Travel on the Gravel

There may have been a few outlaws in the fields earlier, but by my observation, seeding got underway in these parts of the Red River Valley this Monday, the day after Easter (when it snowed). Me, I'm still going through photos from the recent New Zealand expedition.
NZ5-1.jpg - A drive across the green Ardgour Flat brings us to the historic ruins of the Lindis Hotel, flanked by Lombardy poplars.
NZ5-2.jpg - The hill behind affords a good view of the layout of the place; the back wall has recently collapsed.
NZ5-3.jpg - The courses of the collapsed wall remain largely in place on the ground.
NZ5-4.jpg - Stucco clings to some of the standing walls. This is a splendid ruin!
NZ5-5.jpg - An interior view, remains of a cookstove.
NZ5-6.jpg - Over the ruins and across the emerald flat--a gorgeous scene.
NZ5-7.jpg - Upriver a mile or so is the stone-and-concrete hut of old Waddie Thompson, a gold miner and local character.
NZ5-8.jpg - Waddie's front entry.
NZ5-9.jpg - Wall, roof, and cistern detail.

After a morning spent tramping around the Bendigo diggings, we swung by Gimmelmore, the Hawea Flat farm where elite rams from Forest Range are kept. There we found David Emmerson and Buck Buchanan taking some micron samples from the rams.
NZ4-1.jpg - Merino rams penned into the shed for sampling.
NZ4-2.jpg - David clips a sample from each ram.
NZ4-3.jpg - Each sample is carefully bagged and numbered.
NZ4-4.jpg - Buck follows up by drenching the rams before they are released.

Actually, flying with Russell Emmerson, proprietor of Forest Range Station. Russell was kind enough to take me up in his helicopter in search of the route of John Turnbull Thomson, explorer and surveyor, through the Lindis district of Central Otago.
NZ3-1.jpg - Approach to Lindis Peak (a peak where Thomson took theodolite observations).
NZ3-2.jpg - Land Information New Zealand cairn on Lindis Peak.
NZ3-3.jpg - Geodetic code plate on LINZ cairn on Lindis Peak.
NZ3-4.jpg - View NW from Lindis Peak.
NZ3-5.jpg - View S from Lindis Peak, Lindis Valley fogged in (which would be a problem for a surveyor).
NZ3-6.jpg - View W-NW from Lindis Peak, looking toward the ridge end Thomson called Hill End.
NZ3-7.jpg - Russell returning to the chopper from Lindis summit.
NZ3-8.jpg - Tor and cairn atop Grandview.
NZ3-9.jpg - Tors near Grandview.
NZ3-10.jpg - View from Grandview toward Cloudy Peak (in distance just above the chopper and a hair left); Lindis Peak a bit below and to the left.
NZ3-11.jpg - Lake Hawea from Grandview.
NZ3-12.jpg - Breast Hill from Grandview.
NZ3-13.jpg - Ridgeline that J.T. Thomson traversed to reach summit of Grandview.
NZ3-14.jpg - Hawea Flat viewed from Grandview.

Tarras Church, subject of a recent Plains Folk column, is also the subject of this cluster of photos.
NZ2-1.jpg - Tarras Church, just before Sunday morning services (Anglican this week).
NZ2-2.jpg - Heather Perriam (of Bendigo Station, and proprietor of the Merino Shop), warming up at the organ.
NZ2-3.jpg - Ann Trevathan, of Ardgour, pours tea.
NZ2-4.jpg - Liturgy for the morning included the Benedicite Aeotearoa.
NZ2-5.jpg - Vicar Barry Entwistle, ZZ, and Lee Davis (of Shirlmar Station) have a cuppa after services.
NZ2-6.jpg - Stained glass panes here would spoil the view.

Plains Folk columns currently are focusing on recent travels in New Zealand. This posting is the first in a series presenting images from the New Zealand expedition.
NZ1-1.jpg - The Salmon on a Stick, Rakaia, because I'm a sucker for roadside monstrosities (a subject well treated by NZ scholar Claudia Bell in her book, Inventing New Zealand: Putting Our Town on the Map.)
NZ1-2.jpg - The Ashburton River, viewed from the Thompson Track, a good example of a braided river with shingle bed, typical of the Canterbury Plains.
NZ1-3.jpg - A gorse hedge, a common and prickly landmark of the Canterbury Plains.
NZ1-4.jpg - A hedge of Pinus radiata, a more substantial windbreak favored by Canterbury farmers.
NZ1-5.jpg - Monument in Burke's Pass, gateway to the Mackenzie Country. Michael John Burke's injunction to plant trees is to some extent being heeded in the wake of rabbit and weed problems in the high country, a development about which I am ambivalent.
NZ1-6.jpg - Monument at Dog Kennel Corner, at the west end of Burke's Pass. This was the place where a barking boundary dog was posted to turn back wayward sheep. (I used this monument as the lead for an article about herd law in New Zealand published in Heritage of the Great Plains.)
NZ1-7.jpg - Lake Tekapo.
NZ1-8.jpg - Omarama Hotel, where we spent the night and had a lovely chat with a shearing boss.