New Zealand – Page 3 – Sandy's Views

Summer Sunsets, At The Beach

February 6, 2016February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, Travel, UncategorizedTagged nature, ocean, photography, reflection, seascape, seaside, sunset, travel8 Comments

Luckily for me, I live 200 metres from the sea front on the Western Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. I can wander down to watch the sunset any day of the week. These are a selection from just three nights. Three nights from the last week. It’s mid summer here. So these were taken between 8:30 and 9pm. That short window when the sky really kicks off. Often the best light is after the sun has set. As you can see.

Himi Inlet sunset — Heading down to the beach, this is a little rivulet which empties into the sea a few metres to the left of this shot.

Beach driftwood stack — People make piles and structures out of driftwood, it helps me take a photo straight at the sun.

Himi beach people — I don’t usually have people in my photographs, but since I referenced people in the last photo, there are some. They’ll be making a driftwood sculpture later no doubt.

Evolution of a cloud bank 1 — That’s a cloud bank developing, about to block out the sun.

Himi Beach post sunset — Gone, now the good stuff really kicks off…

Long Beach one — See? Lavender? Lilac? Pink? You choose. looking down the beach to the South. That’s Kapiti Island way off in the distance. You can also see the South Island from here, just not in this shot.

Hard to believe that’s the same evening as the previous shot, but it is. That’s Kapiti Island.

Beach fort — More cool stuff assembled from driftwood. Helping me take photos.

Sea, see — You could stand and look at this all day, except you can’t as it’s nearly night time.

Thursday Night Himatangi — Saving the best till last? Quite possibly. I do like this. Low tide, post sunset. Awesome New Zealand.

So there you go. Hope you enjoyed my evenings.

A Walk in the ‘Woods’

January 9, 2016February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged birds, Forest, jungle, landscape, nature, New Zealand, photography, travel, wildernessLeave a comment

There were two things that weren’t going to happen today, but both did. I wasn’t going to go for a walk in the rainforest and I wasn’t going to create this blog post. One thing pretty much lead to the other. I’m putting this post up though, because it is kind of amazing and I’m quite pleased with how some very hard photos to take turned out.

First things first. How did I end up in the rainforest? Well it’s not really a rainforest, this is simply a decent sized piece of New Zealand native forest, or ‘bush’ as we call it. The bush is a stand of coastal swamp forest not far from where I live by the sea.

The thing here is that I was simply on my way to the shops, a small supermarket in the next town on a Saturday morning and thought I’d go for short walk beforehand. This is one of the many reasons I love New Zealand. The distance from my house to the shops is just 10 minutes by car. I parked up at the Omarupapako Scenic Reserve which I hadn’t even noticed before despite driving past the signs several times a week.

Then I walked in….It was like walking into Jurassic Park. It’s very hard to take photos of the forest when you are inside it. The darkness means having to have the ISO setting up to as high as 800 at times with a shutter speed as low as 60 and the aperture down at 5.6 or lower. I spent about 2 hours walking through this extraordinary forest. Only a few hundred metres from the sea. I live by the sea remember?

The bird in the photos is a Fantail. A fast moving, small and characterful New Zealand native species which rarely sits still. Almost impossible to photograph in the deep forest on the settings required to cast any light into the camera. So I was thrilled with how these turned out. Enough words.

Path 1 — There is a path through, easy to follow

Jurassic path — The way is clear, and easy to follow….

Jurassic path2 — Well when I say easy to follow….

Jurassic path3 — It’s a bit of a Jurassic path

Light on the floor — Light does get in, sometimes

Fantail light — Very young Fantail, about to fly off

Fantail closer — See, they do occasionally sit still, but not for long, moments only. You can also make out a strand of spider web behind the young Fantail

Baby Fantail song — Fantail, fanned and singing a little Fantail song

If you live in New Zealand, go for a walk in the ‘bush’. If you are going to visit New Zealand, make sure you do. It’s like a spiritual place, a land time forgot, like walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs which is actually what you are doing, without the dinosaurs. Except we had one and it’s still here, living in our remote forests and offshore Islands. The Tuatara, look it up. We actually have the oldest forests in the world. They look like something from Jurassic times, or older

The Tui

January 7, 2016February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photographyTagged birds, nature, New Zealand, photography2 Comments

This is a single photo post as it’s important to me. The Tui is my personal favourite of our native birds in New Zealand. They aren’t particularly rare but they are particularly beautiful and full of character. The song of the Tui is one of the things most missed by New Zealanders abroad and is one of the defining sounds of New Zealand. Given the range of sounds the Tui makes, you can’t really call it a song as much as a vocalisation.

The challenge in photographing a Tui is capturing one in full sunlight, with the sun on the Tui’s back. Then you can see the extraordinary colours and plumage of what I believe should be our national bird rather than the Kiwi. Surprisingly, many New Zealanders and visitors to New Zealand still think the Tui is predominantly black with just a white tuft of feathers under its chin. The Tui is not black.

This is the photo I’ve been trying to get for years. The Tui in full sun with the added bonus of a beak full of nectar from the flowering flax they love so much.

The Tui

Wellington Bays

December 20, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged coast, landscapes, New Zealand, photography, road trip, seascape, seaside, travel, Wellington3 Comments

Well not all the bays, the bays out past the Airport. Wellington is the Capital City of New Zealand. It’s perched in a little bay with all the houses nestled into a load of hills behind it. Most people think it’s quite a pretty little city. I was visiting a friend but was early, so decided to take the scenic route round the Miramar Peninsula rather than simply drive across town. I’m pleased I did because look!

Wellington cable car classic — Ok, it’s not a bay, but this is one of those ‘classic’ shot’s of Wellington and is as good a place as any to start. Plus there is a bay, down there.

City Centre — The Wellington Waterfront from Oriental Parade. The beehive looking building on the far right is called ‘The Beehive’. It’s where we store our politicians.

Oriental Bay — From Oriental Parade, no idea why it’s called that. People from Wellington like to walk along here, or run wearing lycra, earphones and carrying a water bottle.

Boat Sheds Evans Bay — Evans Bay boat sheds. Cool.

Worser Bay jetty — Another broken pier at Shelly Bay. Looking across towards Mt Victoria. It’s not really a mountain. That bit of Wellington on the hill that isn’t a mountain is called Haitaitai.

Miramar Peninsula Lighthouse — The Point Halswell Lighthouse on the tip of the Miramar Peninsula.With a guy fishing off it.

Miramar Peninsula — A busy sunday morning in Wellington. Heading into Kau Bay along Massey Road.

Karaka Bay phone box — Karaka Bay jetty, complete with old working phone booth.

Empty Karaka Bay Jetty_ — That’s still the Karaka Bay jetty, or pier. I like a nice jetty, or pier.

Breaker Bay Pinnacle Rocks — Those are the pinnacle rocks looking across towards the Wairarapa from Breaker Bay. It was out there that inter island ferry, The Wahine, sunk in 1968. 53 People died.

Breaker Bay seagull — Flax Bay, over there is the very bottom of the North Island.

Breaker Bay boat — Upside down boats lend a pleasing aspect to a coastal scene. Flax Bay

Kaikouras from Moa Point — In the distance is the South Island, the Kaikoura Ranges about 250 kilometres away by ferry and road. Taken at Moa Point. That ship is a Cook Strait ferry, the Interislander

Air NZ arrival Moa Point — Air New Zealand arriving int0 Wellington, flying low over Moa Point. It can get a bit hair raising flying into wellington on a windy day. It’s often windy, mostly.

Looking across Island Bay. Time to turn inland.

So there you are. Worth the trip.

Sheds and barns

November 30, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, Travel, UncategorizedTagged barns, landscapes, nature, New Zealand, photography, Roadtrip, sheds, travel7 Comments

A really cool feature of our landscape in New Zealand is some of the stuff that sits in it or on it. Few fans of ‘architecture’ would spend too much time marvelling at many of our buildings in this country. Certainly none of them are particularly old, or characterful. I disagree on the characterful, it depends what you call character. I love our barns and sheds. So many have a rustic ‘New Zealandness’ all of their own. They are part of the fabric of our pastoral landscape. New Zealand as a modern nation was ‘founded on the sheep’s back’. This simply meant much of our income was derived originally from sheep farming. We subsequently have a lot of old Wool sheds. We also have a lot of barns. Here is a random selection of a few I drove past on my adventures. All of these were photographed from the side of the road.

Old barn, farm paddocks and the Ruahine Ranges. Stark light, morning tea time.

That barn isn’t there anymore, shame, it was a nice barn

Wonky shed — The photo is straight, the barn is wonky

Schools out — Technically, this is a school

Gentle Annie Barn — Wool shed, in what my father used to call ‘tiger country’ because it’s the middle of nowhere. Odd phrase as we have no Tigers in New Zealand of course.

Mountain Barn — Always site your small barn on the very edge of a precipice over a river, always.

Rangiwhaia woolshed two — Rangitikei Wool Shed, needs painting really.

Cow-Barn — I call this photo cow-barn. I know, but naming photos when you have a lot of them gets challenging sometimes.

Rangiwhaia woolshed — This is near a place called Rangiwahia, which is more of a vibe than a place.

SH32 Whakamaru — Because I also like a hill with it’s head in the clouds

snowy barn — That barn is also gone now. Must have been in the ‘great storm’

Wool barn after — This is an example of superb photo editing. There was another sheep in this photo, but it was standing in an unattractive manner. It had to go, it was delicious.

see through shed — When all you really need is a roof

Red Shed green haybales — Those bales are an example of stock feed being past it’s use by date.

Do-er upper. This is on the way home, or out, depends on where I am going

This is also high in the Rangitikei Hill Country, an old woolshed looking cool ij the snowy morning sun

Who doesn’t love a derelict barn with a tree growing out of the window on a remote country road. Just a hint of the Ruahine Ranges in the background.

Rustic Barn — This old wool shed is beside the Vinegar Hill Road, I don’t know why it’s called the Vinegar Hill Road. The Road is also called State Highway 54

The Te Apiti Windmill Farm on the hills near the Manawatu Gorge. Many people hate windmills because they are an ugly blight on the landscape. If you’ve ever seen this windmill farm, you might change your mind. I think the word you might choose over ugly, is awesome. Even though awesome blight on the landscape still doesn’t sound like a good thing. They are an amazing sight and apparently also generate an awful lot of electricity. Which is a good thing.

Some of these photos have featured in this blog before, so I’m cheating a bit by putting them up again. The thing is though that it’s my blog and I make the rules, so that’s allowed.

Between the mountains and the sea.

October 17, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged awesome, holiday, landscapes, natural beauty, nature, New Zealand, photography, scenery, seascape, travel, Vacation4 Comments

New Zealand is a long but fairly narrow country. It’s 2,086 kilometres from one end to the other, but you are never more than 120 kilometres from the sea. What this means is that you can often see the mountains from the seashore, or the sea from the mountains. Which is nice. This gives many fetching photographic opportunities, such as these.

Rocky Beach, Kaikoura. It's not the name of the beach, merely an observation. — Rocky Beach, Kaikoura. It’s not the name of the beach, merely an observation.

Fishing boat in front of the Kaikoura Ranges. New Zealandness at it's most scenic, with a fishing boat. — Fishing boat in front of the Kaikoura Ranges. New Zealandness at it’s most scenic, with a fishing boat.

I could call this 'Chimney Seal. You may notice a loafing seal at the base of the old chimney. Looking across to the Kaikoura Ranges — I could call this ‘Chimney Seal. You may notice a loafing seal at the base of the old chimney. Looking across to the Kaikoura Ranges. Well I am looking at the Kaikoura Ranges, the Seal is not.

Those mountains are an awfully long way away from where I took this photo in the Wellington Harbour from the deck of the Interislander Ferry

The newest Ferry in the Interislander Fleet, this is how we get from one island to another. You can fly but this a nicer way to go about it. That's the Kaiarahi. — The newest Ferry in the Interislander Fleet heading North for Wellington, this is how we get from one island to another. You can fly but this a nicer way to go about it. That’s the Kaiarahi. I took this from the ferry I was heading South on, towards Picton.

On a rough crossing in Cook Strait, the large bit of water between the North and South Island's you sometimes get these sea spray 'rainbows'. You have to be quick to photograph them as they come and go. Plus you risk a salt water soaking of your camera. You decide if it's worth it. — On a rough crossing in Cook Strait, the large bit of water between the North and South Islands you sometimes get these sea spray ‘rainbows’. You have to be quick to photograph them as they come and go. Plus you risk a salt water soaking of your camera. You decide if it’s worth it.

After a rough crossing of Cook Strait, turning into the Marlborough Sounds through the Tory Channel is like walking into a library off a busy street. A giant outdoor nature library on a sunny day sort of thing.

That's New Zealand's main road. State Highway One. The rail line beside it is the main rail route south. This is how we get about. It's nice here. — Once you’ve left the ferry in the South Island, the main road South is this one. That’s New Zealand’s main road. State Highway One. The rail line beside it is the main rail route south. This is how we get about.

Taking the Train in New Zealand is slow but scenic, this is the 'Coastal Pacific. I think they call it that because it follows the Pacific Coast but I'm just guessing at that. — Taking the Train in New Zealand is slow but scenic, this is the ‘Coastal Pacific’. I reckon Kiwi Rail named the train ‘Coastal Pacific’ because it follows the Pacific Coast but I’m just guessing of course.

I like a train track heading towards a mountain. The title of this post made reference to mountains. That's the biggest one in the North Island. Mt Ruapehu. It's quite far from the sea. — On the subject of trains, This the train that runs up and down the North Island. Kiwi Rail creatively named this one ‘Northern Explorer’. I can’t think why though. In the title of this post I made reference to mountains and that’s the biggest one in the North Island. Mt Ruapehu. It’s quite far from the sea.

Inland, far inland, almost a whole hours drive the sea in one direction, well over two hours in the other. — Inland, far inland. But still less than an hour’s drive to the ocean if you head West.

The Ruahine Ranges, on the other side of them is Hawkes Bay.

Rainbow, kicking off an early morning, inland.

Early morning Manawatu. I drive past this sort of thing from time to time. Manawatu is mostly flat, lying between the Rhine and Tararua Ranges and the Tasman Sea. — Early morning Manawatu. I drive past this sort of thing from time to time. Manawatu is mostly flat, lying between the Ruahine and Tararua Ranges and the Tasman Sea.

One day when I can afford better camera equipment than I have. I can capture this sort of amazing early morning scene better. Between the mountains and the sea. The Mountains are half an hours drive in front of me here and the sea is 15 minutes drive behind me. — One day when I can afford better camera equipment than I have. I can capture this sort of amazing early morning scene better. Between the mountains and the sea. The Mountains are half an hour drive in front of me here and the sea is 15 minutes drive behind me.

What better way to finish than with the sun dropping beneath the Western Horizon. I'm standing just feet from a public highway here and barely an hour from a mountain range behind me. — What better way to finish than with the sun dropping beneath the Western Horizon. I’m standing just feet from a public highway here and barely an hour from a mountain range behind me.

Road trips

September 25, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged Driving, holiday, landscape, nature, New Zealand, photography, Roadtrip, travel, Vacation, wilderness2 Comments

One of the best things about New Zealand is how easy it is to hop in a car and go. Driving from A to B in New Zealand is generally a pleasure rather than a mission as it can be in so many countries overseas. I say generally because while the roads outside Auckland are mostly empty, the roads in Auckland are not. Still, this is about the wide open spaces beside the road in the central bit of the North Island. Time to hit the road….

The Roadhouse, perfect Roadhouse blues setting. Middle of nowhere Manawatu

That's a road, there's a speed limit, see? — That’s a road, there’s a speed limit, see?

A bit of driftwood beside the road at Himatangi, the beach is a road remember?

I call this 'Angel'. You'll never guess why — I call this ‘Angel’. You’ll never guess why

Manawatu, from the road, old hay barn. Tararua Ranges. nothing to see here... — Manawatu, from the road, old hay barn. Tararua Ranges. nothing to see here…

From beside the Manwatu River Estuary. It's Whitebaiting season. There's one. A Whitebaiter that is. Don't think it's Beaver. — From beside the Manwatu River Estuary. It’s Whitebaiting season. There’s one. A Whitebaiter that is. Don’t think it’s Beaver.

You know what that is? That's an unremarkable view from the side of the road in New Zealand. I bet nobody has ever taken this photo before — You know what that is? That’s an unremarkable view from the side of the road in New Zealand. I bet nobody has ever taken this photo before.

The light was rubbish, photographers would say don't take photos in this sort of light. I don't care. — The light was rubbish, photographers would say don’t take photos in this sort of light. I don’t care.

One for the DIY enthusiast, after a heavy rainfall, in the King Country

Looking south down the Waikato River from the Glen Murray Bridge. I have no idea if that's the name of the bridge, but that's roughly where it is. — Looking south down the Waikato River from the Glen Murray Bridge. I have no idea if that’s the name of the bridge, but that’s roughly where it is.

Road trip south, Eastern side of of Lake Taupo, SH32. 1st sighting of the Volcanoes of the central plateau.

Lake Taupo is actually a giant volcanic crater, still, looks peaceful enough today.

Boating on the crater of a super volcano sounds more dangerous than it looks, Southern end of Lake Taupo seen from SH32

Classic Kiwi Road Trip shot, from beside the Te Ponanga Saddle Road. Which is a cool name for the road from Turangi to National Park, SH47.

Looking up a Mountain Stream towards Mt Ruapehu. Near National Park

Mt Ngauruhoe is about to disappear under the clouds.

Finally, this is also a photo I'm confident nobody else has ever taken. A paddock and some trees side the road half way between Palmerston North and Himatangi Beach. I think it's the sky that carries it though, to be fair. — Finally, this is also a photo I’m confident nobody else has ever taken. A paddock and some trees beside the road half way between Palmerston North and Himatangi Beach. I think it’s the sky that carries it though, to be fair.

See? That’s just a short there and back trip. Come to New Zealand, go for a drive

At The End Of The Day

August 24, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photographyTagged dusk, landscapes, New Zealand, photography, seascape, sunset, travelLeave a comment

I don’t like the phrase ‘at the end of the day’ when used to finalise an observation made, if that makes sense. It annoys me. So I’m going to reclaim the end of the day, show some images of the day’s end. So when I hear, ‘at the end of the day’ I’ll think of exactly that. Dusk, that wonderful light before sunset. Having said that, the odd photo of the Sun actually setting might sneak in among the dusk photos here.

Blue Mountains, pink hues, cool dusk tones

Walking up to dusk, 200 metres from my front door

Looks like Summer, it isn't. This is Winter — Looks like Summer, it isn’t. This is Winter

On the horizon, in the distance is Mt Taranaki, 210 Kilometres distant

Kite Surfer walking in, had enough for the evening

Photos from my place

August 13, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged landscapes, nature, New Zealand, ocean, photography, seascape, sunset, travel12 Comments

I’ve moved, moved to the beach. My new place is a small rented cottage on the Western Coast of the North Island of New Zealand. North of Welington, South of Whanganui. I love going to sleep with the sound of the sea outside. I can walk up to the dunes from my front door in a few moments. I decided to take a few photos. All these taken round my immediate vicinity. It’s currently winter time here in New Zealand.

This is the road to my place, ok, it's not the only road, but it is a road. — This is the road to my place, ok, it’s not the only road, but it is a road.

Who doesn’t love a patchwork of sun shadows, late afternoon on an old woolshed? I know I do.

Sunday evening, that's a bit of weather out in the West. — Sunday evening, that’s a bit of weather out in the West.

Sunday evening, my place. It's awesome — Sunday evening, my place. It’s awesome

Cool, no other description required really

See those photos of the sea? I just simply turned around and photographed this. Those are the Tararua Ranges, they are the backdrop to my place. The wild Tasman Sea in front and the Epic mountains behind me. I like that.

Walking up to the sunset after work, on a Tuesday

While looking out to sea, I can look right, up the coast, that's the way North — While looking out to sea, I can look right, up the coast, that’s the way North

Moments after the sun sank beneath the horizon, Tuesday evening at my place.

This was a Sunday, any other Sunday, every Sunset is different of course. The clouds look a bit angry

It's the last hurrah of a Sunday. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to look directly at the Sun? — It’s the last hurrah of a Sunday. Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to look directly at the Sun?

If you don't look directly at the last light of a Sunday, you can look at the sea shore instead, which has it's own merits — If you don’t look directly at the last light of a Sunday, you can look at the sea shore instead, which has it’s own merits

After the day has gone, just after, the light changes again, and some sea birds happen by.

Finish with a bang. I spent ages trying to decide what to call this, I decided to call it WOW! Frosty morning, a few minutes up the road on the way to the day job.

It’s nice here.

Up, down and far away. Winter

July 20, 2015February 14, 2017Posted in New Zealand, photography, TravelTagged landscape, nature, New Zealand, photography, scenery, travel, Vacation11 Comments

One of the fantastic things about New Zealand is the epic vistas we have all about us. A vista being a large piece of scenery although I’m not sure that description would stand up to examination in a dictionary. I think vista is actually a distant view. What I’ve put together here is a selection of some of the amazing sights you see when you travel from A to B. Like my other posts, no special trip required, this is the scenery we see every day if we leave the house. It also helps if we leave the city but it’s not a long journey from anywhere to this stuff. Once you travel to New Zealand that is. This is winter time round here.