The vertical series (native plants in my garden)

(photos S5IS)

A little something from 37,000 feet

The Main Divide from 37,000 feet

Above and below , Mt Taranaki just at sunset not
something I catch that often on my frequent flights
up and down the country.

(Photos S5IS but there is a limit to what you can achieve through two layers of
plane window with the outer one frosted. )

Inland South Canterbury ....more Lord of the Rings country

(photo S5IS use this link to general area of these photos http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=-43.325677,171.423798&spn=0.263742,0.471725&t=h&z=11&om=1

David E senior

This is Jims dad , otherwise known as Fosta Pa .
The standing joke is that I arrived at Jims place one day after school in 1967 and never left.

I took this with my phone camera , what they lack in detail they make up for in depth of field.

Whakatane and Ohope

On the beach between Whakatane and Tauranga

Looking north east from near Ohope
At entrance to Whakatane Port
White Island (bump on horison) as seen from headlands near Ohope Beach

(locals assure me that some days you can see it smoking away)
White Island (using 12x optical zoom on Canon)
see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whakaari/White_Island

Ohope Beach

(all photos S5IS)

Redwood forest Rotorua

100 year old Redwoods, part

of a test planting of 127 different tree species.

These trees are already 200 feet high.
Part of an extensive walking, cycling and
riding area in Rotorua.
Very good for the soul to walk in these trees.

New Zealand Tree Ferns .

(All photos S2IS)

Rotorua at Wai-O-Tapu thermal area

Mineralised green lake

Silica and sulphur formations
Sulphur cave
Mud pool
Boiling mud

Champagne pool (74 degrees C at the surface and 70m deep)
Edge of Champagne pool (above and below)
see http://www.rotoruanz.co.nz/activities/activity_detail.asp?ID=137

(all photos Canon S5IS)

A few photos I took in Taranaki over the weekend

This stuff only grows when the air is clean
Mt Taranaki from the Opunake side , a classic shot
Mt Taranaki from the directly opposite side and
back up the west coast from Awakino
Near Mokau
Fishing for Whitebait ($130kg) well worth freezing to death
Its that Dudly Hall again
Mt Ruapehu (erupted last week briefly) and on the left Mt Tongariro

(All 20d except fisherman S5IS)

Lunar eclipse

(photo S5IS)

More of those sunrises...

(Photo S5IS )

Viaduct Harbour (ex home of the Americas Cup)

(S5IS 1/3rd sec f2.7 ISO 100 , hand held against the glass of a rather dirty office window)

Venus (the evening star) from 37,000 feet over Taranaki

(Photo S5IS but I wished i'd had my 20D , these compacts just don't cut the mustard beyond their lowest ISO )

Auckland Winter Garden (in winter !)
Another sunrise
On the ferry

(Photos Canon S5IS)

Lord of the Rings country around Porters Pass

Porters Pass ski area (above and below)

Road up to Porters Pass, looking back

toward the Canterbury Plains.
Looking east down the Canterbury

Plains away from Porters Pass.

(photos Canon S2IS)

Sunrise Thurday 28th June

(Photo Canon S2IS and

note , images are completly as taken

apart from being shrunk and highly compressed)

Taylors Mistake , Christchurch

The name is said to have been given when Captain Taylor of the US ship Vulga mistook the bay for the entrance to Lyttelton Harbour.

Though more likely it was mistaken as the entrance to Sumner Bay. The Maori name is Te Onepoto which probably refers to the short strip of fine beach, white with ground up shells.
The bay has supported a community of holiday homes for many years. During the war most of the homes were requisitioned for Army accommodation. There is some debate over the future these holiday homes as many are located on road reserve or simply nailed to the cliff ! For my money these are proper Kiwi holiday homes not the six bedroom mansions we see popping up along our better coastlines .