Tag: New Zealand

New Zealand: Day 9 – Te Anau

After breakfast, I returned to the room and downloaded and backed up my photos. This process took a good bit of time because I had at least a couple thousand time lapse shots in addition to my normal photography for the trip. Digital work completed, we left The Matakauri Lodge around 10:30. It was difficult to say good bye to… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 8 – Exploring the Queenstown Area

The cloud bank over the mountain range to the right lifted in the night. The fresh snow is beautiful. This place is remarkably, no, shockingly beautiful. After breakfast we hiked down to the dock and walked along the lake’s coastline. The views of the sun-drenched mountain were definitely picture-worthy. I shot a time lapse of the shadows changing on the… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 7 – Mount Cook National Park to Queenstown

Update Notice If you didn’t notice, I wrote an update to Day 7’s post. Mount Cook made a dramatic appearance in the very wee hours of the morning. Be sure to check out the update. This Morning Sunrise behind the mountains was striking this morning. While Mount Cook never made an appearance, the gorgeous sunrise made up for it. I… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 6 – Mount Cook [Updated]

Weather The weather here is very changeable to be sure, but today, near the base of Aoraki Mount Cook, the weather was mostly the same: heavy, low cloud cover and constant drizzle or rain. We never saw Mount Cook. In fact, a few times we couldn’t see anything. We had scheduled a private flight around the mountain range, including a… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 5 – To Mount Cook National Park

We began our day by shooting a couple of panos of French Bay. The morning light was very nice on the rocky beach along the coast. Then, we were off to breakfast. We had a long drive ahead of us: 385 km (about 5 – 6 hours drive time depending on the number of stops for photos). The trip was… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 4 – Traveling to Akaroa

The George We started the day with a huge, enormous breakfast. It was really good. While eating I saw a man walking his dog across the river (just outside the window) in Hagley Park; however, this was a bit odd. The guy’s jacket was the exact color of his dog. He was just ahead of his dog enough that the… Continue reading

New Zealand: Day 3 – Travel Day to Christchurch

Preparing for the Journey We got up really early (4:45am) to pack and then had an early breakfast in the cold restaurant at Hotel Blue. Next, we took a taxi to the airport. I’m not sure what the issue was, but something was odd about our tickets to New Zealand. It took some time, but the agents fixed whatever the… Continue reading

In the "What Were They Thinking!" Category

Warning! Most Christians in the United States, and probably all conservative ones, will be deeply offended by this sign. I personally find it shocking. The thought that it was displayed by a Christian church astounds me. Do not click the image to the right, which will open a picture of the sign that is large enough to see and read,… Continue reading