New Zealand in Winter

August 30, 2023

The forest floors in the South Island are something else. 😍

It’s been 4 years since my last trip to NZ, and I’d forgotten how vibrant and chaotic those beech forests can be!

My son Mitch and I have just returned from over 2 weeks exploring a couple of key areas of the South Island.

A Photography Roadtrip in Winter! ❄️☃️❄️

Snow, ice, rain, hikes, forest, sea stacks, canyons, wire bridges …

Thermals and beanies, gumboots, toasted sandwiches, soups, dark chocolate …

Milford Sound and Fiordland, Haast Pass and the West Coast.

Karijini / Ghost Gums, Gravel and Gum Boots

August 12, 2022

Early August 2022, Mitch and I made our way to Karijini National Park in outback Western Australia. For me that meant a 5:00am start for the drive up to Sydney Airport, the 6 hour flight across our vast continent to Perth, Western Australia. Next morning a 5:30am start to catch a 2hr flight from Perth to the remote airport of Paraburdoo, pick up our hire car, 45min drive north to the mining town of Tom Price. Grab some supplies for the week, then a 90min drive into Karijini National Park. Accommodation options are "limited" in the remote Australian outback, we had no camping gear with us so we had booked a cabin at the Karijini Eco Retreat - this proved be the perfect base from which to explore the many stunning gorges of the park!

Karijini is Western Australias' second largest National Park. Apparently there are at least 11 gorges in Karijini - many with swimming holes and water falls. Erosion over the past 2.5 billion years has created this stunning landscape, decorated with beautiful Ghost Gum trees, red gravel, spinifex, scrub and wild flowers.

Our first afternoon we headed off too check out Weano Gorge and Handcock Gorge - a nice introduction.

That night, after a bit of planning, we decided to spend the next day exploring Knox Gorge, from sunrise to sunset! Some stunning Ghost Gums on the cliff edges catching the morning sun, a hike through the gorge to the most amazing rock formation ( ‘Eye of Sauron’ ), plus time to explore the ‘surface’ with one of those amazing outback cloud patterns!

Next morning it was Knox Gorge again for sunrise, this time with the possibility of some cloud cover providing some sky colour! After sunrise we headed west to explore the valley that we had driven through on our first day. We were looking for possible vantage points to shoot either sunrise or sunset, interesting trees, red ridges dotted with spinifex. Lots of bush bashing. Our research indicated that snakes are quite plentiful in the park, so we had taken the precaution to bring our trusty snake slippers (gum boots!) with us.

Perfect for bush bashing!

Tuesday morning, Knox Gorge again for sunrise. Again, the chance of a colourful sunrise. This time it was colourful … for a brief moment!

We then headed back into Tom Price for some more supplies, fuel, and a great late breakfast and coffee at The Pickled Bean cafe - a nice find! Our plan was to then head out to Dales Gorge for the afternoon, explore the gorge and stick around for sunset, hoping for some nice colour.

Fern Pool was beautiful, as was Circular Pool, and the hike pretty good too. However the view from the lookout was spectacular! Shooting hand held, hanging out over the edge of the lookout was quite the challenge!

That night, we rewarded ourselves with a burger from the Eco Resort - very satisfying at the end of a long day!

An early start for Wednesday, back out to the valley for some bush bashing and exploring, looking for potential locations and compositions.

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Next day it was sunrise in the valley. Mitch and I had identified a couple of ridges and trees that we thought would look great in the early morning light … it was just going to take some bush bashing with head lamps across the plain, then a climb up the ridge to the vantage points. First task was to try and find, in the dark, the section of the road to head off from. Then, with fingers crossed, head out over the plain and hopefully up the chosen ridge!

Without to much hassle, all tasks successfully completed - now to wait for the rising sun …

Karijini !!!

Fabulous experience, well worth the effort to get there!

Many thanks Mitch for being my travel buddy … again.

We had some great discussions.

And great music and podcasts. Alas, only a single loaf of banana bread this time!

The most I’ve hiked in ages … especially in Gum Boots! 😆

Ghost gums, Red rocks, Blue skys and Wildflowers. 😍

Another Bucket List Item ✅

(You’ve just read the Book, now see the Movie! => Karijini )

Immersed / New England National Park, Northern NSW, Australia

June 9, 2022

Just back from another Photography Adventure with my son Mitch.

This time our focus was to immerse ourselves in the wonderful New England National Park, part of the Waterfall Way. Lush green, ancient forests of Antarctic Beech trees, thick fog drifting in and out, basalt cliffs …

Just stunning. And then being entertained by the amazing song of Lyrebirds! 😍

Lots of rain and beautiful waterfalls, however our focus was the forest … that lush, mossy green-ness that these forests nurture.

The adventure started with a long drive for me, from Berry to Newcastle, car packed with Banana Bread, ANZAC biscuits, dark beer, gum boots and my trusty toasted sandwich maker! Mitch was flying to Newcastle, from Melbourne, after he’d finished work - we’d booked accomodation just north of there, hoping to shoot a couple of coastal sunset/sunrise shots.

The drive up was uneventful, quite a few podcasts and playlists to keep me company. A quick detour into Budgewoi to catch up with an old friend I hadn’t seen for years. The grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches were a welcome treat!

Mitch’s plane was late, of course! Great to see him again. Weather wasn’t kind, still up for sunrise. Exploring Zenith Beach and Box Beach. Back to our room for a late breakfast and some planning for the next few days.

We headed north on Day 3, straight for Dorrigo, to the Crystal Shower Falls walk - a great introduction to the rainforests of the Waterfall Way - and it was bucketing down! 😀. Then back down the mountain for an overnight stay at The Diggers Tavern, Bellingen. The shnitty, mex wraps and ginger ales went down pretty well. It was election night and show weekend - a large crowd was gathering at the Tavern!

Next morning we up at sunrise and headed back up the mountain for another session in the Dorrigo National Park, then off to Components Café Dorrigo for a late breakfast and some great coffees. Now into the New England National park - we were staying right on the edge of the park. These next 4 days we were going to immerse ourselves inside the rainforest!

The Antarctic Beech trees were truly stunning … towering above us, dripping with moss and covered in the most vibrant greens!

On the way to the rainforest we found a stand of Snow Gums - beautiful colours!

Another great catchup! Another awesome photography adventure. Those ANZAC biscuits really helped sustain us between our gourmet toasted sandwiches; the conversation was again good, and perhaps a bit more politics based than normal; planning underway for our next adventure …

Dune ... and a lil' Koala 'n' Apostles Photography

December 22, 2021

Starting a story with a bit of self-indulgence I guess is a little… self-indulgent! :)

So bear with me. We’ll get to some real bears soon!

Some of you may have heard of the sci-fi novel Dune, first published in 1965 - considered one of the best books of all time. Actually part of a series of six books written by Frank Herbert.

Ten years after his death in 1985, his son partnered with sci-fi writer Kevin J. Anderson to expand the universe even further. At the last count I think there are around 21 novels in the Dune universe.

Why is this book so significant I hear you say? Thank you for asking.

I haven’t been much of a reader. If it wasn’t in the sports pages or published in Rugby League Week, I probably didn’t read it in my teen years.

I’m not sure who it was, and I’m forever grateful to them, but someone in my first year at Uni handed me Dune to read. And I did.

It resonated with me enormously. The rich universe, with diverse cultures and characters.

Over the years I’ve read Dune many, many times… I’ve tracked down and read around 12 of the other novels. All good, but nothing like the masterpiece that is Dune!

So when Mitch and I heard that a new adaption of Dune (don’t bother with the previous) was being brought to the big screen we were both extremely keen to see it.

I arranged a couple of days off work to head down the Hume Hwy and spend some time with Mitch.

He booked tickets for us at the IMAX. And the film?

Well, it was stunning. The soundtrack was an experience in itself.

And while in Melbourne, I took the opportunity to wander around the streets and try my hand (camera!) at street photography. A little daunting to me, but encourgaed by Mitch I found it really enjoyable.

The quality Melbourne brunch and coffee certainly helped.

As part of our catchup, we’d planned to spend some time searching for wild koalas at Cape Otway, and then hopefully sunset and sunrise at the 12 Apostles.

Heading down Lighthouse Road, we found a promising forest of Manna Gums and started our search.

But where to look??? At the top of the trees? Halfway down? Could they just be congregating around the bottom just waiting for us to shoot them?

Well, nearly 4 hours later, after searching several sections of forest, we had managed to site and photograph the grand total of… 2 koalas!

“Good just to be out” we told ourselves!

Onwards to Port Campbell National Park and the 12 Apostles.

A beautiful drive leading to a stunning coastline. First we scouted a new location that offered a different view of the Apostles. We put that in our pocket as a possibility for sunrise next morning,

Sunset, after a well earned Schnitty and Prickly Moses Dark Ale, was nice with a golden glow.

Alas, sunrise did not go to plan.

Up early, we had plenty of time to assess the conditions - not as much cloud cover as was hoped for. Nothing to the east and looked like a little to the west.

So we headed to Gibson Steps to say Hello to Gog and Magog again. Some nice late sky colour. And high tide provided a nice challenge, with our gumboots frequently re-filled with rogue-ish waves!

Video Highlights of our adventures …

Well, the end of another great catchup with Mitch.

The highlight? Every chance we get to catch up!

Or, as a great warrior once said “Dreams make good stories, but everything important happens when we're awake” - Duncan Idaho.

Or perhaps “Happiness, not in another place but this place... not for another hour, but this hour.“

Until our next adventure.

First Day of Winter 2021 / Saddleback Mountain

June 1, 2021

Photo Diary - First day of Winter 2021

I’ve had this idea running around my head for a couple of years now … Sunrise up at Saddleback Mountain Lookout. A wonderful lookout that affords views up and down the South Coast. From the southern suburbs of Wollongong, down to Kiama, and to the western side of Lake Illawarra, all with the Illawarra Escarpment as a backdrop.

I’ve been there a few times over the years … just to take in the view.

On one occasion I headed to Bombo for Sunrise, which was a bit of a non-event, so started exploring to the west, up into Saddleback territory and was fortunate to snap one of my fave local shots … looking east along a country lane, framed by a giant Fig Tree.

Anyway, after checking the weather maps the night before, and offering a sacrifice to the Sunrise Gods, I was thinking sunrise on the first could be pretty good.

It was a such an enjoyable experience - from the pre-dawn bird song echoing up through the valley, the first glimpses of red emerging on the horizon, to the full blown ‘banger’ sunrise, and a couple of great ‘sun stars’ captured just down the road!

Anyway, here’s some video I captured of the experience …

And some of the pics from that morning …

Fagus Hunting in Tassy

May 27, 2021

Just back from a 2 week Photography Road trip in April, with my son Mitch, and finally have some time to put together a photo diary of our adventure.

Quite a lengthy blog, so if you're still interested, maybe grab a coffee/tea/beer/red wine … put on some Enya … 😀

'Twas a pretty full on couple of weeks in which we targeted just a couple of key areas of Tasmania.

We were keen to explore the north west of Tassy, having seen glimpses of it during a family holiday there in 2016. Mitch had done quite a bit of research on potential Photo-worthy locations, so, apart from Cradle Mountain, we were keeping each day quite flexible.

Thursday evening we drove on to the Spirit of Tasmania, docked in Melbourne. Friday morning we drive off before sunrise in Devonport … so easy, except for that time when they had 12m waves!

Anyhow, this voyage was much less eventful. We quickly found a café for breakfast, one that we had visited before - great food and GREAT coffee - The Lane Way .

Nourished and batteries charged we headed west. We had a couple of nights booked at Tullah. Along the way we hiked into Upper Qualie Falls - what a gem! Great find Mitch! The hike in takes you through some lovely forest with moss's, lichens and fungi. The waterfall itself is a wide cascade, framed by tree ferns and mossy rocks.

Just past Cradle Mountain can be found The Vale of Bellvoir Conservation Area - think ancient rainforests and eucalyptus trees, oh, as we were driving out, we also discovered the Vale contained leeches! I haven't seen Mitch move so fast in a long while! 😀

Late that afternoon we checked into Tullah and headed off to find the Mount Murchison Track. We were keen to challenge ourselves on the hike up Mt Murchison. The weather wasn't great, and we had left it a bit late, so we decided just to at least start the hike and see what it was like.

After about 40mins in we both agreed that there was no way we could complete the hike in time, especially with light rain falling. We'll save that one for another time!

The weather next day was cloudy and wet … perfect water fall weather! We headed north to find Wandle Falls. Again, stunning rain forest, ferns and fungi! I think we spent nearly 3 hours exploring the forest … so beautiful.

A quick bite to eat, then off to Philosopher Falls. A great track winding it's way through lush rainforest, and a stunning array of coloured fungi! Oh, and a pretty cool, multi tiered waterfall once you cross the bridge over the Arthur River and descend down the 210 steps to the viewing platform! That night, a well earned Schnitty and ale.

Our stay at Tullah was over, and after a stop in the lovely town of Sheffield for coffee and supplies, we headed to Cradle Mtn.

We were now on the hunt for Fagus! 👹

Fagus is Tasmania’s only winter deciduous species, and one of only a handful of deciduous species in Australia. "The annual 'Turning of the Fagus' in mid-autumn produces a riot of colour in Tasmania's high country. The crinkle-cut leaves turn from brilliant gold to rust red and orange creating a majestic tapestry in the alpine landscape" Get the picture?

Our other reason for spending 3 nights here was to capture sunrise on the eastern side of the Cradle. We'd booked a hut for the overnight hike, had mapped out our evening hike up past Hansons Peak, kitted up with tent, cold weather gear etc. We hadn't planned for the projected -7°C with a 'feels like' well, lets just say A LOT LESS! ❄️ The cloud cover was also not being kind to us. We had a free night later in the week so changed the booking hoping to come back, but again similar conditions prevented us taking on the challenge - again, for another time.

Our first afternoon was spent wandering through the King Billy Walk amongst these giant pines.

They grow in excess of 40m high and can live for over a thousand years!

The next day, the fagus hunt was on!

Icy Wind, Fog, Rain, Snow, … no Fagus shots.

We started on Ronnys Creek hiking the first section of the Overland Track, then detoured along the Horse Track up to the western side of Crater Lake, where we expected to find our quarry! Once there we did indeed see Fagus! Unfortunately the howling wind and driving rain made it impossible for any decent shots so we settled for a few iPhone pics! Large pockets of snow made the hike even more challenging.

We continued on to re-join the Overland Track, making our way down to the Dove Lake circuit, observing more fagus on the way, as well as many stunning Snow Gums, all the while battling the freezing, driving rain. Detective Murtaugh's words from the movie Lethal Weapon again echoing in my mind … "I'm getting to old for this sh*t!' 😭 Anyway, 5 hrs later ... 20,000 steps ... 150 flights of stairs, driving rain, bitterly cold wind, pockets of snow, 3 wombats, a few crows, a few nut bars, not one shot taken of the famed Fagus, we made it back to our cabin. The most challenging test for my knee so far - a tad sore but all good!

The next day the weather was looking a more friendly for photography. Still overcast, some showers, with the promise of some sunshine around sunset. We decided to target sunset up near Hansons Peak. Trouble is you can no longer leave your car Dove Lake. In fact private vehicle's are not allowed along Dove Lake Road during the running of the new shuttle bus's ( 8:00am to 6:00pm). So, an early breakfast, then down to Ronnys Creeks at 7:30am to drop off our car - at least we'd only need to walk back to there after sunset. Making use of the early start we again headed off on the Overland Track and then up to the Waldheim Chalet to explore the forest and shoot the pandani plants.

We then took the Cradle Valley Boardwalk back, taking time to shoot some of the Snow Gums and grass's along the way. Mitch and I both agreed an afternoon nap was well earned to ready us for the afternoon hike.

Refreshed, we took the shuttle bus down to Dove Lake and started the ascent to Hansons Peak - a wonderful hike providing a great view of both Dove Lake and the Cradle.

We arrived around 4pm roughly 90mins before sunset, giving us plenty of time to look for compositions and take in the amazing views … and fagus! There we fagus! Light conditions looked favourable … until 30mins later when a snow storm hit us! Quite amazing to be standing up there, visibility down to not much, and the sound of snow hitting us. Fortunately it only lasted around 15mins, clearing enough to allow a few sun rays through. Cloud was hugging the Cradle, some golden light was also trying to negotiate it's way through … shots taken, some lovely sunset coloured clouds signalled it was time to begin our hike back down, and back to the car.

2 Good blokes, a bit of snow … and a mountain somewhere!

Next morning we headed to our northern base for 2 nights to explore even further west into The Tarkine.

Our first morning we able to squeeze in a sneaky sunrise at Wynyard before exploring Rocky Cape National Park, and then down into the Tarkine to take in Trowutta Arch and the Julius River Conservation Reserve. The Reserve has a wonderful forest walk, with fungus of all colours, with the river lined with tree ferns!

Next day we had a challenging hike lined up - the Bastion Cascades Hike.

Magnificent cliff overhangs and small caves all encased in rainforest leading to the stunning cascading waterfall, just a 9km Grade 4 hike in the way. So grateful to Mitch for taking the time to 'encourage' and challenge me on all these hikes. Certainly would not have been able to do and enjoy the experiences that these hikes provided without him being there with me! Anyway, the hike was wonderful, as challenging as I had expected, including the rope climb up and down. The cascades were beautiful.

Time for another well earned schnitty and a beverage! :)

Bastion Cascades

Lower Bastion

Now well in to the second week of the hunt, we headed south.

A great road trip in it self from the north west coast down close to Mount Field National Park.

Mitch … pondering how good life must have been in the 60’s!

On the way we stopped at a small town called Poatina. This town had a definite 'vibe' to it. Kind of weird, a little creepy … think Twin Peaks (Google it!) It sits half way up a mountain, quite isolated. We new there was a coffee there somewhere. Searching, we slowly drove around the streets, looking for a shop or cafe, not seeing anyone, or any signs of life. We bravely parked the car and explored on foot. The town was frozen in the 60's. It was a hydro-electricity camp which was purchased by a Christian group in 1995, who run youth and community training programs.

At 10am, the tea shop opened and a few people came out of their house. We ventured in and had a pretty good coffee … and left.

Conditions at Mt Field were fairly bleak. Rain all day, driving wind and temps of low single digits, with a feels like temp of … a lot less. Call us silly, call us brave (just don't ever call us late for Schnitzels! ). We endured, and spent a couple of hours in amongst the stunning Fagus and dazzling Snow Gums. Very challenging to set up a shot, constant wiping of lens, frozen hands, but lots of laughs and a great session! Detective Murtaugh still whispering in my ear …

Back in our cabin we rewarded ourselves with the best toasted Ham, Cheese, Spicy Relish deep toasted sandwiches EVER!

Out time in the wilderness was coming to an end. We were booked in at Hobart for the next couple of nights, however, instead of heading east, we took a detour through the Styx Valley. Driving on a winding dirt road, in amongst giant trees and battle scarred hills, previously logged.

When we reached Hobart, the sun was shining, birds were singing … well, sounded like they were. No rest though, straight up to Kunanyi / Mount Wellington, for a late afternoon hike to scope out some compositions for net morning sunrise. The South Wellington Track starts off pretty good, a nice graded track, however quickly diverts to a rock hopping affair. Not too strenuous, just need the skills of a mountain goat to traverse! 🐐

Some great scenery along the way, giant boulders perched up high as well as magnificent views of Hobart and the Derwent River. Arriving back at the car park the just after sunset, the icy wind biting at our face and hands, the Super Moon was slowly rising to the east. I grabbed my zoom lens and, testing out the inbuilt stabilisation, snapped a few pics!

Up early next morning for the drive to the top of Kunanyi, we were channeling our inner 🐐 preparing ourselves for the pre-dawn hike. Though nothing could really prepare us for the icy conditions ❄️! Getting to our spot, we started looking for compositions - a bit tricky in the dark for non-goats! All set, be just had to wait for the suns rays to strike their target and light up those boulders!

First Golden Rays striking Kunanyi

Obligatory Sun Star!

A massive bonus of spending some time in Hobart was to be able to catch up with Di - a cousin I haven't seen for years! Loved it!

We spent most of the day exploring Hobart on foot, checking out the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, a great coffee at The Stagg, and found "Australia's Oldest Drinking Hole" - The Alexandra (aka The Hope and Anchor 1807). Our last night in Tassy was celebrated with a wonderful dinner at the Urban Greek. Some truly delicious food and dark lager!

Next morning we were up early for a pre-dawn flight.

The flight was a birthday gift from Mitch - thanks so much Mitch! Another awesome experience we were able to share together! 😍🙏 Seeing the first rays of sunrise light striking the massive columns along the Tasman Peninsula, with the Super Moon descending … stunning!

If you’re still here, thanks for taking the time to share our Tassy adventure. I guess if the Enya didn’t put you sleep this blog may have! 😁

Our Photography road trips and adventures are not as frequent these days, but they seem to be getting more and more enjoyable … and challenging!

Thanks Mitch … until next time buddy, Love you!

The Wedding of Mimi and Ash

May 17, 2021

It was a wonderful, clear autumn afternoon.

Mimi and Ash's wedding had a casual, relaxed feel, with so much love!

Their vow's were something special! It was an honor to be able to share in their special day.

And special to be able to there assisting Mitch.

Road Trip! Far South Coast, NSW ... Post-Lockdown!

December 12, 2020

Our first Road trip for months, our first for 2020, how I've missed this!

My son Mitch has been in lockdown in Melbourne for most of this year - no opportunity for us to catch up, to hit the road, do some camping and share our passion for Photography and Banana Bread … and Coffee! We'd kept in touch as best we could with video calls, texts, the odd email and phone calls, though I could feel his pain and frustration at not being able to 'get out' …

November 23 he was free … free to drive north and reconnect, face to face with his family. A nervous handshake and warm embrace, to look into his eyes and see the happiness of being out of lockdown … and form a plan to hit the road and 'get out' and shoot!

One of our favourite places to go camping is Mystery Bay, just south of Narooma.

Camel Rock - a feature of this wonderful coastline.

Great coastline, wonderful rock formations up and down the coast - Glass House Rocks, Camel Rock and the iconic Horse Head Rock. This trip coincided with a high tide for sunrise - we were excited to be doing the pre-dawn hikes to the Horse with so much water rolling in … fingers crossed for a cracking Sunrise.

The drive down from Berry is roughly 3 hours, and takes you through some wonderful country side, although much of it now scarred by the fires of early 2020.

Mystery Bay campground fronts the ocean and is one of the few natural camping areas remaining on NSW’s south coast. Set amongst towering Spotted Gums, it's "bush" camping at it's best!

Camp setup, a quick bite and check of the Cricket Score, some home made Ginger Beer, and we are ready to head off for sunset.

After setting up camp, a quick bite to eat, we headed down to Camel Rock for Sunset.

Viewed from the south, these rocks do actually look like a Camel lying down! A large swell afforded some nice wave action as the setting sun lit up the rock faces.

Quite a few other 'togs there enjoying the evening light and ocean breeze.

Camel Rock in the afternoon sun. It really does look like a Camel, no really! The view from the south!

Next morning, a 4:00am start ( "I'm getting too old for this sh!$" 😱 ) … time to reacquaint ourselves with our old equine friend. Previous visits have been timed for low tide, a much easier trek along the coastline … this was going to be next level. High Tide, large swell, at night, headlamps, and suitable ocean footwear. With the assistance and leadership of Mitch, I successfully navigated along the rocky coastline and started looking for compositions, mindful that the tide was still coming in … the hike out would be so much more 'fun' but at least it would be daylight.

Some nice sunlight just after sunrise … are those waves getting bigger ???

So much fun challenging ourselves to get there, as well as the challenge of the big swell.

I love how we can be at the same location, the same light, the same conditions, yet come away with totally different images, different highlights to each adventure!

Back to camp for a cook up brekky - Bacon, Chorizo, baby potatoes, home grown eggs on toasted Turkish bread …. messy and delicious!

That afternoon, we found time for a quiet beverage at Narooma Golf Club, and a Schnitzel for dinner, then down to Glass House Rocks for sunset.

These rock formations are great to explore!

Mitch found a great composition ( check it out here Mitch Green Photos ) - a small ocean channel between 2 of the larger rocks, while I was looking at capturing some small wave swirls around the smaller rocks on the ocean edge.

No 'banger' sunset, just great to be out shooting, and catching up face to face!

Next morning, another early start and we headed back to Glass House Rocks for sunrise. Having scoped out the area the previous evening, we both had a few ideas for sunrise compositions. A tad more colour in the sky, and still some nice waves rolling in allowed us to grab a few 'keepers'.

As much as we love out photography, we do love our coffee and a good cooked brekky.

After quickly packing up camp, we hit the road and detoured out to Mossy Point. We'd searched on the web for places for breakfast, the reviews for the Mossy Point Café were great.

It didn't disappoint! What a great find!

All in all, a great couple of nights away, a great way to catch up and re-connect.

Although we didn't get that stunning sunrise those mornings, it was another story back home next morning!

Again, 4:00am start, we headed north from Berry towards Kiama. We pulled into a headland to check the clouds as best we could in the dark … there was a chance! Good cloud cover and it looked like there could be just a small gap on the horizon, towards the north! Could this be it??

We continued north to Old Bombo Quarry, and headed to the northern channel.

Waiting, waiting, waiting …. then just after sunrise those clouds lit up ….

BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! 😁

Golden light streaming through, catching the waves and dancing across the faces of the rocks. That golden light shone through for quite some time … stunning!

Twas a very special sunrise, best for a long time, and awesome to enjoy it with my mate Mitch!

2 Weeks in NZ ... Did I Mention the SNOW?

September 19, 2019

Last month my son Mitch and I spent 2 weeks in New Zealand. We aim to catch up a few times each year to explore our shared passion for Photography … and coffee, banana bread, dark chocolate, schnitzels and a developing taste for dark beer! Usually it's a road trip, camping and hiking in Oz - this time flights to Queenstown to explore the south west of the South Island.

Mitch had done most of the planning this time, scheduling this trip for Winter to hopefully maximise "snow opportunities" … suffice to say it was definitely "maximised" ! 😃 More on this later!

Within 10 minutes of jumping in the hire car at Queenstown Airport, with a lengthy drive south to Te Aanu ahead that evening, we'd pulled over to shoot the sun setting on the mountains … Queenstown's famous Remarkables … it was going to a very long 2 weeks!

Our plan was to target just a few key locations - Fiordland, Lake Matheson, Aoraki/Mt Cook and Wanaka. Quite a bit of driving which meant lots of time for catching up, music and podcasts!

We'd also arranged to spend a day with William Patino, exploring his "backyard" of Fiordland and taking in Williams approach and thoughts on Photography. I first met William back home, when he was just getting into Photography - officially he was still an Air Con Technician, but it was obvious he had a rare gift for Photography and a passion to match! Mitch and I were so keen to spend the day with him!

Just as we arrived in Te Anau the first major weather "event" hit … we had to quickly rearrange accommodation plans, and re-schedule our workshop with Will.

We headed north for an o'night stop at Cromwell, hoping that the "event" would send some snow to Lindis Pass. A great surprise along the way was The Coffee Bomb - a roadside van run by 2 lovely ladies - GREAT Coffee! Checking out the pass that afternoon, there was some, but not so much. Next morning, more on hope than anything else, we jumped in the car a couple of hours before sunrise and headed back to Lindis Pass. We were surprised with some lovely sunrise glow, a little extra snow and the satisfaction of watching a sunrise unfold in such a stunning location!

Next up was the long drive over Haast Pass and up to Fox Glacier to hopefully capture some nice shots of Lake Matheson.

Such a beautiful drive … but first Coffee! We found an awesome café in a new estate of Albert Town - great coffee and a great late breakfast! During our camping road trips back home, it’s not uncommon for us too make a “quick” 1 hr “detour” for good coffee!

Back to the drive … Lakes Hawea and Wanaka, Thunder Creek Falls, Fantail Falls and the Blue Pools - all lovely spots, in which to took opportunities to explore and shoot. After emerging on the West Coast, we were greeted by falling Snow at sea level! Amazing!

Lake Matheson was so much more stunning in real life than the pics I'd seen on social media! Absolutley Breathtaking! And to quote a good Aussie movie … “How’s the Serenity!” 😃

We made the most of our time there - scoping out potential locations and compositions that afternoon, then heading back there a couple of hours before sunrise to shoot some Astro. We were again greeted with a lovely sunrise as well. We had one technical hitch in getting to the lake that morning - the doors on our trusty Subaru were frozen shut!!! The ice on the windows so thick!!! So lucky we packed thermals, gloves, extra beanies, extra thick socks ……

Back again later in the day for sunset and some more Astro, then back to Neve Café for a couple of beers and their now famous "Cheese Burger" Pizza … just what we needed!

Next on our hit list was Aoraki / Mt Cook National Park. We could see it from Fox Glacier, roughly 36 klms as the crow flies, by car … 5 1/2 hours! Plenty of time for a chat, chocolate, some podcasts and music! Another great coffee find back in Wanaka … The Coffee Shack, a converted garage!

We had planned to do the Hooker Valley Walk - unfortunately closed. We explored other options around the park (more Plan B’s) - though not really that difficult to find beautiful scenes with Aoraki/Mt Cook and Mt Tasman framing the valley!

Back to Te Anau now for our workshop with Will - something we had been looking forward to for months!

Like most of our mornings, it started a couple of hours before sunrise, meeting at Will's home and jumping into his van, heading off into Fiordland. When we were here the week before, the weather "event" had caused the closure of the road to Milford Sound, and had kept it closed for most of the time since. Unfortunately, due to avalanche hazard warning it was still closed, despite the weather being much better.

A quick "team" meeting with Will and we mapped out a Plan B for the day, starting with sunrise at Lake Gunn, with a stunning mountain backdrop - I know - EVERYWHERE in NZ has a stunning mountain backdrop! A few of hours exploring deep into the lush Fiordland Forests … mountain streams and sun stars; misty, moss covered trees, all expertly guided by Will.

Mitch and Will

Deep in the Forest

The day was capped off with a late evening flight over to Doubtful Sound from Te Anau, with Will skilfully directing our pilot to get the best angles and views along the way!

Breathtaking scenery!

With windows open most of the time, I’d forgotten how cold it gets at that altitude … So if you do it, don’t forget your beanies!

Our penultimate stop was Wanaka. Again our planned hike along the Rob Roy Glacier Track was closed. Another Plan B required. We ventured out next morning (yes a couple of hours before sunrise!), heading west to do a sunrise hike. There was some light rain that we thought would clear … wrong!

The further we went the heavier it became, and the temperature dropped. Soon, it looked like we were in a Star Wars movie, zooming through the galaxy onboard the Millennium Falcon!

So much Snow! SO MUCH SNOW!!

We decided to make the most of it, looking for scenes along the Haast Pass road, which, strangely enough we had all to ourselves! 😃

Hands frozen, the poor Subaru again frozen, but SO MUCH SNOW!

Amazing experience! Really Cool! 😃

Time to head back to Queenstown … our 2 weeks was nearly over. Just enough time to squeeze in another forest hike (95 Floors according to Buffy, my iPhone!) and shoot the Remarkables on sunset and sunrise! Oh, and some great food and a Trivia competition at the Frankton Arm Tavern!

This was the first time I'd been to NZ with "photographer eyes" … stunning scenery everywhere, hard to not see everything in terms of "composition"! Our day with Will was just what we had hoped for - If you ever get the opportunity to be part of one of his workshops - do it!

Big thanks to Mitch for all the time and effort he put into the trip - I'm so fortunate that we are able to have these times to share with each other!

Until our next trip Mitch!

CGP This Month - April 2017

May 7, 2017

April Already! Lovely Autumn Days ... Here's what caught my eye in April.

Video >>> https://vimeo.com/217935933 <<<

March Birthday celebrations finally came to an end, time to get back to some photography!

I met up with my son Mitch for a pre-dawn session out at Minnamurra Headland - he's just purchased a drone, the DJI Mavic, and was keen to try it out. Actually, I think I as more keen for Mitch to try it out! I've seen some fantastic shots taken from drones as well as some amazing video.
I was also pretty curious to see how easy/difficult it was to fly and operate. I was surprised at how compact the Mavic is - Mitch is able to carry it around in his camera bag with all of his other gear. Operating it was easy - the controls are quire responsive. And the perspective, flying along the rugged coast was just stunning. Image quality, from the 12MP sensor, was good, and it shoots HD video. I have to say I'm just a tad envious … will add a drone to my wish list and see what happens!

Second week of April started with a quick trip up to the Southern Highlands with a couple of mates from Camera club. We hoping to grab some of those magnificent autumn leave colours - not to be, we were probably 2 weeks early!

A couple of days later, the ocean swell and waves were roaring! Met up with Mitch at Kiama at a favorite headland to see if we could capture some of the action. On arrival, I noticed several other cars and vans there. These guys were some of the local Wave/Ocean Photographers … Aquatogs! These guys are seriously crazy. One by one, with their wetsuits on, they scrambled over the headland and jumped into the ocean. They then battle the waves to get THAT close-up shot of the monster waves! Was impressive to watch them operate from the safeness of the rocky outcrop!

Next, a quick trip back up the mountain and we did manage to find a few of those autumn colours - not really satisfied, will have to try harder next year!

A late night trip into Bombo Quarry to practice some Astro photography, then a sunrise at the northern end of Gerroa Beach. It was low tide, lots of exposed rock, tide was coming in and the swell was quite large. This made for some interesting interplay between the rocks and the water. I was using my Samyang 14mm lens - it's fully manual, takes some getting used to, but can produce some stunning images!

I seem to be always drawn to the water with my photography, which I find a bit strange having been born and bred in the country. I seem to have to make a deliberate effort to shoot 'real' Landscapes … of Land! :) Luckily, just west of the here is some amazing rural country. I headed to Saddleback Mtn, which has some beautiful, winding country roads, gigantic Fig Trees, and provides a lovely view of the South Coast, looking north to Wollongong.

Mystery Bay is fast becoming one of my favorite camping locations. It's just south of Narooma, on the Far South Coast. The camp ground is beautiful, nestled in amongst tall spotted gums and banksia trees, and adjacent to both the main beach and Billy's Beach. It's bush camping, so limited facilities, but a great camping site! There's a lake nearby for some great 'reflection' shots, rock formations on the beach are great to shoot. I was there for 3 nights, and as a bonus, a massive thunder storm blustered it's way north one evening, just off the coast!

After a very, very wet March, we've finally been having some great Autumn days here. A slight chill in the air, but sun shine that feels great when it hits you! I spent one of these mornings in and around Kiama Lighthouse. It's lined with some great old pine trees and has many rocky outcrops and bays to explore.

Last outing was with a group of fellow photographers from work - we headed out to the Cascade Falls Walk at Macquarie Pass. This walk takes you through rainforest and tall eucalypt trees, along a creek, to a series of 3 waterfalls. Very accessible, with easy access down to the creek, filtered sunshine streaming down. I think we had planned to spend around an hour there … that turned into over 2 hrs for most of us - lots of opportunities to shoot!

CGP This Month - March 2017

March 31, 2017

MARCH!!! My Birth Month! ARIES Rule! :)

Check the video >> https://vimeo.com/216110487

March was a pretty busy month for me - a few photo shoots on my own, a few catch ups with my son Mitch, had a go at preserving my tomato's and lots of jobs on the farm ... oh, and created this new website! :)

Photography-wise, March started with a stormy sunrise shoot with my local camera club … with no pics.

Wind, rain and heavy cloud do not make for great Sunrise pics! :) Since I was out and about already, I decided to do a road trip up to the Southern Highlands, to my ol' hometown of Robertson. There are quite a few nice waterfalls up that way and with all this rain … should be able to get a nice pic or two!

First stop was Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Memorial Lookout, for a sweeping view of Seven Mile beach, then a quick coffee stop in Kiama, before heading up to Jamberoo Lookout for that awesome view down Jamberoo Valley.

Next I headed to Nellie’s Glen - a beautiful bushland swimming hole and waterfall in the Budderoo National Park. This was our families' main swimming hole growing up in the 60's/70's. Well worth checking out along with the equally impressive Carrington Falls. No trip to Robertson is complete without stopping in at the Pie Shop, where I worked on w/e's as a teenager. The wages were low, but I got eat soooo many pies!

In the second week of March, the sea swell was massive! My son Mitch and I headed to our favourite "big swell" headland near Kiama - the waves were thundering in, making for some very interesting formations!

That same week we also took a trip up to one of our all time favourite locations, the Old Bombo Quarry. The swell was still big, we headed out for a quiet, intimate sunrise … us and about 30 other photographers! Word was out … "Bombo was pumpin'! " :)

Later in March I headed up to Sydney to catch up with Mitch and his girlfriend, meeting up at one of those "blink and you miss it Asian café/restaurants" on George St. Food was so delicious! Stayed the night in Sydney and then next morning Mitch I headed to Austinmer Beach, for what turned out to be a fiery sunrise! Awesome sky colour! Mitch caught the train back to Sydney, I headed home on the highway.

Mitch was back down at the end of March for a Birthday Brunch for me ( Happy Birthday to me!) - Saturday morning up early we headed to Kiama's Black Beach for sunrise. Again, some great colour in the sky, waves rolling in, lovely light!

Final outing for the month was with a couple of mates from camera club, Matt and Alan. It was an unusually hot Wednesday, not much breeze, and many folk were heading to the beach after work …. We did likewise! Gerroa is my "go to" location for a beachy sunset - awesome views south along Seven Mile beach, a few rocks on the waters edge for some foreground interest. As I was setting up, two ladies has decided that this was also the best spot to watch the day end, have a glass of red and let the sun, waves and wine wash away their worries.

I think next time I'll take a glass and join them! :)

Karijini !!!

Our first Road trip for months, our first for 2020, how I've missed this!

MARCH!!! My Birth Month! ARIES Rule! :)

Check the video >> https://vimeo.com/216110487

Our first Road trip for months, our first for 2020, how I've missed this!