Alice Mackenzie (née McKenzie) (1873–1963) was a 19th-century New Zealand author, settler and poet known for her book ''The Pioneers of Martins Bay'' describing her early life at

Martins Bay Martins Bay is an indentation in the southwest coast of New Zealand's South Island. It lies immediately to the south of Big Bay and some 30 kilometres north of the mouth of Milford Sound at the northern tip of Fiordland. The Hollyford River rea ...

, New Zealand in the 1870s and 1880s and supposed sighting of the extinct flightless bird the

Moa Moa are extinct giant flightless birds native to New Zealand. The term has also come to be used for chicken in many Polynesian cultures and is found in the names of many chicken recipes, such as Kale moa and Moa Samoa. Moa or MOA may also refer ...

The Pioneers of Martins Bay

''The Pioneers of Martins Bay'' is a historical book by Mackenzie, describing her early life at Martins Bay in the 1870s and 1880s. As a child, McKenzie and her family moved from

Hokitika Hokitika is a town in the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It is the seat and largest town in the Westland District. The town's estimated population is as of . ...

Jackson Bay Jackson Bay / Okahu is a gently curving 24 km bay on the southern West Coast of New Zealand's South Island The South Island, also officially named , is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand in surface area, the other being the ...

Westland Westland or Westlands may refer to: Places *Westlands, an affluent neighbourhood in the city of Nairobi, Kenya * Westlands, Staffordshire, a suburban area and ward in Newcastle-under-Lyme *Westland, a peninsula of the Shetland Mainland near Vaila, ...

. After that they moved to Jamestown on

Lake McKerrow Lake McKerrow / Whakatipu Waitai lies at the northern end of Fiordland, in the southwest of New Zealand's South Island. The lake runs from southeast to northwest, is in length, and covers . Lake McKerrow drains, and is drained by, the Hollyford ...

. The township of Jamestown flopped and the McKenzies drifted down to Martins Bay. The hardships and isolation that followed the move are innumerable. Alice grew up in these isolated and lonely conditions and grew up to write the book. The book was first published in 1947 by the Southland Historical Committee, and a revised edition was self-published in 1952.

Moa sighting

McKenzie grew up in what was then New Zealand's most remote settlement Martins Bay, then part of

Otago Otago (, ; mi, Ōtākou ) is a region of New Zealand located in the southern half of the South Island administered by the Otago Regional Council. It has an area of approximately , making it the country's second largest local government reg ...

, but now part of

Fiordland National Park Fiordland National Park occupies the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. It is by far the largest of the 13 national parks in New Zealand, with an area of , and a major part of the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Site. The park i ...

. In 1880, as an eight-year-old, Alice had a meeting with a large bird that she believed had been a

takahē The South Island takahē (''Porphyrio hochstetteri'') is a flightless swamphen indigenous to New Zealand and the largest living member of the rail family. It is often known by the abbreviated name takahē, which it shares with the recently ...

for many years. "It was lying on the sand, sunning itself. "I got nearer and nearer until I sat down on the sand behind it. I remember stroking its back. It had no tail. "It just lay there, it was quite quiet. So I put my hand underneath it and drew out one of its legs. It took no notice of me. I started to tie the flax around it, I thought I'd tie it up. "Then it got up and made a harsh, grunting cry and bit at me. And I ran as hard as I could over the sandhills towards the sea. I thought if I went down to the sea it mightn't follow me into the water. I never looked behind, it never came very far with me. "When I got home and told my father he came to have a look. But the bird was gone when he came. He saw its tracks where it had followed me from the top of the sandhills but it didn't go over them. "He had a foot-rule in his pocket and he measured the tracks. From the heel to the middle toe was 11 inches." In ''Connected 2013 level 2 - I Spy...'' an article called ''What Alice Saw'' by Don Long and illustrated by Adele Jackson looked at Mackenzie's Moa sighting.

Bibliography

*''The Pioneers of Martins Bay'' * ''Poems''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackenzie, Alice 1873 births 1963 deaths Date of birth missing Date of death missing Settlers of Otago Fiordland People from the West Coast, New Zealand New Zealand women poets