Speaking of Gold

We're still in Ross - that thriving little rural community on the West Coast. Ross started life as a gold town as mentioned in my last post, died a natural death and good folk like my father in law took over as the town's biggest employer for many years.
Now the town is in decline and once again gold is the mainstay. The town used to boast two excellent walkways - one still exists, but the other, which lead up this dam (see image) was destroyed over recent years in the pursuit of that gold, now using modern methods. The old dam was built by the early prospectors and fed the many sluice operations at the time. It is now nigh on impossible to get to this dam - the track is long gone or overgrown, the gorse is thick in the new tailings. The owner of the current mining operation tells us there is still $2,000,000,000 (read two billion) worth of gold under the town!!
Small fry I guess when you think of what it is going to cost to rebuild Christchurch. Or was that the whisky talking??

End of an Era

Ross, Westland.
Back in the late 1800s Ross had a population exceeding 30,000 and more pubs than you could complete a pub crawl still standing.
In 1909, "The Honourable Roddy Nugget" was found in Jones Creek (see image), weighing in at 99 ounces. The NZ government bought it and presented it to King George V as a coronation gift. Subsequent enquires in the 1950s as to its whereabouts, discovered that it had been melted down to gild a royal tea service, but that this tea service could not now be located!
In 1947 Peter Gurr drove his Indian motorbike over to Ross to purchase the local garage. He was soon followed by his new wife Eileen. Three daughters followed, the first in 1950 - Chris, my wife.
In 1968, I first darkened the doorway of their relatively new home in Ross and was duly ushered to the divan in the lounge which I learned was to be my 'room', clearly visible and well away from the 'Gurr Girls'. The rest, as the saying goes, is history!
In September 2009 Peter breathed his last, and poor Eileen was brought over to Christchurch, soon to be put into a rest home, and subsequently into a dementia care unit.
The house was empty, the furniture sold or taken, and memories cherished. The house was put on the market to sell.
And so it did - eventually. Jim and I drove over last week to collect the remaining furniture, cleared out the cupboards, gave the place a thoroughly good clean as only two husbands of 'Gurr Girls' could do! The keys were handed over.
But before we left town we darkened the door of another famous Ross establishment, the Empire Hotel (or Top Pub as the locals knew it) - the Roddy Nugget is reputed to have been the door stop there at one point. Ah, if only the walls of that place could talk. We drank deep in honour of Peter and Eileen - icons of the West Coast was how the owner of the local gold mining operation described them at the bar).
Finally, before locking the door of #31 Sale Street, I went and lay down on that same divan 44 years after I first lay my head. There were some great memories, but now the soul had gone. It was just a house. An end of an era. I shed a tear as I drove out of town.

Musings

Stop the world, I want to get off! Where does the time go?

For the month of February I co-hosted another exhibition out at the Selwyn Gallery in Darfield. I exhibited with my brother Barry (woodcuts) and his wife, Catherine (paintings) - the theme this time "Poles Apart", depicting both Arctic and Antarctic regions, and celebrating the centenary of Scott and Amundsen reaching the South Pole. In terms of sales, the exhibition was not as successful as the one we had two years ago, but then the viewer would need to have a specific interest in polar regions. All three of sold items so we were not disappointed.

I feel a new camera coming on - I have for quite some time, but have been procrastinating. The temptation to go upmarket with megapixels is not there. The thought of going simple with an advanced compact is there but would frustrate me quickly I think. More a second camera for in the mountains maybe when I finally give up carrying my DSLR and getting a sore neck!!

Have sold many of my older lenses and have started to buy new state of the art lenses - which means I guess I'll have to stay in the Nikon market for the time being. I feel the purchase will be soon - I've (almost) made up my mind.

Now, all I need is time! I'm supposedly retired, so who is to blame then??

Beyond the Pass

Those of you who have driven over Jack's Pass at Hanmer Springs will understand what I mean when I say that you cross over into a different and wonderful world as you cross the pass into the Clarence Valley.

We'd only been home from the West Coast for 4 days when we headed off up to Hanmer with our friends for a little more R&R.

Apart from continuing the West Coast theme of reading, coffees, food, vinos, etc - we actually did some exercise and climbed Mt Isobel in searing heat. The next day was a lazy journey into Acheron Station at the beginning of the Molesworth farm road.

Can't Get Away From the West Coast!

I can't resist posting more images of the West Coast.
The bush walks over there are so fulfilling and rekindle the soul. Here Chris is walking the Pororari River track near Punakaiki.





















The Southern Rata coming into flower on the coastal section of the Heaphy Track.






















Part of the DOC interpretation panels up at the Denniston Plateau.























Juxtaposition of one of the native ferns in front of the Nikau fronds.

Another Year!

We escaped the big smoke for two weeks in early January - headed over to the West Coast and up to Punakaiki and onto Karamea.
A lot of sleeping, heaps of reading, mugfuls of cafe culture, mountain biking, bushwalking, evening vinos, and even a little photography.
Hadn't been up to the Denniston Plateau or to Karamea in over thirty years!
This image on the left is the top of the Denniston Incline, which used to transport all the coal down to the waiting trains - even carried the ladies down to the Saturday night dances!












Mokihinui Beach at sunset.










The remains of the SS St Lawrence remains visible on the beach most of the time. Wrecked there in April 1891 without loss of life.















Scotts Beach on the Heaphy track.
A magic part of this world - apart from the sandflies of course!















Typical northern west coast bush.

The Day After!

Blimey, we are into February already. The last post was 22 December 2011. Less than 24 hours later the earth moved yet again - twice in fact, a few hours apart. Big ones. Chris's scream from the kitchen still resonates in my mind. I swear her feet did not touch the ground as she bounced down the hall to rugby tackle me in the laundry where I was holding on tight. Poor Chris, these shakes do nothing for her - and all this on top of a shite year at work. And then an even bigger one later, the epicentre only 200 metres from Rachael's already knackered house.

An early Christmas present?

And then on Christmas Day our granddaughter gave us a 2012 calender with her art depiction of the 2011 year illustrated - an apt image for this blog.

2012 has been reasonably kind so far and another blog will follow soon - inshallah.

A Matter of Balance

Many of you - if indeed there is anyone ever viewing this - will have been wondering just what I'm on when writing these blogs! The wording and images seem to be all over the place each time I upload something new.
And indeed they are, but I can't ever seem to control this. Early in the New Year a friend has promised to help me. Whatever I write in the Admin page bears little resemblance to the final product.
Very frustrating! And it does my head in, but I must keep my cool. Thus it becomes a question of balance.
And speaking of balance, check out this image. I spotted this scene as I looked out the back window of the campervan last week down at Aoraki Mt Cook. Not a bad sight to behold during 'happy hour' eh. For the record the mountain is called Nun's Veil.
This may be the last blog for 2011. What a year it has been! There have been highlights but frequently they are hard to discern with all the carnage and downsides throughout the year.
For those of you that are on our emailing list, there is an annual epistle coming. It is hatching as we speak!!
Happy Christmas to you all.

Getting Sorted

The gaps in the city get bigger and more numerous as the demolitions continue unabated.
"I seem to have temporarily misplaced my sense of humour" is a new initiative by local artist Wayne Youle - a public artwork presented by the Christchurch City Council and Gap Filler in the suburb of Sydenham, our neighbouring suburb.
There are some great 'gap fillers' appearing in the now vacant lots - artworks, chess sets, open air movies, mobile cafes, etc.
This shadow board reminds that that most of our friends laugh at me when they inspect my workshop and see my organisation out there - everything has its place. Alas not recently - the earthquakes and subsequent events have taken their toll on my increasingly alzheimic brain. But now the artwork depicted here has inspired into action. I hear a sigh from a dear soul mate!!

Time out - Aoraki Mt Cook

The Ranunculus lyallii at Mt Cook are only in flower for a very short period of time at the end of November and beginning of December each year. And so I took the campervan down for a week in the hope of perfect conditions both for photography and a climb up to Sefton Biv, a small hut tucked under Mt Sefton and Footstool above the Hermitage.
Alas the weather did not oblige for two days which left the flowers in the Hooker Valley decidedly bedraggled. By the third day the weather lifted and I was off - and up for 4 hours to Sefton Biv.

Sefton Biv and the view beyond.

View from Sefton Biv door!! Not bad eh, and well worth the effort.

Aoraki Mt Cook

Ranunculus lyallii and Aoraki Mt Cook.

What's in a Name?

What do these names have in common?
Victor Borge, Moody blues, Tequila sunrise, Lavaglut, Western Sun?
Why, they are all roses I photographed in the Botanical Gardens last Friday of course.
Back in the days when I used to compete in photographic competitions a judge waxed eloquent on my brilliant rose image, then proceeded to reject it because he considered the title completely inappropriate to the subject. The title was "Tequila Sunrise', the name of the rose I photographed!

Hard Day at the Office

We finally got away into the hills - the 31st annual event - delayed by events beyond our control last February!
We had beautiful sun, gale force winds, torrential rain, flooded rivers - and everything in between.
Quintessential inland Canterbury high country.
Good friends, good food, good whisky!
Five excellent days away from 'teagate' (you need to be a Kiwi to get that), earthquakes, mobiles, etc.
Bliss!!








Fun way to descend.
















Sunset over South Ashburton River.

Small Beginnings

Several weeks ago, Cashel Mall reopened with 'pop up shops'. Virtually all of the shops in the mall were demolished during or after the quakes. Now, they are replaced by temporary shipping containers converted cleverly into shops.
Ans so, the inner city's heart begins to beat again, albiet very quietly and in a tiny way - but it beats.
We wandered through on a Sunday morning - the silence was palpable - everybody was either whispering or chatting quietly.
We were impressed - and moved. In my wildest dreams I never imagined I would shed a tear as I walked back into Ballantynes. Sad boy!









Part of the south side of Cashel Mall with Ballantynes in the background.
















Duelling jibs!! Two of the cranes being used in the deconstruction of the Grand Chancellor Hotel.

Bob Dylan

"The Times, They Are a Changing"

- so wrote Bob Dylan all those years ago. He remains amongst my favourite singers.

It certainly has been a rather 'topsy-turvy' few weeks. Do not fear, I'm not going to bore you with the details! But there is a bright side in there somewhere. I can feel it.

In amongst this shite, I am craving some peace and quiet. I was thus reminded of this jetty I photographed for the umpteenth time a few weeks ago. The jetty at Lake Mahinapua. It was a dull evening, the day was almost over, and I popped my x10 ND filter on. The exposure was of the order of 30-60 seconds. There was no-one else around. Pure bliss! That is, apart from the black swan who would not go away and kept swimming into my image. Fortunately, she (it had to be a she) kept moving and so wasn't recorded. Lucky me.

And to finish off now, my apologies to all my followers - there must now be almost 10 of you judging by the comments re my lack of blogging activity. Mea culpa, mea culpa..............

In 11 days I am off into my beloved mountains for 5 days. Following that adventure, there's bound to be something of interest.

Rugby!!

It wasn't pretty in the end but we did it - just!
The All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup on Sunday night.
And so now the country has something positive to celebrate this year.
The accompanying image was captured in the Rub Al Khali (Empty Quarter) of Oman ~2 years ago. I immediately recognised the ribs of our national emblem, the silver fern, in the sand pattern and figured that one day I would find a use for it.
Well, that day has come.
Here is New Zealand's national emblem depicted in the sands of Arabia, celebrating our victory as world champions!

A Good Day at the Office

I finally decided to put two entries in to the annual Darfield Art Exhibition at the beginning of October. So out I went with my friend Trish and delivered them on Wednesday 5th.
On the Friday afternoon I received a call from the organisers....
"Are you coming to the opening of the exhibition tonight?"
"No" I replied, "I have something else on".
"Are you sure you don't want to change your mind and come. We like to have all award winners there to receive their awards" they said.
"Are you trying to tell me something" I muttered.
"Yes, you have won a merit award John"
I was so gobsmacked at this news, I forgot to ask what the award was for and which of my two entries had received this merit award.
Not too bad for a photographer in amongst all the other artists - and a total of ~380 entries too.
Chris and I didn't get to view the exhibition until the next Thursday on our way home from the West Coast. A proud moment!!
On Monday17th after the exhibition closed, we went out to collect our exhibits.
"I'm sorry John, you have nothing to pick up. Both your entries have ben sold"
Fantastic!
So, not a bad day at the office.
And yes, it was the New Brighton Pier image that won the merit award.
Both images have stories to tell, but that has been explained in previous blogs so you will have to hunt back.

Triptych

Blimey, it has been a good few weeks since I pecked away on my blog. It doesn't take much to take your eye off the ball - and before you know it, three weeks have passed. A few folk have commented on my silence, so my fan base must remain above zero - yay!!
To set the ball rolling again, here is the final triptych that I mentioned I was working on a month or more ago.
Been busy with the Darfield exhibition, picture framing, winter ills, and a trip to the West coast - so will report on a some of these over the next few blogs - inshallah!!

Musings

What a great day it is today - weather-wise at least. Close friends are not so good but they continue to be resilient. The weekly walking group was down to three today but we managed!!
Daughter #2 and grandson arrive from Melbourne for a week next week. Can't wait to see them again. This reminded me of a lovely overnight trip I did with our granddaughter last year - just over a year ago before the troubles started! A journey in the campervan out to Kaitoreti Spit at the southern end of Banks Peninsula. We've done it before and she loves it. But how much longer do I have as she is not far off being a teenager and the appeal of a country journey with grandpa is not likely to be so appealing.
We detoured on the way home to measure the length of the Governor's Bay jetty, a task I was given in my boy scout days a million years ago. And here it is - that day was a beauty too. About the same time one of my photographic groups taught me how to use the sketch mode of Photoshop so the first image I tried it out on was this very image.

Transported..........back!!

4th September.
First anniversary of the day the earth shook violently. What a year it has been since!!
Transport - a project with two other photographers for PPNZ - the intention being for each of us to produce a triptych.
How about a few hours at Ferrymead?? Great idea, great weather, great company. Haven't been there for years and years. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Will go back mid week to view the many static displays.
The old steam train reminded me of days gone by many moons ago. In fact my big brother, Barry, reminded me of this when he presented me with his recently produced autobiography "One Foot After Another - memoirs of a good life".
When I was a kid, we used live on the Main South Road at Hornby opposite the Hornby railway station. I used to go over to the station almost daily at ~6.45pm to watch the 'Boat Train', more recently called 'The Southerner' as it thundered through with a full head of steam and smoke en route to Lyttelton to meet up with the overnight ferry to Wellington. At the beginning of those daily adventures, my Mum asked my big brother to take me over to the station, presumably to get me out from under her feet (although I can't for one minute imagine me being nothing other than the perfect child - yeah, right!!). He sat me up on his shoulders on the overhead bridge as 300 tons of smoking iron thundered underneath - but not before the driver yanked hard on his steam whistle to greet the wee chap perched on his big brother's shoulders atop the bridge. For reasons I still don't fully understand, my big brother did not seem to appreciate the wet warm feeling he suddenly felt down his back as that driver pierced the evening glow.
I still love you big brother. Forgive me!! The daily adventures continued for years. Innocent days!! Oh, and I'm really sorry I smashed your birds egg collection a few years earlier.

Itchy Feet

Spring is coming!
Earlier in the year "The Lads" had to postpone their 31st annual trip into the hills due to the earthquake. The earth is slowly but surely settling down and it's time to start thinking of the hills again. Permission has been granted.
The annual trip will be in November, heading into the Rangitata and Arrowsmiths region. One of our nightly refuges is attached here - a place of inevitable merriment at the end of the day!
At the beginning of December I will head off to Mt Cook in the campervan. The Ranunculus lyallii (Mt Cook lily) should be in full bloom up the Hooker Valley - and Sefton biv, Mueller hut, and Mt Wakefield all beckon me enthusiastically.
I'm counting down the days already.