Ross – Page 3 – Taieri Recreational Tramping Club

Where’s Wally Walking #1

This week, for a little lockdown-lassitude relief, we’ve got something different for you, a game. We’ve chosen some photos at random from the Club’s activities over the last 10 months. We’ve invited Wally of Where’s Wally fame to join us. It’s hard to hide in a crowd in the outdoors, and Wally didn’t try. The idea isn’t to spot where Wally is in the photo. It is to figure out where Wally is in the world. Well not so much the world but more where he is in Coastal Otago – with one exception. Continue reading “Where’s Wally Walking #1”

Where’s Wally Walking #2

We’ve chosen some photos at random from the Club’s activities over the last 10 months. We’ve invited Wally of Where’s Wally fame to join us. It’s hard to hide in a crowd in the outdoors, and Wally didn’t try. The idea isn’t to spot where Wally is in the photo. It is to figure out where Wally is in the world. Well not so much the world but more where he is in Coastal Otago – with one exception. Continue reading “Where’s Wally Walking #2”

Where’s Wally Walking #3

Where’s Wally Walking #4

Where’s Wally Walking #5

Where’s Wally Walking? #6

Where’s Wally Walking? #7

Where’s Wally Walking? #8

Coping With COVID-19 Lockdown – August 2021

With tramping off-limits because it was the first day of the COVID-19 lockdown for August 2021, we decided a pictorial record of some members activities might be interesting. These photos were taken by members between noon on Wednesday 18th August and noon on Thursday 19th August. Some were taken during the limited exercise opportinities available. Some are recording what people do at home when unable to go out. So what follows is a random selection of Club members activites over a 24-hour period in these strange times. [You can click/tap on any of the photos to see a larger image.]

IMG_20210818_134550 Margreet 800

The Simpsons were hoping to be up on Harbour Cone today. We had to do a local bike ride instead. Take care everyone!
Cheers Margreet and Neil

IMG_4444 Eleanore 800 — *Tramping round my garden at Willowfield – photo and caption Eleanor*

20210819_105951 Chris 800 — *Just been on a great bike ride – caption and subject Chris*

B8CAE9D8-CE34-4EA3-A818-F776CB7A9B49 Raewynne 480 — *What’s the next best thing to leading hikers today? Taking my midnight visitor for a walk – caption and subject Raewynne*

20210819_111558 Helen 800 — *Walk along the Silverstream Bank – photo and caption Helen*

20210819_093158 Ady800 — What a mission to get Ken to take this – photo and caption Ady

Covid 1 800 — *Haha you’re stuck with me ….. photo & caption Jenni*

Covid 2 800 — *Day 1 of lockdown and Bruce is trying to escape – photo and caption Jenni*

IMG_20210818_154338316_HDR Ross Wyn 800 — Neighbour’s flowering cherry tree on our way around the block – photo and caption Ross

I have not been feeling the greatest, so no activities outside for me. But been busy with my leadlighting in stead. I am making panels for inside doors. The first has been completed with the dog’s approval and working on the second one, a real labour of love! Everybody keep well and safe. Marijke

Out with daughter Jenni and friends on first day of NZ lockdown. We are on the Wattle walk, Jarradale, Perth Hills. Great scones for reward! Take care back there. Cheers Phil

P1030515 Gordon 800 — *Woodturning – subject Gordon*

P1030524 Gordon 800 — Outram Glen Track – subject Gordon

Screenshot_2021-08-19-11-34-25-52res Dave 800 — *Dave’s picture*

IMG_1310 Jill 480

Whilst out on my walk this (Friday) morning found this bear sheltering under a tree , with very few clothes on ,along with snow along the tops of the Maungatuas ! Jill

And lastly, a little test of local Taieri knowledge to keep you guessing.

Do you know what this wall was erected for. It is located in Stedman Road just along from Helicopters Otago. Cheers, Jenni.

See the responses in the Comments section below.

***Breaking News***

Jenni says “Thanks Jan and Nikki and Bill, we had no idea of its purpose. On the other side it has these partitions. Funny we pass structures like these all the time but pay little attention to them!”

Seacliff Hospital Fire (Backgound information)

Fire broke out at Seacliff Mental Hospital on 9 December, 1942. Ward 5, which housed 39 women patients, was quickly reduced to ashes. The fire killed all but 2 of the 39 women and was the worst fire in New Zealand until Ballantyne’s fire, five years later.
In 1884 the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum was opened at Seacliff, 28 kilometres up the coast from Dunedin. It provided housing for 500 patients and 50 staff, and at the time was the largest public building in New Zealand. At about 9:45pm on 8 December, 1942, fire broke out in Ward 5. This ward was a two-storeyed wooden building which had been added on to the original stone building when the hospital was expanded at the end of the nineteenth century. In Ward 5 were 39 women patients who had mental health problems. They were all locked into either single rooms or in the 20-bed dormitory. Most windows were locked, and could only be opened by a key from inside. It was during the Second World War, and there was a shortage of nursing staff. There was no nurse on duty in the ward at night, although checks were made by staff from other wards every hour. The fire was first noticed by a male attendant who raised the alarm and ran to bring the fire hoses and reels from the small hospital fire station to a fire hydrant near Ward 5. He was able to save one patient by pulling off the grating over her window and dragging her out. Another patient was rescued from the first floor. Both survivors were in rooms which did not have locked shutters on the windows. They were the only patients out of the 39 in Ward 5 to survive the fire. The hospital’s fire fighters tried to put out the fire, but it was too fierce, and within an hour only ashes remained of Ward 5. However they were able to stop the flames from spreading to other wooden buildings. 37 people died. A commission of inquiry found that the wooden building of Ward 5 was dangerous, and that, once the fire had started, it spread through the building very quickly. There were no automatic fire alarms in Ward 5, unlike in other newer parts of the hospital. Any alarm in the building had to be raised by unlocking a cabinet and pushing a button to start the fire alarm. The commission of inquiry criticised the design of the building and the way in which the windows were shuttered and locked from the inside at night. It recommended the installation of sprinkler systems in all psychiatric institutions. The commission also felt that there was not enough staff on duty to supervise the patients at night. The hospital fire brigade were praised for their action on the night, which prevented the loss of other lives. The cause of the fire was not discovered. A new mental hospital was opened at nearby Cherry Farm in 1954.The Seacliff Mental Hospital fire was the worst in New Zealand until Ballantyne’s fire, five years later.

With regard to the lives lost in the Seacliff fire, there was in fact a Memorial Plaque set up in the Andersons Bay Cemetery in December 2017, 75 years after the fire, with all the names of the victims on it. And a small plaque also at Seacliff. You can Google the articles and pictures of this from the ODT. (Additional note from comment on ‘Warrington – Seacliff’ post for hike 16/10/2024.)