five weeks on the ''Toll Gate"'..for the summer 'back country' roads

[mike newman]

....this annual 'event' normally starts on Dec 26th..running through untill late April ,including  Easter weekend,  however due to the previous winter's extensive flood damage,with ongoing 'flood repairs'...and the Department of Conservation  , ownership of some of this vast area..plus another player in the form of "Trans-Power''   who own the power pylons which shift power from 'our'   South Island up to the legions of Liberal voters in the North Island..  (  @35desoto    excepted .. )...and yet another vague Govt outfit called   "Land Information New Zealand ".....there was much dissension in the ranks of these  noble entities as to weather or not the peasants could be let loose, this year, on these  farmed , back country roads.....

The Rainbow Station  boss,  is a vital  'cog' in the process of getting the road open...he is a good bloke..and likes to see the public have this opportunity, however the various Govt departments railed against him, insisting the road was 'unsafe'  due to specifically one  "Sedgemere Bridge".... This bridge had taken a bit of a pounding on the ''true left'' abutment.and was deemed to be unsafe....and further, it required an Engineer's  assesment  before it could be used by the general public....Govt speak, which simply means...''Can't be bothered...haven't got time...to hard basket..just go away.  etc""

One of my Daughters is an avid photography   'buff'.....and works nearby, thus any time she gets off work,she takes her little Toyota  'RAV' 4x4  car and heads up into this country,with the consent and a gate key from the Rainbow Station Farm Manager.....thus when near the Sedgemere Bridge, one afternoon, she took a pcture of a 6x4  tractor unit  with a tandem axle rock tipulater, crossing this bridge , which was to ''unsafe''  for  the peasants vehicles to cross.................!!!

So the road opened for four weeks...which stretched into five weeks, but before the sheduled  closure, the rain came, all   thirteen inches of it, then it snowed, but  the unprecedented  amount of  February  rain had then washed out the roads in various places....thus terminating   the road use , untill possibly around Easter weekend

We had large numbers of motor bikes going through this year.....more so than normal..but nothing is 'normal'   any more its seems.....sadly  one mature rider came to grief, I figured it must happen eventually...this 'run'  from Rainbow through  the back country to the   little town of Hanmer, (  which is on the main drag  down the South Island ) is regarded in the 'top five ' motor bike rides in NZ...thus  some of the younger brigade look upon it like the ""Baja 500''   .....and ride accordingly... Last year one lad got hurt badly....this year  it was terminal....Few pictures..more to come !!

Mike

local station owner, on a three week trip, away from the roads

 

[mike newman]

'whoops'...sigh

.....pics after the rain....waterfalls off the hills.....river ripped out more flats in the third pic...small creeks rip out the road in numerous places...bit of roading to rescue the Triumph 800  cc Road Bike...my old Cook, had a wee garden ..pic of rain and the snow aftermath....and of course..there is me ...reading a great selection of stories from an old Westerner...book very  kindly sent by a RP member , from  Nebraska...(this during three days of heavy rain...)

[mike newman]

...a few more  !!

.....when finally the powers  that be, decided  the road could open, one divine lunatic  from the Dept   of Conservation  chained the Sedgemere Bridge 'shut'..so Daughter  and I went up there with my little truck, generator etc  and cut the chains and padlocks...!!!

This was at the bidding of the Rainbow Station boss...he had just had a gutsfull of the bureaucracy at that point...

A picture of the "Tarndale Homestead'' ..now part of the  500  thousand  acre adjacent    "Molesworth Station'  That homestead is the highest elevation  in New Zealand..now unoccupied, though

Mike

[Dasnake]

If you changed the book for an ipad that pic would be me.

 

[ray54]

Thanks again for wonderful pictures. 

 

😉 I am sure most deplorables here will all work to send you hacksaw blades when you get locked up defying the "smart" people that think they rule the world. But the way the world is looking we all maybe in jail as  well. 🤣

[just Dave]

@mike newmanThanks for the pictures Mike  Looks like a good life . In the picture of you with the book I really enjoyed seeing your fire, ..you were not f.....g around when you put that big one in....all nighter I guess.

[mike newman]

36 minutes ago, just Dave said:

@mike newmanThanks for the pictures Mike  Looks like a good life . In the picture of you with the book I really enjoyed seeing your fire, ..you were not f.....g around when you put that big one in....all nighter I guess.

G'day Dave...yep....that fire place is the original  1890's fire place...and we had some good evenings sitting in front of it....Not that it was cold...just there is  ''wood to burn ''  (a vague pun there ??!!)...and when the rain came the fire was going all day...Alway s have ''side logs'' in a  fire place of that dimension....

Mike

[mike newman]

2 hours ago, Dasnake said:

If you changed the book for an ipad that pic would be me.

 

''ipad'' thingy would not function that well up there,Jake....No power points !!!

Mike

[Dasnake]

5 minutes ago, mike newman said:

''ipad'' thingy would not function that well up there,Jake....No power points !!!

Mike

I tell ya mike, getting down to just this forum and a nostalgia forum I'm slowly going back to reading especially when my latest issue of true west come in, your looking good my friend, take care.

[nomorejohndeere]

what crocs want to be when they grow up.....

 

[35desoto]

11 hours ago, mike newman said:

....this annual 'event' normally starts on Dec 26th..running through untill late April ,including  Easter weekend,  however due to the previous winter's extensive flood damage,with ongoing 'flood repairs'...and the Department of Conservation  , ownership of some of this vast area..plus another player in the form of "Trans-Power''   who own the power pylons which shift power from 'our'   South Island up to the legions of Liberal voters in the North Island..  (  @35desoto    excepted .. )...and yet another vague Govt outfit called   "Land Information New Zealand ".....there was much dissension in the ranks of these  noble entities as to weather or not the peasants could be let loose, this year, on these  farmed , back country roads.....

The Rainbow Station  boss,  is a vital  'cog' in the process of getting the road open...he is a good bloke..and likes to see the public have this opportunity, however the various Govt departments railed against him, insisting the road was 'unsafe'  due to specifically one  "Sedgemere Bridge".... This bridge had taken a bit of a pounding on the ''true left'' abutment.and was deemed to be unsafe....and further, it required an Engineer's  assesment  before it could be used by the general public....Govt speak, which simply means...''Can't be bothered...haven't got time...to hard basket..just go away.  etc""

One of my Daughters is an avid photography   'buff'.....and works nearby, thus any time she gets off work,she takes her little Toyota  'RAV' 4x4  car and heads up into this country,with the consent and a gate key from the Rainbow Station Farm Manager.....thus when near the Sedgemere Bridge, one afternoon, she took a pcture of a 6x4  tractor unit  with a tandem axle rock tipulater, crossing this bridge , which was to ''unsafe''  for  the peasants vehicles to cross.................!!!

So the road opened for four weeks...which stretched into five weeks, but before the sheduled  closure, the rain came, all   thirteen inches of it, then it snowed, but  the unprecedented  amount of  February  rain had then washed out the roads in various places....thus terminating   the road use , untill possibly around Easter weekend

We had large numbers of motor bikes going through this year.....more so than normal..but nothing is 'normal'   any more its seems.....sadly  one mature rider came to grief, I figured it must happen eventually...this 'run'  from Rainbow through  the back country to the   little town of Hanmer, (  which is on the main drag  down the South Island ) is regarded in the 'top five ' motor bike rides in NZ...thus  some of the younger brigade look upon it like the ""Baja 500''   .....and ride accordingly... Last year one lad got hurt badly....this year  it was terminal....Few pictures..more to come !!

Mike

local station owner, on a three week trip, away from the roads

 

Gee thanks Mike lol

Must make the effort to take up your offer of a tour of inspection before too long. This Woke lot up this way drive me crazy

 

Cheers Brett

[KWRB]

Hey Mike, if it gets too quiet there, I could send you some music to pass the time. Just say the word!

Joking aside, I VERY MUCH appreciate your posts. Your country is gorgeous. So gorgeous, there aren't many other landscapes on the planet entitled to use the same word.

[jeeper61]

15 hours ago, mike newman said:

is regarded in the 'top five ' motor bike rides in NZ...thus  some of the younger brigade look upon it like the ""Baja 500'' 

I don't understand the need to go real fast on the gravel their not in an actual race there is no trophy.

3 guys I knew were into the crotch rockets always rode way too fast they all bought it when a car pulled out from a side road and they were doing 100+  

Thank you for sharing the adventures we enjoy the photos  

[Wes806]

Nice pics Mike. Always enjoy your posts. You have some beautiful county over there. Thanks for sharing.

[acem]

Thanks for posting!

[just Dave]

On 2/19/2022 at 5:34 PM, mike newman said:

.that fire place is the original  1890's fire place..

It is hard to imagine anything built today will be here in 130 years?   I have always felt that the fire is the heart of the home, a glass door wood stove going all the time here. When my boy's were still at home that was the one thing that always drew them down stairs so we could visit a little. Cheers Mike

[vtfireman85]

On 2/20/2022 at 9:31 AM, acem said:

Thanks for posting!

I don’t want to hear one more word about my crocs if you aren’t going to jump all over whatever these things are…. They look like Uggs down under. 

[KWRB]

7 hours ago, vtfireman85 said:

I don’t want to hear one more word about my crocs if you aren’t going to jump all over whatever these things are…. They look like Uggs down under. 

I think they're a traditional footwear for that part of the world, which Ugg appropriated. @mike newman Probably made them himself from the sheep there!

[vtfireman85]

29 minutes ago, KWRB said:

I think they're a traditional footwear for that part of the world, which Ugg appropriated. @mike newman Probably made them himself from the sheep there!

With a sharp rock an a bone needle no doubt. 

[mike newman]

On 2/21/2022 at 12:56 AM, KWRB said:

Hey Mike, if it gets too quiet there, I could send you some music to pass the time. Just say the word!

Joking aside, I VERY MUCH appreciate your posts. Your country is gorgeous. So gorgeous, there aren't many other landscapes on the planet entitled to use the same word.

KWRB...now in respect of you music offer....I must remind you that New Zealand   is known for two, rather  facetious names...namely ''The Land of the Long White Cloud  "...which, now after this Kung Flu that our vain glorious leader has  demonised  is ....""The Land of the Long White Shroud  ''...and  perhaps, less provocatively.""The Shakey Isles"...due to the many earthquakes these Islands experience....

Thus.....KWRB....knowing your''kind of '' music.....which is at the extreme end..or even beyond   the human tolerance  for   noise..I will decline your most generous offer,simply of course, on the basis that   the  'noise'' could have the crust quaking......

As for the NZ landscape......''beauty is in the eye of the beholder''..in my travells in the great US of  A...especially when Mr Ronald   R    was sitting on the lid......there are some spectacular scenery  to be seen.....

Mike

[mike newman]

19 hours ago, KWRB said:

I think they're a traditional footwear for that part of the world, which Ugg appropriated. @mike newman Probably made them himself from the sheep there!

....thankyou for putting the wearer of plastic footwear..(.known as "Krocs"  I believe  )...in his place....Yes, surprising   choice for one of Vermonts  old   Fox hunters..but I guess it takes all sorts....

The ''traditional   footwear '' that you so accurately described, KWRB, are called 'slippers''...and are worn around the house, by folk of my ilk..people  of culture...and refinement, thus the coarse  term the old sparky used to describe them, was a long way off beat...sort of sounded like something   Zog would have used..in his cave in Vermont a day or two ago....

...and indeed made from the sheeps back....warm and comfy !!!

19 hours ago, vtfireman85 said:

With a sharp rock an a bone needle no doubt. 

..... no   Seth....we have left the stone age , quite recently  actually  ...these "slippers ''   were crafted here in New Zealand, by a team of trained slipper makers, using   modern technology  ..one of a few ''foot'' orientated  equipment   that is domestically made, still

However, our so called indigenous  people, who are getting the preferential treatment these days, used the   quote :    'sharp rock  an a bone needle''    system you are obviously familiar with, but to cover various other  appendages...rather than feet.....You could say they had ''quaint habits''...

Mike

[just Dave]

@mike newmanI just saw some older posts on Troll, old truck pictures and hauling you posted. Those pictures belong  in a book so years from now some one can pick it up and see without passwords or batteries..... We used to collect photo albums from those before us... in the future will people take the time to look at photos on a outdated phone in a drawer. I had my Folks slides put on DVD some years back. I went through every one with Mom to weed out blurry and unknowns....about one in three keepers.  You know I still can't let go of the originals...I remember you saying your Daughter was a Photographer,  I bet she will take good care of your history.  Take care

[mike newman]

6 minutes ago, just Dave said:

@mike newmanI just saw some older posts on Troll, old truck pictures and hauling you posted. Those pictures belong  in a book so years from now some one can pick it up and see without passwords or batteries..... We used to collect photo albums from those before us... in the future will people take the time to look at photos on a outdated phone in a drawer. I had my Folks slides put on DVD some years back. I went through every one with Mom to weed out blurry and unknowns....about one in three keepers.  You know I still can't let go of the originals...I remember you saying your Daughter was a Photographer,  I bet she will take good care of your history.  Take care

...I always had a camera in a  ;dozer....excavator or truck......I still have hundreds, literally , of 35mm    colour slides of various escapades, taken over many years..

..photo's   are funny things...in the context of a picture taken yesterday , is looked at ....a comment made ...then said picture may be cast into ''picture wilderness ''  for years.......Then years later it is looked at....and some ..even all of the folk..machinery, whatever in this picture  are  gone...scrap yard  or under the grass,now.....thus the picture brings back a veritable flood of memories......Guess that is the  intended purpose  !!!!!!!

Thanks Dave  ....

Mike