The Hard Work Begins 
In February 2001 Sudden, Dynamite Dave, Granny, Wyatt Earp, Ernie Southpaw and Dakota Dixie of the Trail Blazers Gun Club started to build Cowboy Paradise. 
The beginning of the new ranges can be seen from the top of Mt Tahua 1125 m.
The mountains behind the newly started excavations are the McArthur Crags, and the mountains with the clouds on them in the distance are the Southern Alps. 
The Arahura River in the foreground flows through this area which is called Milltown. 
Many years ago this area supported a town of the same name, and a timber mill was located there milling native Rimu trees and other native trees. 
On July 12 Sudden drives the digger into the bush, that over the coming months will slowly, { one bucket after another plus many 1000s of truck loads of overburden } become Cowboy Paradise and the new ranges for the Trail Blazers Gun Club.  
 
 Old Faithful 

Our faithful old dump truck. Dynamite Dave spent many long hours driving this old relic from the gold mines. 
This old truck has a Rolls-Royce engine which just kept on going and going, even though many litres of water and lots of oil were needed to keep her running.
Sudden removes the first old stump left over from the timber milling days. Soon there was a road the full length of the ranges.
The New Road

A wild range cow stands on the new road, ready to charge the old truck. The clouds in the background never moved off the mountains for most of September.
After the overburden has dug out, the good gravel is back filled to form the road.
The first ranges take shape. 

Ranges #5 and #6 were the first ones to be dug out, many hundreds of tons of of overburden was carted out and dumped to later form the parking and club house area. 
Mud and more mud

Sometimes on wet days our old truck got stuck in the soft mud.
Sudden has to use the digger to push Dynamite Dave out.
Slowly over the preceeding weeks the ranges slowly took shape. Here Sudden and Ernie Southpaw are working on range #6. Notice that the sun is shining in this picture.
Many weeks have passed and now the work has progressed to range #1. Most of the ranges are now mostly excavated.
The next phase of construction is the building of range props.
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Cowboy Paradise, Trail Blazers Gun Club, cowboys and cowgirls, indians and outlaws paradise.....10 February 2003