Towering over town

Who wants to see the musicians anyway? Actually, most people do. Health and safety gone mad in...
Who wants to see the musicians anyway? Actually, most people do. Health and safety gone mad in the Dunedin Town Hall from row A. Photo: Ulla Reymann
Of all the notable features on Dunedin’s skyline, the one that fascinates me most is Mt Cargill.

What  is it about that hill that grabs my attention every time I look north? Well, I love its shape, the slightly off-centre summit with its gentle curve that falls away on its right-hand flank, rises slightly at Buttars Peak and then drops more purposefully to the east.

I’m also fascinated by its appearance from "the other side" — that is, if you’re heading south towards Dunedin. The shape is quite different.

The 676m  mountain is named after Captain William Cargill. Its Maori name is Kapukataumahaka.

For many years I’ve played the game of trying to find the point on State Highway 1 where you get the first view of Mt Cargill away in the distance. I’m pretty sure, in good weather, it is somewhere a little south of Palmerston, on those straights around Goodwood. But please correct me if anyone else has played that daft game and I’m wrong.

What I do wonder is what Mt Cargill would look like now without the huge telecommunications tower on the top. I’m sure I read somewhere it was only installed in 1970, so there will be many of you who can recall the mountain in its natural state.

What I’m also wondering is, do we still need that mast, given television is now digital? I’m presuming it does plenty of other jobs.

I heard the Mt Cargill tower is actually the tallest structure in Dunedin, pipping First Church’s steeple by several metres. Have I got that right?

Keen to hear your thoughts on Mt Cargill, and also your favourite parts of Dunedin’s skyline.

Mystery musicians

Ulla Reymann of Sunshine, Dunedin, has been left dissatisfied by new safety rails installed in the Dunedin Town Hall. She sent us this photograph taken from seats in row A in the gallery.

"This is the view at the NZSO concert on Tuesday night last week (April 10). The gorgeous pianists’ heads were cut off from their hands.

"I’d be interested to hear what the plans for improvement are and whether other patrons of the arts feel cheated as well.

"Oh and by the way: how many people have fallen off the balcony in the last 80-plus years? Health & Safety gone mad."

Thanks Ulla. Anybody else want to give their opinion of this annoying obstruction?

A yellow admiral or kahukowhai (‘‘yellow cloak’’) alighting on a bush — whose name eludes us — in...
A yellow admiral or kahukowhai (‘‘yellow cloak’’) alighting on a bush — whose name eludes us — in Gary Newton’s front garden last week. Photos: Gary Newton
Plastic sleepers

Remember ODT illustration editor Stephen Jaquiery’s photograph of plastic railway sleepers and the suggestion that wooden sleepers would be more sympathetic to the environment?

Well, Kevin Burke of Mosgiel has put me right and what he says makes perfect sense.

"In answer to your photo question, Paul, no, wooden sleepers would most definitely not be more environmentally friendly.

"With over 30 years’ experience with American railroads, I know that wooden ‘ties’, as they call them there, are cooked and pressure-treated with a cocktail of preservatives designed to prevent rot and poison anything that even thinks of having wood for a snack.

"Just think of what it would take to make wood last 50 or 60 years on and in the ground — sometimes perpetually wet. Plastic and concrete are a great step forward."

Our old friend, a monarch butterfly, also enjoying a meal in Gary’s garden.
Our old friend, a monarch butterfly, also enjoying a meal in Gary’s garden.
Close-up butterflies

ODT colleague Gary Newton has been stalking through the undergrowth of his front garden searching for butterflies.

He came across these — "your old friend Danaus plexippus (the monarch) and Vanessa itea, the Australian or yellow admiral or kahukowhai (‘yellow cloak’)", he says.

"I don’t know what the bush is they’re feeding on, but it’s 3m to 4m high and comes into flower between February and April and is covered in these clusters of tubular cream/orange flowers.

"It always attracts yellow admirals, and bumble bees by the dozen, but the monarchs last Thursday were the first I’ve seen on it in some years."

Gary took the photos with a Canon 600D and a Tamron 16-300mm zoom lens, set to 300mm.

R. A. Lawson buildingsNorman Ledgerwood, of Maori Hill, writes to say he enjoyed the discussion last month about architect R. A. Lawson and his Green Acorn building on the corner of St David St in Dunedin, which now houses the Good Earth cafe.

"There is another Lawson building in North Dunedin, which has been surrounded by scaffolding. It is at 808 Great King St and is occupied by Pizza Hut.

"It was built in 1883 and started life as the Royal Hotel.  It was possibly built for Maurice Joel. The licence lapsed in 1887 and the building became a store and a shop. The ground floor has been changed beyond recognition but the upper floor is much better preserved.

"We have not found any specific attribution to Lawson, such as tender notices etc, but both the late Peter Entwisle and I believed the basic design was very similar to others of that time in Dunedin that are attributed to Lawson — the Green Acorn being one of them."

Comments

The MT Cargill transmitter is used for the digital broadcasts terrestrial service via UHF, I believe.