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		Fire Burns Into the Night. Returning from my visit to Raumati I was a little surprised to see that the fire was still burning at 11pm. Fires like this are most impressive to see at night, they make soo much light and their colour is beautiful. Sunday 21st February, 2010.
Titahi Bay, Wellington. 11:00 pm, Sun 21st Feb, 2010

		Fire At Titahi Bay. Reaching into and above the clouds the smoke is impressive for this relatively small fire. The yellowing of the sunlight shows the acrid nature of this billowing cloud. Fortunately noone was hurt but apparently it did come close to some houses.
Titahi Bay, Wellington. 6:41 pm, Sun 21st Feb, 2010

		Fire Like A Volcanoe! Fire burning on the mostly deserted hills of Titahi Bay. The smoke was impressive, I saw it in air in Miramar, and when helicopters flew infront of the plume, they appeared as tiny gnats. It continued to burn that night aswell. Sunday 21st of February 2010.
Titahi Bay, Wellington. 6:30 pm, Sun 21st Feb, 2010

		Sunrise at My Place. Red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning shepherds warning! It is true, the day turned to greyness with slight drizzle, but for half an hour it was very nice :)
My place, Wellington. 6:37 am, Wed 17th Feb, 2010

		Agapanthus. While photographing the sunrise from my backdoor, I noticed this Agapanthus flower. It had grown from a collection of dirt that piled up on the concrete. The stalk and stems leading to the buds are not as black as they look here, but I think the contrast is nice.
My Place, Wellington. 6:26 am, Tue 2nd Feb, 2010

		My Backyard. My backyard mostly get left to it's own devices, and consequently is a very nice place.
My Backyard, Wellington. 2:04 pm, Fri 8th Jan, 2010

		Happy New Year People. Yes itsa me, Peter! I like this picture for its redeeming softness, and the purple splash by my right hand ;) Anyway this is a end of the first tenth of the century offering, wishing you all the best for the coming year!
My Place, Wellington. 9:10 pm, Wed 23rd Dec, 2009

		Flax Flowers. This is the flax flower that?s grows close to my front door, in fact I have to move it, or duck under it, or walk through it to leave or get into my house, it would be easy just to break it, but I'm not like that, some would call it dumb or whatever. The other day I was glad of my dumbness, as I stepped out my front door, a Tui landed on the flower, it was like 10 feet from me! We looked at each other for a while, and then the Tui bounced along the flower to the open buds and investigated some of them with it's beak. I believe flax is a favourite of Tui birds :)
My place, Wellington. 3:50 pm, Sun 13th Dec, 2009

		Characterful Street. This road goes way way back into my past, my grandmother and uncle lived on a road leading to this one. Back then it seemed broad and straight, now look at it! But it lacks not for character.
Esplenade, Raumati South, Wellington. 8:20 pm, Wed 25th Nov, 2009

		Makara Beach. The pebbles of Makara beach (if you can call it a beach!). I went there to take some video, which I did, but even though I was using a tripod the was juddering the camera too much, still it was a nice wee adventure.
Makara beach, Wellington. 6:47 pm, Thu 12th Nov, 2009

		Oriental Bay. Sunshine is a pleasant change from the usual winter weather, and there is even some warmth in it! Hopefully and no doubt a promise of things to come :)
Oriental Bay, Wellington. 9:47 am, Fri 23rd Oct, 2009

		Fire and Glass. Nice colours here, and plenty of heat at the time! At one stage I wondered why the image was so foggy, thinking the worst as usual, but during a lens change I saw that the rear element of the lens had condensation on it. This picture is plenty clear though.
Victoria University, Wellington. 11:07 am, Tue 8th Sep, 2009

		Sunset at Paekakariki. Shadows getting longer fast now, they willl be climbing walls very soon.
Paekakariki Beach. 5:10 pm, Sat 22nd Aug, 2009

		Little people are invading! Yes the little people with the sharp pointy spares and suchlike are really out there ;)
Paekakariki. 3:27 pm, Sat 22nd Aug, 2009

		Boat and Skipper. The Albatross Encounter Boat and its Skipper, Gary. Back on dry land again.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:40 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		The Albatross Watchers. I enjoyed the whole Albatross watching adventure, it was not swamped with touristy people, it had that personal touch to it that made us feel like we were the purpose for the trip, not just our money, and the skipper Gary (in the cap) was knowledgeable, friendly, patient, and polite, all in all I highly recommend the Albatross Encounter :)
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:38 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Seal Island. White with birds droppings, this Island is clearly a home for an assortment of birds. Dotted along the tops you can see the silhouette of Shags and there were numerous Gulls of various types. It was also a daytime haunt for touristic ventures, including a group of people who were diving close to the 'Seal creche'.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:12 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Serene Look. What a wonderful look this Fur Seal has on its face, it might be taking a power nap maybe? Also perhaps it might be on lookout duty and is watching us from his half closed eye ;)
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:07 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Fur Seal Playing in the Kelp. Once we got close to the shore we visited a group of small islands that were home to amongst others, Fur Seals. I think this must be an adolescent one since all the adult Seals' were out fishing. They leave the youngsters behind with a couple or so of adults to look after them, kind of like a seal creche. This one was playing with the kelp when we saw it.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 4:05 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Looks Just Like Morocco! I never really realised how big the mountains round Kaikoura actually are! This was really the first time I had stopped and had a look around the place. Here where the Mountains have got small enough to have no snow on the tops reminds me very much of the Ketama Mountains in the North of Morocco.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:59 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Geese? After we finished watching the Albatrosses we headed towards the coast and as if to demonstrate the variety of birds to be seen on the Kaikoura coast, we saw at least 2 groups of Geese.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:59 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Feeding Frenzy. Gary our skipper eventually removed the plastic netting from the lump of food and there was no holding back after that! There are 5 Wandering Albatrosses and 2 Skuas' joining in here, but the Mollymawks' (none visible here) and the little Birds are still not really taking part, although with the added beaks pecking at the food the amount of food floating in the water increased considerably so they all benefited in the end. Not long after this the lump of food got to be small enough that one Albatross took it and tried to fly away with it only to find that it could not fly with the weight, but it sort of skimmed along with a flock of maybe 50 birds trying to follow the food, although most soon lost track of where it was, so there ended up being a trail of these birds stretching out for 100 metres or so. I was videoing it so don't really have stills (oneday I will sort out putting video on here!).
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:43 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Wide Angle Albatrosses. I thought that the only lens I would be using would be my 70-200mm, but since the birds were so fearless of us I got the 17-40mm out and took a few with it. I kind of like the look the wide angle gives here.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:16 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		I am the Handsomest!!! The Black Browed Mollymawk (still belonging to the Albatross species) would have to be the most handsome/beautiful of the birds we saw from the boat (imo), it is remarkable what a little mascara can do for your looks hehe, oh and the yellow beak-stick ;) They always look so stern though! Although these Mollymawks do seem to have a bit of a grin hidden in there aswell.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:08 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Whetting One's Whistle. Looking into the water? More likely cleaning ones nostrils! You see when the Albatross (or Mollymawk in this case) spend so long out at sea they need to make their own fresh water. Don't ask me how but they 'distil' sea water somehow and the salt is expelled from the system through their nostrils. I find it incredible that a bird that lives so closely with the sea cannot drink it strait so to speak!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 3:08 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Masters of the Air 3. They definitely utilise what we humans call 'ground effects' or is it just that they get a thrill out of the sensation of speed they get from flying so close to the surface of the sea, I know I would!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Masters of the Air 2. Though they may be the masters of the air, they certainly start to look a little ungainly when they have landed, indeed while they are landing. Skiing for a short distance on their ample webbed feet then looking like they are about to fall over forwards, but mostly coming to a halt before they actually do get a face full of sea water.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Masters of the Air 1. These birds use a flying technique that is known as 'Dynamic Soaring' where they glide with the wind till they are skimming the wavetops, then they turn into the wind and reclaim the height they had lost, this is all done without the 'flap' of a wing. I don't suppose the birds call it dynamic soaring however, they just call it 'another day looking for food, love, and umm, food' I guess :) Kind of like us but with less complex words!
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Wandering Albatross. Apparently their beaks go pink when they are ready to mate, otherwise the beak is coloured like the end of this ones beak, so this one may well be interrupting its busy schedule to raise some youngsters soon.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:44 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Big Wings. I wonder if this was the Albatross that bit me?!?! Brave me (some would call it something else!) thought I would present my finger to the bird to see what it would do etc, well it nearly took my finger off lol, no it didn't but with a 5 inch bill and pointy ends it did draw blood on both sides of my finger. I feel privileged though :)
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:40 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 3. I thought that the newcomer had had the best of the fight personally, but for some reason, perhaps because the original one ended over the top of the newcomer, the original one got to carry on it's dominance of the food bag and the newcomer had to hang around the sidelines picking up scraps of food floating in the water. The Skua had to do likewise, although it was much less stand-offish than all the other birds, often sneaking a quick bite of the bag from the relative safety of the other side of the bag.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 2. They crashed together with wings and beaks and spray going everywhere! Meanwhile the black Skua, possibly a Brown Skua makes the most of the free access to the food.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Confrontation 1. Mostly the Albatrosses were very guarded with the bag of food, but one time it seemed to become distracted, then the next thing we saw was this newcomer 'skiing' across the water making a bee line to the original Albatross. The one sitting in the water is the original one, and it is about to leap at the newcomer.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:35 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Big Daddy has Arrived. Just to give an indication of sizes, the small birds are about pigeon sized so you can see that the Wandering Albatross is a very large bird, making even the largish Grey Headed Mollymawk seem fairly compact. Our skipper thought the Albatross may be 20 years old, so it is still quite young (40 years is common, with one known to have lived into her 60th year!).
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:33 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		It's Just Natural to Them! Caught in the moment like this the bird seems like its doing death defying manoeuvres, but it is just flying by, doing what it does naturally. I'm not sure but I think they call these 'Sea Pigeons', or Cape Pigeons.
Albatross Watching, Kaikoura. 2:24 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Two Shags on a Rock. Any perch will do so long as it is quiet and peaceful. The Shags are fisher-people, but unusually they have no oil in their feathers so every time they get their feathers wet, they have to go sit somewhere in the sun and dry them out again.
Kaikoura. 1:27 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		The Kaikouras'. How glorious is this, the mountains look so awesome and the sea just makes me want to go and dive into it, and I'm not even a swimmer type!
Kaikoura. 1:27 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Beautiful Pebbly Beach. They come out from the deep... Oops that's another world! It is what the song sings when this picture comes up, 'They come out from the deep, not to kill...'. Anyway this is where Pat and I were hoping to book our whale watching tickets but the whales had not shown up for a fortnight so we ended up going Albatross watching instead :) with Albatross Encounter....
Kaikoura. 12:45 pm, Sun 12th Apr, 2009

		Autumn in Christchurch. One of the nice things about Autumn is when leaves go yellow and gold! It is a sign that the leaves are or have died it's true, but that is the way these kind of trees work, and it looks wonderful. That's the Avon river in the background.
By the Avon River, Christchurch City. 5:22 pm, Sat 11th Apr, 2009

		Hello There :) Just a youngster really, extremely cute Imo :)
Levin. 3:13 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Horse Hongi. What a beautiful animal this is (the horse!!!), look at the neck, it is as broad as a grown mans torso, and look at those eyes and ears, so intelligent, I am moved by this picture :)
Levin. 3:12 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Carl and a Friendly Horse. I asked if Carl knew which horse this was, and he said no, but it seems to know him and be very comfortable with him. It goes to show true character in my opinion.
Levin. 3:12 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Pretty Girl. After all the bikes had finished we walked back down to the carpark area where I could not resist this young woman's charms. I'm a sucker for a pretty spectator :)
Levin. 3:08 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		23, My Other Favourite. I reckon this one looks almost sinister ;) Ok maybe that's just me, probably. I'm sure 23 is a great and generally good sort of a person ;) it is just the lighting and the fact that we are looking up at him?
Levin. 2:36 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Unknown Launching. I wanted to time this view so the bike was closer to the ramp than the landing place, I thought this would create the impression of the jump still being uncertain in outcome, in other words more dramatic. I think it works, the bike is also at a more radical angle, not the level attitude you get when they are at the zenith of their arc (if that makes sense?).
Levin. 2:35 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Unknown Coming Into Land. The helmets and clothes look pretty radical these days as well, it's a big change from the old nothing but Matt Black mindset hehe.
Levin. 2:35 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Coming Into Land. It must be a great feeling jumping of ramps etc like this, it looks very cool :)
Levin. 2:34 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		16 Flying. Nearing the end of the day now, only a handful left to come, and my 'technique' is improving I think :)
Levin. 2:32 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		The Bike of Choice. It looks like both frame pieces (swingarm and main backbone) are cast, so I guess they are made of some Aluminium Alloy; lightweight, rigid, shaped, and probably expensive :( The disc on the front wheel looks minute, but no doubt ample for the purpose (many of the motorbikes I have owned had two huge discs on the front). Nice bracing on the forks and good travel by the looks of it. Tidy cables, it is a work of art if you ask me :)
Levin 2:32 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		864, What An Awesome Bike! This is the bike! It looks so fundamental, but it is built so beautifully, it would be my pick of the bikes I have seen (speaking as a novice in the subject of mountain bike construction). That swingarm holding the rear wheel and the way the shock is mounted in the main frame looks sweet, so long as the pivot is rigid enough (I'm sure it will be). Very nice.
Levin. 2:32 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		15 Waiting for I Don't Know What. This guy turned up here, next to the track, I'm not sure why but the next thing my attention was on the next bike going down the hill, and when I looked back he was gone, I asked Carl 'did he follow that bike down', he said he did. They are Soo quiet, so agile in the right hands, and that is one cool looking bike! (there is one later on that I think is the same model and you can see it better, I will point it out).
Levin. 2:31 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		7 Negotiates the Down Hill. A better view of the hillside. This was very close to the end of the day, and I believe all these guys were like the finalists (?), I'm not sure really. Low numbers might mean something as well, lol, ok I don't know :P
Levin. 2:30 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		What, No Gloves!?!? This guy looks so tuned in, like a bull fighter or something, playing with his deadly opponent, yet knowing him intimately, and predicting his every move before he makes it, he is in the zone! (Gloves! Finger-less ones are certainly better than nothing).
Levin. 2:29 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		26 Flying Down the Hill. Yes I did end up with at least one picture here where the bike was almost completely obscured behind the pine tree that 26 is about to go behind, like mountain biking, mountain biking photography is similarly fluid (well it is when I do it anyway). I mean without a predetermined position to get good shots, you have to be ready all the time to, raise the camera, and shoot in one fluid movement, it doesn't always work but sometimes it does. On a dirtbike often you have to avoid things in your path, and with no way to stop, you have to be like liquid, all the time flowing this way or that, it is a big part of the wonderful nature of two wheels, it is the dance of two wheels.
Levin. 2:28 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		25 Pedalling at the Bottom of the Hill. This must be the foot of the hill, 25 has just started the small climb up to where the earlier shots were taken. Next ones show the hill.
Levin. 2:26 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		6 Pedalling. The anticipation of waiting for them to come round the corner after seeing or hearing them come down the hill was nerve racking, but when they finally did appear it was like a cricket bowler bowling a slow one. I think I got my timing right though.
Levin. 2:26 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		9 Pedalling. We thought this might be a good spot, but the little hill and the sharp bend slowed them down too much to be exciting. I liked seeing them through the trees coming down the hill directly behind this riders head, it is steep and they flew down it!
Levin. 2:25 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Launch! It would be interesting to put a wider angle (less telephoto) lens on and sit where the boy is sitting, or to his right, there were a few times I found 70-200mm verging on too strong. I remember my nephew asking me a couple of times if I heard the rider breathing as they rode past, and I never really did since I kept forgetting to listen for it, but getting as close as the boy there would make things like that more clear.
Levin. 2:17 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		My Companion. Many thanks to my nephew for inviting me along, I had a great time, got to play with my new camera in an ideal situation, and I even got some exercise!!! Very cool :)
Levin. 2:15 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Pedalling. I inevitably had to make the comparison between photographing motorbikes racing and the mountain bikes? My verdict was that mountain bikes are much more peaceful, and much less smelly. Mountain bikes on the whole are easier to photograph, but they have a whole bunch of new challenges, not the least of which is the variable lighting, and the red flags and tape are irritating to.
Levin. 2:04 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		655 Pedalling. Nice to see riders coming strait at the camera like this, if I had more experience or more time to practise I would have got more like this. Even with goggles you can see eyes and expression (is he doing a small smile for the camera?).
Levin. 2:02 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		845 Here I Am! One of my favourites! I like the haze of the dust from where he had come from, but it has so much more. His shirt is cool as well :) Also it's nice that he has no goggles on showing his eyes clearly.
Levin. 2:00 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		891 Glimpsed Through the Undergrowth. As we walked ever upwards, we were often not in the best place to take pictures from when the whistle blew to indicate a bike coming. I kind of like this one though, it goes to show that mountain biking is not only about leaping from ramps. The was some really nice forest/bush there, and the bikes didn't spoil any of the tranquillity that was there Imo.
Levin. 1:57 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		712 In a Pine Tree Corridor. What a great course it was, some of the downhill slopes were very steep. I think a small motorbike would make it, a trials bike would do it with ease, I wonder who would be faster? I remember when I worked in London as a motorcycle dispatch rider, around the city of Westminster (the square mile) push bikes could beat us motored types any day of the week! But then they were using little alleys and such like while we had to go round the long ways :P
Levin. 1:51 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Blue Bike Flying. Hats off to these guys, they really are fearless, but then I guess they are young :)
Levin. 1:49 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		793 Coming in for a Landing. What goes up, must come down they say.
Levin 1:49 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		793 Flying. I should have picked up a program! I guess they had names to go with the numbers? Names are good to search for in Google etc, if you searched for 793 you will come up with all sorts of things. Cool style there though.
Levin. 1:49 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Landing. I think this is a cool shot, look at the tyres, look at the suspension and also look at the chain flying round there :) It's pretty impressive what the bikes have to go through, and they go through it so well!
Levin. 1:48 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Flying! Coming from a motorcycling background I begin to see that the gulf between motored and pedalled machines has closed, and so it should do, speeds have increased, and the forces on machine and man have increased even more. Mountain biking has got less like Trials and more like Motorcross, and to add more to the two sports, there is now Supercross for both of them :)
Levin. 1:47 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Back to the Start. This is the truck that took the riders from the bottom of the track back up to the top. I guess if this was not an event they would have to do it the hard way and ride there up the road, but under the circumstances (apart from the dust the truck stirred up) the truck was a great asset, keeping the riders riding and the fans interested.
Levin. 1:46 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Water for the Fallen. At one ramp this guy did a great jump off of it, but his landing was not so great, and he ended up sprawled on the ground with his helmet hitting the ground at end with a loud thud, I being a typical photographer was no help, but Carl rushed to his side. 'Give me water he said' as he hobbled off the track. He sat there for a few minutes then got all kitted up again and rode of down the track. Headache later, I wonder, maybe a little bit of crossed eyes, I don't know, he'll be fine eventually.
Levin 1:45 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Peace Out Man! Fairly early on while I was trying to get to grips not only with a new camera but a new shooting situation, I set the camera onto multishot (something like 4 a second from memory), and as we walked alongside the track in amongst all the bush we came across this guy, so I took a picture of him. In the tranquillity of the bush my camera noisily (it is actually quite quiet) snapped of 3 shots, and everyone turned to stare! At 21 megapixels, the card gets full fairly fast, so I went back to one shot soon after.
Levin. 1:34 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		682 Taking a Leap of Skill. The day was not at all well prepared (just like my normal self) on my part (the event was extremely well run), not having walked the track until that day, and arriving fashionably late as usual I had to simply make the best of what I could find, hence many pictures are obscured, out of focus, and all those cool things, but I think there are a couple of nice ones, and a selection of the not bad ones, enjoy.
Levin. 1:28 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Watching Mountain Bikes. One of the many people that were watching the mountain bikes in Levin the other day, a fantastic course they have made out there, I look forward to the next meeting.
Levin. 1:25 pm, Sun 25th Jan, 2009

		Darryl Atkins, Victory. So ends another wonderful day of motorcycle racing at Wanganui Cemetery Circuit. Please note that I have used mylaps.com to find results for the riders, they put a 'transponder' into all the bikes, which is why they know where everybody came in their races, clever :)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:41 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Darryl Atkins, Victory. Victory!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:41 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 'A' Darryl Atkins, Aprilia SXV Possibly the final racing lap of the day. That one is a rap I think Darryl.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:40 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 666 Tony Sklenars, Honda CRF450. One of the most challenging spots to take pictures on the circuit has to be the inside of the first corner of the esses! They tend to come into that corner quite fast, hence I end up with more partial images like this one than capturing all of the bike. I accept that as part of photography, but usually they are not just partial they are also blurred, but this one is tack sharp, I like it ;) An easy solution would be to zoom out more, but that would be no challenge then!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:40 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 8 Stephen Briggs and 666 Tony Sklenars. Ok, 8 Stephen Briggs (Auckland, KTM SMR 450) had a good day (race1 and 2 he came 4th) but was slow in the feature race coming 11th. 666 Tony Sklenars (Wanganui, Honda CRF 450) had a more 'upwardly mobile' day, coming: R1 19th, R2 14th R3 13th. Me thinks Stephen Briggs came off in the feature race, and he is about to overtake Tony Sklenars ;) Oh the humanity!!!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:37 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 777 Toby Summers, Yam YZF450. His helmet looks like the polka dotted shirt they award in the tour de France for the mountain king, I think having a motor is against the rules.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:35 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 777 Toby Summers, Yam YZF450. I remember this Toby Summers (Auckland) last year, with the same bike, battling tooth and nail with Joshua McFarlane who, like Darryl Atkins seemed unshakeable, and was also riding an Aprilia SXV, until, he dropped it in the dirt section and Toby took the race win (something like that, memory is getting hazy these days). Anyway this year Darryl Atkins did not fall off, and Toby Summers came 2nd in all three races! A very spirited rider.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:34 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 'A' Darryl Atkins, Aprilia SXV. I'm not sure but I think the Aprilia SXV is, in this case, a 550cc engine? Anyway Darryl Atkins seemed to make it go pretty nicely. The V twin would make such nice manageable power with no nasty power bands etc?
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:34 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard Feature - 'A' Darryl Atkins, Aprilia SXV. Darryl Atkins (originally a Kiwi as I understand it, but lived in America for some time, he has a definite American accent as you can hear in this Link) made a clean sweep of the Super Motard with a win in all 3 races!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:32 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		The DJ Rig. As we wandered round the track there was a point where the music seemed to get louder and louder, then I saw the 'DJ Rig' with the two girls walking in front of it, and then I saw steam puff out the headlight at the girls and I realised there was a person inside (the DJ!).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:24 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 2 Andy Scrivener & Steve Bryan, Sowersby Hayabusa 1300. I must say that the sidecars look pretty business like without the bodywork on them. This is a 'mid' mounted engine (all 1300cc of it!), and you can see how much shorter it is as a result. The driver and the swinger can even carry on a conversation eye to eye ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:20 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 12 Adam Unsworth & Stu Dawe, Windle1000. The poor old swinger at the back is so far away from the driver he might be getting lonely!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:19 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 2 Andy Scrivener & Steve Bryan, Sowersby Hayabusa 1300. It looks here like this one has its body work removed, perhaps it happened in race 2? Anyway Andy Scrivener and Steve Bryan (Taupo) managed two 6th places in the first and last race (this one) but don't seem to have raced in the second one, so many enigmas!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:18 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 12 Adam Unsworth & Stu Dawe, Windle1000. Another look at this Windle 1000. One of the things that stand out to me is its length, no doubt from mounting the engine at the back. Perhaps the length gives it added stability, like the longer wheel based Ferrari F1 car compared to the McLaren. I don't know but it did rather well for itself with two 3rds and a 2nd in the final race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:18 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 666 Brian Read and Darren Prentis. Brian Read and Darren Prentis (unlisted) had a 11th, a 9th and a 13th in that order.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:17 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 95 Neville Mickleson & Joanne Mickleson, Matchless G12 800. Look at the fairing with it's little windscreen hehe. From this angle it looks funny, but from the front it, looks less funny (!). But that is just the sort of thing that was used then, and I don't think there were too many people laughing back in it's day. I wonder if someone will bring a Manx Norton along one year soon (I see that someone already did, Colin Tate from Wanganui, but it was racing before I arrived)?
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:17 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Two Budding Young Enthusiasts. This year was reputedly a great success, with larger crowds than ever before, and why not indeed!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:17 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 16 Burt Wolland & Charles Bilby, Burtbuilt 1100. Burt Wolland & Charles Bilby (Masterton) took their 'toothy' machine to 5th place in the feature race, coming 10th in the first race and 4th place in the second race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:16 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 74 Will Williamson & Julie Loveridge, Triumph Tiger 110 750. The old classic returns! Will Williamson and Julie Loveridge (Wanganui) rode this classic sidecar into 21st place in the feature sidecar race, however they faired better in the classic sidecar races where they finished 9th in both races. Anyway it matters little where they finished, it's the manner in which they got there, and the oh's and ah's they evoked from the people watching, and in that they were big competitors!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:16 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 74 Will Williamson & Julie Loveridge, Triumph Tiger 110 750. Those were the days of simplicity, when your vehicle had no computers in it and, although your vehicle may stop running occasionally, it was a fairly easy job to pull it apart and fix the problem on the side of the road! These days they try to baffle us with things like reliability and economy! Bah humbug ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:16 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 95 Neville Mickleson & Joanne Mickleson, Matchless G12 800. This bike is such a beauty!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:16 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 51 Tony Campbell & Lance Hart. Tony Campbell and Lance Hart (Auckland)(sidecar was not listed in the program) had a consistent day finishing 13th, 12th, and 12th in the feature race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:15 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 95 Neville Mickleson & Joanne Mickleson, Matchless G12 800. Neville Mickleson and Joanne Mickleson (Hamilton) rode this beautifully presented Matchless G12 800 to 17th position in the feature race, however their class was post classic sidecars and riding against cars of similar classification in the first and second races they finished 1st and 3rd. Most impressive!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:15 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 19 Mick Paul & Paul Blinkhorne, ALM1000. Mick Paul and Paul Blinkhorne (Wanganui)(with their cool Totalspan 'Dog' graphic on the left side) had a mixed day that eventually saw them finish the feature race in a respectable 7th place after starting the days racing in 9th, then falling to 17th in the second race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:14 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 1NZ Steve Bron & Dennis Simonsen, LCR1000. I enjoyed the sidecars very much this year, there was a big turn out for their races and they were racing hard.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:14 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 12 Adam Unsworth & Stu Dawe, Windle1000. Adam Unsworth and Stu Dawe (Wanganui)(Wanganui must be the sidecar capital of New Zealand?) drove and rode this beautiful rocketship to a 3rd in the first two races and a 2nd in this feature race. Interesting seeing the engine behind the driver!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:13 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Sidecars - 1NZ Steve Bron & Dennis Simonsen, LCR1000. Steve Bron and Dennis Simonsen (Wanganui) came home in 4th for this race, and finished 2nd in the first two races.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:10 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Carl and Taa at the Start of the Back Strait. My 'assistants' ;) The camera still has some exposure compensation from where we were the race before (in the shadows) so everything is a little blown out (I fixed it soon though).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:08 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 1 Glen Williams, Suzi SV650. Glen Williams (Palmerston North), riding a Suzuki SV650 finished 7th in this race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:02 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - G Gareth Jones, Yam R6 600. Gareth Jones (Australia) was arguably the winner of the day, except for this race where he finished 2nd. In his defence though, he was riding his 600 after a crash in the second race damaged his 1000, but there is not much that a 600 won't do that a 1000 will do around the tight turns and short straits of the Cemetery Circuit.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:00 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 61 Hayden Fitzgerald, Honda CBR1000. Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) flies by for another lap. I like the look of his bike, it is not all cluttered up with words so much as some, and the colours are not all over the place, but then who cares what I think! ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:59 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 56 Craig Shirriffs, Honda CBR1000. I must say that that suit he is wearing looks overly clean, and it doesn't even look like leather (probably some carbon fibre super material)!!!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:59 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 2 Andrew Stroud, Suzi GSXR1000. Andrew Stroud (Hamilton) as always in the thick of it, or at the pointy end of the pack. His day started with a 3rd, then in the second race he was the winner, and in this race he finished 3rd again.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:56 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - J Joel Reed, Yam R1 1000. Joel Reed (Australia) finished 10th.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:54 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 61 Hayden Fitzgerald, Honda CBR1000. Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) finished the feature race in 5th place after no result for the first race and 3rd place for the second one.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:54 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Robert Holden Feature - 56 Craig Shirriffs, Honda CBR1000. Craig Shirriffs (Feilding), a recent hero of the Wanganui Boxing day Motorcycle Races, finished this race (Robert Holden Memorial) victorious after finishing 2nd in the previous 2 races of his class (Superbikes).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:54 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Taa. My nephews wife Taa.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:39 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Spectators on Grandstand. When we walked past this grandstand it was busy trying to drown out the grandstand across the track. They seemed to be enjoying it all, and that is the main thing.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:28 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Super Motard - 5 Gavin Veltmeyer, KTM SMR 560. After stalling at the start Gavin Veltmeyer (Auckland) wheelies away chasing the pack (darn it!), he did not come last either.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:17 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Motard - 'A' Darryl Atkins, Aprilia SXV. Darryl Atkins (he has a definite American accent, USA) after making an adjustment to something on the front end on the start line for the 2nd Motard race (I am not usually at the start line for races, but it is an exhilarating experience with all that noise vibrating your insides!).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:16 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		600 Super Sports - G Gareth Jones, Yam R6 600. Gareth Jones (Australia)(a nice Welsh name that one!) 1st in both the 600 Super Sports races.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:56 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		600 Super Sports - 1 Glen Williams, Suzi SV650. Glen Williams (Palmerston North) was placed 4th in this race and was not placed in the first race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:55 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		600 Super Sports - 3 and a bit bikes from the rear. Seeing the bikes from the back is cool, allowing you to see lean angles and things like that more easily, but it makes identifying the riders more than a little difficult?
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:53 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		600 Super Sport - 3 bikes from rear - 6 Nick Cole, G Gareth Jones. Gareth Jones (Australia) on his Yamaha R6 600 won both of the 600 Super Sports races, while Nick Cole (Hamilton) on his Kawasaki ZX6R 600 was not placed in the first race and came 2nd in this race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:53 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Spectators. I still love to snap the occasional sneaky spectator shot between races etc, they are considerably easier to photograph than the bikes travelling as fast as they do.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:44 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Spectators on Hillside by Robert Holden Corner. At another venue this would most likely be a grandstand! The slope inside Robert Holden Corner was well peopled as usual this year.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:44 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Post Classic - 3 Sean Donnelly, Kawasaki Z1 900. Sean Donnelly (Paraparam), Robert Holden Corner. 3rd in both Post Classic races.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:31 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Post Classic - 750 Tony McQueen, Kawa H2 750. This bike impressed me also! In its day the Kawasaki H2 750 (2 stroke) was a rocketship with gobs and gobs of grunt, but all that power was cradled in a dangerously flexible Kawasaki frame :( This one however was cornering very smoothly and accelerating sweetly! Tony McQueen comes from Wellington.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:30 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Post Classic - 66 (unlisted) & 83 Eamon Timms, Kawa ZXR400. I enjoyed seeing this Harley Davidson going round, interesting that his right foot sits on his highway bar, but his left foot sits on the normal peg? He seemed to be going pretty well actually.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:29 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Post Classic - 3 Sean Donnelly, Kawasaki Z1 900. The Second 'Post Classic' race, where Sean Donnelly (Paraparam) came 3rd (3rd in both races). This bike is becoming a classic competitor, it is good to see him there. By the way just to mention that this picture has not been cropped at all, this is what the camera captured! I think that's impressive dammit! ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:28 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Ducati Desmo 450. Arriving sometime in the afternoon at the Wanganui Cemetery (late as usual) there are a few that are leaving already, and I wonder as usual if I have arrived too late this time, but these are early leavers.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:22 pm, Fri 26th Dec, 2008

		Old Houses. The house on the corner looks to be quite a large one, it looks like one of those places I might like to live in, although it looks slightly dark, I would love to know its history, I bet it has some vivid times and people! It's good that someone appears to be paying the houses some needed attention.
Onepu Rd, Lyall Bay, Wellington. 2:35 pm, Mon 3rd Nov, 2008

		The Old and the New. The house must be getting close to a century old perhaps, and the baby in the pram, perhaps less than one year old, I wonder if the house will still be there when the baby is grown old, I hope so :)
Onepu Rd, Lyall Bay, Wellington. 2:33 pm, Mon 3rd Nov, 2008

		Lyall Bay Beach. So hard getting things like the waves lining up with stitched pictures like this one, made up of 7 pictures, it covers over 180 degrees. The airport is to the left, and the building on the beach is the surf club. There's people hitting a ball about with a cricket bat, seagulls sitting on the sand, and there's even a plane coming into land :) Oh I nearly forgot the ferry out there on the horizon!
Lyall Bay Beach, Wellington. 2:32 pm, Mon 3rd Nov, 2008

		What Future Awaits? I wish you all the best little group of young people :) Thanks for the wee concert!
Kelburn, Wellington. 3:19 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		After Playing Snacks. A well earned feed after the ordeal of the public scrutiny of their piano playing.
Kelburn, Wellington. 3:19 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Teacher and Pupils. The players and the proud teacher.
Kelburn, Wellington. 3:15 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Most of the Players. The Players, Group Photograph.
Kelburn, Wellington. 3:15 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Most of the Players. The players gather for a group photograph.
Kelburn, Wellington. 3:15 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Another Player. The meeting was organised by Franky's teacher and Franky's parents, this is another of the teachers pupils playing for the gathering.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:58 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Introducing. One of the most difficult things seemed to be introducing the pieces the players were going to play, it was a delight to see their nervousness really, such naked uncertainty, such simple worries, and satisfaction from overcoming their difficulties.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:54 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Franky Playing Piano. Franky plays one of his 10 or so songs. He did a fine job.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:53 pm, Sat 27th Sep, 2008

		Wandering Among the Rocks. There are always times when you see the shot and spend precious moments fumbling with the camera while the shot is wandering away, well past its best. So frustrating, but I think I was just in time with this one, although I missed her dog and her legs are more obscured than they might have been, oh well.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay) 4:50 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		Seaweed Surf and Spray. Another windy day in Wellington, just life as normal in the churned up sea, the life within benefits from the oxygen all the tossing and turning introduces into the water.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay), Wellington. 4:43 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		What Lurks Within? In some of these pictures of water I see many things and in this one I think I see a dragon breathing white flames out of it's nose (well, the side of its face really)! Probably just not enough sleep hehe.
Te Raekaihau (near Princess Bay). 4:12 pm, Fri 26th Sep, 2008

		That's the Spot! Seagulls resting and preening on the warm timbers of a pier.
Evans Bay, Wellington. 2:43 pm, Tue 2nd Sep, 2008

		Moody Morning. The sun gleams through gaps in the clouds lighting misty clouds caught in the folds of the Rimutaka's slopes with little Ward island in the foreground. This is seen from my backdoor.
My place, Wellington. 9:24 am, Fri 29th Aug, 2008

		Sunshine Burns Through. The morning sun peers through the clinging mist like clouds over the Rimutaka's, while Eastbourne looks forward to the warmth of the sun, late arriving as usual. Not that it is through any tardiness, it is just an arrangement the sun and the hills have and no man should wish it any different.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 8:13 am, Mon 25th Aug, 2008

		Bullet Proof from the Rear. It has a solid look to it I think, yet it is quietly smug about its essential luxuriousness. I'm glad I don't have to park it though hehe.
Point Jerningham, Wellington. 12:46 pm, Wed 9th Jul, 2008

		Bullet Proof. Another gas gussler, the 4.2 litre V8 Mercedes S420. Famous for its bullet proof windows, often called a gangster car, has the more industrial look to it (as the owner calls it). Very roomy inside, and smooth as silk to ride in! I like the way when a door only half shuts, the car pulls the door shut properly all on its own :)
Point Jerningham, Wellington. 12:45 pm, Wed 9th Jul, 2008

		Helen Singing. My cousin Helen, playing the guitar and singing in her local cafe. It is difficult to take pictures of people singing into a microphone without getting the microphone stuck right in front of their faces ;) so I went outside and took this picture through the window!
Raumati South, north of Wellington. 5:28 pm, Sun 6th Jul, 2008

		Sacred Mountains. Looking to the North from Oriental Bay. Fountain in the foreground, Petone on the far shore of the harbour and the snow clad peaks of the Tararua Ranges in the background. If anything could be sacred it might be mountains, but we have become soft and see them as dangerous and desolate places, few recognise the great presence and know firsthand the nature of these mountains, myself included!
Oriental Bay, Wellington. 5:46 pm, Sat 5th Jul, 2008

		Reflections. I like the way the blackness sort of encroaches on the light from both sides and in places actually joins, it is like life, with the wonderful light, complex and vivid in its joy and excitement, all the more intense because of the ever presence of the other side. Yet even in the darkness there is goings on, there is struggles and triumphs. Neither side expects to conquer the other, the eternal day to day match.
Otaihanga, north of Paraparam. 3:15 pm, Sat 28th Jun, 2008

		Ducks at Home. Quietly strolling by in their Duckish way, patrolling their territory, looking for things to eat, chatting about the family and friends?
Otaihanga, north of Paraparam. 3:13 pm, Sat 28th Jun, 2008

		Pottery Charger by Darryl Robertson. I love the colour of this piece, it is very reminiscent of the New Zealand flag, and I guess it is encapsulating the artists view of Kiwi culture and fauna. It is very dreamlike to me and holds its significance in a certain haze of uncertainty paradoxically, like good art often does.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 3:25 pm, Sat 7th Jun, 2008

		Mount Kaikoura under a Red Sky. The mountain in the distance is Mt Kaikoura on the south island of New Zealand, about 120kms away. Sometimes it is hardly visible and may as well be in a different country but it looks very close here.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 6:19 pm, Tue 3rd Jun, 2008

		Crazed Vase. A pot that a friend of mine bought at an auction recently with a tapestry by Gordon Crook in the background. I love the pot, the glaze is so thick and cracked up and yet it is so shiny and smooth, it looks like a road map of a city with no street names on it.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 4:56 pm, Fri 9th May, 2008

		It's All About the Music! Scruff. Another amateur photographer struggling with the technology but doing the practical part of taking pictures nevertheless. He is organising a gig in Wellington in September I think, I can't remember the details (will update them soon).
Island Bay, Wellington 8:27 pm, Thu 24th Apr, 2008

		Peoples Lives by the Beach. I kind of like the soft focus of this picture, it opens the doors for the imagination a bit.
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 6:53 pm, Tue 22nd Apr, 2008

		Mercedes E55 AMG. I think the 'bug-eyes' look is fantastic, it really makes a styling statement, I see so many new cars that have very similar lines these days. I know it is just a car but it makes me happy for now.
Near the Hutt River, Lower Hutt, Wellington. 4:56 pm, Fri 11th Apr, 2008

		Classy Chassis! There is no way that I can afford to run this beast with it's 5.5 litre V8 engine, and the outrageous sundry costs but I have always admired the heck out of this cars style and I traded my Nissan in on it. I feel guilty so much, but when I see it and drive it I forget that and bask in the luxury of it! That is not the number plate by the way, I just wanted to cover up the real one and have thought that would be a great plate for it ;)
Near the Hutt River, Lower Hutt, Wellington. 4:54 pm, Fri 11th Apr, 2008

		Daimler Dart and Proud Owner. While driving round the bays me and Gordon spotted this Daimler Dart and had to stop and take a look. The owner had been swimming nearby and came to chat. In its day this would have been a super car with its V8 engine and sporty styling and handling! He looks familiar, like I have seen him in an advert or something? Great to see people with spirit and dedication to their dreams, I take my hat off to him :)
Balaena Bay, Wellington. 1:28 pm, Mon 17th Mar, 2008

		Cicadas'. Cicadas' seem to come in all sorts of varieties and the ones we get in New Zealand are pretty dull compared to other countries around the world. The left one I am sure is a baby one, the one on the right seems to be what Australians call 'The Green Grocer Cicada'. Perhaps the feelers do not grow with the rest of the insect since the baby one has a couple of monstrous ones, but the grown ups have pretty minuscule little things compared to their bodies?
My place, Wellington. 2:54 pm, Sun 9th Mar, 2008

		Budding Dahlia. A newly opened flower on the Dahlia that persists in growing despite the hardships of its position.
My place, Wellington. 2:51 pm, Sun 9th Mar, 2008

		Monarch Butterfly on Hebe Flower. Like little flying works of art. They are quite difficult to photograph I find since they are always jumping from flower to flower and with such a limited depth of field I end up spending most of the time they are in reach trying to get them in focus hehe.
My place, Wellington. 2:43 pm, Sun 9th Mar, 2008

		Walking on Glass. This shot shows the appalling state of my kitchen windows :( unfortunately they are double glazed and the cloudiness is between the panes? This little lizard was enjoying the bugs flying at the window perhaps, although later we saw him going for a spider living under the eaves. Clever the way they stick to the glass isn't it!
My place, Wellington. 11:03 pm, Thu 6th Mar, 2008

		Crazy Cranes. Cranes reflected in the 'wobbly' surfaces of a building in Wellington.
Wellington City. 9:23 am, Tue 4th Mar, 2008

		The Other Half. The green Moth of the two visitors. The 'fur' is actually a little like feathers on its back, or blades of grass with the tips cut off. You can see the tuft on its back, but this one differs from the black and white one in that it has a few of them running down it back getting smaller the further back they are. I hope they got together and made some babies (assuming they are not a pest of some kind)!
My Place, Wellington. 5:20 pm, Fri 29th Feb, 2008

		Not Your Average Moth. One night this moth turned up, I have never seen one like it that I can remember, and soon after a dark green one appeared so I assume one was a male and the other was the female. They both have a sort of tuft at the front end of their back which looks kind of cute. Amazing wee critters.
My place, Wellington. 3:36 pm, Fri 29th Feb, 2008

		White Tailed Spider. The White Tail has a reputation for being aggressive and fast, but it is not badly toxic, however their bites have been known to go septic due to bacteria on and around their fangs, the bite has been known to trigger that skin eating infection, Necrotising Faceitus, or something like that, but I was not going to experiment! They apparently don't build webs, but go hunting other spiders in their webs.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 9:47 pm, Thu 28th Feb, 2008

		White Tailed Spider. In this picture you can almost see the fangs where they get down to the pointy ends, and they look enormous. The little hairy feeler things I believe indicates that this is a male, they use those for carrying their seed and passing it on to the female (don't quote me on that though).
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 9:46 pm, Thu 28th Feb, 2008

		Underside of a White Tailed Spider. A nice view of this spider (if that is possible) from the outside of the jar he was trapped in! Interesting to see the web material coming out of the back end in several strands gathering together away from the spider.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 9:42 pm, Thu 28th Feb, 2008

		Number Four. Just a mystery driveway leading to a mystery house?
Island Bay, Wellington. 4:21 pm, Mon 11th Feb, 2008

		Moody Clouds. Looking towards the west the sunshine plays amongst the bands of clouds with its beautiful golden colours.
Miramar, Wellington. 8:07 pm, Sat 9th Feb, 2008

		A Memorable Meal! My mouth is watering just looking at it! There is Grouper, Mussels, Potato and mushrooms under the Courgette. It's the sauce that made it special, it blends the flavours and enhances them into a delight. I suppose you're rushing off to get some food now ;)
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 8:53 pm, Sat 26th Jan, 2008

		Shadow. Great light, on a summers late afternoon. Technically faulty, but artistically appealing is how I see it. I like the way the part of my shadow encroaching on the nearest flower changes the colour.
Miramar, Wellington. 8:39 pm, Wed 16th Jan, 2008

		Flax Leaf. There he is again, Carl my nephew. What, you can't see him? Hehe, this is more visual arcane incantations, but even more obscure. The colours are so warm!
My Place, Miramar, Wellington. 5:32 pm, Mon 14th Jan, 2008

		An Impression. I like this picture a lot, it sort of gives me an impression of the man, it is like an visual arcane incantation (that's an obscure allusion if I ever heard one). Well anyway maybe it just does it for me, but the whole picture is speaking to me in a language that I don't understand but one that makes me feel!
My Place, Miramar, Wellington. 5:32 pm, Mon 14th Jan, 2008

		Plimmers Lane. John Plimmer. The man that inspired this statue was a business man originating from England (The History). I have long admired his statue with his faithful dog perpetually in mid scamper, perpetually gazing lovingly up at its master. :)
Plimmers Lane, Lambton Quay, Wellington. 2:33 pm, Mon 14th Jan, 2008

		Turnbull House. Built in 1917 by Alexander Turnbull as his house, and his museum / library. Alexander's first love was original manuscripts and so it was called a library, but it housed a vast collection of paintings, photographic images, and artefacts of a varied nature (The History). Today Turnbull House is used as a function and conference centre. Perhaps one day I will go and take a more complete picture of the place.
Bowen St, Wellington. 1:42 pm, Mon 14th Jan, 2008

		The Manawatu Countryside. Flying over this countryside is the best way to get an idea of how 'up and down' it really is! It has no natural flatland of any size, if it is not going up it is going down, and when there is heavy rain, it is all going down. I guess that is one reason the Wanganui River is always a dirt brown colour.
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 1:00 pm, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Little Fungus. A nice place for little people to shelter under in the rain? Is it normal for little mushrooms to have a hole in the top of them like this?
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 12:45 pm, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Ever Vigilant. Always on the look out for threats, these sheep are ready to flee at the slightest 'wrong' move by myself.
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 12:41 pm, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Pastoral Paradise. This is so unique in our solar system, there's nowhere that we currently know of within some billions of miles that even resembles this abundance of Life. It is all life. It may not be able to talk or walk, but every plant that has roots in the ground is alive and trying to grow and propagate, including the sheep at the bottom of this picture (not to say that the sheep have roots of course!).
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 12:39 pm, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		River Road. At the foot of this steep slope is naturally, a river. It is only a small one, and yet, over the years it has carved into the land. The whole area is 'up and down' like this, and riddled with slips from heavy rainfalls. Much of the rock around here is a soft kind of mudstone, almost grey clay really so it is not surprising to see all the erosion, but at the top of the slope is some much harder rock, perhaps graywake, it explains the 'ups' of the hills. Geology is fun! ;)
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 12:32 pm, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Strata. Returning from Ohakune I was driving to Wiouru when I saw a turn off going to Wanganui, so I went adventuring and took the road. It was a great experience, the road twisted and turned, it was sealed mostly, but the seal that was there was quite patchy. Included in the adventure (no pictures sorry) was a herd of cattle being driven along the road :)
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 11:58 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Purple Grass Seed. This picture gives me a wonderful summery feeling, as it was of course being the second to last day of 2007.
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 11:55 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Purple Grass Seeds. This image is not technically great I guess you could say, but there is no requirement for an image to be perfect before it can be a valid picture. The definition of Image and Picture (in my opinion) might be useful to include here: Image is a view of a 'Subject', it is completely objective and has no value judgements like aesthetics involved, where as a Picture implies a subjective judgement, it includes things like borders or frames, it includes textures, it includes colour saturation and hue, it includes composition, also it includes technical aspects (such as Focus). Put it this way, you don't hang Images on your wall, you hang Pictures on your wall! It is subtle I know, but at the end of the day, this is not a great image, but (in my opinion) it makes a nice Picture!
Fields Track Road, between Hwy 49 and Hwy 4, Manawatu. 11:54 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Pottery Sheep. These sheep have seen better days, they are sort of going through a process of blending in with their surroundings.
Ohakune, National Park. 10:32 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Red Flowers. Some lovely red flowers. Ask me not what kind they are and I won't have to tell you I don't know :)
Ohakune, National Park. 10:31 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Give Me That Nectar! They are like Bumble Bee sleeping bags! They could shelter in them when they leave it too late to go home ;)
Ohakune. 10:28 am, Sat 29th Dec, 2007

		Seagull? Along with the Sparrows there were some seagulls (they look a lot like seagulls but they are slightly different to the ones that I am familiar with). Even this one is studying the ground, the worms here must be a delicacy.
Rotorua. 5:08 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		Sparrow Couple. On the look out for some afternoon snacks, these sparrows seem intent on studying the ground, no doubt they are hunting for food.
Rotorua. 5:03 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		Male Sparrow. One of the more numerous living beings that we share our world with!
Rotorua. 5:02 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		Float Plane. A flying boat sits moored on Lake Rotorua.
Rotorua. 4:50 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		Franky in My Hat. Franky trying my hat on.
Prawn Park, Wairakei. 2:22 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		Plate of Prawns. Prawns apparently like warm water to grow in and Wairakei has a plentiful supply of used superheated water (cooled of course). It's a great co-operative venture growing the prawns in pools that are fed with water from the geothermal power station across the road. They were very nice eating as well!
Prawn Park, Wairakei. 1:20 pm, Fri 28th Dec, 2007

		The group. Down the road from the waterfall there are these large 'mounds' that the bench we are sitting on is at the top of one. I forget what caused them to form (perhaps hot gasses from lava).
Tongariro National Park. 2:26 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Mung on the Rocks! Mung sits by the water as it slides past, not caring what is in the way, not trying to avoid obstacles, it embraces everything that it touches, leaving its watery presence as a memento.
Tongariro National Park. 1:36 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Gold or God in the Water! Looking so rich and mysterious, the rocks on the bottom of the small river flowing from Mt Ruapehu enchants me. Water always does that for me but I think this is exceptional, don't you?
Down the road from Mt Ruapehu. 1:34 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Mung In Front of Waterfall. This is the waterfall up stream from our picnic spot, it is a very beautiful place indeed.
Tongariro National Park. 1:28 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Franky Playing in the River. What a glorious spot this was to spend some time at, just down stream from beautiful waterfalls, with a small beach to relax on and quite secluded.
Tongariro National Park. 1:15 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Hidden Beauty. A very delightful place to have a picnic as we did one day. There is a small sandy flat area about 3 picnic blankets in size just down stream from here.
Down the road from Mt Ruapehu. 12:31 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		The Chateau. Built in 1929 The Chateau has been a Kiwi icon for many. It was built only a handful of years after the first motorcar arrived on the freshly constructed road in 1925. It's not surprising to see accommodation built in such surroundings but the style and luxury of this place sets it apart and has attracted visitors world-wide.
The Chateau, Tongariro National Park. 12:13 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Mt Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe and just to the left of it is Mt Tongariro, seen from the road up to Mt Ruapehu.
Tongariro National Park. 12:01 pm, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Looking South From Mt Ruapehu. Nice clouds! This is about half way down Mt Ruapehu's access road, the small piles of snow are about the only indication really that we are at any significant altitude.
Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro National Park. 11:54 am, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Mt Ruapehu. Looking at the building on the side of the mountain, you might think it looks like a dangerous place to build a building (I do wonder if they have to pay extra to insure the place). The most dangerous time would be when the mountain is having an eruption of course, even if it were a small one, any loose rocks may well be dislodged. Not sure about the border?
Whakapapa Ski Field, Mt Ruapehu. 11:49 am, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Taking The Sunshine. Taking a moment out from her skiing? I guess more likely sitting in the sunshine on this novel kind of bench seat, waiting for younger ones to finish up with their skiing.
Whakapapa Ski Field, Mt Ruapehu. 11:47 am, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Franky Throwing Snow. My Nephew Franky throwing snow at his dad.
Whakapapa Ski Field, Mt Ruapehu. 11:43 am, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Mount Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe has a nice conical shape, kind of a classical beauty for mountains really. I like the border on this one.
Tongariro National Park. 10:41 am, Thu 27th Dec, 2007

		Norton Engine. Some classic machinery in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:29 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Casual Racing Packing up and warming down from the days activities.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:25 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Andrew Strouds Support Crew? The team, they start them young don't they ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:24 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Andrew Stroud. A generally frustrating meeting for Andrew, but I'm guessing he had some enjoyable races :)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:23 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		1 Bike - Super Motard Nice colourful and clean leathers, a name on the back would be helpful though ;) Loosing out on some of his 15 minutes of fame! Vesrah Overbridge.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:10 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Unlisted - Super Motard. Not listed in the program so I don't know who this is or what he is riding sorry. Coming onto the Vesrah Overbridge.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:08 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		2 Bikes - Super Motard. The dirt boys strut their stuff, coming onto the 'Vesrah Overbridge'. Unknown riders.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:04 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Andrew Stroud - Mid Esses. Robert Holden used to pull the most impressive wheelies going over the hump that Andrew Stroud is about to go over in this picture. I don't know if the racing has got more serious and they don't want to compromise their performance, or simply Robert Holden was heroically brave (which he was!), but no one seems to do it that much anymore.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:47 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Intense Concentration! Coming into the Suzuki Esses Andrew Stroud is a picture of concentration. Like two wheeled warriors they strive to be victorious.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:44 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Craig Shirriffs - Out Front! As you can see Craig Shirriffs was well out in front, it was a great day for the man from Feilding on his Suzuki GSXR1000.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:43 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Andrew Stroud - Suzuki GSXR750 K6. Andrew Stroud and Craig Shirrifs (Suzuki GSXR1000) were locked in combat every race they ran. Craig Shirrifs (Feilding, New Zealand, the bike behind Andrews in the photo) won all the battles though in the end, apart from the Formula Wanganui race where he came 3rd. From memory Andrew Stroud had a problem of some sort with his No1 bike (a GSXR1000 of some sort) so riding an under-powered bike did not help his day any.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:41 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Plastic Fantastic. I'm not sure who was riding this bike, there were two of them, one of which was the bike that Dave Hiscock used to ride, and that Robert Holden won the 1984/85 Formula One championship on. Named the 'plastic fantastic' due to its composite frame, being the first bike using carbon fibre in its construction. The bike was designed and built by Steve Roberts in Wanganui. NOTE I have searched Google for information but it is very sketchy, I would provide a link but my information is collected from many sites, any corrections or added info would be appreciated. I would have preferred a picture of the other one which was in the original colours, but they all have spectators obscuring the picture unfortunately.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:35 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		John Blaymires and Brett Sproull. First corner of the Suzuki Esses.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:13 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Stacey Sellar and Leighton Minnell. Very tidy sidecar, at the apex of the first part of the esses.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:10 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Spectators. Character-full people like these two are the norm I think for the spectators.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:05 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Thirsty Work Watching Racing ;) I can feel the fizzy thirst quenching wetness of that drink!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:05 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		All That Spiritual Stuff. It was nice to see this young lad taking some notice of the current occupiers of the cemetery. Mostly the spectators concentrate on the racing, but I think the fact that it is a cemetery they are watching the racing in, actually gives the whole event a wonderful spiritual quality, it is a rare combination, but not at all incompatible. Indeed the motorcycling community are often familiar with death from a close perspective, and living on the edge as we do when riding motorcycles reminds us intensely of life!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:01 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Nick Odermatt - Triumph Daytona 675. Well he has the matt black helmet to fit with the 'old school' British biker fraternity, but the bike is orange!!! Anyway ;) nice wheelie nevertheless.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:55 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		David Lees and Matt Sadowski. David Lees on a Suzuki GSXR1000K5 and Matt Sadowski on a Yamaha YZF R6 (600cc), dicing at Robert Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:53 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Jay Lawrence - Kawasaki ZX 6R. Robert Holden corner. Wanganui Cemetery Circuit, Boxing Day Motorcycle Races.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:52 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		There's Always One Looking In The Other Direction! And he looks a bit like 'Scotty' (beam me up Scotty!).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:51 pm, Wed 26th Dec, 2007

		Chris. My brother Chris. This was Christmas 2007.
Raumati South, Wellington. 2:41 pm, Tue 25th Dec, 2007

		The Sun On A Stalk. Open for business, and all it has to give is life! It charges not a cent or anything else for it's nectar or it's beauty, in fact it is in need of assistance, to propagate itself and continue the line.
My Place, Miramar, Wellington. 10:45 am, Fri 21st Dec, 2007

		Furry Seeds. What a cool design! It makes me wonder about nature and natures ways, and also about beauty and what it is. At the end of the day if something works it does not matter how good it looks, but thankfully we seem to harmonise with natures ways and find many things in our world to be beautiful. Perhaps beauty is not so much about the physical appearance, but more about the existence of life and the degree to which we can relate to and admire that life's ways?
My Place, Miramar, Wellington. 10:18 am, Fri 21st Dec, 2007

		Roller Girl in the Mirror. I can't remember how this came about, but I think it is in the wing mirror of my car, and it has taken on some interesting movement thing, I kind of like it :)
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 5:12 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Roller Girl. Makes me cringe seeing someone ride a skate board in jandals, especially one so pretty! But she was cruising along reasonably slowly, and in such a relaxed way, she quite caught my eye.
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 5:10 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Island Bay. Some of the houses along the south coast of Wellington are quite interesting, like the lighthouse you can see here, it would be nice to live there, but it would loose the sunshine very early in the day, I would probably go for the more exposed houses at the top of the hill there.
Island Bay, Wellington. 4:53 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Canoes Leaning Against A Wall. Kind of a classical shot of colourful boats. I'm not sure about the frame I put on this one, it may be too dark, but I do like the colours in this shot.
Island Bay, Wellington. 4:51 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Walk On The Beach. I always feel a bit guilty when I take pictures of people I don't know. Well not really guilty, but I feel the unspoken inquiry of the people asking 'why are you photographing us?' Maybe they will see themselves oneday when they chance upon my website :) I would like to know why the older man has a large cup with him?
Island Bay, Wellington. 4:50 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Expectant. Something rather spooky and creepy about these spider 'nests', but they are most intriguing!
Above Houghton Bay, Wellington. 4:38 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Wellington Harbour Entrance. It is so hard these days to find views unspoiled by houses and man made structures, but this is fairly uninterrupted, apart from those power lines... Now where did I put those wire cutters?!?! The 35mm fixed focal length lens seems to capture a richness that other lenses cannot, it is a lens that I should use more often!
Above Houghton Bay, Wellington. 4:33 pm, Mon 17th Dec, 2007

		Wellington Harbour Entrance. This view so often looks like an oil painting. In the direction that we are looking here, the next landfall would be the Antarctic, which is why when there is a southerly blowing it can be bitterly cold sometimes!
Wellington Harbour Entrance, Wellington. 7:27 pm, Sat 15th Dec, 2007

		Concrete Man in a Rose Garden. In the front yard of the 'Blue House' was a smallish rose bed with this nice wee statue sitting amongst the roses, I think it looked cool, and still do :)
Foxton. 5:55 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Rain Spattered Flower. A less confused flower from the garden of the 'Blue House' in Foxton, I ended up at this place through a misunderstanding, thinking it was the house of someone it was not and since the actual occupiers were not home, I never realised till too late, oh well, most unfortunate but life is like that at times, and there were benefits.
Foxton. 5:47 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Sunshine in a Flower. Slightly out of control was this garden, but with the raindrops everywhere and the lovely flowers, it was just my kind of garden!
Foxton. 5:47 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Yellow Flower with Rain Drops. Looking at the tips of the petals on this lovely flower, I am reminded of a dandelion, yet the center reminds me of a sunflower, perhaps it is a 'Sundelion'? ;)
Foxton. 5:44 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Friendly Moggy. Hello I am a very friendly puss, I'm slightly over weight but I will follow you everywhere and love you heaps :)
Foxton. 5:42 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Red Rose and Rain Drops. There is something very sophisticated, and self assured about roses, they are so outstanding in the garden, their blooms all so strongly individual, and yet they appear to be 'low key' and modest about it hiding their pollen in their multitude of petals, their colours often variegated and subtle, but oh so rich!
Foxton. 5:40 pm, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Fishing By The Light. At night the tall structure next to the three boats flashes slowly with a red light, it is to keep larger ships on the far side of the light. I love looking at the this expanse of water to see the patterns and the activities of various sized vessels.
Harbour Channel, Wellington. 9:03 am, Sun 9th Dec, 2007

		Paradise. Who would live in a city seeing this? Ummm, me :( and most of the population, but then people are migrating out into the country more and more, encroaching on the pristine country, they are building roads and houses on it all, it breaks my heart!
Peka peka, Wellington. 3:09 pm, Tue 27th Nov, 2007

		From Out of the Muck (Beautiful Things Come). Water Lilies, how lovely they are!
Peka peka, Wellington. 3:01 pm, Tue 27th Nov, 2007

		Mudpuddle. Looking back at me, this 'magnificent' creature (Jonah) gives me a knowing look, sometimes a smile and other times something else, but always it seems wonderful to me, every time I look at it.
Pekapeka, Wellington. 2:56 pm, Tue 27th Nov, 2007

		Kelp Patterns. Every time the sea came back towards the shore, the kelp would make a new pattern, seemingly never the same but always complex, sometimes looking orderly and appealing to my sense of symmetry, and at other times chaotic, looking hopelessly entangled with itself.
Island Bay, Wellington. 3:55 pm, Mon 19th Nov, 2007

		Kelp. Some of these strands of Kelp would be 5-6 metres long, they all appeared to belong to the same 'plant' which had attached itself to the rocks on the side of a channel leading to a large rock pool. It amazed me that the Kelp remains attached since every 10 seconds or so it would all be dragged back down the channel towards the open sea, only to be caught up in the next incoming surge of water! The coming and going of the water is not tranquil and calm either, far from it as you can see with all the frothing of the water, yet it was one of the healthiest looking 'clumps' of kelp I could see.
Island Bay, Wellington. 3:55 pm, Mon 19th Nov, 2007

		Wellington City. An aeroplane come into land at Wellington, the tall buildings pollute their environment with their 'Words', and the harbour basks in the attention of its audience. Life as usual in Wellington.
Wellington city. 3:51 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Black Bird. Friendly Black bird, hopped onto a rock, it stood in the sun so nice, just long enough for me to catch its image, then it was gone flying low chasing its mate.
Rose garden, Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 3:38 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Yellow Roses. The bloom looks a little ragged, but it's standing up there proudly, with its young looking extremely rich, it's hard to believe they are on the same bush.
Rose garden, Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 3:27 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Visitors. Poms! ;) The fountain in the middle of the Rose gardens. Still early days for any serious blooming, but there were a few showing.
Rose garden, Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 3:21 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Pink and Scarlet Rose Bloom. One of the countless variety of roses to be seen in the Lady Norwood Rose Garden of the Wellingtons Botanical Gardens. At the right time of the year the Rose Garden is ablaze with colours and scents.
Bot Gardens, Wellington. 3:20 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Never Thirsty Lion. Just next to the herb garden this lovely little fountain sits. It's not a great picture, but I think it gives the idea (perhaps I will return to get a better one), I think it is a wonderful little fountain, very un pretentious, and the colours are nice also.
Bot Gardens, Wellington. 3:12 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Bumble Bee on a Clover Flower. It took a few pictures of the wind blowing the flower around, the Bee moving and my glasses making it difficult to see the focus to finally get this, I was hoping for one of it's face but that will have to wait. It amazes me how un-creepy Bumble Bees are to look at, they are just cute all over!
Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 2:52 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Flower With Little White Orbs Hovering. These wee flowers are so unnoticeable when you are wandering, I'm not sure if they ever have all their petals on the flower and 'out' at the same time, because they always look like this to me. I reckon they look very cool :)
Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 2:48 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Two White Flowers in the Grass. I don't know what kind of flowers these are, they are about 2 cm's across perhaps, but they have a lovely look. It was a nice sunny day in the Botanical Gardens, and I was looking for butterflies?
Botanical Gardens, Wellington. 2:44 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Floating High. I guess feathers, like just about everything I can think of, have their good points, and they have their not so good points. Very handy for flight; light weight, rigid, interlocking. Apparently a great home for very small animals ;)
Bot Gardens, Wellington. 2:28 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Mr Quack. Paradise Duck, floating around on the duck pond of Wellingtons Botanical Gardens.
Bot Gardens, Wellington. 2:28 pm, Tue 6th Nov, 2007

		Where The Land Meets The Sea. The far hill is (I think) the place the paraglider jumped off, Paekakariki hill. The road running along the base of the hillside and you can see the cut in the hillside where the train goes, passing through about 5 small tunnels (from memory) as it gradually descends down to Paekak station. The road used to have a bad record of crashes along it so now it has a cable fence to keep opposing traffic in their own lanes for most its length where it runs along the coast.
Centennial Highway, Pukerua Bay, Wellington. 10:51 am, Sun 21st Oct, 2007

		Danger Cat, Nell. As you can see the handrail that Nell is standing on is quite high up, though not quite as high as it looks here, it would be 2 metres to ground I think. Her ears have been getting a hard time lately it would seem, they are a bit notched and lacking in fur around the edges.
Kelburn, Wellington. 4:36 pm, Fri 12th Oct, 2007

		Nell. My brothers other cat, Nell. Insisting on walking along the most precarious place available at the time, but a very loveable cat, she followed me everywhere while I was visiting this time.
Kelburn, Wellington. 4:36 pm, Fri 12th Oct, 2007

		House In A Flower. The creation of a friends mum (not the man in the doorway), I think it is kinda cute really. Go visit my friends site Pixieplots and this is some more of her mums creations here, she is quite an artist I think!
Pekapeka. 1:14 pm, Thu 27th Sep, 2007

		Purple Flowers. A few days after appearing, and looking a little less leathery now, but still the only flowers on the whole tree.
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 12:14 pm, Thu 27th Sep, 2007

		Yellow Flowers. The Cresanthemums that my sister Jill got for my birthday a few weeks back, it was very nice to have their colour around for the time that they were flowering.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 9:36 am, Thu 27th Sep, 2007

		Nature At Work. There's one of the Bumble Bees! For some reason Bumble Bees seem to make me think about how brimming over the world is with life and beauty, they are so tireless, and so successful at their job.
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 5:45 pm, Fri 21st Sep, 2007

		Cherry Blossom Flowers. One small branch of a whole small tree covered with flowers like these. When I walked under the branches I became aware that there were many Bumble Bees buzzing from flower to flower as they all stopped buzzing until I stood quietly for a short time, then they all started happily buzzing again.
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 5:44 pm, Fri 21st Sep, 2007

		Bumble Bee on a Blue Flower. Not the most technically fantastic Picture around, but I like the little Bumble Bee feeding away, couldn't care less what was going on around him, just carrying out it's service to the plant getting a feed at the same time (undoubtedly an over simplification of it all but never mind :))
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 5:38 pm, Fri 21st Sep, 2007

		Twig. I absolutely love this picture, it has colours, it has shapes, it has mystery, it's vibrant, yet it is just a humble twig on the tree with the two purple flowers.
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 5:20 pm, Fri 21st Sep, 2007

		Rare Visit from the Purple Flowers. I'm not sure (hah I don't know more like it!) what kind of tree this one is, but it flowers rarely ,these were the only two flowers on the entire tree. They look almost leathery at this early stage, perhaps they are triggered by the full moon?
Pekapeka, north of Wellington. 5:18 pm, Fri 21st Sep, 2007

		Mana Island. I have often wondered why Mana Island is shaped the way it is, so flat with a gentle slope downwards towards the south? Perhaps I will find out one day.
Plimmerton, north of Wellington. 5:09 pm, Sun 16th Sep, 2007

		Home in the Rushes. I guess very soon this Pukeko will have to build his/her nest somewhere else since the council in all its wisdom is going to build a road through this little paradise. Pukeko are quite common, they have one of those ghastly rasping cries when they feel threatened, but otherwise a lovely New Zealand bird.
Waikanae, north of Wellington. 1:15 pm, Mon 10th Sep, 2007

		The Hutt River. I heard someone say once that animals were not as worthy of our efforts to help them survive because they are not 'Sentient'. Well I ask you, what is the point of our 'Great' sentience if it is simply to glorify ourselves, is sentience a great thing at all if we use it for merely 'Surviving' in the face of the extinction of Any life. I look at this water and its play with its environment, it's highly complex and vitally important part in the functioning of the world, and I wonder what prevents us from recognising the life this water has? Is it simply that we cannot 'Kill' it? We are very ignorant sometimes with our sentience, very un-scentient, very un-conscious and sometimes very guilty.
The Hutt River, Wellington. 3:55 pm, Sun 2nd Sep, 2007

		The Hutt River and the Rimutaka Ranges. The waters of the Hutt River meander their way towards us flowing the 15 or so miles to Petone. Surrounded by this kind of beauty and only limited ways to express how it makes us feel, I think we allow it to mingle with our souls and thus change who we are, that way we are able to express our experience of beauty by simply being ourselves.
The Hutt River, Wellington. 3:49 pm, Sun 2nd Sep, 2007

		View From Paekakariki Lookout. Imagine if you could walk on water! I wonder how long it would take to get to Australia from New Zealand at walking pace? Would you still get sea sick? Would sleeping on the way there be like sleeping on a water-bed? Hmmm?
Paekakariki Lookout Point, Wellington. 5:42 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		Wash Of Soft Pastel Colours. Another view from the top of Paekak hill, getting ever closer to true sunset. The colours are wonderful, this is probably my favourite from the bunch I took while I was there at the time. You can see the south island of New Zealand much more clearly.
Paekakariki Lookout Point, Wellington. 5:42 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		Sunset From Paekakariki Hill Lookout Point. The fact that we are looking straight toward the sun means that everything else in the picture gets to look dark (assuming we want to see any detail at all in the bright areas) which makes the clouds look rather moody, but from memory the day was quite fine and settled.
Paekakariki Lookout Point, Wellington. 5:37 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		Nice Way To See The World. Nice colours here, with the gold on the water from the sun and the bright parasail. People are leaping off the top of Paekakariki Hill often, assisted by hangliders and parasails, they get to float over the main road (State highway 1, nearly visible in this picture) for awhile, then float down on to the beach, a lot of fun I would think, apart from the jumping off the top bit!
Paekakariki Hill Lookout point, Wellington. 5:26 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		South End of Kapiti. Looking down from the lookout point on Paekakariki Hill. The sky is tinged with the colour of the coming sunset and the light highlights the ripples on the surface of the sea.
Paekakariki Hill lookout, Wellington. 5:22 pm, Sun 19th Aug, 2007

		Soaking up the Last of the Sunshine. Don't know what kind of flowers they are but they look lovely in the slightly gold light of the lateish afternoon.
Pekapeka, Wellington. 5:10 pm, Sat 28th Jul, 2007

		Dahlia Flower. This is what the bud in the previous or next picture turns out to look like (depending on the sort order). I cannot say that I am a gardener in fact far from it, I let nature do her own gardening you could say ;) but this little plant has popped up every year to brighten my backyard, very beautiful.
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 4:55 pm, Fri 16th Mar, 2007

		Dahlia Bud. Looking so young and vibrantly fresh this wee bud was soon to open itself up and expose its red petals to the world, ain't nature clever and most beautiful!
My place, Miramar, Wellington. 4:55 pm, Fri 16th Mar, 2007

		View From Paekakariki Hill. Always a favourite view this one, the road that leads to this lookout point is a windy and fairly narrow one that goes from Paekakariki to the Hutt Valley. We are looking West here, but the left is nearly South and right hand side is North. To the left you can see the South Island faintly on the horizon, the island you can see is Kapiti, and the little town to the right is Paekakariki itself.
Paekakariki, Wellington. 5:51 pm, Sat 10th Mar, 2007

		Beach Monolith. Driftwood in the sand, with leaning seagull. The seagull was about to fly away in fact.
Waikanae Beach. 6:14 pm, Thu 8th Mar, 2007

		Afternoon Stroll. Nice contrast in this, I hope he doesn't mind being reproduced on the internet :)
Waikanae Beach. 6:13 pm, Thu 8th Mar, 2007

		Mini Tumbleweed. Sand again, and a sand inhabitant.
Waikanae Beach. 6:08 pm, Thu 8th Mar, 2007

		Sunset Tangle. When ever I take my camera out, I try to take at least a couple of pictures, it doesn't really matter what they are of, so long as I take some. I was getting some diner from my local Chinese takeaways here. Glad I took my quota, cause I like this one.
Rongatai, Wellington. 8:02 pm, Wed 7th Mar, 2007

		Rock Pool. Colours everywhere and textures I can almost smell the sea.
Point Dorset, Wellington. 4:25 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Little Rock Waterfall. After larger waves hit the back of this rock, little rivulets would run down the side, feeding the little barnacles growing there, and making the rock look nice and rich coloured.
Point Dorset, Wellington. 4:16 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		By Hook or By Crook I Will Be Last in This Collection. Hope you liked the pictures, they take a lot of work so I hope they do bring some joy or smiles or something for people. The children are worth it that's for sure, so rock on kids, young and old :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:48 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Too Much Sugar!!! Oh ok it was just a long exposure with no flash, but the too much sugar theory sounded good I thought. One of my favourites actually.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:48 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Two Special People. Jill was my main companion from the family when I was 4 years old (growing up), and Derek was my hero of the first order, he added a lot of colour to my life with his stories and good character!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:47 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Thought You Might Escape My Camera Didn't You :) This will be me (if I live that long) one day, and Tash Yas or Emma will be holding my hand. I should be so lucky. Two special people in my life.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:47 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Are They the Cheap Seats or the Gods? Actually I think they are all Gods, but they all come cheap as well.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:26 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Let Them Eat Cake! Highly over rated cake is, unless it is something nice like a fruit cake, or perhaps one of those cakes from the expensive coffee shops, but the kids like it and it is the thought that counts :) They will probably be running round madly for the next half hour?
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:25 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		The Cake Cutting 4. All the impatient little eyes and mouths are finally satisfied thanks to Anna, but you did a good job Chris!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:25 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		The Cake Cutting 3. Franky is getting into the spirit of it now, but everyone else is getting impatient. It just will not do you know, we need patience latter in life!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		The Cake Cutting 2. Oh look the 4 is still there, George looks like he has his eyes on it now hehe. The cake cutting is going well!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Nothing if not Persistent! (The Cake Cutting) Ahhh, I remember now, he was trying to get Franky to cut the cake, meanwhile anyone out of arms reach or too polite to reach in with a hand has to wait :) Fair enough!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happy Birthday to Franky 5! Yeah, get the 4, it looks like a prime piece of cake topping hehe.
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happy Birthday to Franky 4! Chris busy trying to cut the cake and they just want to dig in, typical ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happy Birthday to Franky 3! Hope he made a wish!
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happy Birthday to Franky 2! Faces :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:22 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happy Birthday to Franky! Cake time. Where would a Bparty be without one?
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:22 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Relaxing Time. A chair with a safety belt! How handy ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 2:00 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		And Jacob. Are they Icecream slices or are they 'Eskimo Pies'? I was told that the Eskimo Pies must have chocolate on them?
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:58 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Helen and Lily. A kids paradise, with toys everywhere, what a joy.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:58 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Not Happy With Me ;\| I had just taken a picture of Jill with an Icecream slice in her mouth hence the impatient look.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:57 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Dawn and Mac. Nice to sit inside for a bit, the sun was getting quite tiring and hot outside, giving me a chance to catch some other people.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		There's Mum! One of the rare Pictures of Anna at the party, I see where Franky gets all his energy from.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Snack Time. I wonder if Franky might have lots of girl friends?
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Franky. At last an un blurred picture of Franky.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Little Girl Out of Place. I'm sure you are not meant to be there ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:55 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Mingling 3. Aren't you all glad I went over that handrail briefly with some coarse sandpaper!
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:55 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Mingling 2. They say that strangers are just friends we have not met before.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:54 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Father and Son. I was trying to move round them to get the sun shining in the right direction, and came to the conclusion that with the hats it was an impossible task so I just took the picture and I think it came out quite well :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:50 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		John and George. He's got that steely British stare, kinda like 007!
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:50 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Nice Icecream? Still got the socks on I see :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:48 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Mingling. I must say it is great to see people using and enjoying the deck that Carl and I (mostly Carl) built, it worked very well and even handled the strain of us both sitting on the handrail, although we moved from there cause it was a bad example for the kids.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:47 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Food Time :) See I know these things.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:45 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Kids 2. Getting near to food time I think.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:04 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Kids. How colourful we humans can be :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:03 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Xing Xing Plays for Us (5). I am still curious what someone like Jimi Hendrix would make of an instrument like this! The potential for bending notes is phenomenal.
Kelburn, Wellington. 1:03 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Xing Xing Plays for Us (4). Hearing the music made me think how Ancient it was, reaching my ears through Xing Xing as if she were a conduit for the music's spirit from centuries past, it was quite an unusual feeling and in fact quite a humbling one.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:57 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Xing Xing Plays for Us (3). I really felt for her since the sun was pouring down and she had no shelter, but she soldiered on.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Xing Xing Plays for Us (2). Although the music that Xing Xing made was wonderful, it took a bit of listening to, and the kids had other play in mind and many of them faded away as time went on. I however thought the subtle chords were divine :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:56 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Xing Xing Plays for Us. The enchanting Xing Xing bought along her instrument for our pleasure.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:55 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ Says, Hold Up Your Hands. I had all the cute girls standing in front of me ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:41 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Too Excited for Words! She was mesmerised by BJ and his funny games :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:40 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ's Audience 4 (I think). Riveting stuff.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:33 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Go Jilly ;) It's also funny to see grown ups singing dancing and doing all the hand movements along with the kids :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:32 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		George Sits Down. Having gone up to see BJ, George satisfied turns round and goes back to his seat (with a curious smile on his face).
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:26 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Audience Participation! The boy (George) was really funny, when BJ asked for someone to come up and help him, he choose the girl to come up, but George thought he would go up and help as well hehe. The kids were very excited to see BJ.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:26 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Is Franky Here? Yes Franky is here! He is the one with his hand in the air :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:24 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ's Audience 3. It's great to sit and watch people that are watching a show of some sort! To see the emotions passing across their faces, the light in their eyes.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ's Audience 2. Everyone enjoyed BJ, even myself ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:23 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ the Bear Arrives. When BJ walked into the room it took me a moment to remind myself that he is a friendly bear! It's not every day that you see a 7 foot tall bear walk into the room you are in!
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:22 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		BJ's Audience. I've never seen that many people in the living room either!
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:21 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Old Kids. Sister, cousin in law and brother. Arghhh, I thought this was meant to be a child's birthday party.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:17 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Jill. This is my dear sister Jill :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:17 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Oh Oh, They've Seen Me! Carl looks a bit like he is mulling over the idea of wrestling me :P I may not have scales and large teeth, but my camera weighs a lot and can be lethal when swung from the neck strap!
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:15 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Happiness. Where did the tooth go? My good friend and nephew Carl, looking like he is looking for some crocodiles to wrestle or something ;) Helen and Lily in the background.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:15 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Mothers. When you see two women standing discussing something amongst a 'bombsite' of children's play-things, the odds are that at least one of them is a mother, and in this case both of them are. The 'bombsite' is pretty tidy really :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:14 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Spotted! I have been spotted by Dawn, maybe it was the glint of the sun on my telephoto lens that gave me away ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:11 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Catching Up. Birthdays are good times to catch up with friends and family.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:11 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Learner Bike 2. I think Franky will have to learn that riding motorbikes in socks is right out of the question!
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:09 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Learner Bike. Franky is totally at home on these plastic bikes, perhaps in another dozen birthdays it will be a metal bike? I bet there will protests from his dad.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:09 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Fancy Meeting You Here! It looks like Lily is blocked in by these inconvenient large people. It would possibly help if the steering wheel actually did anything like steering, but, oh well, it's still fun.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:05 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Tall Kids, Short Adults. The path dwellers chat among themselves whilst the small people get on with their important tasks.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:05 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Paths Crossing. I guess paths are inevitably meeting places, like the doorway into the kitchen at parties ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:02 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Kids on the Lawn. Life goes on on the 'lower' lawn.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:02 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Perpetual Motion Machine, Franky. The boy himself running past at a great rate of knots.
Kelburn, Wellington. 12:00 pm, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Big Step for a Little Girl. The little girl with the bobbly blue jersey is entirely cute! I have never seen soo many kids running round having fun here before, it was a great day.
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:59 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Cooling off Under the Ponga Tree. There used to be a lot more shade on the property, but some of the old trees remain like the messy old Ponga tree.
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:59 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Busy Pathway. With so many people there the path down to the lawn got a bit congested at times.
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:59 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Getting in the Mood. It is quite a shock to see Chris's place after Anna has arrived, it has changed considerably. It is a great place for parties now with stacks of places to play and run around.
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:58 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Getting into the Mood. Sue & Peter watching the children playing.
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:58 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Big Jungle Jim. Careful :)
Kelburn, Wellington. 11:58 am, Sat 24th Feb, 2007

		Clouds Fenced Out. Some nice clouds, good thing the fence is there to keep them out!
Pekapeka. 8:11 pm, Fri 9th Feb, 2007

		Jonah the Pacer. Jonah getting his exercise. They are such wonderful creatures, with so much power and once you get an understanding with them, you can both have a lot of fun.
Pekapeka. 7:29 pm, Fri 9th Feb, 2007

		Lucy. Poor old Lucy it's no fun attached to the fence like that, but it is much safer that way hehe, she is a bit of a tear away, with far too much energy for one dog!
Pekapeka. 7:22 pm, Fri 9th Feb, 2007

		Sideways Sky. Lovely colours in this, it seems to have a dynamic sort of an energy to it.
Pekapeka. 8:34 pm, Sun 4th Feb, 2007

		Oh Yeah That's the Spot!!! Oh it looks sooo good, I want a go :)
Pekapeka. 7:07 pm, Wed 31st Jan, 2007

		'Mudpuddle' His name is actually Jonah, but his owner jokingly calls him Mudpuddle because he loves to roll in the dirt after being hosed down after a ride hehe. I love the look of his skin!
Pekapeka. 7:07 pm, Wed 31st Jan, 2007

		Christmas Flower (Pahutakawa). This is the flower of the Pahutakawa tree. In New Zealand it is considered to be our Christmas tree since it blossoms late December, and it creates such beautiful splashes of red around the place.
Waikanae. 8:34 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Smokin It Up. Showing us their appreciation, some riders do some impromptu burn out's, which is well received. It is great to see the enjoyment on the peoples faces, it is a good social event the Wanganui Boxing day Motorcycle Races, long may they continue!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:34 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Yeah Baby ;) The women are coming!
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 5:13 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Go Get Em Rover. I love the graphic on the side of the near sidecar, dogspirit. Looks like some nice racing going on there. Four unknown people.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:48 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		British Sidecar Number 12. A nice setup from Britain. Always good to see the TV cameras there, unfortunately they stopped showing the action live on Boxing day due some tennis championship or something :(
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:48 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Nothing Wrong With The Spirit Here! The motorcycle at the heart of this sidecar is a 1955 Triumph Tiger 110 (650cc) being ridden by (I believe) Bruce Williamson. Read about the classic sidecar and it's owner here (hopefully the link will remain, it is from 2005). A great favourite with all concerned, good on them :)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:44 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Way to Wear Your Boots Out! Wearing his boot out like that you would have to be a little worried about when there was no more boot left to protect your foot! I guess you would notice the warmth from the friction more as the heel got thinner. The man in the spectators 3rd from the left with the white T-shirt looks remarkably like Robert Holden (spooky).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:30 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Josh McFarlane Sliding in from Aus. It was fun watching Josh McFarlane coming into Robert Holden corner, with his back wheel trying to catch up to the front wheel. I think he was the winner in most of his rounds (super motard) except for one time he came a cropper in the dirt section. Always good seeing visitors from other countries participating, even if they are from Australia! ;)
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:28 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		2006. I was so slack putting pictures on my website, I am just now putting 2006 Cemetery Circuit pictures up and cannot find names etc for them, so I apologise! I will do better with the 2008 images I promise. Exiting Robert Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:27 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Spectators Get Cosy With Gravestones. On the whole the type of people that watch the Boxing Day motorcycle races in Wanganui are pretty decent sorts and they manage to share the ground with the Graves of the dead quite respectfully.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:27 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Formula Three, 111 and 267. Exiting Robert Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:15 pm, Tue 26th Dec, 2006

		Driving Wheels of Steam. The workings of the steam locomotives wheels, enticingly 'out there' for all to see. Incredible how these wheels captivated the imaginations of many a young boy. Aesthetically so stimulating, motion, sounds, feelings, even the taste of the coal in the air, they had it all!
Paekakariki. 1:47 pm, Thu 14th Dec, 2006

		An Old Work Horse. Less and less people will be able to remember these awesome beasts chuffing and clanking their way along our main trunk lines, a stirring sight that I remember only slightly, but with immense affection. In fact, at the time it was my intention to grow up and drive one of these, but then they were replaced with the much less interesting types of locomotives, and my aspirations were thwarted!
Paekakariki. 1:45 pm, Thu 14th Dec, 2006

		Night View of Turakina. The passing of a vehicle is marked by the pink lines floating in mid air, meanwhile the takeaways restaurant sits patiently. Nice colours, I like it.
Turakina, South of Wanganui. 9:52 pm, Tue 5th Dec, 2006

		Clouds in a Multi Coloured Sky. Travelling along the Himatangi Straits, close to sunset time these clouds in a pink and blue sky attracted my attention.
Himatangi Straits, between Foxton and Sanson. 8:56 pm, Tue 5th Dec, 2006

		Morning Run by the Sea. Arriving in Napier shortly before sunrise I decided to wait while the sun came up and take some pictures. As the sun was getting itself out of its bed, so were some of the residents of Napier, including this man jogging along the pebbly beach.
Napier foreshore. 5:17 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Not Long Now. Not long now. The sun is undoubtedly above the horizon by now, but obscured by the clouds in the east. They are often not appreciated when they turn a sunny day into an overcast one, but sometimes they can be very beautiful!
Entry to Port of Napier. 5:05 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Dawning of the Day. Some birds fly past as the clouds radiate the golden glow of the rising sun.
Entry to Port of Napier. 5:01 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Like An Enormous Flood Light. I wait along with the variety of plants growing on the pebbly foreshore of Napier for the sun to rise above the horizon.
Entry to Port of Napier 5:00 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Daisy Like Flowers. Early morning, waiting for the sun to come up in Napier, I had to push the sensitivity up to 800 to get an acceptable shutter speed, possibly it is that that gives this a grittyness I'm not entirely sure I like.
Entry to Port of Napier. 4:56 am, Fri 24th Nov, 2006

		Sky Walkers. Three Gulls out for a stroll on the beach.
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 4:23 pm, Fri 9th Jun, 2006

		Natures Way. Walking along Lyall Bay Beach I enjoyed looking at the surface of the sand where the sea as it came and went, left patterns and channels that then played with the late afternoon sunlight. There is something profound about the way something so simple can produce something so intricate and complex.
Lyall Bay Beach, Wellington. 4:06 pm, Fri 9th Jun, 2006

		Good Time for a Chat. Taking the dog for a walk on the beach, a great time to chat and catch up with the latest gossip.
Lyall Bay, Wellington. 3:56 pm, Fri 9th Jun, 2006

		Ten Cent Coin. Ok, I'm probably breaking some kind of law, but I don't see how really, it's a picture not a forgery hehe and I think the carving is nice so I want to display it!
My Place 1:14 am, Mon 29th May, 2006

		Clouds in Turmoil. Looking out my window today there were these nice clouds, and since I have been spending so much time on this website lately, it was a good excuse to actually go outside and see the world again, hope you like it :)
My Place, Wellington. 5:00 pm, Sun 28th May, 2006

		Leaves with Seeds. Normally this plant looks a bit like a fern, and the spots are dark green bobbles, but I guess here the tiny seeds are getting ready to fall to the ground, or whatever method they use to propagate themselves.
My Place, Wellington. 3:50 pm, Thu 11th May, 2006

		Fairy Flower with Missing Parachutes. Its really hard getting these type of pictures focused with even a slight breeze blowing, I think I did ok. There is a tiny little bug on this flower just above the seeds.
My Backyard, Wellington. 3:47 pm, Thu 11th May, 2006

		Funny Little Flower of the Deadly Nightshade. Another tiny little flower that is really quite un-notable when seen normally, but up close, what a bizarre little flower, its petals look like they are starting to fray.
My Place, Wellington. 3:47 pm, Thu 11th May, 2006

		Clover Flower. Such tiny little flowers these are, and yet they are just like big flowers, they look like sex!
My backyard, Wellington. 3:45 pm, Thu 11th May, 2006

		Rainbow Lances Down on Wellington Harbours Heads. Looking out my backdoor I saw this Rainbow over towards Eastbourne, so I rushed in and grabbed my camera. After taking a few pictures I turned to the south and realised that I had been taking pics of the dull end as the rainbow did a full arc, sea to sea!
Wellington Harbours Heads. 3:40 pm, Thu 11th May, 2006

		Humble Bug on Humble Daisy. The world of macro is a wonderful place, but we just cant really see it most of the time. Humble insect on a humble Daisy!
My backyard. 4:24 pm, Wed 26th Apr, 2006

		Dew Droplets on Grass. I think everything (almost) has hairs, this is a plain old blade of grass with droplets of water on it.
My backyard! 4:22 pm, Wed 26th Apr, 2006

		Plated Silk Thread. Some silk thread that has been hanging on my wall for several years now, I bought it for a reason I'm sure, but what that reason was, I have absolutely no idea now hehe.
My Place, Wellington. 4:50 am, Mon 24th Apr, 2006

		Little Plane, Big Sky. Sometimes when you take a picture of one thing, you get a great picture of another thing! Although, perhaps I would not have been so interested in snapping this plane had it been in a plain sky.
Waikanae, Wellington. 5:32 pm, Fri 21st Apr, 2006

		Sunset at Waikanae Visiting my nephew in Waikanae, I often get to see some very nice sunsets, the Gold Coast possibly gets its name from the sunsets. Good bye for now old friend.
Waikanae, Wellington. 5:32 pm, Fri 21st Apr, 2006

		Nice Place to Sit in the Sunset. My friends backyard, where you can see some wonderful sunsets from.
Peka Peka, Kapiti Coast, Wellington. 5:06 pm, Fri 21st Apr, 2006

		Hanging Art. Hanging Wind Chimes and flower pot, in the late afternoon sunshine.
Peka Peka, Kapiti Coast, Wellington. 5:05 pm, Fri 21st Apr, 2006

		Glowing Carbon. Transformation of matter. Wax heats up, becomes liquid, then becomes vapour, then due to the heat produced initially by a lighter, then from the burning wax, the vapour ignites, burning with the help of the oxygen in the air. As the vapour rises up, the flammable content is burned away, leaving small particles of glowing carbon (possibly particles of burnt wick) which makes the light, that finally cools enough for the glow to die down and becomes recognisable as smoke. The wick burns only at the very tip because the 'liquid' wax being sucked up the wick is not hot enough yet to allow combustion, only where the wax gets hot enough to Vaporise thus making a flammable mixture with the air will the wick burn, so it is a self regulating process. The hotter the flame, the more wax is sucked up, and so the wick remains cool. Neat eh :)
My Place, Wellington. 2:40 pm, Sun 9th Apr, 2006

		Red Flowers. Are these red flowers or are they red leaves? I guess they are flowers but the petals look so much like the plants leaves.
Peka Peka, Kapiti Coast, Wellington. 4:05 pm, Sat 8th Apr, 2006

		Essence of Sun. The start of another precious day and don't the strangest things make great photographs. You can see the 'Useless' double glazed windows made in New Zealand, they (the ones made by this company anyway) get condensation in them.
My Place, Wellington. 6:44 am, Sat 18th Mar, 2006

		Wandering Lights. My intention when originally while taking this picture was to capture the bright planet in the sky, but after making a few attempts, I decided it was more fun and more effective in the long run since my tripod was in the car, was to play. 25 seconds of slowly moving camera creates a whole new place.
Wellington Harbour Channel. 3:16 am, Thu 16th Mar, 2006

		Windless Days! Sunny and still, very nice unless you have to get somewhere and you're travelling by Yacht :\| It's almost blasphemous to hear the 'putt putt' of a motor on a yacht, but there are times I guess when 'needs must'.
Wellington Harbour Channel. 8:47 am, Mon 6th Mar, 2006

		Patches of Sunlight. Morning sunlight through holes in the clouds light Wellington harbour channel, Eastbourne in the background.
Taken from my place. Wellington. 8:03 am, Wed 1st Mar, 2006

		The Fleet Minus One. The Volvo Ocean Race Yachts leave Wellington, on their way to Rio De Janeiro, Black Pearl have an early lead as they turn east. Movistar still sit at the starting line waiting out their 2 hour penalty.
Cook Strait, Just out of Wellington Harbour. 2:27 pm, Sun 19th Feb, 2006

		The Volvo Ocean Race Yachts Leave Wellington. Brazil, ABN AMRO 2 and Ericsson under full sail leaving Wellington harbour with the remains of the spectator fleet. Baring head lighthouse can be seen in the distance, and the small light at the foot of the hill that the Pencarrow light sits on, now out of service.
Entry to Wellington Harbour. 2:24 pm, Sun 19th Feb, 2006

		Sony Ericsson. Interestingly Ericsson 'suspended' racing, took down their sails and motored into port so they could work on their yacht without incurring the 2 hour penalty. When they finished working on the yacht, they went out and 'resumed' racing, sailing the short distance they had left to the finish line. This was using the rules fairly innovatively, but skipper Neal McDonald said 'This is only something you would do if you were coming last'.
Wellington Harbour. 6:03 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Sony Ericsson. Ericsson coming round, to make their final approach into the harbour.
Wellington Harbour. 6:01 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Ericsson and the Rimutaka's Sony Ericsson cruise into Wellington harbour, sixth and last. In the background the Rimutaka ranges looking grand in the afternoon sunlight.
Wellington Harbour. 5:58 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Liquid Gold. ABN AMRO 2 with its gloriously coloured sails, glides into Wellington harbour, fifth of six yachts.
Wellington Harbour. 5:54 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Tying up the Loose Ends. I would imagine that a man who has spent as much time sailing the oceans and seas of the world as much as Paul Cayard has, would have gathered up some great tales and would spin a 'yarn' with the best of them!
Queens Wharf, Wellington. 4:53 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Paul Cayard, Skipper. Having been wandering round his yacht taking pictures, I guess I had attracted Paul Cayard's attention. I got the feeling that this man is a great 'character', I would enjoy the opportunity to talk with him, but would probably just ask a bunch of dumb questions?
Queens Wharf, Wellington. 4:51 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Mooring The Black Pearl. Paul Cayard and one of his crew seeing who could manage to throw their rope to the man on the other side of Queens Wharf so they could manoeuvre The Black Pearl snugly into its berth. There was a charge in the air, and I think everyone was feeding of it, putting smiles on faces.
Queens Wharf, Wellington. 4:50 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Pirates. Fantastic looking flag flying from 'The Black Pearl', Paul Cayard and the Pirates of the Caribbean's entry to the Volvo Ocean Yacht race.
Queens Wharf, Wellington. 4:48 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Movistar's Sails. Some of the 'gear' unloaded from Movistar.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 4:12 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Volvo Ocean Race 2005-2006. Bow of Movistar cradled in dry-dock.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 4:03 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		It's a Yacht! It's Right There! Crewman (?) being interviewed by television, next to hull of Movistar in dry-dock.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 4:00 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Yacht Groupies? Buzzing round Movistar as the yacht hung in its strop's were all sorts of people, mostly carrying cameras (just like me in fact), these girls were in an official looking boat, so I assumed they were there to promote the Volvo Ocean Race.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 3:58 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Many Hands. It looks like those sails are quite heavy, or is it loaded with 'contraband' from Australia !?!? There are plenty of willing hands to help.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 3:43 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Unloading the Wounded Yacht. Coming into Wellington harbour Movistar completed a nail biting duel with ABN AMRO 2, to cross the finish line 9 seconds in the lead! Having damaged the hull on the journey over from Melbourne Movistar's skipper Bouwe Bekking decided to take the 2 hour penalty, and haul his yacht out of the water for repairs.
Overseas Terminal, Wellington. 3:42 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat? A cat visiting from the neighbourhood somewhere, enjoying the tangle of grasses and plants in my backyard. Lovely sunny day that day.
My Place, Miramar, Wellington. 2:48 pm, Thu 16th Feb, 2006

		Growth in a Rock Pool. Rock pools are strange, but wonderful, they're another example of how life strives to survive, in spite of the whims of nature.
Breaker Bay, Wellington. 2:43 pm, Fri 20th Jan, 2006

		End of the Day Burn Outs. A couple of the winning bikes came round pretty close to going home time to express their gratitude to the spectators with a few burn outs. Who needs to see the bike anyway :P
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:39 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		56, Craig Shirriffs, Suzuki GSXR600, Feilding. 56 (Craig Shirriffs, Suzuki GSXR600, Feilding) - Rob Holden corner last Rob Holden memorial race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:28 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		4 bikes - Rob Holden corner. 4 bikes- 1 (Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSXR 600, Auckland), J (Jason McEwen, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Sanson), 69 (Jared Love, Honda CBR1000, Hamilton), ? - Rob Holden corner last Rob Holden memorial race.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 4:27 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		1, Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSXR 600, Auckland. 1 (Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSXR 600, Auckland) - coming into the esses.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 3:03 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		53, Steve Bron/Dion Weedon, Yamaha 1000, Wanganui. 53 (Steve Bron/Dion Weedon, Yamaha 1000, Wanganui) sidecar pointing finger (closeup) - start of back strait.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:48 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		40, Stuart Prentis/Darren Prentis, Suzuki GSXR1000, Hawera. 40 (Stuart Prentis/Darren Prentis, Suzuki GSXR1000, Hawera) sidecar - start of back strait.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:45 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		53, Steve Bron/Dion Weedon, Yamaha 1000, Wanganui. 53 (Steve Bron/Dion Weedon, Yamaha 1000, Wanganui) sidecar - start of back strait.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:45 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		50, Des James/Gavin James, Kawasaki 1000, Auckland. 50 (Des James/Gavin James, Kawasaki 1000, Auckland) sidecar - start of back strait.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:44 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		Chatting on the Back Strait. These guys (C Scotthad Charlton, S Chris Seaton) just finished a race, I'm not sure if they won, but they were up there ok, they should have been pulling a wheelie!!! The venue is the Wanganui Cemetery Circuit.
Wanganui, Cemetery. 2:37 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		J, Jason McEwen, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Sanson. J (Jason McEwen, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Sanson) - coming out of corner at end of start finish strait.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 2:24 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		43, Barry Long, Ducati 999, Palmerston North. 43 (Barry Long, Ducati 999, Palmerston North) waiting ready for the race in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:53 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		126, Triumph sidecar. 126 (Chris Lawrance/Richard Lawrance, Triumph 650, Auckland) Triumph sidecar in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:49 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		The Secret Weapon. Tyre warmers?.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:49 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		40, Stuart Prentis/Darren Prentis, Suzuki GSXR1000, Hawera. 40 (Stuart Prentis/Darren Prentis, Suzuki GSXR1000, Hawera) sidecar (Superior Sheetmetals) with rider in the shade in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:48 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		Crash Damage on a Ducati in the pits Crash Damage on a Ducati in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:47 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		53, Paul Carr, BSA B33 500'55, Waitakere. BSA with rider in the pits (Paul Carr, BSA B33 500'55, Waitakere).
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:46 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		2, Phillip Law/Angus Ravenwood, Honda CBR1100XX, Gisborne. 2 (Phillip Law/Angus Ravenwood, Honda CBR1100XX, Gisborne) New Zealand sidecar team in the pits.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:42 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		95, Craig Flood, Honda XR650, New Plymouth. 95 (Craig Flood, Honda XR650, New Plymouth) - corner after Rob Holden corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:35 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		15, Nickolas Payne, Husaberg FC550, Wanganui. 15 (Nickolas Payne, Husaberg FC550, Wanganui) - corner after Rob Holden corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:35 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		56, Craig Shirriffs, Suzuki GSXR600, Fielding. 56 (Craig Shirriffs, Suzuki GSXR600, Fielding) - strait after Rob Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:18 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		G, Guy Martin and 6, Derek McAdam. G (Guy Martin, Suzuki GSXR1000, England) and 6 (Derek McAdam, Kawasaki ZX6RR, Wellington) - strait after Rob Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:17 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		23, Karl Morgan, Suzuki GSXR600, Auckland. 23 (Karl Morgan, Suzuki GSXR600, Auckland) - strait after Rob Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:13 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		1, Andrew Stroud, 69, Jared Love and J, Jason McEwen. 1 (Andrew Stroud, Suzuki GSXR 600, Auckland), 69 (Jared Love, Honda CBR1000, Hamilton) and J (Jason McEwen, Suzuki GSXR 1000, Sanson) Rob Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:13 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		69, Jared Love, Honda CBR1000, Hamilton. 69 (Jared Love, Honda CBR1000, Hamilton) strait after Rob Holden Corner.
Cemetery Circuit, Wanganui. 1:11 pm, Mon 26th Dec, 2005

		Socks. My brothers cat Socks sitting on the back decks handrail. They are so good at attracting attention without appearing to solicit it, maybe they just recognise a soft touch ;)
Kelburn, Wellington. 6:17 pm, Sat 24th Dec, 2005

		Sails on the Land. A novel kind of awning outside of Queens Wharf Events Centre. With some of the winds in Wellington, I bet these undergo big stresses at times.
Queens Wharf Events Centre, Wellington. 9:41 am, Fri 16th Dec, 2005

		Watery Ripples. The water looks almost oily, but I don't think Wellington harbour is that polluted (is it? (Just joking btw)).
Near Queens Wharf, Wellington. 9:37 am, Fri 16th Dec, 2005

		Civic Square, Wellington. People going about their business in Civic Square, next to the library and town hall, it looks kind of exotic really.
Civic Square, Wellington. 8:59 am, Fri 16th Dec, 2005

		Fishing Boat Heads Out in the Morning. Early morning and a lone fishing boat heads out of Wellington harbour by the golden light of sunrise, it was a magical sight. Seen from my back door.
My Place, Wellington. 4:40 am, Wed 14th Dec, 2005

		Native and Introduced Trees. A native Tree and an Import living next to each other, what a messy tree the gum tree is though hehe.
Levin, 45 miles north of Wellington. 4:37 pm, Sun 4th Dec, 2005

		Kelp waves and the Water Ripples in the Currents. Hopping between the jagged rocks around some bays in Wellington, there are beautiful sights to be seen. The sea was rushing through this gap in the rocks, then it would rush back again, endlessly, and the kelp seems to thrive on it.
West of Lyall Bay, Wellington. 12:36 pm, Sat 19th Nov, 2005

		Light Shifts and Moves in the Ripples. Light is wonderful stuff, especially when you have something to play with it like a lens or water. It's making me thirsty, except it is salt water.
West of Lyall Bay, Wellington. 12:34 pm, Sat 19th Nov, 2005

		Just Finished its Milkshake. One of the weak calves that my sister was giving personal attention to while they got stronger. I think that's your good side calf 'don't care, give me more milk!'
Levin, 45 miles north of Wellington. 4:30 pm, Wed 2nd Nov, 2005

		My Sisters House, and a Grand Old Cabbage Tree. The house used to be a shearing shed from memory, it makes a cosy house now. My Sister didn't have a TV for tens of years, but as you can see they have given in to the 'fad', I think they watch horse racing on it ;) The tree to the right of the house is a very nice example of a Cabbage Tree in full flower.
Levin, 45 miles north of Wellington. 4:27 pm, Wed 2nd Nov, 2005

		Mysterious Ship, Unsettled Sky. This is the 'Venture' as seen in the motion picture 'King Kong'. It sat at a small wharf near the airport for quite awhile and always attracted my attention with its weathered and aged character, it looked like a wonderful ship, but it was well past its 'use by date'.
Wellington. 5:26 pm, Tue 30th Aug, 2005

		Mt Ruapehu. Standing on the roof of my car I caught this last picture of Mt Ruapehu, and virtually the last picture of that trip since the sun was departing fast and the rest of the journey home to Wellington was in darkness? I think it was a good journey and I remember it fondly, I just wish the purpose of it was achieved, but I don't think that will ever happen now.
Southern shores of Lake Taupo. 5:22 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Lake Taupo and Mt Ruapehu. You might wonder to yourself, where did that large boulder come from? Well, to tell you the truth I'm not really sure, but I think it came from that mountain over there! In many places around the north island you can find pumice that was launched from volcanic eruptions, but pumice is much lighter and flies a lot farther than boulders like this one :)
Lake Taupo. 4:57 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Mt Ruapehu. As impressive as Mountains are, I was just thinking that the lake next to this mountain (Lake Taupo) may be just like it but upside down? I just Googled it (here) and the lake is 164m deep, where as Mt Ruapehu is 2797m high, that blows that theory. Mountains are rightfully revered :)
Lake Taupo. 4:54 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Late Afternoon Gold. When the sunlight takes on that golden colour and the shadows start getting long everything except for the always busy humans stop and take stock of their lives, they prepare for the coming darkness of night, they give thanks for the day!
Halletts Bay, Lake Taupo. 4:46 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Lake Taupo. Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand, result of a large eruption 26,500 years ago, so the scientist say ;)
Lake Taupo. 4:24 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		The Peaceful Waikato River. All the turmoil of the Huka Falls nearly forgotten but for the billions of tiny bubbles now probably contained within the water, and the quiet roar coming from behind me 300metres or so up the river.
Huka Falls, Taupo. 4:08 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Huka Falls! I remember when I first saw these falls, there was no bridge over it to the nicely fenced viewing areas, we stood on the rocks above the falls, and I don't remember any fences either! I was knee high back then and so the memories are faint, but I remember telling mum that it made me nervous hehe. What a beautiful sight!
Huka Falls, Taupo. 3:42 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Still Waters Run Deep. The waters of the Waikato River flow to the Huka Falls from Lake Taupo, the smoothness of the water as it enters the channel leading to the falls themselves belies the force and volume of the water. From this point on it becomes a churning seething deluge of white water until a good way after the falls. I guess it is not so much that the water is deep before the falls, but when you squeeze 100 metres width of water into a 15 metre channel?
Huka Falls, Taupo. 3:31 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		The Huka Jets. The Hamilton Jet revolutionised high speed boat travel in shallow water, with no bits dangling down into the water like rudders or propellers the jet boats can happily scrape the bottom of the boat on the river bed and do little to no damage to themselves. Here Huka Jets exhilarate tourists, taking them right into the white water of Huka Falls.
Huka Falls, Taupo. 3:26 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Huka Falls in all it's Glory. The landing place of all that water, I wonder what it looks like down there under all the water?!?
Huka Falls, Taupo. 3:25 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Wairakei Plaque. I should possibly mention that my father was bought over from England to work on the creation of the power station. When I search Google for F.E.Studt, it still comes up with papers he wrote back then. Coincidentally the power station was not the only thing that he produced in 1958, that being (shhh) my year of birth ;)
Wairakei. 2:56 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Wairakei Geothermal Field. It's like an extremely large science experiment really. When I see it I think how old fashioned it looks, how un-technological, like an aluminium saucepan compared to a stainless steel one, or an old valve radio compared to a transistor one, and yet it uses basic principles of physics to do a job and it seems to do it quite effectively!
Wairakei. 2:54 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Archway of Steam. Amazing to think that the steam is transported moderate distances in these large aluminium pipes. They clearly must have considerable insulation in them or the heat loss would be a serious problem. This is the only place I know that has a road sign before and after it warning of the 'Steam Hazard' (when the steam blows across the road it can be difficult to see).
Wairakei. 2:48 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Big Pipes. Wairakei is one of New Zealand's major areas of Geothermal activity, also one of the first places in the world where the steam rising up from the ground was harnessed for the generation of electricity. The power station was commissioned in 1958 and is still producing electricity to this day (2008).
Wairakei. 2:42 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Tirau Footpath. The picturesque sidewalk of Tirau, it looks pretty typically Kiwi to me :)
Tirau. 1:21 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Only in New Zealand! Apparently New Zealand is well known for our corrugated iron (so I am told), including the corrugated iron stationwagon holden exhibited in Wellingtons museum Te Papa so why not an enormous dog and sheep?
Tirau. 1:20 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Tirau. Apart from the corrugated iron structures in the background, I like the two hitchhikers in this picture, the guy in front looks staunch and possibly has an attitude problem (apologies to him, he is probably a great guy) and the guy behind doing all the hitchhiking work (holding the thumb out) looks so easy going. When they saw me the front guy almost scowled at me, and the back guy smiled and waved :)
Tirau. 1:20 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Church. The church looks nicer with the big old tree behind it I think.
Cambridge. 12:52 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Church. The little plaque on the front of this church says 1881 and I'm guessing that is when this wooden church was built. It must have been enormous for New Zealand at the time! Quite a nice looking building I think, Alice (Alice's Restaurant) would probably be happy to live there ;)
Cambridge. 12:50 pm, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Great Bakery. Often I look at buildings and think to myself, would it be cool to live there, even when it is not a building where people live, and this one seems like a good place to live I reckon.
Titirangi, Auckland. 10:04 am, Tue 16th Aug, 2005

		Auckland City. Coming into Auckland from the north you are basically stuck to travelling on motorway if you want to go across the harbour bridge, so when I stopped at a large layby area next to the motorway I was waiting for the visit from a passing police car, but they didn't show up fortunately. Anyway this is the tall bit of the largest city in little old New Zealand.
Auckland City. 3:06 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Houses Perched on the Hilltop. As far as I can figure (looking at Google Earth) this must be Hatfields Beach, right next to State Highway 1. Must be a nice view from the houses up there on top of the cliff!
Hatfields Beach, 25km north of Auckland. 2:27 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Puhoi. The tree with the Tui in is behind me, as you can see it is a nice spot. Not a lot of traffic using the road when I was there. Further on down the road I found a place that made tea and scones to die for, with whipped cream and strawberry jam to smear all over the scones (and my face ;) ).
Puhoi, 50km north of Auckland. 1:40 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		I See You! Lovely looking birds Tuis' are, well I guess most birds are lovely looking really (apart from Turkeys, and maybe Vultures ;) ). They are one of the New Zealand Icons I think, featuring on some of our coins from the past (until they went and miniaturised our coins to the point that they get lost amongst the fluff in your pocket!).
Puhoi, 50km north of Auckland 1:35 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Tui in a Tree. As I was being enchanted by the vividness of the blossoms on this tree, I became aware that I was not the only one who liked them, this Tui was enjoying the nectar to be found in the little flowers. Very flexible little critters!
Puhoi, 50km north of Auckland. 1:32 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Blossoming Tree. The colourfulness of this tree caught my attention, it was so vivid and the surrounding so idyllic!
Puhoi, 50km north of Auckland. 1:29 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		The Holy Outhouse? I thought this looked nice with its clean whiteness and the bursting vitality of the onion plants flowering in the front yard. The thing that always puzzles me is the little building, is it perhaps where confession is held, maybe it is dual purpose, outside loo/ confessional? (sorry if I have offended someone!)
Puhoi, Rodney District. 1:28 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Breaking Waves 3. I believe the point in the background is Bream Head about 35 kilometres north of Eyres Point.
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:21 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Shells In The Sand. A great variety of shellfish I see, ain't life wonderful :)
Te Arai Beach, Eryes Point, Mangawhai Heads. 12:21 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Breaking Wave 2. It looks a bit like Ice at the edge where it is about to crash into the surface.
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:20 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Breaking Waves 1. A nice pipeline, just a wee bit small to really surf in though, and it doesn't seem to have an open end. I wonder if the little bumps in the pipe are bubbles?
Eyres Point, south of Mangawhai Heads. 12:20 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Pristine Te Arai Beach. The other end (I think) of the conflicted coastline, it looks amazing I think, and I would love to live here, but not if it was going to mess the place up. It is hard I know, there is the mindset of 'if I don't then others will', but look at it, it is not a product to be bought or sold, it is about something in us that is much more precious!
Te Arai Beach, Eryes Point, Mangawhai Heads. 12:17 pm, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		A Nice Day for a Dive. The boulders may have been placed there by humans I'm thinking, possibly to shelter the beach? They definitely don't make a good path out to the island, I mean even walking over them would be precarious. I should have asked the man about to go diving out there when I talked to him, oh well.
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:48 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Mangawhai Heads Surf Beach. I was busy trying to make this picture look bright, but getting frustrated because the clouds would disappear into the glare, and then I thought 'it is an overcast picture, let it be dark. Not a lot of surf for a surf beach?
Mangawhai Heads, Surf Beach, Kaipara District 10:43 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Yet More Boulders. I like the look of some of these boulders, the surface looks powdery, like they are made of some soft kind of rock.
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:40 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Boulder with Banding. The mysterious boulders! This one looks like it may have been oriented differently once upon a time, with the banded part sticking up out of the water perhaps, I don't know :)
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:39 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Te Arai. Looks like it would be a great place to go swimming in the summer. Understandably this coastline is the subject of conflict with land developers (destroyers) wanting to turn it into a haven for the rich human beings. It is currently the home to among others, New Zealand's rarest bird the Fairy Tern, plus a handful of other endangered species. How can we humans be so blind frankly, how can we forget so quickly the preciousness of nature?
Mangawhai Heads surf beach. 10:38 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Little Boat, Big Sea. Wonderful the way when you increase magnification, things seem to pop out of nowhere.
Bream Tail, north of Mangawhai Heads. 10:05 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Patterns on the Sea. I think this is taken from a place called Bream Tail which is about 5 kilometres from Mangawhai Heads and the large island I suspect is Great Barrier Island (looking at the map and a later picture gives some doubt however). The surface of the sea looks nice I think.
Bream Tail, North of Mangawhai Heads. 10:05 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Those Who Went Before. Two monuments in the quiet little town of Waipu. The 'needle' commemorates those who died in world war one, and the one with the lion on the top is remembering the original families that settled in Waipu. It seems to have six ships that it remembers, quite an interesting monument I think.
Waipu. 9:40 am, Mon 15th Aug, 2005

		Zooming Along. Having driven some beautiful winding coastal roads for the last couple of weeks, I came to the junction where the minor road joined state highway 1... It is such an injustice the way we hurry here and hurry there, it is an offence against so many things, not the least of which are the thousands of wee birds that are not yet road aware enough to give fast moving cars a wide enough birth. It is time we put the corners back into the roads!
Near Otonga, North of Hikurangi 4:43 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Helena Bay Beach. Not only does Helena bay contain gumboots and benches held together with number 8 fencing wire, but it has 'Batches'! A mine of Kiwiana it would seem, it is the sort of place that would be last to get power, TV , and cell phone signal, in fact I bet they are still working on broadband to this day! Intensely beautiful place really though.
Helena Bay, Whangarei. 4:16 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Gumboots On A Bench. I guess the 'gumboot' got its fame from the days when they were digging up kauri gum in New Zealand to sell to the furniture polishers. Of course many of the people who were wearing them were Maoris' and immigrants who needed money to live, the salt of the earth types. Fitting that they should be sitting on a bench held together with No8 fencing wire!
Helena Bay, Whangarei. 4:15 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Trusty BMW 323i. Just the sort of car you want to write 'clean me' on it somewhere with your finger ;) At least the dirt hid the rust in the doors! No it was a great car, willing and able. 1985 BMW 323i. Nice of the grand old tree to shelter my car while I was away.
Hauai Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:46 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Special Little Garden. I love the little Mickey Mouse in the aeroplane, even with a broken propeller he still has a indomitable smile on his face, and the wee pixie is so sweet. Just a special wee garden really, full of magic!
Hauai Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:36 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Precious Devotion. A moment to remember yesterday, and a moment to remember today and tomorrow.
Hauai Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:32 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Transient Contrast. Just a piece of Quartz, a leaf, and some sand, but this, I think, holds so much of its magic just under the surface. Like the little walls of sand where the last flow of sea began its ebb, and the gentle ripples in the sand, revealed by the dark and light shades, even the little black specks. It evokes a sadness in me somehow, perhaps because the leaf is soon parted from this composition, it is like a Japanese Haiku poem to me?
Oke Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:20 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Trees Grow from Rocks. The far end of the white sands beach shows this Pahutakawa tree growing from the cracks in the rocks, it's persistence has seen it grow and flourish over the decades into a large and healthy tree.
A bay in the Bay of Islands 2:12 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Deserted Beach. This little white sand beach was recommended to me by a local man I talked to, his directions were very brief, but his recommendation was very strong, so I was very glad that I had a slightly harder look for this beach. Apparently the area is swarming with 'visitors' in the summer, but this dear wee beach could only support a few comfortably.
A bay in the Bay of Islands 2:12 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Nice Play Thing. There must be miles and miles and miles of coastline around countries that there is no way to see without some form of boat! This is not the best kind of boat for that kind of adventuring I guess, since you have to keep feeding it petrol, but the idea is stirring to me :)
Oke Bay, Bay of Islands. 2:07 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		White Sands Beach. How special is this!
A bay in the Bay of Islands 2:05 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005

		Old Technology. Here's a blast from the past, not that they have done away with insulators, but something about these ones rings a nostalgic bell in me somewhere. I guess they are shaped like that for a purpose, I don't know about the rippled concentric rings, but the dish shape must be to stop arcing to the pole in wet weather. There must be some way that the bolt that takes all the strain is insulated from the electricity.
Oke Bay, Bay of Island. 2:01 pm, Sun 14th Aug, 2005