Tolaga bay.

I decided to head up the east coast to Tolaga Bay (which has the longest wharf in the southern hemisphere, at 660m) the other week.

Along the way, I stopped off at Wainui beach to check out the surf, and take a few pictures:



I met another photographer, Rogan Houghton, at the beach there. We got chatting, and he's been taking surf photos for about 15 years, having been published in various magezines, newspapers and calendars.

I eventually got to Tolaga bay in the mid afternoon. The warf is located at the southern end of the bay, beside a (sandstone?) cliff. I was amazed to see a herd of goats jumping along the rock face at the top, leaping from overhang to overhang, probably over 100m up! See if you can spot one or two of them in the photo (click on it for a larger view) :



The pier itself was worn down and in desperate need of repair:




I got to the end of the pier, and got chatting to a gentleman that was fishing there:



His name is Matt (the dog is Josie), and is currently on a 3 month winter-season ski holiday with his wife in the North Island. It turns out that he owns the Te Anua Lodge B&B on the south island, near Milford Sound. He suggested I give him a call when I head down that part of the country - and I'll definately be doing that!

New photos.

I think I am finally over the jetlag - I woke up at 04:45 this morning instead of 02:00 and 0:300. I also went for a run today, which will help. I can't remember the last time I went running - but it felt good to be doing it again.

I managed to take some photos the last few days - check them out by following the photo below:




We might go duck hunting tomorrow, weather permitting (it's meant to rain pretty much all weekend here - it'll probably still be warmer than Amsterdam though!).

Gisborne, jetlag.

I went to the beach here in Gisborne yesterday, and had a look at the surf. The breaks are nice and clean - I must try and get myself a wetsuit and board ASAP! :) I'll try and get some photos up of it aswell (pun intended).

The weather has been very wet here the last couple of days, which reminds me a lot of Irish winters. Although it has been pretty warm - it's warmer than some parts of europe at the moment (looking at you Stockholm!), and they are meant to be having a summer!

I'm still suffering a bit from jetlag, as I keep waking up at about 03:00 am (16:00 GMT). I'm being good though, and only sleeping in the evening to try and force myself to get into the 'proper' sleeping rhythum. Hopefully it'll sort itself out in the next few days. And on that note, I'm going to get a warm drink and try and get back to sleep.

Day one.

A forgotten passport, 42 hours of travel, a US immigration official that processed my visa waiver while speaking only Dutch, a few hours of sleep, sharing an aeroplane with a young lady who never had an 18th birthday because she was born on the 6th of June and we were travelling West over the IDL, a midnight catnap in the winter sunshine in Cambridge (NZ, not ENG), and a very scenic drive from Cambridge to Gisborne later, I can finally have a hot shower and a long night of sleep. :)