Monday, January 30, 2012

Sunset in Queenstown

Yesterday night I went out under pretty boring clouds, not expecting much photo opportunities. I went to Queenstown Garden. It's situated on a small peninsula. I walked to the tip of that, and reached the water and wind.

After a little while, the sun got under the clouds and started to shine, and created a glow between the mountains on the other side of Lake Wakatipu. A nice and surreal scene. I had brought my new tripod, but I didn't use too much. I'm really not friends with all the knobs on it. Should have gotten a ball head again...


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Reflection Lake

Lake Matheson, close to Fox glacier, is said to be the most photographed lake in the world. I don't know if that's true, but it sure gives you very nice reflected views over the mountains, including Mt Cook. If you're lucky with the wind and clouds that is. And we were :) Me and my friends got there early one morning and the lake really was a mirror.



I took this shot many weeks ago with my IR camera. I'm currently kicking back in Queenstown for a few days. Trying not to take too many photos... Instead, I try to sort and process the ones I've already got. Soon I'll get into town and buy me a new tripod. I pulled a leg off the old one...

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Rain in Franz Josef

Today most of my adventures got spoiled by the rain. Also, I found that the coastline south of Greymouth wasn't that interesting as I hoped. At least I got a few IR shots of a glacier river just before I got to Franz Josef. Then the rain began... Fortunately the YHA hostel here is quite nice, and I've been sitting in front of the fireplace most of the day/night :)

While I was sorting my photos, I got two Taiwanese fans. They pointed and talked to each other about most pictures on my screen. They didn't speak much English though, so I don't really know what they said. Maybe it was stuff like "Ugly, stupid, boring, obnoxious, lame, baaad, he should destroy his camera." I'll never know.

But here's a weird IR shot from today anyway.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

West Coast Seascapes

I'm currently in Greymouth on the South Island. Me and my blue car are traveling the coastline searching for cool stuff. There are so many rocks and cliffs to enjoy, but it's not always easy to access them. You have to be content to the places where you can stop your car. Unless you choose to do some random and scary walks. Which I don't. And you really need to do lots of passes to see how the seascape changes along with the tide.

Tomorrow I will continue south and spend a night in Franz Joseph. Maybe I'll do a glacier walk.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mutton Cove Sunrise

Now I'm back in Nelson after an awesome hike in Abel Tasman National Park. I walked along the coastline track and spent 4 nights out. And I actually managed to get up for sunrise at all of them. Here's the first one in Mutton Cove where I spent the night alone.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Abel Tasman Walk

Tomorrow I set off on a 5 day hike into the Abel Tasman Coastal track. I'm gonna stay at camp sites that only provide water and toilets. Which means I have lot's of food, tent, sleeping bag, cooker, etc packed. And camera gear... It's quite heavy, but it will get lighter as I eat my food.

It's my first hike like this ever... Luckily, there's many other hikers out there that can assist me when I fail to  handle my tent...

One of the days I'm gonna be in a kayak instead. That's gonna be real nice too.

I hope to bring back many nice photos from this trip.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Birds

Yesterday I saw lots of birds at the peninsula in Kaikoura. It took me a lot of walking, and my legs and feet needed a rest today. So I joined an "Albatross Encounter" tour. And yes, I saw albatrosses :) And some seals and dolphins.

I couldn't take photos all the time. Had to keep my sea sickness in check... Here are some of the last two days bird pictures.









Friday, January 13, 2012

Beach walking

Yesterday I had both a relaxed and busy day… The busy part was at afternoon/night when I decided to take a walk along the beach. The sky and waves were really nice, so I took a lot of pictures until it got too dark.

Today I'm changing hostels here in Kaikoura. Going to the YHA in an hour or so. That will get me closer to the peninsula and wildlife until I leave on Monday.



Thursday, January 12, 2012

Kaikoura

Now I've been in Kaikoura for two nights. A really beautiful place with lot's of walks and tours to choose from. The whale watching should be top class here, and there's also Albatross watching. Haven't decided if I should join any of them yet.

Yesterday I took a walk around the Kairoura Peninsula. Beautiful views and wildlife in abundance. Took me many hours, so I guess I'll do less walking today. I'll probably take some long exposure shots down at the beach.

I've extended my stay here, so I'll be leaving Monday. Probably to Nelson, and then to Abel Tasman.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

More Allans Beach

Here's some more pictures from Allans Beach. I really liked the sea lions there.



Friday, January 6, 2012

Allans Beach

I'm now in Dunedin, a very nice place on the east coast. Surfing, arts, and wildlife in abundance.

Yesterday we went out late afternoon to hopefully watch some sea lions and penguins. And we did! :)

The picture is from Allans beach where we saw 4-5 sea lions. They are quite hard to spot. We almost stumbled upon one that took off quickly to sea. Scary. I thought it maybe wanted to take a bite out of me...


Later on, at sunset, we watched the blue penguins return with food for their young ones at Pilot's Beach. A very nice sight. As they swooshed towards the beach and waggled on shore. The sounds of the hungry young ones were nice to hear :)

Monday, January 2, 2012

Leaving for Doubtful Sound

I've spent the last days in Te Anau, and amongst other thing celebrated new year here. Today we visited Milford Sound and took a short boat cruise there in under sunny skies. Beautiful!

Tomorrow however, we're off to an overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound. I'm really looking forward to that. A small boat for 14 persons will take us out for amazing views, animal watching, fishing, and good food.

After that we'll continue our trip further south. Unfortunately I've been too busy to upload any pictures lately. Hopefully I will post some in a couple of days.