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Pigeon Bay
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Once an important timbermilling
and shipbuilding settlement, today the bay is favoured by boatowners and has
limited swimming (at high tide near the camping area). Two kilometres
towards Summit Road is the Hay Scenic Reserve, which not only nurtures an
area of native bush but also perpetuates the family name of one of the bay's
first settlers. The unpretentious Knox Presbyterian Church (1898), now also
used by Anglicans, remembers the Hay family (near the store). |
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The Scot,
Ebenezer Hay (1814-63), arrived at Wellington on the Bengal Merchant in
1840, three years later establishing himself in the bay. He was among the
first on the peninsula to introduce cocksfoot grass, which became an
important local industry. Of historical as well as architectural interest is
the attractive Brookshaw homestead (1876; turn right just beyond the store)
that possibly incorporates an even older, prefabricated structure. The old
store (1881), still in use, surprises with its mellow interior. The
Annandale homestead (1884) was built by the Hays as a hotel but became their
residence two years later, when a huge landslip destroyed their original
home. |
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