Ramblings of a much published New Zealand author

02 January 2012

New Zealand Odyssey: Clyde Dam, Lake Dunstan, Drowned Orchards

'New Zealand Odyssey', published in 1989 by Heinemann, was authored by me, Don Donovan (who did the text and illustrations) and Euan Sarginson, who did the photography and design. In this series of blog posts, I will publish some of my drawings.


In 1993, long after I did this little watercolour (with oil pastel for the highlights), the Clyde Dam was finished in the Cromwell Gorge after which it gradually filled to make Lake Dunstan. Hamlets, houses, roads, gardens, sheds and orchards were inundated and this subject was among them.

I wonder whether you can still read 'FRUIT' on the corrugated roof of the shed after all these years? And how long did it take for the trees to drown? And I wonder whether any of the family that owned and tended the orchard are still alive today? And how long will it be before all the people who once bought fruit at this wayside stall are dead and gone? Tempus fugit indeed.

© DON DONOVAN
donovan@ihug.co.nz
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Blurb

RANDOM SAMPLINGS F...
By Don Donovan