Overview
Mon. Feb. 23.
Up early - Father, Gil, Anstice + I drenched the 324 Kelson wether lambs before breakfast with Oates' Drench. Leaving the
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boys to follow us with the lambs, Father + I rode up to North Block to fire scrub - glass very favourable, weather very hot + faint breeze. Fired some logs on the Ohau Flat on site of small tool-shed which I hope to erect. At 12 noon we put torches into fern at foot of Rocky-toe Spur + this spur was swept fairly clean, the "burn" joining that on the Track Spur there which I fired yesterday + also working over to the Skyline Spur, there firing the cut scrub at foot of same. We lunched at stream on Ohau Flat + at 1pm fired cut scrub on SE slope of East Low Hill - this burned furiously, the fire leaping up the hill like greased lightning. We then worked round below the crest of the East Low Hill firing the fern + burning off the crest of the Hill fairly clean. On again reaching the belt of cut scrub, we fired it along its west edge, going across the Foxtail Spur to foot of Main Spur - a fine
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burn here also, the fire spreading into the standing fern + scub on Main + Foxtail Spur. We returned to Ohau Flat + fired standing scrub at foot of East Low Hill but owing to over-cast sky this only burned fairly so we stopped firing. We then walked up my benched track to see extent of burn + found is fairly satisfactory though very light in places in the green scrub. Refired rata blog blocking track - the track is now nearly impassable on acc[ount] of fallen partly-burned bracken. We rode over to main entrance gate + met boys who had arrived with the Kelson lambs - forded Makahika + put them up on West Low Hill where thre is splendid feed more fit for cattle than sheep however. After work cleaned out the other (inferior) whare near the old mill site + padlocked door. Home late + weary.
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