LION LADY

Inviting your guests to settle their backsides I on so fair a face is likely to be greeted with a nervous cough these days, but they will hopefully understand that life was less complicated a century ago. Whatever the sentiments, the ancient porcelain looks right at home – even though the 38-foot Lion probably didn’t have a toilet when she was first launched.

The vessel (kauri planking over kauri/kowhai ribs) was built in 1912 by Dunedin’s James McPherson for Queenstown’s Hugh MacKenzie – one of the region’s most innovative farmers – for getting around Lake Wakatipu.

MacKenzie ran sheep on the nearby Walter Peak, Fernhill and Mt Nicholas stations and, among other duties, the boat would carry