New Zealand
On 07 Dec we drove to St Bathans, a gold town established in 1863. (1) The mud brick Vulcan Hotel is fab! (2) Pipes took water to the workings. (3) Blue Lake was originally 120m Kildare Hill which was mined to a 68m deep pit dubbed the 'glory hole'. Mining ceased in 1934 when the... Continue Reading →
Wedding anniversary today! So we did a long drive into Central Otago ~ but I took this photo 24 November. Deep red rosebud ready to open, red mature rose blurred behind the bud, scattered soft-focus white roses in background (they're tinged palest pink in the centre). Alexandra public gardens, Central Otago, New Zealand.
Bright pink-and-white roses at the public gardens in Alexandra, Central Otago yesterday. The beautiful blooms also provide a feast for bees! New Zealand.
As we drove home Nigel made a stop at the fuel station in Clinton so I hopped out and wandered up the road to take a few photos of a church I like to keep an eye on. Something's afoot there but I don't know what - therefore I don't know the fate of the... Continue Reading →
Except those that aren't. We were driving back from Central Otago via Moa Flat and through Edievale at which point I asked Nigel to pull over. The reason was this beautiful clump of yellow lupins flowering on the roadside verge with a weathered rustic shed behind the blooms. A few metres further along the road... Continue Reading →
Today's been a good day. Cut Above Tree Services arrived to cut some bigger trees on our property down to size. Our primary problem was an overgrown golden macrocarpa claiming too much space and dominating our frontage. Connor and Matt dealt decisively with this and other concerns and, bonus, they were relaxed about us taking... Continue Reading →
When the gold miners arrived in Central Otago in the 1860s they didn't bat an eyelid at radically and massively transforming the environment. The initial influx of individuals and small groups gave way to larger operations that harnessed the power of water to obliterate large parts of the landscape. They extracted relatively small amounts of... Continue Reading →
Stewart Town wasn't formally named as such. It was an outpost of historic Bannockburn and close to the gold mining activity. David Stewart began the stone cottage in 1873. In the first photo you can see an isolated corner of cob wall that once was part of a cob wall extension to the cottage. David... Continue Reading →
Historic orchard remnant, pear and apricot trees. Planted early-1900s at a small community that grew in the 1860s with the arrival of gold miners and hydraulic sluicing. Stewart Town.. accessed via a walk through 'badlands'-type landscape, a large terrace destroyed and shaped by sluicing and related activities. Bannockburn, Central Otago, New Zealand 31 October. ~first... Continue Reading →
Fabulous magenta paeony flowers.. so pretty with the blooms leaning over the box hedge. Public garden in Alexandra, Central Otago, New Zealand. 24 November 2022.
The lemon-coloured rose in my last post has been admired and I promised there'd be more photos so here they are, two photos by me and two by Nigel. Taken in Roxburgh, Central Otago on 29 October. New Zealand. ~this afternoon Nigel found the name and after checking online photos and info I agree it... Continue Reading →
Mostly lemon colour.. a selection of lovely flowers seen in Roxburgh on 29 October. Central Otago, New Zealand
Exploring Colour 