Matangi Station Rally

 Real-time

We're not usually rally attendees but we do keep an eye out for ones that are held in unusual and interesting places.  Once we were accidental attendees to a rally at Nelson Lakes, that turned out to be a great weekend. We still laugh at how it happened and how awkward we felt. Others we have done have been attached to events such has the Arrowtown Autumn Festival (twice) and the Cavalcade (at Omakau) both were hosted by the NZMCA Clutha Valley Area. 

From the lookout above Alexandra 

We had a few days to fill in before we had to be in Southland so when I heard that Clutha Valley was holding a rally at Matangi Station, a large farm station near Alexandra, I thought it would be an interesting to attend and also a chance to catch up with Clutha Valley members we'd met on previous rallies. 

Matangi Station is located in Little Valley, just 10kms from Alexandra and yet it felt a whole world away once we climbed up the rocky hills behind the town and followed the narrow dusty road through a typical Central Otago landscape of rocky tors, golden tussocks, briar bushes, prickly matagouri...

...and those hardy Central Otago Merino sheep.

We had to squeeze past several vehicles coming out of the valley on the narrow road and we wondered what they thought when suddenly their quiet 'farm' road was inundated with large motorhomes travelling in on a dead end road. Hopefully they had been forewarned to expect us. 

An old stone wall followed the contours of the road for quite a distance and we later found out that this was a water canal that was built to supply Alexandra with water. It didn't last long because there wasn't enough supply, even though there are several springs in the valley.

It didn't take long before houses, farm buildings and the cultivated green paddocks of Little Valley opened up before us. There are three farm stations in the valley all owned by the extended Sanders family; we are heading to Matangi Station, a merino stud farm run by John & his wife Mary Liz and two of their sons & families. In fact we had been driving through the station farm since leaving Alexandra, Matangi Station reaches from the lookout behind Alex right through to Little Valley.

Motorhomes, caravans & fifth-wheelers trickled in throughout the afternoon and once registration forms were completed we set up camp in the woolshed paddock.

Soon the vans reach around the corner of the woolshed and off across the paddock, people were soon catching up with old friends and welcoming new members. There were certainly a lot of laughter at happy hour as everyone tried to cram in under the shade of the gazebos and out of the sun in the 30+ degree heat.

David flew the drone over the campers...

And later in the evening I drove back up the road to take some golden hour photos of the valley.

The merino rams weren't keen on having their photos taken and soon disappeared over the rise. Little did they know...

The next day after a morning tea catch up those with bikes got ready to cycle over one of the farm tracks.

As lovely as it looked I was secretly pleased that I wasn't going to be heading off in the mid-day heat, it was another scorcher of a day.

I stood at the gate and took their photos instead! What a happy bunch they were too.

If I had one disappointment it was the fact that there wasn't the opportunity to drive one of the farm tracks- for those that had 4WD vehicles- to an advantage point on the surrounding range. That would have certainly been a highlight for us. 

Instead I drove back up the road again looking for photo opportunities and as luck would have it, those camera shy rams were being rounded up by John...

...and mustered straight past me parked on the side of the road.

 This is just a small group of the farm's 700 merino stud rams.

And they were heading for the woolshed...

...where they were penned for the night and available for us to check out at close quarters after John gave a talk about the farm's history & operation during our BBQ dinner (not a lamb roast either).

Clutha Valley Area members always put on a great BBQ for attendees, we supplied our own salads, they supplied the meat. 

After dinner and a bit of lubrication, the bagpipes made an appearance...

And then someone, who shall remain nameless, decided to do a little highland fling to entertain the crowd. 

It was a relief of sorts when the sun finally disappeared behind the hills, although the heat & humidity lasted through the night; windows, vents & doors were left wide open on many vans. The peaceful sound of silence & the occasional sheep baa soon lulled us to sleep. 

Although I did step outside at some un-Godly hour to look at the night sky. It was stunning, millions of stars twinkling in the moonless night, reaching from one side of the valley to the other & beyond. I kicked myself in the morning that I didn't have enough energy to get the tripod & camera out to take a few photos. 

After one last morning tea gathering with a few prizes and awards presented...

...it was a mass exodus out the gate and off up the hill.

Until there was just us left in the paddock.

Which was fortuitous...

...as I spotted John about to take the rams back to their paddock. Merino rams are a favourite subject for me, I just love the expression on their faces, their curly horns and the spooky little face that appears on the end of their nose if you look long enough!

Once out the gate, they grabbed a quick bite to eat...

...and a drink from the nearby stream until a couple decided to head out the home paddock gate and the rest quickly followed along like, well, sheep.

Out the gate and into the opposite paddock before John spotted them and roared off on his bike to round them up...

 ...and head them back up the road. We followed slowly along behind.

At the end of the road, just before we dropped back down into Alexandra, we pulled to a stop so I could take a photo from the lookout and a Karearea/NZ Falcon flew straight past the rig at eye level and disappeared over the cliff edge. The perfect way to finish off a great weekend! 

Thankyou very much for your hospitality Clutha Valley members, it was a great rally and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Alexandra- click on the photo to enlarge

The Sun is Shining

Real-time

We're back to being happy again; the sun is shining and the fish are biting. Although, we were beginning to wonder after the calm of a beautiful sunrise, the wind blew a cold howling gale for two whole days.

While David fished the canal and pottered about the van doing some minor maintenance, I went on my own little tiki-tour north towards Tekapo, taking the back road along the canal first to check on a pair of Black Stilts we'd seen on a previous visit. They weren't there but I got to take a few photos of the dramatic clouds being formed by the nor'wester...

...and found a few wayward lupins starting to establish themselves along the canal. 

Next stop was at tiny Lake Wardell where a surprise awaited me. 

This was what Lake Wardell looked like when we stopped to check out the freedom camping area back in May; a festering stagnant mud pool devoid of birds and fish. 

There was a bit of a controversy surrounding what was or who was at fault with the lake being drained of water. Some said it was the climate; it hadn't rained as much, others said it was a local farmer who had diverted the water course on his farm.  

Public pressure won out in the end and the the lake has come back to life with the help of a clean strong flow of water coming in from the local river. The photo above was taken near where I took this one below in May.

I stopped at the lookout at the top of Lake Pukaki but Aoraki/Mt Cook was hidden in clouds. The nor'wester streaks were thinning out but the wind still blew strongly.

Lake Tekapo was extremely busy and I didn't feel inclined to wander amongst the lupins there; I could see that I was a few days late for the peak bloom, many of the stems were battered and bent. Of course this could be to do with the amount of people stumbling about in amongst them but I could also see seed pods forming. I sat in the ute and ate my lunch watching busloads of tourists swarming around the Church of the Good Shepherd. 

I then headed off to Lake MacGregor where I knew there would be a lovely display (above) and where unbeknown to me one of my photos, which was taken last year, had made the front cover of the latest Motor Caravanner magazine, due out later in the week! I got home to an email letting me know, how's that for coincidence!

I was disappointed to see that many of the lupins along the stream had been sprayed this year though, and the display was nowhere near as stunning. I stopped to take a photo of this merino mum and her lamb on the way out. I find them such interesting characters.

As I returned along the highway storm clouds were gathering over the mountains alongside Lake Pukaki in one direction...

...and in the other, it was sunny and blue as I crossed Lake Pukaki's spillway. Down the far end you can see the gathering cars in the lookout car park. Mt Cook was still not visible. 

I stopped at the dam gates to check out the canal for fishermen- they tend to congregate at the base of the power stations. So, I am told, do the fish- we haven't seen evidence of that yet.

The last time I stopped here was during my 'Big Snow' visit last June, what a difference!

The wind was still blowing strongly when I got home and right through the night and into the morning. We'd swapped rain for wind and it wasn't a joke. I've actually come to the conclusion that David likes the wind even less that rain!

We made the decision to head down the canal to the Ohau C campground at the head of Lake Benmore ahead of schedule just to try and get some respite from the blasted stuff. We usually pass the power station penstocks in just the ute so I took the opportunity of getting a photo this time with the 5th-wheeler on the back.

We found a relatively sheltered spot in amongst the willows in the casual camping area and settled down for a bit of peace and quiet.

It didn't take long for the locals to find us and I was put under strict instructions, "NOT TO BLOODY FEED THEM!!" (well you know how long that lasts).

The resident grebe swam by for a look too, I think he might have thought we'd brought him a mate- he certainly let us know all night he was looking for one!

How's that for the perfect spot and view out the kitchen window?

The next morning dawned sunny and calm. Things are looking up.

And we made our shortest shift ever; 10 metres to the right, out from the shelter of the trees and into the sunshine.

While David was setting up the Takacat dinghy, a friendly local (who didn't quack) motored past and handed over a lovely Rainbow trout for us. Sweet! People are so nice.

I had a wander around the campground which has several sections to it, this lovely pond and a boat ramp are at the centre. 

There are quite a number of semi-permanent sites with caravans (and residents) all set up for the summer season. The camping ground is cleared over winter.

 I climbed up the bank on the south side of the camp and found an amazing view...

The magnificent sight of Aoraki/Mt Cook in all her glory. Who needs the Lake Pukaki lookout when you have a view like this! (zoomed in admittedly)

But still perfect wide screen...

Here's a photo from our visit to the campground last May when we both commented how bleak and miserable it was in the cold, although still beautiful with the last of the autumn colours and snow on the range across the lake. We're now parked on the other side of those bare trees at the centre right.

Yesterday, I left David in his happy place and headed off for another tiki-tour, south to Omarama this time, to check out the lupins along the Ahuriri River.