In May, Carl and I visited cousin Allan Erceg. We looked through some of George's memorabilia. And a very odd carving Frank Woolf gave to Allan - a wooden leg by Frank Erceg. I could imagine Frank sitting in a hut, perhaps it was pissing down outside and bored out of his wits; as he whittled away he found the shape lent toward such an undertaking.
We talked about family and shared stories. And of course the visit included venison steaks for lunch! Here's a selection of images from our afternoon:
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| Me with one of Frank's rifles, brother Carl and cousy Allan. |
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| Looking through some of George Erceg's albums |
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| Leg carved by Frank. Note charred section on front, looks like Frank Woolf may have saved it from being firewood. The writing in felt pen was done in recent years by Frank Woolf. |
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Allan's daughter, Xanthe, holds up one of her grandfather's ribbons. This one dated 1970. George's axes still kept in their original case.
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I recall as a child, we took family trips to Hanmer Springs and watched uncle George in the Axemen's Competitions. The highlight for me was the thrill of seeing him scale the vertical log and inserting the jiggerboards to reach the top. If you ever get a chance and haven't seen these men in action, its a must see experiencing these shows.
For more on the Axemen association and their history in nNew Zealand go to:
www.nzaxemen.org.nz
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| Allan's son Tom, continues the Erceg tradition of hunting. His first helicopter trip with his dad on venison recovery. Awatere Valley, Marlborough. 2017. |
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| Fledgling hunter... watch out, here comes another Erceg! Tom's Grandad would be proud. Awatere Valley, Marlborough. April 2017. |
Allan and I talked about his work, and that he's back doing venison recovery, and the only Erceg in our immediate family of our generation who's worked in the industry employed as a professional hunter. Allan divides his time between venison recovery and his work in the timber industry. A combination of his father's passions for hunting and chopping wood! He's definitely his father's son through and through.
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| Tom Erceg, the next generation of Erceg hunters. Clarence. Marlborough. |
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| Monach of the Glen painted when I was eighteen. |
One of the reasons for the visit was to retrieve a painting I had gifted to George many years ago. As a teenager I took up oil painting, and I'm not sure what possessed me to paint Landseer's Monach of the Glen. But I did. After completing it, it seemed fitting to offer it to my uncle, and was displayed proudly in his lounge for many years. It now hangs in my writing studio alongside Frank's stag and Gordon's photo - and how prophetic it seems all these years later, that here I am writing a book on Frank and his brothers and deer hunting, and that this majestic animal is now such a huge part of my life.
