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) ?

Brick Architecture

Otago, NZ Jan 2009. Ajr

I spotted this gorgeous old brick building just south of Dunedin Airport the week before last. It's the sort of abandoned factory I'd love to have the money to restore and convert into a home. A little too close to the railway line and the highway perhaps but imagine all that interior space!

Bridging the Gap

Balclutha, South Otago. Jan 2009. Ajr

I am always warmly reassured by a sturdy bridge.

And they don't come much sturdier than this little beauty that I drove over the other day in Balclutha, about an hour south of Dunedin.

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.

One Paua, Two Paua......

Kaka Point, South Otago. Jan 2009. Ajr

......Three Paua, Four

I Love Paua

Bring Me More

Great little mail box scene on the cliff at Kaka Point yesterday, one hour south of Dunedin