Up in Flames

Fire in Reefton

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September 11th 2007
Monday morning at around 3:45 a.m. we were awoken by that crazy air raid siren. I couldn't get back to sleep and happened to be in the kitchen when I saw the cause of the alarm. The old Convent building was ablaze. The convent is across the town from us but you could see the fire and smoke shooting up a hundred feet into the air. The two-storey house was built using native rimu lumber in 1897 in t ... read more

Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Reefton

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The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. In that same year... ... read more