Canterbury high country (again)
My road trip a couple of weeks back was to capture some stunning dawn shots of rivers and mountains. This time, following my son’s instructions, I drove right up the Rakaia Valley as far as Glenfalloch Station. I got there well before dawn, walked around a bit until I saw some signs of life and introduced myself to the very friendly landowner. Unfortunately this was the visibility up there that morning, at least for the hour or so that I waited:
Backcountry roads
Some of the roads travelled in search of good landscape images can be fairly rough, occasionally disappearing altogether. This is a typical country road which runs between the Rakaia River and Lake Coleridge, heading towards Algidus Station (a famous high-country station, the focus of a well-known book “A river rules my life” by Mona Anderson).
(Well) off the beaten track
After my albatross encounter in Kaikoura, I had to drive down to Christchurch stopping off for a night to stay with family on a sheep farm in North Canterbury. As I had plenty of time for the trip, I decided to take the Inland Kaikoura route. This very scenic drive starts at Mt Fyffe, takes you past the Mt Lyford ski area through Waiau and on to Culverden. Here is the start of the journey, looking back at Mt Fyffe:
But it got better!
World Buskers Festival, Christchurch, January 2010
This popular festival is coming up this date next month, a photographer’s delight and a good reason to visit Christchurch. It’s not just the performers,

Canterbury Christchurch New Zealand pictures street photography Tumble Circus world buskers Festival
Royal New Zealand Show
Today is the start of four days of celebrations “When Country Comes to Town”. Formerly known as the Canterbury A&P (agricultural and pastoral) Show, it has been held every year since 1862. I’m sorry to be missing it this year, it is a lot of fun for photographers too! 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…