The Top of the Bay Steps, Caroline Bay, Timaru
POST=CARDS
No. 16. A shady retreat. A Muir and Moodie Postcard 1907.
F.G.R. postcard No.
1254. Mailed in 6th Nov. 1910.
Rustic Steps photographed by Wm. Ferrier 3/09. Mailed in the latter half of
1909. Effie's message reads:
"I am sending you a P.C. of the
steps at the Bay. I hope you will like it.
The weather is getting much cooler here now but it is still warm enough.
The cliffs at the Bay are nearly all covered with ice plant & it is so pretty
when flowering.
You can see a little of it in this picture."
Gibson's Steps
The Terrace, Caroline Bay, Timaru 1907
Otago Witness, March 1906, Page 79
Hazel Eyes spent part of her holidays at Timaru, and had a happy time with her little cousins. We went to Caroline Bay, were in the swinging boats, and on the merry-go-round.
Caroline Bay, looking North. 1907
Otago Witness, 1 February 1900, Page 61
LETTERS FROM LITTLE FOLK.
Dear Dot, We have whooping cough, so we are staying in Timaru for change of air.
We don't like it very much, because we haven't our ponies with us. We go in the
sea every day to paddle. We have buckets and spades to dig holes with. There are
hundreds of children on the beach, but I haven't seen any badges. I wear mine on
my best hat. Thank you for putting my composition about a boy in the paper. My
godfather saw it, and sent me five shillings, to do what I like with. This is
how I spent it: — A measuring tape, a pineapple, a ruler, a lead pencil and pen,
a knife, some lolly billiard balls. We are going to stay in Timaru two weeks
longer. I wish daddy would come. We live next to the lighthouse, and we see all
the ships come in to "the harbour. — Yours truly, FAIRLIE GILLINGHAM. [That was
real good of your godfather, Fairlie, and it was well applied. — DOT.]
Caroline Bay Tea Kiosk, 1908. Arthur A. Ware, photographer.
Right above the Beach, between which & the cliff are lawns & pavilions and
seats etc.
Also the railway lines runs between. A good place for a quiet rest.
Frank Duncan Postcard. Caroline Bay, 1929
The Irish Times Saturday, March 7,
1931
My Dear Granny,
On Christmas Eve the main street of Timaru, which is about
five miles from Washdyke, was crowded with people, and crackers were being let
off in every direction.
On New Year's Eve Caroline bay was like fairyland, with its
beautiful coloured lights. There were hundreds of people who stayed on the bay
to see the old year out and the new year in. AT twelve o'clock the band started
to play "Auld Lang Syne," and an enormous bonfire was lit on the sands. We did
not stop till twelve o'clock, but we could see the fire from where we live in
Washdyke.
On New Year's Day some friends and my mother and I went down
to the beach which is about a quarter of a mile from our place. there is a
lagoon to cross before you get there, so my father drove us in the horse and
cart. there was only a foot of water in the lagoon so we arrived at the beach
safely. My father went home and then came back for us later on. Billy and I
paddled in the sea first of all. Of course, we could not paddle in very far, as
the beach has a sloping side, and the further we went the deeper it got. After
we had finished paddling we went and gathered sticks off the beach to boil the
kettle. We lit the fire, and it went splendidly, although there was a little
breeze blowing off the sea. The kettle boiled in about five minutes, and the tea
was not a bit smoked.
After our afternoon tea Billy and I gathered some seaweed and
put it on the fire. it went bang! bang! bang! just like the fireworks at
Christmas and new Year.
We went for a walk along the beach, and while were were
taking a rest we saw my father coming, so we had to hurry back to our camping
place and get our things.. We arrived home with our cheeks, neck and arms
sunburnt.
I am your loving grandchild,
Rita Peebles.
There was a foot bridge across the railway lines at the top of the Bay.
This photo is taken from the footbridge.
Otago Witness, 11 February 1903, Page 71
Dear Dot,— We got six weeks' holiday from school, and I went to a number of
places during that time. I went to the Sunday school and school picnics. The
S.S. picnic was pretty stale, but the school one was not bad, only it was
raining all the morning. There were races for the children, and I won one and
sixpence. There was a dance at night, and I stayed for it, and got home at 3
o'clock in the morning, being very tired. I went to the New Year's sports in
Timaru, and they were pretty good. Lord and Lady Ranfurly were there, and they
got their photos taken. There were two spills the first day, but one picked
himself up and walked away, but the other one had to be helped up, and he was
all bleeding. Bill Martin was there with his ten-horse motor bike. The tyres
were three inches wide, and the spokes thick as a nail. He went three rounds the
first day, and ten rounds the second day. He did a mile in one minute and 38
seconds. Nearly all the crack riders were there, and I enjoyed seeing them
riding very much. I went away the second day of the sports for a holiday to
Albury, and I had a grand time up there, and was very sorry when I had to come
home. Coming down in the train it was awful, as there was such a crush. However,
we got back all right, and I went down to the harbour and went on the s.s.
Papanui, and had a good look through her. She was taking in frozen mutton for
the Home Country, and she was expected to reach therein the middle of February.
Then we went down to Caroline Bay, and had a look at the donkeys there, and they
did look such creatures. There has been a great quantity of rain up here lately,
and the crops are very heavy, and some of them are down. I can ride a bike now.
A new dairy factory has been built up here, and there is a good supply of milk
going to it. Will any D.L.F. please exchange autos with me. If they address them
to "Charlie, care, of Mrs Drinnan, St. Andrews," they will reach me all right. —
Yours truly, CHARLIE.
Timaru Herald, 28 January 1886, Page 3
SEA BATHING.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMARU HERALD, Sir, — While bathing this morning at the
Landing Service before 7 a.m., I, together with several other bathers, was very
much surprised at one of the employees of the Government informing us that if
found bathing there again we would be arrested. If my memory serves me rightly a
case came before the Resident Magistrate of this town some time ago, when it was
distinctly stated that the public were at liberty to bathe at the Landing
Service up till 7 a.m. I would also like to inform the person who informed us
that, although chief of the police, he is at best only an employee of the
Government, and not lord and master of all he surveys, as his manner would lead
one to think. I will feel obliged if you will inform me if I am correct in
stating case the Police v. Scoringe as above, which should at once set the
question at rest. I am, &c, Bather. Timaru, 27th January, 1886.
[Our report of the case referred to contains no such ruling. It merely says that
it was " the first case of the kind brought before the Bench, who dismissed it,
and cautioned defendant not to offend again." — Ed. T.HJ]
Ashburton Guardian, 15 January 1917, Page 8
Another sensation was caused at Caroline Bay on Saturday afternoon. Mr Malcolm
Orton, of the Kennels, Timaru, was in bathing, when he suddenly turned face
downwards in the water. Two bathers who were close at hand went to his rescue.
When he was taken out of the water he was quite unconscious, and many of the
crowd which had gathered by this time believed him, to be dead. Luckily a
soldier who belongs to the Ambulance Corps was handy, and with the aid of other
Ambulance men brought the unfortunate bather, back to consciousness after
working hard on him for quite an hour. He was afterwards taken to a private
hospital for further treatment. [died in 1921 at age 50]
Timaru Herald March 16, 2010 [1940s]
A thirteen-year-old boy, Des O'Rourke, shaved thirty-three seconds off D J
Shanahan's record to win the Speechly Mile harbour race last evening and gained
fastest time from a field of seven starters. The event, started from the
fishermen's wharf, was watched by several hundred people. For Mr O'Rourke
training for the harbour races comprised swimming the length of Caroline Bay six
times each evening. Before the big race his mother would cook him a steak for
lunch and his father would prepare a drink of raw eggs and milk. Mr O'Rourke, a
member of the South End Swimming Club, held every South Canterbury freestyle
record from 25 yards to three miles. Swimmers had the luxury of three pools to
choose from, West End where the bowling club green is now; Waimataitai, in White
Street, and Century. All were cold water and 33 1/3rd yards long.
Timaru Herald, Oct 2, 2004
Training is important to most sports but octogenarian Gerald O'Rourke is hoping
once will be enough in his build-up to the South Island Masters Games. Gerald is
hoping to strike gold again in the pool but admits it may not be easy -- not
because of his training regime but because they have increased the distance
17-odd metres. The 86-year-old has won the 33-and-a-third metre freestyle events
at the past two Timaru games but the shortest distance available now is 50m.
Cheering him on will be his wife Elizabeth but she will also have to put in a
bigger effort. As a boy, Gerald learnt to swim in the Opihi River after his dad
chucked him in.
"There were no flash costumes -- it was sink or swim." The retired taxidermist
does, however, remember the thrill of wearing the council-issued bathing
costumes down on Caroline Bay during the summers of the 1920s.
Swimming became a passion and he excelled -- winning the Speechley Mile -- a
semi-open water race in Timaru Harbour in 1941. Gerald admits he still enjoys
swimming and would like to join the masters swimming but he no longer drives and
Pleasant Point -- where he lives -- has only an open-air pool. Swimming is also
a bit of a family affair for the O'Rourkes with his sons Lance and Nevin also
having competed at the Masters Games in the past. Gerald's favourite swimming
story is, however, about his brother who fell overboard while they were fishing
together. "I hadn't realised he had gone over and he was chasing the boat.
Fortunately when I got back he was still swimming." To keep fit these days
Gerald still likes to do a bit of hunting. "I shot a couple of deer three weeks
ago." But the self-taught taxidermist has given away mounting them.
Otago Witness, 20 September 1905, Page 90
THE NEW ZEALANDER'S LONGING.
By Kenneth Young.
When gaily in childhood I romped on thy sands,
I little then thought of far-away lands;
But, longing, I think, when now far away,
Of thy loved, cool beach, dear Caroline Bay.
Chorus :
Zealandia! I love thee! My childhood's dear home!
Zealandia! I'll love thee wherever I roam —
Under Afric's hot sun or Australia's fierce glare !
Zealandia! I love thee, and long to be there.
'Tis absence that brings right home to the heart
The loved things from which I so lightly did part.
How I long, how I long, out here far away,
For a dip in thy waters, dear Caroline Bay.
Zealandia! Thy orchards, thy green-covered fields,
Thy birds, and thy flowers, and the plenty all yields, —
I think of them all, out here far away.
And longing to see thee, dear Caroline Bay.
Zealandia! I'm waiting to see thee once more ;
I'm living in hope for a pleasure in store.
Too long have I strayed from thee far away-
Zealandia, my loved one, and Caroline Bay.
I'm longing to hear thy ocean's loud roar;
I'm longing to see thy wave-dashed shore.
I see them in dreams, now far, far away —
Thy memory sands, dear Caroline Bay.
I'm waiting in patience for when the good day
That's coming will take me, no longer to stay.
Though age should have withered, though dull pass the day —
Never mind, I'll be near thee, dear Caroline Bay.
These lines were written after hearing a letter read from a South Canterbury native, resident for some years in South Africa, in which was expressed the passionate longing for the day of return to New Zealand and "dear old Caroline Bay."