OAMARU AND RAKAIA
"The Nuggets"

This photograph was taken at Alma, just south of Oamaru. You will notice the discarded 'throne,' put there no doubt by some obscure humourist. You will see lots of limestone around here. It has long been prized for its pliability by craftsmen, and also for the substance of Oamaru's stately solid buildings. It was inclined to become stained and discoloured by the weather, but these days protective coatings are very successful in maintaining the original pure colour of the stone. Oamaru Stone is very much back in favour.

This picture was taken in January 2001. It's pretty dry, even for Oamaru. If this were Balclutha all the farmers would be having seizures! Even so, it was dry. As I look at the snow coming down, in this the latter part of April, I'm amazed how the turn of the seasons makes such changes. Fortunately the rains came very gently. First, little more than mist, then gentle rain that looks as if it will penetrate the subsoil. With real winter just around the corner it does look as though there was enough moisture, and a little heat to make the grass at least to begin to grow.

This tranquil scene near Campbell's Bay was famous from the moment English-speaking people arrived here. Perhaps 'boating on the Thames' or some similar river filled them with nostalgia. And this reminded them a little bit what it had been like at home.At all events photographs show women in long dresses draped artistically in the stern of flat-bottomed punts, while the men rowed, rather than poled, as parts of this little river mouth were quite deep. On this day in mid January the sun shone as brightly as it ever did more than a century ago.

Campbell's Beach is ideal, within about seven miles from the centre of Oamaru. Surfing tecnique, so I'm told, is made up of a good deal of skill There is some patience involved, and when you first begin you are anxious to surf every wave there is. However all waves are not the same. About one wave in seven is the right one, so you wait until it arrives. When it does, you get ahead of it by paddling frantically with hands and arms until it catches up with you. From then on you can engage in all the tricks involved. Nothing like it, so they say, and thousands of teen-agers can't be wrong.

This painting hangs in a private house in Oamaru. For me It is a wonderfully vibrant expression of the raw power of the draft-horse, so much a part of the development of this country. When New Zealand was being settled, the industrial revolution had produced all sorts of steam-driven machines, and the traction-engine shared a good deal of the heavy farm work until the crawler tractor, and the various modern petrol and diesel tractors finally usurped the place of this friendly, yet awesome creature.

The approach to the the Rakaia Bridge from Methven does not show it at its best. You can't get close enough. One can imagine the skill of planners, draftsmen and construction engineers in the concept and the building of such a bridge in a place like this! This is a magic place. It has space, pure air, and an atmosphere which is quite unique.

The Rakaia Bridge near Methven in its upper reaches is snow-fed a good part of the year. Its waters are pure, cold, and stimulating. During 'The Dry' of early 2001 the level dropped considerably, but when the inevitable rains come and the snow melts, this gorge copes quite well at this point. Downstream closer to Highway 1. near the township of Rakaia, the various little trickles across the broad riverbed join into one mighty torrent.

The spectacular nature of this gorge is just part of an unusually flat plain which has been valued especially for sheep farming and cropping since the time of the early settlers.

It was good to share a few of the sights that met the lens of my camera during just a few days in January 2001. I hope somebody sees them. Come here yourself some time and take a look around. This is also skiing country. Hordes of people especially from Christchurch come this way to Mount Hutt, and in the snow season it looks great in a very different way.