Seal Coast Safari Tour

Yesterday we took a day off work and went on a tour with Seal Coast Safari. Wellington was having one of it's good days, very little wind, brilliant skies and just perfect for the trip. We met our guide Kent at the Information Centre in Wellington and were also joined by a group of Aussie's who had come over for the AFL. Having been out in a 4x4 before I wisely chose the front seat knowing it would be better for going over the bumps.

We traveled out through the Brooklyn hills and over into a private farm. The views were amazing and we had an opportunity to take photos along the way. Our guide kept us entertained along the way and was a fountain of knowledge about the area.  We passed the airport radar station, a castle on a hill, ostriches and our next stop was at a paddock to feed the deer.

From there it was all down hill as we headed to the seals. The seals are out there all year round but the numbers vary throughout the year. We were lucky enough to see plenty of them slumbering about in the sun. One or two gave us a yawn or two and the odd one decided we weren't worth staying around for and slipped into the ocean and left us.

We spent a bit of time with the seals, had refreshments including some very yummy muffins and then we headed back to Wellington city via Red Rocks.  This part of the trip was where we really got to see our guide's skill as a driver. I was reassured when he told us he had been driving out there for seven years, experience is everything when driving in those type of conditions.

All in all it was a great experience and worth every penny we paid for it. I got to photograph the seals without having to do three hours walking to get there!  I am sure we will be doing this tour again and would recommend it to anyone else who is keen to see the seals in their natural environment.

The view of Wellington Harbour from the top of Brooklyn

Volcanic Ash Sunset 13th June

Wellington Waterfront

Today started off like most weekends, with a planned outing to do some photography. We did a little shopping along the way and bought a nice light and compact tripod that is going to be just perfect for travelling. I am amazed just how many different type of tripods there are. I found a really cute one and its going to fit perfectly on my backpack.


After that we headed to Te Papa for lunch and then out to the waterfront to take some photos. Well that was the plan anyway! I fired off one shot and then my camera gives me an error message. I have had this on and off lately with the lens and I was putting it down to the cold, but this time was different. The next time I looked through the lens it was dark, it wouldn't focus and the camera wouldn't fire. It was about now that I went into panic mode. Here am I planning a trip away and my camera isn't working!

We headed back to the shop we got the tripod from and pretty much confirmed that it was the lens causing the problem and not the camera. That was a bit of a relief but it still left me with a very expensive piece of glass that wasn't working. We ended up buying a new lens as well as sending the other one off to be fixed. I just can't be without a working lens, at least this way I will have a backup when I get the broken one back - assuming they can fix it.

Once the new lens was on the camera it was back to the waterfront to try it out. Had to test it and make sure that the camera was going to perform well for me in Auckland. As we were walking along we saw this guy swing himself up the side of a pole. It looked like he was hanging sideways. Being cheeky I  asked him to do it again and surprisingly he did! The rest of the images here are shot from along the back of Te Papa. The low cloud made for rather gloomy looking photos but I kinda liked them anyway.

The new lens worked fine, as did the camera. I am comfortable now that my equipment is not going to fail me on my trip to Tiritiri. 

Night Shoot

It's the middle of winter and the temperature is close to zero. All the cars parked on the side of the road were icing up and what am I doing? Walking down the beach front with my camera in the middle of the night. We had to do a late night run out to the airport and it was the perfect excuse to get the camera out and take some photos.

I played with different settings on my camera while I was out there, trying to see what would give me the look I was trying to achieve. Long exposures using my tripod worked the best. Unfortunately it was so cold that my lens just decided it was too cold and refused to work. So just when I am getting the photos that I was after, I had to change my lens to my zoom lens and suddenly everything was different - regardless I am happy with the results.