My second ANZAC Day in New Zealand. I again visited the centograph for the dawn service but later in the morning I visited the National War Memorial for their ANZAC service. This year marks the 90th anniversary of the War Memorial.
It was good to see the guard changeover at the tomb of the unknown soldier as well as the wreath laying. It was also my first spotting of the New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and the Governor-General of New Zealand Sir Jerry Mateparae.
Note: Sorry for the spelling of Taranaki in the heading and URL :-( Thanks Dad for picking this up!
This past Easter weekend I decided to head up to New Plymouth and attempt to climb Mt Taranaki (I'm still more comfortable calling it Mt Egmont).
The mountain is 2.5km high, making it the second highest peak in the North Island behind Mt Ruapehu. It beats Australia's highest mountain - Mt Kosciuszko which is only 2.2km in height.
The Mount Taranaki Summit Climb is a 6.3km (each way) trip with a vertical climb of 1.6km.
I managed to climb the mountain in 3 hours and down in just under 2 hours. Of course I tweeted right along the trail and took plenty of photos. Here are a few:
The mountain just before day break and the start of my climb.
The moon and the mountain.
The moon visible over a ridge of Mt Taranaki.
Sunrise panorama.
I loved these stairways around 1/2 up the mountain.
Ice in the crater of Mt Taranaki.
The last 3rd of the climb is crazy with scree (very loose rocks) and climbing that means having to use your hands and arms.
Made it to the TOP!!
The view from the top is nothing short of breathtaking (literally too!).
Now for the climb down, definitely quicker.
Mt Taranki bit back at one stage, I didn't make it down without some marks on me.
By the time I got back to the car park you could see clounds that had come in. Amazing how quickly the weather really could change.
My final words are for anyone who reads this and wants to climb Mt Taranki. All it takes is a reasonable amount of fitness, good on your feet and please go prepared! A really good pair of shoes and thick rocks helps get you up the loose rocks (scree). Enjoy, I certainly did!
/craig.
Had a great little ferry journey yesterday, from Auckland to Devonport (on the north shore). Thoroughly enjoyed the little journey with Mum & Dad and the lunch that went with it.
I took my camera along to see what interesting photos I could capture - from obligatory boat & Auckland skyline photos to the more interesting photos of the knitted railing covers, inside the patchwork shop Mum visited (the primary reason for going to Devonport) to the marvelous secondhand bookshop inside the Devonport Ferry Terminal. Not forgetting the wonderful old Triumph I saw in a carpark.
/craig.
It's been a while since I have posted! Work life got away from me a bit late last year and I didn't take time out to enjoy New Zealand - something of which will be changed this year.
Sadly the reason for this trip is not good news, my Uncle 'Skip' Watson passed away and I've come up to Auckland for his funeral. It will also be nice to spend a few days with Mum & Dad who have flown over from Sydney.
One of the reasons for the road trip was to save money on a flight (last minute flights can be expensive), but I really do enjoy road trips and it was time to see more of New Zealand. I picked up a free rental car from Thrifty due to a relocation deal - I only paid the fuel, which turned out to be only $4 cheaper than what I would have paid for an airfare, but MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE. If you want to see a replay of my trip - check out my tweets with the hastage #ccroadtrip.
I was impressed with the Toyota Camry, it had all the requirements of a good large vehicle. My only problem with the car was the automatic gear selection - often I would get stuck in neutral driving to select drive.
Enough of the talk, photos say a lot more! Only added the comments where I felt an explanation might add to the photo :-)
International Airport? What? Just the DC3 here...
Mt Ruapehu
I don't recall seing a single-lane double-decker rail/road bridge before? Pretty cool in my eyes!
Waitomo Limestone Caves (area of course, I didn't go into the caves will save that for another time)
The last photo of the Camry - at the airport.
Decided to add this shot, taken from the spotters point at Auckland Airport (per above photo). Not bad for a Sigma 50mm f1.4 / Canon 7D then cropped per below.
What a crazy day in Wellington. In what Twitter has (hash)tagged #snowmagadden, it snowed well and truly in Wellington CBD today. It started with a very chilly walk to work where my temperature gauge told me it was 2 degree celsius - my tempature guage sits on top of a building on my walk to work :-)
As I went out to grab an early morning can of Mother (I started work at 5am ok!) I saw this little guy.
Later in the morning, SNOW! In downtown Wellington - which is at sea level by the way.
It snowed and rained on and off for the rest of the day. As I walked home I thankfully made the decision that most people would shy away from, I decided to go for a run in the snow! I saw that Tinakori Hill had some snow I decided to head up - and I am REALLY glad i did. My 90 min running experience was unbelievable and one of the greatest experiences I've ever had.
Here's some photos first up...
Sexy Legs!
a chance to listen to some heavy breathing, a little wheezing and some shocking commentary here are some of my clips from today's snow run put together for your enjoyment!
Supposedly there's still more cold weather to come... BRING IT ON!
/craig.
Yes, snow in Wellington - at sea level! Unbelievable!!! Definitely a worthy addition to my adventures in New Zealand. Even saw a few cars drive past that were covered in snow, they obviously had driven from one of the higher spots of Wellington. Very cool! <boom tish>
On Friday, I was lucky enough to have my name drawn to recieve 2x tickets to the All Black V South Africa game at Westpac Stadium. It's funny that this is my second international rugby game (up until I now I had forgotten about seeing Wales V Italy in Canberra during 2003 World Cup), but I'm still yet to watch the Wallabies play - that will be rectified come World Cup later this year.
I brought along one of my team members who is a keen fan of the All Blacks - mind you, I don't think there's a NZ citizen that isn't.
It was a good game to watch, although a little lopsided. South Africa left 21 "injured" players at home. Making it really a 2nd rate team that has been nicknamed - the baby boks. The All Blacks won 40-7.
I'm glad to have rugged up for the occassion as it was darn cold! I believe the temperature was around 4-5°C. Though even with two longsleeved tops, a polo, jumper, gloves and a beanie I was still feeling the cold.
After the match and leaving the stadium I headed into town and, pretending I was in my early 20s again, I danced the night away to 3am. A great way to end a great night!
Oh and they were filiming a commercial during the rugby match. At one stage the camera filmed me and my booming voice... I wonder if I'll make the final cut? Probably not after they pick up the Aussie accent :-)
Now for the photos taken with my mobile...
/craig.
After yesterday's snow and freezing temperatures, Wellington woke to a crystal clear morning - but those temperatures will still staying down. The result was a gorgeous sunrise as I sat at my office desk - regretting not being able to run to the top of the nearest hill with my camera to grab some photos.
Thankfully, the weather stayed around all day and by day's end I had a chance to shoot sunset from Tinakori Hill - same hill I took yesterday's photos.
This time I walked up the hill, and walked I did! I trekked all across the hill looking for the best spot. Up and down, left to right... I just couldn't find the spot that suited what I was looking for. Thankfully, as we were getting pretty close to sunset, I took one last trail right to the top of the hill and then across to the Wadestown corner. Brilliant! I'd found my spot. The rest of the sunset was nothing short of magical - a setting sun, snow covered mountains, ships pulling in and out of the harbour, and city traffic along the freeway whilst I stood peacefully on top of the mountain soaking it all in. A great way to end the day!
Here's some of the resulting photos... I think the new HDR software I've downloaded is going to make me a little lazy in adjusting my exposure settings :-)
The snowy Rimutaka ranges
Ranges above Eastbourne
Very jealous of the views these houses have, even though it looks like it's just traffic at this angle.
Westpac Stadium, otherwise known as Wellington Regional Stadium during the Rugby World Cup this year.
In the bottom half of this shot, you can see my apartment. Well, if you knew where you were looking you could!
Two different exposures of the ships on Wellington Harbour.
Not a bad view, what a spot for a tennis court.
Westpac Stadium giving us all a peek.
Me! The 1.5 hours of trekking all over the hill made it worthwhile!
A HDR long exposure... not bad. Kind of 'burnt' the oncoming lights.
And I thought I would leave this more heavily produced HDR to last. Not usually a fan of these 'heavier' images, but this one I can cope with...
/craig.
What a cold day in Wellington and in fact all over New Zealand. It was 3°C as I walked to work with a 'feels like' reading of -3°C due to the wind chill. The temperature didn't get much better throughout the day and snow fell around most of New Zealand. There's plenty of news and photos over on stuff.co.nz
I wanted to ensure I did not miss this opportunity to get some photos of the snow covering the Rimutaka Ranges that are east of Wellington Harbour. After work I rushed home and jumped on my bike for the ride up Tinakori Hill for the view. It was some ride! I reckon I could have run up quicker than riding... at least it gave my legs a different kind of workout.
By the time I hit the top of the hill I was receiving the full force of the 60+ kph wind and I cooled down pretty quickly from my ride. I found a lookout and grabbed my cameras. Not the clearest of views because of the cloud hangning around, but I think these pictures paint enough of a story about the snow.
Tell you what though, it was a great ride DOWN the hill... 40mins to get up, 10mins to get down.
I had an awesome trip up to Auckland last week. It was nice having a few days off work catching up with fabulous relatives and doing some of my favourite things - bungy jumping (FOUR TIMES!) and photographing rally cars. It was also great to have caught up with a work friend from a few years ago!
The weather meant plenty of rain with plenty of sun - which leads to...? RAINBOWS! I can't even recall how many I saw in the end... below are just a few!
My eternal thanks goes to Trevor & Steph for their generous hospitatlity whilst I stayed in Auckland and for the lend of the sweet chariot (Pajero in other languages).
bungy!!!
Two-photo rainbow stitch
My chariot for the weekend - a petrol guzzler, but great for the muddy tracks to get to the rally spectator spots
Somewhere on the above hill is a house once owned by my Grandad and Nanna
Camera set up and ready to shoot rally style...
Ah, the tow of shame. And it was only the 2nd stage of the rally!
Nice reflections from the Emirates Team New Zealand ex-America's Cup boat
/craig.
