Boulders in the Waihola district, Otago, formed part of a vast classical moraine, transported and deposited by, probably, Pleistocene glaciers in New Zealand’s Glacial Period. On ridges between Titree and Otokaia, there still rest many boulders from five tons to fifty tons in weight; an exceptionally large one weighs about 800 tons. The boulders, apparently, were transported by the glaciers from mountains on the west side of the Taieri Plain. Professor J Park, making his headquarters at Henley, has made a particular study of that great moraine. He found that slopes of ridges that front the main road, and slopes that descend to Manuka Gully, are occupied completely by slipped morainic ground. The slips, in many places, extend from the summit of the ridge to the level of the plain, a vertical height of 400 feet. Following to their source many angular blocks of mica schist, Professor Park found that they had come from close to the summit of the ridge. Between Waihola and Otokaia, the Taieri moraine forms hills from 250ft to 700ft high. The lower division of the moraine consists of a succession of red clays, gritty and sandy clays and beds of water-worn gravel, which usually contains a large proportion of small angular fragments of micaschist. The moraine, in places, has a thickness of 1500ft, and it may be traced for a length of about 22 miles and a width of from one mile to three miles. It reaches its northern limit at Saddle Hill, but small areas of glacial till — stiff clay formation, or boulder-clay — occur in the Kaikorai Valley, particularly at Fernhill coal mine, Abbotsford and Burnside. Professor Park states that the moraine at Abbotsford is a typical example of glacial till. That material consists of peaty clays that contain moa bones, usually much decomposed, yellowish-brown clays that contain bouldery gravel, and clays with a confused mass of boulders. On the evidence collected, Professor Park expresses a strong opinion that that immense glacier was a continuous ice-sheet, not a series of valley-glaciers. It descended from a distant mountain divide in Western Otago to the present coast line, occupying the Taieri and Tokomairiro basins, from Dunedin to the Clutha, and representing a continuous ice-face more than 40 miles long. Debris left in its track is evidence that it strode over the coastal range on its way to the sea.
Saving space in the kitchen
The day of the spacious kitchen with its enormous range is past. "Thank Heaven!" say many. In its place, builders have gone to the opposite extreme and provided us with a small kitchen-scullery. Its smallness may save us steps, but how shall we find room to store all the kitchen utensils and find a place for necessary kitchen furniture? The placing of the gas stove should always have reference to the position of the window. It may seem convenient to stow it away in some small corner, but if the light does not fall upon it so that the inside of the oven may be seen when the door is opened, it is going to be very trying in use, and will mean the waste of a lot of artificial light on a grand cooking day. Of inestimable value in a small kitchen is the combination chair and step ladder. By a simple reversing movement the kitchen chair becomes a step ladder tall enough for all ordinary purposes. Another space-saving device is the plate rack that, when not in use, folds back absolutely flat against the wall. It is very often possible to use a fair-sized draining board as an ironing table. — ODT, 29.7.1924
Compiled by Peter Dowden
