Playing 500

And the curious piece of land.

Photo by Brian J. Tromp on Unsplash

For some reason unbeknownst to even myself, I like to keep my email inbox under 500 emails.

I remember seeing a screenshot from a colleague showing they had thousands of UNOPENED emails in their inbox.

I still haven’t got over that deeply triggering event.

Like many of you I get dozens and dozens of emails a day, it seems to have stepped-up recently with clearly A.I written press releases.

I normally read the first few and if I get a sense it is dull, I hit delete.

I went checking through the ones I deleted the other day. Here is a random taste so you get an idea:

The Commission is continuing to consider NZBA’s application for full authorisation and the decision on interim authorisation in this case should not be taken to indicate that the Commission will or will not grant the full requested authorisation.

Um, okay.

And:

This is not a reinvention. The refresh represents a continuation of what Rātā has always stood for: warm hospitality and a deep respect for the land, people and culture of Aotearoa. The updated space and menu express that spirit with greater clarity and ease.

Sure.

Anyway, I’m disciplined with my 500, and every so often when the inbox hovers in the late 400s I go through them, assign them to folders with catchy names such as ‘court lists’, ‘parole’, ‘council’, ‘contacts’ etc etc. Riveting stuff. But after a recent I.T upgrade which I won’t bore you with, I woke up to find my inbox had 2500 emails.

2500 EMAILS.

Rather than shame myself with another call to I.T, I spent an hour deleting the buggers.

Photo by Ujesh Krishnan on Unsplash.

But it happened again this week.

3000 EMAILS!

I know there must be a shortcut, but I felt duty-bound, COMPELLED even, to delete them one by one.

Every so often I stopped on the odd tip that was caught up among the junk.

I found one from almost a decade ago, which referenced a story I had written.

As an aside, in my 20 years as a reporter there are certain issues which will get people contacting you: anything Māori, Covid/vaccines and parking infringements to name just a few.

Anyway, I found this 2016 tip from a person who read this.

William Larnach and the unclaimed Dunedin land.

Essentially I had spotted a public notice in the ODT about some unclaimed land, with Public Trust stating they had carried out some work and believed him to be dead

As my teen would say: “No shit, Sherlock”.

I love stories like this.

That very story led to a person emailing me telling me about a ye olde Dunedite, who had something similar.

That person was John Hyde Harris.

Harris is one of those people you probably hated at school, when you hear that he became a mayor, a judge, first-class cricketer and property magnate.

But like all good tales, there is a touch of darkness, with Hyde Harris becoming a bankrupt and prisoner.

He was also one of the last owners of a curious piece of land.

A piece of land, I’ll wager, that you have driven past hundreds of times in Dunedin.

You see when John Hyde Harris died, a year after he was released from prison no less, he left behind an estate of just £100.

He was 59 when he died in Dunedin on July 24, 1886. If you are interested he is buried in the city’s Northern Cemetery, not far from the towering Larnach’s Tomb.

Harris’ demise contrasted sharply to his initial status in the city.

When he left England for New Zealand in 1850, he became only the second lawyer here.

A year later he married Annie Cargill, the daughter of Captain William Cargill, one of the city’s most prominent citizens.

Old mate Hyde Harris seemed to have it all before him.

It began a meteoric rise in political and business circles for Harris, who also served as the local judge. In 1867 he became the second mayor of Dunedin and that same year was also appointed to Solicitor-General.

He speculated in land, but lost £28,000 with a failed development near Lake Waihola,

With his political career in tatters and his finances gone to crap, Harris was sent to jail over his debts in 1885.

What was left in his estate was a small plot of land on Frederick St.

Years earlier, Harris had gifted another parcel on the corner of Great King St and Frederick St, which became the site of the original Knox Church.

Decades of Otago students would remember that site as the former Bowling Green Tavern, affectionately known as The Bowler, which is now used as an office space by the University of Otago.

But Harris was still listed as the last registered owner of a small narrow strip of land near that building.

That matter came to a head in January 1999, when the University of Otago bought a nearby property for a future development.

That strip was deemed to be “abandoned land” administered by the Dunedin City Council. While the university was granted a right of way, it was unable to build a structure on it until the ownership was settled.

That was originally anticipated to take 12 months, but an Official Information Act request to the University of Otago showed the process took a lot longer.

A year after that initial inquiry, the university indicated it wanted “to pursue the acquisition of the strip of land in Frederick Street that is understood to be abandoned land and is held in the name of John Hyde Harris”.

A follow-up letter indicated that the land in question “forms a critical element of a project currently being undertaken by the university, there is some urgency now knowing whether or not the land can be purchased”.

The matter dragged on and, in 2007, the university indicated it was proceeding with the construction of the nearby Hunter Centre, which opened in 2008.

Around this time, a property services staff member wrote: “It appears from the documentation that the tender documents point to the university being the only or the successful tenderer.”

Another document stated that the right of way in question is “abandoned land” administered by the council.

That right of way was used by some building owners for access and, while some of the car parking has been marked as private parking with tow away warnings, “the university solicitor does not think that this is enforceable”.

While some of the documents have dollar amounts redacted, one noted that if the tender was successful then the university would initially pay a 10% deposit and an amount of $3375 later paid.

A 2023 rating valuation showed that the 0.0503ha property once owned by John Hyde Harris, now has a capital value of $71k.

This story doesn’t really have an ending. Sometimes we just end up as a forgotten email in an overflowing inbox of life.

If anyone is looking for a book recommendation, I can’t recommend this highly enough.

Island of the Lost (2007) by Joan Druett, is a fantastic read of something which unfolded close to home.

There is a small passage in the book which describes the shipwrecked sailors using a plant, similar to wild celery, which in addition to helping them ward of scurvy, made their teeth brilliantly white.

This plant, colloquially known as Macquarie Island cabbage, is also known by its scientific name, Stilbocarpa polaris, and is native to the Subantarctic islands.

I’m sensing a million dollar idea for the bleached teeth set. Who is in?

I’m something of a financial guru on the basis of one stock on my Sharesies account doing well . . .

Yesterday I went to an announcement by Tourism Minister Louise Upston near the 462m Chain Hills Tunnel, which still off limits until its soft opening in a few weeks’ time.

Upston, who plans to ride the trail once opened, announced the Government was contributing $2m into the next two stages of the project, which would extend the trail to the next tunnel, the larger Caversham Tunnel, which is 865m.

That was expected to be completed by the middle of 2027, before attention turned to the final two stages, which would span the 15kms between Mosgiel and Dunedin.

I went through it a couple of years ago, it is incredible. Hard to believe that the future trail would largely be flat, given how hilly it is for motorists. Surely it makes sense to fast track, so to speak, work at the Caversham Tunnel so it can open even quicker.

What are your thoughts?

One of the unintentionally funny things which happened was the arrival of the Minister. I thought it was a Crown limo arriving but it was Cr Benedict Ong in a late model BMW. The Minister, in a Jaguar, arrived just behind him.

Speaking of Cr Ong, who has the placard with the unintentional cannabis reference ‘B.Ong’ on the council table, has been dominating local Facebook pages, similar to fellow councillor Cr Lee Vandervis.

I think some of the language directed at the new mayor has been appalling, and I hope this term is more about what is best for the city, rather than pointless politicking and litigious threats from thin-skinned representatives.

News bites

Couple of small local stories you may have missed.

Tunnel Beach reopened on Friday, having been closed since October 2024, after a heavy weather event caused multiple large slips which covered the track and made several sections unstable.

Here is an OIA story I got regarding that closure.

Good to see that the Ministry of Social Development is supporting Catholic Social Services to connect homeless people in Dunedin with housing support.

MSD is funding Catholic Social Services to employ a full-time Housing Navigator to work with rough sleepers and the wider homeless community between November 1 and June 2026, as part of a targeted initiative.

Watch this space.

Also, Otago Regional Council (ORC) is providing free buses for people heading to and from the Dunedin Santa Parade on Sunday, 30 November.

People travelling into the city centre to watch the parade and back home again can catch a free ride on all Dunedin bus routes from 1pm to 6pm.

Councils get a lot of shit, but this is a nice touch.

Just on the Santa Parade, I’m always fascinated if kids get some of the floats from years ago, Peanuts, Flintstones etc etc. Locally, I love the giant albatross, the seals, the Cosplay team, the Otago Dancers, and the Highlanders when they take to the streets. It is a great event.

Here are a few stories I filed over the last week.

The (near) end of a two million ounce gold mine

Wine start-up faces liquidation over $400k government loan

and,

‘Slave labour’: teen paid $8 to deliver 42kgs of phone books around Dunedin

This one hit home. My eldest son used to deliver pamphlets around our area when he was at intermediate, this was around the Covid era.

I remember him walking the route and we calculated the number of letter boxes, and the number of those same letter boxes which did not want any circulars.

It was exactly 50%.

I remember ringing the company to see whether they wanted the other ones dropped back off so they could redistribute them

‘Bin em’, was the reply.

After my son stopped those deliveries our property never received a single circular again, or The Star for that matter.

This is an utterly charming story by Nadia Reid, who will be playing at the Regent Theatre next month, as part of her Enter Now Brightness Tour on Friday December 19.

https://www.regenttheatre.co.nz/.../nadia-reid-enter-now.../

See you again!