End of Autumn

Yesterday, Queen's Birthday (though it really isn't yesterday), we went around the region looking for autumn one last time, and arrived at McLean (SP?) Recreational Area on the road from Tapawera to Motueka. This is a tiny camping/big picnic area by a river, and is consistently occupied by campers during the summer, but after a bit of rain and a cold blast, there was nobody today.

Imagine a park-like setting, beautiful autumnal colors above, and after a good dump of rain, the sky is clear and the light sparkling, though very muddy below. And every time the wind blew, yellow, orange, red and purple leaves would dance all around. Well, except wherever I was standing. There were about a dozen liquid maples within a 12-meter radius, and I'd look at the light and the direction of the wind and run to whichever tree was releasing the leaves, but I was always too late, or the camera took too long to focus, or the cloud moved in and ruined the colors.

So this is my best shot. Trust me, it was quite fantastic to see and hear lots of leaves taking the time to come down to earth; it's their last show and we were there to witness it. And it's the end of autumn here, for sure.