February Image of the Month

Well, that was a no brainer. Linda walking on the clouds with happiness. Ocean View Beach, near Brighton.

I'm not even going to do a runner up.

The beach was too long for Linda

We slept in today. Like last time, the internal travel days really seem to take it out of us. After a slow wake up we checked out what I thought was a bike path, but it's just a path, and the view doesn't look all that good. Then it was the beach. Oreti beach. It is huge long, and lots of it is quite flat. They filmed a movie about fast motorcycles on it.

Linda headed off to the short end while I looked for driftwood. One can drive on this beach, but I think that's cheating. Part of the experience is to walk along, feeling the sand in your feet (actually I was wearing shoes today since there was so much stuff in the sand along the high tide line where I was walking), smelling salt, feeling the wind and sun on your skin.

There was no treasure trove of driftwood, but there were some interesting pieces. After that we had some awesome lunch, Blue Cod fish and chips, and an amazing chocolate desser for me. Not the best fish and chip in NZ, but up near the top of the list. Then off to the big central garden here. Linda found roses.

1. Linda is actually on the way back for this shot. She got a long way down the beach, and turned around with then end not even in sight.

2. I decided to move Driftwood of the Day up.

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4. More Linda on a big beach, empty this far from the entry.

5. Can you see the bird trying to take off? I love the faces and animals I see in the driftwood.

 6. The obligatory artsy shot. There were lots of patterns in the sand today.

7. You will have already figured out this is not growing on the beach.

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There are more. But I'm thinking of taking a nap, then heading out of town this evening to scope out possible night sky shots.

Dunedin to Invercargill, waterfalls

Today was a scenic route travel day from Dunedin to Invercargill. Last time we did this drive it was practically a monsoon. We couldn't see squat hardly, and didn't want to get out of the car. I did once. Today we broke the drive up with several stops.

These are Matai falls. Not big, but pretty, with several different exposure settings for fun.

You remember her, of course. She didn't want to frolic through the waterfalls.

This is Florence Lookout. I stopped for this shot last year. Ok, not the exact same shot. That one is on the computer at home. But you get the idea. We started cloudy and ended up with a hot beautiful day to struggle through rush hour traffic to get to the grocery store. We were shocked, SHOCKED(!) to find the New World supermarket here doesn't sell wine. No, we aren't doing without. New Zealand wine is very good.

Driftwood of the Day

The driftwood environment

Can you believe it? Another day on the beach! This was past Brighton beach, towards Taieri Mouth, and a bit past it. Lots of driftwood, but what was interesting this time was actual little dunes on the beach. I think they get lots of wind there. I got lots of my usual driftwood shots, but started including some of the rills and mini-dunes around the driftwood.

There were some that seemed worth doing as panoramas. Some include a bit of moody sky. Some of these might work well as B&W, and I'll look at those on the main computer when I'm home again.

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3. My eyes did not see that streak along the horizon.

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I almost walked past this, then noticed the subtle patterns in the sand. I channeled my buddy Sean who likes such compositions, and had a go.

Pick the one above you like the most for Driftwood of the Day.

We punched our eco card

We wanted to visit the Orokonui Ecosanctuary after the beach yesterday, but we spent too long on the beach. It would have been closed shortly after getting there. So we didn't.

Today we went there first, then did some more beach. For those that don't know what an ecosanctuary is, consider that New Zealand essentially didn't have any mammals before humans came along and introduced all sorts of species. Most of the native species don't compete well, and were dying out. An ecosanctuary is one of the solutions; putting up a varmint proof fence around a big area, and let the native species have a chance. It's a lot of work.

1. We saw these little guys at a feeder.

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4. And dragonflies. Or maybe damselflies.

5. This is a Takahe.

6. A close up of the feathers, which are sort of cool. It's more like a fabric than feathers.

7. The obligatory artsy shot (non-beach division).

8. The obligatory artsy shot (beach division). Yes, we did go to the beach afterward. It was a little bit more cloudy, but still nice. And almost completely empty.

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Driftwood of the Day

More beaches, more sea lions

Last year we went out the Otago peninsula and saw a lovely beach on the opposite side of the harbour. We never got out there on that trip, but made it this time. It's called Aramoana beach. It is lovely. Are you tired of me saying that yet? But this is the best beach yet to bring a model out and pose on rocks, or the sand beside rocks, or the seats on the rocks. We saw three other people on that end of the beach. Very private. Very quiet.

From where we parked it's a short walk through the dunes and beach grass, and then you see this when you get to the beach.

Here's the other side of that hole in the rock.

Linda posed on a rock wall a little further down.

The obligatory artsy shot.

The clouds were starting to roll over that big bluff, and I was loving space between the clouds and the beach.

Here's a close up of that bluff.

We saw several sea lions, but we didn't want to get too close.

In addition to all the other great rock that I loved, Linda found this one.

The selection of driftwood is growing by leaps and bounds, but I'm going to stick with Driftwood of the Day. 

Another day, another 3 beaches

So there we were, trying to make up our minds. So many beaches. So many choices. Decisions, decision. But the day started with this view from our apartment.

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We landed on these three.
Ocean View beach.
Brighton beach.
Long beach.

All were beautiful. We strolled and loved the beautiful day. The winner in terms of driftwood was Brighton. Holy doodle! It had the most amazing piece of driftwood that I've ever seen. I was around and around, shooting it with different lenses. It might be worth a blog of it's own. The rocks nearby were pretty amazing too. But I kept on taking photos of reflections.

2. This is Ocean View.

3. This was a surprise. I've never seen this on a beach before.

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4. Brighton.

5. Linda is so happy with this vacation she is walking on clouds.

6. The obligatory artsy shot.

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8. Another surprise, we almost walked into this sea lion on Long Beach.

Driftwood of the Day