Dinner and Drinks at House

When you're not eating and drinking at home - you could go to House (on Hood street).

House is one of my favourite haunts, as they seem to sell every fine ale there is, and have a brilliant chef. On the cards yesterday where a variety of ciders, and indeed a tasty main of Lamb rump, with bacon, beans and spuds - the perfect thing to soak up that alcohol. I'd give their effort last night a 9/10, which is consistent with my previous visits.

House on Hood, Hood Street, Hamilton - Jan 2011

Of course, Hamiltonians will probably remember the venue as the loaded hog - it's gone a long way upclass since then, and it's certainly a change from the buildings' first life, as a hotel:

Hood Street, 1939

Omanawa Falls

On the way over to Tauranga, just on the far side of the Kaimai ranges lies this neat little waterfall, the Omanawa falls (which are logically located on Omanawa Falls Road).

The falls are a neat 20 minute walk from the road down a well formed farm track (the track is gravelled and could easily be traversed by a 4WD, where it not locked). After a walk through farmland and some bush, you get to a portal, which leads to a track along with excellent views of the falls (shown below).

Sadly, you cannot get access to the water. Access would be via the steel door at the end of the path, which is looked, but leads down to the old hydro powerstation at the base of the falls. The blue water does look appealing to swim in - but then again, it's probably icy cold! The other means to access the water would be via a flying fox - I'd love to have a go, but getting out could be a bit of a climb.

The hydro-electric station was approved in 1914, and first powered up in 1915. The power station fell out of use in the 1990's, but came back online after restoration in 2008 - it's still running the original turbine, and generates 200KW of electricity.

Omanawa Falls - April 2011

Omanawa Falls Track - April 2011

Omanawa Falls Track - April 2011

Omanawa Falls - April 2011

Omanawa Falls Track - April 2011

Omanawa Power Station - April 2011

Omanawa Falls Track - April 2011

Omanawa Falls and Power Station, 1915

Omanawa Power Station, 1921

Street view and the earthquake...

So, I've gone onto Street View and paired up a few of the dramatic images from the newspapers with "before" images.

Here's the first set of casualties... on the corner of High Street and Lichfield Street. The ANZ Bank chambers are rubble, and no doubt the neighbouring building will be torn down (another sad loss).

Cnr High Street and Lichfield Street, Christchurch

Cnr High Street and Lichfield Street, Christchurch

132 Kilmore Street. - Half the thrifty rentals building has gone. No more deco facade. The Ernst and Young building in the background looks OK though.

132 Kilmore Street, Christchurch

132 Kilmore Street, Christchurch

Thinking of art deco, I was pleased to see this still standing on the corner of Columbo and Gloucester Streets. Why?, you're probably asking ... because that horrid facade hides the old state theatre... hopefully someone might see fit to remove that and bring out the deco goodness that's been hidden for some forty years.

Cnr Columbo and Gloucester Streets, Christchurch

Cnr Columbo and Gloucester Streets, Christchurch

Cnr Columbo and Gloucester Streets, Christchurch (historic State Theatre)

Turning around, the cathedral isn't in the greatest shape either. No doubt it will be rapaired though - it is one of Christchurch's main icons.

Cathedral, Christchurch

Cathedral, Christchurch

Cathedral, Christchurch

Cathedral, Christchurch

Of course, some heritage cannot as easily be reinstated. Consider for example provincial chambers on Durham street, another quintessentially "Christchurch" building. It was damaged in the september quake, but now there's really not a lot left of it...

Provincial Chambers, Durham Street, Christchurch

Provincial Chambers, Durham Street, Christchurch

In normal circumstances, I'd be pretty sure that provincial chambers would be painstakingly rebuilt, stone by stone, but I'm not sure there money will be there to do it. If not, I do hope they at least retain the materials so it can be done (though no doubt they'll go straight to the landfill as part of the "cleanup").

Another icon, which I would really hope could be restored, but I doubt will make the cut is the Press building, just around the corner from the cathedral. I doubt I'll ever see this building again, either.

The Press Building, Press Lane, Christchurch

The Press Building, Press Lane, Christchurch

Directly opposite my first pair of photos, on the corner of Lichfield and Manchester streets, there are yet more ruins to complete the set. It appears as though all the buildings along this part of Manchester street are now just rubble.

Cnr Lichfield and Manchester Streets, Christchurch

Cnr Lichfield and Manchester Streets, Christchurch

On Gloucester street, the destruction continues... I guess this is the end of Winnie Bagos

Gloucester Street, Christchurch

Gloucester Street, Christchurch

If there is one thing I find creepy in any pictures after a natural disaster, it's the spray-paint statuses - thankfully both these cars are "clear". No doubt the buildings behind will soon have "no go" on them - and that is another of my favourite buildings on Manchester Street.

Manchester Street, Christchurch

Manchester Street, Christchurch

We all know CTV has gone... but what about that pile of rubble to the right...

Cnr Madras and Cashel Streets, Chrischurch (including CTV building)

Cnr Madras and Cashel Streets, Chrischurch (including CTV building)

The street view gives a hint... this is the building that, I assume, stood there - the Presbyterian church.

Cnr Madras and Cashel Streets, Chrischurch (the Pressbyterian Church)

There are more of these to post ... but this is enough for one night...

My thought is that Christchurch has lost most of it's heritage buildings. It would be tragic to see the last ones "cleaned up" urgently where they might, in time, be restored instead...

Seventies retro goodness in Garden Place

Who remembers the DIC department store in Garden Place? I don't, it's before my time. This is what it looked like in 1975. Big glass windows to let in the light, and an orange and white colour scheme.

DIC Department Store - Garden Place, Hamilton - 1975

In 1993, the building was converted to house Hamilton's public library, and now looks like this. Exactly why the council insists on painting our libraries that abhorid shade of blue, I'm not sure, but the building was brought up to nineties standards pretty well. They've even put a bit of that old orange into the colour scheme!

Hamilton Library - Garden Place, Hamilton - 2010

Edit:

As Robyn mentioned, the ground floor of the DIC building used to host a pizzeria belonging to one Joe Di Maio. A few more photos:

Hamilton Pizzeria, Garden Place, Hamilton

Hamilton Pizzeria, Garden Place, Hamilton

Joe Di Maio - Hamilton Pizzeria

For more on Joe Di Maio, see this article.

What was in that gap: Knox street clinic carpark

Sometimes, you'd never guess that a gap once had something interesting. Other times, there are subtle clues, like this fence:

I'd had this photo for a while, and was puzzling over where this building could have been, and then I spotted the fence whilst out and about. What replaced this early Hamilton municipal building? A carpark!

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1890s

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1930s

Government Buildings, Knox Street Hamilton - 1960s

Unfortunately, all my research on this building has come to nothing. All I've found is that the last photo above, taken in the '60s, was shortly before the building's demise. This is what the site looks like now - a car park with some old garages at the back. Most of the fence remains, but that's it.

Knox Street - 2011

Hamilton Lake, two photos a hundred years, and worlds apart

I walk around Hamilton lake (Lake Rotorua) on a fairly regular basis. Here is a photo I took last night.

Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotorua) - 7 Feb 2011

And here is a similar photo which is from 1908:

Hamilton Lake (Lake Rotorua) - 2 Apr 1908

Quite a marked difference

What was in that gap: Wintec Carpark (cnr Ward and Angelsea)

Whenever I see a vacant site in a city - I wonder what was there before.

This particular site, the corner of Ward Street and Angelsea Street has been vacant for my entire time in Hamilton.

Cnr Ward Street and Angelsea (outside Wintec) 2011

 The site once contained a most hardware store: Odlin's. Odlin's Hardware became part of the Winstone Group, would would in turn become part of modern Fletchers - in other words, what would now be branded as Placemakers.

Odlin's Hardware Hamilton (cnr Ward and Angelsea) 1970

I'm not entirely sure why this store was torn down, and it's not the greatest architectural loss, but it would be good to see something other than a gravel carpark in it's place.

There isn't much left of this scene: Hamilton, 1964

The following photo was taken during the Hamilton Centennial celebrations, in fact, the image was taken on the 22nd of August 1964. A question for all you Hamiltonians though - where was this image taken?

Hamilton Centennial Parade - 22 August 1964

The clues:
Only one building in the image still exists.
There are now trees in the middle of this street.
The South British buildings site on in the foreground now has a bank.

The answers:
The building that still exists was the Post Office. This is of course no longer a Post Office at all.
The parade went through the main street - the photo is of Victoria Street.
Victoria Street has trees - in particular since the Main Street upgrade which was part of City Heart.
The bank which is now in the foreground is Westpac. BNZ is in the background.
The Regent Theatre in the middle ground was demolished by HCC - they are now part owners of the Novotel on the site.

The "now" picture, taken the other day.

Hamilton 2010 - Victoria Street looking South from Ward Street intersection.