The Child Ryan Weir Could Explore Ancient Redcliff Caves

Ryan Weir was born the son of a policeman in Invercargill, New Zealand, but likely remembers nothing of his first year there, as it was his only year.  Ryan Weir father, Milton Weir, was promoted to the position of detective in the police force of Christchurch, New Zealand, and Ryan Weir spent his first 8 years of life as a resident of Christchurch.  As the largest city on the South Island of New Zealand, Christchurch boasts 389,700 residents, elevating it to the third most populous city behind Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand.  It is the oldest chartered city in New Zealand. 

But Christchurch, New Zealand’s population of European and Maori residents is by no means the region’s first.  The child Ryan Weir may have been aware of caves in an area called Redcliffs, which have yielded archaeological evidence that moa-hunting tribes had lived in the area in about 1250AD.  The Waitaha tribe migrated to the area from the North Island sometime in the 16th century, where tribal warfare drove them and other tribes out in favour of the Ngati Mamoe, who were in turn enslaved by the Ngai Tahu.  Whalers from Otago and Sydney, arrived and purchased land near today’s Riccarton, followed by European settlers in 1840 who took up brief residence in what became Christchurch.  The Deans brothers took over that abandoned settlement in 1843, and the Canterbury Association brought the first 792 of what was called the Canterbury Pilgrims, who dreamed of establishing a cathedral and a college resembling those of Christ Church in Oxford, England.

Ryan Weir Born on Fertile Southland Plains

New Zealand settlers from Europe would eventually give rise to the ancestors of Ryan Weir, born in Invercargill, New Zealand in the last years of the 20th century.  The immigration of Europeans changed drastically the Maori culture and way of life.  Foreign disease, social disruption and conflicts over land resulted in devastating losses to Maori populations, which did not begin to recover until the later years of the 20th century, when a significant advocacy movement emerged on behalf of the Maori.  A revival in both population and culture has lent the Maori ethnicity the hope that significant economic and social obstacles faced by many Maori may be alleviated by closing the education and economic gap between them and other New Zealanders.  The historical grievances expressed by the Maori and their advocates are undergoing review for political redress as well.

With the distinction of having been born in the southernmost city in the world, Ryan Weir began his life in Invercargill, New Zealand, nestled in the Southland Plains where the fertility and abundance of farmland defines the lives of New Zealanders and Maori alike.  Invercargill is bordered on the southern side by the shore of the New River Estuary and on the north by the banks of the Waihopai River.  To the city’s west is the Oreti Beach, stretching from the Sandy Point to Riverton, and Invercargill enjoys the nearness of Dunedin, Riverton, Fiordland National Park and Gore and the old settlement of Bluff on the Southern Scenic Route for tourists.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invercargill