Southern images; January 17-31, 2011

MORNING STRETCH: A white faced heron having an early morning stretch before flight at Lake Te Anau. Often wrongly called a blue heron, the species was self-introduced from Australia and is now a common sight in estuaries, inland lakes and open farmland.

ROCKED: What is believed to be one of the rocks that fell on the road between Kingston and Frankton lies beside a damaged section of barrier.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: Bluff Engineering and Welding partners for the past 30 years, Neil ``Sub'' Sutherland, left, and Paul Potter, right, with new owner Andrew Watkins.

CENTURION: Irene Davidson celebrates her 100th birthday in Invercargill.

CONNED: A Southland woman who was caught up in a scam and lost $32,000.

MEMORY LANE: Andrew and son Alec Johnstone, 2, with a 1942 Allis-Johnstone tractor at the Crank Up.

GOODBYE: Black billed gulls fly past as the Cardno family prepare to carry Murray Cardno's coffin to his boat after his funeral service at Te Anau. Immediate family travelled with him for a final voyage on his beloved ketch Manuska.

PLAYING TRICKS: Artist Marc Spijkerbosch with his almost finished mural, which could trick shower users at Creeksyde Holiday Park into thinking they're about to walk down beer cellar steps.

BIG bucks: Tenders have closed the for this Wanaka home valued at $4.22 million in the heart of Wanaka's central business district. CRIS JOHNSTON

TAKING COUNT: Census collection and operations manager Mick Alexander and Southland-Central Otago area manager Kathy Reece with census forms people can expect to receive shortly.

UNFORTUNATE SWERVE: Constable Jeremy Dix inspecting damage to a car that crashed into a power pole in Invercargill.

STRUM AWAY: C-Change, Caroline Zeeman (left) and Clare McCormack, ahead of their ukulele workshop in Invercargill.

SHOW TIME: Southland A & P Association vice-president Graham Calder with two of his former champion southdown rams and a newcomer ready for this year's show.

HI-TECH: Department of Conservation Southland community relations manager Martin Kessick shows off the latest online initiative that allows people to say how conservation land should be managed.

ANGRY: Invercargill man John Taylor stands before the southern end of the Invercargill Estuary Walkway, which he says is being destroyed by bored teenagers.

BROLLY BRIGADE: Fans try to keep dry during the New Zealand v Pakistan one-day cricket international at the Queenstown Event Centre. The match was abandoned after just 4.2 overs.

GOOD ON YA: Invercargill City Libraries staff member Jill Harpur collects money for victims of the Australian floods during an Australia Day busking session at the library.

BOOKWORMS: Rebecca, 7 (left), Danni, 4, and Sophie Clark, 6, enjoy school holiday reading time in the Invercargill Public Library.

SOLD: The home at 32 Herbert St, Invercargill, which sold for just over $1 million after only 24 hours on the market.

BOOM!: A Ford Laser rests up against a fence in a St Andrew St property after leaving a 100m trail of destruction in Invercargill.

TAKING A HIT: Kaiwera farmer Richard Smith can't recall a season when lamb growth has been so delayed.

MUM'S THE WORD: Alec Johnstone, 2, gets ready to let his balloon go at the opening of the Murihiku Young Parents' Learning Centre.

CLUB HISTORY: Sharron Caughey checks out a copy of the book she put together celebrating 25 years of the Edendale Vintage Machiney Club.

GO TOWARDS THE LIGHT: Waipapa Point lighthouse on the Southern Scenic Route is a popular stopover for tourists wanting to see sea lions on the beach.

STUCK IN: New Invercargill Airport general manager Chloe Scala is getting involved in day-to-day operations.

WELL STOCKED: Patricia Turnbull reads one of the 4000 books in her library at her property near Tussock Creek.

ANGRY: Greenhills farmer Corey Vreugdenhil stands before his empty pond after the dam was broken by a vandal, releasing about 250,000L of water.

FUN IN THE SUN: Emma Patton, 12, takes Meg the german short-haired pointer for a run at Oreti Beach on a scorcher Sunday.

AFTER YOU, SIRE: Gore A & P Association ram fair steward Russell Powley and a romney sire watch the action in the sales ring before the ram's turn to go under the hammer.

OPEN WIDE: Invercargill horse dentist Regan Dunne with one of his patients, French Connection.

KINGS OF THE CASTLES: Mackenzie Bruce (left), 6, Amy Leith, 6, and Riley Bruce, 5, enjoy their day at Oreti Beach making sandcastles.

NO ESKAPING THIS CONCLUSION: Esk St should be the focus of the inner city, says planning consultant Bill Watt.

FRUSTRATED BY WAIT: Clean Green Effluent Company owner Lindsay Lewis with one of the pods his system uses to spread dairy effluent.

ARMADA ARRIVES: Two youngsters watch as the New Zealand Surf Lifeguards circumnavigating New Zealand in two IRBs (centre) arrive at Oreti Beach, near Invercargill, flanked by the Riverton Coastguard.

ENJOYING THE LIFE OF RILIE: Charlotte Copson takes her maltese terrier Rilie for a fast ride along the Te Anau lakefront.

MOVEMENT MAD: Morgan Canny (left), Matt Dodds and Toni Canny are setting up a new fitness and health business in Invercargill.

TOP OF THE WORLD: Champion downhill biker Scarlett Hagen on Bob's Peak for the opening of the $100,000 Hammy's track.

HAPPIER TIMES: The australasian crested grebe sits on its nest and three eggs in the Te Anau boat harbour. The grebe was attacked and killed.

SENSELESS SLAUGHTER: Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Andrew (Max) Smart, the australasian crested grebe that was attacked and killed while sitting on its nest and three eggs in the Te Anau boat harbour.

COME TOGETHER: Members of the Soper family look at displays during the family's reunion. Pictured (from left) Bev Emslie, Jack Earl, Wayne Soper and Lesley Soper.

HOT TO TROT: Christchurch man Don McClintock models his full tattoo body suit at the Southland Tattoo and Piercings Show at Invercargill.

FAMILY FUN: The McGearty family enjoy a swim in the refurbished Riverton pool. Front (from left) mum Kirsty, Piper, 17 months, Joshua, 7. At rear dad Brent, Flynn, 3, and friend Jordan King, 4.

BACKUP CREW: Surf lifeguard drivers (from left) Jason Harvey, Antony Morgan and Blake Ingram in the crew's support van, with support team members Trevor Matuschka, Kate Savory, Andy Kent, Emma Darwen and Fiona Hastie.

HARD AT WORK: Blacktop construction working on resealing roads in Southland.

PATCHY: Roadworks on Spey St, Invercargill, are nearing completion.

ANGRY: Invercargill woman Carol Chilton is unhappy with ACC'S attitude to her injury.

SCOUTING PARTY: Four of the five helicopters used by Sir Peter Jackson's key production team while scouting potential lower South Island shooting locations parked at Te Anau's Fiordland Lodge.

CAUGHT OUT: Ministry of Fisheries officers Sean Hogan (left) and Mark Raynes show the variation in size of the paua recovered from a man caught taking more than three times the daily catch limit.

TAKING NO CHANCES: Invercargill firefighters in decontamination suits examine a cannister of calcium cyanide.

ENDURING: Reg and Dorothy Good celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary (January 20, 2011).

BANDING TOGETHER: National Youth Brass Band of New Zealand will feature four southerners this year (from left) Katie Taylor, Connor Ellison, Megan Gooding and Andrew Yorkstone.

TROUBLE BREWING: Invercargill Brewery owner Steve Nally empties a 1200-litre tank of beer down the drain after a problem during brewing left a bad taste in his mouth.

WHOOPSIE DAISY: Eastern Concrete owner Craig Winsloe (left) helps firemen shovel out the little concrete left in the bowl of this truck, which rolled on the Charlton Rd hill, near Gore, The driver was uninjured.

ACROSS THE BROAD: Venture Southland's enterprise and strategic projects manager Stephen Canny with the kind of aerial that will be used to bring broadband to rural Southland.

ON THE JOB: James Wilkinson (left) and Matt Inns are working as interns on the set of Two Little Boys, a feature film being made in Southland

TOP PRICES FOR TEXELS AT FAIR: Ram fair steward Hamish MacKay prepares to let a texel sire run after some brisk bidding during the Southern Texel ram fair, on day two of the Alliance Group ram week, in Gore.

DAMN GOOD FUN: Surf lifeguards (from left) Jason Harvey, Blake Ingram, Matt Buswell and Anthony Morgan arrive at Super Cove in Breaksea Sound.

TOP PRICE: Happy vendors (from left) Blair Smith and David Ruddenklau, of Newhaven Perendale at Oamaru, with Sue and Tim Anderson, of Cheviot, and PGG stud stock agent Roger Keach. The sire fetched the top price of $20,500 at the South Island perendale ram fair in Gore.

VELVET TOUCH: Tikana owner Dave Lawrence and daughter Demi, 10, with the 11kg velvet antlers produced this season by the top-selling 3-year-old wapiti bull ``Hohepa'' at auction.

PUB DEMOLITION: Demolition work on Invercargill's Northern Tavern, on Sydney St, has started. A temporary bar, including a gaming lounge, will remain there until a new tavern is built in place of the old building.

DRAW CARD: Te Hikoi Southern Journey manager Carole Power with a piece of baked argillite, which is on display outside the Riverton museum.

HOP ON BOARD: Heli Tours director and pilot Paul Mitchell will give artists a lift to the Shotover Sunshine Festival.

HIGH-FLIER: Ocean Raniera enjoying a swing in the sun at the Queens Park playground, in Invercargill.

VATICAN VALIDATION: Invercargill woman Pat Tippen with the Papal medal she received, recognising her service to the Sacred Heart Waikiwi parish.

FIRST LADY: Invercargill's first female tattoo parlour owner Tia Skerrett-Valerio.

DAMAGED GOODS: The Boss 18, the specially modified V-twin mower that was shunted, causing a public punch-up at Lake Hayes A & P Show.

NOT GOING YET: South Vineyard's movie set for Kingdom Come at Lake Benmore, where a four-wheel-drive has launched a jetski.

READY TO ROLL: Greg Selman (left), Peter Holmes and Richard Scott are part of a group that has set up a new youth radio station in an Invercargill garage.

AIR SUPPORT: A Southern Lakes Helicopters uses a monsoon bucket to dampen down hotspots at the scene of a fire near the start of the Hump Track.

ALL THAT REMAINS: The remains of part of a backpackers and a tractor at the scene of a fire near the start of the Hump Track.

ONE TORCHED, ONE SPARED: The car in the foreground was destroyed in a fire near the start of the Hump Track. The car behind was spared.

DOUSING THE EMBERS: Blackmount rural firefighter Stewart Whyte dampens hotspots in scrub at the scene of a fire near the start of the Hump Track.

RACING DUEL: A large crowd watches Commander in Chief (left) win a semifinal of the Te Anau Harness Street Racing. Commander in Chief went on to win the final.

WINNER: Robert Gorman celebrates as he and Commander in Chief win the final of the Te Anau Harness Street Racing. Anthony Shaun, driven by J Lynch, was second.

STING IN THE TALE: Craig McMaster is relieved he has only a hole through his leg after a close encounter with a stingray at Oreti Beach.

CALL TO ARMS: The wool flies as the legendary David Fagan (left) competes in an international shearing test against a United Kingdom pair including North Ireland shearer Ian Montgomery (right) at the Winton A&P Show. The Kiwi team won the first of two tests.

WELL DONE: Amaya Swale-Jones, 6 months, and her grandmother Robin Jones congratulate to the Supreme toggenburg milking goat, owned by Chris Jones.

WHOOPS: A Wakatipu Aero Club Cessna 172 flipped backwards on to another plane by a freak wind gust is hoisted back into place.

FUR REAL: Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Graeme Miller wrestles a fur seal on to the back of a ute last night, near Rockdale Rd, Invercargill.

I'M TALLER THAN YOU: Alpacas share a close moment at the Winton A & P Show.