Mt Nic NewsAugust 2009 Current News Since the last news update, life at Mt Nicholas has been extremely busy, both in the lodge & on the farm. In March, we hosted Novartis, an international company who chose Mt
Nicholas as the destination for the launch of a major new animal
drench. This event was 12 months in the planning, involved all of
the station staff and on the day we hosted 180 guests as well as a
large media contingent. One of the highlights of the day was watching the guests depart for Queenstown in helicopters, quite a feat considering the numbers. This years Fall Muster, also attracted media interest, with Merino
NZ spending 2 days on the muster taking a wide range of photo’s that
would be used in future marketing of Merino Wool as a high quality
garment yarn.
The very good growth experienced in summer, certainly helped with winter feeding & overall the stock have come through in good condition. The next big event on the farming calendar, is shearing, which begins in the next few weeks. This is one job that is very weather dependant so a decent spell of fine weather certainly makes it easier. One of the other recent farm projects, was felling selected trees for milling into timber for use around the station including new weather boards for re cladding the power house. The finished product looks great and its another good example of just how self sustaining, this property is. In the lodge, we have continued to enjoy the company of some amazing people and had the good fortune to have some guests returning for their third visits. We have also completed the last of our redecorating with the lounge/dining room getting a makeover in addition to new carpet throughout the main lodge. While the results give a fresh new look, the overall warmth & character of the lodge has been maintained. With early signs of a good Spring, Adrienne has been busy in the gardens, pruning trees & preparing seed beds for planting. It’s also good to see the wood pigeons returning & the first of the rhododendron’s coming into flower. With good forward bookings and plenty of ongoing projects, there is plenty to look forward to and life at Mt Nicholas continues to be extremely enjoyable. January 2009 News Archive It’s hard to believe we are still in the same place, this time
last year, we had virtually no rain from early December until April
and as a consequence, grass growth was virtually nil and what grass
we did have had burnt off. This year as been the exact opposite,
regular rainfall with good sunshine in between and the resulting
growth has been phenomenal.
As part of the ongoing management of the Station, the Butson
Family recently entered the Otago Environmental Awards as a means of
gauging how they were balancing the commercial requirements of the
property with the natural environment. This was a very comprehensive
process that examined all aspects of the operation and it was very
satisfying to be recognised with The Otago Regional Council
Sustainable Resource Management Award. After nearly 2 years here, we are slowly starting to find our way around the property and when time permits we try to explore a different area, this normally involves a 4-5 hour trek and while the views are fantastic, stalking wildlife with a camera is also a great pastime.
While winter was reasonably dry, it wasn’t without its challenges with two very heavy snowfalls which closed our road out for several days and created some very long days for Robert, Dave, Ben & Pete, who had to attend to stock, that was in some cases, trapped by large snow drifts. The scenic contrasts that follow these heavy falls are incredible, especially at sunrise & sunset when the rays of sunlight reflect off the snow capped tops and create amazing colours. The Snow also saw a flurry of activity from the Heli Skiers who took full advantage of the fresh untouched powder, even Pete managed a bit of R&R and tested out his jumping skills on a nearby slope. Another casualty of the snow was a planned filming of a new Disney TV Series called Legend of The Seeker. The twelve cowboys who were to stay with us, were unable to get their horses in so these scenes had to be relocated although the company still managed to get some filming on the station. In the lodge, we continue to meet, and have the pleasure of hosting, some wonderful people, all who come here for a variety of reasons. Mark, Emma and friends from Australia, decided that getting married on a snow capped mountain and spending a night with us would be a great way to start married life together and it certainly proved to be a real winner.
We also had the pleasure of taking Arlene & David, from the USA, on a day trip through to Milford Sound. It had been some time since Adrienne & I had been there and we had both forgotten just how incredibly majestic this part of our country is and we would certainly recommend that all our guests include a Milford Trip as part of their visit to New Zealand. September is a very busy time, over 8,000 ewes have been shorn and put out into mobs for lambing and the shearers will be back soon to start on the rest of the sheep, only about 19,000 to go! There is also ongoing work with cattle to attend to and while spring growth is helping , feeding out is still ongoing. All Adrienne’s spare time is spent preparing the extensive vegetable gardens for spring planting and while a lot of work is required, there is nothing more satisfying than being able to harvest fresh vege’s and fruit from your own garden. With October only a few weeks away, the start of a new fishing season is nearly here and although there is a bit of snow melt in the rivers it shouldn’t take long to clear and we can look forward to another good season. All of the Red Stags have now cast their antlers and the fallow
Bucks should start casting theirs in the next month. It’s
interesting finding the cast antlers as it gives a good
indication of what's out there. June 2008 March 2008 The vegetable garden continues to provide an abundance of fresh produce and
the plums, apples, pears and apricots from the fruit trees have been a
real treat. Sally, the goat, has thrived in her new environment and now has the
run of the land surrounding the lodge. She also has developed a very healthy
appetite for fresh vegetables and fruit. The roar of the Red Stags can now be
heard in the early morning and at night and this signals not only the start of
the hunting season but also the onset of Autumn and while life at Mt Nicholas is
full of change, every day has a little bit of magic! Summer Time Magic – January 2008 Vege Gardens, Goats, Fish and much more...... November 2007
Adrienne’s organic vegetable garden has taken off and already we are enjoying fresh produce. The fruit trees and berry bushes are looking really good and should provide plenty of fruit in the new year. A new arrival at the lodge is Sally the Goat, she was amongst a mob of sheep brought in from the hills for shearing and has very quickly adapted to her new environment. With the warmer weather, grass growth is starting to catch up on what was a fairly slow start to Spring. New lambs and calves are plentiful and pastures are able to be prepared for crops. The indifferent Spring weather also had an effect on the early season trout
fishing with heavy rainfall discolouring the rivers and cool winds keeping
activity fairly quite. However over the last few weeks, with very little
rainfall, the rivers are coming right and indications are that the season will
be very good. A recent trip to the Oreti,( just for a look), resulted in a nice
6lb Brown Trout and sightings of several much larger fish, while a few hours
fishing on the Von provided 8 Rainbow Trout, all landed and released. The bathroom renovations in the lodge are now complete and the garden is full of new growth and colour. Life at Mt Nicholas is great and living here is certainly a privilege.
Early Spring at Mt Nicholas - September 2007
The organic vegetable garden plot that Adrienne began planning in the winter, is now complete and ready for planting and guests visiting us throughout the summer will be assured of a plentiful supply of fresh home grown vegetables and fruit. September is also the time when shearing of the merino sheep begins and over the next 2 weeks, several thousand will pass through the stations shearing shed with the majority of the wool being destined for manufacturing into the next seasons Ice Breaker Garments. Other farm activities include the breaking in of new horses for Dave & Ben, topdressing grass pastures and sorting ewes into mobs for lambing. In the lodge, we have just completed a refurbishment of one of the bedrooms and are currently planning a bathroom upgrade. With the trophy hunting season now behind us, we are now looking forward to the fishing season and while I am sorting out the spots for some early season action, Adrienne plans to explore some of the tramping options that Mt Nicholas has to offer. |
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