I had a good book, and the family dog was very friendly too:

The mist and cloud was heavy around the mountains but as I drove back down towards the east the day improved.  So I did some scouting, looking for great views up around Lake Heron and Erewhon, in from Mt Somers.  The idea was to return the next morning for a stunning picture.  In the meantime I took some snapshots. 

My son was right, it certainly is beautiful country around there.  Here’s a small lake with an unusual name, “Lake Camp”, right next to a small settlement at Lake Clearwater.

As I drove towards Mt Somers, the lighting was certainly very dramatic:

The views back towards the mountains are spectacular:

The next day: still no dawn sunlight so  it was back to the Rakaia for more scouting.  This time on the northern side going in past Lake Coleridge towards the Wilberforce River.   

It’s interesting to think about what all of this would look like prior to the arrival of humans 1000 or so years ago.  Just north of Lake Coleridge lies an area called the ” Korowai/Torlesse Tussocklands Park”.  The word “korowai” means “cloak” in Maori and it’s easy to see why it’s such an appropriate name.  From a distance these slopes look very much like the surface of a feather cloak:

Unfortunately I didn’t get one shot of this vegetation that was absolutely sharp. It was blowing a gale and I was having trouble keeping the tripod in place, let alone steady.  That’s the trouble taking photographs up here when the light levels are low.

So three cloudy dawns in a row meant the trip was not nearly as successful as I had hoped. No stunning images, but I did learn a lot about a part of the country that I had never visited before.  Next time!

Eventually it peters out on the river flats. To get to Mt Algidus Station itself you must cross the mighty Rakaia. This gentleman had already made the trip to 3 times that day.

 ”How deep does it get?” I asked him. “Not too bad, below the door handles” was his reply. He set off,

zigzagging across the braided river for quite awhile eventually emerging on the other side. From this shot you can see that he wasn’t exaggerating.

When a stream carries a lot of shingle it’s often not practical to have a bridge. Some of these fords can be a trap for the unwary. I met a Spanish couple right out near Erewhon with a large campervan stuck fast in one of them. The van had a large overhang between the rear axle and its stern which had grounded, taking most of the weight off the rear wheels. It was the first real test for my 4WD, which did great job in pulling them out. It was fortunate because I was stuck on the wrong side of the blocked ford. Here’s a shot of the start of their return journey,  after some landscaping had been carried out on the ford (with the kitchen tidy).

But it got better!

My destination was about halfway between the small village of Motunau and the coast.  The obvious way would be to drive to Culverdon, then continue on Highway #7 down to Waipara, where it joins up with the main road again, then back up Highway #1 to Motunau.  A close look at the map showed that there was an alternative route.  A small road called Kaiwara Road wound its way over the hills, meeting up with Highway #1 at Greta Valley just north of my turn off to the coast. I decided to see if I could find it.

It turned out not to be too difficult despite the lack of signposting.  The seal ended not very far from Culverdon so I found myself on a gravel road. This eventually reached the hills and a fairly steep climb up a beautiful valley.  (Click on the ‘terrain’ option on the Google Map for that last link – you will see there is some reasonably steep country here). One observation to make one pause slightly: there was quite a lot of grass growing in the centre line of the road.  It’s not exactly a four-lane.

Then I reached the first of about nine gates. No problem, although the exercise would have been much quicker if I had a hitchhiker on board.

The next hazard was a flock of sheep making the most of some shade. They were very obliging and stirred themselves to let me through.  Quite a few more encounters with sheep and cattle followed.  Second gear nearly all the way, and of course it took me at least twice as long as the regular route.  I was in no hurry though.

Conditions were not good for landscape photography, the sun was much too high in the sky and the light was too harsh. However,  I’m determined to get back there in the autumn.  Scenes such as this old house have great potential, photographed close to dusk with the trees showing their autumn yellows.

My hosts that evening were impressed at my enterprise. They knew that road well. They explained that it used to be a very popular route for a very specific group of travellers: people who had spent too long in the pub in Culverden but still wanted to drive home.  Don’t think I would have wanted to be a passenger!

Clown Loto

the onlookers make great subjects too.

She loves Clown Loto!

An aerial act in the 2008 Festival consisted of a bloke from Dublin and a young woman from Sweden. As part of the process of warming up the crowd, she came forward to the front of the stage and said “Ja, det är så tjusigt att vara här på Nya Zeeland, alla är så vänliga, speciellt här i Christchurch” (it’s so nice to be here in New Zealand, everyone is so friendly, especially in Christchurch) and struck up a pose.  Everybody applauded.

Tina Machina and Kenevil in 'Tumble Circus'

As I used to live in Sweden and understood what she said, I couldn’t resist shouting “Heja Sverige!” (Come on Sweden!).  I was standing at the edge of the crowd behind a whole lot of seated onlookers, holding a camera with a very large lens. I guess I was quite conspicuous, because she pointed to me and said to everybody, in English: “Oh, I forgot to introduce my father.  He’s come all the way from Stockholm to support our act, please give him a big hand.” Everyone turned to look at me and did indeed give me a big hand!

What could I do but take off my hat, and bow in acknowledgement. They’re quick, these buskers!

Bendy Em

Fuse Circus aerial act

The 'Queen of Hearts', from the 2007 World Buskers' Festival.

Again, you can check out further images from the Buskers Festival at my online gallery, in the Canterbury section

I deliberately missed an opportunity for a great photograph of this pair.  Father and daughter were crouched down beside a pen containing freshly shorn sheep. I could have put three heads with almost identical hairstyles (or woolstyles) into the same frame.  Problem was, there was a good chance of getting thumped if the largest  of the three took offence!  I whimped out and settled for this rear view.

The wood chopping and sawing events are a great crowd pleaser, especially when the field includes a few world champions.  Age appears to be no limit to competition: skill and experience can often offset brute strength.

The jigger chop, where the axemen work their way up a pole, standing on boards inserted into notches cut as they go, can be quite terrifying to watch.  A solid board is essential if they are to put much power into each blow.

World champion Jason Winyard was a class above most of the others,  although he was pushed hard by another world champion, Sonny Bolstead.  New Zealand seems to have quite a few world champions, especially on a per capita basis!

Some of the animals are especially cute and of course the children have a great time.  I’ve posted a heap of images from the past few years on my image site, see the Canterbury gallery .

The Canterbury anniversary day holiday also provides an opportunity for celebrations outside the show itself.  I can recall driving home from work last year along Lincoln Road and seeing the footpaths cluttered with lots of very wobbly people, dressed in their finest and clutching empty champagne glasses.