The Woolshed

Early this morning twenty Camera Club members travelled to a high country property up the Waihopai Valley for a field trip. The property is called “The Throne” and has been farmed by the Dillon family for many years. The present owner has planted thousands of exotic trees on parts of the farm and thus there are many birds living great lives in the area. The property is incredibly green at the moment with very lush grass growth. To me it looked almost unlike Marlborough High Country scenery …it is just so green. In some ways I prefer to capture images in the drier times of the year when the landscape has been sunburnt to golden browns.
Opportunities for photography were boundless and time just flew by. From landscapes of the panoramic vistas, to close-ups of native flowering creepers and trees, insect life on one of the ponds, animals and farm buildings …. We were spoilt for choice.
Some of us spent quite a lot of time in the woolshed. It looks and smells very atmospheric in there. This shed is an unusual design and is what is known as a “four stand shed”. Four sheep can be shorn at the same time using the belt driven shearing machines.
Today’s image shows three of our group capturing details in the shearing stand area. NN at the far end is standing by a big open door. There is a long drop to the ground from that doorway. That is where the trucks pull up in order to load the big bales of wool once shearing is over.
Hopefully later in the year we will get to visit other properties when shearing is being carried out. That will make for some interesting future blips.