Little is left of south’s shore whaling stations
Southland’s shore whaling stations operated from 1829 to 1858.
There had been at least 10 stations on the Southland coast. They were: Preservation Inlet, Mussel Beach, Riverton, Oue, Omaui, Bluff or Awarua (more than one site), Toetoes, Tokanui river mouth and Waikawa Harbour.
There are no photos of these old stations – they pre-date photography – and few illustrations. Lacking the drama and romance of a whale hunt on the open sea, they inspired neither painter nor poet.
Little remains – a few bricks at Preservation and shards of pottery and rusted iron at Waikawa are the sole remnants.
Provincial flag
Southland’s provincial flag was adopted in 1991. It was green, blue and white but it was never popular and disappeared after a few years.
In 1997, the Spirit of a Nation flag, evidently influenced by the Henri Matisse’s painting The Fall of Icarus, was introduced with more success.
This was modified to become the current flag in 2009, but it is not seen much today.
Perhaps the idea of rallying under a provincial flag is too much for the three Southland territorial authorities who value their autonomy over the benefits of amalgamation.
Royal Show
In December 1934, New Zealand’s 11th Royal Show was held in Invercargill. It was the second to have been held in the city. It was opened by then-prime minister George Forbes and featured 2181 entries, only 109 short of the record set in Christchurch in 1927.
‘‘In Invercargill the chief characteristic of the event is the admirable balance with which entries represent. No class is starved.’’
The sheep breeds of the time were lincoln, corriedale, shropshire, romney marsh, merino, border leicester, ryeland, southdown, English leicester and cross-bred. The pig breeds were berkshire, yorkshire, large white, large black and tamworth. The cattle were friesian, jersey, ayrshire, hereford, Aberdeen angus, red poll, dairy shorthorn and beef shorthorn.
‘‘There was an attendance of about 20,000 on the best day; the sky was clear, the sun shone, the stock presented a very handsome picture in the ring and the crowds were in a festive mood. When the grand parade was held the finest animals in the Dominion gave evidence of the great resources of New Zealand.’’