Morning dew

Taken with Samsung NV3 (automatic) 1/125 f/3.5 ISO 80

This morning when walking the dogs I took along my little Samsung camera (as usual!) and as always managed to find something of interest. Its funny how the same things can look so different in different light. The grass has not been cut for a long time and has beautiful arching heads. The dew in the dark looked almost like frost but I can assure you it was not cold. We were dressed in thin t'shirts even though the two dogs had their best fur coats on!
The trouble with fur coats is that they are a magnet to seed heads! At the moment those seeds called "cobbler's pegs" - thin long black seeds with orange hooks at one end - are out in their thousands. Byron in particular seems to find them and comes home bristling with them!
We were in the park before seven in the morning so the sun was still low in the sky and had not dried up the evening dew. Colin spotted it first - the big spiderweb, slung between twigs and blades of grass. This time I had a spiderweb with a dark background. Most times I see them when I can only get the sky as the background.

Taken with Samsung NV3 (automatic) 1/60 f/4 ISO 120

Shooting a spider web with a point and shoot camera is a hit and miss affair - the cameras are fully automatic so the user cannot control the aperture which in turn controls the depth of field. The focus is totally manual too so if the web is a little hard to see with the naked eye it is even more difficult to see in the 2.5" screen so it makes locating the web very frustrating. It makes focus even more miss than hit. A second spiderweb I tried to capture is a failure - the camera focused on the trees behind and the web is completely "soft" and so makes the picture look like a waste of time!
How I wished I had the SLR with me for these shots. Why? The Aperture can be set with a low number (wide aperture) and this reduces the area in focus. As long as the web is in focus, everything behind or in front would be out of focus and so give even more definition to the beads of moisture on the web. See how in my photo the tree behind the web is so sharp you can almost count the leaves? With shallow focus the web would be just as sharp but the background would be a blur of colour - but still distinguishable as trees and shrubs.

There is a setting on our point and shoot cameras that might do the trick and I must try this some other time - Portrait setting, which is among the collection of options in the "Scene Mode", is intended to isolate a person from their background - maybe that will work.

I have just found the EXIF data for the photos and I am very surprised to note that both these pictures DID have the aperture set low and yet the depth of field is extremely wide. Confused? Me too!
AJ

Creepy crawly

While enjoying a cup of coffee out on the veranda my eyes alighted on a white cross up near the roof. Of course I knew it was a spider's web but that did not stop me from taking a closer look. I could then make out the spider spread across his cross and decided I would try to get a macro shot of it using the Samsung camera.

The Samsung is a very simple automatic camera but like all point and shoot cameras it has many features on it that enhance its photo taking ability. One of these features is the Macro setting. To switch on "Macro" is a very simple action with the Samsung. One of the buttons on the back has to be pressed. Some cameras require you to go into the menu and search through many options to find Macro. However it is well worth checking your camera to see how to turn it on because it works very well indeed.

Once in Macro setting I reached up and tried to take my picture. I had to lean over the railing and reach up above my head while at the same time try to see what was in the screen and half press the shutter release to allow the camera to focus. The spider was a bit suspicious of my actions and zipped around to the other side of the web. I changed my position and he zipped to the other side again. It was quite frustrating!

I had three tries and two of them worked out. The first shot fired before the camera had locked the focus so it was not very sharp. With the spider on the same side of the web as myself it was a lot easier to hold the camera steady and actually see where I had it positioned in the frame!

If you can stomache seeing the spiders larger so you can see the hairs on its legs and the gleam in its beady eyes, just click on the picture. You will then see it larger than in real life!

Once the deed was done I was able to get back to my cup of coffee and let the spider relax again.

Nothing is safe from my cameras!

AJ

Home again

Its good to be home! First thing the warm holiday clothes were thrown into the washing machine while we enjoyed our Sunday cooked breakfast - we had missed out on having it on Sunday as that was the morning of our flight. As usual, as soon as the egg was lifted from the pan and onto the plate the phone rang! Life has got back to normal!

The dogs are delighted to have us home, they have been well looked after by a friend who lived in the house while we were away. Each time we have left our dogs in kennels we have come home to expensive vet bills - they seem to pick up eye problems and Kennel Cough from these kennels. Even though we have had the dogs injected against Kennel Cough there seem to be different strains of it that our poor dogs seem to get. So with Joy looking after our big woolly dogs we have no worries at all when we go away.

My son Paul and family came around at lunch time to welcome us back and the children imediately went to the cupboard and dug out the beads and nylon thread to do their favourite threading task at Granny's place. A sudden squeal had us all rushing in to the sunroom and horror of horrors young Chantelle had done it again. She had pushed a bead into her nose. Oh no. Paul tried in vain to retrieve it but it had been pushed right back - too far for him to fish it out. So that was the end of their visit. They are now at the hospital and waiting for someone to help - on a public holiday they will be waiting for quite a while I think. You hear of children pushing things into their noses - but wouldn't you think that when it had been done once and there are memories of all the proding and probing by strangers that the child would never do it again? Its only a few weeks since the last time. Kids! The beads have been packed away and hidden from sight and so high up that a ladder would be needed to retrieve them. Granny needs a lie down now!

To calm myself down I grabbed a pair of snips and went into the garden and quietly pruned some of the buds off the Chrysanthemums. Colin grabbed the pole, brush and suction hose and he cleaned the swimming pool.

A few years ago a friend gave me three mauve Chrysanthemums and gave me lots of instructions on how to make them have only one flower so that they would be large flowers. I now have hundreds of mauve Chrysanths and I often leave it too late to clean off the side shoots. I had worked on them before I left for New Zealand and they are almost open so today I tidied them up even more. It does make a difference to the size of the flowers but if I did it sooner and more often I would have even larger blooms! Its a pity they smell so awful, they are attractive flowers.

I shall ring the family and find out if the bead has been removed - they were boasting that nothing dramatic had happened while we were away - they should have said nothing! I feel dreadful for providing the weapon!

AJ

Driving back to Christchurch

Our final day in New Zealand was to be spent on the road. The drive from Wanaka to Christchurch takes roughly six and half hours.
In spite of Colin's interest in the daily weather forecasts I had made my own predictions. We were to have sunshine for every day of our holiday but it was allowed to rain on the last day because there would be less distraction to hold us up! Someone "up there" was listening and we had our holiday in sunshine and our trip back to Christchurch in the rain!
I just had to take a last parting shot of the Central Otago hills as they looked in the drab weather just to show how lucky we were to see them with the sun on them. It would be difficult to get excited about the scenery when it looks this grey - the sunlight accentuating all the shadows made these same hills look fascinating and "photographable".
In a pretty area called the "Waitaki Valley" where there were lush green fields in flat land in a valley between low hills I spotted what looked to be a mud brick house set back from the road. In spite of the light rain I just had to investigate! The gate into the field in which this fenced house stood was locked closed with a hefty chain so my shots had to be taken from the road, I zoomed in with the Samsung (I wanted to be as quick as possible and not get wet so didn't have time to fiddle with the settings on the SLR!) and took a shot of the sign, I couldn't read it from the road so I was hoping that I had held the camera still enough to enable me to enlarge the picture and so read the sign.
Since the content is interesting I have replaced the text using Photoshop so that you can read it too. (If not click on the picture and it will take you to a larger version.)
Once we had passed through the Waitaki Valley the hills disappeared and the landscape became so flat that it was featureless and in the rain totally boring! When we reached a "Driver Reviver" cafe I received a free cup of coffee (being the driver) while Colin had to pay for his! It was a welcome break - and there was a pot-belly stove in the dining area so I sat with my back to it and warmed up inside and out! Its amazing how chilled the damp and greyness can make you feel. The waitress commented on the boring road too so it wasn't just me that felt it!
Colin took over the driving for the last hour so I was able to take a dreadful picture of the scenery from inside the car. The foreground is whizzing past so has motion blur and there is so little of the land to be seen because of the flatness and the sky - well the sky is wet! What you can make out is that there are long hedges that line the paddocks - they are presumably wind breaks as they are about 15 meters tall or more and consist of pine trees mostly but other trees are used too. We were amused that the huge sprinklers that irrigate the pastures were all operating.
Our NZ trip is over. I could not post this report on our last day until today for lack of internet connection. I trust you have enjoyed sharing our experiences and feel inspired to visit New Zealand yourself.
AJ

Further up the Rail Trail

This is our last day for exploring the country around Wanaka so with picnic basket packed we set off to explore further along the Central Otago Rail Trail and kept the car rolling until we had driven past the places at which we had stopped yesterday. It meant a long stretch of driving – over two hours non stop – but once we started to explore new country that distance was forgotten and the cameras were kept busy. 1/60 f/8 ISO 200

Our first stop of interest was a watering hole that has become busy thanks to the development of the cycle track along the old railway tracks.

1/100 f/8 ISO 200

Wedderburn has a namesake in Australia but other than the name there is no similarity at all. This Wedderburn totals one old hotel and one back packer farm-stay. The hotel is built from what looks to be local stone, but I suspect that it has been restored and refurbished a few times since its original construction. The summer outside garden area is enclosed with the same stonework and the way it has been done gives character to a functional area. What amused us was the line-up of vehicles for hire near by. We wondered where the people would come from to hire these vehicles! Surely the cyclists wouldn’t want them!
At a T Junction I made a decision to turn left to see what Naseby looked like. It was only 15k up the road so not far. What a gem this place turned out to be! It is not on a through road, the road goes no further, and yet the town is quite sizeable and full of the most interesting buildings dating back to the late 1800’s. We locked the car and walked around taking plenty of photos of a town that seems to have been stuck in time. The shops that were open seemed to be selling junk from that era too!
The only picture of the buildings I am sharing with you is of a haberdashery on the corner.

1/180 f/6.9 ISO80 (p & s Samsung N50)

The little dark painted shop next door to it is a clock and optical shop! What a combination. Get your clock fixed while you try on some new spectacles! The items in the window were fascination and both Colin and I managed to take a couple of shots of them. It’s no good. I shall have to show you one of the pictures I took! Like I said, it is as though the place has been stuck in time, this display looks so natural! 1/60 f/3.9 ISO 100 (p & s Samsung N50)

As it was time for lunch I pulled the car up beside a grassy area with some dark and healthy fir trees. On taking a second look at the trees I was amazed to find that these trees had been planted in 1880 after being brought from different parts of the world, there was a tree from Afganistan, one from Canada, and the two huge Wellingtonia (Sesquoiadendron giganteum) were from California, USA. (there were labels on the trees!) You can tell from the size of our tiny red Toyota Corolla just how big these trees are!

1/180 f6.3 ISO 80 (p & s Samsung N50)

Another unexpected find was a german gun - sorry I am not interested enough in weapons to know what sort of gun it is! The NZ soldiers from Naseby who won the particular battle and comandeered this gun had it shipped to England and then it was send on to NZ where it eventually wound up at Naseby. When you drive the country roads for miles and miles and see nothing but hills and sheep it is a real surprise to learn that the soldiers from this little town were presented with this trophy! And look how new and well preserved it looks! It doesn't look as if it is nearly 100 years old.1/180 f/6.3 ISO 80 (p & s Samsung N50)

Our next town visited was Ranfurly and it is different as it could possibly be from Naseby. This town is quite large too but its buildings are mostly 1950s and are of the Art Deco style. We walked into one of them and found ourselves confronted by a delightful volunteer who really enjoyed explaining about the towns we had visited. She had some stories of her own travels to share too so it was difficult to tear ourselves away!
This evening we pack our cases in readiness for the long trek back to Christchurch. Just as we had promised ourselves, we shall be taking back to Australia a large chunk of New Zealand in our memory cards!
AJ

Gold rush - for the gold towns

Today was a day of exploring old gold mining towns and we found so much of interest that I am going to limit what I write about today. I could write a book of the places we saw!
From Cromwell we headed first in the direction of Alexandra and were almost there when a signboard indicated a lookout over a dammed river. Several photos later we took an alternative road rather than return to the one we had just left and took a look at a small town called Clyde.

1/250 f/8 ISO 200

We did not expect to find such a character filled place – the buildings were equally as old as those in famous Arrowtown and not on the tourist trail. I had a ball, taking photo after photo before we moved on to see if we could find other interesting places.
This was a day for detours. Whenever an alternative road appeared I took it! This was how we managed to find Ophir. What a little gem this place turned out to be. The Post Office is the oldest continuous working Post Office in all of New Zealand.

1/250 f 6.3 ISO 80

I poked my head inside and met the Post Mistress. I asked her if she minded if I looked around and she gave me a guided tour. I called Colin up from where he was waiting in the car and he joined me while we were shown many of the original tools of the original opening of the Post Office, the scales, the heavy cash box, and the counter calendar were just some of the treasures.

1/45 f/3.5 ISO 160

While we were taking pictures of the original safe and the posting sorting boxes an Ophir resident came in to collect her mail at the counter so our guide was back to business for a little while before she continued to show off the tools of the trade that were still in use. We were then directed up behind the Post Office to the old Police lock-up. To be incarcerated in such a cold dark lockup would turn anyone off crime!
This town must have been quite prosperous because it has the most incredible suspension bridge across the deep sided river.

1/200 f/9 ISO 200

I would love to tell you about Cambrians and St Bathans which are two other tiny gold mining towns tucked back off the main roads and not even on the main map - but space does not allow. It was only because we stopped for lunch at one of the Rail Trail stops that we were able so see a local map that showed where many tiny gold mining villages could be found. The area we covered has miles of what was once rail lines that are now cycles tracks and is called the “Otago Central Rail Trail”. The rail trail stretches from Alexandra to Middlemarch but we only covered a quarter of the distance.
Colin and I walked around the area that was once the gold diggings at St Bathans but we didn’t have our gold pans with us so we came away empty handed!
The white walled cliffs once contained veins of alluvial gold which was extracted with water jets. As the slurry washed down the cliffs the miners collected it and panned the gold from the mud. It would have been hard and dirty work – but rather than be muddy brown by the end of a day’s work they would have looked like ghosts!

1/250 f/11 ISO 200

The countryside in this area we covered today is different again to that of the Haast Pass and the tree-less mountains of Central Otago between Omarama and Queenstown. So as well as many pictures of the towns we visited we have also filled our cameras with even more views! This is a fascination country with something different to see at every turn in the road.
AJ

Haast for lunch

Every Timeshare Resort organizes a social hour for the guests for the week. Today was the day for Edgewater – however it was between the hours of 10.30 and 11.30 which would mean that there would be no time to go anywhere if we attended. So we packed up our picnic case and topped up the car with unleaded fuel and off we went in the direction of the West Coast leaving our lodgings at nine. By the time the social was to start we were miles away in the mountains!
The few wispy clouds that hung around first thing, evaporated as we drove higher and once again we were able to strip off our warm jackets and enjoy the warmth of the sun. We passed two lakes – actually we passed one of the lakes twice! Once we had rounded one of the mountains we came back onto Lake Wanaka, the other lake, which is equally as large, is Lake Hawea. A snowy peak could be seen in the distance over lake Hawea and I am afraid that I couldn’t resist this shot with the sheep in the foreground – trouble is, I was aiming straight into the sun with nothing to give me shade so I have a bit of lens flare. Sorry about that!

1/500 f/4/5 ISO 100

Our drive was to take us over the Haast Pass. Many years ago this was only passable on foot but now it is a comfortable road albeit a bit twisty. No time to nod off on this road!
As soon as we came to the halfway point between Wanaka and Haast the countryside changed dramatically. The hills around Wanaka are treeless while from Makarora, some sixty km from Wanaka, the trees suddenly cover the mountains from valley to peak.

1/80 f/8 ISO 200

Along this stretch there are many waterfalls, some are within easy reach of the road but others require up to an hour to get to and back from. We stopped for a couple and chickened out on another once we read the notice board and found out how long we needed! The wonderful rainforest once you leave the road was too tempting to not take a photo to share with you. The tree ferns are numerous and all the trees were covered with moss and lichen and the whole area looked very “Tolkien”.

1/50 sec F/6.3 ISO 800

Once over the pass we drove along the flat country of Haast, This just reinforced the awareness of the changeability of the scenery. We drove in an around the township of Haast – that took less than five minutes! It’s a tiny place. Then we stopped in the car park of the Visitor Information Centre and spent a while looking over all their displays – they have been hung on the walls with the sunlight blazing through the many windows for so long that many of the large photographs have turned into a monochromatic blue. Mind you, what was there was very interesting. We enjoyed our lunch seated at the one and only table in the middle of the car park! We had the entire car park to ourselves for the whole time we were there.

1.500 f/6.3 ISO 80

Before leaving Haast we went in search of the Haast Beach. It was prominently signed but we nearly missed it – there is a service station and a motel and no beach to be seen. I back tracked and pulled into the gravel car park opposite the motel and we climbed out of the car and walked up a narrow track between very prickly gorse bushes until we came to the gravelly beach. We were surprised to see quite a lot of people on the beach walking along with their heads down looking for something. Colin took up the familiar pose of the fossicker and searched the beach to see what it was they were looking for. He found a few little pieces of what might be greenstone.
On the trip back to our unit we passed the Lakes again and took even more photographs. We managed to find a spot along Lake Hakea where the mountain on the otherside was reflected in the glass-like waters. Unfortunately there was no interesting foreground to lead the eye into the picture so I just have a funny reflection!

1/200 f/8 ISO 200

We have two days left here in Wanaka and if the weather holds fine I shall end up with more than 12G of memory cards filled with photographs! Two of my three 4G cards are already filled. Once those are filled I will have to rely on my Samsung for photos. I still have some SD cards free.
AJ