Of Coddled Eggs and Kings

Sunday, 10 December 2017

Back to Southland 's lush green hills and the sea.....

Being landlocked can at times leave me craving the sea. I miss the sound of sea birds ,the salt on my skin, the sound of waves, the wind and rain the vast expanse of water.....There are so many aspects of the sea that I find healing, calming and exciting .....

The man of the house was working in Southland, our old home province. It was fitting that I could go and stay with him as I was missing the sea and saw the trip as an opportunity for us to have time together in the outdoors. His sister provides cosy and gezellig accommodation that gives him a sense of peace whilst working, she has a magnificent garden and is great company I always have a good giggle when I stay.

I chose to take "Dr Handyman", digger driver ,creator of gardens to a garden I have long admired. It is called Maple Glen and is in Glenham a tiny township close to Wyndham .

https://www.google.com/maps/@-46.415446,168.834736,2497m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-GB

https://lensaddiction.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/maple-glen-gardens-is-a-must-see-hidden-treasure/

When we caught up with Muriel she was busy digging out heaps of Gigantium Lily's Cardiocrinum cordatum ,she remembered me and gave me a bag full and refused to let me pay .

I hadn't caught up with Muriel for over 10 years so it was great to stop and chat and also a chance buy some plants. It was also depressing to hear that all of her birds of which she has many have to be caged all the time ...no more flying free...or she may incur a $40.000.00 fine. I could feel the great burden and sadness this ruling carries ...for over 40 years the Davidsons have saved birds bred them and had them flying around the garden,the odd peacock , quail or guinea fowl still wander the grounds but all the flying birds, now in the cages flit about and hide under the rafters trying to cool down....Large parts of their garden have had to be sprayed and killed off due to environment Southland finding "noxious weeds".
As we left with a boot full of plants I hugged Muriel but felt the joy was robbed from her....Her life was about her garden and her birds.....How these laws have come along and wrecked lives....it was very sad.
With a boot full of plants we headed on to Fortrose Estuary for lunch and onto Waipapa Point lighthouse.

The small, windswept settlement of Fortrose sits near a lagoon at the mouth of the Mataura River on Toetoes Bay, in Southland's south-east. The site of an early Māori settlement and a whaling station for a couple of years in the 1830s

An interesting read ...see below and in particular read the last paragraph.....

As rain threatened we carried on to the Cemetery , a chapter in the book "Fortrose" was dedicated to the shipwreck of the "SS Tararua" . I was keen to find out more.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Tararua