Well how lucky am I! Recently I bought the old unused photograph album pictured above [edited with post title]. It was advertised as being empty.
Today I had a more thorough look through it and found three tiny photos - [enlarged below] tucked into the centre.
GUIDE RANGI
Description on back: "Guide Rangi at Rotorua 1929"
Note the steam from the thermal pools in the background and the children sitting in a pool of thermal water in the foreground - almost certainly at Whakarewarewa Village
Rangitiaria "Guide Rangi" - Born14 July 1897 ~ Died 13 August 1970
In a career that spanned over 40 years, Rangitiaria escorted many famous people, including sports teams, heads of state and visiting dignitaries. She was never awed by rank or power. During Eleanor Roosevelt's tour of Whakarewarewa in 1943, Rangitiaria welcomed her with a hongi; at the time this traditional greeting was considered audacious by Pakeha. A photograph taken at that moment made the front page of newspapers around the world. She caused another sensation during the 1953–54 royal tour by escorting the young Queen Elizabeth II and her party around the thermal area leading from the front. She further breached protocol by offering a supportive arm to the Queen as she attempted to negotiate a particularly difficult section of the track. After the incident Rangitiaria received an official censure for being 'too familiar'. She did not take the complaint seriously, maintaining that it would have been far worse if the Queen had unceremoniously slipped.
Rangitiaria married William Francis Te Aonui Dennan, a widowed engineer who was the only son of Makereti Papakura, on 11 September 1938. The ceremony took place at Rotoiti, in front of a small gathering of relatives and friends. There were no children of the marriage, and Te Aonui died in 1942 of cancer.[1]
WANGANUI RIVER
Description on reverse: "Wanganui River near House Boat 1929"
I never knew that Wanganui had such a tourist attraction! After finding this photo I did a bit of a search and came across this photo of the houseboat.
It appears its demise was due to fire in 1933
At midnight on Friday the houseboat near Whakahora, on the Wanganui River, was burned, reports "The Chronicle." Two men who were sleeping on board, Messrs. J. Jackson and P. Ropiha, were awakened by the flames and just managed to get ashore before their means of escape had been cut off. AH their possessions were lost in the blaze.
It is surmised that the fire started in the kitchen, which is situated in the stern. When the men awoke the flames were very much in command, and they had difficulty in getting clear. A wooden structure, the boat burned quickly and brightly. Settlers nearby gathered in the hope that they might be of assistance in checking the fire, but it had too great a hold. The upper portion of the boat burned rapidly, and provided a spectacle for those on shore. Towards morning what had once been one of the most popular tourist residences in the Dominion was nothing but a glowing hull resting on the stream, and at 5 a.m. that sank.
