Bee Dawson: Lady Travellers - the tourists of early New Zealand

By BARBARA HARRIS

The Victorian women who ventured to this distant outpost of the British Empire make today's adventure tourists look like fragile little flowers.

Money and upbringing could not shield these early visitors from the rigours of life on the other side of the world.

Those drawn here were gutsy. They climbed mountains and ventured to the subantarctic islands, all the while deflecting the outrage of doyennes of morality.

Freda Du Faur, who became the first woman to conquer Mt Cook, shocked the establishment when her climb of Mt Sealy involved a night away alone with her guide.

Du Faur writes: "One old lady implored me with tears in her eyes not to spoil my life for so small a thing as climbing a mountain." In the end she relented and, for the sake of social propriety, hired a porter as well as the guide. Okay, so now she was a single woman spending the night on a mountain with two men, but Victorian sensibilities were appeased.

Another traveller, Caroline Chevalier, thought little of undertaking a daunting, 640km journey on horseback over the Southern Alps to the West Coast and back.

Even the Countess of Ranfurly, who travelled with all the trappings deemed appropriate for the wife of the New Zealand Governor, had to be of a stoic nature for a foray into the Deep South.

Dawson's interest in social history was no doubt one reason why she was chosen to write this book. However, her account of the women's experiences is patchy.

Too often the "social historian" is heard and at times there is a sense of aloofness from her subject which makes for a stilted style. It's not until the last two chapters that Dawson gets into her stride with the stories of Du Faur and war correspondent and propagandist Constance Barnicoat. But these women were so remarkable that all she has to do is let them tell their own stories.

While I've been glad to be introduced to this adventurous group, I can't help but think there was more to be teased from their extraordinary lives than this book reveals.

Penguin $39.95

Travel Giveaway

Here's your chance to read more about the lives of these dozen intrepid early travellers, including Betsey Broughton, Sarah Mathew, Caroline Chevalier, Mary Dobie, Constance Astley, the Richardson sisters (Lillie, Ethel and Fanny), the Countess of Ranfurly, May Kinsey, Freda Du Faur and Constance Barnicoat.

Penguin Books and Travel have 10 copies of Lady Travellers (The Tourists of Early New Zealand) to give away.

To enter, write your name and address on the back of an envelope or postcard and send it to Lady Travellers, Travel, PO Box 3290, Auckland. Entries close on May 8 and the winners will be announced on May 15.