MAP / HERITAGE TRAIL / BICKERTON’S WAINONI (BICKERTON RESERVE)

Bickerton’s Wainoni (Bickerton Reserve)

(After visiting Bickerton’s Reserve, you can backtrack to Porritt Park or head north along Wainoni Road and turn left into Avonside Drive, to reconnect with the river.)

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Ka rawe! Wow! Truth is often stranger than fiction, don’t you agree?

Certainly when it comes to Professor Alexander Bickerton, after whom this reserve and a nearby street are named.

I’m a long-time feathered resident of the area but it surprised me no end to find out about what Bickerton helped create in the wider neighbourhood.

Wainoni’s Zoo

Until recently, I never knew that exotic animals – yes, big scary lions and other such animals – were housed in a zoo at nearby Wainoni Park. (The Aranui Library is there now; imagine looking up from your book to find a yawning lion outside the library window!)

The zoo was part of Bickerton’s estate ‘Wainoni’, a name that refers to the bend or turn in the river that you can see across the road. Originally the river coursed around what is now Porritt Park. A straighter section called ‘The Cutting’ (now known as Kerrs Reach) was artificially created for drainage and then widened in 1949-50 for rowing races during the Canterbury Centennial Games.

Bunch of ideas

As you can read on the history panel, Bickerton had many novel ideas for his estate. These included a commune (New Zealand’s second communal living site)! A theme park! Everything from fireworks displays to a huge amphitheatre and mock naval battles!

Some of his experimental ideas appealed to students at Canterbury College – the precursor of the University of Canterbury – where he was the founding professor of chemistry. He was a fairly controversial figure during his lifetime and is labelled by Te Ara Dictionary of New Zealand as an “eccentric”. Do you agree?

Perhaps less avant-garde were a sanatorium for treating the lung disease tuberculosis (TB) and the provision of a weekend campground for Boy Scouts.

Are you ready to continue exploring the trail? Watch out for any tigers and elephants!