The trip to Reefton involved a visit to some of its ancient monuments. A yard full of machinery: trucks, cars, tractors, logging equipment, you name it. Here’s an example: what was once a Thames Trader truck, now slowly being transformed into a work of art.
The owner, a local identity, was especially proud of his Land Rover.
He had replaced the original engine with a much more fuel efficient Isuzu. The interior, however, had seen better days:
He had a wonderful collection of BMC 1800s, with various badges: Austin, Morris, Wolesley, BMC. You can read about this large successor to the Mini in Wikipedia here.
These were also slowly transforming into artworks:
On its own, sitting proudly on another property, was one more Thames Trader:
This one was bought from Coyles in Hokitika
I spent several hours talking with the owner, a very colourful character indeed. Logging contractor, jet boat skipper, deer hunter, inventor – he’d covered a lot of ground. If he’d been wearing a shirt, I could have included a photo of the interior of his shed. It looked like something from a history book.
