November Random

Meh...just posting a few random pics, old and new. I wandered around Cuba Street for about an hour today and snapped a few pics. While I was prepping them to post, I quickly went through a few oldies I had downloaded but never really looked at...there are a lot of unloved junk photos on my computer...one of these days I'll have to get to cleaning house.

Look at me, I'm being "artsy"! Bah...I just unfocused the lens, I was trying to mimic that look you get when you photograph lights through a wet window with a short depth of field.

This is one of those "hey this turned out nicer than I ever imagined it would" photos. I think the crop helped too.

Wait a minute now...I know what you're thinking. Isn't this that lighthouse sunrise pic that Rog posted a few weeks ago? Sure looks like it doesn't it. Except this is a sunset from Lyall Bay today. Once in a while we get really good weather in Wellington, no clouds and not windy. That's when you get nice clean sunsets like this one.

I'm going old school on you here. This is an oldie from the beginning of the year, April I think, when Andrea, Marco and I went down to the South Island for the weekend. I think this is somewhere around Banks Peninsula just south of Christchurch?

Sunday market in Wellington. One day a week this parking lot goes green...and red, and orange, and yellow, and...

This pic would've been nicer "minus the arse wedgie" in your face.

Castlepoint Long Weekend

This past weekend was the Labour Day long weekend in New Zealand...apparently it's nothing like our Labour Day long weekend in North America. Supposedly it marks some kind of event to ensure a 40 hour work week?? Obviously that doesn't apply to me, but I went away anyways. The Argies had booked a vacation house up in Castlepoint, a small sleepy little vacation town on the eastern coast of the north island, about 2 hours and 15 minutes drive north east of Wellington. Small as in there's only one road in and out of there, and it's about an hour to the nearest major town. I don't think anyone really "lives" there full time, more like vacation/weekend homes.

The big attraction is a pretty long beach, with good waves for surfing, a sheltered inlet that floods at high tide but then turns into an isolated pond and hard packed sand strip when the water subsides (people were driving cars along this strip pulling sleds and doing doughnuts), and then of course the lighthouse. Our weekend pretty much consisted of eating, short hikes and site seeing, more eating, a few crazy clue games (no not the boardgame "Clue", a verbal game of questions and "yes" or "no" answers), even MORE eating, and of course just chillin' and relaxin'. Definitely a good weekend to do NOTHING except enjoy the view, the weather, the company...and yes, the food.

As expected the camera gear went along for the trip...

One of two patios at the house. This one is on the left side of the house if you're looking at the house from in front. It's got a little flat grill barbecue.

This is the view from the patio above.

And the other patio on the right side of the house, adjoining the main room inside with large patio doors that open up on two walls.

There seemed to be a lot of this going on in the afternoons (above and below).

Le chef du jour.

Climbing up the sand dune is a lot harder than it looks. There is NO dignity from behind :) ...and what else can you do once you get to the top? ...might as well swim down...or run or slide.

9.8 from the Russian judge.

Sand and water...what else do you need for fun when you're a kid?