Ophua Dam

This is a place that is a little off the beaten track but well worth a look. Travelling between Geraldine and Fairlie there is a signpost to Ophua Dam. This is an irrigation scheme built several years ago to service the surrounding farms. It also includes a small hydro power station as well as providing recreational activities for boaties, fishermen, campers and picnickers.

It is listed in our camping book so we thought that this would be a good spot to spend a night.  Our directions were for making an approach from Fairlie and as we were coming from the Geraldine the directions weren’t quite as clear as they could have been. The next day we found a dedicated picnic spot which would have been nice though our  spot by the dam and power station for the night was fine, and we even had a Juicy van for company. 

 Evidence of the very dry summer that has been experienced can certainly be seen here. The water levels in the dam would be as low as they could possibly be I would say. Even the rain we had just over a week ago had failed to raise the levels. 

The next morning we got on our bikes and cycled down the road one km to the weir before heading on back to Fairlie.

Here we emptied our holding tanks, before wandering along the main street to buy ourselves a couple of the ‘famous Fairlie pies’ for lunch. Before filling with fuel before heading to our next destination- Omarama, we stopped and viewed this statue of James McKenzie and his dog. This area The McKenzie Country takes it name from this famous sheep rustler back in the mid 1800s.

A new skill - floral art

Mum was very keen to have flowers on the tables at the party for Dad so I said that I would organise that.  I went to the florist and purchased some 'oasis' which is that green stuff that florists use to put in the base of the vase or container. Once a flower is put into this it stays in place, making it an ideal medium for the amateur florist to work with.

Next I needed at least 10 containers. Initially I thought a small plastic one like you purchase olives, salads and the like from the supermarket deli would be good, but once in the supermarket decided that the picnic dessert plate was ideal and at $1something for 10 made them very affordable.





Mum didn't think that she had many flowers in her garden and yes she didn't have anything long stemmed but lots of flowers that would be suitable for what I had in mind. The greenery was there too, once I got my head into the right mode and the small leafed maple turning pretty autumn colours made an excellent base for several.




We needed ten arrangements and the block of oasis cut down nicely, after soaking overnight, into six pieces. I basically worked on the old sand saucer model that we all did years ago at school. . I improved as I went along and worked out that it was best to lay down the outside layer of greenery or maple leaves first. I put three or five larger flowers in the middle and then filled in the spaces.






I even amazed myself at how successful these looked and feel like a new vocation is on horizons. I think I probably have to acknowledge my friend Julianne and the Herb Society for giving me some tutoring and inspiration along the way.

This arrangement is now gracing the bus for the next few days.

Happy 90th Birthday Dad

The diary entry in the McKenzie family diary for the 24th April 1923 is brief “ Dipping up at Crawfords, baby boy born.”  

On Saturday about 60 people gathered at the Geraldine Hotel for lunch, to celebrate this baby boy’s birthday, my Dad.  Mum has spent many months planning the event with us all roped into help along the way. There was the guest list, the invitations, the cake, the choice of meal, the placemats, the decorations and the flowers. It all came together on Saturday morning when some of us went down to the hotel to set up the dining room. It looked lovely with the flowers that Barbara and I had arranged,  the balloons, decorations and place-mats, all contributing to make the room look inviting and festive.

The guests started to arrive about 12:30pm and lots of talk ensued as people caught up with each other. Not all knew each other but the common link was Dad. Most of his nieces and nephews had made the journey to Geraldine and for some of us it has been many years since we have seen each other. Some of Dad’s boyhood friends were also there as well as others who had become friends throughout his life.

Missing was Jessica, who had had to return to the UK the previous week but not without contributing to the day. She had iced the birthday cake, using the toys that depict a dog trial scene and have been used for nearly 50 years on Dad’s birthday cakes. She also designed  the place-mats by scanning and using the photos Mum had sorted out.

The proceedings were lead by my brother in law Keith who took on the role of MC for the day. First we enjoyed a beautiful roast 

beef meal followed by pavlova and fruit for dessert. 

There was then more time for socialising and reminiscing before the formal part of the afternoon with speeches from the MC, myself, Joy and Fraser. There were also several impromptu  speeches from ‘the floor’ before the cake was cut, Happy Birthday sung and Dad had his ‘right of reply.‘  He has always been a good speech maker and this one was no exception. He speaks without notes, (I suspect this skill comes from his early days as a debater) and he had us all in fits of laughter with his jokes and quick wit.  At 90 Dad is truly amazing and to look at him you could easily mistake him for someone 20 years younger. 

The final part of the afternoon was a cup of tea and a slice of the birthday cake before everyone started drifting away, with some having traveled a good couple of hours  (or more for those from the North Island and Australia) to be there.   The verdict was that the day had been a great success. 

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we were all glad we had made the effort to be there and to help, as a friend, Uncle, Father, Grandfather, and wife celebrate such an auspicious occasion. 

As a foot note, The Geraldine Heritage Hotel was a great place to hold such an event. To Tom and his team the family would like to thank you all for your help in making this celebration a success. 

Geraldine Heritage Hotel

ANZAC day in Geraldine

We are very familiar with ANZAC day service in Geraldine as we are often here to celebrate Dad’s birthday the day before.

It is held outside the library, across the road from the Geraldine Memorial at 9am.  Part of the street is cordoned off so the pipe band can lead the parade down the street to join the crowd that has already gathered to be part of the proceedings. Seating is out for the more senior citizens but Dad feels he isn’t ready for that yet!!

This is very much a community commemoration and involvement is from many different groups including the guiding and scouting movements, the police, Fire and ambulance services, the High school, local service clubs as well as the armed services.  It is sad to see each year though the number of returned servicemen getting less though there is an increase in the number of people wearing medals from family no longer with us. 

There are the usual prayers, songs and an address as well as the laying of the wreaths and poppies as well as the Last Post, the Ode and the Reveille. 

   

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

    Age shall not weary them nor the years condemn.

   At the going down of the sun and in the morning

    We will remember them.

Exploring South Canterbury

We had three days to spend before needing to be back in Geraldine so we decided that we would use the time to explore the hinterland of Timaru. This is an area that I had grown up and gone to school in. Of course all of this was new to Stephen and he was keen to have a look around too.

Our first stop was Pleasant Point, just 13km from Timaru and a popular spot. We pulled up outside the Museum and Historic Railway where there was plenty of parking for a bus and car.  Being a Monday the Railway museum was closed but it is certainly well worth a visit on a day when it is opened.

More information can be found at this link: Pleasant Point Railway

A quick walk up on the hill behind the old Post Office gave us a great view across the township and out into the surrounding farmland. Our destination for the night was Pioneer Park at Raincliff, a DOC camp that said access was on a gravel road with some overhanging trees. What our information didn’t tell us that there was a ford to cross and after heavy rain could be swollen and difficult for low heavy vehicles such as ours. The car had to be disconnected from the bus so that Stephen could back out the kilometre or so and onto the road again. Before doing that we drove the car (it has 4WD capabilities) up to the camp for a look. It is a beautiful area that in autumn was looking very pretty with the combination of exotic and native trees. It is a place that we would like to return to on a drier day as there were several walking tracks to explore.

We headed back to Raincliff and found a spot to park for the night beside the bridge.

The next morning we walked along the road, past the Historic Church and up to a Historic Reserve site to look at the remains of Maori rock drawings. Unfortunately time and vandals has not been kind to them and much of the artwork. Fences have had to be erected to help protect them. Much of the area is limestone and there are many outcrops and overhangs/caves. Hanging rock is another such site of historic significance and although we didn’t visit this place we did park beside the Hanging Rock bridge for our lunch. This picnic spot had an information board explaining how the surrounding area is the only home of the longtailed bats, NZ’s only mammal.  

This link gives further information: Long-Tailed Bat Facts

This picnic spot was also home to two chooks and a cat. We love to forage and did wonder if there was an egg or two to be found but decided not to bother.

Not far from here was our next camp site. The Waitohi Bush Reserve is situated high up on the rolling downs and commands great views as far as the sea beyond Temuka. Unless you knew this reserve was here it wasn’t a place you would find by accident. There is a small remanant of native bush with a couple of tracks through it. The tracks could do with some maintenance to keep them clear but certainly worth it just for listening to all the birdlife. All along the track we were kept company by a couple of little piwakawaka (fantails.) They are such busy little creatures that getting that photograph for this post was impossible.  The photo below is courtesy of the DOC website! 

We were pleased we had taken the time to do this tiki tour around through this area. We travelled along roads that I never knew existed and visited places that I had heard talked about over the years. Hazelburn was an area I was keen to drive through as this is where my maternal Grandfather’s family farmed. There's not much left in that district now except a war memorial. 

One place that we didn’t see this time, but have in the past, was the Richard Pearse (supposedly the first person to fly a plane) memorial which can also in the Waitohi district.  

Biography

Wedding Number 4

After leaving Christchurch we headed to Ashburton for a couple of days before moving onto Timaru to meet up with our Southland family so we could attend our fourth wedding in as many months. It was such a shame that the weekend was so wet and miserable after so many weeks of such beautiful weather but such is April weather.
Of course a wedding is not about the venue but about celebrating the lucky couple's special day.  There was plenty of room for all to squeeze into wedding reception area and for us to witness the ceremony.

An Elford/Hastie gathering is not complete without Bruce bringing out his pipes and Saturday was no exception. The newly weds were piped into the wedding breakfast in style, and then we got an encore to announce that supper was served.

The weekend was rounded off on Sunday morning with a shared brunch at a local restaurant, before we all headed away - some back to Invercargill and Gore, some to Christchurch and for us to decide where our next trip would be. As we need to be back in Geraldine by Wednesday (for the BIG birthday) we decided that we would explore some of my 'old stamping ground' of South Canterbury.

Squirreling

Squirrel in Jessica's garden.

Not wanting anything go to waste, and remembering the little grey squirrel we saw in Jessica's garden last year,  saw me spending a morning processing some of our harvests.

Firstly the threat of frost made me want to save the healthy looking basil plants. Annabel Langbein makes a basil oil and it looked both easy and useful.

Boiling water is poured over the leaves and then they are  drained and plunged into cold water. The water is removed as much as possible and then blitzed with good quality olive oil. The oil can be separated from the pulped basil leaves but I chose to leave it in. It can be kept in the fridge for several days or frozen in ice cube moulds for use later in the winter.

Grapes were in abundance on our vines in Clyde when we were down there just after Easter. The large black ones were certainly the sweeter of the three varieties and we came away with several large supermarket bag fulls. There are only so many that you can eat or give away, so the “Get Growing NZ’ digital newsletter I get every week from the NZ Gardener came in handy. Several readers had sent in recipes and ideas for using those extra grapes and making grape juice as opposed to wine was just one idea. I used a mixture of the sweet and not so sweet red grapes for my juice by placing them in a large pan and mashing them with a potato masher. I then covered them with water and brought it to the boil until they were soft and had released all their juice. This mixture was then strained through muslin, reboiled and then bottled into sterilised bottles and capped.  

Foraged apples are abundant along the sides of many of our roads at this time of the year. Following old railway lines is the perfect place to start looking. Apple cores must have discarded from the passengers in years gone by.  We have used these apples to eat, and cook into pies and desserts but we do have such a lot so I decided we should juice some of them. Past experience has taught us that unripe apples produce sour juice so the riper and sweeter they are the nicer the juice.  We have a cold press juicer so all that is required is to have the generator running and it is all go. This juice can be drunk as it is, or boiled and reduced to make apple syrup. This makes an excellent alternative to maple syrup for the pancakes. I suspect the grape juice could get the same treatment which I may well try. I can see though why these fruit syrups are so expensive to buy. The yield per litre of juice is very small.