There have been some new meetup groups Keryn and I have joined over the last few months. One of them is Wellywalks, a walking group which came about through the desire of some Adventure Wellington members to have scheduled walks for those who want to walk at a more sedate pace and spend some time […]
A photography course
A week ago I took part in a photography course organised through the Wellington Photography Meetup group. Local Wellington photographer Andy Tan of Flashpop Photography had offered to show a number of us some posing and portraiture basics and so it was that five of us arrived ready to learn. We had four hours during […]
The Hobbit is coming…
Wellington is gearing up for the World premier of the first Hobbit movie. Screening at the Embassy (and a number of other cinemas to cater for the large number of important people, media and other invited guests) in less than two weeks there will be a long red carpet and hopefully good weather. Around the […]
Pirates for a day
On Sunday Keryn and I took part in the Adventure Wellington Great Pirate Treasure Hunt. In teams (crews) of five we all raced around the Wellington waterfront and beyond competing in tasks to be rewarded with coins. We were part of the crew of the Gabriel along with Suzanne, Sue and our Captain Robyn. The […]
A long time between drinks
This blog hasn’t been forgotten, no matter that it’s been a few months between entries. Much of the delay can be attributed to Keryn and I buying a house and the rigmarole surrounding moving. Thankfully we’re mostly done with the moving lark, there are still a few boxes to empty and we’ve got one set […]
Ian McKellen at the Opera House
On Saturday night Keryn and I along with Catherine and Paul attended a show at the Opera House in Wellington. Sir Ian McKellen was performing a one-man show with proceeds in aid of the restoration of the quake-damaged Isaac Theatre Royal in Christchurch. We had dinner nearby and arrived early enough to get to our […]
Matuku-moana
Photo by Brendon & Keryn A matuku-moana (white faced heron) after a quick shake, feathers all ruffled. Just a quick one, a photo of a matuku-moana or white faced heron that was all ruffled up after a quick shake in the sun. A probable entry for next years GOPI photo competition.
Tuturuatu in Plimmerton
One of the rarer bird species in New Zealand has been frequenting the coastline near the fire station in Plimmerton recently. The Tuturuatu or shore plover number only a few hundred birds in total. DOC released 41 Tuturuatu onto Mana Island back in 2008 and in last year a small flock relocated itself to the […]
Sometimes I bake
It’s not often I bake these days, in fact there have probably been only a handful of baking occasions in the last 10 years (Keryn bakes much more frequently). So today I baked, spurred on by bad weather, finishing a game (Portal 2, thanks for asking) and avoidance of packing. It wasn’t anything onerous, a […]
Competition results, a book and a calendar
I’ve been slowly thinking through what I might enter for two of the bigger NZ based competitions coming up, the DPhoto Amateur Photographer of the Year and NZ Geographic Photographer of the Year. For the NZ Geographic competition I can take some encouragement from the Flickr group they promote. The editor and photo editor are […]
Tiritiri Matangi Island
I’ve been wanting to visit Tiritiri Matangi Island for a long time and our recent trip up to Auckland for the Elbow concert gave us a perfect opportunity. It’s possible to visit the island as part of a day trip but we decided to stay the night. There is a DOC managed bunk-house on the […]
Wednesday is for drinking with the seldom seen kid
Elbow is a band that only had a limited awareness of when we were in the UK. This was an oversight on my part, they’re now one of my favourite bands and now that we’ve seen them live they’re also one of my favourite live bands. We drove up to Auckland for a Wednesday night […]