21: Picture This

As part of the Arrowtown Autumn Festival, I submitted some art-work for the exhibition. This is one of the pieces featuring the old station huts along the Central Otago Rail Trail. I wanted to show just the hut and the sky and I put the pictures into black and white and framed them in a 'distressed' silver wooden frame. The scenery along the rail trail is stunning and much photographed, but before it was a tourism spectacular, it had a very practical function, and the basic buildings didn't have to serve any aesthetic purpose, which is what I've tried to capture.

This picture now hangs in our hallway. You can click on the image to make it bigger if you want a proper look. Or you can come and visit us!

20: Egg-citing Stuff!

Him Outdoors sponsors some hens, through a scheme run by Remarkable Vets. The ex-battery hens are rehoused at the clinic, and they begin to find their feet - quite literally.  Having been kept in cages all their life, they are doddery and particualry scatty, often with damaged wings and twisted beaks. But when they start to adapt, they lay eggs occasionally, and these are sold for sponsorship purposes.

The eggs are often as misshapen as the hens themselves, but the yolks are bright yellow and delicious scrambled on toast with avocado and black pepper - which is what we've been having for breakfast recently. I really do love eggs - there's something soothing in the eliptical shape and porous shell which makes for pretty patterns with light.

After a weekend away in Christchurch, we returned to move the furniture around. Some people say 'a change is as good as a holiday' but they are clearly mad. Few things are as good as a holiday, and moving a sofabed and a couple fo tables doesn't quite cut it. Chester still has to check out developments, however.

19: Mists of Milford

A weekend away in Southland and Fiordland was very wet but provided some photographic opportunities nonetheless. Here are some images of the scenery en route from Te Anau to Milford Sound.

This weird-looking valley is Eglington Flat.





This is Lake Gunn - the weird-looking gentleman in the flat cap is Him Outdoors.





The weather closes in on the road to Milford.

The scarily impressive Homer Tunnel hacks through the moutain side. Before it was built, the postman had to climb the saddle to deliver messages to the settlement at Milford. Legend has it that one Christmas he lugged a bicycle over the pass. I hope the recipinet was suitably grateful, even if there was hardly any road on which to ride!

A side-trip takes us to The Chasm where the water wears down the stones, and shining rocks and ferns create curious formations.

It's true that no matter how often you have seen the pictures, nothing prepares you for the majesty of Mitre Peak and Milford Sound. Spectacular in any weather, today the mists and waterfalls add atmospheric grandeur.

On our way back through the Homer Tunnel, I play with the long shutter speed and low lighting to wibbly-wobbly effect.

Him Outdoors has decided we will go for a walk to Lake Marian, even though it is raining heavily. By the time we get back to the car we will be drenched, it will be dark, and there will be thunder and lightning. This a typical outing for Him Outdoors. The track starts along the Hollyford Road and begins alongside the Hollyford River through the dripping green bush to the roar of the Marian Rapids.

 

Of course, when we got there, Lake Marian in its hanging valley, surrounded by the Darran Mountains, was shrouded in mist and try as we might, there was nothing to see.

 

Allegedly it is one of the most beautiful vistas in Fiordland, so I googled it. These images are not mine; they are by Kimball Chen and Vincent Morand, respectively (and respectfully). Yep, it's stunning alright. It looks like we'll have to take another trip when it isn't chucking it down. Perhaps, I should be in charge of the planning next time...

 

18: A rose is a rose is a rose

I have a couple of 'thank you's for my beautiful rose. Thanks to Witch 2 for giving me the plant in the first place, and thanks also to Jo Reid for telling me how to keep it alive. As I have killed every plant I have ever owned, the fact that I have had a second bloom from this bush is quite fabulous!