Teatimes by Helen Saberi

Author:Helen Saberi
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Reaktion Books

Early days

THE SETTLERS arriving in the nineteenth century tried as much as possible to keep the traditions and foods of their homeland, particularly the English and Scottish. Tea was one of the staple food items brought to New Zealand and it became a national drink. Tea was also used as one of the items of payment, along with rum and sugar, for sealing and whaling gangs. When tea was in short supply the leaves of the manuka tree were used as a substitute. Captain James Cook, the British explorer, and his crewmen were the first Europeans to drink manuka tea.35

When tea (from Camellia sinensis) became cheaper in the nineteenth century and the population of New Zealand grew, the drink became universally popular with both rich and poor, from society ladies to bushmen. Tea drinking was also endorsed by the local temperance movement followers.

Tea gardens, more usually known as pleasure gardens, became popular in the mid- to late nineteenth century and were modelled on those in England. Dunedin’s Vauxhall Gardens were opened in 1862, some 130 years later than the Vauxhall Gardens in London. The entertainment was similar, with fireworks, tournaments and so on. And, as with the pleasure gardens of London, while the concept of sipping tea in a tea garden seems genteel enough, the Vauxhall Gardens of Dunedin also quickly developed a racy reputation and the good citizens of Dunedin were murmuring that much more than tea was being served.36

Dunedin’s Vauxhall Gardens were only one of many tea gardens that opened throughout New Zealand, and they were embraced with enthusiasm by the outdoor-loving New Zealanders. The types of entertainment varied. The Wilkinson Tea Garden in Wellington, for example, was a place to admire the trees and rose gardens and enjoy a cup of tea, along with ‘curds and cream, ginger beer, fancy bread, Burns’ cakes and fruit in season’. The Bellevue Gardens in the Hutt Valley had farm, kitchen and show gardens and also served tea with hot scones, home-made butter and jam, fruitcake and seed cake. Picnics could be enjoyed at Donald’s Tea Gardens where produce could also be bought from the market garden. Bligh’s Tea Garden in New Brighton provided hot water for visitors to brew their own tea while they enjoyed the aviary, fernery, walks, flowers, trees and an impressively long vinery. Cricket, tennis, archery, shooting and fishing also took place. Christchurch had a number of tea gardens with varying entertainments and had mixed success.37

Tea on the Lawn, taken by Leslie Adkin in 1912.

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