By Roselyn Fauth
Discovering Timaru : past & present. Published by the Timaru City Council in 1984 by Win Parkes.
Before Google Maps and heritage signs, there was Win Parkes — walking, listening, and piecing together the stories of Timaru by hand. In the early 1980s, she gathered her information from physical archives, old history books, and conversations with locals, creating a remarkable record of our town long before the internet made research easy.
Her 1984 book Discovering Timaru: Past and Present captured the spirit of the place she called home... its land, its people, and its stories. Forty years later, her Timaru Scenic Drive still helps locals and visitors see why this is such a wonderful place to live, work, play, and raise a family.
Discover the book that inspired WuHoo Timaru — and how one woman’s love for the place she lived continues to guide a new generation of explorers to take notice, look closer, make their time meaningful, and fall in love with Timaru all over again...
Remembering Win Parkes
I had a lovely friend, Win Parkes, we first met properly when she was my careers advisor at Timaru Girls’ High School. Over the years we would bump into each other from time to time, but over the last 10 years we reconnected properly. Win saw that I was doing my best to help people find fun, free things to do around Timaru, and to share stories about our local people and places in a way that meant something.
She was so delighted by that. One day, she proudly showed me her book, Discovering Timaru: Past and Present, which she had written and published through the Timaru City Council in 1984, just a year after I was born. Her copy was covered in handwritten notes and markings. She told me I could use it to help inspire WuHoo ideas for locals and visiting families.
That book quickly became one of my treasures. I still flick back through it often. It has inspired so many of the trails we have created, including the very first “Timaru Scenic Drive” a simple black-and-white double-sided flyer that began as a nod to Win’s work some 40 years ago.
She talked me through the trail, pointing out why each location was special and sharing her fun facts along the way. One of her favourites was about a section of clay at Centennial Park that had been baked by the heat of lava which oozed over it more than 2.5 million years ago. She loved the view from the top of the Otipua Zig Zag and told me that she had campaigned to the council to ensure that view remained protected.
She also loved how, from the tip of the Patiti Point lookout, you could once stand and look south to see the natural shoreline, then look north to see the coast transformed by the port’s construction. A view that we could see 40 years ago, but today the shore is quite different. She told me that, if you know what to look for, you can still find treasures in the rocks at Waimataitai Beach — century-old stone ballasts once carried from foreign shores and dumped there. She had a prized collection of these special stones at her home.
We had chatted just a couple of weeks before she passed away. She’d invited me over for coffee to show me her rock collection, to talk about our history book club idea, and to plan a scavenger hunt for Centennial Park. I was so looking forward to working on those projects with Win, she was always so bright and happy, eager to share. But now these projects are something I’ll need to carry forward somehow — without her knowledge and expertise, but with her inspiration.
Nina Winifred "Win" Parkes died suddenly at her beloved family beach house at Taieri Mouth, on 9 October 2025, aged 84 years. Her obituary stated she was "Loving and much-loved wife of the late Ross, mother to Karen, Derek and Margot, grandmother to Josie and Angus, mother-in-law or 'other-mum' to Paul, Julie, and Robbie, sister to Janet, Bill, Pippa, Helen, and Sally, and precious friend, mentor, and inspiration to many."
My heartfelt sympathy to Win's family, friends and community. She will be greatly missed.
Her Book - The Book That Sparked It All
I often think about what it must have taken to create Discovering Timaru back in the early 1980s. No internet, no computers, no easy way to look things up, just hours spent digging through physical archives, taking notes by hand, and talking to people. It is incredible what Win managed to pull together, and the result is one of the few comprehensive snapshots of Timaru in that era, a lasting legacy of curiosity, care, and local research.
As an ’80s kid myself, the book feels like a time capsule of how I remember Timaru growing up. Win managed to capture the spirit of the place, the people, the stories, and the pride. Her favourite view was from Bowker’s Arch at the top of the Centennial Park Zig Zag, looking out towards the Alps, an absolute scene when the peaks are dusted with winter snow.
As our lives move further into the digital world, physical books that capture the essence of who we are, and community memory are becoming rare treasures. I am deeply grateful that the council supported Win and helped bring this special publication to life.
Her book begins with the creation of the land. Win describes how volcanic eruptions two to three million years ago formed the basalt reefs that gave Timaru its only natural shelter along an otherwise open coast. Those same lava flows were later quarried by settlers to build the harbour moles and reclaim Caroline Bay. Reading it, you realise how deeply connected Timaru’s story is to its landscape and geology, how the land has always shaped the life that flourishes here.
Win also acknowledged mana whenua in her work. She understood that the story of Timaru did not begin with European settlement, but with the long ancestral connections of Māori to this place. She referenced Māori creation traditions and explained that the name Te Maru, recorded as meaning “place of shelter,” speaks to that long relationship with the land and sea. Long before there was a port or promenade, this was already a place of gathering, rest, and safety. Win’s writing respected that continuity, the idea that each generation adds its own layer to a much older story.
Map in Win's book showing the route for the Timaru Scenic Drive
A little brown scenic drive signs dotted around town
A Shared Idea
Not long ago, I caught up with Win and told her about an idea I had to start a little online “Book Club” on the WuHoo Timaru website. I wanted to reintroduce her book to a new generation, to spark curiosity about local history and maybe encourage people to see Timaru with fresh eyes.
Win loved the idea and gave it her blessing. So I started building the WuHoo Book Club section, and she was really excited about it. I have to admit, I have never actually been in a book club before, so it is definitely a work in progress, I was going to hold off publishing this, but have turned the section on for you to see as a work in progress. Maybe there is a way you can help me get it finished. With Win’s encouragement, and now her passing, I am determined to finish it properly as a tribute to her.
The Kind of Person Win Was
Win had a special kind of warmth. She was kind, funny, thoughtful, and full of encouragement. When I think back to her as my careers advisor, I remember how she used this clever state of the art software (it was the early 2000s) that matched your skills and interests to education and possible career paths and jobs. I wanted to do four things, each required 3-4 years at University. Her advice back then was to be resourceful, and find mentors to teach me. And it has shaped who I am and what I do today, encouraging curiosity, creativity, and storytelling. I feel that Win has contributed to my identity and journey.
I never imagined that one day I would be using my art, design, and writing skills to share the stories of Timaru, but looking back, Win helped light that path. And I am able to share with you all the work she had done before me that inspired me as well.
Carrying Her Legacy
The WuHoo Book Club will begin with Win’s Discovering Timaru. We will go through it chapter by chapter, walking the same paths she described and adding new layers as we go. It is not just about looking back, but about noticing how much of that history still shapes the place we live in today. There is something special about reading an old book and realising the landscape around you is the same one its author once walked. The cliffs, the parks, the bay, they are all still here, whispering the same stories if you take time to listen. I wasn't quite ready to launch it, and was waiting for some time to have another coffee with Win to check she was happy with the progress and if she needed any tweaks. It hasn't quite sunk in yet that I can't do that now. But I promice Win, I will do my best to finish it and do your incredible work justice and make sure people can re-unite themselves with your information and tales.
Thank You, Win
Her book continues to inspire me, and I am sure will keep inspiring others too. I am so grateful for her friendship, her mentorship, and her belief in sharing stories about the place we call home.
This blog is all about honouring Win’s vision and the way she quietly encouraged so many of us to see Timaru with fresh eyes. I am one of many in the district, and near her second home at Taieri, who will continue to remember her warmth, generosity, and the legacy she leaves behind.
I share this with deep respect for Win’s family and for everyone who knew and loved her.
Thank you, Win, for everything. You were truly special. Lots of love x
Timaru Scenic Drive
Win helped me put together a revised simple two sided A4 version of her drive which you can download here: Timaru Scenic Drive
Find a WuHoo in Timaru Te Tihi-O-Maru... Got family and friends visiting? Or want to have a look around by car? Here is a route round town that will give you a great overview ot Timaru and it's history...
DOWNLOAD The Timaru Scenic Route here
It's pretty satisfying showing our home to friends, family and travelers, and even more important knowing the interesting places to show them. So we are working on a list to help you find Timaru's attractions, their history and some fun facts along the way. Best of all, it's free. Our suggestion would be start with the Timaru Scenic Drive and then do WuHoo Challenges along the way. We love the blend of the past and the present, seeing the development of the area, our Districts heritage and character. Timaru has heaps of parks, beaches, forests, wetlands, walks, biking trails, short drives. Maybe when you get back to your arm chair, you might like to print off some colourful facts to increase your awareness of our heritage, environment, arts, culture and every day lives.
Lots of WuHoo's to find along the way!
Apart from some petrol and a picnic, it's all free! Connect to our Art, Culture, History and Environment with our free Timaru Scenic Drive.
1. Heritage Place
Pick up your FREE Timaru Scenic Route guide
WuHoo Hunts and Colourful fact sheets, birds, bees, bats and the Strathallan. Check out the sign for the Heritage Trails, plaque for Timaru's first European House, History Signs and Sculpture, Street Art
2. Timaru Botanic Gardens
History, Information Signs & Scavenger Hunt
3. Pātītī Point
WuHoo Art History Signs, find special stones on the beach, Coastal Walk
4. Ōtipua Wetlands & Saltwater Creek
Find mini beasts in a wetland, watch the birds, Coastal Walk, Walk/Bike to Centennial Park
5. Centennial Park
Play43 Playground Challenge, feed ducks from the jetty, take the bikes for little kids loop and more challenging rides for the teens and adults
6. Waitarakao Washdyke Lagoon
Go at low tide and investigate the creatures in the rock pools - we found an octopus there!
7. Blackett Lighthouse
Brass Rubbing Trail, Coastal Track, excellent view across the bay
8. Caroline Bay
Caroline Bay Spy 100 Challenge, WuHoo Art History Signs, Brass Rubbing Trail
9. Aigantighe Art Gallery
Timaru Sculpture Hunt, sculpture garden, peaceful park, exhibitions inside
10. South Canterbury Museum Pioneer Hall
Learn about the Districts history and environment. You can pick up free WuHoo Hunts and Colourful fact sheets, birds, bees, bats and the Strathallan, and the brass rubbing trail
DOWNLOAD The Timaru Scenic Route here
WuHoo Digital Book Club: Discover Timaru is a self-guided community adventure inspired by Discovering Timaru: Past & Present by Win Parkes, published by the Timaru City Council in 1984. Instead of traditional meetings, people can borrow the book from the Timaru District Libraries anytime and explore the town through its pages — comparing what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what stories still live in familiar streets and landmarks.
Readers are invited to walk, notice, and reflect as they rediscover Timaru’s heritage, using simple WuHoo-style prompts such as “What story does this place tell today?” or “If Win Parkes were writing a 2025 edition, what photo would you include?” The experience blends reading, local exploration, and creativity: participants might take then-and-now photos, sketch or write about their discoveries, or share reflections through WuHoo’s website or social media.
Rooted in curiosity, play, and community storytelling, the WuHoo Digital Book Club invites everyone to step into the spirit of Win Parkes’ 1984 guide and see Timaru anew — one page, one place, and one story at a time... https://www.wuhootimaru.co.nz/wuhoo-book-club
Timaru City indexed street map (1960s-70s). Aoraki Heritage Collection, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/8303 Map of Timaru on one side, street index on reverse. With the compliments of The Automobile Association (South Canterbury) and The South Canterbury Development and Public Relations Association. Map is pre the opening of the Timaru Library in its current location (1979).
