Category Archives: Landscape

Feb 28 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

DOC worker near Twin Beach, Heaphy Coast

Thursday 28th February 2013, 1.40pm (day 553)

DOC worker, Heaphy Coast, 28/2/13

DOC is the Department of Conservation, the body who look after New Zealand’s wonderful environment, and are trying to continue to do so in the face of the same old funding pressures foisted on us by the moronocracy. Be nice to these people, who are basically trying to help the world. Mind you, they do get to work in some pretty attractive locations.

Last day walking the Heaphy Track – usually people take five days, I did it in three, including a 37km (23 mile) last day. My feet hurt. But I’m happy to have done it, and now I’ve caught up with this blog: however, more photos from the walk, and details on the experience, are shortly going up on my walking blog.

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Feb 28 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

The James Mackay hut

Wednesday 27th February 2013, 4.25pm (day 552)

James Mackay hut, 27/2/13

Seven of these huts are spaced along the Heaphy Track, providing shelter, gas for cooking, and companionship – at least, if you don’t mind being woken at 6.30am by a large group of middle-aged hearty types making tea and strapping on their hiking boots. Oh, hang on – that’s me, these days. Still, not a bad view is it?

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Feb 28 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Historic cemetery, Collingwood

Monday 25th February 2013, 1.55pm (day 550)

Collngwood cemetery, 25/2/13

A day killing time in Collingwood before heading down to the start of the Heaphy Track. This graveyard sits on a hill above the town, and most of the graves date from the 19th century. The engravings etched onto the headstones are often a story in themselves, highlighting the harsher nature of life in the past: the graves of three teenagers, one who drowned trying to cross the nearby Aorere River, and two brothers who died within three days of each other (presumably of the same infectious disease), were the most touching.

As we are at another 50-day milestone – day 550 – I have added some photos to the ‘Best of the Rest’ page. I also note that today marks the end of 18 months of doing this blog since I started on 26/8/11.

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Feb 28 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Evening scene, Collingwood

Sunday 24th February, 7.25pm (day 549)

 

Collingwood evening scene, 24/2/13

I’ve not posted for a few days due to being on a long walk, the Heaphy Track – which you will hear about presently. This seems a long time ago, therefore. This scene is in Collingwood, a small town in the extreme top-left corner of North Island. I had another nice shot of a sunset, but that seemed rather cliched the more I looked at it, and I like the composition of this one.

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Feb 22 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Sawyers Beach, Stewart Island

Thursday 21st February 2013, 7.10pm (day 546)

Sawyers beach, 21/2/13

 

This is pretty much how I imagined New Zealand was going to look. I had to walk several miles north of Oban to find it, on the Rakiura Track (see my post here, on my other blog), but here it is, on a spectacularly beautiful evening.

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Feb 16 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape, Transport

Melbourne, under the thunderstorm

Thursday 14th Feburary 2013, 5.40pm (day 539)

Melbourne storm, 14/3/13

 

Things you don’t necessarily want to hear from the pilot as you’re coming into land: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re turning the seatbelt sign on, there seems to be some thunderstorm activity around the airport”. Cue one of the bumpier landings I’ve ever experienced. But we made it.

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Feb 05 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Hog Bay, Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island

Tuesday 5th February 2013, 4.20pm (day 530)

Hog Bay, Penneshaw, 5/2/13

 

A thoroughly prosaic name for a very beautiful spot. Penneshaw is a little town (population 1,500) at the point where the ferry arrives on Kangaroo Island from the mainland – which can be seen in the very far distance of this shot, this being the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide.

When I arranged to have my sabbatical here in Australia, and spend the first part of it travelling while I started on my book, this is pretty much the kind of place where I pictured myself. I’m here until Saturday. This is good news.

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Feb 03 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Stairs down to South Port beach

Sunday 3rd February 2013, 3.55pm (day 528)

South Port beach, 3/2/13

 

Well, I’m sure it’s very spiritually fulfilling to spend February Sundays all huddled up around a good fire but this year, frankly, give me this kind of thing. This is the stairway down to the beautiful – and mostly empty – South Port beach, at the mouth of the Onkaparinga river just south of Adelaide. Visited the vineyards of the McLaren Vale today and then drove back (or was driven back, by my excellent hostess Caroline) along the side of the Southern Ocean, and enjoyed the whole thing.

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Jan 16 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Back to winter…

Wednesday 16th January 2013, 4.40pm [Dutch time] (day 510)

Winter at Schiphol, 16/1/13

….if only for another 8 days in my case. Taken at Schiphol airport, from out of the plane window, towards the end of that interminable taxi to the outer runway.

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Jan 13 2013
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Daily Post, Landscape

Fishermen, Lake Naivasha

Sunday 13th January 2013, 12.20pm (day 507)

Lake Naivasha, 13/1/13

Guess that’s me in Africa, then.

Awesome day today, so many things seen and shot that it was very difficult to choose a single photo; the only reason I didn’t go with one of the wild giraffe that I was, at one point, stood about 20 feet from, was that I did the wildlife theme yesterday. Crescent Island, on Lake Naivasha, may have just become the most beautiful place I have ever seen – a complete trip back in time, had a brontosaurus been spotted munching on the acacias it would not have looked out of place. These four guys were working in a lagoon by Crayfish Camp, where we had lunch. (For a few more see my Flickr stream: the link is at the bottom of the page.)

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