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Dunedin, December 2004
Dunedin, December 2004
Peter Cameron2006-03-12 12:22:29
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hills and cliffs, mostly forests of manuka (tea-tree), with mountains towering above. Everywhere were broom, gorse, elder, and willow, all brought in by nostalgic settlers, and all now very damaging - the first two are declared noxious weeds, while the brittle willow breaks off and does damage downstream. The yellow gorse was stunningly beautiful, though. Where the willow wasn't growing, foxgloves lined the riverbanks, and I saw one wild rose in flower. Further up the gorge the manuka gave way to bare rocky hills and the cliffs grew more precipitous.
There was a flood twenty years ago and a frost four years ago. The damage from the first is healed, but there are many dead manuka trees (which will regrow from shoots, we are told).
Wildlife: many paradise ducks on the river; fast-flying birds of prey; a den of wild pigs (but no sign of the pigs).
Finally through the gorge, a range of mountains with snow and cloud on the summits appeared in the distance. The nearer landscape was flat tops and huge boulders. Signs of habitation: plovers in ploughed fields. The landscape became more fertile as we descended into the Strathtaieri: sheep, cattle, some cultivation, deer (including wapiti), and a failed vineyard. Ducks and black-and-white geese flew over.
We had an hour in Middlemarch, so I set off up the Otago Central Rail Trail with a very strong wind behind me. On the way out, a diffuse cloud came down from the mountains and sleeted on me a bit. Of course the return was harder, but I made it in plenty of time.
There was a wonderful feeling of space on the flat plain between the bare snow-dusted mountains and a ridge of low hills, the long rich grass waving in the wind. On my way I started a heron and a harrier, while larks sang overhead all the way. Some huge mushrooms grew in a horse paddock (no doubt horse mushrooms). Back in the train I saw a cormorant fly over.
The story is that Strathtaieri was a lake;
...
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New Zealand Gallery
