Cambrian's Caretaker

About 45 minutes drive up the valley from where I live, is a small community known as Cambrians. It is named after somewhere in Wales. Many years ago it had a hotel with a Welsh name. These days it has a few residents, and even more holiday homes. Recently, the school building which used to be there was returned, and put back on it's original sight.
One of the assets the village has is Bob ldeBerry. He has been living there for some years, knows everyone, misses nothing, and has a refreshing outlook on life, one that can only be nurtured by staying out of the rush of life in the big smoke. He lives on his own, mostly, but never seems to be alone, as all sorts of people call and see him. He makes excellent home brew, but I am sure this is not the reason he has so many visitors. He sure can tell a story or two.
He is pictured above, leaning on the doorway of his mud brick house.
To find out more about Bob, simply click on 'Cambrian Common Forrest Blog' on the right hand side of my screen.

Natalie Anderson

This is the first photo I have posted on here that has been scanned from a film.
I took this photo, according to the film packet, on the 31st January, 1989.
I very much remember the day. It was hot, and very sunny, and very bright. We started at the Bride's parents house on Canal Road, on the Taieri Plain. The wedding itself was in the small Presbyterian Church at Outram. It was still hot when we came out, and was still hot later at the reception. It was a very happy wedding, with both families getting on well. I remember the Bride's younger sisters getting quite hysterical at the dancing antics of their new Brother in Law. I remember a group of males in one corner (self included) belting out the words to "Hey Jude". I do not remember one cross word for the whole day, though memory of the later stages of the night become hazy for some reason. But I think it was such a good wedding because of the qualities of the very young couple involved. Natalie and Murray were loved by everyone.
I could go on and give you the story between then and now, but I wont.
Natalie Anderson was killed about two weeks ago in a motor bike accident. About 1800 people turned out to her funeral, the biggest in the history of this town. During the tributes, it became obvious that this Bride had never stopped being the cheerful, caring and helpful person she was when this photo was taken. But we all knew that.
Our family, and many others, will miss her smile on the sideline, at work, on the way to the Post Office, and at her home.

More Books

Last week I had another job to do with books. One Ewing Stevens rang and asked if I would like to do the front cover of his 10th book. Tenth book? Some guys are indeed busy.
Anyway, I thought I would give it a try, and the photo above is one in a series I took. I do not know which one he will select, if any.
Ewing Stevens is indeed an interesting man. I must listen to the wrong radio station, as I had not heard of him, and it appears he is very well known. He runs the talk back show on Radio Live, from about midnight til 6.30am. And to me he seemed ideally suited to the job. Absolutely honest, I would say. A retired Presbyterian Minister no less, and a southern man to boot. And a fly fisherman. He had everything going for him. Those who say I live an interesting life should meet this guy.
His tenth book will be called 'Handy Hints and Quotable Quotes'. You can evidently get it through Radio Live. It is a collection of hints and quotes from all his listeners.
Ewing has two dogs, who were supposed to be in the photos with him, but they were very pleased to be busy doing other things like looking for rabbits, and did not seem to keen to be stars.
I must keep a look out for the book.

Just This

In the above photo are: Fergus Barrowman, Publisher, Victoria University Press; Michael Harlow, Poet and Burns Fellow, Otago University; Brian Turner, Poet; Gilbert van Reenen, Photographer.
This may be a 'dry' way of opening this post, but frankly I do not have the wit to think of anything else.
The occasion was the launch of Brian Turner's book "Just This" at Central Stories in Alexandra. At the same time, Gilbert van Reenen started an exhibition of his most recent photos.
Michael Harlow, in launching Brian's book, said it was 'not without risk'. I am not quite sure what he meant. Maybe he thought some of the poems would not work. Or is it that there is a bit of language in some poems. I have had several days to think about it, and have read most of it, but I can still not see what he meant.
Gilbert's photos are the results of infinite patience. I have seen many of the places he takes the photos, but I have never seen them as he does. This is because he gets there and waits. When the light is what he wants, he takes the photo.
Maybe this is the link between the two. When I read some of Brian's poems, like "Joy" on page 45, I can see the patience used to get the words in the right place, or just the right words. It must have taken months, or even years. Even coming up with the concept must have taken ages. Our oldest son is 25, so for 25 years I have known this joy exists, but have never been able to describe it.
We live in a community full of talent.

Portrait of a Nation

Some months ago I got a phone call from one Graham Stewart. Now I know several Graham Stewarts, so I had to listen for a few minutes to find out what this one wanted. He is writing a book, he says, and wants me to do some photos for it. He seemed to be well spoken and seemed to know what he was talking about, so I agreed. He then emailed me some photos and wanted my photos taken from exactly the same places.
One of them, a photo of Cromwell long before the lake was formed, was a bit of a challenge. My son put the photo Graham had sent onto his laptop, and when we got to the correct position found that to do the same photo I would have to be in the lake. So the photo finished up about 3 metres higher than the original. Other photos of Clyde and the Alexandra bridge were not so challenging, and with a bit of care we could get to the correct positions. What I could not do was create the same image. In the days of black and white, the negatives were big, and the lens recorded everything 'flatter' than modern lens do. Anyway, I took a selection and sent them to Graham.
Last week I got a copy of his book "New Zealand - Portrait of a Nation", and was chuffed to see that the photo of Alexandra bridge was on the front cover. However, it is inside the cover the real treasure lives. Graham has collected old photos, then toured the country to get the modern view, and has made a brilliant job of it. I do not want to spend hours here praising it, I would just recommend you go and get a copy.
Well done Graham Stewart.

Book Launch season

Some one once said that 'there is a book in everyone'. This is undoubtedly true, as I am sure every person on earth has a story to tell. But doing it is another thing.
John Breen, pictured above, worked on his book "River of Blood" for eight years, he says. He says nothing about the years before that, living the life that would be the background for such an enterprise.
"River of Blood" is the story of the families, farmers, explorers, hunters and pilots of the Waitoato River, in South Westland, New Zealand.
I was privileged to be at the launch.
Get the book.

Happy Birthday Jan

I have been so busy over the last few weeks I have not had time to post any thing on here, so I have a bit of a backlog (or is that lackblog?) of items to put in.
In the above photo, Jan is about to cut into one of the Chef's cakes, made especially to celebrate Jan's 60th birthday. It was a good party, with a good mix of ages and people. The Chef and I are not really party people, but we enjoyed this one. Jan enjoyed it as well, and certainly does not look the required number of years. Must be the walking. Then again, maybe not. It seems that the walking club, whose members amble all over the hills in the district, always finish up in the pub!