Upper Taylor River Track

It blew a gale during the night. A real Nor-wester, hot and dry on this side of the South Island, this wind drops all its rain on the western side of the island. That wind scuppered my plans to walk on the Wither Hills at 6am this morning. It is not nice on the Withers in a Nor-wester. It can be very nasty and gives rise to severe camera shake even with a tripod. So I cut my losses and resolved to do my blipping while out walking our two dogs along the Upper Taylor River track. Fergus and Gypsy need to be exercised every day come rain, shine, gales, frost, thunder. Their walk cannot be missed. The upper Taylor is a brilliant place for dogs. A river to swim in, rabbits to chase, sometimes nasty smelly dead things to roll in and other friendly dogs to say hello to and to sniff. The track is never crowded. I only ever see a handful of mountain bikers and a few other dog-walkers there. No skate boards, no scooters, no trail bikes. Bliss. Just the sound of the wind in the trees, kingfisher calls and quail families abound. I heard my first cicada this morning - a sure sign of true Summer. In my image today you will see the wild fennel on the right hand side of the track. It borders the river bank and smells wonderful. On the left of the track is one of the vineyards that border the track. In the distance one sees the sun-bleached hills of 'Meadowbank', a large farm and vineyard. Beyond those hills is a mountain called 'The Ned'. It is on a 'station' called 'Tempello'. Yes, the Upper Taylor is a special place indeed.