2012 - the winter of discontent!
Hello punters.
You probably know that I headed south in late May with the objective of photographing the south island under a mantle of winter snow.
On my way drifting through the King Country I spent a night at Waitomo. I found this most unusual accommodation stop which consists of rooms in a beached boat and also in an old Bristol Freighter aircraft - the tail (painted in camouflage) is visible left of the boat's bow.
Always on the lookout for a bargain property that might suit my retirement years, this little gem in Blacks Point near Reefton seemed a likely proposition.
Unfortunately, upon checking with the local electricity supplier, I would never be able to afford the heating bills!
Serious snow-chasers study every forecast issued and position themselves in the perfect location to experience 'the dump'.
Here we are perched at the Department of Conservation camp at Craigieburn near Arthur's Pass.
DOC describes this as an "alpine area with heavy snow in winter".
Absolute bullshit!!!! - yet another false alarm.
Lake Matheson is also known as Mirror Lake. Situated a few kilometres west of Fox Glacier, it provides a perfect reflection of the southern alps on a windless day.
South Island roads are very good.
Although this very large sign suggests otherwise, the road between Lake Matheson and Gillespies Beach near Fox Glacier is a breeze.
Gillespies Beach is another unspoiled piece of rugged West Coast coastline.
This shot has a seal posing in the middle of the photo and the Southern Alps and glaciers in the background.
Alexandra is a beautiful small Central Otago town. In the summer it gets very hot, and in the winter it gets very cold.
An unseasonably warm Jack Frost stands outside the local ice rink which had the refrigerators working overtime to artificially produce the ice to attract the locals in to skate.
This is the 'before' shot. We are at Fairlight, a bit south of Queenstown and where the Kingston Flyer vintage steam train turns around.
Forecasts had predicted a major dump of snow about to happen.
Overnight a light snowfall dusted the hills behind me.
THIS IS THE ONLY SNOW THAT FELL AROUND ME DURING THE WINTER!!!!
This sculpture is the flashest thing in town - it's a life-size surfer catching a wave.
We are at Colac Bay in Southland where the beach is renowned for great surfing and also as a nursery place for whales and their calves.
There is a very heavy frost this morning.
We're talking seriously bloody cold here at Fortrose in the Catlins. Outside temperature minus 10 degrees Celcius.
Inside the bus was minus 2.5 degrees on waking, and before putting on the heater.
The hot exhaust air from the LPG heater is causing the rising cloud near the wheel.
Now, take a careful look at this one. The picture is looking from inside the bus at frozen grass outside.
Can you make out the ice crystals on the INSIDE of the window? Thank Christ for the LPG cabin heater!
Harsh winter conditions don't scare us dedicated chefs, and BBQ'ing in freezing temperatures just goes with the territory.
Just to add insult to injury, whilst camping in the Marlboriugh Sounds, my final south island stop, the Bus With No Name was unable to cope with the saturated campground conditions and became stuck.
With generous assistance from a local farmer with a grunty 4x4 ute we managed to haul the bus out of the crap after two hours of slipping and sliding.
The joys of camping in winter!!
Having left the south island with my tail between my legs, I just had to call in to Ruapehu to satisfy myself that it did indeed snow somewhere in the country during winter.
Some of you may remember the Journal that featured lighthouses back in April 2011. Well here's a trio of slightly more difficult-to-get-to lights that I've found.
The Pouto Lighthouse is at Kaipara North Head at the entrance to the Kaipara Harbour. The light is a 7 kilometre walk around the shore from Pouto. Apart from the hike nearly killing me, the ascent up the steep sand dunes at the end was a step too far! Hence only being able to shoot the top of the tower in the background.
This is New Zealand's first lighthouse, built on Pencarrow Head, Wellington in 1859. The original lighthouse keeper, George Bennett, drowned before the light was lit and his wife Mary Jane became the country's first, and only, woman keeper.
The tower was often shrouded in fog and couldn't be seen so the second lighthouse on the shore below was built in 1906.
This photo was taken from the Cook Strait ferry.
Dog Island is between Bluff and Stewart Island and the lighthouse tower is more than 35 metres high - the tallest in New Zealand.
Now that I'm back in the north and looking forward to warmer days, I'm sure that Murphy will work his devious magic and bring huge snow dumps to the many places I have recently visited!
Thanks for watching.
Good luck to all your families.
