StreetscapeNZ - 59

Milton, Southland

November 2009 Ajr

Riding in a Bus

Street Corner, Edendale. Nov. 2009 Ajr Creamoata Factory, Milton. Nov. 2009 Ajr I rarely travel on buses - not because I have anything against them; it's just that I have my own car and I can get to places faster that way. But last weekend I not only took a bus ride, I took a very LONG bus ride - ten hours in fact, from Christchurch to the tiny southern coastal settlement of Colac Bay, which sits 45 minutes southwest of Invercargill at the bottom of the South Island.

Residential Street, Dunedin. Nov. 2009 Ajr

Dunedin Railway Station. Nov. 2009 Ajr When I'm travelling by car I always stop regularly to take photographs; when you're being driven by bus, you stop on the whim of the driver. But that wasn't going to stop me. I love taking photographs from moving vehicles. They're never perfect shots and that's what I like about them. There's a randomness, a degree of luck involved that sometimes spins out some real treats. And much to my delight, I discovered that sitting high up in a bus, you get an entirely different perspective on the landscapes and cityscapes you're passing through. So these are four shots of many that I snapped along the way. A tiny sampling of the architectural diversity and quirkiness that you see whenever you hit the roads into provincial New Zealand.

The Dilemma of Choice

Milton, South Otago. Feb 2009 Ajr

Faced with choices like this

Who could ever say life was dull and boring in Milton?

I especially like the bottom sign - I wonder if that's where Fairfax buries its journalists (alive) ?

Southern Church Architecture

Milton, South Otago. Jan. 2009. Ajr

Okay.... so I've become a little fixated on photographing church architecture!

So naturally, I was never going to be able to drive passed this little cutie in the South Otago town of Milton, an hour south of Dunedin. It's the Tokomairiro Co-Operating Parish Church, which sits in the main street.

StreetscapeNZ - 11

Main Street, Milton

South Otago

Early Otago Architecture

From Top to Bottom: Gospel hall, Scout Hall, Lodge St John, Milton, South Otago. jan 2009. Ajr

When I drove south from Dunedin yesterday on my way to Kaka Point, I passed through the quaint little town of Milton, pop.2000. Like most small New Zealand provincial towns, it provides the basics for the surrounding rural areas and as you drive through the main street you feel kinda' glad you live somewhere bigger and more interesting. But turn down the side streets here and you'll discover all manner of terrific little (and big) buildings - compact, sturdy and in many cases beautifully built to last in robust red bricks. I love small town halls and sports club buildings - sometimes humble and shabby, sometimes built with an over-inflated sense of grandeur that in no way relates to the humble activities within. They say so much about a town's history and social fabric and sadly, too many of them are now falling into disrepair, or are being removed altogether.

And then

Looming over the Main Street..........

The Milton Coronation Hall..........

Built in 1902 and looking like a free-standing facade from a movie set And this wonderful architectural edifice in Elderlee Street

Next door to these splendid brick factory buildings on Edward Street.

I loved them all and would have LOVED to have a peek inside - had there been time and opportunity. Another time perhaps.