Street Art by @hugovandorsser and Screaming Rooster Studio
For something different I wanted to see if I could capture a long exposure image during the day time. I made my way down to Vogel Street here in Dunedin and set up my gear under the overbridge that runs through former Jetty Street. Under the bridge, a painting which is part of the Dunedin Street Art trail by @hugovandorsser and Screaming Rooster Studio made a good backdrop as I waited for slow moving cars to pass by.
Spider web with raindrops at Ross Creek
The other week when we had all that rain, I went out in search of photos involving water. However, instead of walking the streets of South Dunedin and photographing houses that were flooding, I headed for some of the Dunedin bushwalks. One of those that I spent some time in was in and around Ross Creek from the Leith Valley entrance. In this area of the bush several small rivers run through the valley before connecting up with the Waters of Leith. I arrived to find the usually sedate stream had become inundated with water after nearly three days of heavy rain. It was while I was photographing one of the many bends and drops in the stream that I noticed a nearby spider web that was catching some of the rain drops that were falling through the canopy.
Corner of Tomahawk and Oakland Street (Out of the morning chaos comes bliss)
I emerged from my doorstep into the early morning light of a new day. Being spring, dawn was starting to break significantly earlier than it had a month ago yet, the mornings were still cold enough for heavy layers of dew to develop overnight. Having not been awake long enough to claim I was functioning to any high degree of cognitive skill, I headed off into the breaking dawn trying to work out what the heck I was doing up at such an hour, when I was actually on holiday. Then, I reminded myself. The light is always more interesting at this time of the morning. Exactly what I was looking for, I wasn’t too sure. So, I set up my tripod at a random intersection and waited for cars to drive past, creating a lovely long exposure effect. It was while I was waiting on one of these 25 second exposure shots that I decided I really was looking forward to a cup of coffee.
First light over Tomahawk Beack in Dunedin
Today marks a significant milestone for my daily photoblog from a Small City which I’m delighted to share with you. This is my one thousandths consecutive daily post. That’s one thousand days without missing a single day. One thousand days where at 6am (mostly) a different photo has been posted. When people ask what my blog from a Small City is about, my response is that it’s a photoblog about discovering small towns, forgotten points of interest and the curiosities of my island home. It’s about interesting and amusing stories told through words and images about life in Aotearoa.
In fact, when I started my purpose was to improve my photography through becoming a better writer. After all, it’s one thing to be able to take a photograph, it’s a completely different skill to be able to use words to create an ongoing narrative. I actually did a very rough calculation along with 1000 unique photos, I’ve written over 150,000 words!
So, to those people who keep coming back, thank you very much for sharing my creative joy and please share it among your friends. I sincerely hope you keep returning because I very much enjoy the creative challenge. It’s kind of like having 5 minutes of escapism every single day. Or to put it another way, 300 seconds escaping from reality or everyday matters.
Stain-glass window at Dunedin Railway Station
Aren’t stain-glass windows amazing? To think, we can thank both the Romans and Egyptians for becoming experts at creating objects made from coloured glass. While looking at this one in Dunedin at the Railway Station, I began to speculate about the person who had the idea of making a window out of it. I like to think their thought process went something like: ‘You know what, if we put that see-through coloured stuff in that empty space where the wind comes through, we might really have something.’ I wonder if they knew it would catch-on as much as it has!
Tulips at First Church
Before all that rain fell, the weather in Dunedin was actually rather fine, The preceding days had been warm, sunny and perfect for enjoying the delights of spring. For these reasons, and others that I can’t remember, I found my way into the central city in search of signs of spring. Upon arrival at the historic First Church, I discovered a delightfully elegant flower bed of tulips lining the entrance to the grand building.
The NGV in Melbourne
Whoever designed the National Gallery of Victorian (NGV) in Melbourne sure had a lot of fun. It has, what is quite possibly the most outstanding floor I’ve ever seen, a stain-glass ceiling in the Great Hall (which I didn’t get to see due to not being invited to the Christian Dior event that was on, how rude!) and a wall that contains a waterfall at the entrance. How crazy is that! I had such a blast photographing inside the building, it was so cool. The place was so busy that no-one minded that I sat on the floor and photographed people walking past. I still want to return to photograph the stain-glass ceiling, one day I will!
Howth Peninsula and the Baily Lighthouse
In Ireland, while making my way around various points, I stopped off at Howth Head. Located northeast of Dublin, Howth sits on a peninsula and has some wonderful coastal walking trails. One of which takes you past The Baily Lighthouse which has had a signal light shining from it in some way shape or form for over three hundred and fifty years. Just think about that for a second – three hundred and fifty years, that’s an awfully long time! In fact, the first light signal was built on the point near Howth in 1667 and was replaced by the Baily Lighthouse 1814. With multiple tracks to choose from, I spent a few hours strolling some of the various coastal paths which certainly have impressive views. I only wish I had more time to explore them. However, as the afternoon ran on and I became short of time, I realised I hadn’t allowed myself enough time to actually make it to the lighthouse, so I returned to Howth in search of a pint of Guinness to imagine what it might look like.
The Melbourne Skyline
The wonderful thing about Melbourne is how walkable the city is alongside the river. Much like Brisbane which has the Brisbane River running through it with South Bank looking across to the CBD, Melbourne has the Yarra River. If you’re into walking and cityscapes, then you can have a great time walking along the River Esplanade beside the Yarra River getting all sorts of photo opportunities of Melbourne’s skyline. One day I’ll return and photograph it at night, which will present a completely different set of challenges.
Hong Kong’s Jumbo restaurant in Aberdeen harbour
It’s always interesting to read news articles about places you’ve been to. So it was with interest that I recently read about the sinking of Hong Kong’s famous Jumbo restaurant back in 2022.
Having been an icon and major tourist attraction of Hong Kong’s Aberdeen harbour since it opened in 1976, the famous floating restaurant has entertained Kings, Queens, Presidents and been the location for many major movies. Sitting at nearly 80 metres in length and with a capacity of more than 2,000 the restaurant was the main feature of the Jumbo Kingdom which also featured the Tai Pak Floating Restaurant and the Sea Place. Styled in the form of an ancient Chinese imperial palace, the Jumbo restaurant sat in Aberdeen harbour for 44 years. However, despite its place in Hong Kong’s culinary history, the floating restaurant had been unprofitable since 2013. Then, when Covid hit the region in early 2020, the restaurant was forced to close and by 2022 it had accumulated losses exceeding HK$100 million. As the future of Jumbo’s looked bleak, several proposals were put forward to save the famous restaurant, all of which came to nothing as potential investors were deterred by the high maintenance cost and a potential government bailout also failed. So, it was announced in May of 2022 that the restaurant would move away from Hong Kong for repairs and storage in an unspecified destination until a new owner took possession of the vessel. In June of that year, the Jumbo floating restaurant was towed out of Hong Kong where some time after it hit rough weather in the South China Sea, started taking on water, eventually sinking near the Paracel Islands to a depth of over 1,000 metres [3,300 feet].
The oddest thing about discovering that the famous Jumbo restaurant had sunk was realising I had photographed it only two months before it closed in March of 2020. What a curious thing it is to know that only two months after taking this photo it was closed to the public and then two years later it would be at the button of the South China Sea.
Saigon Street in Hong Kong
Hong Kong really is an interesting place, particularly if you’ve never been there before. Just wandering the streets can be an overload for the senses with all the sights and sounds that greet you from being in the world’s fourth most densely populated region in the world with over 7.4 million residents. Once you’ve spent the day ambling the city streets or visited the wonderful contrast between old and new in the Aberdeen Floating Village you can head into the numerous night markets that awaken after dark and become a hive of people. Of course, then there’s also the Symphony of Lights show that luminates Victoria Harbour each evening. But, then again just navigating the airport can be an interesting experience in itself.
Ross Creek during torrential rain on Friday morning.
Water of Leith near George Street on Friday morning.
Here’s a statistic for you, yesterday Dunedin had its wettest day in over a century. Three times the usual rainfall expected in October fell in the city in just 48 hours causing 38 road closures. It seems that the Metservice got it spot on with their heavy rain warnings earlier in the week. That really was a significant amount of rain that fell and was definitely a highly unusual event. Now, remind me again what sunshine looks like?
The Water of Leith in flood mode.
Friday 4:40pm – Time to review! Here in Dunedin it started raining early yesterday morning and now some 30 hours later it’s still going! State Highways are closed to the north of the city, to the south of the city, many communities are now cut off and many local suburbs are in flood mode. A state of emergency is in place in Dunedin and Clutha while there is heavy flooding in Waikouaiti and Palmerston is completely cut off. All over the region there are landslides and rivers bursting their banks. Just another spring day in Dunedin.
Water of Leith after torrential rain
Friday 6am – So a red alert heavy rain warning with 120 to 150 mm of rain was released. Then warnings from the Metservice, travel warnings from Civil Defence, snow in the Lindis Pass, rising river levels, surface flooding, land slips, sandbags being filled and warnings of flooding in low lying areas.
The Sampan boats of Aberdeen in Hong Kong
While I was in Hong Kong I visited Aberdeen Harbour which is famous to both locals and tourists. The area is incredibly well known for its floating village and seafood restaurants that are located within the harbour. It’s also home to the Tanka people, who used to live on boats in the harbour and are closely linked to the fishing industry. During my time there, we travelled around on a traditional sampan, which is a flat bottomed fishing boat that originated from China. The Tanka people lived on them and while they were used on the rivers and coasts to transport people during the day, they also doubled as shelter at night. Nowadays, most are used to ferrying curious tourists on tours like myself. Although I passed on the seafood restaurants.
Lake Wanaka towards the Haast Pass
Is it possible to take a black and white landscape photo without channelling a wee bit of American photographer Ansel Adams? He truly is one the great’s of landscape photography and forever changed the way we view the world around us. If you’ve never heard of him you should look him up, you won’t be disappointed! This image I took on route to Makarora, beyond the northern tip of Lake Wanaka which leads into the Haast Pass and later on the West Coast.
Alexandra in winter
I was heading to the Lindis Pass via Tarras. However, as I wanted to capture the early morning light through the pass, I decided to spend the night in Alexandra as this would allow me to get there in the morning light. Rising early, I ventured up to the Alexandra lookout that sits on the hill overlooking the town. It was a typical winter’s morning with the temperature sitting below zero and smoke from early morning fire’s drifting across the valley. In the distance, the first rays of sunlight took hold of the surrounding hillside. I spent a few moments taking in the silence before heading in the direction of Bendigo and later on the Lindis Pass.
Portobello Post Office
I went for a drive on the Otago Peninsula, looking for boats. Dinghies to be exact. I had an idea for an image that involved an old dinghy gently drifting on the tide. However, I quickly came across two problems. Firstly, it was far too windy for anything to be simply ‘drifting’ and secondly, I couldn’t find a dingy. So, to overcome these problems I stopped in the peninsula settlement of Portobello and photographed the former post office and general store building instead. If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely convinced it’s not a private residence, meaning I was photographing someone’s home! But, since the original building dates back to at least 1867, I’d like to think the owners would be lenient.
The Esplanade Restaurant
For something different I set myself a challenge. So, I went down to the Esplanade at St Clair, picked a spot and let the world pass me by. The challenge was to see what photos I could create while staying as close as possible to a single spot. This is the entrance to the well known local Italian beachfront Pizza Restaurant & Bar ‘The Esplanade.’ It advertises itself as a piece of Italy perched on the New Zealand beachfront in St Clair, Dunedin.
Morning light hits Speight’s Brewery
The historic Speight’s Brewery on Rattray Street, Central Dunedin is about to get a lot busier. The usual summer cruise ship season is due to get underway next month and Speight’s Brewery is always a popular location. Developed in 1876 when James Speight, while feeling a little thirsty, decided to see what would happen if he mixed a few malt and hops together. He then set-up a brewery with friends Charles Greenslade and William Dawson on Dunedin’s Rattray Street where it has been based ever since.
Otago Peninsula and Harbour Cone from Peggy’s Hill
It’s not hard to see why William Larnarch chose this spot to build his grand house and estate in 1871. The story goes that while out riding with his son, William Larnach came across a location near Peggy’s Hill which he immediately loved. After purchasing the land and much of the surrounding area, he then employed the well known architect Robert Lawson to complete the design. The site was then cleared and levelled, allowing construction to begin in 1871.
Farm Shed with Hay Bales
I came across this hayshed near Cape Saunders. After spending some time studying the scene, I started looking at the composition in the form of lines, squares, rectangles, circles and cylinders. It’s always interesting to see how the eye can be moved around inside the frame with the arrangement of elements that suggest habitation and time which I’ve always enjoyed. In this case, a corrugated metal shed on the right side and a row of wrapped hay bales in front of it is backdropped by a grassy field enclosed by a rustic fence.
Morning on Poolburn Road
Occasionally I find a subject by simple chance. Driving through the Ida Valley on Poolburn Road one day I found this small, isolated house constructed from stone and schist. Thinking it would make an interesting subject for a photo and assuming it was abandoned, I decided to call past it early the next morning on my way to Poolburn. Such unexpected and serendipitous moments appeal to my curious nature. They also require an openness to be guided by what the subject demands. In this instance I was drawn to the moodiness of the sky and the half light of morning which created questions for the observer to answer. Much like the house itself.
Chimney Stack at Hereweka
While I enjoy walking through cities and towns transcribing what I see in words or images, I also enjoy getting out to more remote locations. Every so often I find myself drawn to creating photos that are more of a long stare than a quick glance. There are element’s of remoteness, past habitation, time, the passing of time and timelessness that I find myself coming back to again and again. It might be a fence line covered in mist, an old metal shed, an abandoned house or a stone wall on a rolling hill but they all hold deep and compelling meaning to me. In this case an old chimney stack on the former farmstead owned by William Larnach in the 1870’s made an interesting subject. In this image the challenge was ensuring the sunburst coming through the trees didn’t dominate the whole scene.
Spring tulips in Queens Gardens
From the Dunedin Railway Station I walked the short distance to Queens Gardens. Situated on reclaimed land and developed in the late 19th Century, the gardens were officially named Victoria Gardens in 1904 but that name quickly developed into “The Queen’s Gardens”. The gardens have several notable statues including Queen Victoria, Donald M. Stuart, the Dunedin Cenotaph and the Dunedin Millennium Cross. Located directly in front of the cross is a lovely triangular shaped garden that on this occasion featured a lovely bed of tulips in the full joys of spring. It was this line of tulips nestled in front of the Celtic Cross that I had come to photograph.
Spring at Dunedin Railway Station
Let’s get scientific for a moment. There are two days every year when night and day are the same length. These are called the equinox or a solar equinox. That is to say that the sun appears directly above the equator, rather than north or south of it. Here in New Zealand the autumn equinox happens in March (March 20 this year) and the spring equinox happens in September (September 23 this year). Now, for those in the Northern Hemisphere they will obviously be reversed. What all this means is that for us folk who live in the Southern Hemisphere the daylight hours are now longer than the night time hours and for those that live in the Northern Hemisphere, the nighttime hours become longer than the daylight hours. So, while all the nations north of the equator are heading into the autumn and winter months, here in Aotearoa we are dusting off speedos, bikinis and bringing out the jandals because summer is just around the corner.
To celebrate the equinox, the official start of spring and all the glorious colour that is returning to this part of the world, I risked a heavy dose of hay fever and went in search of some spring blossom.
The Bluebridge’s Straitsman Ferry.
Back in June while scrolling through the latest news bulletins, I came across a rather perplexing story that captured my attention for several minutes. That’s fairly hard to do these days, but occasionally there are headlines that make you intrigued to find out the backstory. After all, it’s not every day you read the headline ‘Interislander ferry runs aground.’ Succumbing to click bait and curious to discover what caused the ship to park in Titoki Bay in the Marlborough Sounds instead of Wellington wharf, I began following the story. I later went on to read that the ferry Aratere ran aground after a crew member pressed the wrong button and engaged the autopilot, sending the ship off course. Eventually, with the lifespan of news not being more than several days, I forgot about the wrong turn taken by the Aratere and moved on. As did the rest of the country.
So, recently when I awoke to news that a Bluebridge ferry lost power and was adrift in Cook Strait I wasn’t really surprised. On this occasion the lights went out on the Connemara having departed Wellington for Picton at 9.38pm. Making it as far as Ōwhiro Bay on Wellington’s south coast, it then lost power shortly before 10.30pm and only by sheer luck, the wind pushed it in a southwest direction away from land. It was then picked up by tug ships shortly before 1am Friday morning and taken back to port. Now, is it just me or are problems with Cook Strait ferries seeming to become an all too regular feature in the daily news cycle. A quick look back over the breakdowns of the Cook Strait ferries over the past two years makes for shocking reading.
In January 2023, while sailing in large swells and high winds the Interislander Ferry Kaitaki lost power off Wellington’s south coast. The next month the sailing of the Interislander Ferry Kaiarahi was cancelled due to engineering issues as was a crossing of Bluebridge’s Connemara for the same reasons. Then, in March the Interislander Ferry Kaitaki was taken out of service due to engineering faults which was followed in April with the cancellation of several crossings by Bluebridge’s Strait Feronia. A few months later in August, the Interislander Ferry Kaitaki suffered steering issues and anchored in Wellington Harbour overnight while in November both Bluebridge’s Connemara and the Interislander’s Kaiarahi were damaged after hitting Wellington Wharf. Moving to this year and back in March all sailings of the Interislander Ferry Kaiarahi were cancelled for several days due to mechanical faults. In May, Bluebridge’s Strait Feronia lost power coming into Wellington Harbour and in June as previously mentioned, the Interislander Ferry Aratere ran aground in Titoki Bay in the Marlborough Sounds.
Intrigued by the rather appalling recent record of ferries crossing the Cook Strait, I decided to conduct a little investigation where I found that the maritime history of the Cook Strait is littered with ship and boating accidents. As far back as 1836, a barque called Maria sank near Wellington’s Cape Terawhiti. The ship City of Dunedin was also wrecked near Cape Terawhiti in 1865 while the SS Penguin sank off the southwest coast of Wellington 1909. In 1952 when the TSS Arahura was decommissioned it was used for target practice in the waters of the Cook Strait, as was the HMNZS Wellington in 2005. The MS Mikhail Lermontov collided with rocks near Port Gore in the Marlborough Sounds and sank in 1972. Then of course there’s the famous Wahine disaster of 1968.
While not wanting to start widespread panic, I would like to start a completely fictitious rumour based on nothing more than complete speculation and my own vivid imagination that the Cook Strait is cursed. After all, if we can have wild conspiracy theories about JFK’s assassination, the moon landing or that Elvis Preseley is alive and well, living in Cherry Springs State Park in Pennsylvania, then why not one about the Cook Strait ferry service.
Consider the first Interisland ferry operated by New Zealand Railway between Wellington and Picton called the Aramoana. In 1962, while going into berth at Picton it was caught by strong winds, became tangled with a spectator boat and hit the wharf. Hurried repairs were made, just in time for its first commercial sailing on the 13th August 1962.
Once, some years ago needing to travel from the South Island to the North Island, for something different I decided to drive. Just for a change. It had been a few years since I’d ventured onto a Cook Strait ferry so like an eager child who can’t wait for Christmas I happily booked myself and my vehicle and on a crossing. When the day of my voyage came, the weather appeared fine, a little windy and cloudy, but otherwise pleasant. Once aboard I found a seat near a window towards the rear of the ship and comfortably settled in. It wasn’t long before we were slipping out of Picton for a leisurely 3 hour trip to Wellington. That was as serene as the trip got because from that point on the voyage can best be described as hell! First we were informed that due to the extreme weather conditions ours would be the last crossing of the day. Next they advised anyone who suffers from seasickness to sit at the stern of the ship. Finally, they started dispensing sick bags. Now I don’t know about you, but when you’re on board a ship and they start handing out sick bags and you’ve only just left the port, you know it’s going to be rough. It’s like getting on a plane and being told to put your life jacket on while taking off! Our leisurely 3 hour trip to Wellington turned into over 7 hours of suffering and torment on the mountainous seas of the Cook strait. Upon arrival in Wellington, I was green, nauseous and couldn’t get off the boat fast enough!
All of this leads me to the very clear and inarguably conclusion that not only is the Cook Strait cursed, but we must find a better way to cross the strait. I have a friend who is in favour of a bridge running between Picton and Wellington that could rise in the middle to let passing ships through. I however am a believer in the idea of having a tunnel to connect Picton to Wellington. It could have conveniently placed petrol stations and outlet stores along the way for weary travellers who need to rest. Also, needing to be in excess of 100km in length, it would have the added benefit of being the longest road tunnel in the world, thus being a major tourist attraction.
Back in the 1990’s the Interislander ferry service ran an ad campaign with the slogan, ‘what a way to start holiday!’ Maybe they should bring it back, after all it’s a statement no-one can argue with.
Jetty Street Overbridge
It’s not often you can literally see the thinking of town planners in action, and that’s what I love about Dunedin’s Jetty Street overbridge. Opened in 1977 after the old bridge made of Port Chalmers bluestone was decommissioned, it is a wonderful example of urban development in its simplest form. By the 1970’s, the old bridge built between 1883 and 1886 for horses and carts was no longer fit for purpose and a new bridge was required. These days, if you stand below the bridge on Jetty Street, you can literally see their thinking of just squeezing it directly between two buildings. The upside of this grand design is that while driving over the bridge you can look into office windows on the second floor.
The Railway Central Terminus Hotel
The next day the clouds had rolled in, the temperature had dropped and heavy rain had lashed the city from sometime the previous evening. I spent a lazy day hunkering inside where it was warm, however by mid afternoon I was ready for some fresh air. With the rain showing no sign of easing, I tucked myself into a jacket and headed out into the city streets looking for puddles. Upon arriving at Queens Gardens, I spotted the former “Railway Central Terminus Hotel” reflecting in a rather large puddle near a set of traffic lights on Cumberland Street. Built in 1880 and described at the time as a conspicuous object that was considered an important addition to the city’s hotel accommodation, it was recently redeveloped into New York style apartments. Now, the building is considered an important part of the city’s warehouse precinct.
Carey’s Bay Towards Aramoana
As I arrived in Waitati, a settlement just north of Dunedin, I decided to detour off the main highway. Instead, I turned onto Mount Cargill Road, which used to be the main route north from Dunedin until the Dunedin–Waitati Highway (SH 1) was opened in 1957. After around 4 kilometres, I made the decision to take another diversion and ventured off Mount Cargill Road and onto Blueskin Road, eventually arriving at the harbour village of Port Chalmers and later on Dunedin.
The Waitaki District Council in Oamaru
The drive from Christchurch to Dunedin was uneventful. Which is just what you want to be able to say when you are travelling on part of the national state highway network. I detoured around the towns of Ashburton and Timaru, past Temuka, Makikihi and Winchester, but by the time I reached Oamaru I was ready for a break. A place that is able to boast the country’s oldest public garden, stunning Victorian architecture, two penguin colonies and having been home to human habitation since around AD 1100. Oamaru is a very nice place. It has its own delightful charm that makes you feel relaxed. It’s also full of surprises. You feel like you’re driving through any other typical New Zealand town, but then you turn a corner and everything changes. Suddenly you’re faced with a splendid collection of Victorian buildings near the harbour that are constructed from local limestone which tell the story of how the town grew on the prosperity of exploring goods of wool, grain and frozen meat from the 1860s and 1870s onwards. On this occasion, it was a quiet Sunday afternoon so I parked near the old colonial bank buildings near the harbour. I walked up one side of the street and back down the other before returning to my car and continuing the drive home.