Eccentric and entertaining characters from Southland’s past are being celebrated in an arts and heritage trail called the 'Southern Odyssey'. The trail is based on State Highway 94 through the Mataura River Valley west of Gore.

Inspired by the work of locally-raised author and maverick politician John A Lee, the 'Southern Odyssey' gives visitors a glimpse into the wild and colourful days of sly groggers, swaggers, cattle drovers, gold prospectors and pioneer aviators.

Eight towns and rural centres from Gore to Five Rivers are featured in the trail, which has been set up by Creative Southland - an organisation with representatives from the Gore District, Southland District and Invercargill City Councils.

Fascinating characters

"There is some incredibly interesting colonial history surrounding these towns," explains project manager Jim Geddes. "We've organised the 'Southern Odyssey' to complement the New Zealand Heritage Trails network, although rather than focusing on built heritage, we're concentrating on the stories of specific characters, most of whom were larger than life."

A Croatian sly-grogger called Dick 'The Greek' Nobilo sold illicit whisky from a fish and chip shop in the main street of Gore during the prohibition years.

Charles 'The Great Sequah' Rowley was variously described as an auctioneer, circus proprietor, medicine man and cinema entrepreneur, whose travelling show was noted for its brass band, sharp-shooters and "band of real Red Indians". His speciality was "public painless tooth extraction, to the accompaniment of trombone". He retired in Balfour, where he rented a small farm cottage until his death in 1932.

Riversdale was a stop-off for legendary swagman and conman Ned 'The Shiner' Slattery, immortalised in books by John A Lee, who was born and raised in the town.

Visitors will also become acquainted with the legend of Alec 'The Terror of Riversdale' Taylor, an amateur boxer and street fighter who single-handedly took on a pubload of drunken miners and won. He was presented by the butcher of the day with a garland of sausages.

Other characters celebrated on the trail include a country singer, a petty criminal, a barn-storming pioneer aviator, a prohibition customs chief, and a gold prospector who paid people to drink with him at the Waikaia Hotel.

New Zealand artists

Prominent New Zealand artists born or brought up in towns along the trail are also celebrated, including writer Bill Manhire and painters Trevor Moffitt and Edward Bullmore.

The stories are told on large information panels in hotels, business premises, museums, cafes and outdoor sites along the trail. The Hokonui Heritage Centre in Gore, Mandeville's Croydon Aviation Heritage Centre, and Switzer’s Museum in Waikaia have made special features of trail characters as part of their local historical interpretations. Panels in Gore and Five Rivers outline Southern Maori connections with the Mataura Valley, which have been researched by Ngai Tahu historian Bill Dacker.

Southern artists were, with support from Creative New Zealand, commissioned to produce a series of works relating to the histories and characters along the trail.

"Visitors to the Balfour Hotel will see an extraordinary Donna Demente artwork based on the Great Sequah," says Jim Geddes. "Or if they’re heading to Te Anau they'll be able to pull aside at the Mossburn Railway Hotel to see a Nigel Brown painting in the public bar."

Trail packs can be purchased from participating i-SITE Visitor Centres. The packs include brief histories and biographies, a CD of colonial songs and ballads relating to Southland, and games and puzzles for children.

Article by Geoff Mein