Nostalgia is not what is used to be!
As I get older it seems everything becomes more dynamic almost daily. But when we live in this paradise called New Zealand, and Wanaka the growing town I live in, I lament some things that pass under the guise of progress. Our new govt. seems bent on turning back the clock too as they seemingly contemplate undoing good work on legislation such as the Resource Management Act, and there are mutterings about our privacy and rights being compromised, and exploration mining in National Parks, and did I mention the insidious way an Aust. Company is starting to promote more dams on the Clutha River.
Why too does John Key remind me of Tony Blair associated with "over the top" regulation and eroded privacy! We need to learn from history!
Life here was once more fun, but if I get "down' about this I remind myself to look up at the mountains - they endure and are a constant, along with the westerly sighing and sometimes roaring as I write.
It was only 16 years ago I was part of a horse trekking company right here in town, but for many reasons, not the least being traffic and urban sprawl taking over grazing, we shut it down several years ago.
We used to mainly take clients up Mt Iron...
I forget the names of these neddies but one might be Monty. I'll never forget Barney though: he'd play fetch with a tennis ball, use his teeth to untie the hitching ropes on other horses, go under electric fences and stick his head in the kitchen window to see what was happening, and he was a big horse too.
One night he escaped from his solo occupation of a paddock near Mt Iron, and he galloped past our house to be with his mates grazing down by lake. We heard the thunder of hooves and simply exclaimed, "that'll be Barney - we better go and let him in the paddock". Imagine if that happened today - what a fuss there'd be! And there was another time when about twelve of them got out at 8 am one Sat. and galloped towards town. We headed them off on the out-skirts, but oh what fun and how magnificent a sight. But if that happened today it'd be chaos of one sort or another and I doubt anyone would be amused - probably more scared and we'd probably make national TV news!
Feeding out post snow storms was always pretty, but it was wise to put out many small piles of hay so the horses would not all fight over one. They get quite hungry in these conditions...
A few valleys were easier to access back then too...
We used to do the odd trip overland to the lake outlet - the start of the Clutha River in fact, and the Asians used to love the colour of the grass...
Bye for now - got to fly - work time!
Why too does John Key remind me of Tony Blair associated with "over the top" regulation and eroded privacy! We need to learn from history!
Life here was once more fun, but if I get "down' about this I remind myself to look up at the mountains - they endure and are a constant, along with the westerly sighing and sometimes roaring as I write.
It was only 16 years ago I was part of a horse trekking company right here in town, but for many reasons, not the least being traffic and urban sprawl taking over grazing, we shut it down several years ago.
We used to mainly take clients up Mt Iron...
I forget the names of these neddies but one might be Monty. I'll never forget Barney though: he'd play fetch with a tennis ball, use his teeth to untie the hitching ropes on other horses, go under electric fences and stick his head in the kitchen window to see what was happening, and he was a big horse too.
One night he escaped from his solo occupation of a paddock near Mt Iron, and he galloped past our house to be with his mates grazing down by lake. We heard the thunder of hooves and simply exclaimed, "that'll be Barney - we better go and let him in the paddock". Imagine if that happened today - what a fuss there'd be! And there was another time when about twelve of them got out at 8 am one Sat. and galloped towards town. We headed them off on the out-skirts, but oh what fun and how magnificent a sight. But if that happened today it'd be chaos of one sort or another and I doubt anyone would be amused - probably more scared and we'd probably make national TV news!
Feeding out post snow storms was always pretty, but it was wise to put out many small piles of hay so the horses would not all fight over one. They get quite hungry in these conditions...
A few valleys were easier to access back then too...
We used to do the odd trip overland to the lake outlet - the start of the Clutha River in fact, and the Asians used to love the colour of the grass...
Bye for now - got to fly - work time!
Labels: Clutha River, New Zealand, Wanaka
posted by Donald at
3:09 PM
4 Comments:
Hi there - your recent comments were helpful. Worrying is both a habit and disposition I am trying to avoid. The sick child, I gather is improving which is good since this is exam week. I hope the office shift went well in the end. Sounds like a very tedious task.
I liked the story about the crazy horse, oh and did enjoy also the follow up reading about stamper batterys.
Your concerns for your environment are somewhat mirrored here by the construction of a huge stadium. You will no doubt be aware of the controversy about that.
Cheers Marg
Hi Marg
Thanks for the comments. It's good to hear your child's health is on the mend. My son begins his exams next week, so where possible I'm facilitating peace and quiet!
I knew there has been controversy about the stadium, but lost the thread, but it's obviously still a hot topic. I'm not sure what the issues are, but will no doubt pick it up again.
Cheers
Donald
Kia ora Donald,
Just returned from 3 days in the Ruahine camping by a stream and day tripping up tops. A wise choice as the weather closed in.
Sitting there by my little camp fire cup of tea I could not help thinking why can't we just leave places like this alone. Why does every thing become related to value in terms of money. I was the wealthiest man in the world for three days, and I didn't have a penny on me.
Rave on my friend. Have a great week.
Cheers,
Robb
Nice one Robb - I believe I can smell the smoke!
Busy here shifting stuff around and thus not getting out and about, so I hope to remedy this when all is sorted.
There definitely needs to be a huge shift of awareness and our landscapes are only part of it. Hopefully like the universe our small part of it will smooth out too, and some of the so called wealth distributed more widely with a shift of currency as to how we value what many appear to take for granted.
Cheers
Donald
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home