Holland Photo Arts Blog – Charlottesville Wedding Photographers

In our last of our New Zealand-themed posts, we’ve saved, quite possibly, the best for last. If you’ve been following our little travel log, you know that Angela and Webster graciously opened up their home to us during our visit to Auckland and served as travel guides for our every adventure while there. Since they had celebrated their first wedding anniversary there, we thought it was fitting to do a portrait session spread over a few days and across various locales with them to professionally document the relationship they had with not only each other, but with the environment they had grown to love over the past several months. These are, of course, just a few of the highlights from the trip. Every traveler should be so lucky as to have friends as generous and thoughtful as these two.

Angela is a shutterbug herself and she’s gotten some amazing photos during their sojourn.

Angela & Web reflected in one of the art sculptures at gorgeous Cable Bay Vineyard on Waiheke Island, one of favorite spots just a ferry ride away from Auckland. Wonderful vineyards with truly million dollar views.

We found an old abandoned boat and had lots of fun shooting in and around it.

Thanks so much, Angela and Webster! We had so much fun exploring Northern NZ with you both and can’t wait to see you again back in our neck of the woods soon!

Queenstown is an adrenaline paradise that resembles a typical Colorado ski resort town but with more to do. If you can dream it, you can do it here. They’ve got a variety of different activities for every thrill junkie and of course are very effective at emptying one’s wallet for the endeavor. Nonetheless, it’s a great, vibrant town and we loved our too-brief trip on the jet boat (below). These million-dollar babies can skim along at 50mph in a mere four inches of water, slow a bit, and then turn a 360 on a dime. It was soooo much fun! There are three rivers in the South Island that offer these type of boat rides, and we chose the Shotover River boat because it winds its way close to the river’s tall canyon walls. You could, if you were eager to break your arm, reach out and grab the rock wall as the driver expertly guided the boat around various obstacles. Highly recommended.

Want some action? Check out our cheesy little flip video we made from the Shotover Jet ride. And take your dramamine beforehand.

It’s hard to pass up the opportunity to watch the beautiful light that the sun casts across the mountain range just north of Queenstown as it rises, even if you’re on holiday. There was a cloud that persistently remained just above the summit that was interesting to watch. Despite a morning breeze, it just stayed there because of the different climate at that altitude.

This frame was rather electrifying, as Bill had to lean over an electric fence with the tripod to take a photo of this creek. He didn’t know it was electric at first, so that served as a little wake-up call in lieu of coffee that morning.

One afternoon, shortly after a relaxing lunch at Glenorchy Cafe, we drove out to Lake Sylvan for a hike around the lake and to hang out in the water for a spell. Some of the afternoon light falling through the old and twisted pine trees was absolutely beautiful.

On the way back we stopped on the side of the road and stood on top of the car to get a shot over the fence of this hay barn in the distance.

The next morning Bill (the morning half of Anne&Bill) awoke super early for the half-hour drive out to Paradise. It was so peaceful out there and he saw absolutely no one until returning back to the inn for breakfast. What a wonderful way to begin a morning.

The millions of sheep are usually pretty skittish, but they’re also curious. Especially if they think we might have food.

We saw the most beautiful light on this windmill.

We spent our last afternoon there going around to various wineries. One of them, Chard Farm Vineyards, is set on a hill overlooking the river. The only access is via dirt road that has on its side a steep drop off down a cliff right into the river. No guardrail, no nothing. It used to be the main thoroughfare to Queenstown but now serves as a not-so-gentle reminder to visitors that they need a designated driver for tastings at the vineyard. You can see the buildings to the left of the frame below.

On the way back, we stopped by Amisfield for some chilled wine and cheese to help cool us off from the very warm afternoon and for an appetizer before heading over to Saffron restaurant in Arrowtown. Angela and Webster had previously dined there and had a wonderful experience with the creative fare, so we were eager to try it. Of course we wrapped up with their version of Hokey Pokey ice cream over moist chocolate cake. What a nice, relaxing meal! It was the perfect way to wrap up our trip to these scenic islands. We most certainly look forward to returning, especially to the South Island, and hopefully sooner rather than later. Next up…some images from our portraits done with Angela and Webster!

Welcome back to our NZ Journal! See the last entry or type New Zealand into the search box to the right to see all entries thus far.

(Again, please respect our copyright by not printing, sharing or borrowing any of our photos without written permission. Thank you!)

So after we’d had our fill of whales, we took off on the road again and headed to Franz Joseph Glacier on the West Coast of the South Island. It was quite a hike from Kaikoura on the East Coast so we unfortunately didn’t have much time to stop along the way for pics, but of course we had to grab just a few.

So this is where we should have taken Angela and Webster’s advice to visit Fox Glacier over Franz Joseph, but we had already made our lodging arrangements and booked our hike, so we were kinda locked in. Fox Glacier is much less crowded and much less steep than FJ – a big draw for Anne. Unfortunately, we’ll have to hit Fox and their gorgeous blue ice on another visit.

The stunning glacier, just one of, believe it or not, over 3,000 in NZ. Especially wild to note that the glaciers are the only ones in the world basically next to a rain forest!

Don’t let that forced smile fool you. I (Anne) was not exactly thrilled at the heights involved with said glacier hike! Buy her a beer (preferably a Crushed Apple Cider from NZ’s Monteith’s Brewing Company) and she’ll tell you about it sometime.

Click on the photo below to see one of the other hiking groups making their way up the steep rocks to see where the shot of Anne (above) was taken. If you look hard, you can see little specks of red and white from the clothing of those hiking up the south face.

Back on solid ground (yea!), we headed for our next (and sadly, one of our last stops), Glenorchy, just outside of Queenstown. We didn’t do any of the film tours, but heard from locals that they filmed many scenes in the Lord of the Rings trilogy around Glenorchy. We can see why. More pics from there to come, but first we had to get there so it was back in the car for Anne and Bill…

Driftwood sculptures at Hokitika beach…

and Bruce Bay. So cool!

The gorgeous Lake Wanaka on the way from Franz Joseph to Glenorchy.

Could seriously live right here and be eternally fulfilled. Thankfully we have amazing memories and a few cool pics, too!

Just some shots around the garden of our B&B in Glenorchy.

Our view of the sunset that evening from our little private deck. It almost looked as if the mountain were about ready to erupt.

Thanks for joining us today. We’ll have more for you very soon!

Happy Friday! FAB Finds is on a short break so that we can share more NZ images with you.

On our way south to Kaikoura, the curvy ocean highway is full of amazing views, but one of the coolest sights has to be the fur seal colony that hang out on the rocks about 15 minutes outside of town on SH1.  The New Zealand Fur Seal,  found only on the coasts of NZ and Australia, can be seen up close and personal from Ohau Point and we weren’t the only shutterbugs watching over them from the safety of our elevated vantage point beside the road. Needless to say, they are super cute, but don’t take our word for it, see for yourselves!

Want to see the pics even larger? Just click on individual photos.

(Please respect our copyright by not printing, sharing or borrowing any of our photos without written permission. Thank you!)

So does not look so comfortable, eh?

Why hello to you, too.

One of the reasons for the large seal colony near Kaikoura is the ocean shelf that rises almost vertically to meet the shoreline, resulting in millions of pounds of plankton along the shore. This plankton of course attracts other fish (and whales) and as a result, seals.

This one apparently wanted the other guy’s sleeping rock. They all looked uncomfortable to us.

So maybe Kiwis don’t love their street signs, but they sure do like their road signs and we saw several fun ones on our travels on both islands.

They are all about telling it like it is. Love that!

Their speed limit signs. Yes, that 100 kilometers, not miles, per hour. Oh, well. PS – “It’s not a target.”

Some like these, weren’t on actual roads.

See outside the Kiwi Bird experience.

A reminder to stay on the paths at Wai-O-Taupo, the geo-thermal playground in the North Island. No problem.

And some just spoke for themselves.

This beer ad cracked us up for a good 10 minutes while we were sitting in traffic. Click on it make it larger, but it reads: “3.5% (alcohol) So there’s a 96.5% chance of not being ‘that guy’ at the Christmas party.”

Um, a bargain? Perhaps in US dollars…?!

Seen at a bungee jumping facility.

Still more to come next week. You won’t want to miss Paradise and Angela & Webster’s portrait session, for sure!

Kaikoura Adventures Part Two

(You can see Part One here or right below this post. Click on individual photos to see them larger. Please respect our copyright by not printing, sharing or borrowing any of our photos without written permission. Thank you!)

After rescheduling our whale watching trip for the next morning for 7:15am, since we needed to get on the road once again right after the four hour outing, we set off in search of lunch. Once again, Angela came through for us. She pointed us to Nin’s Bin, a little crayfish spot just north of town. (NZ Crayfish are very similar to Lobster and are roughly the same in price.) Kaikoura actually means “Eat Crayfish” in the traditional Maori language. You can read more about Nin’s on this great Aussie food blog since Nin’s doesn’t have a website (and doesn’t really need one, apparently).

Talk about a table with a view!

This little guy liked it too, although he was definitely more interested in our crayfish.

And the requisite aftermath shot! YUM!

The coastal area right around Nin’s was ripe for photo takin’ so, of course, we obliged.

More Pied Shags!

After we tired of the wind and cold, we made our way to warmer climes at Kaikoura Winery. Located just South from Kaikoura proper, we were a little worried that a winery with such great views would only have that going for it, but our fears were assuaged and we enjoyed a wonderful tasting, especially of their white wines for which New Zealand is rightly renowned.

That night we decided to dine on our balcony overlooking the water and enjoyed some tasty take-away (Kiwis don’t call it take-out) pizza and calamari from The Black Rabbit. We found that most if not all the pizzas (and burgers for that matter) in NZ are loaded with interesting and sometimes intriguing toppings. (For example, their Gone Hunting is smoked venison, wild pork, chorizo, spiced plum sauce, and blue cheese sauce; while their Hen & Ham, which we were also considering, is roasted chicken, spinach, cream cheese, rosemary, cranberry sauce and bacon!) No basic pepperoni and cheese to be found here! We tried the Hen & Fig and found it absolutely delightful. Super thin crust and very tasty. The calamari was excellent, too, although the tiny portion size was seriously lacking. (We hadn’t touched it yet in the photo below – there was hardly any! What’s that quote – “They screw you at the drive thru!” Oh, well, our waistlines were probably happier. ;-D

We also used the opportunity to crack open one of our coveted bottles of ’09 Spy Valley Sauvignon Blanc that we picked up on our visit to Spy Valley Wines on our way to Kaikoura. Definitely one of our all-time SB faves for the price point. Highly Recommend!

The next day we arose at o’dark thirty, to pack and make our way over to Whale Watch Kaikoura with fingers crossed that our trip wouldn’t be canceled again due to unsafe seas. It wasn’t, although there was a high sea-sickness warning thanks to moderate to rough seas still. Anne gladly partook of the herbal anti-nausea pill they offered (for $4!) and they were soon on their way. Suffice it to say, it was a very bumpy ride and while neither of us lost our breakfast so to speak, it made for a pretty uncomfortable trip out to the prime viewing locations and back.

We got to “see” two Sperm Whales though, along with a couple of Wandering Albatross. See is in quotes, because, really all we saw was some spurting water from something that looked like it was very large, but couldn’t really be seen below the water (likely thanks in large part to the rough seas), and the huge tail fin as he went down on his dive back to the deep. Consensus: it was cool, but  it wasn’t fun and an adventure we wouldn’t repeat and probably not just because of the rough water. We would recommend spending the big bucks required on other, higher reward activities.

More from the gorgeous South Island to come soon!