Clowning Around NZ & Australia: Bridge Point and onwards to Lauder, Poolburn and Clyde.

I left the last blog without telling you about and showing you the new signage on the new (for us) bus... well here it is.....yeah the new bus is still called "CLOWNING AROUND"

We were well pleased with the results, we left Oamaru and motored down the east coast through Kakanui to stop at Bridge Point where we stopped to have a late lunch, but quickly realised it was a honey of a spot to park up for the night.

I used a mate's borrowed ladder to put the new NZMCA wings above the front windscreen, and also added smaller ones on the rear panel.

This is probably why it's called "Bridge Point"

Somebody had been drawing lines in the rocks...

woo whoo!

Same person had been dyeing seaweed.

At low tide these local snorklers dive for Kina, Paua, ... and other such delicacies

there are many shells washed up on the beach.

Breakfast view looking south........

Onwards we headed towards Lauder in Central Otago.

It's on the Central Otago Rail Trail.

First we stopped at the Waipiata Domain, below is the first attempt at a barbecue pizza.

Definitely will be making more of these!

A storm came though that night and man did those trees make some roaring noises!

At Lauder (which is a very small place) we parked in a local farmer's lucerne paddock.

As the Otago Central Rail Trail runs right through Lauder, I went on a couple of short jaunts.

Here are a few photos.

Below is some trophy wild pig skins drapped on the fence, some 45 of them,

This section of the Rail Trail goes through a gorge and that means there are bridges and tunnels

Apparently this was the first bridge in the area to use concrete for the bridge pillars (circa 1912), before that they used schist.

Meanwhile back at the Lauder Ukulele Festival the heat was really on!

Paul Jonson from North of Auckland gives us the low down on the Blues.

While these two young ladies from Alexandra performed original songs

and showed no nerves whatever..... ones to watch for the future!

I went to a workshop run by the the band "The Secret Lives of Ukulele". We learned a little number, then performed an impromptu wander in front of the stage between bands.

A very appreciative and happy crowd under the shade.

Visiting Australian performers from Townsville..... Anu & Laurie, whose house (as I understand) was under water in the recent floods in Queensland as they performed.

Alexandra is just a short hop and a step down the road. We like to park at Molyneux Park near the swimming pool and right beside the Alexandra Menz Shed, so handy to everything.

I managed to get Sam at the Menz Shed to introduce me to the Community Centre, who took me to the Alexandra Primary school. They arranged for a clown show and shadow puppet performance to years 5-10 year olds. Below is how it went!

I rode the Unicycle into the School...they have a nice outside stage, and I also set up the shadows in a classroom which had good curtains. One of the little girls came up afterwards and thanked me for performing, she had been afraid of clowns, but not now!

Three shadows shows to different classrooms. They had been studying native birds, so my performance was really appropriate.

Our next stay was at the Poolburn Dam. We stayed there last year and intended to return.

It's worth the rough dirt road to get to this fabulous place as the photos below show, and was the site of the Plains of Rohan Rohirim Village in the Lord of the Rings.

On the way out, we encountered a mob of sheep being driven back to the homestead.

Christine drove the bus from Alexandra to Clyde.....

while I took the cycle trail along the river.

A very hot day and the shade was most welcome.

The Miniature Clutha Cricket club had a game on as I passed.

Shopping in Clyde I discovered there was a gallery opening

that very night where a photographer (Neville Porter)

was displaying his landscape photos of Central Otago,

done on Japanese Washi Paper.

His gallery opening was called "East meets West" so I just had to go back.

A very interesting opening, his photos were stunning.

There is a fabulous free park on the other side of the Clyde Dam on Fruitgrowers Road. We awoke to another stunning sunrise.

In my walk back to the Dam, having viewed the photographers photos the night before, my eye had somewhat changed and these shots were a bit different.