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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 recently had a family holiday in Kaikoura. This is a trip I've been wanting to do for several years and was really looking forward to.  It had been years since I'd driven through Kaikoura on previous trips to Christchurch and the first time I'd been back since the Kaikoura earthquake.  On our way down we stopped at a winery for lunch in Blenheim and then took a small detour to visit Marfels beach which is the beach just south of the salt works. It's one of the beaches that had risen …

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 …

We've had a stunning week of clear, cold mid winter days with beautiful sunrises and sunsets and the mountain standing out clear on the horizon with its light covering of snow. I really love it when we get this type of weather in winter. I've been too busy lately to do much photography but this morning I got out to watch the sunrise from the New Plymouth foreshore. A beautiful stunning morning. …

One of my favourite coastal walks is to head north from Bell Block beach and walk along under the cliffs until you get to the Waiongana river mouth. It's a low tide walk and takes about an hour to get to the Waiongana river. Near the rover, you get fantastic views of Taranaki apprearing above the breaking surf and the coastal cliffs. Typically, I also see a lot of birdlife along this section of coast and frequently see both New Zealand and banded dotterels around the Waiongana river mouth where …