Autumn colour in the morning light.

As the sun rose in the morning.

First rays of the sun on Mt Difficulty.

The morning light does something strange to the Autumn colours

It's dark and glowing at the same time

The colour of the light changes every few minutes

April 25th 2015.  Anzac day in New Zealand.  100 years since Gallipoli.

I thought this shot would come out orange.  But the light changed on me in an instant.

I don't photoshop.

Arrow Gold Crabapple

Just two years ago I planted a crabapple 'Arrow Gold' and what a good idea that was.   Crabapple's continue into the winter, and the brightness of them adds interest, when most other vegetation is quite subdued, even grim.

One Hundred and Fifty years ago this area had almost ever seen a human.   About half a hour up river from here the discovery of gold transformed the area.  At the town now called Arrowtown, on the Arrow River, the first arrivals could almost just shovel the gold from the bed of the river.

Malus Arrow Gold.  May 2014.  Winter has just started.

An enterprising plant breeder from there has bred the Crabapple and named it 'Arrow Gold'.   I first decided to buy it because conditions are severe here, and any cultivar bred locally has the potential to be well suited to the area.

Malus Arrow Gold.   More than two meters at two years.  And good shape.

The idea has worked beyond expectation.  The Arrow Gold Crabapple is growing very very well.  We still get a lot of sun, and it gleams and visually stands out even from 100 meters away.  I think this tree will double in size again, in the next two years.  Spectacular.

Arrow Gold Crabapple.  Antidote to winter drabness.

The lovely little waxeye birds are starting to take notice.  They have eaten some of the apples, but only at the end of the branches.  Maybe those are the first to ripen.  But I think we will have the glow of apples for another two months yet.

There is also quite a spectacular show of springtime blossums.  Sorry I have not got photos.

I think I will go out and buy a dozen of these trees.  I think a grove of these will be amazing.

Evening light on the coast

The Field of Gold is about 200 km from the coast.  That's as far as you can get from the coast in New Zealand.

But down on the coast Doggie still needs his exercise and we were walking one evening in a place where cars are excluded.    Right at sunset the light came in sideways.

Evening light

The illuminated dog himself.  The pole on the headland is our turnaround point.

Sealions often camp on that beach below.  Enormous things about the size of a small car.

On the way back.  Sideways sunlight.   It's about 3 kilometer round trip from where the road is blocked off.

Doggie loves it here.  No cars and he can run and run.  And sniff.

Notice the houses of the city, hidden in the shadow.

Always something to see here.  On a different day with different light.

 end.

Summer Storm

December 2012

Summer storm over Cromwell town and Lake Dunstan.  Pisa Range in the background.  Spur Valerian (Centranthus macrosiphon) in the foreground.  

The two Sequoia were planted in 1863 when the gold rush came to this previously uninhabited area.  The church on the right is where Theresa and I were married.

A mediterranean plant the Valerian has spread along the roadside here in red, white and pink.  It has done well in temperature conditions that easily span 40 degrees and a barren rocky like desert terrain.  I think I will uplift some.  Something that looks this good and does so without input in this environment has to be useful.  It could be invasive, but it seems well enough controllable.  There are some growing naturally at the end of field in the gold workings.  Having been there for many years they have not spread.  

Also  !  I have added this years update to progress of the Lavender Patch.  The link takes you to the post and then go to the last photo at the bottom.  Lavender Patch Update

Tunneling for gold. Lost beneath the lake.

This updates a much older post, now with historic photos from the 1930s.

Out our back gate the land falls away steeply into the river.  The Lady Ranfurly gold dredge took incredible amounts of gold from the bottom of the river right here in the early 1900's. ( see post Gold from the River.

That started people thinking.  As they do when gold is to be had.  The Great Depression of the 1930s put many people back into the hunt for gold.  The most successful were right here.

The theory was that the Kawarau River once flowed under the flat land where we are, probably caused by a sandstone bar redirecting the flow north.  If this was the case, then a lead of gold could be found under the flat and be very rich indeed.

This photo from our back gate shows Scotland point to the left where the tunneling operations were before the lake was created and the water raised.  The entrances were close to the original river because that enabled tunnels to be drained down and outwards.

Scotland Point, is named after a Mr Scotland who in the 1880's found the first traces of that buried river bed.  Building small tunnels just large enough to crawl inside, he dug up the wash while lying on his back or stomach, and placed it into a tray attached to a rope, which was pulled out by his wife, who would run it through a washing cradle.  Many attempts were made to find Scotland's workings but they were never found.

In 1932 Percy Bell, Bill Kilgour, Richie Bell and Zip and Lance Hooper, during weeks of back-breaking work, used picks and shovels and, occasionally, explosives to put drives into the sandstone cliffs.  It was the midst of the Depression and the Government started paying a miner's benefit of about 14 shillings and 3 pence a week to assist men in prospecting for gold.

Bill Kilgour's two brothers and other local men were brought in to work the Bell Kilgour and Bell Hooper minesas they moved towards the foothills, finding average daily takes of 8lb to 10lb (3.6kg to 4.5kg), which was "very rich indeed"  Finally, the Bell Kilgour and Bell Hooper Gold Mining companies were formed, and continued to find significant amounts of gold from Scotland's lead.

Todays peaceful scene conceals past cycles of frantic and fruitful activity.

According to Professor Park, an eminent mining authority at the time, it was one the most significant finds of alluvial gold deposits found anywhere in New Zealand since the 1800s.  However the project did not continue for long.  I have not learned why.  Although obviously if it had continued to be possible to get the gold then tunneling would have continued.

Acknowledging the 'Sir George Grey Special Collections'  Auckland Libraries who have gathered images from the pictorial magazine 'Auckland Weekly News' 1932 and 1933.  Present day photos by Kerry Hand.

Miners Lettuce. Food of the gold rush.

As I cut through the pine shelter belt I came across this.  A plant I did not expect.  Miners lettuce, a native of northern California.

A little stranger plant.  Not where it was expected to be.

So I got down for a closer look to see what it was.  Miners Lettuce!  What was that doing just here.  So healthy and strong.

Doing well this little plant

This exact plant did not come from California as I had some miners lettuce in the vegetable garden some 100 meters away. But I have never had a vegetable garden where there had been escapees at all.

I had grown miners lettuce last summer and we used it quite often.  It is growing at the end of winter under a pine plantation, in an area which is challenging to grow anything.  This plant is doing very well in the circumstances.

Mesclun lettuce and sprouts in a salad, Miners lettuce in addition and some Chilli Prawn skewers on top. Straight balsamic as a dressing worked well.

Miners Lettuce got it’s name from it’s use by the miners who used it to prevent scurvy.  100 grams of miner's lettuce—about the size of a decent salad—contains a third of your daily requirement of Vitamin C, 22 percent of the Vitamin A, and 10 percent of the iron.  

Self sown but where you would expect.  In the vegetable garden.

The Californians who came here for the gold rush in the 1860s left a legacy of Monterey Pine, California Poppy and California Quail.  Perhaps they bought Miners lettuce, but not trace remains now.  Perhaps the 100 years in between when rabbits polished the vegetation in this area till it was like a billiard table.

I had found seedling plants in a farmers market hundreds of kilometers north of here.  And later found a packet of seeds from Kings Seeds  New Zealand's premier seed supply.

Hastings Farmers Market.  June 2011.

It went into the vegetable garden straight away.

October 2011

Four months and it's growing well, right through the netting I put there to keep off the rabbits.

Sue shows Miners Lettuce in her post and pictures in her wonderful Sierra Blog.  http://sierrafoothillgarden.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/enough-miners-lettuce-for-a-salad/

It’s natural home is the west coast of the United States and centered in northern California.

While it had been bought to Europe by the early explorers in the 1700s (Spanish) the later population explosion in California bought the American miners in 1949  - the “49ers”

Given the limited diet options of the miners in both California and Otago – they were known to travel into the wilderness taking only a sack of flour – the miners lettuce was useful as it could be planted and harvested very easily and it provided an essential food alternative.

A Rare Fire

Mostly you have to think of our area as desert.  We do have grass and trees, but it's very dry here and any fire can burn out of control very quickly.  If you lit a fire at the wrong time, it could  soon be licking the edge of the town some 5 km away.  Not only very embarrassing, but very dangerous.

Seizing an opportunity.

In August (winter in New Zealand) there had been that rainfall and little heat to suck out the moisture.  Our surroundings were soaked through and there was good opportunity to burn the scraps that accumulate around the field.

Inside is warmer, but not as interesting as a fire.

So I lit a fire.  I was soon joined by the my wife, and her parents.   We looked about a bit and found more than a few branches that needed to be disposed of.
 
A nice riesling, some comfortable chairs from the terrace,  a fire to watch and keep you warm.  What else could you need on a darkening winters evening ? 

Any fire is worth watching

Doggie of course was not going to miss the action.

A fire is a satisfying sort of thing.

End

Gold from the river.

The remains of two gold dredges lie in the river right at the end of the property.  One, the Lady Ranfurly Dredge was the most successful of all time.  She worked quite a short stretch of river right here.

The view from our back gate is across the river to the vineyards of Felton Road.  When the Lady Ranfurly had done it's work it was left on the river bank right in the centre of this picture.  In 1992 it was covered by the water of the raised Lake Dunstan.  The Lady Ranfurly lies there still.

To the left of this photo, now also under water, lies the Molyneaux Dredge, abandoned in 1942.

View from the back gate:  Kawarau River, now Lake Dunstan.

There are massive amounts of gold still here, although that in the bottom of the river is now gone.  Well maybe

Our back gate, and the drive down to the river was the supply point for the dredge.

The Lady Ranfurly.  Launched 1898

The amounts of gold recovered by these machines, coal powered, with only a crew of half a dozen men was incredible. 

The record haul

In the week of 7 July 1902 The Electric Gold Dredging Company's Kawarau River dredge, Lady Ranfurly, won 1,234 ounces of gold. Here the dredgemaster, several dredgemen, the manager and ledger-keeper of the Cromwell Bank of New Zealand and a shareholder, Mrs G. H. Stephenson, look at the week’s haul.

On another occasion it took over 600 ounces out of an area 15 feet by 15 feet.

Lady Ranfurly closeup:  Happy is he who can go to work with his dog.

The Lady Ranfurly continued on until 1918 as the returns diminished.  Then she was hauled out and left. 

The Molyneux was much later.  Built many kilometers downstream at Alexandra.  It was a marvel of technology and had all that it should have.  Strangely however it was moved and moved upstream to Bannockburn in little more than a year.  The locals shook their heads.  "To fast, they need to settle down and work their patch and they will find the gold."  But alas that was not what happened. 

Molyneux 1942.  Being winched up under the Bannockburn Bridge.

If any of the cables had parted.  What a mess that would have been.

After about 50kms of river, and a far too hasty an exploration the Molyneux was abandoned.  Probably the promoters had burned through all their cash.

Remains of the Lady Ranfurly with the people in the foreground.  The Molyneux downriver in the background.  The "Field of Gold Property" on the left hand bank by the Molyneux.  Photo probably 1940

So it goes.  The worlds most successful gold dredge "The Lady Ranfulry" reduced to a few scraps of steel and timber.  And one of the most sophisticated dredges made, "The Molyneux"an abject failure.

The Lady Ranfurly worked from here to the mouth of the gorge.  Only about 4 Kilometers.

*****UPDATE

But the human spirit springs eternal.  Recently, about 100 years after the peak of the lady Ranfurly success there is another dredge on the river.  About 80 kilometers downstream someone else is giving it a go.  The "Cold Gold' dredge started up for about six months ago.  Then ceased for modifications and now is back in operation.  It seems to be using a suction technique rather than buckets.    It's not a huge multinational, but you don't run a labour and fuel intensive dredge like this cheaply either.

They are still there, so they must be doing ok.  But as with all who follow the fascination with gold.  They are not saying much.

2013.  Still spending big money on chasing gold.  Modern Gold dredge

The constant drone of big powerful machinery drifts across the water.  Modern gold dredge

End

The Dark Park

North of here, over the Lindis pass, spread across the awesome MacKenzie Country is the 'The Dark Park'.  That's what I call it anyway.  And in the middle of those endless kilometers of dark, I got my own picture of the moon.  With the assistance of some great technology.

My moon shot.  Through a Mt John telescope.

"The Dark Park" known otherwise as the Mackenzie Dark Sky Reserve is a huge stretch of territory where artificial light is restricted by regulation.  It has been used for over 50 years as a base for looking at the stars.  Now it is the largest area in the world with restrictions on artificial lights, and many people go there just for that.

To be frank, given there was a moon like this, it was not as dark as many of the nights we get home at 'The Field of Gold'.   But at home we don't have a sixteen inch telescope under a dome.  So here at Mt John for the first time I saw the Rings around Saturn  !!!!   Myself - with my own eyes - for the the very first time - using one of those huge machines.  Magic.

Flying in.  A scattering of telescopes on top of Mount John.  Notice the vast landscape.

Mt John is used by many Universities from around the world.  Each has their own programme and facilities, which explains the apparent duplication and scatter of various domes.  See more about Mount John here    From here you can see sky which you can't from the northern hemisphere.

Notice the far mountains.  The Dark Park includes these as well.  It's a big park.

Tekapo Village.  Mt John in the immediate background.  Some real mountains behind.

A bunch of scientists from around the world.  They do need some facilities and places to live.

The big silver dome is Nagoya University Japan.  The biggest unit on the mountain.

The former American Military Facility.  Now University of Canterbury.

The Americans were here looking at Satellites, both American and Soviet and also the Apollo programme. 

A photo of my beloved.  The night we were on the mountain

End.

Are they beautiful

Half way down to the coast the highway winds past a big hill. In the last few months it has sprouted nine great windmills, the property of our local community owned power company.

There is a lot of opposition to windmills generally, but actually I think they are beautiful.  There are lots of hills they should not be on.  But I think they can be on this hill.

You could not put these on my beautiful Mt Difficulty.  Link to photos of Mt Difficulty here

But on this farmland, they seem to me to be like great mobile art installations.

I am interested in your comments. 

From the West.  In the afternoon sun.

The highway winds around three sides of the hill.  All nine machines, against the bright sky.

Made in Spain.  Renewable energy in New Zealand.  Awesome and intimidating up close.

It's a hill.  Not one of my beautiful mountains.

 You can comment buy clicking on the link below.

Bannockburn Bridge. Central Otago. The old and the new.

This peaceful scene at the Bannockburn bridge over the Kawarau, conceals a long history.   What is interesting is beneath the new lake. 

Todays Bannockburn bridge over Lake Dunstan conceals a history.

This beautiful new lake covers what was once a raging river in a deep gorge ('canyon' to Americans). The river posed a big challenge to the gold miners hordes as they crashed into this uninhabited area in 1862.

First there was a ferry, then five bridges.  Massive amounts of gold crossed the bridges here and the river below was the home of the 'Lady Ranfurly'  Possibly the worlds most successful gold dredge.

Bannockburn Bridge.  About the turn of the Century.  1900. (Bridge 3)

On the beach in the background of the photo above you can see one of the dredges that made this stretch of river famous.

First there was Stuarts ferry.  In 1874, John Richards and the Kawarau Bridge Company commissioned the original bridge. (Bridge 1)

That bridge was washed away in the great floods of 1878, and its wreckage destroyed the Clyde bridge on the Clutha, which in turn ruined the Roxburgh bridge, about 100 kilometers downstream.

Another bridge was erected using the original piers and wire ropes. (Bridge 2)  In the 1890s the bridge was in poor repair and was badly damaged by fire.  It reopened again in 1897. (Bridge 3)

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Otago Witness , Issue 2185, 16 January 1896, Page 11

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Upstream from the bridge

The area was mined in various ways and the bridge was the essential infrastructure that made it possible.  The river below was one of the most prolific sources of gold.  Between 1900 and 1918 the Lady Ranfuly worked this stretch of water.  That wonderful piece of Victorian technology was possibly the most successful gold dredge of all time.

It wasn't all easy however.  The last gold dredge here, the Molyneux, equipped with state of art technology only lasted in operation a year and lies today under the water just two kilometers upstream.

The Molyneux Dredge. 1942..  Only one cable needs to let go.  And they will need yet another bridge. Todays Bannockburn bridge in Winter. (bridge 5) A modern replacement bridge was erected alongside in 1964.  It was made of prefrabricated steel girders at a cost of 35,000 pounds.  (bridge 4)  When Lake Dunstan was formed by the Clyde Dam a new bridge was opened in 1989.  This present day bridge (bridge 5) cost 1,800,000 dollars and spans 140 metres. A similar bridge near Middlemarch.  See the simple but brilliant steelwork.

Original pillars.  Note the iron work on top for the cables

In 1991 the Stone Pillars from the original bridge were salvaged and re-erected on the present site by Bannockburn residents.  The pillars are the only obvious relic of what was here before.

Not my photo.  Bannockburn Bridge in modern times.  Always great sky around here.

You can find this photo and other excellent local photos at the site linked below.
http://www.digital-images.co.nz/gallery/south-island/otago/20100416-0004.jpg.html

Finally.  An wonderful article from the Otago Witness on July 12th 1997.  The reopening of the bridge as a community event which using the language of the day can only be described as 'Splendid.'  'Spanking chestnuts'  'eatables and drinkables' and all.  Grand !  

End