Toitū, Otago Motors – Buy
The weather could best be described as awful. It could also be referred to as dire, atrocious or ghastly. The day had started out with rain, then the wind hit, the rain got harder, then it turned to hail and the temperature hadn’t reached more then five or six degrees. So, it seemed logical to go indoors and visit a local museum.
Queenstown towards Coronet Peak – Buy
I spent some time wandering the various streets that make up the town’s centre, I walked along the lakefront and took in the splendid scenery that surrounds the town. When I was younger, I remember Queenstown being a place with spectacular scenery, full of wonder and excitement. As you approached there was always an air of eagerness in the backseat of the vehicle my Dad was driving. Firstly you’d drive through Frankton, then the housing developments would become less frequent and almost non-existent until we passed the bottle house which was a marvel in itself. The famed Bottle House was always a clear sign that the magical place of Queenstown wasn’t too far away, until we rounded a bend and caught sight of the gondolas making their way up through the trees to the Skyline Restaurant. This was always the cue to look in amazement out the car window at the most mysterious of towns. Although it always did seem to be packed with people, rather expensive (so my parents told me) and full of construction everywhere we went.
Pier at Days Bay – Buy
I ate a delightful lunch at a charming place called Chocolate Dayz Cafe before I headed off on foot along the Pencarrow Coast. Having no plan apart from walking as far as I could. I spent the afternoon strolling along the coastal streets through Eastbourne and along the beaches stopping to look at nothing in particular before heading back for my ferry.
Being a few minutes early I ventured across to an ice cream parlour to buy a drink where a young man was in the process of failing to balance two scoops of ice cream on a cone. This task he failed at twice more before the customer equally failed at using his debit card to pay for the items. All of this was completed moments before I could insist on making and paying for the bloody things myself to avoid dying of old age.
A short time later, clutching my well deserved drink and seated on the ferry the vessel set off once more across the harbour.
Otago Harbour with textures – Buy
Back in the summer months, I spent a day exploring near the area of Portobello on the Otago Peninsula. I timed my day with low tide, meaning I had loads of fun scrambling over the shoreline rocks near the aquarium, walking along tracks that went around the hillside and taking lots of photos from unique angles. I also spent some time sitting in the long grass enjoying the view looking back down Otago Harbour.
Corner Cumberland Street and Queens Gardens – Buy
A long exposure shot of lights from passing cars, vans and trucks made an interesting overlay effect for this photograph of the entrance to Lan Yuan, the Dunedin Chinese Gardens and the sculpture directly in front of it..
Evening on the East Coast – Buy
What a difference a day makes, just 24 little hours as the song goes. Yesterday, in Dunedin there were snow flurries all day. It rained, it hailed and the wind was blowing a gale. A real winter’s day with the temperature not more than 5 degrees. Today however, the snow, hail and wind was gone, patches of rain passed through the city and the temperature almost reached double figures. By early evening it was almost pleasant along the Coastline, relatively speaking.
Snow flurries on the Northern Motorway – Buy
Late yesterday afternoon I was in the Pine Hill area of Dunedin as the snow, wind, hail and rain was passing through the city. I ventured up to one of the bridges that crosses over the Northern Motorway with the simple idea of getting a wintery traffic image. Unfortunately, my timing was a little off as I must have stood on that bridge for nearly half an hour waiting for the next snow flurries to pass through.
Sunrise over Dunedin’s Steamer Basin – Buy
In the morning, my initial plan was to get a photo of the moon as it hung in the sky over the Dunedin suburb of St Clair. It was casting a lovely soft glow over the ocean, creating quite a surreal scene. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right location and angle to get the shot I wanted. So, instead I headed towards the city when at the last minute I noticed the sunrise was creating all sorts of lovely colours over Dunedin’s streamer basin. Of course, by the time I reached the harbour I was starting to run short of time, meaning I only had time to rattle off a few shots before I had to head off again.
Dusk in Dunedin from the Otago Peninsula – Buy
It almost seems impossible to believe the run of fine weather recently in Dunedin. There was a blip last Wednesday or Thursday when strong wind and heavy rain closed in around the city, however, since then it has pretty much been bright sunshine. The weekend from Friday onwards was warm and balmy and that stretched into yesterday. The conditions on Sunday were lovely for strolling to and from Dunedin Stadium to see the New Zealand Football Ferns and on Monday evening I went on a short tiki-tour along Otago Peninsula to see the sunset from the often photographed Otago Peninsula cabbage tree.
Switzerland vs New Zealand at Dunedin Stadium – Buy
What a wonderful night it was last night at Dunedin Stadium for the Football Ferns Fifa World Cup pool match against Switzerland. Heading to the ground on what had been a lovely Dunedin day, it dawned on me that I didn’t really know much of the Ferns history. I couldn’t tell you how they qualified for the World Cup or who any of the players were. Yet, somehow it didn’t seem to matter. I wasn’t going along with expectations of performance from certain players. I was simply heading along for pure enjoyment.
So, for 90 minutes (plus injury time) we cheered, we yelled, we screamed, we roared, we clapped our hands and we stomped our feet. Willing the Ferns to find the back of the net. Yes, there was a lack of goals (0-0), but what the match lacked in goals it made up for with share enjoyment. Long may it continue.
Dunedin at dawn II– Buy
This is another Dunedin at dawn photo I took while searching the city streets in the early hours. This is a particularly busy corner as morning traffic travels down the hill from Roslyn and the other surrounding suburbs into the centre of the city. It’s a great place to take photos as it’s got a lovely old educational college on the corner along with a long, sweeping bend that captures the light trails made by the morning traffic going up and down the hill.
Dawn over Dunedin city – Buy
The sunrises had been pretty decent in the preceding days. So, with that in mind and feeling the need to spend some time wandering the city streets in the early morning hours, I went in search of interesting views. My plan was simple: find locations that featured the city and the colourful early morning sky.
The Cardrona bra fence – Buy
The Cardrona bra fence began around 1999 when a few bras mysteriously appeared on a fence along the Cardrona Valley sometime around New Years. Since then, more bras were added to the fence until it grew into an attraction all of its own. There’s even a donation box there where you can make a contribution to the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Price Waterhouse Coopers Tower in Wellington – Buy
While wandering through Wellington I started looking at all the buildings from different angles. The more I strolled through the streets, the more I searched out different perspectives. It really was rather fun exploring a city via car parks, alleyways and stairwells. Along a street called ‘The Terrace’ which is located in the city centre near Lambton Quay, I came across the Price Waterhouse Coopers Tower building that I photographed from across the road and via a car park. It also had some neat colours against the bright blue sky.
Flag Swamp Sunrise – Buy
I grabbed this image while driving through East Otago one morning near the small settlement of Flag Swamp. There are lots of small roads that branch off the State Highway, and they have lots of interesting sights and there are even a few walkways that you can walk along. I used to detour down them a lot, just for the fun of it or if I knew a good location at sunrise.
Evansdale Glen Scenic Reserve – Buy
Arriving, what I found was something altogether quite different. It was breathtakingly beautiful. I had to double check on Google Maps that I was in the right place. After parking my car beside a sign that said, ‘Evansdale Glen Scenic Reserve’ I was still sure there must be some mistake. Yet here I was. Standing, phone in hand, jaw well and truly dropped looking out beyond a hidden bush canopy. This must be what the New Zealand wilderness is like I thought.
Lake Wanaka in the evening – Buy
Last week I shared with you an image I took of the popular ‘That Wanaka Tree’ in Wanaka. This is a different view of it showing some of the crowd that gathers every night. On this occasion the crowd was fairly small with only around two dozen people gathering near it at dusk. That’s a fairly small crowd as the numbers some nights can get extremely large.
The Kirkliston Range – Buy
Morning clouds loom over the Kirkliston range in the Hakataramea Valley. Tucked away in the Waimate District, the Hakataramea Valley sits at the foot Kirkliston range in the South Island of New Zealand.
Paremata Boat Club – Buy
While I was travelling through the North Island, I came to Porirua Harbour. Located between Plimmerton and Paremata, I crossed the bridge on Mana Esplanade and started heading towards Browns Bay. Along the way, I passed the Paremata Boat Club. It was a stunning day and the harbour was perfectly still with a slow moving tide gently rocking against the surrounding boathouses. A lovely day for walking along the water’s edge.
Carving at Te Whare Rūnanga – Buy
When I was visiting Waitangi I went to the treaty grounds which is a very spiritual place. In the Upper Grounds there’s the Treaty House and also a Wharenui called Te Whare Rūnanga, which is a carved Māori meeting house. Inside the Wharenui we were allowed to take photos of all the wonderful carvings which are amazing to see.
Once I was home, and after processing the original image I decided to have a bit of fun with reflections, lines of symmetry and mirror lines to create this finished image.
Lake Wānaka reflection – Buy
The town of Makarora is situated on the Haast Pass Highway between Wānaka and the West Coast. I stayed in Makarora for three days, two nights, and on the last day it snowed heavily. This left all the surrounding mountains covered in thick snow. It also, meant that on the way home it created some stunning scenery along the shores of Lake Wānaka.
Jupiter model on the rail trail – Buy
In the small Central Otago town of Waipiata I found this sculpture of the planet Jupiter. At first it seemed a rather random place to have a sculpture such as this but, I figured it must be there for a reason. Instead, I was much more interested in the unique shape and structure of it and the way it looked against the clear blue sky. I then spent a good 20 minutes photographing it from all sorts of usual angles and distances.
Snow at The Martinborough Hotel – Buy
I’d spent the day at Cape Palliser, the southernmost point of the North Island. There, I explored the famous lighthouse, wandered around a few of the fishing villages, avoided washed out sections of road and went for a walk along the beach. Now, arriving back at my base of Martinborough, I discovered snow was starting to fall. Earlier in the day, I read that snow was forecast to fall in the Wairarapa area however that was something I’d chosen to ignore. I’d simply assumed it wouldn’t happen. After all, how often do you really believe snow will fall when it’s forecast.
The Hayes family homestead – Buy
The Hayes family homestead and engineering works really is an intriguing place and tribute to the term ‘No 8 wire thinking.’ In fact, an argument can be made for Ernest Hayes to be one of the original backyard Kiwi innovators (even though he was actually English!). Set amongst the rural backdrop of Oturehua in Central Otago, Hayes set-up his home and engineering workshop around 1895 where he invented all manner of agricultural tools, rabbit bait cutters, wind turbines and a patented wire strainer for applying tension to wire on farm fences. Which is still in production to this very day.
Tree at sunset in Lake Wanaka – Buy
As much as I grow tired of seeing images of ‘That Wanaka Tree’, I have to admit that it does create a great subject for a photo. With the surroundings of the lake, mountains and big clear skies, it makes a wonderful scene for an image. In fact, if you catch it on a still autumn morning with moody clouds in the sky and mist rising off the lake, or on a calm, summer evening after the sun has set as colours hang around in the sky, it’s really rather magical. Therein lies the problem, it’s a vicious circle really.
Aoraki/Mount Cook Village – Buy
By the time I arrived in the Mount Cook Village it was snowing heavily. Once I’d found the car park and after navigating my way through the snow in the fading dusk to the Alpine Lodge, I walked in through the front door to the reception covered in a blanket of snow. The owner then informed me that it had been snowing for around 12 to 18 hours and it seemed to be easing.
The next morning in the bright sunlight, the village was covered in deep snow. Scanning the village around me, it all looked very wonderful. The day’s expedition involved a 10km round trip hike through the Hooker Valley to the Hooker Lake. Now, with the heavy snowfall, I found myself eager to get going.
Christ Church in Russull (Kororāreka) – Buy
The church on the corner of Church, Robertson and Baker Street in Russell (Kororāreka) was one of the places I wanted to visit while staying in the small town. Not only is it New Zealand’s oldest surviving church however it contains the grave sites of important Māori leaders Tamati Waka Nene, Hannah King and many other names linked to New Zealand’s history. It also has the graves of men from the HMS Hazard who died in the battle of Kororāreka which took place March 1845. What makes the church even more interesting is that as it was at the centre of the conflict between Māori and the British Army, there are bullet holes scattered around the church that remain to this very day.
Thunder Creek Falls– Buy
It started raining some time early in the morning. Now, several hours later having driven through the Haast Pass to the West Coast township of Haast, it seemed to be getting harder. I parked by the Haast Bridge, ate lunch in the car and went for a walk beside the river before starting the drive back to Makarora. On the way, I stopped at Thunder Creek Falls.
The falls are an impressive 28 metres high and the recent heavy rain had left the river level high and the falls heavy with water. By the time I reached the viewing platform for the falls, the rain had gotten harder, heavier, was coming in sideways and for some reason I had only brought an fairly ineffective umbrella.
West End Beach – Buy
If you ever find your way to Stewart Island and staying the night in Oban, then the following day you should put some time aside to do the following.
In the morning, from Oban, walk through the village and over the hill to Golden Bay. From there, take a water taxi across Paterson Inlet to Ulva Island, a predator free, wildlife sanctuary. Once you’re at Ulva Island, take the walking track to the West End Beach where you’ll find lots of Weka along with many other bird species and not much else. If you’re lucky, everyone who is walking the island will be off exploring other tracks so I’ll have the whole place to yourself.
When I was there, I was reminded of the Gaelic phrase quietness without loneliness. I knew I wanted to photograph the scene in front of me, I just couldn’t see the finished product. So, I decided to sit and watch until I could see the image I was looking for. 1 minute turned into 2, 2 minutes turned into 10 minutes, 10 minutes turned into 15 minutes when suddenly an idea started forming in my head. Today’s image is the finished result.
