OLDEST - Building in Kaikoura, New Zealand.
Posted by: 
greysman
S 42° 25.001 E 173° 42.409
59G E 722711 N 5300408
Fyffe House is Kaikoura's oldest surviving building, it has changed little since the 1860s. Painted in its original pink, it is all that remains of the Kaikoura whaling industry.
Waymark Code: WMB1Q9
Location: South Island, New Zealand
Date Posted: 03/24/2011
Views: 5
Built literally upon foundations of whale vertebrae, Fyffe House provides a rare opportunity for visitors to feel the small-roomed confines of a whaler's cottage, touch whale bones and baleen and even smell the fragrant aroma of whale oil.
European settlement of Kaikoura began in 1842 when Scotsman Robert Fyfe established a whaling station. His cousin George Fyffe (they spelt their surnames differently) joined Robert later. The cousins employed many local Maori men in their whaling crews along with whalers from Australia, Great Britain, North America, France, Germany, Hawaii and India. Many of these foreign whalers married local Ngai Tahu women and their descendants live in Kaikoura today.
Harpooned whales, mostly Southern Right Whales, were dragged to a large rock shelf in the bay near Fyffe House and their flesh removed and boiled down for oil. Southern Right Whales were already rare in the 1840s and their numbers soon collapsed. At this time George Fyffe and many of the whalers turned to sheep and dairy farming to make a living. Farming soon became the mainstay of the local economy until whale watching began in 1987 and shifted the emphasis back to whales.
Humpback and Sperm whales sustained a small whaling industry in Kaikoura until the early 20th century. Whales were still being hunted in other South Island locations until commercial whaling ended in New Zealand in 1964.
The earliest part of the House is the single storied wing which sits on whale bone vertebrae foundations. It was originally built by Robert Fyfe for the cooper (who made barrels in which the whale oil was transported and stored), in about 1844. Robert Fyfe drowned in 1854 and his cousin George managed the whaling station and associated farming activities. George built the rest of the House in two stages, the southern end in 1857 and it was completed in the early 1860's when he married his wife Catherine.
The garden has a lot of original plantings in it and the surrounding grounds make for a very pleasant afternoon's stroll and relax.
The House, largely in original condition, is administered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust and is open to the public, admission charges are : Adult: $9, Student (tertiary): $5, and Children: free. It can be reached by heading south out of Kaikoura on Avoca Street, continue towards the seal colony until you see the house on the left, the landward side of the road, it's the pink building, shady parking is on the grass to the right of the house.
An excellent write-up can be found at the given web site, below.
Type of documentation of superlative status: Historic Places Trust and Local Council.
Location of coordinates: North gate to the property.
Web Site: [Web Link]
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