camp of isolated men at work on the other side of the planet from their families and communities.

Watkin was replaced at Waikouaiti by Reverend Charles Creed in 1844. His first words to his successor were ‘Welcome to Purgatory, Brother Creed.’

It seems that the realities of life then were tougher than today's mellow landscape might suggest.