Tree of gold

I love the trees in our front garden. In fact, I love the trees all over the North Canterbury region. Don’t worry. I’m not some whacko hippie dippie tree hugger. I just appreciate the enormous beauty that nature offers us mere mortals. Trees here soften the landscape with their different textures and colours and this is part of what attracted us to New Zealand and this area.

My favourite trees in our garden are the magnificent weeping willow, the cherry blossom and the truly stunning golden elm. March and April are the best months here. Crisp, coolish early mornings followed by bright sunny days that can often be T-shirt warm. And when the sun’s rays shine through the branches and foliage of the golden elm, it’s like looking at a tree of gold.

Under the golden elm is Zsa Zsa’s favourite play and rest area. Sometimes when I wonder where she is, I look out to see her sniffing the grass around the tree or sitting quietly, enveloped by its cool protection. I often stand beside the tree trunk and look upwards, catching glimpses of sky blue peeping through the gold foliage.

 

The colours of Autumn

March and April are my favourite months here in the South Island of New Zealand. The mornings are cool and the days are bright and sunny. Well, generally bright and sunny. This year though the weather has been a bit unusual. We’ve had a fair bit of rain and cloudy days. Normally, March and April are gorgeous and you get some pretty warm days.

And what I really like is the changing colours of the landscape. The trees in Christchurch are stunning. Autumnal colours are everywhere: bright golds; cherry reds; russets; lime greens; sunny yellows.

On our property, we have some golden elms and Japanese maples that are starting to display their beautiful colours. So for today’s post I bring you the colours of Autumn in Oxford, New Zealand.

 

It’s in the air

So folks, it’s my first week back in New Zealand and I’m staying put for the foreseeable future. Although a quick trip across the ditch (for my American friends, that’s a trip across the Tasman Sea to Australia) will be happening during November. This is secret squirrel business although it might become not so secret as I’ll be taking plenty of photos. Sounds mysterious eh! No, I’m not moving back to Oz if that’s what you’re thinking.

I reckon I’ve returned to NZ at just the right moment. The long Winter is over and Summer is just around the corner, although summer here is never like it was back in Australia. Nowhere near as hot and humid. Honestly, I don’t like hot weather. I always dreaded the 35°C /95 °F days in Sydney and would try to get to the office early and stay later, just so I could enjoy the aircon. Italy during July was brutal. Not sure how I survived it other than to say, hey I was living in Roma!

Summer in NZ is very very pleasant. We get a few 28-30°C days but they are just dry, hot days – not humid days that leave you all sweaty. And Spring here is fantastic. Crisp, coolish mornings followed by bright, warm sunny days. Yesterday, I was out in the arena wearing a T-shirt.

I didn’t get much chance to exercise the last couple of weeks whilst in Malaysia and Thailand, so I was out in the arena doing some weeding. I could make it easier on myself and nuke the nasty weeds with some heavy duty spray but I don’t like using any form of chemicals. So what better way to catch up on my exercise than to spend a couple of hours bending up and down, yanking those nasty weeds out. Actually, the great thing about Rome was the weekends. I’d sometimes walk 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) a day just taking in the sights and sounds of Rome. As a form of exercise, I enjoy walking the most.

I digress. Back to New Zealand. I know Spring is here when the cherry blossom in our front yard blooms. I checked it out Tuesday this week when I arrived back home. It was in full “pretty pink” bloom. The last day or so, we’ve had very strong north westerly winds, which have sent blossoms into the air and left the tree a looking a little thinner. But it’s a gorgeous soft pink.

All around Oxford and Christchurch, the cherry blossoms are tossing their heads in the air in a variety of magnificent colours. I’m going into Christchurch next week and will try to get photos. Ballantynes, the iconic Christchurch department store that was damaged during the February 22 earthquake, has reopened, along with Cashel Mall where Ballantynes is located. This is a great moment for Christchurch and shows the city is shaking off the devastation wrought by the earthquakes.

Next week, the Grand Chancellor hotel will be demolished floor by floor and this will be the largest demolition for New Zealand. The hotel is a 26-storey building and has been leaning very noticeably since the February quake. I managed to get a photo of the hotel (photo 6) in early July when I was last in Christchurch. I’m not planning to go into the city to see the demolition. I’m planning to check out the cherry blossoms and take a walk in Hagley Park, experience the beautiful flowers and trees and revel in the reawakening of the Garden City.

Our cherry blossom blooms once a year for a short time - but it signals Spring has arrived.

 

Wintery blast

Whilst I’m sweltering in Rome, my beloved New Zealand has been hit by a wintery blast. It seems to be a rare snowstorm and bollocks – I’ve missed it! Apparently, a strong Antarctic front pushed northwards causing havoc, bringing power lines down, closing airports and disrupting traffic. Snow even fell over Wellington – that hasn’t happened since the 1970s – and for the first time in 72 years, Auckland saw snow fall.

The snowstorm has been described as a once in a lifetime event. And of course I had to be out of the country when it happened. But my riding instructor sent me photos of the property and some of the horses. Because I follow natural horsemanship, I don’t cover the horses in winter. Horses have the ability to regulate their internal temperature and, when it’s cold, they raise the hairs on their coat to create an insulating layer. Horses also grow a wonderful woolly coat to keep themselves warm – Muff and Rosie are like woolly mammoths. So if you cover your horse with a rug or blanket, it makes it impossible for the horse to raise their hairs and create that insulating layer.

All my horses enjoyed the snow apparently, as did the three horses boarding with us for a short time. I can’t believe so much snow fell on the property – about 26 cm/10 inches.

Entrance to property. The farm is called Aroona, which is Aboriginal for "flowing waters" or "place of running water".

Coming down the drive - stables and round yard on the right.

The three horses that were boarding with us during the snowstorm.

Danny waiting to get some hay. The grass, of course, was covered by the snow - so the horses had to be fed hay twice a day.

Muff finding it a little deep in the snow.

 

A beautiful sight

I love walking the dogs in the paddocks. The ones at the back of the property are large so it means they get a good run around and I get a great walk. Sometimes, we go out four times a day because English Pointers are energetic dogs and if you don’t give them enough exercise, you’ll end up with naughty canines.

Whilst they play and chase each other, you will often find me doing some 5BX exercises. I still remember this exercise programme, developed for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the 1950s, because my Dad followed the programme religiously. As a kid, I was expected to get up at 5.30 or 6.00am (can’t remember which) and be out in the back yard with my Dad, doing the exercises together: rain, hail or shine. I know this sounds like I was in some sort of boot camp but it was actually enjoyable, quality time with my father. Then it was back in the house to polish my school shoes. I still have a thing about making sure my shoes are bright and shiny. Doesn’t always work though when you live on a farm full of horse manure and mud.

Anyway. Often whilst I’m breathing in, stretching and so on, I glance towards the foothills and Mt Oxford. Now that Winter is here, Mt Oxford is boasting a white tablecloth of snow and I can catch a glimpse of it over the macrocarpa. Beautiful sight.

 

Like diamonds

You live in Oxford, South Island of New Zealand, you need to prepare for a few things: earthquakes, COLD weather, frosts and snow. Winter in Oxford is usually (so I’ve been told) a mixture of frosty mornings and gorgeous, sunny days. This is interspersed with rain, mud and snow.

Winter 2010 wasn’t pleasant. It was rain. More rain. More more rain. And then more more more rain. So far, Winter 2011 hasn’t been much better and this is despite the locals telling me to expect a better Winter (because 2010 was unusual they say). I’ve also been told that Winter 2011 could be the coldest on record or since 1939 (something like this). It hasn’t been too cold but the frosts have started to make their icy appearance.

We’ve had to bite the bullet and get a dryer. Even when it’s sunny, sometimes the clothes just don’t dry due to the cold temperature. I never needed a dryer back in Sydney. I’m a tad worried about energy consumption, so will use it judiciously.

But back to the frost. My car is usually under-cover but, the other night, it was left out in the open. The next morning, it was covered with diamond-like icy crystals. The sun was shining on the car, so it looked very sparkly. I’m just glad I wasn’t going anywhere in a rush because I’d have to get rid of all the frost off the car.

 

Here comes the sun

The weather here in Oxford is sooooooooo changeable. The Winter solstice occurred on June 21 and this means that the longest night is June 21/22 and the shortest day is June 21. And this is good news people. It means that a warm sun is making its way back to shine over New Zealand. I can feel the Summer warmth already – maybe I should fire up the barbie and dance around it (for my American readers, barbie is colloquial Aussie for BBQ. But you should know that given the ads featuring Paul Hogan, where he said “put another shrimp on the barbie“. But maybe you don’t know that Aussies wouldn’t say shrimp; we’d say prawn).

I digress. I looked out the bedroom window very early on the morning of June 21 and was met with a stunning but foggy sight. The landscape was shrouded with fog, which was casting an eerie bluish glow over the skeleton trees. Had to take photos to show you.

And I hope all my American readers enjoy the celebrations today – Independence Day.

 

Dog of a driver

There are extremely clever dogs in Oxford (apart from Zeph and Zsa Zsa that is). The other day I was in Main Street, which is the very original name for the main drag in Oxford. I was walking by a car when I did a double-take – was that a chocolate-coloured canine in the driver’s seat?

Yep, sure was. Looked as though this dog was ready to turn the key in the ignition and drive off.

 

Lamborghini

I visited a new Kiwi friend the other day. She has seven horses and Lamborghini – a gorgeous pet lamb. All her horses are amazing but one stood out – I thought it was a giraffe at first. This horse has the longest neck I’ve ever seen and is all legs. He’s still young and I think is an American Quarter horse, although I might be wrong. I couldn’t keep up with which horse was what breed.

Her property has beautiful long distance views. This is something we actually wanted with our property but, at the time we were moving to NZ, no property that met our exact requirements was available. There are parts of Oxford that are truly beautiful, with rolling mountain views.

I guess the advantage of where we’re located is that we have mountain views and can walk to Main Street (the very original name for the main street of Oxford). We are also in the rural section of Oxford and this means we don’t have nasty street lights. We can step outside on a clear, dark night and see the most glorious sky. I’ve never seen so many stars. Because there are less street lights around and we’re not in a city, the Milky Way is bright and remarkably visible.

I like nothing better than stepping out to see the starry night sky. I can often see the silhouette of one of my horses as they doze against a tree in the silence of the night.

Lamborghini playing with his owner.

Super cute and very fluffy.

Is it a giraffe? Nope, it's a horse.

Gorgeous long-distance views and a glimpse of a stallion.

 

Winter slumber

There are four very distinct seasons in the South Island of New Zealand. I like the distinct seasons and how you can layer what you wear to regulate your temperature. And I like watching all the tress and plants cycle through their natural states. Now that I’ve been here for a year, I’ve seen the willow tree, cherry blossom and golden elm in the front yard bloom, shed their leaves and slumber through a long winter.

At the moment, both the willow and cherry blossom are basically sticks. All leaves and blossoms have long disappeared, to be replaced by spindly branches. They look forlorn, especially when the sky is grey or it’s raining. So whilst it’s a bit sad to see them as nothing more than dry branches and twigs, I know that in a few months soft pinks and vibrant greens will start to appear, signalling the beginning of Spring.

The cherry blossom in its winter slumber.

The cherry blossom in Spring.

The sleeping willow tree.

The golden elm sleeps alongside its two companion trees.

The willow and golden elm just a few short weeks ago - April 30, 2011.