Moon struck on the Pisa and all downhill at Treble Cone

In this week ending the planets aligned for myself: Over the years I've skied under the stars lots at the Snow Farm and learnt to wonder not so much at the sparkle of them, but what lies between. But on Wed. the weather, snow conditions, work load [less is good] and the near full moon came into sync.

I was casting a shadow to my right on the way back and on my left the moonlit snow was a sort of orangy colour - not quite pinkish, not quite mauvish, but more a shade that reminded me of Aust. bushfire smoke with the sun shining through.

It was a slow trip back - I kept stopping to marvel at the scene, and the beauty of it was that conditions were so good there was no hurry. I certainly did not need my headlight

Moonrise over the Pisa...


Just a little while before the moonrise, I made this landscape photo in quite a desperate hurry in an attempt to catch the pink glow...


And today, just to keep life varied I took my son to ski Treble Cone. He's been a bit down-in-the-dumps of late so the idea was get some excitement and sunshine in his life. I used to do huge mileage there before he was born, and indeed even worked there a couple of winters on avalanche safety work, that was until I fell under the beguiling spell of Nordic skiing.

By the time I'd done two runs I just had to take him to the best viewpoint and make a photo. Here we see the Matukituki valley to the right, and Mt Aspiring hosting a cloud cap on the left and far away...


Riding the six seater chair...


I did enjoy the skiing btw. Conditions were perfect and we had a great time. I even met a few old time Treble Cone friends. They don't tend to understand why I switched, but I can live with that!

Fellow blogger friend Robb has just posted a very good write up of a recent Ruahines's winter tramp, and worthy of note is the top photo... more >>

An eclectic mix: musings, landscape photography, vineyards, life in Wanaka, history and my new iPhone

Last weekend was Wanaka Show weekend. For those of you non New Zealand readers a "Show Day" is a fair day held annually in the various provinces on different dates, and is a couple of days usually where town meets country. Livestock is judged, there are horse events [many go from show to show following them around the country], trade exhibits, pet parades [how I loved taking my son to these with the pet of the moment, puppies, guinea pigs etc], children's art shows, photography, baking, preserves, vegetables, all with modest prizes for all winners. It's pretty cool and the history is rich, but perhaps the most interesting thing is it's not rained on the Wanaka Show in about 50 years, and on schedule this year, bingo, the weather settled at last into chilly airs and stunning sunshine with no wind. And so the legend continues!

Dougal and Badger, the former looking pleased with his prize certificate, while Badger's attention is on the other dogs nearby! A copy from a photo that appeared in the local paper back in March 2004...


My good friend Roger was in town for the Sunday after doing a photo shoot in Fiordland, so we decided to have an evening out making photos in the Bendigo area in the Dunstan Mts., only 30 mins. drive from home, and rich with gold mining history.

On the lower slopes there are now many sunny slightly elevated areas planted in grapes, and the bird netting makes for some interesting variations on landscape photography...


Laying it out must be quite a job, and even more so rolling it up again...




But there is plenty of landscape left in it's more undeveloped state - looking north here from the site of the historic gold mining town of Welsh Town, up the lower Lindis valley...


Higher up is Logan Town, which is the more commonly visited and photographed area. I took this series of shots back in 2007...






And during the week I finally bought an iPhone. OK mainly for work, but the gadget kid in me is having a great time. I'll be posting about it for weeks in my work blog I think, and already I've found it's camera useful.

Lastly this week's blog recommendation is Robb Kloss's Musings from Aotearoa. Great writing illustrated with photos and a strong flavour of family and the Ruahine Range in the North Island, with attention to environmental issues. Thanks Robb