A Scenic Detour

While I’ve not been quite as prolific a photographer during the first half of this year (something I’m looking to change), I have managed to break my camera out a few times. And likewise, although my travel schedule has been light-on, I’ve popped up here and there to get a few images that I feel are worth sharing from around the place. Once again, I’ll let the images do most of the talking.

These first few are from the East Coast of the South Island, a ways north of Kaikoura. We were blown away by the beauty of this little pocket of the country. I’ve travelled pretty much every corner of New Zealand, with only one or two exceptions, and this was one of those exceptions. A winding coastal road clings to the rocks and cliffs along this rugged coastline, with dramatic breakers on one side, steep hillsides rising to mountains on the other. The weather was glorious and the scenery rich. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

We found this little church and it’s environs along the same stretch. The churches around Christchurch and northwards are beautiful and would be well worth a photography excursion on their own merit.

Another area of fresh exploration for me was Golden Bay. This exquisite pocket of the South Island, along the north-western tip, is a lfiestyle haven with delightful scenery and a rugged, secluded feel out of the main township areas. We did a short walk to Wainui Falls to one of the more dramatic waterfalls I’ve seen for a few years (partly due to Victoria’s general rainfall scarcity).

The bush walk up is lovely, but the falls make it totally worth the effort. Heavy and gushing and surrounded by dripping temperate rainforest, it’s a gorgeous spot to explore.

Heading northwards through the middle of the North Island and it’s so-called desert centre, we stopped on a windy afternoon for a view of Mt. Ruapehu across the barren plains. Wind-tossed wildflowers made for a nice inclusion into the frame on the first shot.

Catapulting west a considerable distance, I snapped these images of downtown Cape Town, South Africa, from my hotel window. Just to mix it up a little.

And finally, a weekend break took us down the Great Ocean Road here in Victoria, where we came across this little waterfall at the end of a roadside footpath into the Otways. One of the under-rated treasures of Australia, the Great Ocean Road is full of pathways and corridors through the bush to explore, and could be mined for weeks for little gems like this one.

More to come as the camera gets out for more walks…

The Prom

Victoria, as I like to point out on a regular basis, is perhaps the most under-rated portion of Australia.  Travellers coming here know about Sydney with its Opera House, Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach.  They know about Queenland’s Surfer’s Paradise, Cairns, Townsville and Cape Tribulation.  Images of Uluru in the Northern Territory are stamped on most western kids’ collective memories as the archetypal travel image for Australia, matching the Statue of Liberty, the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben as one of the most recognizable landmarks on the planet.  Even Western Australia is getting known for its outback trips, beaches, wineries and general expanses of vast wilderness.  Only Tassie and South Australia seem to drop further down the list of travellers’ itineraries.

I rate Melbourne as easily the most enjoyable place I have lived, overall.  It has a smattering of everything.  City life, with great cafes, restaurants, culture and an Asian-cosmopolitan vibe.  Rolling hills and wineries in the Yarra Valley and now, increasingly, the Mornington Peninsula (check out their Pinot Gris’ and Pinot Noirs) and near Geelong (best Chardonnays coming out of Australia now, in this humble quaffer’s opinion).  Mountains for outdoor enthusiasts (though the skiing is distinctly average) in the Victorian Alps.  Dramatic plunging coastline drives (Great Ocean Road), beaches (bayside and oceanside) for lounging, playing and surfing, deserts, rock-climbing, and big open countryside.  All within a couple of hours of the Central Business District.

Melbourne’s downfall, maybe, is that a) its bounty isn’t that well advertised, and b) you really need a set of wheels to enjoy it.

In other words, it’s just not that backpacker-friendly.  So they all go to Sydney, where they see Bondi, the Opera House, the Harbour bridge, and then go out and get trollied.

As various friends of mine have pointed out, Sydney is like a one-night stand.  Melbourne is like a love-affair.

I’m actually okay with this.  It means that some of our special places stay a little more special, a little less well trod.

One of our local haunts is a household name in Victoria, although folks who haven’t travelled here or who aren’t fans of Ken Duncan’s photography, may not have heard of Wilson’s Promentory. Known as Wilson’s Prom, or simply The Prom, it is a peninsula sticking out of the southern tip of Victoria where a land-bridge joined mainland Australia to Tasmania within the last fifty thousand years (moments ago, geologically speaking; indeed aboriginal Australians, not to mention countless animals, are believed to have crossed back and forth along it before rising sea-levels swallowed it into the Bass Straits).

I went down to the Prom a couple of months back with friends A and M. It’s a national park, and a delightfully peaceful one at that (at least, it is if you go out of season). Miles and miles of wild coastline wrap around dry rocky hills covered in scrubby brush. A devastating bushfire season last year hasn’t substantially diminished the grandeur of the landscape. The sea is clear, the waves plunging. The sand is soft and expansive. There are walks, swims, and plenty of corners to explore.

We camped, as most people do. With a four-year-old in tow, long exploratory treks were out of the question, but we did some enjoyable trundles through the bush and along beaches, and enjoyed the fresh air. By day three, the sun was out and the sky turned a cloudless rich blue colour that ached to be drunk.

I only got the briefest of tastes of The Prom, but am hungry for lots more, and it’s made it up onto my list of places in Victoria that I need to explore in considerably more detail. And I’ll make sure I bring my camera with me then, as well.

A Bounce in Her Step

Spur of the moment fun with my Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM.  Click the image to see more crisp DOF-y detail.