2kiwis

A couple of weekends ago we journeyed back to the Wairarapa and stayed with my cousin Amanda for a night in Masterton. We were over the hill for a birthday party celebrating cousin Julian’s 30th birthday. We made the most of our time starting with lunch in Greytown with Amanda and Uncle Michael. Before the evening entertainment we had a walk in the Holdsworth area of the Tararua Forest Park. We had three dogs with us and all was going well until one disappeared. Amanda went off looking for the missing mutt while Keryn and I took the Gentle Annie track up to a viewpoint called Rocky Lookout.

The track wasn’t steep but did pretty much wind uphill for forty minutes of walking, so we were grateful for a rest at the lookout. The track is fairly new and looked it being well maintained and with very nice steps. Being the middle of the afternoon the sun was high in the sky and there was little in the way of clouds so the light was a bit harsh for decent photos, not that it stopped me snapping away.

Looking to the hills

Heading back into the forest I took more photos as we came down to the valley floor, the big trees and undergrowth looking good with the sunlight filtering through the canopy.

The remains of a grand tree

Amanda was waiting for us with the three dogs, the wantaway one having found his way back to the car on his own. A few more photos and then we were off back to Amanda’s for dinner and then it was on to Carterton for the birthday celebration. There were school collegue guests as well and we had a good evening of talking spiced up with a mamoth drinking game session. We left in the early morning (Keryn not drinking, therefore driving) and retired once back in Masterton.

A slow start to the morning turned into a trip out to Castlepoint for Keryn and I. We took in the lighthouse and the fishing boats lined up on the beach, sitting in large boat trailers with tractors positioned ready to take the boats into the surf. There was a clever sculpture made by nailing lost jandals (thongs, flip flops) to a post. The sculpture was labelled “Home of the lost soles”.

Castlepoint Lighthouse

Lost Soles

We had parked on the beach and moved the car to a carpark off the sand. While getting ready to walk to Castle Rock another car pulled up and out got John Howe, an artist known for his painting around the writings of JRR Tolkien (amongst other artwork). John is in New Zealand working on the Hobbit movie pre-production. We left him and (I presume) his family alone to enjoy the scenery and set off on our walk.

The path took us through a stand of tall pines and along a ridge above the beach. We reached the rock after stopping to take some photos of the bay further down the coast, Christmas Bay. There isn’t a proper path up the rock itself but a track has been worn in by countless people passing this way. We made our way up and stopped at the edge where the rock drops away to the ocean far below. The wind was quite strong on this exposed edge and we didn’t hang around for long.

Christmas Bay

A photo from the edge

Down on the beach we could see a group going through surfing lessons. They were improving all the time, loud encouragement to be heard when ever anyone stood on their board to ride the incoming waves. We walked back along the beach and got back to the car. We bought some food at the local dairy/cafe and ate it in the car while looking out to sea. Then we started back heading for Wellington.

We took a last minute diversion when we spotted a sign for the Waiohine Gorge. Amanda had talked about the bridge over the gorge, the highest suspension bridge in the Southern Hemisphere and I wanted to take a look. The gorge road was unsealed and very dry so the car was soon dust covered and even more in need of a clean than it had already been. We drove till the road ended at a carpark and after looking at the map by the carpark we realised we didn’t have much of a walk to the bridge.

The bridge

From the bridge looking up the gorge

As indicated we walked for all of a minute to find the bridge and it was indeed very high above the river. I must be getting over some of my vertigo as I had no problems with the bridge and we were soon on the other side. We didn’t hang around on the bridge as we still had an hour drive back home, but when I found a path down to the river back at the carpark I headed down for some river shots. Sunlight was leaving the gorge so I concentrated on the water and finding patterns in the flow over the rocks.

River over stones

A final few shots looking up at the bridge and I was done. The drive back to Wellington and our place in Epuni was without incident and we had a nice meal of fish and chips from So Fine Seafoods to end our day.

The weekend just gone we joined some of my family in visiting Ohakune. We drove up on Friday night with Catherine and Paul in their car. We were staying in an a-frame holiday home and arrived well after dark to find Bridget already arrived and my nephew Adam already asleep in bed. Being tired we didn’t stay up for long.

Saturday we all walked into the town centre (five minutes down the road) and had a look at some of the shops and the information centre. On the way back we stopped at a bakery and got some lunch. Keryn and I then drove with Bridget and Adam up to Turoa skifield so have some time in the snow. The skifield itself was closed, the lifts shut down probably due to the high winds on the upper reaches of the mountain. We all wrapped up and walked on the snow and had a quick slide on a plastic sled bridget had bought with her. Adam seemed nonplussed by the snow, taking his first experience very quietly.

Bridget and Adam ready to slide

Heading back down the mountain we stopped at a signposted waterfall lookout. It was a very short walk to the lookout and the waterfall was impressive. I took a few photos and then we headed back to the house.

Lined up at the Mangawhero Waterfall lookout

Keryn and I went for another longer walk in the afternoon. We walked the Waitonga Falls Track through attractive forest and then on a boardwalk over a mountain bog. After the boardwalk the track descended into a valley, eventually coming out at a stream, the Waitonga waterfall visible ahead. We walked along the stream for a while looking for an easy way across without getting wet but didn’t find one so I settled for taking photos at a distance. After I had sated my photographic need it was back up the track heading for the car.

The boardwalk

The Waitonga Waterfall

Russett colours on the bog

The bridge near the start of the track

Back at the house Keryn and I cooked up nachos for everyone and we relaxed for the evening. The next day dawned wet so the planned walk to somewhere for breakfast turned into a drive. We had a nice breakfast at the Fat Pigeon Cafe, I had a very nice stack of pancakes with banana and berries on top. The rain stopped any plans for more walking so we returned to the house to pack and clean up, heading back for Wellington around lunchtime. We ended up stopping in Taihape to get some lunch and had one more stop in Levin to stretch the legs. It was good to get back to Wellington and have one last drive back to our house. Dinner was a pizza from the local award winning Pizzeria, Pepes Pizza Parlour. The pizza was good, I imagine we’ll be back for more in the future.

One benefit of my shift work is I get days off mid-week (while on the other hand I am working two weekends of every four). When the weather is good I like to get out and see more of Wellington and on Thursday I took the opportunity to go for a walk down past Eastbourne. The Pencarrow Coast Road travels along the coast from Burdans Gate on the south side of Eastbourne and ends at the old Pencarrow lighthouse.

I drove from home to the carpark at Burdans Gate and then set off, camera bag fully loaded and holding my tripod. I like that I don’t see many people on these mid-week walks, I probably saw no more than 10 other people, most of them on bikes. The road is wide and gravel covered and pretty much flat so the walking is easy. I stopped to take a few shots at interesting rocks on the shoreline and also sat and photographed some oystercatchers feeding next to the small breaking waves (subsequent research identifies these as variable oystercatcher, quite rare apparently). The water was pretty much flat with no appreciable breeze, it was warm verging on hot in the strong sunlight.

Rocks on the shoreline

A variable oystercatcher

Further on I took shots of a passing tanker and also one of the interislandser ferries coming into the harbour. There were three old piles which also caught my eye, remainder of some old structure leading into the water. I turned back before reaching the lighthouse, I didn’t really want to be out after dark and the sandflies were beginning to bite every time I stopped.

The remaining piles

The incoming ferry

A fishing boat comes in, mountains of the South Island in the distance

A trig station on the Pencarrow Coast Road

By the time I got back to the car it was nearly time for sunset. The light was looking interesting so I decided to head to the Petone wharf to see if I could get any interesting evening photos. This was also partly inspired by an online magazine I had read earlier in the day. NZ Photographer is a new online only (and free) photography magazine and their second issue came out today. They had a article on low light photography and a companion competition so I thought that this might be a good opportunity to get a photo to enter.

It was quickly turning into rush hour traffic as I pulled into the carpark by the wharf, I was glad to leave the procession of vehicles. There were a few people walking their dogs along the beach and the odd runner ducking under the wharf as they ran along the sandy shore. I took photos from the tussock beside the wharf and then walked the wharf itself which had only a few people either walking the length or sitting and doing their own thing. The sunset was quite impressive, bold oranges and pinks in the sky. The sun set over the Johnsonville hills rather than over Wellington city so to include the wharf I missed out on much of the colour. Still, it was a nice evening to be out (no sandflies here!) and I got some nice shots. We’ll see how I go in the competition.

The sunset reflected in the clouds above Petone wharf

The sunset fades from the skies above Wellington

My entry for the low light competition

Speaking of competitions I entered the NZ Herald travel photo competition last week. Apparently my main mistake was to enter a portrait orientation photo, all the finalists were landscape. I entered the same competition last year and again didn’t get shortlisted, I’ll have to be smarter next year (and enter a landscape orientation photo for starters).

Ever so slowly we are getting to know Wellington and the area better. On Thursday I found somewhere to get my haircut that does a good job and isn’t expensive (well, not too expensive for me). Somehow Swan Barbers had found me on twitter (I’ve never really tried searching in Twitter, I guess you can search by location) and I took a gamble and tried one of their shops. I like that I didn’t have to wait, just walked off the street and pretty much straight into a waiting chair where my hair was cut well, my cowlick negotiated with a minimum of fuss. It helps to be able to drop in mid afternoon during the week I guess.

I also quite like the WPS (Wellington Photographic Supplies) store, lots of cool photography stuff to look at and a good service. I took my camera in for a sensor clean earlier in the week and picked it up after my haircut. It’s nice that I don’t have to spend so much time removing dust spots from my photos now.

The camera got a short workout on Saturday night. Icelandic/Kiwi singer Hera played at the Fringe Bar and I convinced Keryn and Catherine to come along. We had nice pizza beforehand at Scopa on Cuba Street (though I preferred the pizza I’d had earlier in the week at One Red Dog when we had lunch with Vanessa) and arrived at the Fringe Bar shortly after 7:30pm. The gig was a last minute thing, possibly organised as Hera was in town for the Craft 2.0 show (which we also briefly attended but gave up on due to crowds and a lack of things that interested us). The lack of promotion because of the short lead in time was reflected in a very small crowd. This was a pity, Hera sings very well and has some good songs. She is also quite funny at times and the gig was good. I took only a few photos, I wasn’t going to make a scene and wander around getting different angles and with just Hera and her guitar, fixed lighting and my bum in a seat the opportunities for a variety of shots were limited.

Hera playing at the Fringe Bar, Wellington

Sunday was forecast to be nice so we went for a drive up over the Rimutakas to explore some of the Wairarapa. We stopped and wandered the main street of Greytown and got a few items takeaway from the French bakery for lunch. There are some very nice shops in Greytown, especially if you like antiques or crafts. We refrained from any purchases though I did take down some web addresses to find inspiration for future photo selling ideas of my own.

A church in Greytown

One of the interesting shops

We drove through Martinborough and headed out to the pub at Lake Ferry on the south coast. We passed a few interesting buildings, a decrepit old farm building and a couple of cute wooden churches, so we had to stop so I could take a few photos. We spotted a few other cars at various places stopped and their occupants out with their SLR’s, photography in this area obviously popular on the weekend. We headed back to Lower Hutt as the sun disappeared behind the massing clouds over the Tararua Ranges. We’ll be coming back out this way for more exploring soon I hope.

The old farm building

At the beach

Another cute little church