The familiar worker's cottage empitomised the early settlers' determination to establish a home in a foreign land against all odds. These small dwellings appear throughout New Zealand in towns, rural settlements and in the cities, where some have still avoided the developer's bulldozer. Arrowtown in Central Otago is well known for its little cottages that face right onto the main street, providing compact, two-bedroomed accommodation for the inhabitants of that town during the goldrush of the 1860s
The example in the photograph on the right can be seen amongst a street of old wooden houses in Akaroa, the Canterbury town settled by the French.The other cottage is to be found in the Central Otago town of Arrowtown which sprang up during the goldrush of the 1860s.
The model cottages seen here with a lean-to attached at the rear to provide a small kitchen and scullery are no particular examples; they are, though, typical of the little wooden houses that are to be seen in all parts of this country. (Complete with long-drop in the garden outside.)