Levin

Farm landscape in the Horowhenua

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I recently sent this photo from the envirohistory NZ banner to the Stirling University Research Centre for Environmental History and Policy to be used on their related links page. When I did so, I thought it may be a good opportunity to share the “back story” of the photo.

The photo is taken by veteran photographer, Paul Knight, of a farm just north of the Horowhenua town of Levin [click here to view location]. The farm, called Nikaunui, meaning “many (or big) nikau palms” in Maori, is a large sheep and beef farm, owned by the Kilsby family,* a family with a long history in the district. Continue reading →

Photos of lunar eclipse from Horowhenua, New Zealand

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Like my earlier post with interesting cloud formation photos, this post is not – strictly speaking – about environmental history either, but I expect most readers will not quibble much, because these photos are very cool! Taken from veteran photographer Paul Knight’s back-yard, in Levin, Horowhenua, they capture the moon’s eclipse, which was visible in our skies on 21 December. It was, apparently, the first total lunar eclipse visible in New Zealand in three years. A total lunar eclipse only occurs when there is a full moon. The eclipse coincided with summer solstice – the shortest night/longest day in the year.

Continue reading →

The legacy of G. L. Adkin – keen “reader of the land”

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The fact that the Horowhenua district has such a rich written and photographic history, as well as ethnographic, archaeological, cartographic and geological record, is almost wholly down to one man – a Horowhenua farmer and irrepressible self-taught scholar of geology, archaeology and ethnology (as well many other subjects). Indeed many of the photographs used on this site are the work of this highly methodical and observant man who took his camera everywhere – including up the Tararuas on numerous exploratory expeditions to map, make geological observations, rescue lost trampers or simply for adventure.

George Leslie Adkin was born in Wellington on 26 July 1888, the first of seven children of William George Adkin, a draper, and his wife, Annie Denton. Continue reading →

envirohistory NZ podcast – episode 4 out now!

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Episode 4 of the envirohistory NZ podcast series is now out. This episode explores three environmental histories – which, while diverse in both their time-spans and their human protagonists, are all connected by a common theme. The first of these stories begins in the early 1800s, and features a Maori hapu and its relationship with its coastal Horowhenua environment [click here to read original post]. The next one, is of pioneering Scottish settlers in the 1840s, and their longsighted protection of a remnant of swamp forest in what was to become Christchurch [click here to read original post]. The third and final, more recent, story is of a dairy farmer and the indigenous forest remnant encompassed by his south Waikato farm [click here to read original post]. Continue reading →

Lake Horowhenua and Hokio Stream – a hapu’s story

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Of all the essays in the recently published Maori and the Environment: Kaitiaki, reviewed in a previous post, the essay that left me with one of the strongest lasting impressions was the second chapter. This essay tells the story of a hapu’s attempts to exercise kaitiakitanga (environmental stewardship) over Hokio Stream and Lake Horowhenua, west of the Horowhenua township of Levin [click here to view map]. Continue reading →