What's the hurry? Take your time like walking Croatian ‘crank'
The New Zealand visit lasts a couple of hours and embraces the delights of the immigration counter and insipid coffee at Auckland airport before grabbing a plane to knock off Fiji before dinner time.
What wimps. Give me the intrepid Joseph Mikulec any time.
Joseph was a Croatian who walked the world. Born in 1878 on a farm, he set off in 1901 and over the next 30 years walked more than 300,000km through 33 countries.
He spent June 1911 in New Zealand, arriving in Whanganui after working his passage on a ship from Australia and then walking from town to town carrying a swag and an autograph book, selling postcards and giving lectures to pay his way.
He was his own PR man and visited every newspaper office on the journey. At the Wanganui Chronicle he displayed his autograph book which held letters by president Taft, vice-president Sherman, Theodore Roosevelt and the mayor and town clerk of each of the capital cities. The next days he added the signature of a rather more illustrious man, the town clerk of Wanganui.
The Patea paper provided a fine thumbnail sketch of the walker: "A short, lithe figure, with a strong, keen face, in jersey and knickers, with a bag slung over his shoulders, he swung at a fast, easy gait on to the terrace where a speech was being made and, in a few seconds, took a 'snap' of the troops drawn up in square formation. His jersey was thickly hung with what appeared to be medals. On the whole he looked an unusual and particularly interesting personage."
Joseph's "snaps" were planned for a book which "will be printed in five languages and will be obtainable in 1915".
That book seems never to have been published but, as we shall see, another of his books became a collector's item.
Thus, Joseph covered Taranaki, Auckland and Rotorua, sometimes getting a mention in the papers, but more often ignored as his visit was overshadowed by the coronation celebrations.
True to form, Truth came out with, "Another walking round the world crank, one Joseph Mikulec (a Croatian, but naturalised USA citizen) has struck New Zealand. 'Mick' hopes to pick up $25,000 when he finishes in New York. Already he has covered 47,000 miles. As a Croatian, he intends visiting our gum-fields. Just so. He is not the first Croatian who has visited them, and remained there."
In Christchurch, Mikulec took to the stage at the Empire picture theatre in Sydenham and gave the audience an account of his adventures. The ads read: "This man has encountered fearful hardships — was lost for nine days crossing bush-land in Brazil, received barbarous treatment by natives in Arizona, had narrow escape from being burnt alive, has been bitten by a snake.
Mr Mikulec will relate his thrilling experiences which will astonish everyone who hears him."
Further south, Mikulec passed through unreported until at Gore the Mataura Ensign ran a piece which hinted that the Sydenham picture-goers may have been taken for a bit of a ride: "Mr Mikulec was the centre of sundry groups of curious and doubtless awe-struck boys, who listened with intense interest to his many tales of adventure. Mr Mikulec refused to be interviewed in the orthodox way, but in real
American style told the interviewer that he 'could make up some spicy yarns from his imagination'."
At Invercargill, before leaving for Hobart from Bluff, Mikulec stayed at the Southland Club Hotel, a luxury suggesting a steady income from postcard selling, and sent a telegram to his original New Zealand contact, the Wanganui Chronicle , "Gentlemen, I will take a boat to Hobart on Monday, August 1st. My best greetings to all. I have very many friends in New Zealand by this time. It is the best country I ever was in. Good-bye to all. Yours truly, Joe Mikulec, globe-trotter."
No doubt 32 other countries were honoured to be "the best country I was ever in" but Joe Mikulec's travels are worth commemorating and, indeed, there's a statue of him in his home patch.
Even more impressive is the autograph book he lugged through all those miles. It weighs 27kg, is about 30cm thick, leather-bound and well worn. It hit the headlines at the weekend when the mayor of Mikulec's Croatian hometown Oroslavje bought the book for half a million dollars.
Mikulec's entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well and Mayor Simunic has announced the museum will have a replica of the book, but with the pages blank, to be filled by the people who travel to Oroslavje.
"Mikulec went to see the world, and now the world can come to Oroslavje to see his story."
Maybe you could walk there?
— Jim Sullivan is a Patearoa writer.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
What's the hurry? Take your time like walking Croatian ‘crank'
We have all read about them. The intrepid travellers aiming to visit a hundred countries in a month. The New Zealand visit lasts a couple of hours and embraces the delights of the immigration counter and insipid coffee at Auckland airport before grabbing a plane to knock off Fiji before dinner time. What wimps. Give me the intrepid Joseph Mikulec any time. Joseph was a Croatian who walked the world. Born in 1878 on a farm, he set off in 1901 and over the next 30 years walked more than 300,000km through 33 countries. He spent June 1911 in New Zealand, arriving in Whanganui after working his passage on a ship from Australia and then walking from town to town carrying a swag and an autograph book, selling postcards and giving lectures to pay his way. He was his own PR man and visited every newspaper office on the journey. At the Wanganui Chronicle he displayed his autograph book which held letters by president Taft, vice-president Sherman, Theodore Roosevelt and the mayor and town clerk of each of the capital cities. The next days he added the signature of a rather more illustrious man, the town clerk of Wanganui. The Patea paper provided a fine thumbnail sketch of the walker: "A short, lithe figure, with a strong, keen face, in jersey and knickers, with a bag slung over his shoulders, he swung at a fast, easy gait on to the terrace where a speech was being made and, in a few seconds, took a 'snap' of the troops drawn up in square formation. His jersey was thickly hung with what appeared to be medals. On the whole he looked an unusual and particularly interesting personage." Joseph's "snaps" were planned for a book which "will be printed in five languages and will be obtainable in 1915". That book seems never to have been published but, as we shall see, another of his books became a collector's item. Thus, Joseph covered Taranaki, Auckland and Rotorua, sometimes getting a mention in the papers, but more often ignored as his visit was overshadowed by the coronation celebrations. True to form, Truth came out with, "Another walking round the world crank, one Joseph Mikulec (a Croatian, but naturalised USA citizen) has struck New Zealand. 'Mick' hopes to pick up $25,000 when he finishes in New York. Already he has covered 47,000 miles. As a Croatian, he intends visiting our gum-fields. Just so. He is not the first Croatian who has visited them, and remained there." In Christchurch, Mikulec took to the stage at the Empire picture theatre in Sydenham and gave the audience an account of his adventures. The ads read: "This man has encountered fearful hardships — was lost for nine days crossing bush-land in Brazil, received barbarous treatment by natives in Arizona, had narrow escape from being burnt alive, has been bitten by a snake. Mr Mikulec will relate his thrilling experiences which will astonish everyone who hears him." Further south, Mikulec passed through unreported until at Gore the Mataura Ensign ran a piece which hinted that the Sydenham picture-goers may have been taken for a bit of a ride: "Mr Mikulec was the centre of sundry groups of curious and doubtless awe-struck boys, who listened with intense interest to his many tales of adventure. Mr Mikulec refused to be interviewed in the orthodox way, but in real American style told the interviewer that he 'could make up some spicy yarns from his imagination'." At Invercargill, before leaving for Hobart from Bluff, Mikulec stayed at the Southland Club Hotel, a luxury suggesting a steady income from postcard selling, and sent a telegram to his original New Zealand contact, the Wanganui Chronicle , "Gentlemen, I will take a boat to Hobart on Monday, August 1st. My best greetings to all. I have very many friends in New Zealand by this time. It is the best country I ever was in. Good-bye to all. Yours truly, Joe Mikulec, globe-trotter." No doubt 32 other countries were honoured to be "the best country I was ever in" but Joe Mikulec's travels are worth commemorating and, indeed, there's a statue of him in his home patch. Even more impressive is the autograph book he lugged through all those miles. It weighs 27kg, is about 30cm thick, leather-bound and well worn. It hit the headlines at the weekend when the mayor of Mikulec's Croatian hometown Oroslavje bought the book for half a million dollars. Mikulec's entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well and Mayor Simunic has announced the museum will have a replica of the book, but with the pages blank, to be filled by the people who travel to Oroslavje. "Mikulec went to see the world, and now the world can come to Oroslavje to see his story." Maybe you could walk there? — Jim Sullivan is a Patearoa writer.
NZ Herald
16-05-2025
- NZ Herald
Coromandel Peninsula's Devcich Farm shines a light on Dalmatian pioneers
Their legacy, the Devcich Farmstead, is listed as a place of special significance with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, for 'reflecting significant developments in Dalmatian settlement in early twentieth-century New Zealand'. The sheds, now clustered under a Croatian flag, also reveal their industriousness and range of skills. Simun Devcich arrived in New Zealand from Podgora with his two brothers, Marion Anton and Nicola, just after the turn of the 20th century. They worked their way up through gum digging and trading and into farming, buying the block, which was much bigger then, in 1915. Simun had married another immigrant from Dalmatia, Matija Mercep, in 1913 and had five sons and two daughters. He eventually took on the farm from his brothers, going from dairy to sheep farming, with his three eldest sons working alongside. Commercial farming has stopped now, but Simun's granddaughter, Lorenza Devcich, has restored the buildings and runs a menagerie of coloured sheep, llamas, Highland cattle, emus and assorted exotic birds on the land, which remains, with tourists often staying in the old homestead. 'My grandfather and his two brothers, they came from Yugoslavia to escape the army,' she said. 'Even for years after, the young men would leave because as soon as they got of age … they would get thrown into the army. 'My grandfather had about 11 pack horses that he and his boys, my uncles and father, used to pack supplies right up into all the camps at the top end of the valley. 'When they'd first come here, a lot of [the gum diggers followed by loggers] had no money, so a lot of it was on credit. 'He also bought gum and sold it. So, they'd come back here with the gum, and that's how he'd get paid.' Dalmatian immigrants were among New Zealand's wine-making pioneers, and the Devcich family produced wine on a small scale from the late 1920s, under their Golden Valley label. Lorenza remembers helping her father Ivan in the wine shed, which still houses a wooden fermenting vat and other wine-making tools. 'And there's probably the last standing bottle of sherry up there, still with some sherry in it. It hasn't been touched,' she said. 'And maybe it could even be one of the ones that I bottled, because my job here was the dog's body.' Lorenza still tended to the 80-year-old grape vines today, using 'the worst talkback radio station' she can find to blare out and scare away the birds. 'The sherry and the wine were all made from grapes grown on the property,' she said. 'All the beautiful, big black Albany Surprise, I think it's called, … is still there producing." While the saw mill now stands quiet and the trading post has shut its doors, the farm courtyard is now home to a strutting peacock, brightly coloured pheasants and guinea fowl. Lorenza stores their feed in a shed once used to stable Simun's beloved racehorses, an interest he took up in later life. 'They got fed all the lovely, cooked barley and everything. 'You'd go into the house, and you'd smell it cooking on the old coal range ... all the old farm horses, the pack horses and everything else, just lucky if they got thrown some hay.' She has somewhat sad memories of Simun. 'He got kicked in the stomach by a racehorse and ruptured his stomach, and he survived that, but then not long after, he had a stroke. 'I used to love sitting down talking to him, but when I'd start talking to him, get him to tell me the history, he'd get upset and start crying.' He died in 1971, once a strong, active man and very much the 'boss' in his day, and one of the pioneers of the valley, Lorenza said.
Scoop
11-05-2025
- Scoop
Country Life: Devcich Farm Shines A Light On Dalmatian Pioneers
Old pack horse saddles slung over beams, a sack of ancient kauri gum and a well-thumbed Ready Reckoner on the counter tell just one chapter of the Devcich Farm story. The items are in the farm's old trading post where, early last century, gum diggers and loggers came to buy stores for their camps up the Kauaeranga Valley on the Coromandel Peninsula. There's also an old blacksmith's forge, a timber mill with sawpit and a winery complete with antique wine-making tools and a pungent aroma of sherry. The Devcich family, originally from Dalmatia, now part of Croatia, farmed here last century. Their legacy, the Devcich Farmstead, is listed as a place of special significance with Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga, for "reflecting significant developments in Dalmatian settlement in early twentieth-century New Zealand". The sheds, now clustered under a Croatian flag, also reveal their industriousness and range of skills. Simun Devcich arrived in New Zealand from Podgora with his two brothers, Marion Anton and Nicola just after the turn of the 20th century. They worked their way up through gum digging and trading and into farming, buying the block, much bigger then, in 1915. Simun had married another immigrant from Dalmatia, Matija Mercep, in 1913 and eventually took on the farm from his brothers, going from dairy to sheep farming, with his three sons working alongside. Commercial farming has stopped now but Simun's granddaughter, Lorenza Devcich, has restored the buildings and runs a menagerie of coloured sheep, llamas, Highland cattle, emus and assorted exotic birds on the land which remains, with tourists often staying in the old homestead. "My grandfather and his two brothers, they came from Yugoslavia to escape the army. "Even for years after, the young men would leave because as soon as they got of age … they would get thrown into the army." "My grandfather had about 11 pack horses that he and his boys, my uncles and father, used to pack supplies right up into all the camps at the top end of the valley. "When they'd first come here, a lot of [the gum diggers followed by loggers] had no money, so a lot of it was on credit. "He also bought gum and sold it. So, they'd come back here with the gum, and that's how he'd get paid." Dalmatian immigrants were among New Zealand's wine making pioneers and the Devcich family was producing wine on a small scale from the late 1920s, under their Golden Valley label. Lorenza remembers helping her father Ivan in the wine shed which still houses a wooden fermenting vat and other wine-making tools. "And there's probably the last standing bottle of sherry up there, still with some sherry in it. It hasn't been touched. And maybe it could even be one of the ones that I bottled, because my job here was the dog's body." Lorenza still tends to the 80-year-old grape vines today, using "the worst talkback radio station" she can find to blare out and scare away the birds. "The sherry and the wine were all made from grapes grown on the property. All the beautiful, big black Albany Surprise, I think it's called, … is still there producing. While the saw mill now stands quiet and the trading post has shut its doors, the farm courtyard is now home to a strutting peacock, brightly coloured pheasants and guinea fowl. Lorenza stores their feed in a shed once used to stable Simun's beloved racehorses, an interest he took up in later life. "They got fed all the lovely, cooked barley and everything. You'd go into the house, and you'd smell it cooking on the old coal range ... all the old farm horses, the pack horses and everything else, just lucky if they got thrown some hay." She has somewhat sad memories of Simun. "He got kicked in the stomach by a racehorse and ruptured his stomach, and he survived that, but then not long after, he had a stroke. "I used to love sitting down talking to him, but when I'd start talking to him, get him to tell me the history, he'd get upset and start crying." He died in 1971, once a strong active man and very much the "boss" in his day, and one of the pioneers of the valley, Lorenza said. Learn more:
