I’m not even going to pad this out with words, well not many words. If you come here a bit you’ll know I spend a lot of time on the road. I’m lucky that I live in New Zealand which is the worlds greatest road trip. People travel from all over the world to see this stuff and I just have to leave the house. These images are some that I have captured since my previous Dolphins post, which was just over a month ago. As far as a travel experience goes, it’s truly epic out there in New Zealand. I almost couldn’t believe I’d covered this much territory in under a month. I should get out more…
Near Pipiriki, Whanganui Region.Raetihi, Central PlateauRatana Church, Raetihi, Central PlateauWaitonga Falls Walkway, Mt Ruapehu, Central Plateau.Sunrise near Raetihi, Mt Ruapehu, Central PlateauOtago HarbourEglignton Valley, Fiordland National ParkPortobello, Otago PeninsulaLake Benmore, Mackenzie Country. CanterburyMackenzie Country, CanterburyLake Pukaki and the Southern Alps, Mackenzie Country.Taiaroa Head, Otago.Te Anau, SouthlandNelson Marina, Nelson.Pelorus Sound from Queen Charlotte Drive, Marlborough Sounds.Mount Taranaki from Lake Mangamahoe, New Plymouth, Taranaki.The Pub in my local village. End of the trip. That’s not my car though.
Once upon a time. I spent a lot of time out and about before and during the sunrise. I should do that more often.
State Highway One in the Rangitikei, from Leedstown Road. Most people don’t know where that is.Halcombe cows don’t care about the sun coming up.Shed, early.Road to nowhere, literally.June the 6th.Same place, different day.I love Kawau Bay.Once again, Kawau Bay, different day. Place of contrasts and all thatYou know the phrase ‘red sky in the morning’? Well this is an epic warning.The sunrise was so awesome, even the seagull stopped to watchLow fog, or mist, or whatever. Creeping over a farm fence. Manawatu.
Get up early. Sunrise is often way cooler than sunset.
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.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. 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 FerryThe 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 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.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 reckon Kiwi Rail named the train ‘Coastal Pacific’ because it follows the Pacific Coast but I’m just guessing of course.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. 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 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 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.
