Lake Superior Weekend

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A couple of years ago I went on a weekend workshop to the north shore of Lake Superior.  I did the trip again last weekend with five photography friends.  The venue was the Rock Island Lodge, just outside of Wawa on the North shore of Lake Superior.  We drove up Wednesday, stayed in Sault St Marie overnight, then finished the drive to the lodge on Thursday.  The scenery on the drive was beautiful, so we had to make a few stops along the way.

The goal of the trip was to photograph beautiful fall landscapes, with bonus marks for bad weather.  (Overcast stormy skies are great for nice soft diffused light and dramatic photos).

The weather was fantastic (for photography), big stormy clouds, but very little rain.

On the drive to Wawa on Thursday.  Great stormy skies, fantastic mood. 

Another image from the drive on Thursday.  This time a long shutter speed to smooth out the rough water.  Another fantastic mood shot.

Waiting for sunrise one morning.  Taken from the lodge, looking up the Michipicoten River.

Another sunrise shot, this time facing west toward the lodge.  I loved the pink skies and calm water and reflections.

Reflections in the rocks, while visiting Katherine Cove. 

Another image from Katherine Cove.  Beautiful reflections and textures in the rocks.

A visit to High Falls, taken with a slow shutter speed to smooth out the water.  A very moody shot.

The drive back from High Falls took us through a blueberry patch that was an explosion of colour and texture.  And the birch and aspen trees were incredible focal points.



An image taken from the lodge.  The focal point is the beacon where the Michipicoten River feeds into Lake Superior.  This is the same beacon captured in the photo taken on the first trip to the lodge that I use at the top of the blog.

A great weekend to spend time with friends, doing the things we love to do.

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If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Mark

Heading Home - Day 21

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Today was our final day in New Zealand.  Chris is flying back to Queenstown for another week's vacation, and Mary Ann and I are headed home. :(

We stayed in Hamilton last night, so our drive back to Auckland was only a few hours.  Since we had some time to kill, we did what most tourists do, we headed to Hobbiton.  This "village" was the film set used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Hobbit trilogy.

Originally built in 1998 for the Lord of the Rings, the set was built out of styrofoam and plywood, and was torn down immediately after the filming was complete.  At that time, the owner of the farm had no idea how big the Lord of the Rings would become.

When the owner of the farm was contacted again about the filming of the Hobbit trilogy, he realized what a tourism magnet he had, and insisted that Hobbiton be rebuild out of permanent materials and the grounds maintained afterwards.  Essentially it is now a joint venture between the owner of the farm and the Lord of the Rings owners.

Some of the Hobbit holes were made full scale to make the Hobbits look small, and some of the Hobbit holes were made at a .6 scale to make Gandalf look huge.

Only the exterior scenes were filmed here, none of the Hobbit holes have interiors.  All of the interior scenes were filmed on a sound stage in Wellington.

Even though it was a tourist trap, all three of us enjoyed the tour.  Our guide Clare did a great job showing us around, and telling stories about the filming.

Here is Mary Ann standing in front of Bilbo Baggin's house. 

After the tour, we made our way to Auckland and returned our rental car.  I was surprised to hear that we had put 5,020 kilometres on the car in 3 weeks.  Good thing the rental included unlimited mileage.

Saying our goodbyes to Chris we made our way to the International Terminal.  Chris was flying domestic to Queenstown from another terminal.

This was my best shot of a Kiwi, the national bird of New Zealand.  I know what you are thinking, "...that's not really a kiwi..." and you would be right.  We didn't see any.  Kiwis are nocturnal and not generally seen.  Chris saw one at the zoo, but the enclosure was dark, and they move very fast.  He does't have a shot of them either.

I'm writing this from the airport lounge.  We will board in a couple hours.  By the time you are reading this, we will be over the Pacific somewhere on our way to Vancouver.

For all of my photography friends, Mary Ann and I recorded 4,482 images.  I'm not sure about Chris, but don't forget he's been here for nearly 5 months...

That's it for this trip... thanks for reading.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Mark

Back to the North Island - Day 19 & 20

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Thursday (Day 19) was a travel day from Picton on the South Island to New Plymouth on the North Island.  The ferry was booked for 9:00 am which would arrive about 12:30 and give us the rest of the day to drive about 350 kilometres to New Plymouth.

Because of mechanical issues, our ferry was rescheduled to 12:00 noon, which meant we had a lot of ground to cover.  To top it off, it was rainy most of the day.  That meant that we had to finish the drive in the dark, which is not much fun in the mountains (at least they seem like mountains in the pitch black).  I think it was after 9:00 pm when we found our motel.  Needless to say, there were not any photo opportunities at all on Thursday.

Friday was different story.  New Plymouth is a small town on the west coast, but they did have an interesting pedestrian bridge, which was awarded several architectural awards.

On a clear day, you can see Mount Taranaki if you look down the length of the footbridge.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a clear day.  

But Mary Ann made some new friends in these wood ducks.

We stopped for lunch in Te Kuiti, another small town on the way to Hamilton.  The restaurant had New Zealand Green Lipped Mussels on the menu, so I gave them a try.  These were the biggest mussels I have ever had, and they were tasty!

The trip north included a stop at the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves.  The caves are over 100 feet below ground, and the entrance was a circular ramp down to the bottom of the cave.

The tour of the caves includes a walk through a series of caverns covered in stalactites and stalagmites.

The glow worms are not really worms at all, but the larvae of a fungus gnat fly.  They live in the dark and glow blue due to their bioluminescence.

Back above ground, some of the wildlife in the area was interesting also.

I loved this shot of two trees and the path leading up the hill.

Tomorrow is our last day, so we are headed back to Auckland, with a few stops along the way. Stay tuned.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

Whales and Seals - Day 18

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Today was another overcast day for the drive from Christchurch to Picton.  However, the rain held off and we were able to do some whale watching in Kaikoura, probably the whale watching capital of New Zealand.  The area is particularly well suited for male sperm whales who spend about 11 months in the cold waters of New Zealand, then join the females in warmer waters for breeding season.

We were fortunate to see two male sperm whales, one at a distance, but the second was up close, not once, but on three separate occasions.  We learned that sperm whales can dive up to 2 kilometres deep and hold their breath for up to two hours.  Once our whale dove the first time, we thought we may not have an opportunity to see him again.  Lucky for us, we were wrong.

It's difficult to describe the scale of these whales.  Our guide said this male was 17 or 18 metres long (about 60 feet).  I was counting the number of seconds between breaths, usually about 20 seconds, so we could anticipate the next time he would surface for air.

It was also possible to anticipate when he was going to dive, and give us a tail flip.  Once he began to arch his back, we know he was about to dive.

We also found a pod of Dusty Dolphins.  They are small dolphins, and very fast.

This image of the dolphin out of the water was courtesy of Chris. Great shot.

They loved to swim in front of the boat and in the wake.

Once we were back on dry land, it was time to make our way to Picton, for the ferry ride back to the North Island tomorrow morning.

Chris had heard about a seal colony and waterfall just north of Kaikoura.  He heard this from a co-worker, and this was not in any of the guidebooks.

Sure enough, the seal colony was right where it was supposed to be.

And sure enough, the waterfall was about a 10 minute hike from the seal colony.

But the subtle point that I missed was that many of the seal pups play at the waterfall while their mothers are out fishing.  If you look closely, Mary Ann and Chris are watching a seal pup on the rocks on the opposite side of the creek.

There are a few of my favourites.  They were so cute!

Tomorrow is the ferry ride from Picton back to Wellington, then a couple hours drive to New Plymouth. Stay tuned.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

Akaroa and Christchurch - Day 17

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Today was another rainy day in Christchurch.  We had planned a drive to Akaroa, about 80 kilometres away.  Akaroa is the only French settlement in New Zealand.  The plan was to drive out for lunch then spend a few hours looking around the seaside town.  

Because of the bad weather, or our bad luck, the restaurant we had picked for lunch was closed, and so were a few of the shops Mary Ann wanted to visit.  The only exploring we could do was to visit the Anglican church, St. Patricks.

The weather started to improve on the way back to Christchurch, so there were photo opportunities on the way back to Christchurch.

I'm always on the lookout for interesting landscapes and architecture, but this one caught me by surprise.

It seems that someone has come up with a hotel concept in grain silos, complete with hooks to store your canoe.  Another one stored bicycles.  I wonder if it will catch on...

Once back in Christchurch, we made our way downtown to see the sights.  Christchurch Cathedral was our first stop.

This is an iconic photo of the Cathedral, and the art installation called The Chalice.  At least it was before the earthquake damage in 2011.  The February 2011 earthquake destroyed the church spire and much of the tower.  Subsequent earthquakes caused further damage, to the point that the Anglican Church decided to demolish the building.

The people of Christchurch rebelled against the plan to demolish the cathedral, and challenged the church in court.  The case is still not resolved, but it appears that the church may rebuild.

Virtually every city block downtown has evidence of either demolition or construction in progress, five years after the earthquake.  The damage must have been catastrophic.

However, the city has shown its resolve, by utilizing shipping containers to reopen shopping, banking, postal and other services in the downtown area.

While it was hard to comprehend the amount of damage caused, it was impressive to see the efforts to rebuild the city. 

Dinner was at a local roadhouse, which also had a good selection of craft beers.  Tuesday night is trivia night, so we took part and entered "Team Canada" in the trivia contest.  Some categories were general enough that we could hold our own, but many of the categories were entirely Kiwi centric.  Needless to say, we finished dead last.  But there was a silver lining...

Many bars selling craft beers also sell "growlers" which is a 64 ounce bottle that you can fill and take home.  Because of our dead last finish, we won a "squealer", half the size of a growler.  Chris and I enjoyed the beer, and Jeff will love the souvenir bottle.

Tomorrow is a travel day from Christchurch to Picton. Stay tuned.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark

One for Jeff - Day 16

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Today was a really boring drive from Oamaru north to Christchurch.  Not that far, only 250 kilometres, but it rained most of the way.

But before we left Oamaru this morning, we visited a museum (I suppose it was a museum) dedicated entirely to metalwork, the more bizarre the better.  So I dedicate this blog entry to Jeff, who loves all things related to metalwork, and would have loved to visit Steampunk HQ.

The building was the old railway station, and had lots of character on its own.

The only way I can describe the place, would be Mad Max on steroids.

I love the detail in the skull and horns.

Chris taking a ride on the Harley...




There was also an old pipe organ which had been modified to play sound clips of music, bells, horns, etc.  Here is Mary Ann showing her musical side.

There were also sculptures by other artists.  These were by Chris Meder.

There was also a room with a time travel machine.

The lights and mirrors seemed like the room went on forever.

Jeff would have loved the place!

Tomorrow is a full day in Christchurch. Stay tuned.

Please open this in a web browser (click on the heading above), and leave a comment.  I'd love to hear rom you.

If you are reading this blog for the first time, don't forget to review the archives at the right side for earlier entries. And feel free to add a comment, as well as share this blog with your friends. If you have not already done so, please enter your email address in the "Follow my Blog by Email" box on the right hand side. It will be much easier for me to stay in touch with you. If you don't see a signup box on the right side, then click on the blog heading and that should take you to a webpage with better graphics. You should then see the signup box on the right side.  If you have trouble signing up, send me an email at mark.girard@rogers.com.

Thanks for reading...

Mark