Warding off Jack Frost- Cromwell

Catch-up (early October, 2019)

After I'd completed my mega road trip from Winton to Cromwell & Lawrence return, to photograph the fruit blossoms, a photography acquaintance mentioned that I should do the trip again, at least to Cromwell, to take photos of the blossoms after the frost protection sprinklers were switched on in the orchards. 

Sunrise over Cromwell

How do frost protection sprinklers work? Coating a tree or vine with ice to protect new buds & blossom from frost may seem counter-intuitive but there is a science behind it.

Overhead low pressure sprinkler systems provide a high level of protection, the key is to form clear ice on the plant. Sprinklers deliver just enough water to glaze the plants in layers of ice, rather than soaking them and forming one massive layer of ice that may cause more cooling before it freezes.

Clear ice means that an endothermic reaction is taking place and the warmth of the plant is being trapped inside it. If the ice starts to become cloudy, the plant is losing heat and that’s when damage can occur. Water spraying starts well before the frost forms and continues until after the ice has completely melted from the trees. If water stops spraying on the clear ice, it goes from being endothermic to exothermic, and the heat loss and ice can then damage the fruit.

Drive back to Cromwell? 'What a good idea', I thought, the seed was planted. It would mean a 4am start to cover the 200+km from Winton to Cromwell but I was up for the challenge. Like a hoar frost, iced blossoms had been on my 'must capture' list for awhile, I'd just never been in the right place at the right time. Now was my chance. 

My friend had access to a Cromwell orchard's temperature gauge and he informed me by text late one evening that there was a predicted frost the following morning and I should be ready to go.

It turned out to be a very light frost and the sprinklers weren't needed but thankfully he was able to text me before I had left Winton. The next time I heard from him was a week or so later but unfortunately we had left Winton and were exploring the Milford Road by then, so I missed out again.

But as luck would have it, and after our short visit to Mavora Lakes, we were unexpectedly back in Cromwell parked in the NZMCA Park at Lowburn when very early one morning, around 3am, I woke with start to a very loud noise filling the air.

Once I figured out where I was- you get that when you're constantly on the move, it's sometimes takes a few moments to visualise where you're parked and in what direction you're facing- I realised that I could hear wind turbines and helicopters roaring into action, preparing to fight off a frost. 

How about that! I had no need to drive 400km this time, I was a mere 4kms down the road from the orchards! I was ready to go and out the gate well before the sun came up. The first orchards were still in darkness but I could hear the soft click, clack of the sprinkler heads turning and the gentle patter of water falling through the trees to the ground.

I carried on to the far end of Cromwell and then around onto a back road; sprinklers swishing back & forward everywhere I looked, a helicopter down very low in one orchard, weaving back and forward along the ends of the rows and the roar of wind fans and turbines in others.

All three methods obviously work but I'm not too sure how the orchardists decide which is the best way to go; sprinkler systems seemed to be most numerous.

Perhaps it's money, helicopters would cost a fortune, maybe there isn't access to water or perhaps the wind turbines can be shifted around the orchard more easily.

I had overlooked one major difficulty which now seems rather obvious. I was soaking wet within minutes of getting out of the ute- even with a rain jacket & gumboots on.

It didn't matter that I was ducking in and out of the passing overhead sprinkler trying to shoot a blossom before the sprinkler passed over again because if the sprinkler next door didn't get me the neighbour on the other side would. They were all out of sequence. 

Luckily I had an extra jacket in the ute and there were a couple of large towels packed into the back seat. I used one to cover the seat as I was climbing in and out in my wet gear all the time and the other one to wipe down my camera and dry my hair! I looked like a drowned rat. 

I was a little worried about my camera though, it's weather proof but not water proof and also, as I was zooming my lens in and out, water was tracking inside the lens.

Later when I arrived home and had dried my camera and lens out as much as I could, I left them on the bed in the warm sun to dry them out. I opened the window a little so any water would evaporate rather than condensate in the warmth. It worked although it did take a few hours each day to get rid of the moisture. Next time I need a waterproof cover for my camera.

After flitting back and forward through town and up and down down many of the back roads chasing sprinklers and easy to access orchards, I stopped at the Wooing Tree Vineyard, right in the middle of town. The sprinklers were also working overtime here and...

...at River Rock Estate, a little boutique winery across the road...

...where I managed to do a few close up shots...

...without getting drenched as I could keep outside the sprinkler's reach. 

Then with the sun climbing higher, the ice melting and enough blossoms photos to sink a ship, I thought I might just add a few more before I headed home. 

I'd passed this row of beautiful old crab-apple trees numerous times during the last couple of hours, now I stopped to take some photos of the gorgeous blossom.

Never satisfied and always striving for better photos, I can't wait until the next frost event. If you're passing through Cromwell next spring and you spot someone with a camera, ducking & diving around the fruit trees on the edge of an orchard covered from head to toe in ocean going wet weather gear, you'll know who it is! 

A Lighthouse & A Big Tree- East Cape; Part 2

Catch-up

Continuing on from Part 1

Once we moved the gathering of horses on from the entrance to the lighthouse walk, it was head down bum up as we set off at a steady pace...

  ...to climb the 800 steps to East Cape Lighthouse. Someone has helpfully carved our progress into the steps; '150' (Really? Feels more like 250), 'There's 301 to go' (I've lost count by now and also read it as, I've done 301 steps and still have 500 to go. Bloody hell!) and finally '800, you did it! (thankyou kind person for your encouragement!). We pass fellow RVers, Angelique, Ken & Louell on their way down- they're staying at Moreporks Nest as well. David plods on, one foot after the other, steady as she goes...

...until we finally arrive at the top. The lighthouse is a popular attraction, many tourists make the pilgrimage to the top to be one of the first in the world to see the new day's sun rise over the eastern horizon.

The East Coast Lighthouse- 14 metres high, 154 metres from sea level and fully automated in 1985.

The views from the top are magnificent; looking south along the coast towards Gisborne...

...east towards East Island (imagine living on that tiny rock as the lighthouse keepers family did in the early days)...

...and west over farmland, with the lighthouse carpark and old buildings in the centre bottom of the shot.

The cloud formation provides some great leading lines for my photos.

We were disappointed to see how rundown the reserve around the lighthouse had become since our visit in 2011. The information panels that once told about the wildlife and East Island had been smashed along with a nearby seat. Rubbish had also been thrown in the bush and over the edge. Idle hands while people wait for the sunrise perhaps?

We headed back down to the carpark, passing a several groups of people coming up the stairs. At the bottom, a large group of Chinese tourists are talking excitedly to some of the horses who are standing by the track. A couple of the children are holding handfuls of grass and they ask me if they are allowed to feed the horses. I show the children how to hold their hands flat to feed them and left them having their photos taken. I also warn them not to go behind or try to touch the foals. I bet they decided that feeding the horses was the best experience that day!

We head back to Te Araroa, stopping to have a late lunch over looking the sea. There are a number of old derelict houses along the coast road, the one on the right doesn't looked to have changed at all in the 7 years since our last visit.

Just to prove that the signs are there for a reason...

...and that cattle, like the horses in the previous blog post, like to cool off on the sand too.

Back in Te Araroa we check out Te Waha-o-Rerekohu, New Zealand's oldest and largest pohutukawa tree which stands in the corner of the local school grounds. Te Ara, The Encyclopedia of NZ says the tree is thought to be around 600 years old but the sign says 350yo so who's right is anyone's guess. Still, it's a pretty impressive tree, its more than 21 meters tall and 40 meters in diameter at its widest point (click on the photo to read the sign)

This should give you some perspective, it's a massive tree!

The day wouldn't be complete without another horse encounter; we come across this little fellow just down the road from Moreporks Nest, he was happily wandering down the middle of the road but when he spotted us coming he made a break for it and trotted off down a driveway.

Out & About Around Wanaka

I’ve gotten a bit ahead of myself with my blog posts lately, so while I’ve had a bit of time (due to the fact that the strength of the cellular network in the Arrowtown area is beyond a joke & I couldn't upload a brass razoo) I’ve written up the missing blogs. Hopefully once I get these all posted I’ll be right up to date!….. That is until tomorrow when we’ll no doubt be off on the next adventure.

We went up to Wanaka a few days before the airshow and while we could have stopped in a number of camp sites located very near the airfield we decided we’d get back on the grid, charge the batteries, do the laundry and see a bit of Wanaka at the same time. We stumbled on the Lake Outlet Holiday Park, a traditional kiwi campground, just like they used to be. In fact the drive in on a gravel road through a pine forest and what looked like sand dunes (can you have sand dunes on a lake?) reminded me of driving into Opotama Holiday Camp at Mahia in Northern Hawkes Bay where I spend many childhood holidays.

Even though the camp ground was just 6kms from Wanaka town it felt a million miles away, a secluded and quiet spot on the shores of Lake Wanaka right beside the Clutha River outlet. The same Clutha River that we picnicked beside in Balclutha very close to it’s mouth. So we’ve been at both ends of the river but not travelled the middle yet! The camp ground was terraced down to the lake edge with many of the sites partitioned off by kanuka bush. Quail roamed throughout the campground and at nights the rabbits came out to play. It was no wonder there was hardly any grass.

We had a great spot at the end of a top terrace looking up Stevensons Arm & overlooking Dublin Bay & the river outlet. Everyday a range of motorhomes and caravans arrived, mostly just for the night, although in the run up to Easter these two tiny caravans arrived for a few days. David called them the hobbit caravans, they again reminded me of our childhood holidays. Once, a long time ago Mum & Dad hired(or borrowed) a two berth caravan for our family (4 kids) to holiday at Bay Park at Mt Maunganui. I think it was called Ocean Beach & it was right beside the old speedway with huge pine trees dotted throughout.

How do you fit a family of six in a two berth caravan? Mum & Dad inside, two kids in the awning & two kids in the back of the Holden stationwagon! Us kids had turns at sleeping in the awning & the car, that was until my brother went missing. After a frantic search he was found a fair number of metres away curled up in his sleeping bag fast asleep under one of those huge pine trees with a pile of pine needles for a soft mattress. He’d wiggled out under the awning and gone sleep walking. I think he was locked in the car for the remainder of the nights.

Central Otago badly needs a decent amount of rain, the lake level is very low which would have made it hard for us to launch the inflatable if we had decided to get it out. As it was the weather wasn’t the best, a little cold & overcast although the sun shone at some stage most days. All around this area, right from down Cromwell way through to the lower slopes of the mountains west of Wanaka are thousands of briar bushes growing over the barren & dry ground and in amongst the native scrub. And of course at this time of the year the bushes are covered with brilliant red rosehips (or are they called briarhips?). A fruit eating bird’s paradise I would think and probably the reason why we have seen so many hawks, dozens & dozens of them. Between the smaller birds & the rabbits they would have an endless supply of prey.

Around the lake edge especially near the town centre in Roys Bay were dozens of poplars looking splendid in their many shades of gold. I visited the area a couple of times but didn’t managed to get a blue sky to offset the beautiful colour.

There is one particular tree, a very small willow that is quite famous amongst photographers, both here in NZ and overseas. It grows on a mound all by itself surrounded by water near the lakes edge. It makes a great subject at sunrise, in stormy weather & also with its autumn cloak on. I say surrounded by water because it usually is, but not now that the lake is so low. Never mind, that shot will have to wait until we next visit.

I thought I’d give the willow a black & white treatment, I was quite pleased with the outcome. So now I can add this one to many different interpretations out there (no pun intended)

Across the river is Dublin Bay, a DOC conservation area so one day while out exploring we drove down to the lake edge on that side of the river to explore. The area was quite isolated and and looked a little dubious going by a couple of burnt out car bodies, some wheely tracks & these skins on a fence! We didn’t stay too long.

Nor pigs.......

Further down the Clutha, past the airfield & just before Luggate, the road branches off heading east, and crosses the river on the historic single lane “Luggate Red Bridge”. The bridge was built in 1914 and features a 66 metre Baltimore span.