Saint Bathans, formerly named Dunstan Creek, is located on the Maniototo Plain on New Zealand’s South Island.

Saint Bathans was a coal and gold mining town, but today little remains except some historic buildings and the Blue Lake. During the 1860’s it was part of the Central Otago Gold Rush.

Blue Lake is a small lake formed during gold-sluicing, which gives it a distinctive turquoise colour.

The first photo was taken by The Doc on his second visit, but one which he saw on the first. However the light was not right on that occasion. To make this shot work you morning sun on the walls but not the water surface.

Not much post processing on this image, but the sky needs to be darkened a little. Click image to see full size.

Here is a mixture of point and shoot photos. Notice how cold the colours are when I photograph into the sun, bottom right photo.

The Doc has finished the NZ Landscape photography Course run by Dean Cooper and his able assistant Phil Nitchie.

The Doc can say with some confidence we all had a great time, learnt a lot, visited fantastic locations, ate too much and enjoyed each other’s company. The Group comprised of Angela, Jane, Dallas, Susan, Celena, The Doc and a gate crasher know as The SausageMan!

Here is a map of our tour, including a boat trip and a flight around Mt Cook. The GPS datalogger went flat one day, we also travelled from Lake Tekapo to Timuru to Oamura. Click to see full size.

The fame of the SausageMan is spreading. Tonight a song was written and sung (well sort of) at the farewell dinner. Remember this was a photo tour, which impacts the wording. The sad state of lasagne in NZ deserves another post.

The tune was Elton John’s rocketman and the words are:

Dean packed my bags last night

During the New Zealand photo tour The Doc scored a new nickname, the SausageMan^TM.

While at Oamaru the Group was at The Last Post for dinner. The Doc was told people do not order Bangers and Mash for dinner. Luckily for The Doc, the Menu did not have Bangers and Mash but Sausages and Mash, which he ordered. After the meal the waitress referred to The Doc as The SausageMan. For the next 2 days there was jokes galore.

The SausageMan groupies are called weeners. A passionate night out is a sausage roll. There is even a SausageMan pose. See below where a weener (aka Phil) is doing the pose at Cornwell.

What do you call SausageMan when he travels in Germany? A frankfurter.

What is the SausageMan‘s dog called? A hot dog or perhaps a Dagwood dog.

When travelling in outer space he is a Pluto Pup.

There is even a sausage factory, which readers need to work out for themselves. It is no longer Simon says, but the SausageMan says…

The SausageMan has plenty of sauce and sizzle.

The Doc has arrived safely in New Zealand, sometimes known as Middle Earth and home of Hobbits, Rangers, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. The Doc arrived around 5pm New Zealand time and went out to buy some dinner and enjoy a gelato, as suggested by the taxi driver.

Tomorrow he needs to buy a local sim card for his mobile phone and perhaps enjoy a cruise on the SS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu.

Across the road next to the lake are a group of teenagers enjoying a BBQ, the girls are holding their own against the boys kicking a soccer ball around.

The Doc staying at the Lakeside Motel overlooking a Lake Wakatipu. Here is the view out the window looking over the Lake and The Remarkables (which were used as the Rocky Mountains in the Movie Wolverine).