/ Canterbury, South Island / By George
Timaru was just a fleeting visit for us. By the time we finally left Oamaru we arrived in Timaru in semi darkness on a drizzly evening. We had predetermined our free camp for the night would be at Caroline Bay, which had plenty of space with only three other campervans there. This is adjacent to the port and there was still plenty of action going on there. The area has a long boardwalk through sand binding native plants and I understand the beach here is regarded as South Island’s best sandy beach. We went for a walk to the beach, which is only a short distance from the carpark, to see if we could spot any penguins returning in the evening light, as there is a colony here. Alas not, but we got a brief look at the beach, albeit in a somewhat dismal setting as the rain started to set in.
Hats off though to Timaru DC for allowing free camping in this carpark. It is flat and sealed in asphaltic concrete, with clean toilets right beside the carpark. The port operations did not bother us at all and we felt completely safe here. By accounts this area is used for numerous public events and gatherings and is the major ‘park’ in Timaru with a swimming pool and large playground. In that sense it must get very busy on weekends and public holidays, particularly in the warmer months.
We had read somewhere about 10 places to visit in Timaru but completely ignored that and headed into what we figured was the main shopping area, to do a comparison with Oamaru. Debbie did remember reading about the ‘Te Ana Rock Art Centre’ and since she’d recently taken up painting rocks as a travel hobby (or maybe not, as a whole lot of stones seem to be going home with us), we headed in that direction. We ended up in Stafford St and immediately came across two shops that were listed in the ‘places to visit’ list, those being ‘Black & Co’ and ‘Tuesday’.
Although it was Wednesday we went into ‘Tuesday’ first. There was no sign of any proprietor or salesperson and the shop wasn’t large enough to hide one. Together with one other customer we wandered around looking at all the super quirky gifts for quite some time before the other customer, who had chosen something, asked us if we worked there. Of course we didn’t but chatted to the customer for a while nonetheless, mostly about where the owner of this establishment might be. Eventually she turned up, advising us that she also ran the shop next door (Black & Co) and that if we couldn’t find what we wanted in ‘Tuesday’ we should have a look there. We knew exactly what we wanted, which was that illusive yet amazing gift the like of which the receiver could never imagine getting but desperately needed like no other. So we moved on to ‘Black & Co’, one of those shops that every town seems to have with eclectic wares as diverse as humanly possible, spread-eagled in no particular order about the premises. Then there was the classic “there’s more upstairs”, which takes you to the even more bizarre viz: a stuffed chicken; a skeleton in a bow tie and assorted dubious looking bottles all in a glass doored case; the Readers Digest ‘The Story of Jesus’ (I thought that was the Bible?); numerous old suitcases; a wooden framed edition of ‘The World’s 12 Greatest Lies’ and a plethora of semi ancient kitchenware to list just a few. Nothing is priced so I have the usual dilemma of knowing whether these antiques, oddities and memorabilia are actually for sale or just to be admired. We went back to ‘Tuesday’ and bought a small book of sayings to lift our daughter’s spirits when things turn to custard. Living in Melbourne in a Covid ridden world means this happens often.
We eventually made our way across to the Te Ana Rock Centre, but only spent time in the lobby admiring the intricately carved wooden pendants. We figured the museum visit itself would take too long, so moved on to have a chat with Capt Henry Cain. These days he spends his time outside the Speight’s Ale House and he seemed pleased to see us, although had little to say about his days at sea. After seafaring for 30 years he became a prominent businessman and eventually Mayor of Timaru. Whilst clearly being a popular public figure he was not favoured by all and was eventually poisoned by his son-in-law at the age of 70.
We noted some distinctive Edwardian architecture in this area of town, but it was heavily interspersed with other buildings of numerous ages and styles, including contemporary structures. As such it was not nearly as singularly authentic of the era when compared to the Victorian precinct in Oamaru. It was time to leave Timaru for Christchurch, where we would have our motorhome serviced the following day. In the meantime we would contemplate whether a return trip to Timaru would put us more meaningfully in touch with this town, although I created my own fun here. At this point the advice we received at ‘The Red Shed’ stopover in Moeraki from the fellow camper in regard to the merits of Oamaru and Timaru seemed opposed to what we had seen ourselves and I wonder if we heard him clearly.