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The Duck Shooters

On my third visit to Boggy Pond I took Sally to show her the wonders of the bog! There is a loop track around the pond that I wanted to explore. It was quite scenic and provided many opportunities for photos like my Autumn colours images. The walk took a few hours and ended up having to cross farm land to reach the road. We were walking past Eric Kilmore lodge when Sally suggested we should have a look inside. I declined the offer as the place was occupied by the look of the number of vehicles parked outside. Also there were probably big men with guns inside… So we kept on walking. We heard some voices from behind but we thought it was people talking. After lots of distant yelling I turned around and there was this hunter asking us whether we would like to come in for coffee. I suppose they were bored and its not often you see a couple of asians carrying lots of camera gear walking along a deserted road. As we were getting tired I said why not? He introduced himself as Paul, and I put on a fake asian accent and asked him which way to Lake Wanaka? Actually I made that up but I did joke to Paul later if I heard Banjo s (Movie, ‘Deliverance’) we would have started running away!

Anyway the coffee and hospitality was great and we made some new friends. Apparently the Hut is booked by Duck Shooters in Winter and Bird watchers in Summer. Paul also gave me lots of information on access roads around the area and how Boggy Pond got that unique look with all the dead trees. Apparently the Willow trees were taking over the swamp so they were sprayed to allow a greated biodiversity to develop. Hence the presence of many cabbage trees. And I was rewarded with the classic image of the Hunter with his retreiver dog !

The Visitors