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Over the last couple of weekends, I have been taking photos at Lions conventions. The first was at Methven, in the Lions district 202J. In the above photo is Neil Blake, who is the District Governor, and Denis Brown, the District's secretary. They are ready to start the meeting.Lions conventions are not all meetings. Later this day all turned up to a big party, the theme to which was 'White Gold'. It was amazing the different ways such a theme was portrayed, but most went dressed as cows or milk maids, or some other character related to the production of milk. There were even a couple of bulls there. It is tempting to put photos of this sort of thing on this blog, but I am a firm believer in the old adage 'what happens at convention stays at convention'. I can tell you that I start laughing when the first lot turn up, and don't stop all night. Many of the teams from various clubs have acts as well, and these are always funny. I wish to thank Denis Brown for having me, Neil Blake for the invitation, and the members of the Methven Lions Club for your help. It was a great weekend.
This is Maree Cooper. She is standing beside the headstone of her Great Grandparents in the Macraes Flat cemetery. She is telling me to hurry up because it is raining that light Easterly drizzle that is common in that area, though the locals would deny it.The search and research for pioneers is becoming more popular. Neil Roy, who farms in the Moonlight Valley, and is acknowledged as the local historian, tells me there are more people calling on him for information all the time. I wonder if Maree went back to the graveside the next day when the rain had stopped. It would have been the anniversary of Jeremiah Nolan's death.I have a personal interest in this. Jeremiah Nolan and Mary Mahoney were also my Great Grandparents.
The above photo was taken about half way around the Gold Rush Multisport event. This race totals about 375 klms, and this stage, which is the 17 klm run down the Central Otago Rail Trail, finishes at Lauder. These two have just come off the bridge over the Manuherikia River, and are a bit over two klms from Lauder. If you look, you will see they have the same number. They are in fact a tandem team. They have to kayak, bike and run for 375 klms together. And these two look so cheerful about it.
This year in Gold Rush there were 20 teams entered from various Secondary Schools in Otago and Southland. Some of them produced very good times, but the fastest was from Mt. Aspiring College from Wanaka. They were well organised, worked as a team, and were well ahead at the end.In the above photo, a young lady from one of the school teams gets near the end of the paddle on Lake Roxburgh on day one. If she looks exhausted it is no surprise. She has been on the water paddling into a head wind for about 3 hours. While the lake looks quite calm here, we were relatively sheltered. Further down the lake it was quite rough, and more than one arrived very wet. This lady knows that in about another 50 metres she can get out and hand the bib onto her cyclist team mate.It is interesting to note the different attitude schools have to this event. Some had large teams of supporters, even the Principal of one school was there, others leave it to the parents to do everything. One school issues 'Blues' to those who do well in this event.This event is very practical PE.
Gold Rush is a multi sport event held every year at about this time, based here in Alexandra. This year was the 13th held. Every year, I have been involved in either taking or printing photos for this 'marathon'. Gold Rush is the longest for distance event in New Zealand and is very popular. There is usually a waiting list to get in, and some come a long way to compete. Prizes are won by entering, but if you win you get a very nice trophy. The above photo is of Graham Sinnamon helping his team mate into a kayak. Taken about 5 minutes after the start, the kayaker has already run about 1.5k down to the river, where he is helped to get launched. He then paddles down Lake Roxburgh, usually taking a bit over two hours. Some take considerably longer.These two have done all 13 Gold Rushes, and this year their usual cyclist could not get here, so just hours before the start they were looking for anyone who could ride a bike. The one they found turned in very good times, so for the first time this team won their section, which I think was Mens Teams. I don't think they are old enough for the veterans, but I might be wrong. The determination shown by these guys over the years is really typical of the whole event. People just keep going and going, and next year they will come back so they can do it again.It is good to be involved in an event where everyone is determined to enjoy themselves. They will forget the pain.
This wedding took place at Mount Soho, a vineyard on the outskirts of Arrowtown, operated by namesakes Ed and Carol Lamont. It indeed has outstanding surroundings, but they became insignificant when these two appeared. A wedding full of surprises, and was a good example of intelligent planning. It really suited the couple, who are highly educated and motivated. Every wedding I do, I see or hear something new. This wedding was full of new things.I hope the photos did this couple justice.
The above photo was taken just before Karen and Darren's wedding at Toko Mouth. The original idea was to have the wedding on the beach, but the day just did not suit such a plan. There were many large drops of water falling from a very low sky, and the drops were very close together. Never mind, they are still married, and we turned the Toko Mouth hall into a studio after the wedding to do the formals. Traditionally, I go to where the Bride is getting dressed to start. Usually all the girls are there, and her parents, so I can get those photos done while she is 'perfect', before braving the elements. And I am always impressed by the 'togetherness' of all at this time. It seems that the Bride can do nothing without input from all there. Karen is getting her necklace on here, at the same time she gets opinion on it's suitability from her sister and the Bridesmaid. There was probably advice being given on other subjects as well, though usually I am concentrating so do not take much notice.And no one mentioned the weather again. It was not the main event.
Over the last couple of weekends, I have been taking photos at Lions conventions. The first was at Methven, in the Lions district 202J. In the above photo is Neil Blake, who is the District Governor, and Denis Brown, the District's secretary. They are ready to start the meeting.
