A fine day for a white wedding!

Yesterday we headed up to Levin to Tatum Park to photograph the wedding of Rebekah and Kyle. It was raining when we left the Hutt so a quick count of umbrellas was in order 'just in case'. Thankfully the rain held off and the umbrellas stayed in the boot of the car.

Rebekah and Kyle had some amazing cars to transport their wedding party and wanted some specific photographs taken with them. The bright colours of the cars make for vibrant images that catch your attention.

We had a lot of fun photographing this lovely couple and their family and friends. We wish them all the best for the future and hope they enjoy their photos as much as we had fun taking them!

Dragonflies and Damselflies

This morning I visited the Auckland Botanical Gardens as we had some time to spare before our flight home. We headed straight to the wetland area to see if there were any dragonflies about. There were too! However the dragonflies (larger than the damselflies) were hovering and flitting about way out of the reach of my lens. The damselflies were a bit easier. I spotted a little red one on a flower and it posed nicely for me.  The larger blue one (I think it is a damsel but it might be a small dragonfly) was much harder. He seems to flit about in a regular pattern and was very territorial. Very hard to photograph a moving object that never stays still!

Taking a break on a flower

Hovering over the water

Wings constantly moving!

Auckland Zoo

A very disappointing trip to Auckland Zoo today. It was really hot and most of the animals were in hiding. The most disappointing bit was that we paid $20 each to get in and half the zoo is closed for renovations and maintenance. If they are going to close stuff off they should reduce the price you have to pay. Very disappointing, I am glad I didn't make a special trip up from Wellington to see it.

Bay of Islands - Day Twelve

We have been trying to get to the Parot Place for a while now and today we finally managed it. From the outside it doesn't look like much but inside there are birds everywhere! They have some birds just flying free and others in avairies. There are two large walk-in avairies where we were able to get up close to the birds.

Bay of Islands - Day Eleven

Thank you to Pukeko for identifying our little bird. It is a Grey Warbler.

Today we really did nothing much at all. Stayed around the house and relaxed, even read a book for a while. The images today are what I see when I look out the window - a lovely rimu tree. If I look beyond that there are the boats and the bay, but today's focus is on the tree.

Identify?

Here is another little bird that I don't know. It feeds of nectar or flowers and is smaller than a sparrow - about the size of a waxeye. Can anyone shed any light on it?

Waitangi

A couple more shots from Waitangi. It's not often you see a tui on the ground but this one was hopping along in front of us for a bit so we took advantage and photographed him.

Bay of Islands - Day Ten

We went for a walk around Waitangi this morning looking for native birds. It's funny but when I am looking for fantails I can never seem to either find them or get a good shot of them. When I am not wanting fantails hey presto there they are and they are happy to pose for me. Bizarre.  This morning I managed to get a couple of tui and lots of fantails. This is the best of the bunch.

Not sure what we are doing this afternoon, so watch this space - there could be more to come.

Bay of Islands - Day Nine

This morning saw us heading off to the parot place where they are supposed to have a large walk in avairy. Unfortunately they are closed Monday and Tuesdays so we ended up heading back home again.  Later in the afternoon we found Aroha Island who have a lot of native birds etc. We walked the entire island in about 40 mins and really didn't see a lot of bird life, but they tell us it is there somewhere.

Bay of Islands - Day Eight

This morning we headed back to Whangarei to visit with friends. While there we went to the Quarry Gardens (really pretty gardens in what used to be a quarry) and to the Canopy Walk where we saw some rather large Kauri trees. I spotted another shining cuckoo while we were there but it was a major tease and stayed just far enough away that I couldn't get a clear shot of it.

I did find this little fantail to photograph. He didn't spread his tail into a fan so it's not obvious that he is a fantail. I suspect he is a very young bird because he had a lot of fluff about his face. Very cute!

Bay of Islands - Day Seven

Today was a rest day, we stayed at the house the entire day. I know my feet certainly appreciated the break, they have been pretty sore from all the walking and climbing etc. Todays images were taken in the back yard, the dogs are Oscar and Amber who belong to my brother-in-law. We were dog sitting today while the others went out for a dive.

Bay of Islands - Day Six

We woke to rain this morning but it didn't last long. A fine sunny day and then rain again in the evening. I revisited a couple of the waterfalls today with my mother who had come up for a visit, so more waterfall photos. We also got to eat freshly smoked fish for dinner this evening - straight out of the smoke house.

Bay of Islands - Day Five

It is soooo hot here today and extremely muggy. We are all tired from a day out on the boat fishing. We had a dolphin encounter on the way out to the 'hole in the rock', below are a couple of the images from it. They were chasing the boat and playing in its wake. I can't do any more right now because the laptop is overheating.

Bay of Islands - Day Four

This morning we headed up to Kerikeri and Rainbow Falls. These are a few of the shots I took there. Tomorrow we are going out in the boat so there should be something other than waterfalls to see :)