Things geographical

First published in Column 8 on the 28^th November, 1990

I can’t say the Public Notices section of the newspaper is one I usually pay much attention to. I should, of course, in case someone leaves me a substantial amount in their will.

However, on a recent lazy Saturday evening, a large notice by the NZ Geographic Board caught my eye, and not just because of the possible name changes to a couple of local beaches.

Browsing through this notice gave me more free entertainment than I’ve had in a long time. (Some would say I’m easily amused.)

It struck me that the Board appears to have difficulty with details. I suppose they have the excuse that they’re dealing with vast stretches of land. Thank goodness they don’t work on the remote reaches of Russia, or the Canadian prairies, or even the expansive Aussie outback.

After reading this public notice, I got the feeling someone gets easily muddled. Red Lagoon becomes Raupo Lagoon, and Raupo Lagoon becomes Red Lagoon. What?

As if to confirm our suspicions, we’re told that Belfry Peak is now to be called Steeple Peak because the name Belfry Peak was originally placed on the wrong one.

That’s the trouble when you have to do everything from behind a desk, with only a map to work on.

I guess it’s easy to confuse a steeple with a belfry. Still I haven’t seen any belfry-jacks lately, or bats in the steeple, have you?

This is only the beginning. We’re informed that the Board has decided that changing the spelling of one name will take effect from August 10, 1990.

Bit awkward when the notice doesn’t tell you that until October 26.

The South Auckland District has had a rash of fishing pool name changes.

Murphy’s Ruin becomes The Rip. Poor old Murphy. Seems as long as Murphy was the only one to fall in, no one else needed to worry. But because fishermen are a casual breed when it comes to risk-taking, they obviously needed to be warned that the pool wasn’t particular about who it swept away.

More puzzling is the change from The Whirlpool to The Straight. Unless nature’s been doing some restructuring, it seems a bit of a contradiction.

The once blandly named Cliff Pool has become Gordon Williams Pool. Seems like Gordon has commandeered the place.

Better than any of these, though, is the change from the Ladies’ Pool to Murray’s Mistake. (In lieu the ladies were allotted the Poplar Pool, now called Ladies’ Mile.)

Did Mr Murray dare to impinge upon the ladies’ private place of fishing?

It reminds me of a social error I made in England on an old-style train. At that time there were still special compartments reserved for ladies only.

Once, in my colonial ignorance, I attempted to enter one of these. The looks and hisses from the ladies were more than enough to convince me of my misdemeanour.

For me the Ladies’ Carriage had turned into Michael’s Mistake. Perhaps Mr Murray made a similar error.

 

Painting by Thomas Hemy entitled, The Wreck. 

There’s a fascinating news report about a shipwreck at Murray’s Mistake from 28^th July 1911. Murray’s Mistake is a headland in Canterbury, though it looks as if there may be more than one place of this name in New Zealand.