Wheel alignment

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.













Posted by at
Labels: , ,

20 comments:

  1. Roger8 May 2011 at 18:22

    Simply gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anthony8 May 2011 at 22:01

    Beautiful photos Geoff, well done!

    ReplyDelete
  3. SonjaM9 May 2011 at 03:43

    Awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Trobairitz9 May 2011 at 03:48

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

    ReplyDelete
  5. Troubadour9 May 2011 at 03:54

    Beautiful sunset.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Unknown9 May 2011 at 06:44

    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

    ReplyDelete
  7. Unknown9 May 2011 at 07:29

    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/

    ReplyDelete
  8. Geoff James9 May 2011 at 08:02

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Bluekat9 May 2011 at 18:24

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

    ReplyDelete
  10. Geoff James9 May 2011 at 19:15

    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!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. RichardM10 May 2011 at 04:53

    Beautiful sunset photos. The colors look wonderful.

    Mussels, yummm!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nikos10 May 2011 at 05:38

    Excellent thallasography Geoff!

    Best wishes from dreary old England, N

    ReplyDelete
  13. irondad10 May 2011 at 06:53

    Restful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Geoff James10 May 2011 at 08:06

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  15. GF11 May 2011 at 13:14

    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.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Geoff James11 May 2011 at 13:51

    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!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Ken12 May 2011 at 11:22

    Beautiful pics!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Geoff James12 May 2011 at 11:26

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

    ReplyDelete
  19. BeemerGirl7 June 2011 at 15:14

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

    -Lori

    ReplyDelete
  20. Geoff James7 June 2011 at 15:24

    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!

    ReplyDelete

Hello! I love to hear your feedback as it often leads to other things. However, if your comments are blatant advertising, then they won't get published.

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)