19 March 2013

Oroua River

A week ago a friend and I walked up the track towards Iron Gate hut. Where the track drops down to the main river, we crossed over and enjoyed a leisurely lunch, then wandered down the river and climbed back  to the car park. Not surprisingly, the river was as low as I've ever seen it, but it still retained the beautiful clarity typical of Ruahine rivers before they leave the mountains and enter farmland.


[12 March 2013, Panasonic Lumix GH1, 14–45 mm at 19 mm, ISO 200, 1/20 at f16]

All content © 2013 Pete McGregor

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is fascinating....flowing water. We read about the NZ drought... sorry to hear this. So lovely the Ruahine waters before the farms.... Great capture. This looks familiar... No turning back next time. -Maureen

Elephant's Child said...

That water has the look and sheen of shot silk. Beyond beautiful - there is something magical about running water. Many years ago our family went with my father to his favoured trout-fishing river. He wandered down stream and my mother and I went upstream looking for somewhere to swim. It all looked too shallow, so I stepped in to walk across and see if there was deeper water on the other side. And the water closed over my head. It was so clear it looked to be ankle deep - and was well over six foot deep. Bliss.

pohanginapete said...

Maureen, fortunately the drought's just broken (here at least). We've had a couple of days of good rain, so if we get regular rainfall from now on, we should see things growing again. Too late in many respects, though.

Elephant's Child, that deceptive clarity's typical of the Ruahine rivers. I've often thought I might be able to wade across while staying dry, only to have to reassess where I'm crossing. No problem on a warm summer's day; a different prospect in winter.

Zhoen said...

Stunning abstraction.

pohanginapete said...

Zhoen, the patterns and the sound (a pattern in itself) are almost hypnotic.

Anonymous said...

This photo has sound. When I look, I hear the river. Beautiful.

pohanginapete said...

It's a wonderful sound, Robin. I don't get tired of listening to it.

Ruahines said...

Kia ora Pete,
I concur with EC that the moment has a velvet like or satin feel to it. Almost as if one could lie down upon it and relish the beauty. Of course, as a somewhat seasoned Ruahine wanderer I understand the very foolishness of my words. Yet they linger upon me.

pohanginapete said...

I can imagine the delight you'd have had on leaping into some of the deep pools we encountered, Robb. This, however, was only about shin deep.