[photos] New Zealand: Wairarapa Valley, with Sheep
After passing through Featherston, Greytown and Martinborough, we headed on through the lower Wairarapa Valley toward Cape Palliser. The land there reminded me a fair amount of the Willamette Valley here in northwestern Oregon. Except with more sheep.
The lambs had been dropping in the day or so before we passed through there, some that day still slick and red-orange with afterbirth. Not all of them made it. We saw a fair number of dead lambs in the fields, though plenty more romping around in that surprised, morning-of-the-world way. We thanked the ewes for making us dinner.
I occupied myself in part by trying to get good photos of a lamb. This turned out to be a tad more difficult than expected, and resulted in me taking over one hundred pictures of sheep. (Which aren’t really that intrinsically interesting.)
Kowhai tree blossoms.
In New Zealand, bus waits for you.
A mail drop outside a sheep farm, for the leaving of large packages.
A field of Dr. Seuss trees. (I did not note the species name, sadly.
Ewe and lamb.
The sheep go marching up the hill, hurrah, hurrah.
Several hours later, marching down the same hill.
High tailing it away from the camera.
As usual, more at the Flickr set.
© 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: cars, flowers, nature, New Zealand, Photos, Travel
Posted: 6:18 am Sun September 12 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] New Zealand: The Rimutakas and towns of the Wairarapa Valley
On the 29th of August, we headed out from Wellington in the State Limo for Cape Palliser, by way of the Rimutakas and the Wairarapa Valley. Here’s a few photos of the first leg of the trip.
Looking west through the Rimutakas back towards Wellington, NZ.
The Fell Locomotive museum in Featherston, NZ, just east of the Rimutakas. Sadly, “Fell” is not a descriptive adjective, but the name of the builder.
Nearby, the Mini Fell? A steam-powered lawn tractor, perhaps.
Architectural detail in Greytown, NZ.
An interior.
Wallpaper close-up.
Some damned fine chocolate.
Me, laughing my head off over lunch in Martinborough, NZ.
As usual, more at the Flickr sets here, here, here and here.
© 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr. and Shannon Page.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. and Shannon Page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: Calendula, New Zealand, Photos, Travel
Posted: 6:40 am Sat September 11 2010 | Comments(0) |
[travel] The hop across the Big Pond, some notes on security
calendula_witch describes our trip home, at least thus far. One leg to go.
I will comment that international security is a bit ridiculous. You go through security to get on the plane. You go through security when you get off the plane and transfer. You’ve been inside a sterile area the entire time. Unless duty free shops are rife with terrorist agents or something. In Auckland, we cleared transfer security (complete with screaming children and the usual flying-with-amateurs types), only to clear US-destination security 100 yards later. Because so much might have happened to us to walking down that hall, I guess.
It was revealing that as we were going through the second Auckland security check, the guards discovered the scanning portal had not been turned on when used for the passengers who’d proceeded before us. They consulted briefly, decided it was too much trouble to make everyone come back up, and kept the line going.
So what was the purpose of this checkpoint if the scanners not being on didn’t matter? Really, Barclay. The magic of security theatre, inconveniencing travelers everywhere to preserve governmental deniability.
Anyway, home beckons and brain is frazzle. Watch for photo essays on the trip over the next few days. Y’all play nice in the mean time.
Tags: Australia, Calendula, New Zealand, Travel
Posted: 9:09 am Thu September 09 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Your Monday/Tuesday moment of zen
Your Monday/Tuesday moment of zen.
Used house lot outside Wellington, NZ. © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: New Zealand, Photos, zen
Posted: 3:05 pm Mon September 06 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Your Saturday/Sunday moment of zen
Your Saturday/Sunday moment of zen.
House, Wellington, NZ, near where danjite and khaybee live. Note this house has no street facing whatsoever. © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: New Zealand, Photos, zen
Posted: 3:55 pm Sat September 04 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Your Friday/Saturday moment of zen
Your Friday/Saturday moment of zen.
The Wellington, NZ street where danjite and khaybee live. © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: New Zealand, Photos, zen
Posted: 3:57 pm Fri September 03 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Your Thursday/Friday moment of zen
Your Thursday/Friday moment of zen.
danjite at home, Wellington, NZ. © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: New Zealand, Photos, zen
Posted: 3:18 pm Thu September 02 2010 | Comments(0) |
[travel] One more day in New Zealand, off to Australia this afternoon
Yesterday the four of us went to an oriental rug store in Petone, then to the outlet stores in Otaki. Shopping ensued, though none of the magnificent carpets caught calendula_witch’s eye. This also involved driving about through even more beautiful countryside and townscape. Plus some pretty decent lunch. Then home for a long nap (me) followed by a fascinating party in a rooftop apartment in downtown Wellington.
Some last minute-shopping in train for today, then we’re packing and off to Melbourne.
Tags: Australia, Calendula, New Zealand, Travel
Posted: 1:24 pm Tue August 31 2010 | Comments(0) |
[photos] Your Tuesday/Wednesday moment of zen
Your Tuesday/Wednesday moment of zen.
Old ute (Holden?) with golden Buddhas in the back, Otaki, NZ. © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: cars, New Zealand, Photos, zen
Posted: 1:20 pm Tue August 31 2010 | Comments(1) |
[travel] Sheep, Seals, and Bulldozers, oh my
As calendula_witch hath promised, here is a post about sheep, seals and bulldozers. Oh, my.
Yesterday the four of us headed out in danjite and khaybee’s state limo (a surplus stretch Volvo S90 retired from diplomatic service) and drove from Wellington to Cape Palliser. The trip went via the very winding, tiny Highway 2 through the Rimutakas, then into the charming town of Featherston, then to Greytown, where rugs and chocolate were purchased. From Greytown we drove to Martinborough for lunch, then on out Cape Palliser Road to Ngawi and then to the cape itself. The route, for them what is interested.
We saw a lot of beautiful countryside. Early flowers are in bloom, including daffodils, kowhai trees, and down by the coast, enormous lupens. The weather was increasingly gloomy as we progressed, but we always had good visibility. The road was increasingly grim as we progressed, but the state limo kept up to the bitter end. And it was beautiful. The Wairarapa Valley reminded me rather a lot of the Willamette Valley back in Oregon, but they’re at roughly the corresponding latitude, with similar rainfall and weather patterns, so this is unsurprising. The coast looked a bit like the Mendocino coast in California, except with more dramatic irruptions of volcanic rocks.
There were sheep. Lots of sheep. (I think I took about a hundred pictures of sheep.)
The lambs had just come in. Some were still orange with their afterbirth. Others staggered around in a state of surprise and wonderment. Others were dead, still born or weather-struck, providing a feast for the hawks.
Later, as we got to Ngawi, we saw a rare coastal bulldozer colony. (I took about hundred pictures there, too.)
Ngawi is a fishing village without a harbor, just a beach. When the boats come it, they’re set on handbuilt trailers and hauled up the beach by bulldozers. This is lieu of a launch ramp, or a jetty and moorage. Several dozen bulldozers line the road, each hooked to a largish fishing boat. Some of them are seriously antique, others quite modern. It’s a very curious sight, and an interesting solution to the obvious problem of protecting the boats from the chronically rough seas there.
Finally, on the last stretch of the road — one lane of gravel and mud — we saw the permanent colony of fur seals that live around Cape Palliser. (I took about a hundred pictures of seals as well.)
These are big seals, rather larger than the harbor seals I’m familiar with. It was a rainy day so a lot of them were up on the grass by the road, above the rocky beach. They were also quite indifferent to our presence. When I got out of the car and walked around with the camera several times, I was sharing their immediate space. Mostly I got a yawn and a blink. Things might have been different if I were wearing a coat made of fish or something.
It was a beautiful drive. We got to see a lovely slice of New Zealand, and some unusual things. Plus a long, fun day in the car. Today we lay a bit lower. Tomorrow we are off to Melbourne, Australia.
Also, due to bandwidth limitations here, I can’t upload the bulk of my photos yet. Watch for photo essays on sheep, seals and bulldozers to come.
Photographs © 2010, Joseph E. Lake, Jr.
This work by Joseph E. Lake, Jr. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
Tags: Australia, Calendula, Cool, New Zealand, Photos, Travel
Posted: 1:40 pm Mon August 30 2010 | Comments(1) |
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