Photovan does snowy Tongariro !

May 2009 , this was the most recent photovan trip ....

When I realized that this weekend was a long weekend and there was some snow on the Tongariro crossing I packed my photovan
even though the weather was supposed to be turning bad .

Friday night everyone I spoke to told me the weather was going to turn nasty and it would all be called off [ organized walks ] so Saturday morning I resorted to taking shots around the Chateux as the sun was coming up .
There was frost on the tables .





This golf flag gave me a bit of movement to add some mood to the scene .



But this is where I had wanted to be .



Then I saw this bus group getting ready and asked them where they were going . They told me they were going to do the crossing . I asked when they were leaving and she said "5 minutes" and I knew I wouldn't be ready on time . She suggested I drive out to the beginning of the track , walk halfway and then back to my van because they weren't sure of the weather and might be turning back halfway themselves .
I raced back to my van , got to the beginning of the track and started getting all me gear together .



and that's how the story starts , here are two panos I did of the top scenery to keep you interested while I unpack my van before continuing the story .
Needs work still ....


Blue lake ....






I was really hoping for more snow but once I got walking I was happy enough with what I saw . There was a Tarn with some nice ice patterns on it .





During the early stages of the track there wasn't much snow to see



but there was definitely evidence of cold !



Then when I got to the crater I decided that this would be enough snow to give me an indication of what to expect later



and then I started slipping on the ice patches



As I got higher it was easy to see which direction the wind was blowing .



Especially as you look closer ....



Footprints from the previous day were frozen



There was also a guided tour ahead , heading up towards Red crater



This elderly couple in front were doing quite well . I spoke with them and they were walking to the other side and going to have someone collect them and drop them back at the beginning and they agreed to give me a lift as well so happily I knew I could go all the way .



On the top there were more rocks with 'directional ice' on them





In the distance was blue lake which is along the trail .




And walking down the Red crater I could see the Emerald lakes and they looked rather cold .



and a few people had thrown rocks on the lake and they had just bounced off the frozen surface ...



I was wearing 'instep crampons' and was quite impressed at how well they did .



Looking back at the red crater and emerald lakes .....



The Blue lake was also frozen



and that's a sign that the track is almost over ....



The last stop is Ketetahi hut .



.....where you can see the amazing mystical ''weather rock" !

8.) Photovan does Taranaki

February 5 2008 .....

I just got back from my tour around mount Egmont / Taranaki New Zealand ..... the coastline was quite interesting ..



I'm still busy sorting my pictures out , on the first night I stayed at a bed and breakfast rather than in my van since it was next to this nice scenery where some steps led down to my own private beach ....



and a kitten to fill in for the cats at home that I was missing ....




I was looking forward to the sunset .



It looked good in both directions .....



a slow exposure turned the waves into mist ...



Heading for New Plymouth I saw this rock on the left asking to be climbed ....



With a good view from the top



going down was a bit more scary even though there was a cable to hang onto



The "bed and breakfast " I stayed at is part of a 2000 acre property that extends inland . Apparently Tom Cruise visited their waterfall during his off-time while filming "The Last Samurai" . It had a nice view .

Originally Posted by North of Auckland

That rock looks mental!

Some stunning scenes you captured on this trip mate.

Coming down that rock was a bit scary . Here are a few more form that trip ...

On Monday I was dissappointed that things were clouding over so I would miss the sunset ...



So I went back to the "photovan" and put on a movie rather because the wind was also picking up a bit .


"Obie Wan old buddy ! ....... "

Then suddenly the clouds went pink underneath at 8:15pm and I knew I had about 15 minutes before the sun was gone so I raced off to the beach again , when I stepped out of the van the sand was stinging my legs so I took a few shots out of the side window rather ...



Then I drove up to some long grass where the sandblasting wasn't as severe and ran out a bit and took this shot ....



That last picture was one of the few I ever spent more than 30 seconds editing .....



Of course I made sure everyone saw me enjoying my caramel latte at the tourist stops :smile:



And a few more to move on to the next page ...









and a few more ....["also ran"]







Dawson falls at 1/6 sec , tree as tripod .....



A few more 'also ran ' shots ....

New Plymouth "wind wand "



skeleton of the now extinct Moa .....they were larger than an ostrich and hunted to extinction in New Zealand .



a bit of a steep climb



almost like a skeleton ....



The photovan set up in the crummy little campsite I stayed in Monday night . Must be the cheapest campsite in the country at $8 per night or $9 if you want a power point .
I stayed there because it was very close to nice scenery . The thing on the roof is a solar powered rechargeable mosquito zapper , the 12 volt kettle was boiling away [ after 15 minutes !] and there are two ac power supply's connected to the two extra batteries inside - powered from the alternator when I'm driving .
The mosquito zapper has the advantage of letting you know when it has done its job , all you hear is bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz .... CRACK , HISS , POP .... then you drift off to sleep again .





Quote from my February 6 post .....

Today I heard news that this abandoned factory burned down [ probably doesn't look much different ] this morning . It was at Patea , my second night's stop . It used to be a freezing works when the town was in its heyday but due to a strike for more pay it ended up being shut down .

7.) Photovan does Port Waikato

January 2008 :
Since Monday was a public holiday here I decided to see something new [to me ] .
I visited "Port Waikato " where the Waikato river empties into the sea on the north island of New Zealand ...... I stayed at this interesting campsite ...





There was a walk onto the sand dunes across the road .








and the sun was at a nice angle ...











Some interesting shapes .






2 minutes down the road was the main beach ...





and some nice rock formations .....





The sun was starting to set ..





nice beaches





and nice rock formations .



did I mention nice rock formations ?





The main beach is a bit to the right of this with no rock formations





behind these rocks ....





As the sun started to set I put the D50 , 10-20mm combination on the tripod and inserted a graduated filter in front of the polarizer ....





Then I tried a gold filter





and a Tobacco filter ....



more interesting than the boring beach on the right ....





but I wouldn't mind spending some more time on the sand dunes in late afternoon sunlight next time ...





the country is very dry at the moment and I haven't seen so much brown grass before in the 6 years I have lived here ....





I've grown rather fond of my Sigma 10-20mm lens ..

There was this one image that made me feel suddenly relaxed .....



and when I checked I had taken it at 1 second hence the smoother water . I will have to do some more slow water shots of the beach , maybe in a few days since I am off till Thursday and tomorrow [ Sunday ] I will be leaving for the Taranaki region and may climb Mount Egmont [ mt Fiji in "the last samurai " ] , then I'll cruise around the coast ...

5.) Photovan does Northland

December 2008 :

Thursday morning I loaded up the 'photovan' for a tour of Northland at the top of New Zealand [ more pictures here http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m...wns/Northland/. If I load it the day before I can't sleep properly so now I load it on the day I leave :smile: . My first stop was this shed - taken from the van which may explain the tilt , unless it was the angle of the shed that made me lean .....



then I noticed evidence of a plane crash in the other direction ....



I liked the look of this building as well [Dargaville ].



When I got to Ripiro beach I had contemplated driving up the beach instead of the main road . This beach and "90 mile beach " are long flat beaches where cars and tour buses drive regularly . I parked the van and took a walk to check it out .







I decided that I didn't want the worry of knowing the underneath of my van could be coated with salt water and continued on the main road 

I took the smaller back roads and came across a sign to the "Kai iwi lakes " and decided to head there . I decided the campsite looked 'acceptable' despite the lack of hot water .





My ankle still hasn't recovered after falling off a rock while photographing a wedding last saturday but I decided to exercise it and take a walk/limp to this pond full of dead branches .



I managed to hobble all the way to the top of the lookout , this is the view back to the campsite .



There is a large shallow area of water that's warmed by the sun and so I had no real excuse not to take a dip - it was either that or a cold shower - if you venture too close to the deeper part the water gets freezing cold . While I was up there I saw this couple taking advantage of a photo opportunity of their pram 'stuck' in a pool of water .



Then the sun started to go down and the colours started changing .







And that was the end of day one ......
Day two , first stop "Omapere" .







When I finally got to 90 mile beach I was still contemplating whether I should be adventurous and drive up the beach because I noticed a few 'car wash' places along the way where I could clean my van afterwards but then I saw this sign .



and decided to leave it for the 4X4's .


I liked the look of these trees as I carried on towards Cape Reinga -

I did have pretty good weather the first two days . One of the reasons I don't like driving on the beach is that it destroys a fair amount of life below the surface as well - they are apparently planning on banning it totally in the future .
The weather was still good when I got to Cape Reinga - my van loves those gravel roads- I overtook quite a few cars driving like old ladies on that last bit of road ....










There's normally quite a trail of people walking to the lighthouse .....



Then , on the advice of someone I met the previous night I headed for Spirits bay which supposedly had good scenery . It was ok when I got there so I set up the photovan - this was an evening shot - watching a movie while I wait for the sunset .....


This hill and its reflection were showing a bit of promise for later pictures .



like this .



and this ...


as people gathered to wait for the sunset .


and the clouds formed a circle around the exact spot the sun was going down .


and the setting sun painted them from the inside ....




But I'm getting ahead of myself now - there were a few other shots I got before the sunset ....





And to me this is a mixture between a seal and a bird trying to break open a shellfish of some sort ......



I was interested in this dinosaur head sticking up and got closer to see if it was rock or wood .Then I saw the little 'bowl' behind it and remembered why it's called Spirits bay - something to do with people buried a long time ago ....


Day three I headed south again for KeriKeri where the oldest building in the country is situated - the old stone shop which is also a popular tourist destination that sells some interesting items [ including 3 legged cooking pots made in South Africa ' potjie pots' as they call them ].


The 10-20mm lens was useful for getting close to eliminate all the people clustered around it .


Not to mention all the tourist buses .


But that was only after driving past various bays .....



stopping at various beaches .....


more boats ....


all this after driving past "Kauriland" [ I'm doing things a bit backward now ] at Awanui where they have crafted furniture out of Kauri trees supposedly buried for 45000 years . I parked the van next to one of the smaller trees to compare size ....


Inside I found this couch that could be bought for $120 000


And then there was this spiral staircase carved out of the middle of a tree



There wasn't a price tag on it


 
flowers and boats .....

more 'charismatic sheds '

Anyway , after Kerikeri I headed for Paihia and went past Hararu falls 3km out of town ....



in the distance was a campground that looked a bit too civilized for my taste ....



so after taking some pictures in between the tourist buses I headed back into Paihia and my back started burning for no reason - it turned out to be a bee that had found its way in behind me and also wasn't too happy with the situation .
I wasn't too sure what effect the sting would have on me and decided that since it was already 3 pm I may as well splash out and stay in a 'luxury' campsite - the one I had seen from the top of the falls .

The first night at the lakes cost $20 to camp- no hot water , the second night at spirits bay was a $7 fee deposited via an envelope into a box at the entrance and interestingly this place was only $18 for the night - $9.70 for one hour wireless internet [ vista on my laptop didn't want to connect so I used their desktop and extremely small screen ] .
talk about luxury ! compared to what I had been through that is . Hot water , swimming pool , kayaks , bar , restaurant - hamburger and chips for dinner...... I'm not getting soft ! it was either something I ate or the bee sting but I had quite bad chest pains for a while and decided that eating/bathing/swimming in this more luxurious camp would be my medical treatment ...

---

and a shot of the falls after sunset ...

The last day the scenery was very much the same and I decided to head straight home only stopping for a few snapshots from this lookout before Auckland ....

Photovan does Corromandel

December 2008 :

I just got back from another tour in my photovan http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/sho...light=photovan , Last week I toured Northland and yesterday I started my 650km round trip up the smaller ''horn'' of the north island . I'll post one picture at a time to limit the size of the pages .

The weather was pretty dismal to start with and I wondered if I had made the right decision to keep on going - my first stop was at Thames shopping centre .....



I went into the McDonalds [ no I don't eat their burgers ] , and had some breakfast .



There's always an interesting old building along the way ....



Then the road starts to hug the coastline most of the way



And there are many rock formations in the sea along the way



The weather was still looking rather dismal as I headed towards Coromandel town



There are plenty of smaller bays and towns along the way ....






Just be sure to apply your parking brake when you stop to take pictures





The road eventually becomes gravel



And still cuts through many small bays and beaches



Then Port Jackson appears around the corner - my planned destination



Layers upon layers of people , tents and caravans - this would definitely not be where I stay for the night





So I checked the map - there was another 7km more of road before it all ended so I kept heading for Fletchers bay





There were a few small river crossings preceded by these signs .....



See the 'Holden' added in ? [ Chevrolet/Opel , I think it's the same thing ] . There is a lot of competition between the two cars because of the races they hold in Australia but anyway as I came around the corner there was a Ford van chugging along - I had to go extra slow for a while until he pulled over and I could resume 'normal' speed

---

And then the clouds started to part and sunshine and blue skies appeared ....




I think the scenery is better here than at the top of Northland

And a few more before I get some sleep ...



bored stiff .... [ watching cricket !]



Two grumpy faces ....





and tomorrow I'll finish the story .....



It was a good trip but I'm a bit tired of driving now , about 2000 km in the last week . There were quite a few photo opportunities but most of the good stuff happens as the sun starts going down then I wander around waiting for it to dissappear .....





Once the sun was behind a hill I snapped this shot of some low cloud



The next morning I surveyed the mess I had made so far



... and strapped the 'kids' in for the rest of the trip



Since there was actually an empty parking space outside my favourite hardware shop I grabbed the opportunity to stop and have breakfast in Coromandel town - after buying another machette from this shop - they have a large selection and 4 years ago I bought a decent one here so I had to pop in again .....



and then over to the cafe for pancakes banana and bacon breakfast [ with maple syrup ]



And over the hill to the East coast



and more bays and towns ..... and flowers



does this also make you feel seasick ?



Tairua is a scenic little town where they were holding a fishing competition for the kids - it's one of the few towns where I wouldn't mind spending more than a day walking around snapping pictures .....

From there I headed for the Karangahake gorge - one of my favourite spots in this area





It used to be a mining area but the scenery is really nice and there are a lot of walks in and around the mountains



and some bush



and tunnels cut into the rock



and along the side of the mountain



and old mining gear all over



Next time I'll take a torch and a day to explore the deeper tunnels - with my tripod of course .....





any way that was the end of that tour and some of the 450 pictures I took - there are a few more here .... http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m...andel/?start=0

4.) Photovan does Ruapehu

Sept 2008

Last weekend I took my photovan to Ruapehu with the idea of spending some time walking in the snow . I had thought of naming my van 'rattle and squeak' but after seeing how much oil it uses in relation to petrol I think "two stroke" is more appropriate, though it uses twice as much fuel as my pulsar it pays for itself in other ways , it cost me $15 a night to stay in the campsite compared to the $200 a night the motel would have cost .[ for the first time ever all pictures were taken in manual mode ]



The campsite was next to "The Chateaux'



There are quite a few pictures so I'll add one after each reply to speed things up a bit .
[all images here http://s107.photobucket.com/albums/m...downs/skitour/
First I made contact with a company that arranges transport for the Tongariro crossing http://www.tongarirocrossing.org.nz/...FRGiiQodTk7xeA , 70000 people walk it each year but not in the snow which is my next goal . The company made plans to leave 7am sunday morning and I drove to "Turangi" early . The sun was just coming up .



After I arrived they phoned me to tell me not to bother driving over because the weather ''had advanced by 12 hours'' and the afternoon 'might' not be good weather - they have to take full responsibility for anything that happens so they were being safe . I decided to do something a bit more dangerous , I took my $1 skis up the mountain but first went for a walk to warm up ...



"mount doom" in the distance ....

There was cloud over the rest of the area





and the chair lifts fired up ...



So I went and got my skis and spent my third day in as many years skiing - the slope seemed steeper than last year in the morning but by the afternoon it was a bit lame but I decided to save the steeper slopes for another time . Anyway later on someone told me the antique skis I was using probably wouldn't release properly if I crashed

As my story progresses I'll add pictures from the thermal park ...



along whith the various growths on the trees and rocks



some slow exposures of the golden rapids ...



time exposures of the traffic at night



I want to edit this one , give the blades some rotation blur ...



add a few from the cave ...



my personal favourite the bubbling mud ...



and share the story of the Tawa lakes walk past the falls .....







I enjoyed it when the sun was going down ....





A lot of snow has meleted but the ski fields are still open now in spring due to the amount of snow left - it's pretty hard skiing on what's left [ well actually it's pretty hard for me to ski on anything !] , when I fell the second time on the same place it was almost like sliding on gravel .





this was a wide angle shot next to lake Taupo ....





There's no shortage of things to photograph , whatever direction you go in . It was my first stop at this particualr thermal park ...



which included a cave for good measure this time .



the water was really warm but there was a "no swimming" sign .









On Monday I decided to walk to the Tama lakes , I had walked past the turnoff before but never visited them .

First comes a walk through the trees which all have stuff growing on them ...



The marshlands are protected by boardwalks ....



I suppose this could be called a sign when you get to the lower Tama lake



The lower lake ...



the 'wind shelter ' at the upper lake which is another 20 minutes up the hill ...



"X" marks the spot , you are here !







There is a lot of colour even amongst the rocks .







and almost every tree has something else growing on it ....

The one called "old man's beard" is actually a bit of a pest and sometimes covers the entire tree ....

Coming back from the lakes I stopped off at the Taranaki falls ...



and had a look from the top as well .....

3.) Photovan does Raglan rally fun .

August 2008....

Not really a 'travels' thread but this is where the photovan lives
I say "fun" because I couldn't care less about motor sport but enjoy the photography side of things . To start with I loaded the "photovan" with all sorts of comforts and set it up on a friend's farm ....



We got a few head on shots with me sitting on my newly added platform on the roof .

Then I headed for the ladder set up next to the fence and tried a few with the SB24 flash
generally taken around f5.6 1/800th sec , a few at 1/500th sec .





and a few with the 10-20mm lens





Then I walked up the hill to this spot where I was told they were leaving the road occsionally ....

Steering in the air !







and of course a snack halfway through ....





We had some time in the morning while we were waiting so I set the D40 up on a tripod and took some pictures of me doing dangerous things on the road , then added the cars later ....



Chimping is dangerous ....

11.) Photovan does Taupo

On Saturday I headed off in my van and decided to look up some places I hadn't been to before . I had heard of Pureora reserve and programmed the name into my GPS and followed the instructions .
I soon ended up on a road I've never been on before and started taking pictures ...











The GPS led me to the middle of the reserve and when I got there I knew the 'campsite' wasn't going to do . It was more of a base-camp for hunters and not very scenic .



So I set the GPS for "Taupo" and headed off .

I somehow ended up at a more civilized part of the same reserve and since it was getting late I decided to stay at the camping ground because it was reasonable .
I went for a walk on the Totara track as well .









I had my bike with me so getting around was much easier this time .

In the evening I moved my van to where the clouds looked best .



and started getting some pictures of this old gate .





That was the end of Saturday afternoon - followed by a night of slapping mosquitoes and trying to get some sleep . I dug out the mosquito netting and obviously left my arm too close to the side of it because I still have a pattern of bumps on one elbow .

The next morning I drove through Taupo and headed for Mount Ruapehu with the possible option of climbing it . I stopped at this bridge for some pictures .




The mountain was not in a mood for visitors ...

What is known as "happy valley" beginners slope in winter was not happy either ...

With the angle of the howling wind and rain I couldn't open my window at this point and had to nose my van to the edge of this cliff to get a shot of it .





I took a different road back - past lake Rotoaira




On the way through town in the morning I had seen them setting up some tents and advertising boards for "thunder on the lake " , some jet boat race event .
I'm not really into that stuff but since it was happening I backed my van into a decent spot and popped the back up for a sheltered view of events while everyone else huddled together in the wind and drizzle .



I must say I got a few 'looks' sitting in the back there eating biscuits and setting up my laptop and camera gear - looks of envy I think especially when the action hotted up and things were dry for a while and I set up my deck-chair on the shooting platform on top of the van .

 
It was just a lot of noise and pollution - not exactly my idea of fun but better than doing nothing ...





I was sitting up there with the big lens taking in the action and watching the people out of the corner of my eye at the same time - I saw a few of them sneak a picture of my setup as well .

This was all close to the centre of the city . Taupo is a very nice place and also very 'touristy' with bungee jumping , jet boating , tours etc. There are many tourist places , backpackers , coffee shops etc.



This was taken with the Fuji F31 compact - too much rain to take out the Nikons .



See that "golf green" on the left .... I had a try at it , 18 balls for $15 - if you get a hole-in-one you win $2000 . They had a board up there saying
that the total number of winners so far is 711 but I don't know over what time period . The guy running the show told me that school kids with snorkels
get the balls back out of the lake [ most of them anyway ? ] . I've never played golf before but they wouldn't believe me because with the strong side winds I was the only one getting the ball to land within metres of the platform . I told him "It's not much different to swinging a machete , just less messy , you keep your arm straight and aim with the back-swing .....

They used to have a TV set out there "win $100 000 for breaking the screen " , I don't know why they took that away .






Not much else happened that day , a soak in the spa bath and off to sleep - I stayed at the motel "campervan park" right next to the main road .

Monday morning I headed back to Raglan and stopped to get a picture of this 'rock' that doesn't even have a name - maybe there is too much good scenery if something like this doesn't even get a mention ?



And these are a few of the other 'also ran' pictures from the trip .

0.) Sleeping in a snow cave .

I dug these pictures out from September 2005 . I had listened to people's advice and done a snow-craft course in preparation for a climb up Ruapehu .
These pictures were taken with my canon S70 back then .
This time I intended on sleeping in a snow cave on top for the night and maybe capturing a sunrise . I started walking from the top of the Bruce road carpark . I left a notice on the side window of my car " I'm sleeping in a snow cave on top of Rauapehu, if this sign is still here on 15/09/2005 .... I want to be cremated " .






That's Egmont in the distance - my next climb maybe ?



I keep a tarpaulin on my pack , it is folded over and sewn up like a large bag in case things get nasty and I need shelter in a hurry ....



The ''fun' coming down started the next day , more on that later ....

I saw this red sign and wandered over to see what it said ..... " danger - cliff"





Strange place to put a tent !



This ridge has actually caught me again recently - I start climbing , head for the ridge going up , and it goes straight down again after a while ...



The weather was starting to look 'iffy'



but after 3 1/2 hours I was on top ! That ridge was where I was going to build my cave ....



Things were looking a little dull for a while .. that small spot in the middle is two people ....



Then I saw these two skiers who had climbed to the top to ski back down , the nutters had all this hot gear on , jackets etc....



So I asked them to take a snap for me .... you can see I've made a decent sheath for the machette , it's useful for cutting blocks of snow .




I wandered around for a while taking snapshots here and there ....



and noticed a line of 'dots' at the end of that hill ..



So I headed towards it and stopped to admire the 'flowers'



When I got to the hill I had chosen I suddenly saw no need to waste energy building my own snow cave ....





Welcome to Hotel snowcave !







Of course the entrance needs to be lower than the floor to keep heat in but they could have made this a bit lower - I fixed it later after having some rest ....



Whoever slept on this side had a green bedroll because half of it was still stuck to the snow .



Possibly another two people fitted on this side .....



I soon made it a little more 'homey' ....









Now here's the crazy part , last time I slept in a 'snow mound' [ that's another story that I managed to live through ] , I got very cold because I never had enough insulation under me . This time I folded the tarp under me , put down my mattress , climbed into the bivy bag in my -30 sleeping bag , with my jacket on ....... in 10 minutes I was so hot I threw it all off and rolled onto the snow to cool down - it was about 2 degrees celcius at that stage !







It was a rather uneventful night [ thankfully ] , had to leave the sleeping bag unzipped to prevent overheating [ 0 degrees inside ] , at 3 am woke up and finally pulled the zip up because I was getting cold - stared at the roof and wondered how many tons were above my head and what chance I would have if it collapsed on me ....
6 am woke up .







I wandered around for a while snapping pictures ....





and I can feel my pulse speeding up as I view this picture again .... and it's been nearly 4 years now .....




I should have posted this in the morning , now it's going to take a while to get to sleep tonight

I walked up to the edge and looked down the slope .....



Mistake no.1 . I had bought some cheap crampons on trademe , they kept jumping off so I had strapped them to the top of my pack .
I decided it was too much hassle to put them on anyway so I would just dig my heels in as I walked down - easy .
But the snow had melted and refrozen overnight and it was all ice . I struggled for a while and then decided to put my snowcraft training to use [ not really ] and dug the tip of the ice axe in , leaned on it , and slowly pulled it out so I could do a 'self arrest' and slide down using the tip as a brake [ that was mistake no.2 by the way ] .
It lasted about 5 seconds - I took off like a bullet , lost control , ramped through the air and swung my ice axe into the side - it got ripped out of my hand because I have a weak grip - and for that same reason I had had a safety strap fitted .
So there I was dangling on the slope by my wrist .
I decided to kick into the ice to get a foothold - it worked for a while and I started making my way down - then the ice got really thick and my left boot wasn't properly tightened [ #3 ?] so 6 months later my bruised toenail finally fell out  .
After a bit more struggling somehow one clip on top of my pack came undone and the crampons hung in front of my face - I thought "damn ! , how do I do them up again " . I put my hand on top and somehow touched the other clip which came undone and they both fell in front of my face .
I thought ''great , it's too much to put them back so I'll throw them down the slope and pick them up at the bottom later " .
Then it occurred to me that if I had them on I wouldn't be in this mess .
In 5 minutes I had cut a platform , put the crampons on and was walking down backwards kicking my spikes into the ice - easy .
this is the angle of the slope .....



And that's looking back up the slope .....



So I carried on walking back to the car taking pictures ... realized I would have slid all the way down here



might have stopped here ....



definitely would have stopped here if I got this far ....



looked at this sign .....



and thought that I could only go alone because for some reason nobody wants to go on these trips with me !

When I got home I downloaded the pictures and as I started going through them the shock started to sink in and I started shaking when I saw where I would have ended up if I never had that safety strap - imagine the damage to my camera !
Someone suggested I have a few drinks and I told them I don't drink alcohol . So they suggested some 'calming medicine' from the pharmacy and I told them I wanted to face my fear - I don't want to have to rely on something to calm my nerves or I won't have conquered my fear .
Now I'm ready for round two - but this time I have some decent crampons [ and a D90 !] .





And that's the story that earned me the title "The mad South African " a few years ago - coined by another South African mind you !

10 .) Photovan does Rotorua

January 2010 :

Tuesday morning I left for a really 'touristy' holiday for a change , no mountain climbing or sleeping in snow caves - I went to Rotorua , or should I say 'Rotten-rua' due to the thermal activity and associated smell .
I'm still getting used to the idea of going on holiday during 'holiday season' !
First I headed for Blue Lake because I wanted to camp there for some relaxation - normally there are 4 or 5 other people there ... not this time !









I took a walk around the camping ground and decided it was too crowded and spoke to the receptionist who told me about another lake with less people called "Rerewhakaaitu" [ don't lose your false teeth trying to say that ] so I headed off [ still sorting through pictures :smile: ]




There was an amusing sign there though ....


After a while I got to the unpronounceable campsite , not much compared to the scenery I am used to but at least it wasn't infested with tourists [ wait a bit , I'm also one of those !] . I decided to stay there for the night .



" No fireworks " ? I'll be careful what I eat ok ?



I decided to go for a walk on the edge of the lake .






One good thing about patchy clouds is that it can turn the same scene into a pleasant variety of scenes .... the incoming road ....











Then I went past this old Maori canoe ...





And headed for the gardens



Past this statue



and toward the old bath-house






There's something to look at just about everywhere you go in Rotorua ....







Hmmm , a wedding expo coming up ....



I decided to go into that big building that I've only walked past before and it turned out to be a museum of the 'old bath-house' .
I watched a 20 minute movie of its history which was actually quite well presented , they told some interesting stories and included the old legends of why there was thermal activity - something about monsters being locked in the earth ....



I shot a lot of these at around iso 3200 with the D90 . I wished I had my D40 with the 35mm 1.8 lens on it actually .















[ One thing I forgot to mention , during that film , when they start talking about volcanic eruptions , try not to jump too high when all the motorized seats start moving ]

There were a variety of baths there ...





The water may have been a bit hot in some though !



Then I ventured down to the basement for some dark pictures at iso 3200 .













After leaving the basement ....



I headed for the lookout on the roof ...



And then I photographed one more 'shadow' and left



past these statues ....














On my walk back to camp I was contemplating what I would do on my last day there .... the boat was out of the question [ I get very sea-sick ] .



then there was the option of helicopter tours - I'd never been in a helicopter



This guy wasn't too sure of their mascot though ....



crazy tourists everywhere still .....



and then there was the option of the gondola .....



and as you can see from the last image the next day I went and booked a helicopter flight for 12:45 and headed off up the gondola to check out the action there and get some scenery .
There is a large swing at the top that cranks its passengers up very high and then releases them at quite a speed ....










Then I saw this lady and said to her "you've got to let me get a picture of that shirt for the photography forums" and she agreed .

And no thread about Rotorua is complete without pictures of 'the luge' which is good fun ! .....

Before I got in the helicopter I saw good reason not to take my camera in the jet boat ride !











Now the helicopter trip - it lasted 15 minutes but it was small and the ride was bumpy .

The video ....

The video ....

The pictures ....

















On our return there was some more decent scenery ....





and surprisingly I noticed something I had never seen in this city , behind the old bath-house museum I had gone through earlier . A large patch of thermal activity ....



so after we landed I decided to go and investigate it .



As usual there were well prepared walkways with warning signs wherever there was dangerous thermal activity .













Anyway I'll post the last few pictures now - I think that should do for now !



There were other activities to consider - maybe next time ....







And a young pukeko to end it all ....

2.) Photovan does East Coast

In December 2007 The photovan went for its first 'major' tour of a few days . I chose the East Coast and this is where it began ....

 

[Those sixes are all eights by now actually ]

I went through Rotorua on my way and stopped to photograph some of the lakes along the way .

 

Hinehopu bay ....

There are plenty of scenic bays on the East coast ...

This is "Hawaii'

 

 

All the way to Te Araroa , 21 km down the road is the worlds most easterly lighthouse . I had about 1/4 of a tank of fuel left and had seen no fuel stations for 100km . This place had some locked pumps .....

  

After going into a shop to get someone to unlock the fuel pumps I took a few images around the town .

 
 

"Shaggy " the horse wandered across a field ...

 

The road to the lighthouse ... looking through a dirty windscreen .....

  

700 steps up to the lighthouse for a decent view !

 

  

  

 

and then the steps back down again .....

 

On the way back I stopped to get some shots of this horse who turned to show me his good side 

 

 And looking back toward the lighthouse and island

 

This is believed to be the worlds largest Pohutukawa tree , maybe 350 years old , 21.2 meteres high and 40 meter trunk at its widest point ...

 

  

I camped that night in Te Araroa camp site - the owner doesn't have locks on his doors apparently

 

  

The photovan in action !

 

The night sky .....

 

The early morning beach ....

 

  

Walking back to the campsite from the beach ....

 

  

On the road again .....

 

  

 Te Puia springs .....

 

Tokomaru bay had some interesting old buildings . This one had a sign asking for contributions for upkeep "if you want to photograph this building " , ok I did crop this picture and do a shadows adjustment ...

  

  

  

  

  

More old buildings ...

 

  

Manganuka track campsite - I would have stayed there if someone hadn't lit an annoying fire that smoked me out .....

 

Another possible option for an overnight stay ....

 

Not good enough so I drove back to Opotiki about 25 km further and back up the way I had driven the first day to find a decent campsite . I drove another 40km and decided to turn around and head toward Whakatane , I was getting very tired but wanted a place with decent scenery . OK , view from the beach , the people on the beachfront were packed like sardines but luckily there was a quiet spot around the back ....

 

From the hill next to the campsite ....

 

  

The sunset wasn't looking too promising so I played around with filters ....

 

  

That's mount Tarawera ..... just did a drive-by this time .

 
 

I stopped in at Rotorua and photographed some of the thermal activity on the side of the road . I'm pretty sure that place is going to blow up one day - it was only 120 years ago that Tarawera exploded  

 

  

And that's how the photovan's first major tour went , and this is how it ended ...

 

Ruapuke , Raglan , New Zealand .

December 1 2007 .
I took the photovan for a sleepover at Ruapuke , Papanui point , New Zealand .
The gate has a box next to it so you can deposit $1 to help the farmer put stones down on the road for all the people who use it . It isn't much of a road ...


But it is a popular fishing spot where people can fish from 20 meters above the sea ....


There have been a few drownings there from people fishing lower down - every now and then a rouge wave comes along and washes them off ....

The 'locals'

This was where I parked the first night -quite a view .....

In the distance is mount Egmont or 'Taranaki'

In the morning I had to get back across this field . The only problem was that there was now dew on the grass and the photovan is not a 4 wheel drive !

I spent a while sliding backwards down that bank until I took a walk around and found a place on the left , quite close to a 100m cliff , where I could drive in a circle and pick up enough speed to ramp up the bank - without sliding down the other side .
On my way back I came up against a slip on the road and had to take another way round to get home but the scenery was worth it .

That was the photovan's first adventure - more to come !

22/1/2010 :

In October 2007 I was going to buy a Nikon D300 but realized that for the same price I could get a D40 and this van ....... [ the D40 turned out to be a good choice as well ! ]
[ 10/03/2010 - another 'photovan' in NSW ]

This was going to be my "photovan" for touring and photographing New Zealand , but first it would need some 'enhancing' ..... There was already a wooden floor so I added a lino .

Then the necessary items had to be located in an efficient manner . A computer desk and a large toolbox for locking away expensive gear . The outside of the van wasn't going to change much for a reason [ besides removing the signwriting ] , very conveniently it will stay shabby looking because there's no sense advertising the possibility of expensive gear inside !


The van has gone through many changes and modifications , including an awning that folds out from the platform on the roof and doubles as a place to take photos from when I need more height . [10/04/2009 ]
In the above picture the mattress was my bed on the floor but it was a nuisance having to clear the floor each time I wanted to sleep so I changed the system to include a board that goes over the passenger seat so the bed is always ready - without having to clear a space each night ! note the spare battery on the floor behind the seat ] .



The cooker eventually found a place on the computer desk
and this was recently upgraded to include a sliding table that still needs a leg to be added ..... The top inverter at the back is a 'normal' inverter and the one below is the same power output but since it is a "pure sinewave' inverter it costs 5 times as much . If you use a plain inverter it can damage electronic circuits in something like a camera battery charger that needs a proper power supply with a pure sinewave . the cheap 'square wave' inverters can 'confuse' the electronic circuits and they will either not charge at all or fry themselves . The cheap inverter does run a laptop ok however .

The left side recently became a set of storage bins for food and cooking gear ...


The inverters are 'necessary' to run the laptop .

The spare batteries , one behind the drivers seat and one at the back , are charged from the van's charging system - there is a switch next to the drivers seat that connects the extra batteries to the charging system once I get moving and the engine is running . I do this manually - I'm an auto electrician so there's no way I'm going to spend time wiring it up properly without getting paid !!
Every inch of the van is finding a use , a rechargeable torch is plugged in to the cigarette lighter socket [ one of 16 in total fitted to the van ] and the solar powered 'bug zapper' is also strapped down .

Every square inch .....

And the latest addition helps me find the places I visit in New Zealand !

As I get time I will add the photovan's adventures to this site .....

 It's first test trip was to Papanui point Ruapuke , Raglan ....



which was in the early days of its development ....





Then I added a small platform on the roof for the rally ....





eventually I got a bigger platform for the roof ....