#dailyat6am, #fromtheroad, Kapiti Coast, Paraparaumu, Paraparaumu Beach, Wild Horses

An Evening Wander Along Marine Parade

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Daily Photo – Last Light at Paraparaumu Beach

I was flicking through some of my unpublished images and came across this one from Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast. I think it was taken after a few minutes wandering along Marine Parade from Paraparaumu Beach in the direction of Raumati South and Paekākāriki. I’d been watching the sun drop slowly behind Kapiti Island while ambling along the beach and, just as I was about to call it a day, something caught my eye. The toetoe bushes that line the sand dunes, quietly separating the beach from the road and footpath, were swaying in the evening breeze and suddenly seemed worth a second look.

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Kapiti Coast, Paraparaumu, Paraparaumu Beach, Wild Horses

Paraparam (aka Paraparaumu)

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Corner of Marine Parade and MacLean Street

This is an image I took while I was in Paraparaumu on one of those typically hot, North Island  summer days. When I processed this image I was in a mood to be a bit creative, so I added a preset. Lightroom presets are great, I use them all the time. IN case you don’t know what Lightroom presets are, they enable quick additions of filters during photo editing. They’re really useful, super easy and fun to make. This particular preset is called ‘Ali Is Smiling’ because I made it and a whole bunch while I was watching the famous Thrilla In Manila boxing match between Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier III from 1975. I also added a Fisheye Lens effect to mix things up a bit.

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Beach Life, Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paraparaumu, Paraparaumu Beach

Paraparaumu Beach & Kapiti Island

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Paraparaumu Beach & Kapiti Island

Strolling along Paraparaumu Beach in summer is a glorious treat. The sand stretches out into the horizon as Kapiti Island looms in the distance, while the crisp, salty breeze playfully lingers in the air. There’s a soothing murmur of the waves that lap at the shore and gulls wheel overhead prompting a momentary pause in the day’s ambling.

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, North Island, Paraparaumu, Waikanae

A Mystery Location

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Somewhere I don’t know!

There are some things I can tell you about this photo and there are some things I can’t. For example, I can tell you that I took it in the North Island of New Zealand, that it is somewhere near Paraparaumu or Waikanae and finally that it was a misty, rainy afternoon. What I can’t tell you is its exact location as I can’t for the life of me remember! I was hoping that if I looked on a map it might jog my memory, however that didn’t help at all!

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, North Island, Paraparaumu, Summer

New Zealand’s Christmas Tree

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Pōhutukawa Tree

Missionary Henry Williams (who was given the task of translating the english version of the Treaty of Waitangi into Te Reo Maori in one night) once described holding a church service under a ‘‘wide spreading Pōhutukawa Tree’ back 1833. Since then, The Pōhutukawa Tree has become an iconic symbol of both summer and Christmas in Aotearoa.

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paraparaumu

Paraparaumu Beach & Kapiti Island 

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Paraparaumu Beach & Kapiti Island 

I decided that it was time to get an updated photo of Kapiti Island. So, while recently in the North Island, I detoured over to Raumati Beach before heading the short distance along to Paraparaumu. It was one of those hot summer days that I’m reliably informed is typical of the Kapiti Coast in late December and early January. So, after successfully dripping ice cream all over myself, I went in search of views of Kapiti Island from the beach.

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paraparaumu, Travel

Kapiti Island Wildlife Sanctuary

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Kapiti Island Reserve – Buy 

During the 1840s, the whaling trade/industry around parts of New Zealand had started to fade away. Kapiti Island was one of these locations. At this time, much of the land on the Island was cleared for farming and sheep, goats, pigs, deer, cats, and dogs were introduced. For the next forty to fifty years, the island was farmed until around 1900 when the government purchased most of the island and developed it into a predator-free, bird sanctuary.

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paraparaumu, Travel

Kapiti Island

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Kapiti Island – Buy 

Accessible only by specific ferry companies, Kapiti Island is a wonderful place to spend some time. These days, the predator-free Island is managed by the Department of Conservation however back in the mid-1830s, there were up to five whaling stations on the island. At the time, European traders and whalers were populating the coastlines and so local iwi provided them with land, pigs, potatoes, dressed flax and women in return for guns, tobacco and alcohol.

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Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, North Island, Paraparaumu

Paraparaumu Beach

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Paraparaumu Beach – Buy 

Here in Aotearoa we have some wonderful beaches. There are occasions when I don’t think we realise how lucky we are with the beaches we have. They really are various and distinct. From being able to swim and surf to using them for walking and running to everything in between. There’s even more and more wildlife appearing all year round.

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Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paekākāriki, Travel

Paekākāriki

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Paekākāriki Hill Lookout – Buy 

On my way back to Wellington, I made a short detour up Paekakariki Hill to the lookout. The view looking north is quite amazing as you can see out to Kapiti Island and up the western coastline. 

To get to the lookout, you need to take Paekakariki Hill Road. Built in 1849 by British Army engineers with road-building gangs, it linked Wellington and Porirua with the beach road to Whanganui. The road was completed in November of that year and remained the main highway north until 1939.

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Kapiti Coast, Kapiti Island, Paraparaumu, Travel

Kapiti Island Shoreline

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Kapiti Island Shoreline – Buy 

Some years ago, I had the pleasure to spend a day on Kapiti Island. Being a nature reserve, it lies 5 kilometers off the West Coast of the North Island, at Paraparaumu. Often visited by Maori, before europeans sailors arrived, at one point it was a busy whaling and sheep station that was then turned over to the government and made into a predator-free, bird sanctuary. For over 100 years it has been managed by the New Zealand Government in order to protect its flora and fauna.

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Aotearoa, Kapiti Coast, Paraparaumu, Travel

Paraparaumu Beach & Kapiti Island

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Paraparaumu Beach and Kapiti Island – Buy 

Looking out from Paraparaumu Beach, across to Kapiti Island and the setting sun, I recalled recently reading that back in the 1830’s, whales migrated with their young through the channel between the Island and the shore. It would have been marvellous to see. I also recall reading that the channel provided a sheltered anchorage for ships and several shore-based whaling stations operated near-by, which explains why you don’t see whales in the area any more!

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Beyond The Eastern Steeps, Kapiti Coast

Kapiti Sunset

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There Are Reasons You Should Stay.Kapiti Sunset– Buy

The whole reason for the crop on this image of Kapiti Island is to get that wee patch of orange/red cloud and it’s reflection in. Initially I cropped it with a 12:5 ratio (or close to it) but the more I looked at it, the more I realised that I really liked what that wee patch of cloud added to the final image.

#dailypic

#morning_light #beachlife

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