Wide Angle Wednesday . . . E is for Exceptional

bushman and self reliant character William O'Leary known as Arawata Bill.  This is the Arawata River where O'Leary prospected for gold from 1928.  He didn't find any significant gold but loved living in this rugged country.  Many moons ago I had a section of the Arawata Bill poem by Dennis Glover to illustrate in a high school art exam.  From the text I did a pen and ink drawing of a man and put the curves of a river in the background.  I got a good comment and mark from the teacher.  That feeling of achievement has been buried inside me for a long time.  It came to the surface today when we crossed the Arawata River on the way to Jackson Bay which is where the road ends on this section of the West Coast.  We made it in time to have a cup of tea and watch the sun going down, see extra.   Tonight we are in Haast with slow wifi so I'll catch up tomorrow night when we will be in the big smoke of Queenstown.