Tag Archives: Cape Brett

New Zealand, Photography, Topo Map, Tramping

51. Rawhiti – Russell (Cape Brett Walkway)

Thursday, April 2: Some cloud came over during the course of the night and there was rain in the early morning, clearing to a fine & sunny day

Tramping: Cape Brett – Rawhiti, 15.1 km

Wainui Lodge, 92D Te Wahapu Rd, Russell 0272, tel.: +64 9 403 8278, double as single, only two rooms, max. 5 guests (BBH, $50 + 3)

Cape Brett Cliffs
Cape Brett Cliffs, snapshot

I had photographed three fixed time sequences during the night: One of the rising moon, one of the moon @ full zoom (A470), and one of the Southern Cross (SX120) until the batteries gave out. The camera was retrieved due to increasing cloud, but the tripod had been tied to the picnic table with a new twist-and-tighten mechanism which I was unwilling to untie late at night.

The hut was still very warm, but there were no bugs so I slept on an open sleeping bag. It started getting light about 6:30 and by 7:15 the sun was rising. Now this would have been a good sunrise to shoot, but I was concentrating on getting out alive. Breakfast was quickly dealt with, the salt shaker seemed to work fine and everything was washed, dried (including the sox) and packed away by 8:30. Swept out the hut (a little bit of grass cuttings had found its way into the hut) and then I was ready to go. Read more…

New Zealand, Photography

48. Ruawai – Dargaville – Paihia

Monday, March 30: A day for four seasons

Centabay Backpackers, 27 Selwyn Rd., Paihia 0200, tel.: +64 9 402 7466, twin as single (BBH, $35 + $3)

Auckland Green Gecko
Auckland Green Gecko Naultinus elegans at Peter and Sara’s farm

Awoke around 8:00 and had breakfast of some sort of cereal with yoghurt and raw milk, hot cross buns and coffee with Sara and Peter, packed my stuff together, and was ushered out to see and handle the geckos. Sara has a licence to keep them and I was shown all of the species and had them crawling all over me. A couple of shots. Then she was off to her voluntary work and I was left with Peter. Gave him a copy of the book, which I had to dedicate and sign, and he accepted it as payment for last night’s dinner, which was a reasonable deal. Then there was a never-ending conversation until both of us decided we’d had enough. Read more…

New Zealand, Photography

45. Whitianga – Coromandel Town – Waiau Falls

Friday, March 27: Overnight rain, sometimes quite heavy, lighter rain in the morning, cloud in the hills, a bit of sun in Coromandel

On the Beach

I was up fairly bright and early but the day didn’t look like it was going to be up to much so I waited around a bit, had a look at the surf and could tell that the kayaking would be off again. The alternative was to drive to Coromandel and see if I could do one or two short walks. sandwiches were prepared and off I took at around 11:00 after seeing that my bookings for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were in the bag. Read more…

GPS Tracks, New Zealand, Photography, Tramping

44. Whitianga: Cathedral Cove

Thursday, March 26: Some fine spells in the course of the day but mainly cloudy, and rain in the evening

Tramping: Cathedral Cove, 3.3 km

On the Beach

Cathedral Cove Archway
Archway at Cathedral Cove at high tide. Median pixel of ca. 540 shots

The two Chinese girls were very well organised and after their instant noodles for breakfast and some chocolate they had packed up what little they had and were downstairs on the dot of 10:00 to wait for their bus, which as far as I could see was some time in coming. In the meantime I had gone for a walk in the direction of the outer settlements and had not seen very much, except for one heron who allowed me to get very close.

Tourist trap extraordinaire
Tourist trap extraordinaire. [download id="1966"]
I decided on driving out to Hahei to see what the story with kayaking was, although the waves today looked no smaller that yesterday’s – because the brochure said, “Daily.” Had a quick lunch of some toasted cheese and tomato sandwiches and then took off down the road (~30 km) with most of the equipment I thought was needed. Found the place in Hahei, but no one at home; only a handwritten sign that the morning had been called off but that the afternoon was running. Found some phones at the tiny shopping centre and called but the afternoon tour had also been called off; was advised to call back tomorrow morning. Read more…