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 .

Christchurch to Auckland by air

Canterbury Plains looking south just out of Christchurch Airport
Canterbury Plains looking west to Southern Alps
Southern Alps looking west
Southern Alp foothills with first dusting of snow (looking west )
Mt Taranaki

Almost the shortest day ...........

Sunrise at 7.30am from the top deck of my ferry

(photo S2IS)

Autumn leaves in my drive

Raked and waiting to be gathered and dumped in the garden as mulch .

Moon rise at sunset

Auckland by night

(Photos 20D some at very high ISO's eg 3200)

Walking the dogs in Inglewood

Leo and Star

David

Christchurch to Wellington

On the Cook Straight ferry looking back to the South Island
Just out of Picton (South Island)
Leaving the sounds and heading for Cook Straight , thats the North Island in the distance
The Kaikora Coast .

Very ruggard and fully exposed to the southern ocean .

There is one rail tunnel and two road tunnels in this photo
The Kaikora Coast , unfortunately not the best weather .

Governors Bay , Birdlings Flat and Leeston

Birdlings Flat
The wharf at Governors Bay , Lyttelton Harbour
The Leeston house where Dad was born in 1923

(the current owner kindly let us take this photo)

Dad standing outside his "bedroom" (the sun room) in the Leeston house he grew up in between 1924 and 1938 . Now unoccupied and in a rather poor state of repair.

(photo 20D)

Views from the TranzAlpine

My Dad (84) and I decided to have a "boys day out" and took the TranzAlpine http://www.tranzscenic.co.nz/ train from Christchurch to Greymouth and back. These are some of the images. A highly recommended day out even for Kiwi's. I must do this again in mid-winter.








(Photo 20D)