Story: Wairarapa region

In isolated settlements and camps, teams of men in the Wairarapa cutting forests and establishing farms had to be largely self-sufficient. This camp cook in the 1890s proudly displays an enormous cabbage which he presumably grew to feed the camp. Note that despite the rudimentary living conditions in the camp, with canvas slung over poles acting as houses, the cook himself looks like he took great pride in his appearance.