When I wander, it is rarely any great distance, and most often is either to the Wairarapa or Horowhenua districts. This is logical as they are the only two provinces which are contiguous with Wellington. In short, I can drive there. Sometimes this is a bit of a trial as it means passing through large tracts of familiar territory. On the other hand, someone just reposted the famous quote from Marcel Proust, “The real voyage of discovery consists, not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” I am working on it. Meantime, may I remind you that the images you see are but thumbnails, and to get the full detail, you are urged to click on the image for a full view.
At the flood barrage at the Southern end of Lake Wairarapa, I was entranced by the dramatic cloudscape and its reflection.
From there, I followed the East-West bypass road to Western Lake road where I paused at a favourite resting spot to admire Lake Wairarapa in its most beautiful still state. All too often the surface is ruffled but on this visit, it was perfect.
A day or so later, with an interesting morning mist at play, I went over into the Mangaroa Valley to the East of Upper Hutt. A pair of horses with a cycle escort came over a ridge towards me.
Days alternated between spiteful wind and chilly stillness. At the edge of the Waiwhetu stream, I was attracted to the reflections of a corrugated warehouse wall, and then got “photo-bombed” by a little black shag surfacing in the middle of the intriguing patterns. The random splashes of colour are from the signs on the building.
A few days in which I neglected my camera led to a dose of cabin fever. I could tell that the wind had abated so I went out into the cold night and caught reflected city lights from Petone Beach.
A very rare visitor to Wellington Harbour became a major talking point in the region, and a target for every photographic device in town. A Southern Right Whale spent almost a week frolicking in the harbour, occasionally breaching and sometimes just waving his tail. He has since left the harbour, but I hear that he is still nearby just off the coast near the airport.
And then the rain came. I decided to make a feature of it and was driving along Grays Road at Pauatahanui when the sky really opened up. Sadly it eased off before I could find a safe place to stop, but I hope this image conveys a sense of the day.
Yesterday morning offered another of those breathless misty starts and the sunrise was a thing of beauty. The day lived up to its promise, and that will suffice for this edition.
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One reply on “July 12, 2018 … wanderlust strikes again”
Beautiful images. I love the serendipity of how the little shag has created his own circular frame in the centre of all the patterning.