Port Nicholson | Fotoeins Fotografie

Pouwhenua, Byrd Memorial, Mount Victoria, Matairangi, Tangi Te Keo, Wellington, New Zealand, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: RTW10, twenty-seven

10 years ago, I began an around-the-world (RTW) journey lasting 389 consecutive days, from 24 December 2011 to 15 January 2013 inclusive.

12 July 2012.

For a moment, I’m sweating buckets through tropical summer heat and humidity in southern Vietnam.

The next minute, I’m wearing layers of fleece on a clear winter morning in New Zealand.

That’s what happens after crossing the equator from north to south in early July.

In Wellington, I head up to the Mount Victoria summit (Tangi Te Keo) for sunrise and a panoramic view of the capital city on the North Island. In this view, a bright red “pouwhenua” stands proud and faces south; also visible are the Admiral Byrd Memorial below to the left and the Interislander ferry that’s just departed Wellington for its journey across Cook Strait to Picton on the South Island. “Pouwhenua” are traditional wooden posts carved by the Māori to indicate territorial boundaries or important cultural locations.

I made the image on 12 Jul 2012 with a Canon EOS450D (Rebel XSi) and these settings: 1/200-sec, f/8, ISO200, and 20mm focal length (32mm full-frame equivalent). This post appears on Fotoeins Fotografie at fotoeins DOT com as https://wp.me/p1BIdT-m8u.

Te Whanganui a Tara, Port Nicholson, Wellington Victoria, Mount Victoria, tangi te keo, Wellington, New Zealand, Aotearoa, fotoeins.com

Fotoeins Friday: New Zealand, new day, new year

Along with Kiribati, Tokelau, Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji, New Zealand is one of the first countries west of the international date line to witness sunrise and, on the first of January, to celebrate a brand new year. In the photo above, the day’s early light illuminates Wellington Harbour (Te Whanganui a Tara) and Lower Hutt in the distance, as a Bluebridge ferry begins its journey out of the harbour to cross Cook Strait for Picton on the South Island.

• one Māori legend about Wellington harbour
• click here for my Interislander ferry trip across Cook Strait
• click here for a beaut of a sunrise over Wellington

I made the photo above on 12 July 2012 with the Canon 450D, EF-S 18-55 IS kit-lens, and the following settings: 1/640s, f/5.6, ISO200, 55mm (88mm full-frame equivalent) focal length. This post appears on Fotoeins Fotopress at fotoeins.com at http://wp.me/p1BIdT-7vp.

New Zealand : Wellington Daybreak from Mount Victoria

Before visiting the South Island for the first time, I spent a week with friends in Wellington, New Zealand at the beginning of July 2012. I didn’t have my own set of wheels, but I didn’t need a car in a compact city that is easy to cover on foot. If necessary, the buses work well to reach most destinations in greater Wellington.

The winter weather had been beautiful and relatively calm, which I thought was a little unusual for winter in “windy Welly”. But I was definitely not one to complain, and before leaving Wellington, I wanted to watch the sunrise from the summit of Mount Victoria.

At a height of about 200 metres or 660 feet, Mount Victoria (Tangi Te Keo in Maori) may be more like a hill, but it’s tall enough to get a great view of the city and the harbour. Wellington harbour is also known as Port Nicholson, and Te Whanganui a Tara in Maori.

I caught the first buses of the day: what would I see? Would the skies be clear? I was the sole person to alight the bus at the summit, just minutes before sunrise. There’s something to be said to be the only person at the summit to welcome the brand new day.

( Click here for images and more )