A place to sit and listen.

A beautiful image showing close up detail of a penny farthing bicycle, Oamaru New Zealand.

The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary, is a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel. It was popular after the boneshaker until the development of the safety bicycle in the 1880s. It was the first machine to be called a "bicycle".

Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines were nearly outdated; the first recorded print reference is from 1891 in Bicycling News. It comes from the British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other, so that the side view resembles a penny leading a farthing. For most of their reign, they were simply known as "bicycles". In the late 1890s, the name "ordinary" began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles; this term and "hi-wheel" (and variants) are preferred by many modern enthusiasts.

In 1869, Eugène Meyer, a Frenchman, invented the High-Bicycle design and fashioned the wire-spoke tension wheel. Around 1870, English inventor James Starley, described as the father of the bicycle industry, and others, began producing bicycles based on the French boneshaker but with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front wheels, up to 1.5 m (60 in) in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct drive. In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia bicycle outside of Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America.

Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport. (source Wikipedia)

Before the storm the boats lay still in Oamaru Harbour.

A digitally painted piece showing the dramatic  clouds minutes before sunset in this beautiful location.

European settlement at Oamaru began in 1853 when Hugh Robison built a musterer’s hut on the foreshore. North Otago was good for sheep-runs, and in the 1860s the town grew rich servicing pastoralists and gold miners.

Oamaru, though, was no port. Cape Wanbrow, a stubby little headland, gave some shelter from southerly winds but none from easterlies. In the absence of breakwaters and wharves, ships anchored in the open sea, loading and discharging cargo into surf boats. It was slow, sweaty work.

It was also dangerous. Cables guided the surf boats through the breakers in a hair-raising surge of foam. Once on the beach, the boat crews sledged them up to a cargo shed. Passengers received similar treatment. As the boats approached the beach, boatmen waded out, took the passengers on their backs and carried them ashore.

This was possible only in fine, calm weather. Ships’ captains kept a weather eye on the horizon. At the first sign of danger or a shift in the wind, work stopped and they fled out to sea.

Oamaru’s exposed beach made it one of New Zealand’s most dangerous anchorages. More than 20 ships were wrecked there between 1860 and 1875, and many more were damaged and recovered. In the worst example, on the night of 3–4 February 1868, a huge storm wrecked a new jetty foolishly built out into the bay from an unprotected site, as well as the ships Star of Tasmania, Water Nymph and Otago. Four people drowned.  

'Oamaru Harbour', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/oamaru-harbour, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 20-Dec-2012

March is the month for rainbows in Oamaru.

Here we see a beautiful example rising above Oamaru Harbour, reflected light from the clouds lighting the green waters below.

Below Benmore Dam, Waitaki, willow trees grow. A digital painting by Derek Golding.

Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme, located in the New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the Waitaki Power Scheme.

The dam is the largest earth-filled water-retaining structure in New Zealand. Its core is low permeability clay material, supported by two massive shoulders of river gravel. Lake Benmore has a volume of 1.25 billion cubic metres, about 1.5 times as much water as Wellington Harbour. The dam's spillway can cope with 3,400 cubic metres of water per second, about 10 times the mean river flow.

During daylight the Church of the Good Shepherd offers stunning views across Lake Tekapo to the distant mountains.

Oamaru's beautiful stone buildings are miniature worlds, each wall is inhabited by flora and fauna that started to colonize the rock as soon as the blade cut and the face was open to the elements.

Here we have the side of Steampunk HQ, moss and plants flow along the lines of moisture created by old and damaged spouting.

GoldingArts Fine Art cards are printed onto photographic paper, the cards hand made and inspected before being sealed in a protective envelope. Perfect for framing.

The canvas has string attached and ready to hang. Semi-gloss finish with super vibrant colours.

240gsm synthetic Canvas creates crisp lines and a sharp image.

32mm deep. Kiln dried, renewable NZ radiata pine prevents warping.

Canvases are easily cleaned with a damp cloth.

Harbour Street, Oamaru, is a quite place at night, the silence only broken by the chatter of the little penguins that live under the buildings.

If you walk these streets after midnight, be aware you are being watched. Ghosts inhabit these streets, denizens of a long lost past walk in the space between worlds.

A Shipweck close to the coast of Oamaru in the late 1800's caused the loss of all lives, or so it was believed. For weeks after tales of a strange creature with huge teeth and a scream that struck the heart of the bravest man were whispered around the town. On stormy nights, the scream can still be heard.

Harbour Street, Oamaru, is a quite place at night, the silence only broken by the chatter of the little penguins that live under the buildings.

If you walk these streets after midnight, be aware you are being watched. Ghosts inhabit these streets, denizens of a long lost past walk in the space between worlds.

On the old railway bridge you may catch a glimpse of the Drowned Bride, a sad young figure who, after being spurned by her lover, cast herself into the sea. She lingers now at this vantage point, vainly waiting to catch a glipse of the man she loves.

Holmes Wharf, a digitally painted art piece shows the lights at night stretching along the length of Holmes Wharf heading towards the Breakwater

Oamaru has a unique landscape that produces the most amazing clouds many times throughout the year.

Here the Anglican Church of St Lukes cuts a black silhouette against the early evening sky.

A break in heavy fog lights up a wave from a distant sunrise at the Oamru Breakwater, Oamaru Harbour.

Captured at 1/1600th of a second the water appears to shatter like glass against the stone.

A break in heavy fog lights up a wave from a distant sunrise at the Oamaru Breakwater, Oamaru Harbour.

Captured at 1/1600th of a second the water appears to shatter like glass against the stone.

Moraki boulders lie on the beach close to the small village of Moraki, on the Waitaki coast.

As the sea erodes the cliff, the boulder slowly emerge until the erosion causes them to fall to the beach below.

A major tourist attraction for the region, the boulders attract visitors from across the world.

The boulders are concretions ,  a hard, compact mass of matter formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles. Occasionally, concretions contain a fossil, either as its nucleus or as a component that was incorporated during its growth but concretions are not fossils themselves. 

Moraki boulders lie on the beach close to the small village of Moraki, on the Waitaki coast.

These strange objects were once thought to be the eggs of giant creatures lost in time. This belief was quickly denounced by the scientific community......but we know better!

A Digital artwork showing the beautiful Oamaru Harbour at sunset, the boats still lit by the setting sun.

The little town of Oamaru, the town that could! A digital painting by Derek Golding

Oamaru a beautiful little town on the east coast of the South Island of New Zealand. Home to GoldingArts and the location of many of Derek's phtotographs and artworks.

Oamaru is well worth a visit by any photographer or artist for the stunning views.

Oamaru panoramic silhouette, a digital painting by Derek Golding. Several variations exist for this image; check our gallery for more.

Stand at the end of Holmes Wharf as the sun sets and watch the sea mist drift into the little town of Oamaru.

Waitaki skies are some of the most beautiful in the world, the Oamaru skyline is seen here cutting deep into the twilight sky.

Digital artwork showing the amazing layers the slight mist and dusk created.

In 2008 Derek archived the entire collection of Stained Glass in Christchurch Cathedral. Powerful lenses were used to capture every detail of the windows. A cherry picker was used to gain access to a perfect viewpoint for the Rose window - eye level with the center. Over 300 10mp images were stitched together to create the final complete Rose Window.

Sadly, the Rose Window of Christchurch Cathedral was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake.

The Rose Window photograph was used in the creation of the Cardboard Transitional Cathedral designed by Shigeru Ban.

In 2008 Derek archived the entire collection of Stained Glass in Christchurch Cathedral. Powerful lenses were used to capture every detail of the windows. A cherry picker was used to gain access to a perfect viewpoint for the Rose window - eye level with the center. Over 300 10mp images were stitched together to create the final complete Rose Window.

Sadly, the Rose Window of Christchurch Cathedral was destroyed in the 2011 earthquake.

The Rose Window photograph was used in the creation of the Cardboard Transitional Cathedral designed by Shigeru Ban.

Here we have detail from the Rose window showing the beautiful stained glass.

The ANZ Bank was built in 1912. Located on High Street, Christchurch it sustained substantial damage in the Earthquakes and was demolished in 2011.

Boaties skip across the Avon Heathcote estuary, Christchurch, with a winter storm looming on the background. Light breaks through the dark clouds in the distance.

A Beautiful Lenticuilar cloud formation at sunset, above Oamaru, North Otago.