The Riversdale and Balfour townships lie equal distance along the Lumsden to Gore road that passes along the arm of the Northern Southland plain.

Although the plain is tranquil these towns have a history of the type of rivalry common between close neighbours.

The schools compete enthusiastically, and local pride in the district amenities can redden the gills of some residents when discussions of the comparative merits of the town come up for discussion. Which is often. But some say the rivalry is not quite so spirited now that travel has improved.

Riversdale, unlike Balfour, has survived better due to its proximity to Gore. Many of its inhabitants travel daily into Gore for work. As a result it has retained its population and property values. There are no shopping malls of city-life here, only a small supermarket, an electrical shop, hairdresser and butcher.

The electrical business services most of Northern Southland and the butchery maintains such a standard of meat production that its clientele covers Northern Southland too. Most of the streets reflect the original homes left behind by early settlers and are named after English counties.

Many small schools were scattered across the Plain - at Mandeville, Wendonside, Wendon, Kaweku, Otama, Waikaia, and Balfour. Now only Balfour, Waikaia, and Riversdale remain. As most of the smaller schools have closed upon Riversdale, it has maintained its six-teacher status. Riversdale is a beautiful little town built alongside the main road in a grid pattern.

Most houses are handsomely built with large well kept sections. Because of the good soil and the enthusiasm of residents, the standard of gardening is quite breathtaking. It is very much an idyllic compromise to retirement for the farming community.

Gore lies only fifteen minutes away, and nearby townships offer many facilities. Many of the inhabitants are farmers who have retired leaving the farm in the hands of sons.

Retiring here, so close by, provides extra labour in times of pressure and it allows the dads to be active and needed in


their retirement. The men can easily pop out to give an extra hand on the farm, or just potter pleasantly in the workshop, or enjoy the farm and family at morning tea.

The town has three denominational churches. The Presbyterian Church enjoys the very traditional Zwingali tradition of the Westminster confession. The Roman Catholic Church is based with Balfour under the Gore Parish care.

The Anglican, known here as Church of England, has a wider liberal leaning.
Our Church here is St Mark’s Church of England. It was built in Native timber in 1897, and developed by strong early English families of which the Shallard family still continues to be one of its pillars.

It’s a remarkably well designed complex with sliding doors at the rear, opening into the Church Hall which has toilets and a kitchen.
Because St Mark is the Patronal festival, it always falls on ANZAC Day, NZ’s war memorial day. This means that the church seldom gets to enjoy its own Patronal festival.

Closer to Gore is the little township of Mandeville that is now really only a set of houses. The school has closed and the only church, Anglican, has been moved to Pioneer Park in Gore where it sits as a museum to the area.

Mandeville’s fame remains ‘The Moth’. This is a complex of restaurant and pub and airfield. The name of the pub is from the old tiger moth aeroplane. An airfield and factory is part of the complex.

Here they restore the tiger moths and sell them world wide. It is thought that this factory is the only one who has the original plans for these planes.

The pub precedes the airfield and was very prosperous during the Gore District’s ‘Prohibition’ years. Mandeville was close enough for those who needed refreshments to travel and to ‘stock up’.
Just past Mandeville the plain comes to a narrowing as hills skirt the river. Three bumps are known as the three old maids. They are part of the Hokonui’s where illicit whisky stills were hidden from the police.

It’s in this narrowing that the Parish comes to its end, and the Parish of Gore begins.