If you think I’m going to talk
about sweet potatoes you are mistaken. Kumara is a small town on the Western
part of the South Island. At Kumara Junction you can drive inland from the West
Coast and after a little while you reach Kumara on your way to Arthur’s Pass.
The town is a little historical
gem. It isn’t mentioned in guide book like to Lonely Planet or the German one I
happened to have read, too.
We had lunch at the Theatre
Royal Hotel, which had been established in 1876 and has been reopened recently.
The original owners Otto William Anderson and his wife Annie were from Sweden
and from Germany (Annie was born near Berlin). Otto died in 1901 falling off a
rock while working on his gold claim. The town had been rich during the gold
rush.
Across the Theatre Royal Hotel
you find something like a village green, where you can read boards with
historical data and old pictures. You can look at pictures of the old hospital
and of course you learn more about Richard John Seddon, who had been Prime
Minister of New Zealand; some called him King Dick. He had a paternalistic
approach, opposing votes for women, immigration of Chinese, and had a firm hand
in Maori affairs. The Wikipedia article also tells us, that Seddon was known as
known
"as one of the pillars of British imperialism". In the Theatre
Royal Hotel you can grab a book with photographs that the great-granddaughter
of Richard John Seddon, Jane Seddon, presented to the new owner. You will find family
pictures taken across the islands of the South Sea and also in New Zealand.
Or you read about the
undertaker, Henry Christian Johnson from Danmark, who was undertaker in Kumara
for forty years.
All in all I liked having
stopped there and maybe, Lonely Planet or other guide books will add Kumara.
Other texts on this New Zealand travel:
New Zealand
Itinerary with Annotations and Pictures http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2013/12/blog-new-zealand-itinerary-with.html
Little Blue
Penguins at Pohatu Marine Reserve http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/little-blue-penguins-at-pohatu-marine.html
Penguins at
Roaring Bay http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/penguins-at-roaring-bay.html
Borland
Saddle and Human Impact http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/borland-saddle-and-human-impact.html
New Zealand
Haiku First Series: http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/new-zealand-haiku-first-series.html
New Zealand Haiku
Second Series http://rheumatologe.blogspot.de/2014/01/new-zealand-haiku-second-series.html
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