Tracking Shots
Flashbacks: New Zealand History on Film
Awkward Loads: Tainui Robins and Canterbury Mountaineers
From the late 1920s through to the 1950s tramper, mountaineer and amateur film maker Tainui Robins (1902-1989) chronicled the alpinist activities of his beloved Canterbury Mountaineering, NZ Alpine and the Canterbury Winter Sports Clubs with his lively 16mm cinematography.
His films captured the often hilarious journeys of club members as they tramped in the Southern Alps, built huts, performed impromptu dramas beside swollen rivers and destroyed cars in the effort to make their arduous sorties up deep river valleys simpler.
The films were screened to club members at public lectures and Robins would often accompany the projection with commentary laced with a dry wit but also tempered with the acknowledgement that many of those who feature in the films lost their lives soon after during WWII.
Robins' films demonstrate a spirit of adventure and recklessness, ingenuity and style consistent with young men and women with something better to do but having too good a time to bother.
- Building Huts (3,900kb)
- Cars to Carrington (3,300kb)
Please note: These videos are in the QuickTime format. You will need to have the QuickTime player installed in order to view these files.
