Autumn Leaves

I am convinced that either A.God or B.Evolution (depending on your beliefs) has equipped the human body with a set of muscles for the sole purpose of using a garden rake. There's only one time of the year that I actually use a garden rake and thats now when the sweetgum is losing its leaves. I know this is the only time of year these muscles get used because of the amount of pain I will be in tommorrow. They just don't get enough of a work out during the non-leaf-dropping portion of the year.

  It is a tedious job raking leaves made bearable by little distractions, a moth alighting on the wheelbarrow rim,

a starling watching my progress,

a fantail feeding in a tree nearby.

The worst part of the job is glaringly obvious - realising that once all the leaves are raked up there are yet a million more waiting to drop down in their place. Bugger!

Bill Clarks Xtreme adventure tour.

This morning Troy got a phonecall from neighbour and Whakatane District councillor Bill Clark asking if we would like to photograph a nearby waterfall. Very few people are aware this waterfall even exists despite it being in a council reserve so Bill plans to educate the public in the hope more people can enjoy it. In addition to the waterfall there is a dam and old powerstation originally built in 1928 but now no longer in use.

Troy and I had unsuccessfully tried to find the powerhouse and waterfall before so jumped at the chance to have a guided tour. Bill drove us to the Karaponga Reserve where we wasted no time heading off up the track alongside the stream (which after recent rain was resembling more of a river.) After a short tramp we left the track and scrambled down a bank toward the stream. Admittedly we had been warned there would be a stream crossing but I'd been anticipating something kneedeep. The stream was flowing pretty fast and I must admit I was a bit hesitant. Bill had gone before and held out his hand for me to grab. I stepped in to the icy water and made sure my footing was secure. Troy grabbed my other hand as I took my second step and the water bubbled up around my thighs. For a moment my arms were being pulled in two directions and then before I knew it I was on the other bank.

 We found the old pump sporting a patina of rust and moss. After re-crossing the stream we found the track again and followed the old pipe that carried water down to the pumpstation. Suddenly Bill detoured off down a very steep bank back towards the river. Reluctant to follow with my camera I relinquished it in a nest of ferns then followed into the near vertical abyss. This was quickly beginning to resemble an "Intrepid Journey."

At the bottom we negotiated along the riverbank as the rapids became steeper and steeper and from the noise I could tell we were nearing the falls. Finally I looked up to see the waterfall which flowed from behind a ridge so that I couldn't see its source. "Oh thats not the falls" said Bill, "We have to cross again to see the falls." I laughed at his joke looking at the torrent of white water cascading past then realised with a sinking feeling that he WASN'T JOKING! I told him I wasn't crossing the river and he reckoned it was easier than the first time we'd done it so I was talked into in. This time the water swirled up to where my inadequately short legs met my body and I could feel the current tugging at my trackpants.

 Check out the little blob of orange in this photo, its me on my little cowardly sanctuary. The photo was taken by Troy from the clifftop above.

There was an island of rocks halfway which I scrambled up onto, my pants so heavy with water that they almost stayed in the river without me! I watched Troy follow me with a few thousand dollars worth of camera gear in a pack on his back. At that point I refused to go any further and stayed put on my Island with a raging torrent surrounding wondering if this is going to turn into an episode of "I shouldn't be alive!" 

Meanwhile Troy and Bill crossed the second part of the river and scaled a cliff of mossy wet rocks to the base of the waterfall. (Which incidently was out of my sight.) Troy got his shots, they rejoined me on my Island and the three of us safely crossed back and a few minutes later I was clawing my way back up the vertical cliff to the track.

 Further on we came to the dam which was duly photographed by Troy who set his tripod up in the middle of the (now much shallower) stream bed.

 The walk back was much more civilised as our tour guide took us to a wide flat track through the bush. We came out to a fenceline halfway down with a lovely view of the Rangitaiki Plains stretched out in front of us.

So as for the elusive Karaponga Waterfall, well I still can't say I've seen it but I can say I've seen the photos! And I have to admit almost all the pics are Troys except the one with him in it obviously. Oh, and this one is my photo of  a leaf laying on the old metal waterpipe which came out kinda randomly cool. Actually its my favourite photo of the day.

Kingfisher snapshots

This time of year there seem to be an abundance of Kotare (Kingfishers) about. With their brilliant colours they are a great photographic subject. Unfortunately they are quite wary birds so I never seem to get as close as I want.

The last two pics were taken early morning at the marina near the yacht club. The pointed metal cones have been fitted to the wharf poles in an effort to stop birds perching on them (and therefore reduce the bird poo they produce.) It seems to work too, at least for the gulls and shags but the kingfishers aren't in the least daunted. They make a great lookout for them to spot fish and crabs in the water below.

Jamie from Georgia

I was asked to spend an afternoon with an artist from Savannah Georgia who was visiting New Zealand on a Rotary exchange. I was half expecting it to be...well actually I don't know what I was expecting. I sure didn't expect to enjoy it so much. Her name was Jamie and we had lots to talk about. I showed her my studio then we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed down to the Whakatane heads to do some sketching/painting.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we had a lovely relaxing time making art. Jamie drew Whale Island in watersoluble crayons and I sketched a pohutukawa in graphite. As we were packing up a beautiful falcon made an unsuccesful attack on a gull in the airspace about five feet from us. It pulled up and circled us before heading off around the coastline. All in all it was a special day. Jamie loved taking some time out from a busy schedule to do what artists do and she said it was a highlight of her trip so far. I just appreciated being reminded of what a fabulous part of the world we live in.

Thanks Jamie!

Fruitless search.

I have been asked to supply a photo of a tui feeding on totara fruit for an author writing a book about the totara tree. The tui is the main method of seed dispersion for the totara tree (I just learned that) and the fruit appear in March so today I set off to get the required shot. I know lots about birds but not really about trees which is why I wasted half the morning photographing tuis feeding on kahikatea fruit.

The fruit look similar but I got the tree wrong - I knew it shouldn't have been that easy. So then I went looking for totara trees. I found some near the Awatapu lagoon - no fruit. There were some at the rose gardens - no fruit. A totara in the neighbours section - no fruit. Mum suggested the cemetary so after lunch thats where we went.

Cemetaries are strange places, plastic flowers and little angels. A magpie wandered amongst the graves. Lots of people hate magpies. I don't really mind them, I especially like their black and white markings.

  Mum wandered around looking at headstones seeing people she once knew, saying "oh here's so and so", and "oh look, there's poor old such and such." And I pretended I remembered who they were and just wandered around feeling gloomy. After watching the Christchurch earthquake on tv for the last week or so its hard not to feel glum at best.

I found some totara, one even had a fruit on it. ONE fruit between all those trees! Bizarre looking thing it was too. End on it looked like an alien so I added a mouth to it to cheer myself up.

Double click to enlarge, it looks kinda cute.

Oh I forgot, I got a new computer! My first ever brand new one. Its whizzy fast. I gotta make sure I keep the new keyboard free from crumbs.