Steam cookers

Cresting the hill north of Gore, I was stunned to see five shapes in the early morning mist, like big man-made elephants with ear-like wheels, a square, squat body and hissing trunks, writes Gerry Forde in this week's Southlander.

"Who wants to drive a traction engine?" I begged the crowd.

Rather than leave the driver hanging, I climbed aboard. He pulled and slammed several levers; there was a hiss of steam, a graunching of arthritic engine innards and the big back wheels turned slowly. All I could see was a misty chimney stack.

"I can't see where I'm going!" I choked.

"Soon fix that." A few more levers banged and cranked, the engine hissed harder and the steam thinned.

Now I could see clearly that I was going off the edge of the paddock. I swung the big wheel hard left. The giant steam engine rolled straight on. I looked in panic from the driver to the rope barrier coming up quickly. Then I spun the wheel once around, twice, five times and she adjusted a lucky Lotto spin for the panicking bystanders!

As I punched victory in the steaming air the driver gave a blast on the whistle and I nearly jumped right over the wheel.

For the rest of the morning, the big engines ran pulleys that powered threshing machines, a sawmill and towed a drain digger.

By lunchtime I was starving but there was no food on offer and my wallet was at home breeding moths. To my utter joy, they decided I should judge a steam cooking competition.

The first entrant pulled out a pan from the traction engine's fire box with a pikelet so thin it was like a communion wafer. Next was a cold bacon and egg pie.

Finally, we opened the front of one of the engines and the smell of roast lamb sweetened the steamy atmosphere. I nearly dived on the roasting dish, whipped off the lid for what could only be described as a tribute to the sheep caught in the Victorian bush fires.

I bravely sampled half a leg. It was crackin' great, the deep char-grilled kumara rich and sweet.

The modern diesel engines and computerised sawmills may be quicker, more sophisticated and more efficient, but can they cook up a roast on the job?

» Gerry Forde is the Venture Southland regional identity brand manager.

- © Fairfax NZ News