Yuccas

I spent about an hour just wandering amongst these yuccas and cabbage trees, totally mesmerized by the almost cartoonish wonder of their shapes. I suspect there were once a few homes on this piece of land next to the railway line that runs along the east coast of the South Island. This landscape has a feel that it would be a great backdrop for a movie. I must return and see what it's like with different light.

Cattle stop

Cattle stops are a fiendish use for old railway tracks. They not only halt the progress of cows they pretty much stop all hoofed beasts. A harsh yet amusing way to wake a passenger in your car, is to speed up as you go over one. The bone shaking vibration and noise will either rudely rouse them from their slumber or induce a myocardial infarction.
Note the way the power poles on the ridge are like strolling body builder robots.

Paw

The ancestors of this creature having been roaming the hills of the South Canterbury region since around 1874. Rarely are they seen during the day. They bound about during the black of night seeking nourishment. Many have succumbed to instant lead poisoning. Declared a pest they are hunted.
I stumbled across this corpse when I was checking out the Mackenzie pass after completing a job in the the neighborhood. I lived in Wiamate (South Canterbury) as a very young boy while my father was a teacher there. Tales of this Australian invader lurking behind every tussock intrigued me. I never saw one in the wild. Imagine my excitement when I saw this fresh carcass on the side of the road. Who knew Red Neck Wallabies had such menacing looking front paws.

Kitten

We seem to attract monochromatic felines. Furdinand is the fourth cat that we have had All have been either grey and white, black & white, solid grey or silver tabby. He's only eight weeks old so he's being confined to one room only till he gets used to all the noises and smells, of which there are many, some dubious. Hopefully he may turn into one of kleptomaniac cats that's collects stuff from all over the neighborhood. He's already attracted to shiny metal, so maybe cash and jewellery will appear on the doorstep.

Négligeé

This flimsy wee number enticed me peruse a vintage clothing shop in Temuka. I tentatively and respectfully asked the charming proprietor if I could take a snap of this, subtlety gesticulating at the window. She said it was called a negligee, I replied that I knew this but I was too polite to utter the word in public. This style of garment needs to be backlit to bring out the details and lushness of the fabric.
It kind of reminds me of those old James Bond movies where all the women wore these and had double entrendre names. Interesting decoration under the windowsill.

Boat Sheds

We've been traveling a bit over the last few weeks, which gave me the opportunity to meander about on the scavenge for a snap or two. I'm a tad partial to practical no nonsense buildings. The top shed I feel was not originally designed as a shipwright's place of work.This was spotted near Blenhiem. As you can see it is embedded in a vineyard, one of at least a trillion that have taken over virtually every paddock in the district.
The middle shed is at least situated on the waters edge. The plaster work and colour are particularly exquisite. I like the well used crank thing too.
The bottom one could be a bit scary in a big storm. I think it must be better constructed than it looks because it appears to have been there for a considerable while. The road/dirt track that led along this bit of the coast was only about, on average, 20cm above sea level. Thankfully the tide had just turned and was on the way out and the wind was only gale force and frigid This shed and the middle one are both near Portabello on the Otago peninsula near Dunedin.

Macrocarpa

I had to go to Timaru for a job last week. After I had finished I headed for the beach in the hope of a good scavenge. The beach was devoid of goodies, however I had parked next to this fine specimen clinging to the top of a slowly eroding clay cliff. I have been wanting to try out the technique where several images are merged together to create a bigger more detailed image. This pic is made up of two portrait format photos blended together. How the software in the computer manages this boggles the mind. It's seamless!