Aotearoa, Glenorchy, Glenorchy Walkway, Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown-Lakes District, Travel

Glenorchy Lagoon

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Glenorchy Lagoon & Boardwalk

Isn’t this an outstanding spot for a place to sit and watch the world go by? It’s part of the Glenorchy Lagoon/Boardwalk which crosses wetlands that are full of bird life and surrounded by stunning mountain ranges. The track twists, turns and loops around with multiple starting and finishing points. In addition, it’s completely flat and a really easy walk which makes it perfect for a family outing. In the summer the lagoon is still, warm and full of colour whereas in the winter the mountain ranges are covered in snow and the air has a bracing chill, making it equally delightful.        

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.

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.

Aotearoa, Cardrona, Cardrona Valley, Lake Wanaka, Travel, Wanaka

The Cardrona Hotel

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The Cardrona Hotel – Buy 

Dating back to 1865, the Cardrona Hotel is an iconic pub/hotel situated in the Cardrona Valley, that dates back to the Otago gold rush days. It had numerous owners of the years, however none more famous than proprietor James “Jimmy’ Patterson. Having purchased the hotel in 1926, Jimmy Patterson owned the establishment for 35 years until his death at the age of 91 in 1961. His attitude towards serving alcohol to patrons was legendary in the area. He preferred not to sell alcohol to women, and the amount you could drink depended on the direction you were heading. For those heading into Wanaka, he would allow two drinks while those heading over the Crown Range were limited to a single glass.

Dunedin, East Otago, Ōtepoti, Waikouaiti

All Around The World

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Sunrise in Merton – Buy 

This morning for some weird and strange reason I was thinking about world time zones as I published this image. For example, at the time of publishing it was 6:00am, on Wednesday 6th December in New Zealand. However, if you are San Francisco it would have been 9:00 am on Tuesday 5th December. How do I know this? Well, I looked it up on a World Clock! In New York it was 12:00 noon on Tuesday, in Dublin it was 5:00pm and in Moscow it was 8:00pm. In Beijing, China it was 1:00 am on Wednesday 6th December, in Tokyo it was 2:00 am, in Port Moresby it was 3:00 am and in Melbourne it was 4:00am.

So, hello, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or good night depending on where you are.

Aotearoa, Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, Queenstown-Lakes District, Travel

The Head of Lake Wakatipu

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The Head of Lake Wakatipu – Buy 

This is one of those fabulous locations and views of Lake Wakatipu where everyone stops for a photo. However, there’s a very good reason for that, and that’s because it is a simply wonderful spot. The lookout, which can be very exposed if you are travelling on a day when a weather front of wind and rain is passing overhead, provides a glorious vista of Lake Wakatipu in the Queenstown Lakes District. Looking up to the head of Lake Wakatipu you get an outstanding view of Big Geordie Peak, Major Peak, Minor Peak, Mount Earnslaw and Cosmos Peak. While, further round is the Routeburn Valley, Mount Bonpland and the Greenstone Valley.

Aotearoa, Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown-Lakes District, Travel

Glenorchy and Mt Bonpland

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Mt Bonpland  – Buy 

The town of Glenorchy at the head of Lake Wakatipu is an amazing place. If you’re keen to get up early you’ll see some outstanding sunrises and in the evenings the sunsets are just as good. Add to that, in the warm summer months the dusks are long and the lake is splendid. It’s also a great access point for the Routeburn Track and the Paradise Valley.

Aotearoa, Ōtepoti, Patterson Inlet, Stewart Island, Travel, Ulva Island

Ulva Island/Te Wharawhara

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Boulder Beach, Ulva Island – Buy 

Ulva Island is one of only a few open, pest-free sanctuaries in New Zealand. Located in Patterson Inlet on Stewart Island, it has been pest-free since 1997 which has enabled native bird species to flourish.

The first visitors to Ulva Island were members of the Ngāi Tahu tribe who often visited the area as part of their food gathering trips. They also used to strip bark from Totara Trees for use in storing harvested muttonbirds. In fact, some sites where tōtara trees are stripped are dated to be nearly 200 years old.

Aotearoa, East Otago, Palmerston, Travel

Palmerston Sunrise

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Palmerston Sunrise – Buy 

This is one of those images where I just happened to be in the right place, at the right time. I spied the glow from the sun as it appeared beyond the trees, at the same time creating wonderful beams of light shooting out in all directions. The only issue was the extremely heavy dew, only added to the recent heavy rain, meaning the grass wasn’t exactly stable to walk on.

Cook Strait, Marlborough Sounds, Picton, Travel

The Marlborough Sounds & Bluebridge

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The Marlborough Sounds and Bluebridge – Buy 

The peace and tranquillity of the Marlborough Sounds. It’s home to over 200 species of fish and three different types of sea mammals. It has several predator free islands to protect endangered species like the kakapo, tuatara, and giant weta and since 1962 it has been the main route for inter-island ferries travelling between Picton and Wellington.

Aotearoa, Glenorchy, Lake Wakatipu, Travel

The Glenorchy Pier

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The Glenorchy Pier – Buy 

A few years back now, I stayed a few nights in the tiny South Island town of Glenorchy. One morning, waking up early I snuck out for a walk as dawn was starting to break over the lake and the surrounding mountains. I made my way down to the pier at the lakefront as heavy clouds started to clear over the mountains and sunlight started to hit the hills high above the lake. If there’s one thing that is guaranteed to make you feel insignificant, it’s watching the earth wake-up while being encircled in mountain peaks when you’re the only one around.

Dunedin, Ōtepoti, The Art of John Caswell

The Tucker Box

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Here’s a quick selection of images I’ve taken at the beach over the years.

Daily Photo

The Tucker Box– Buy 

It occurred to me the other day that I might have drifted off topic a bit on my blog. My intention had been to photograph, write and blog my way around my own backyard and beyond, by chronicling my trips through words and pictures. To get back on track, I  began to make plans for all the trips I could take in the upcoming weeks and months but it became too big and complicated. Then, a voice in my head said, ‘heck John, go for a walk on the Wharf!’ So that’s what I did.

Alexandra, Aotearoa, Central Otago, Travel

The Matrix Is Fixed

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Towards Chatto Creek & Springvale Road – Buy 

The Matrix is fixed. You might have noticed there’s been a bug over the last few days as posts appear and then vanish or don’t seem to appear at all. It turns out there was a problem with an update in one of the widgets and a few other bugs that had crept into the system. Essentially my blog had a cold! The good news is that it’s all fixed and normal business has resumed. 

Aotearoa, Dunedin, Ōtepoti, Spring

Spring On The Leith

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Spring on the Leith – Buy 

I’m not completely sure how my thought process brought me to this point on the Leith but I believe it went something like this…. I started by wandering around the University of Otago looking for signs of spring. This took me down Castle Street (which was littered in glass and had a strange flight club style gathering happening outside one flat) where I came across the Leith River at the Botanical Gardens. Following the Leith which was rather full due to the recent heavy rain, I became interested in the graffiti and the surrounding colours from the gardens.

Middlemarch, Pukerangi, Strath Taieri, Sutton

Tracks Heading West At Pukerangi

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Tracks Heading West – Buy 

It took me three visits to this spot to get the image I wanted. It’s a decent journey from Dunedin and not a spot I could quickly detour to when the time seemed right. To get the timing right it took a bit of planning. On the first two occasions I came home, only to realise I wasn’t happy with the composition which was rather annoying. There’s also a wonderful metaphor that comes with railway tracks and railway stations that seem to be a growing theme for me.