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Lake Tekapo

Almost didn’t shoot this (tired, too early in the morning, foggy, etc) but for wifey’s incessant reminders that "we made it this far". We were just about done shooting when the gorgeous sun came out from behind the clouds, and thankfully dad-in-law was on hand to hold my huge reflector, filling the shadow’s nicely.

On the image, I received a few comments that the scenery looks almost unreal. Yes, New Zealand is that gorgeous. With the right equipment (an ultra-wide angle lens) and enthusiastic subject, it all simply came together.

Wanaka

Received a wonderful tip from the hair stylist, Debbie, on where to take pictures around Wanaka and it’s almost certain that I wouldn’t have found this place otherwise. The hills were filled with tussock or snow grass (their equivalent of our lalang, except much nicer). If Zhiyi looks extra elegant in this photo, it’s thanks to the wonderful makeup and hair services of Carla Lucas and Debbie Forrest respectively. You can contact them here if you’re ever thinking of doing a shoot around Queenstown or Wanaka.

Note: See the larger version by clicking on the image, and going to “All Sizes” in the next page, as the facial details just look mashed in the thumbnail.

Opotiki

It was dreadfully overcast when we decided to shoot on our 2nd day in Opotiki, but as we were about to wrap up, the sun miraculously decided to poke through the clouds just as a flock of seagulls entered my frame. And to top it off, we wouldn’t have returned to the beach for a second round had we not discovered that Zhiyi had dropped her earrings at the very spot she is standing in the photo above when we were there earlier. Serendipity!

More to come!

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I’m now typing this post from the room of our hotel in Christchurch where Internet access is going for $10 for 2 hours. In this day and age, I’d thought that free wireless Internet was almost a given in “branded” hotels or tourist hot spots but I guess some things still take time.

Anyway, we’re now a third through our holiday in New Zealand and having loads of fun so far. More than half of the time has been spent on the road driving from town to town so it’ll be an understatement to say that we’re pretty tired. E.g. the drive yesterday from Queenstown to Christchurch took almost 8 hours! And tomorrow, it’ll be another 4 hour drive from Christchurch to Blenheim. Better get some much needed rest tonight!

Here’s one picture from our trip so far that pretty much summarizes Project New Zealand. Been getting many lovely shots so far of all the 3 girls in the family (wifey, Ashley and Alicia) though I must say, the real star has been none other than my long suffering wife who agreed to model a stunning wedding gown for this particular shoot.

As to how I managed to haul this humongous gown all the way from Singapore, drive hundreds of kilometers with it together with 5 suitcases and other bags, convince my wife to model for pictures in between taking care of 9 month old Alicia, find a make up artist and hair stylist on Christmas Day and end up at this picturesque location is quite another story! Now just praying that the weather continues to stay on my side…

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This was taken right outside our room at the Pemberton Best Western Motel.

The most notable thing about our trip home to Singapore was how we were stranded at Perth International Airport for close to 10 hours, after 2 delays. The delays caused many passengers to cancel their New Year Eve plans, but what made it worse was that no one who had already entered the check-in area of the airport was allowed to leave until a few hours later in line with "immigration clearance laws". Needless to say, there were many many irate passengers that day.

See this calm and serene picture of a lone tree on top of a hill? Everyone was feeling the exact opposite!

According to the captain, who was very transparent about the whole thing, there was damage on the valve of an oxygen tank that supplies the masks that drop down from the overhead compartments in the event of cabin depressurization. As they didn’t have spare parts on hand, they had to fly one in from Sydney. After a few hours of waiting, to our dismay, we were told that the initial fix had failed, so they had to try again with another spare part that was to be flown in from Melbourne. Another few hours of waiting, and much to our relief, the fix worked and we were on our way back.

When bored at the airport, spend the time taking long exposure shots of planes landing, while practicing holding your breath at the same time…

We counted down to the new year over the Indian Ocean.

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Pemberton, a few hours drive south east of Margaret River, is home to the majestic karri tree, the 3rd largest hardwood tree in the world. Not for the feint of heart, there are 3 climbable kerri trees that are over 60m tall which were formerly used as fire lookout posts. Only 20% of visitors ever make it to the top, with a majority turning back after reaching the halfway point. I tried climbing 5m, looked at the huge gaps between the makeshift steps made out of metal pikes and decided that I wasn’t so brave after all…

The tallest of the 3 remaining climbable kerri trees, the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree is 71m tall.

I was really really really worried when taking this shot… Look at how much space there is between steps and nothing to catch you if you were to slip.

Pemberton is a very small town and it is possible to drive from one end to the other in less than 5 minutes. It is a pretty popular tourist destination for Western Australians due to the fact that it is surrounded by 5 national parks. Unfortunately, due to Zhiyi’s size, any thoughts of trekking were quickly put on hold!

One of four remaining V Class 2-8-2 Mikado type Steam Locomotives left in service. This one operates from Easter to the end of October on tourist trains to Eastbrook Siding on Saturdays, and to Lyall Siding on Sundays.

Waiting at the Pemberton Station

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Dunsborough is a small seaside town about a 2 hours drive from Margaret River and is one of the more popular holiday destinations for Perthites due to its beautiful surrounding beaches that face north towards the Indian Ocean.

Along the way, there is this “must-visit” place for ice cream lovers called Simmo’s Ice Creamery. It’s got ice cream flavours that can rival Ben and Jerry’s like Swiss Choc, Whisky Prune and Orange Choc Chip. There’s also a large lawn at the store where families can have picnics and a small playground nearby with an antique carousel. Good fun for the kids!

It was here that I also bumped into an old friend from Kuching. I must admit, I was slightly envious to learn that she migrated there not so long ago. Sun and surf, what’s not to like?

Just south of Dunsborough lies the town of Yallingup, which has bred many of the regions best surfers. We would have spent more time here but not for the fact that it was getting dark and we wanted to avoid driving after sundown.

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One of the "must see" regions in Western Australia is Margaret River, about a 4 to 5 hours drive south of Perth. The Margaret River region, also known as wine country, is home to 200 vineyards and 90 wineries. It’s also famous for its many award wining eateries, sadly none of which we could try as they were all booked out every single day of the week!

Below are pictures taken around the grounds of The Voyager, one of the premium wineries cum restaurants in the area. And no, we didn’t get to eat here either.

View the full Margaret River gallery here.

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Visiting a farm meant lots of opportunities to take portraits of a different kind. Unlike portraits of people where care must be taken in choosing a flattering angle to shoot at or selecting a lens focal length that doesn’t cause subjects to look distorted (e.g. big nose, disproportionate head size, etc), animals aren’t as fussy as their human counterparts.

In fact, the animals in the next couple of shots took a huge liking towards my camera and kept trying sniff out the source of the rapid “click, click, click” sounds. This allowed me to get very close and take shots from a unique close up angle.

Sheep are known to be timid, but not this one. This sheep got so close he left snot and moisture on my lens, but nothing a quick swab with the t-shirt couldn’t fix. Also, when they are in so close, you absolutely have to go into manual focus mode. I chose to focus on the eyes and leave the rest of the sheep’s face a blur.

While I’m a strong advocate of getting out there to make or chase the pictures you want, sometimes, it pays to be patient for good pictures to come your way, literally. I was sitting on top of a log reviewing pictures when this curious alpaca saw me from afar. Slowly and gradually, he started making his way towards me and before I knew it, he was a mere few feet away. Sensing the opportunity, I lifted my camera up as if offering food and he couldn’t help but stick his nose in for a whiff. Two clicks were all I had before he decided to move on to greener pastures, so to speak.

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During our 3 days at the Margaret River region, we stayed at the Margaret River Hideaway, a unique accommodation featuring 3 cottages situated right on a farm.

Every day at 9am sharp, the owner would take visitors around the farm to feed various animals like ducks, chickens, peacocks, sheep, alpacas, and cows. It was a perfect experience for Ashley as she got to interact with all the animals up close. Even the huge cows didn’t scare her!

Baa… get out of the pen!

Eggs are Ashley’s favourite food and today she got to gather them in person.

Feeding the alpacas.

Speaking of alpacas, they are highly prized for their very soft wool and are great additions to farms because they protect sheep from wolves. They are cautious but curious animals, and the two alpacas that were on the farm followed us around the place even after the feeding was over. I think they just wanted a photo.

Best friends forever!


View the full Margaret River Hideaway gallery here.

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While many people know that the colonization of Australia began when convicts were shipped there from Britian, most probably wouldn’t know the difference between a convict and a criminal in the context of an early Australian prison. Convicts were basically people who were sentenced in Britain whereas criminals were sentenced in Australia itself.

The main prison block

One of the well known attractions in Fremantle is the Fremantle Prison, which was built in the 1850s but decommissioned in 1991. The prison consisted of 4 divisions, each one meant for different categories of offenders, with the 4th division reserved for the worst of them all (e.g. murderers). A total of 44 people were hung in this prison with the last execution taking place in 1964. Australia has since abolished the death penalty, although I don’t think the same would happen soon in Singapore.

The Anglican Chapel – Interestingly, the words to the sixth commandment on the Ten Commandments painted on the wall behind the altar had been modified from "Thou shalt not kill" to "Thou shall do no murder". The former would have seemed rather hypocritical given that the gallows were still being used and England was involved in so many wars.

During our visit, we signed-up for the “Doing Time Tour” – an hour long walk around the prison compounds to see the various cell blocks, chapel and gallows. For the more adventurous, there is also a tunnel tour where visitors explore the labyrinth of passages beneath the prison.

Prison art – Rules forbidding painting or drawing on walls were relaxed after it was found to calm violent prisoners.

Prior to the tour starting, the guide told me a story about how two recent tourists with high end cameras had their equipment fail on them when trying to take pictures inside the execution chamber. It made my skin crawl, but thankfully, my faithful D3 didn’t skip a beat. I even took a picture of the noose but was quite disappointed at the lack of any mysterious ghostly silhouette in the final picture.

Full Fremantle Prison gallery here.

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Day 2 saw us, um, oversleeping a little resulting in us having to take a train down to the port city of Fremantle instead of one of the local cruise ships.

The Leeuwin – A 55-metre three-masted sail training ship that’s still in service.

Only 30 minutes away by train from Perth Central train station, Fremantle is unofficially regarded as Western Australia’s second capital. Unlike Perth, Fremantle’s period architecture has largely been preserved since there has never been much economic benefit from knocking them down.

The Round House – This small prison, which had only 8 cells, was eventually turned into the living quarters for the chief constable and his family during the turn of the 20th-century.

What struck me upon arriving was how empty the city was. Granted, it was Boxing Day and most people were probably indoors rather than roaming the streets, but it did feel awfully like a ghost town while walking down some of the streets.

Inside the Fremantle Markets

Full Fremantle gallery here.

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