Molesworth day 2

Woke early as though my body were expecting to go to work so it was a real treat to be able to roll over and go back to sleep :) The next thing I heard was a voice outside my van:

"Good morning! I'm your friendly DoC ranger come to collect your camp fees"

I must have groaned a bit too loudly.

"No worries - I'll come back shortly"

That was my signal to get up and face the day - and what a beautiful day it was :)

The ranger came back a short time later and we spent a very pleasant 5 minutes chatting. After breakfast (minus coffee :( ) I took a short walk to look at the actual Moleworth Station house, sheds, stockmen's quarters etc from the ridge above it. It reminded me of McLeod's Daughters for some reason . . . . . .

So, into the van to begin the relativley short drive through the station. The history of the station is an intersting starting point:

The 180,787 hectare Molesworth Station unites original high country stations: Tarndale, Molesworth and StHelens. Molesworth reverted to the Crown in 1938 when the runholders walked off; St Helens, including the Dillon Run, was added in 1949. The combined stations once ran around 95,000 sheep but, when the Crown took over, the land was suffering from loss of vegetation and severe erosion caused by overgrazing by sheep and rabbits and repeated burning of tussocklands. The land was gradually restored to good health under careful management that included rabbit control, revegetation and the replacement of sheep with cattle.

Today Molesworth is managed by the Department of Conservation with Landcorp Farming Limited responsible for farming operations under a lease agreement. It runs the country's biggest herd of beef cattle, numbering up to 10,000. DoC aims to balance and preserve the natural high country environment whilst also keeping it running as a farm and allowing tourists to enjoy the unique recreational environment. (ref: Department of Conservation)

To say I had scenerey overload today would be a gross understatement! It took me the best part of 4 hours to drive just 50kms - I couldn't begin to guesstimate the number of stops I made just to hop out of the van and soak it all up. I did however manage one short walk to a trig station (short in distance, not in time!) A good hour of puffing uphill, stopping every few minutes to check out the new view . . . . and to get my breath back!) but it was worth every step and puff (this image is one of the stunning views from the top)

And then there was the wildlife . . . . . not a great deal of it but a very memorable close encounter with a hawk who was perched on a post devouring his morning tea (the presence of feathers told me it was a small bird). I managed to get a few shots from inside the van with the window wound down, and was then able to slowly open the door and slide out to get a better angle on him. What a stunning bird! I guess he really must have been hungry as hawks are usually very sensitive to the presence of people and are spooked very easily. (I'm going to post an image of him on my blog page when I can figure out how to get back into it after google changed things! Watch this space)

The day continued to provide the opportunity for oodles of scenery shots right up until I arrived at Acheron homestead, the only other place that allows camping in the Molesworth.

The sky was crisp and clear all day today so I'm thinking I might try another star trail shot tonight. I just popped out to see how the stars are looking and it's looking promising :) Think I'll wait until the dead of night though as there are one or two other campers strolling around with torches - don't want any stray light in the shot - nor anyone to bump into my tripod set up! If all goes well I'll have tomorrow's blip taken before I have breakfast :)

G'night
:)

See Molesworth day 1 here