In which I find a man under a very small bridge and discover the secret world of Geocaching

remnants of a forgotten summer

Photographically I am stuck.

No idea what I am working towards.

Spending more time deleting images from my hard drive than creating new ones in an attempt to regain order over my collection.

One option might be to stop making new images and work with what I have.

Which sounds great in theory, but I make images in order to relax, and without a camera in my hand I don't feel right.

So this week I tried a new tack; take only a very small, fixed lens camera with me on a late afternoon walk as the sun was sinking after a day at work, and hope that I can find something to make images of, but also half hoping that I don't. Less images = less storage. Less images = better quality. In the days when each negative exposed had a monetary cost I was much less prolific.

hedge © caroline fraser

As usual. I got a bit obsessed with the hedges. Low sunlight catching the new growth waiting to burst into new leaf.

The small camera with a 20mm lens perfectly adequate for the job.


Not quite so good for the pond, but the blue skies reflected nicely on the very still surface.

pond

I tried to look nonchalant when pointing my camera at the top of the hedge; passers-by clearly not sure about my intentions.

But then I came across a troll, under the bridge over Kydd brook.

A troll with a white beard and a peaked cap.

His intentions were so unclear to me that I had to stop and ask him why he was 'trip-trapping' under my bridge.


At which point he became a very excited troll, and told me that he was 'GEOCACHING'.

At which point I displayed my ignorance and asked him what that might be.

At which point he got even more excited and started dancing around under the bridge in an attempt to explain.

'GEOCACHING' he said 'is the best thing ever'.

'My wife and I have travelled the world and had so much fun'

'We have come all the way from Zimbabwe to find treasure here'

'And what is the treasure?' quoth I .

In which team GBS find the treasure under the bridge

'It is this.........'

Team GBS in action

And indeed it was.

A small piece of paper hidden in a small plastic capsule under my bridge that I have walked over more than a thousand times.

He proceeded to expound on the joys of travelling to new places with the aim of solving clues, having wonderful walks in the countryside, and sharing his finds with over 2 million people over the rest of the world.

I have to say, he had me hooked. The enthusiasm was oozing out of him.

So what is Geocaching?

Basically it is treasure hunts for grown ups. The website is here


And here's a little video that explains a bit more.....

It turns out that there are many geocaches hidden in my woods.

And I never knew they were there........

Geocaches in Petts Wood and Hawkwood

It also turns out that my troll is Gavin Blair of Gavin Blair Safaris

You can see him here with his white beard and peaked cap.

I know, because it says so on his hat.

And what a delightful man he is.

And how extraordinary that he comes all the way to Bromley to seek out and photograph a small piece of paper under a bridge, when he could be out looking for elephants, lions and hippos.

What a wonderful world!

Countdown to my departure from Gore. Thoughts on a small town in Southland, New Zealand.

another busy day in Gore - Broughton Street

Only 5 days left before I leave Gore and I am getting sentimental about the impending departure.

The image above is of Broughton Street on a Friday mid morning. Hill fog clinging over the town on an autumn day.

There is no litter in this town.

And no dog poo anywhere to be seen. New Zealand is not a great place to be a dog unless you live on a farm. Dogs are rarely allowed off the lead, and there are many places where they are not allowed in order to protect the birds, penguins and other wildlife.

As I walked down the hill a random stranger in her seventies or eighties stopped and offered me a lift into town. I thanked her, and politely declined, for I was out to walk the streets for almost the last time.

a plot of land in Gore

As I strolled I came across a plot of land for sale. I am sure Janine would be pleased if I bought it, but it has no view of the hills, so is a non starter.

I came across a big hedge; one of my favourite subjects for street photography, thinking about the psychology of personal space and boundaries.

Hedges are massive in the countryside here, mainly to act as windbreaks.

the pylon problem; typical farm hedge

But the purpose of this in the middle of town was less clear.

Privacy Please

This one (above) seems a little over the top. A secret garden perhaps?


And these ones (below) appear purely decorative.

Symmetry rules

neat and tidy

A modern home demands a modern garden. I certainly prefer these free flowing native flaxes to the tightly clipped box hedges.

Flax plants ( otherwise known as Phormium)

I am not sure about the colour of this home (below), but you can see their wood pile. Everyone seems to be chopping or stacking or collecting trailer-loads of wood this weekend, ready for the winter. No smokeless zone here.

I prefer orange for my house if it has to be a bright colour. No clipped hedges here.

My kind of garden. Loose and free.

orange

Corrugated metal roofs are almost universal. Some with matching fence. This one will look best on 25th December.

waiting for Christmas

But the best thing about this place is that if you drive for 3 minutes in any direction you are out of town, on a country road, heading nowhere very particular at all.

Unless you are visiting a farmer.

And there are plenty of them around here.


I don't think I was meant to live where I do………  (the depths of suburbia)


I see changes afoot.

Spring is here.........on blue skies, clean sensors and David Hockney

hedge © caroline fraser 2012

I made it to see David Hockney at the Royal Academy on the last day of his recent exhibition. I had been put off by the garish photos of some of his recent works shown in the newspaper, but couldn't ignore the fact that everyone I knew who had been had loved it and several had been two or three times.

What struck me most about the exhibition was firstly the sheer volume of work that he has produced, and secondly the joy that he clearly takes in the changing of the seasons. His works from East Yorkshire, and in particular the 51 prints and one large painting that are 'The arrival of spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire in 2011' display quite clearly his love of the locality and his pleasure in the changing vegetation from winter to spring.  His love of hawthorn and wild flowers is blatantly displayed in the ipad drawings made into larger prints that filled a whole room of the exhibition.

Walking around Hawkwood in the last week or so my pleasure in the vivid greens that are appearing has been heightened by  memories of the giant TV screens that conveyed Hockney's multiple views of narrow lanes in winter and spring simultaneously; viewers transfixed by the slowly moving views of trees and hedges gently blowing in the wind.

I love hedges, especially the layered hedge that has been created at Hawkwood over the last 2 years and shown above and below. With Hockney in mind I decided to record it bursting into life after winter. A blue sky day today shows it off to good effect, not least because I have finally discovered a sensor cleaner that does what it says on the tin. One sweep of the sensor with my new Arctic butterfly and the myriad of dust spots that show so dramatically in a clear blue sky are no more. It is worth every penny and relies solely on static with no fluids to damage the sensor. You swizzle the brush using the battery, create a static charge and then wave across the sensor, picking up dust without any worries about damaging it.

spotless sky thanks to arctic butterfly © caroline fraser 2012

I had my wide angle lens with me today, and was torn between order and chaos...........

beech © caroline fraser 2012

cloud © caroline fraser 2012

This fluffy cloud popped into view and wouldn't go away.

The inevitable litter caught my eye; I was pleased to see that David Hockney also showed litter in his TV installation as part of his idyllic scenes, cast from the vehicles of passers-by. When I am old and grey I will be seen tramping around with a large black sack and a grabber stick.........

Budweiser © caroline fraser 2012

Bring on the rain and let the hedges grow; there is a lot less hawthorn blossom this year than last.