Starfish at Muriwai

Only visible a short time either side of low tide at Muriwai.

Very dramatic sky over the Hauraki Gulf

Some very dramatic sky over the Hauraki Gulf day. All taken from North Head.

Looking east towards Browns Island 

Above and below looking north east 

Downtown Auckland the four year building site - so far.

I worked for many years up until mid 2016 in the building just to the right in the photos above and below,  the construction of the City Rail Link started in 2015 along with the demolition of the Downtown Shopping Mall. The mall had been there even before I came to Auckland in 1976 but was a great place for a bit of lunch time shopping as well as a snack in the half decent food hall. 

The building I was in was originally built by the Ministry of Works in 1973 for Air NewZealand but was for as long as I worked there the HSCB Building. A mixture a commercial, central and local government tenants, a few of whom vanished along with their exotic and expensive (someone else's money) cars from the basement car park with the global financial crisis. The latest move by the current owners is to evict the tenants and turn the whole place into apartments, north facing ones above level 6 will have great unrestricted views over the harbour. Below level 6 you'll see the side of the ferry building - buyer beware. 

You can dress it up with neon but it's still horrible.

Neon - Downtown Auckland

I could not work out what this was advertising - downtown Auckland but you have to admire the flare in an otherwise drab and road works strewn part of town.

Entry to Britomart Train station

Installation Queens Wharf in Auckland

This model of a 1950's State House sits at the end of Queens Wharf in Auckland. Accessible only on foot but within easy reach of the ferry terminal and Britomart Station.

Controversially expensive but what quirky art piece isn't ? "The Lighthouse"

Personally I love it, especially at night but I just wish they hadn't double glazed the windows it makes photographing the interior a nightmare, and yes I did photoshop off the ugly landing (see link above) in the middle photo.

Bridge over the Waikato River at Huntly

Tainui Bridge is a 7-span bowstring - arch for road traffic opened in 1959, when the 1915 bridge became rail only, and a footbridge was attached to its side. Tainui Bridge was strengthened in 2005^[ to allow 500 tonne turbines  to be carried to the Power Station, work which gained an award. Seismic strengthening  was done in 2011. The bridge was repainted in 2016.

Regent Theatre - Helensville

One of many once glorious theatres - for a long time a very unusual second hand shop with an equally eccentric owner. See Noted article

Muriwai (again)

I never get sick of going to Muriwai, it always has a new "face". I especially like it during winter with the softer light and the somewhat lighter "tourist load". I often find fellow photographers here, always worthy of one of those technical conversations.

As some one on Instagram observed "a kiwi away from the camera" :) 

iPhone6 above vrs Canon 5D4 & 16-35 4L below

Another set of newly-weds getting their photos taken here. I've seen a lot over the years and a fine opportunity to get the bottom of that desk totally grubby. 

Auckland Winter Garden - Auckland Domain

Winter Garden structures in the Auckland Domain it's of my favourite places to spend time with my camera in Auckland, any time any season.

Lonely Eucalyptus

Lonely Eucalytus at Richards farm in Dairy Flat, it must be tough as those ridges take a beating in the north-eastern gales and almost constant south-westerlies. 

Wenderholm Regional Park - autumn

Muriwai

Muriwai with a four metre swell and a strong onshore wind 30 April 2019

Very active cloud over Auckland

YouTube Clip from my channel.
Auckland Cloud Time lapse

Auckland lanes and streets on a public holiday - almost nothing was open

More from the Art Gallery

Auckland Art Gallery

Always my peaceful "go to" space in the city the gallery was a welcome break from a weeks Jury service over in Albert Street aka "the road works train wreck" street.

Below Albert Street - business suicide for all the shop owners 

Bledisloe House

Originally opened in 1959 and built as I understand it by the then Ministry of Works.

I worked on level two for about 14 years through the mid 1980's to the late 1990's. Its the only building I've worked in with opening windows, in fact they were in the style of the old double hung windows.

Quite a nice building to work in with plenty of natural light, a bit warm on the west side in summer and originally the big shared public service cafe was on the top floor. These cafes were common in the days before the thousands of eating places which now occupy our cities.

Most of the time I was there the lane on the ground floor of the building was much wider and filled with mature deciduous trees which almost touched the windows. In the summer one could enjoy the shade , open windows and let the oxygen rich breeze blow in - maybe thats why I think I did some of my best work here.  One morning we came in to find in the dead of night Auckland City Council had been in and felled the lot so that the civic theatre could be extended, we were "not amused".