photos and other things…
After hours in the air, we set down in Bangkok. Time wise we landed some time after midnight, so the photos came the first day morning looking out over the cityscape. Exploring some of the town, we found ourselves in the World Centre (I think) – a bustling multi story shopping centre.
Some more tomorrow.
Fresh off the plane from our trip to Thailand, mind jaded, body tired and camera full of images.
Over the next little while I’ll share a few!
Merry Christmas
With cold wind and bouts of heavy rain, it felt like a good day to dig into the photo archives, taking me back to a warmer climate. Shot early one morning during our stay in Fiji, I recall waking up just on sunrise. The resort area was dead quiet, with only a few staff busily walking around getting ready for when holiday stayers woke up for breakfast. One man, silhouetted in the foreground, was busy raking up the piles of weed that wash up daily into tidy little piles waiting for the crew on the tractor to pick up again later in the day. In the background we see the mountains, if memory serves, of the sleeping giant (I think his belly is just to the left of the closer pine trees). Temperature already warm compared to New Zealand…
back to my cosy winter fire.
Another busy day cleaning up the garden of our new place, so another from the archives. Like yesterday, todays shot is from a gorge – Karangahake Gorge to be precise. I passed through it a few years ago heading to Gisborne. A beautiful stop, it also has a number of walks one can go on to explore. Once a large mining area with a number of signs left behind, it still has a limited amount of prospecting occurring in the area.
Shot on the Fuji S5700 Superzoom camera. Resized in Gimp.
An old film archive from some years ago now. Visiting England, we drove through the beautiful Cheddar Gorge. A limestone based gorge, Cheddar is home to the oldest British human skeleton (9000 years). Voted at one stage as the second wonder of the UK, Cheddar George, from my memory, was a beautiful spot to pass through. Reflecting back, I do recall just sitting there and taking in the beauty of the surround – quite different to that of New Zealands beautiful landscape. I only wish I had got a few more shots!
Shot on the Minolta 7si. Scanned negative to digital and resized in Gimp.
One more from my photo trip down memory lane of the South Island holiday. I mentioned yesterday about the amazing enormity of the mountains. Often rising up above the flat land, it confronts you face on.
Todays shot, taken in Milford Sound is another location when you can get up close to this once glacier formed landscape. Sitting on the flat ocean, looking up, the ranges almost disappear from sight.
Currently Milford Sound is part of a controversial debate whether to bipass the traditional road track (up to a 12 hour return journey from Queenstown) down to a two hour one way by train. This will however mean cutting into our national park – protected land. Some of the tourist stop towns may loose out, and some of the more quiet and beautiful places, Glenorchy, may become a busy traffic bipass. No argument the bus journey is a long one, but its also a beautiful one, and critical to some of the small stops. Then again, in this changing climate of tourism, many of those who travel to New Zealand to see the sights dont always want to bother about the small bits, and generally under estimate the real time it can take to take in our little country.
Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, resized and bordered in Gimp
Looking over one of the blogs I regularly follow, I was inspired to have a look back, and reflect on my trip to the South Island in December 2011. My second time travelling from New Zealands North Island to the South Island, I cannot express how beautiful parts of our wonderful little country are.
Todays image was shot somewhere in the region of the Routeburn track (a stunning 32km track down the bottom part of the South). What takes ones breath away when down near the Souther Alps is the shear size and enormity of this great mountain range. Its something that simply must be on your travel list if you come down to New Zealand.
Shot on the Ricoh GRD IV, resized and bordered in Gimp.
A drive further along from yesterdays post took us to Opunake. Without meaning offence, as with many townships around NZ (well…the world), its one of those ‘blink and you miss it’ places. A small, and nice township, first surveyed (by westerners) in 1868.
Stopping in for a packed lunch, the waves were strong. Typical of these west coast areas. A number of people were fishing off the beach, although with no success in the time we sat and watched as we ate our sandwiches.
I didn’t really spend much time in the township, but for anyone passing through, have a look ‘here’.
As with others – shot on the GRD IV and resized in Gimp.
Just to the left of yesterdays image (about 15km down the road actually) lies the seaside surf escape of Oakura Beach. Easter weekend in New Plymouth happened to also have a VW club meet on, so it was quite cool to see a good handful of well kept and restored Kombi van’s parked up along the beach, as their owners surfed (or swam) the waves.
Of interesting note, the township was hit by a tornado in 2007.
Image wise, I desaturated the blue from the sky and slightly pushed contrast before cropping. All done in Gimp, and shot on the Ricoh.
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