Central Plateau, North Island

Central Plateau, North Island
View from a friend's farm

Sunday 22 July 2012

A Drive to the Hills

This morning Hugh suggested we have a day out, and we  went inland from Hunterville. There are large farms there, lots of hills, some streams and  some small bridges for access to farms across the other side .In the paddock far below, the men  were moving a huge mob of sheep, this man had his other dog working the sheep off the hill to the left, he was only a speck in the distance, but we could hear his calls as he ordered or whistled his dog. The cropped photo shows the man with his  other 2 dogs, they are  having a well earned rest.
One man waiting 1
One man waiting 1
Here are the sheep,  moving across to the right.
Some of the flock
We stopped for a boil up ,coffee and sandwiches , and across the road were more lambs, one pure black. And next to the wagon, one huge old pine tree. I wondered how many birds had made their nests there over  the years.
Black lamb and mumOld Man Pine Tree
The yellow flowers of the Wattle tree are out in full, and the little mauve flower might be a weed, name unknown, Janet suggests it is Convolvulus, both taken with Canon 550D, macro lens.
Wattle flowersMacro lens wild flower
We carried on, to Turakina Beach. 4WD, on the black sand, to a ford out to the surf. I have no great sense of adventure, so was thankful, relieved, trying very hard not to show how happy I was that the tide was in too far and we did not cross the stretch of water.The white marker shows the possible /probable  track to follow to the sand further out. There were many pieces of driftwood, with shapes that could stretch your imagination, I could almost see a small calf in this one, head curled under one back leg, ears hidden. This photo is courtesy of Hugh, with his Canon 40D and a Sigma lens.
Driftwoodtoo much water to cross
Quotation of the day, from Ernest Lehman
“ After all, the wool of a black sheep is just as warm”
Cheers from Jean

10 comments:

Georgia said...

Love that quote, Jean.

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

How beautiful it is where you live, so peaceful and old world. Love that little black lamb and the quote. That piece of driftwood is really neat too.

Have a wonderful week ~ FlowerLady

Brit said...

Nice to see pictures of the countryside / Brit

Michaele said...

Oh I do wish I had a Hugh who said things like "Lets have a day out."
I love, love, love sheep : )

Lindsjö taxar said...

Great pictures! What a lot of sheep? You have to have good dogs to bring them to the grazing .

Gayle said...

Love the sheep! and all the green fields. The black sand is beautiful. I would love to explore the beaches there.

Susan Heather said...

Lovely photos of great countryside.
The weed is periwinkle.

Nancy J said...

I love getting comments. I have never liked the black sand of our west coast beaches, east coast ones have white,silver glittery stuff. Thanks Susan, I didn't look up the plant book first, but the flower is lovely.I remember Princess Diana had a knitted jersey, with white sheep, and one black one on it.Dogs, more to come on another day. Cheers, Jean

Lori Skoog said...

I love all the sheep and the way the dogs work them. Beautiful countryside.

Jean, I really appreciate all your visits, and see you on many of the same blogs I follow.

Nancy J said...

yes Lori, I like seeing the dogs work too.I might do a post on all the different working dogs down here. And visits, I appreciate all visits to me too, and yes, we share some blogs.friends ask how do I find the other blogs, and sometimes by a search, or by a comment or by looking for something in particular.They , in each different way, make my days so much richer for their words. Cheers, Jean.