View North From Taylor Dam

Taylor Dam is accessed from Taylor Pass Road to the south of Blenheim. The road rises gently to the actual dam and there is parking along the verge.
The view from there stretches from the Gateway Vineyard immediately below the dam to the Richmond Ranges to the north of Blenheim.
There is a small pool at the bottom of this image. It is reflecting the blue of the early morning sky.
The dogs and I frequently walk along the perimeter of the Gateway Vineyard alongside the willows bordering the Taylor River and beyond them Meadowbank Station.
The Richmond Ranges are covered in both native bush (forest) and commercial pine forest. They invariably look blue in the distance and receive twice, if not three times as much rainfall as the contrasting dry-looking Wither Hills in the south.
I am amazed at how the landscape has "greened up" since recent bouts of heavy rain in this area. The hills on the left-hand side of this image are looking quite brilliantly green compared with the dried out golden shades of only a few weeks ago.
Long may the grass grow to provide green feed for stock before we start getting the late Autumns frosts.