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I hadn't done a sunrise climb for a few years so decided it was about time to experience the dawn from the summit of Taranaki Maugna again. I prefer to climb under a full moon when I'm doing a sunrise climb. For about a week after the full moon the moonlight is strong enough to climb by the moonlight without needing a torch.  Saturday morning was 5 days after the full moon and a perfectly clear night so I set off from home around 1:40am and arrived at the North Egmont visitors center around …

We were down in Wellington for the weekend visiting our daughter. I woke early on Sunday morning and seeing it was a clear morning headed out to get some dawn photos looking over the city from the Khandallah hills. These shots were taken from Armritsar St starting from approx an hour before sunrise.Wellington city and harbourThe first Picton Ferry sailing of the day heading out across the harbour.Early morning cloud lit up above the Petone foreshore lights.Wellington city lights Sunlit cloud acr …

I've been wanting to get some photos of Taranaki towering over the mist filled valleys for Otoraoa Rd for a while but the weather hasn't been too favourable until it suddenly cleared this week with a few fine cold clear mornings. Ideal for thick mist to settle in the river valleys and for the mountain to stand out clearly with a full covering of snow.I had to do a morning site visit to McKee production station on Thursday so set off a couple of hours early hoping that I would get the right condi …

With some fresh snow falling overnight and what like like a clear cold winter morning I headed out to Otaraoa Rd to see if I could get some dawn shots of Taranaki catching the first light from the morning sun.Unfortunately, though the mountain was clear, there was too much cloud on th eastern horizon lrgely obscuring the sunrise though it do break through briefly and illuminate the summit before disappearing behind the cloud. The temperature was 3degC, so not quite cold enough for a frost but pl …

Sunday morning was a great morning for photography. I woke early , around 4:30am, and saw that the mountain was standing clear with the moon close to setting so I set off to do some early morning photography. First stop was Port Taranaki to get some  early dawn/night shots of the mountain rising above the harbour and the coastal city lights. It was a cold spring morning but stunningly beautiful. Then I headed out to the Waiwhakaio river mouth to see what birdlife was about getting some grea …