Author: Peter Peryer

This author has written 889 articles



Four Photos From the Past

Here are four photos from my early childhood. My parents ran the Taheke Hotel
in the Hokianga, in the far north of New Zealand. Milton, my father was interested
in training horses most of which had been wild ones that roamed some of the old gumfields nearby.

The Maori in the canoe were going home with a barrel of beer bought at the hotel.
Some communities were not accessible by road, and this canoe was a kind of taxi. This particular canoe has been saved. It is now on display at Rawene.

The cattle were being driven to the freezing works, it was a time before trucks were used for large herds. Stockwhips and dogs were used to keep them moving. One of the highlights of my life at that time was being given a stockwhip by one of the drovers. I became quite adept at using it and still am.

2000

I have not taken many photos of the female body in my photographic career. I have photographed the male body, in fact one of those male photos was recently on TV. The first that I knew about it was when I received a text saying ‘I just saw you naked on tv’. I’m afraid that it was true, it was me.

Here is a 2000 photo. This is definitely female.

This image appeared recently in an Art + Object catalogue. It came up for auction. I’m pleased to hear that it sold and went to a good home.

Baaaa

I’m going through old photos at present. Here are a couple of me taken by my father
when we lived in Takanini in South Auckland. I lived here for the first 5 years of my life.

This sheep was one on my pets. It started off as a lamb but inevitably grew bigger and eventually my parents took it to a neighbour across the road to be slaughtered. My mother didn’t tell me this until about 40 years later. Whether or not it was offered it to me as food I don’t know, and now alas, never will.

Tailings in Autumn

This is an industrial site on a large scale. Gold dredges worked through here and in great numbers. Some of the tailings left in these patterns are now part of a reserve. Recently I flew over this area in a light plane and took this photo through a window.

I’ve been working on autumn leaves quite a lot, especially as I only have another couple of weeks before these leaves completely change, they are changing now on a daily basis. A decent wind and the leaves could well disappear.

Today I walked into the tailings and took this Autumn leaves photo. I felt that it was good to combine two themes.


Apricot Gold

A scene from an apricot orchard yesterday in Graveyard Gully, one of my favourite spots around here.

It takes its name from a sad little cemetery in which there are about 30 unmarked graves, with a single monument in the middle. The graves are all those of men, most of whom would have been drawn here from far away, by the lure of gold.


Clyde Dam

This dam is about 10 minutes drive from where I live. I decided to make a posting
about it because you must need a break from Autumn leaves and I thought that a million tons of concrete might help.

Built between 1977 and 1989 this is New Zealand’s third largest hydro power station. Controversial, it eventually cost three times the original estimate.

This power station emits a low hum, It seems alive.

Those of you who live in Auckland need to be grateful for the existence of this dam. When winter comes and you turn on your heater, it could be this cold water that is keeping you warm.

Thursday 17th April

Today I drove to Queenstown airport to pick up two Auckland friends. They are both coming to stay with me until Monday.

On the way to the airport I made a detour near Cromwell, into Bannockburn, a famous wine growing area. There were some sluicings there to see. By sluicings I mean an area of land that had a large hose turned on to it in order to seek out the gold. The result is that the landscape looks like the end of civilisation. There is even a vineyard nearby called Mt Difficulty. The sluicings are now a reserve, I recommend a visit.

The top photo is one that I took today near Bannockburn.
I think that it is an improvement on what I have taken over the last few days. Certainly a contender for the calendar that I putting together.

The bottom photograph was taken by Vanessa,
one of the Devonport friends I picked up from Queenstown today. This photo was taken from the front of Henderson House, where I live while we looked over the Clutha River, the largest river in New Zealand. Largest I think means volume not length. I like her photo. The colour is exactly right. It really did look like that. At present the landscape can at times in this Autumn light, look almost on fire.

Autumn Leaves

Just as this area is famous for its rocks, it’s also well known for
the intensity, by New Zealand standards,
of its autumn colours.

As a photographer, it seems impossible to resist trying to take the
quintessential autumn leaf photo.
Here are a couple of recent endeavours. They are far from being top shelf, but at least
I am enjoying the pursuit.

An Historic House.

Today I was taken on a tour of this historic house, one which, although I live nearby and have admired
it from a distance, have not previously been given access to. It was built in 1914.


Barbara Henderson

Here I am wheeling Barbara Henderson into the welcome party that was held for me a week or so ago. Barbara is the person who was responsible for architect Ernst Plischke coming to Alexandra, from Wellington by bus in 1950 to design and build this house, the house in which I am now living for a year. Barbara now lives in a rest home near here although she maintains a studio on this 3 and a half acres, to which she comes, with a nurse, every Tuesday afternoon.

Newer Posts
Older Posts