Castle Hill

Castle Hill Landscape - f/6.3 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

 We drove up to Castle Hill one afternoon, that is so named for the imposing limestone boulders in the area that resemble from afar an old run down castle. As we walked around the place I saw lots of people bouldering - it's a fantastic place for climbing and a beautiful natural landscape!

Rock Formations - f/6.3 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

Rocks - f/3.5 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

Looking Up - f/5 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

View from the Top - f/4 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

Akaroa

Looking Up - f/4 | 1/200 sec | ISO 640

 We decided to drive to Akaroa a pretty town near Christchurch on the coast for lunch. Afterwards we went on a walk in the hills and through a pretty New Zealand forest! 

Forest Track - f/3.5 | 1/60 sec | ISO 125

Bay in Black and White - f/8 | 1/125 sec | ISO 100

View of the Bay - f/4 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100

And on to Christchurch...

Sunset - f/3.5 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

We continued on down towards Christchurch catching the ferry between the two islands and driving the rest of the way in one day. The road ran alongside the beautiful coastline and I kept asking to stop to take photos! We saw more seal colonies along the way, and there was an amazing sunset sky...

Panorama - f/5 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

Cape Palliser

Cape Palliser - f/4.5 | 1/200 sec | ISO 100

 We left Whanganui and headed down towards the south coast, to stay the night at Cape Palliser. A short drive from our campsite there was a seal colony and it was great fun watching them as well as getting some photos! 

Yawn! - f/5.6 | 1/640 | ISO 640

Relaxed Seal - f/8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 1250

Crab Hiding - f/8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 3200

On one of the beaches we stopped at, there were some amazing rock pools, we saw starfish, crabs and more alongside beautiful corals and shells! 

Seal - f/8 | 1/320 sec | ISO 800

Seaweed - f/8 | 1/160 sec | ISO 200

Barnacles - f/8 | 1/160 sec | ISO 400

Natural Patterns - f/6.3 | 1/125 sec | ISO 100

Seal Fight - f/6.3 | 1/125 | ISO 200

New Zealand Conservation

Kiwi - f/3.2 | 1/160 sec | ISO 640

 We visited a friend who does conservation work for New Zealand native bird species, by saving injured birds. Birds here were, until the arrival of the first humans, an extraordinary diverse range! In New Zealand, the ecological niches normally occupied by mammals, instead consisted of reptiles, insects and birds. When humans arrived this unique and unusual ecology began to become endangered. The first rescued bird we met was a kiwi, she was hit by a car which damaged her beak meaning shes completely reliant on human help and cannot be released back into the wild. They are making a beautiful large enclosure for her however so this kiwi is a lucky survivor! 

Kiwi Eye - f/2.8 | 1/160 sec | ISO 3200

Tui Sunning Itself - f/3.2 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100

Wood Pigeon - f/2.8 | 1/20 sec | ISO 100

Baby Pukeko - f/4 | 1/320 sec | ISO 100

The River Road

First Views From the River Road - f/8 | 1/200 sec ISO 100

 We decided to spend a day driving the length of the River Road that runs alongside the Whanganui River, through some beautiful countryside both farmland and rainforest!

Fantail - f/5.6 | 1/200 sec | ISO 125

 I spotted a lot of wildlife from the van window! One of the first sightings was a New Zealand Kingfisher just like the one we had seen in captivity at the wildlife sanctuary with the kiwis! I spotted it resting on an overhead electricity wire and when I back-tracked to find it with my camera it had moved to a very pretty tree! I also saw the fantail above on the way back, they move so quickly its a challenge to get a good photograph but i've had some great sightings - one even landed 1m in front of me! Beside the road we also saw a hawk but it flew away when I got my camera ready!

New Zealand Kingfisher - f/5.6 | 1/500 sec | ISO 800

New Zealand Kingfisher II - f/10 | 1/500 sec | ISO 2500

Lamb - f/5.6 | 1/640 sec | ISO 100

 Of course we also saw many, many sheep! There were lots of adorable lambs as well!

New Zealand Sheep! - f/5.6 |  1/200 sec | ISO 125

Puppy - f/4 | 1/160 sec | ISO 100

 We found this little guy when I stopped to photograph a meadow of buttercups, possibly the cutest puppy i've ever seen, he came from one of the nearby farms and was curious to meet new people! 

River Road - f/2.8 | 1/500 sec | ISO 100

The Whanganui River - f/5 | 1/160 sec | ISO 100

Towards the end of our journey the weather got really stormy and there was lots of thunder, which was exciting and made for some more atmospheric photo opportunities!

The Road and The River - f/5 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100

Low Clouds - f/6.3 | 1/160 sec | ISO 200

Sheep on the Road - f/5 | 1/250 sec | ISO 250

Bushy Park

Saddleback - f/5.6 | 1/160 sec | ISO 1000

Tropical - f/3.5 | 1/100 sec | ISO 1000

 We paid a visit to the local nature reserve 'Bushy Park'. It is a pristine lowland rainforest, enclosed by a fence that keeps introduced species like stoats and other mammals out, providing a safe haven for native New Zealand bird species. It has been named as one of the 25 best ecological restoration projects in the country! As it was a dark rainy day we had the place to ourselves, however there was one guy working on the management of the place who showed us the newly released saddlebacks! Saddlebacks were extinct in the wild in New Zealand for a 100 years until conservation efforts in 2002 brought them back from the brink so it was great seeing them in the wild! We also learnt if you clear some leaf litter North Island Robins flew over to look for worms. They were really curious and tame!

Macro World - f/3.2 | 1/320 sec | ISO 1000

Sparkles - f/2.8 | 1/100 sec | ISO 3200

Blue - f/3.2 | 1/125 sec | ISO 200

Fungi - f/2.8 | 1/125 sec | ISO 250

Mini Bubbles - f/9 | 1/125 sec | ISO 2000

Tiny Fungi - f/3.2 | 1/160 sec | ISO 2500

Sign to the Bush-Walk - f/2.8 | 1/250 sec | ISO 100

Castle Cliff Beach

Castle Cliff Beach - f/16 | 1/50 sec | ISO 100

 On our first day in Whanganui we had a bit of a rest around the house - time for me to sort out all my photos, which was a lot of photos. In the afternoon we went to Castle Cliff Beach which was only a short drive away. It was great despite the gloomy weather and at one point a lonely dog adopted us as it's new owner. Thankfully someone who knew the owner found him later!

Rainbow Bubbles - f/4 | 1/60 sec | ISO 100

 I spotted these colorful bubbles on the beach left by the sea. They looked great with my macro lens!

Sea Foam - f/2.8 | 1/60 sec | ISO 100

Lake Taupo

Dusk - f/3.5 | 1/125 sec | ISO 100

 We stopped for a very late lunch beside Lake Taupo on our way to Whanganui. We shared our picnic spot with black swans, ducks and house sparrows. I also had my first ever sighting of a wild Tui! As we were finishing 'lunch' I saw the sky looked beautiful - but there were lots of houses in the way so we leapt into the van and stopped round the corner where there was this perfect spot for sunset photography! I managed to get some shots using a long exposure using driftwood as an alternative tripod, which worked surprisingly well.

Passage of Time - f/29 | 0.8 sec | ISO 100

Lake Taupo Sunset - f/6.3 | 1/6 sec | ISO 100

Foam - f/7.1 | 1/6 sec | ISO 100

Rocks - f/4.5 | 1/6 sec | ISO 100