against the neutral backdrop. They are such beautiful birds.
This is one of the 'holes' - am sure you wouldn't have guessed without the caption!!
First I have to say thank you to our Queen for giving us the day off today, Happy Diamond Jubilee your majesty! Gosh it was cold this morning when we woke, -2 still at 9am but undeterred and after a lovely long chat with Kathy, we went over to Bannockburn to do the walk at the Bannockburn Sluicings. What a great place it is nestled amongst all the wineries in that area. The landscape was created here by the miners who flocked to the area to mine for gold - what an entrepid lot they must have been. The Bannockburn sluicings had alluvial gold in them that had been carried down by streams draining from the Carrick Range. In order to extract this gold from the gravel they blasted the rock face with water but that had to be channeled in runs from a long way away so they must have had some great engineers with them, a courageous bunch! It looks like a lunar landscape here made also because it is desert in this area. There is only a little stubby growth of plants here except for the thyme plants which are abundant and the smell from them is heavenly. Now they are showing a greyish tinge which just adds to the colour palette round here but makes this wild landscape look softer and hazier. At the top of this loop walk is the abandoned town of Stewart Town, not ever a big place, about 10 houses in all, but to survive up here must have been a feet in itself with water being more expensive than gold! No-one has lived up here since the late 1800's but it has a lovely feel to it, lots of apricot trees up there too. There is a lovely big winery up here now, you can just see a glimpse of it in the background of this photo. There were lots and lots of hawks up here too and you could spot them easily in the bright blue sky and against the neutral backdrop. They are such beautiful birds. This is Bailley's Gully and is huge - shame I got a sun spot in it. This seems to be where the main workings in this area were and has holes that disappear into the rock face too. We walked into it on the way out of the loop. This is one of the 'holes' - am sure you wouldn't have guessed without the caption!! We had a lovely walk and am so glad we went. We were planning to do something totally different but would have been rushed (going to the Mavora Lakes down south) as we had a well deserved lie in this morning so this was our second choice. The weather was lovely and I was much too hot in my coat but will know next time. This is a view of one of the wineries that butt up against the park. We went to the Bannockburn pub afterwards, run by a couple from Queenstown we found out today, where they do great pub meals and it is a very nice place to go, great chilli and nachos today and we did share it as we had taken the pumpkin soup I made yesterday so we took that home and had it for tea with the warmed scones. If you haven't tried Annabel Langbein's pumpkin soup, give it a try as it is very nice. Just 'Google' it - it is perfect for the weather we are having but maybe a bit too warming for your summer. So all in all we were quite glad we went here instead of our original choice as we had a leisurely walk, around three and a half miles with quite a few up hill bits to get the heart going and really enjoyed our day off. Now we are getting our clothes and suitcases out for our holiday next weekend and am sure I will put quite a few of the photos from there on this blog soon. TTFN and hope you all have a great week
1 Comment
Kathy
6/5/2012 10:25:23 am
The soup wouldn't be too warm the weather is yucky here at the mo. the photos make it look like the Rockies! I love the photo if the ruined building. Suppose I should try and sleep. Love you mamma xxx
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorMy name is Helen Baker and I am now living back in the UK with my husband Derek after living for for five years in New Zealand. I am a Mum and Grandmother to two daughters and 6 grandchildren who are my whole world. I love taking photos, patchwork and scrapbooking and this page is here so that I don't have to write lots of letters home but can still keep in touch with those I love x Archives
August 2016
Categories
All
|