Jock Dick, a retired sheep farmer living in Porto­bello, comes from an old peninsula family and has a keen interest in the history of the district. He took me through the busy rooms of the little Portobello Museum, which he helps run. “In the early days the roads didn’t come far out on the peninsula, and Port Chalmers across the harbour was our main centre. The railway was there, and boats ran across the harbour. With the coming of refrigeration, little dairy farms and small factories sprang up all around the outer part of the peninsula. The factories had to be within horse and cart distance of the farms. Bigger families milked more cows—hands to milk was the main limitation on cow num­bers—but even so most farms had only 20 or 30 cows. On winter nights the cows were kept inside and fed turnips and hay. It was a big job.”