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Sunday 8 May 2011

Autumn in Coromandel, New Zealand

Today is Mother's Day in NZ.  The crappy weather cleared this morning, presents from the kids duly opened then Jennie and I went and had a leisurely lunch in the sun at a cafe in the village - magic.  It's also the first of 3 arts weekends in the Coromandel district where the many artists living here open their studios to the public.  Pottery, silk, paintings, woodcraft, jewellery, you name it, it's available and all beautifully made.  Jennie and a mate of hers spent yesterday and this afternoon on tour, enjoying themselves.

The highlight of my day was wandering up to the lookout near our house an hour ago and taking a series of sunset photos looking north west over the Rat Island area of the Firth of Thames.  No retouching of the colours, just changing the zoom on the lens.  It was one of those days when it's such a privilege to be alive to see it.

The little dots in the water are commercial mussel beds in about 20 metres of water.  This is where we moor the boat to fish.

Not in any particular order - hope that you enjoy them.  Click to enlarge.













20 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos Geoff, well done!

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  2. Amazing photographs. Love them all, but the second and fourth are my favorite. Simply beautiful.

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  3. Geoff:

    very nice sunset photos. Just goes to show you don't always have to travel afar to appreciate nature and just being

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

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  4. Looking good Geoff. Do you get into mussels? I used to love them, and still give them a shot from time to time, but I got deathly ill off them in France a number of years back. They put me pretty far off them for about 5 years. It's been tough goings ever since.

    Nice going on the ABCD, by the way.

    Brady
    Behind Bars - Motorcycles and Life
    http://www.behindbarsmotorcycle.com/

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  5. Thanks everyone! We get great sunsets out this way but normally, I'm doing something else like cooking dinner when all the conditions are right! Everything just fell into place this time and to continue the good run of luck, the weather is perfect this morning and we're off fishing in the very same area!

    Brady:
    Yep, I eat NZ green-lipped mussels all the time, they're sensationally good. Had local oysters for lunch yesterday. Very rare to get sick on them over here. Have yet to buy a dredge for the boat to harvest scallops though as I don't dive.

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  6. Gorgeous! Wonderful, rich colors, and isn't it interesting how the different settings change the colors and lighting.

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  7. Thanks very much Kari! Yes, it is interesting. I guess with the zoom lens, it blocks out a lot of the blue sky and changes the light. Only guessing - I'm only a rank amateur. We were moored out there today in hot sunny conditions and landed 15 beautiful fish (one of which was a very pleasant dinner tonight!)

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  8. Beautiful sunset photos. The colors look wonderful.

    Mussels, yummm!

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  9. Excellent thallasography Geoff!

    Best wishes from dreary old England, N

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  10. Thanks Richard, autumn/fall light always has that golden quality about it.

    Cheers Nikos! Did you eat a dictionary for breakfast? I had to look it up but will now slip it into conversations at every opporttunity.

    Thanks Dan - the perfect end to an already great day.

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  11. Really nice photos of a beautiful sunset. So lucky to live near the water and facing west :-)
    It looks like you are high up too, must be dreamy to sit there and enjoy such beauty.

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  12. Thanks George!
    The lookout is behind our place and a wee bit higher. We're about 10 metres above the water and overlook the harbour rather than the outer reaches as per the photos. Still not bad on our deck with a beer in hand though!

    Not today though - blowing a gale and pouring down!

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  13. Thanks Ken - there are some beautiful pics on your blog too! The world's a pretty nice place overall, eh?

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  14. Beautiful imagery. I, too, love sunsets (or sunrises) on the water. Thanks for sharing.

    -Lori

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  15. Thanks Lori.

    We're very fortunate to have water within 100 metres front and back of our house and the Coromandel mountain range a 5 minute ride to the east!

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