TP 228: Faves of the Year

Carmi has provided the prompt of  "Faves of the Year" over on Thematic Photographic. I'm glad to relive some of the shots which bring back memories of a great road trip I did around the South Island of New Zealand. You may have seen these before!

On Lake Dunstan, a couple sit separately but together ~

Reflections in Lake Ianthe ~

The Information Centre at the Okarito Lagoon ~

Go here to see others' favourite shots of 2012.

TP 211: Weathered and Worn

This week's theme sent my thoughts straight to ancient ruins, which always make me feel calm and happy. But there's lots of other things which are weathered and worn, and I've already posted a lot of photos of ruins in the past, so I've limited myself to one shot, at Delphi:

This old house made me stop the car on a recent road trip:

On a cold autumn day at Moeraki Beach I found lots of interesting 

shapes and colours:

Finally, a shot from a few years ago at Kerikeri; the evening light is kind to The Old Stone Store, 

the oldest stone building in this country:

(I guess I can include the farmhouse in my header, too)

Cloudy, the sequel

I couldn't resist posting a few more cloud pics for TP 206.
These are all from my April road trip, on a
cool and moody autumn day near Franz Josef glacier.

When I visited this lagoon at Okarito, I didn't see
one other person, although there were cottages
near the beach.

Then a stop at Lake Mahinapua, which brought back
memories of another life...

I hope you all have a cloudlessly happy Friday tomorrow.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, 
but to add color to my sunset sky.
~ Rabindranath Tagore

Thematic Photographic 202: Series

Carmi's latest idea for TP is a series; please check out his beautiful 

pelican shots at Written.Inc

My series comes from my April trip to the South Island of New Zealand this year. 

It is autumn (fall): clear crisp days with not a cloud to be seen, not a stir of breeze. I am driving past Lake Dunstan, in a region known as Central Otago. 

It is a low-rainfall, arid area; summers are hot and dry, 

and winters very cold - and dry.

I stop to take a photo of the lake and the bare hills behind it:

There's a boat coming around a curve in the lake -

 

 

 It's people water-skiing! 

At this time of year! it may be sunny, but it's pretty cool 

outside the reach of my car heater.

  

 They sweep past and carry on down the lake...

 The wake's disappearing, and the water will soon be still again.

I haven't messed with the colours in these shots at all 

- the water really is that blue.

I'm thinking that I might print 3 of these photos, enlarged, 

and have them framed as a tryptich for a wall in our new house.

Any thoughts?

Trees, and a few bushes

Thematic Photographic this week is entitled Bushes and Trees - clever Carmi has set it up
to happen for us, even though he's in China, lucky man!

First, some foreign trees. If you visit the beautiful amphitheatre at Epidaurus, in Greece, you walk up these lovely tree-lined steps to get there:

These lovely trees were in the grounds of a hotel I stayed at in Rome:

Closer to home, in the beautiful gardens at Larnach Castle, in Dunedin:

Lombardy poplars are very widely grown in Central Otago. 

These are on the shores of Lake Wanaka:

 Treescape in Arrowtown:

  And trees and bushes at Lake Dunstan:

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago.  The next best time is now.  

~Chinese Proverb

Crossing Cook Strait

 

This country is split into two islands by a  bumpy(more-often-than-not), tempestuous (quite often) stretch of water named after Captain James Cook. The British explorer completed the first circumnavigation of the country, and mapped it with few errors, in 1769 - 70.

If you want to take a car from one island to another, the only way is to travel on one of the ferries which ply the Strait 8 or 10 times each day. The trip takes only 3 hours, and if you are lucky the middle bit, when you are actually out in the open sea, will be smooth and gentle; you may be escorted by pods of dolphins...

Early one morning in April, early winter sunshine. In my car, queued on

 the Wellington wharves, I wait for the ferry to arrive.

One family decides to fill in the time usefully... the kids actually catch some small fish!

Here she comes - it's the Arahura, the oldest one in the fleet, but I'm 

glad to see her

 For the first hour or so, we move steadily out through the 

volcanic ribs which encircle Wellington harbour:

Then it's goodbye to the North Island

 About an hour later, we begin to wind through the spectacular Marlborough Sounds 

to Picton, at the head of Queen Charlotte Sound

 Safely there...

... but it hasn't always been so. Cook Strait is, according to Wikipedia, 

"one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world."

 The worst disaster which has happened on its waters was the sinking of the ferry Wahine. It was caught in a ferocious storm and struck a reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in winds gusting to 160 km/h.

 

Fifty-three people drowned that night, including 3 children; 

the other 670 passengers and crew survived by getting off 

into the 4 usable lifeboats, or by launching themselves in 

lifejackets into the turbulent waters of the harbour. 

The current swept most of them across towards the western 

side of the harbour, where a small fleet of fishing boats, 

private motorboats and surf-lifesaving boats found them and 

lifted them aboard, taking them to the shore and to safety. 

My mother was one of the latter group. She had been travelling 

with an elderly family friend of ours; he was drowned.

Image from here

“I have seen the sea when it is stormy and wild; when it is quiet and serene; when it is dark and moody. And in all its moods, I see myself.”

~ Martin Bauxbaum

Strong Lines - TP 194

Here are some photos which I thought fit into the "strong lines" idea of Carmi's latest Thematic Photographic theme (go here to see what this is all about). They are from my school holiday trip to the South Island of New Zealand in April.

The Information Centre (!) at the remote settlement of Okarito Lagoon, a 12 sq km unmodified wetland which is home to many birds and other species.

 The jetty, Lake Ianthe. This West Coast area of New Zealand is remote, unspoiled, and stunningly beautiful - I think so, anyway.

Not lines in the sand - lines of winter crops in the dirt, near Nelson.

Thematic Photographic 193: Faith

This Thematic Photographic theme made me head off to the photos of many beautiful European churches, monasteries and cathedrals I've taken over the last few years. But then I looked at the pics from my recent South Island road trip, and decided to post some photos of small-town churches that I had seen:

Anglican church, Arrowtown

Roman Catholic church, Franz Joseph

The Fire Station's right next door

Presbyterian church, Founders' Village, Nelson

Today this church is interdenominational,

and is still used for weddings and christening

To me these tiny wooden churches in small rural towns represent the strngth of the founding spirit, and the sense of community which once prevailed in our society. They may not have the awe and majesty of a great cathedral, but they are pervaded with a sense of peace and continuity - and love.