happy medium

Auckland had it’s birthday this weekend, and we celebrated by leaving it… Headed up the coast (as did most of Auckland), and ended up at Goat Island round the corner from Leigh. The Island and it’s surrounding waters are a marine reserve. This is the reason it was so busy as opposed to most other beaches. Matt and I rented out some snorkels and flippers and floated around for a bit. Probably due to the massive amount of people doing the same there wasn’t a huge amount of fish and the water was a little chopped up, but did get to see a fair amount of snapper and goat fish.

Then headed to the next beach at Pakiri, a massive and picturesque stretch of coast.

Some screen grabs from my latest project

Reach for the Lazers?

Friday saw the annual Big Day Out take place at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. About 45,000 people including me, Matt and his mate Colin turned up. Acts were varied, which can create a weird atmosphere of mixed fans. To be honest most of the acts didn’t appeal (run of the mill rock bands), but Dizzee Rascal, Bjork and UNKLE were enough to tempt me.

Bjork with 12 piece all female Icelandic Orchestra. One of the highlights of the gig for me, but they put her up before Rage against the Machine so odd atmosphere (Bogan Rockers & Arty Bjork fans do not mix)

Dizzee performing in the Boiler-room. The heat in there was intense.

Matt in the “D” at the main stage. An extra barrier put up around the main stage so people would not get crushed. You had to go through another security check to get in there. Once in we stayed put, and sure enough 30mins later they closed it off. Great for us, not to so much for the angry hoards of rage fans trying to get in. We even sneaked in forbidden alcohol so we were all set.

Colin and me

Arcade Fire

I would have had nice long lens shots for you if I hadn’t forgot my memory card, so I had to borrow Matt’s camera. I took some video but strangely no audio. This is walking out into the stadium:

This fellow is a New Zealand Praying Mantis. Very active and also likes to jump.

However, at only 3.5cm fully grown he’s not very scary:

The flight back to Queenstown was no less spectacular, passing by Sutherland Falls. At a height of nearly 2000ft (600 metres), it’s amongst the tallest waterfalls in the world. Truly awe-inspiring.

Piopiotahi – carved by various glaciers over millions of years, now home to 1200 metre sheer rock faces, rain forest, tree avalanches, penguins, seals, dolphins and one of the highest rainfalls in the world. In fact it as likely to be raining here as not – raining 182 days of the year. That said, the two times I’ve been to the sound there has been glorious sunshine, go figure. Fiordland is dotted with fjords along it’s coast, but most are very difficult and remote to get to. Milford on the other hand has enabled over 500,000 visitors a year to get a taste of the wilderness.

Due to the massive forces caused by the glaciers carving out the hanging valleys – the layers of minerals found in the rock bed are forced up vertically. You can see all sorts of metals, such as copper and yep, even gold!

Some are pretty unimpressed by that:

The Sound meeting the Tasman Sea:

These guys are Yellow-eyed Penguins, and one of the rarest Penguins in the World with only 4000 left. Also known as Hoiho, they appear on the New Zealand five dollar note.

When it does rain, hundreds of massive waterfalls appear along the valley. They are a number of permanent falls – to which you can get very very close:

good example of scale with a two story boat:

I couldn’t let Mum and Bro leave New Zealand without seeing Milford Sound. Between Milford Sound and Queenstown is Fiordland – one of the largest parks and containing some of the most breath taking scenery in the world. The Southern Alps make up the park, and the less than direct route takes four and a half hours each way by car. Me and Dad did it back in February 2007, passing waterfalls, massive valleys and mirror lakes and through the homer tunnel. This time however, the three of us decided to take a scenic flight there and back, and whilst the round trip took only an hour, we got to see the Southern alps from a completely different perspective:

Glenorchy at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu, otherwise known as middle earth in Lord of the Rings

Solly and his family (Janet, Marshal & Boaz) were kind enough to invite me to spend Christmas day with them. Enjoyed a great meal out in their beautiful garden. Thanks to the Gebbies (and Solly for the photos)

Also, happy new year all! The skytower:

Invented in New Zealand Sir William Hamilton in 1954, Jet Boats suck water up and jets it out of a nozzle at the stern. Jet boats are highly maneuverable and can stop in their own length, even spin 360 degrees. All this in only a few centimetres of water.

After I did this:

I sat back and watched the other chaps land: