Thursday 10 March 2011

The Hills of Hawkes Bay

Ever since I saw Katherine's posting of her interpretation of a Hawkes Bay landscape I've been intending to do my own photographic interpretation because her painting was exactly as I see the landscape.  So today I spent the afternoon climbing the hill at the Sugar Loaf Reserve in nearby Taradale and then went to Te Mata Peak in Havelock North.  There is one small caveat:  the hills this year are much greener than they often are - there's been a lot of rain in the Bay this summer.

Sugar Loaf Reserve covered in wild thyme.  Napier and Bluff Hill in the background.
The wild thyme was bee-laden and the hum was reminiscent of hot summer days.
Looking towards the Kawaka Ranges from the top of the Reserve.
Looking towards the Ranges.
From the top of Te Mata Peak looking South and West towards the central Ranges in the middle of the Island.
The Hawkes Bay Hills
And again
And the faithful Handbag waits for me in the shade.

10 comments:

  1. What stunning countryside. Some superb shots here. Just the right amount of shadow to give some contrast.

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  2. That gives me yet another view of NZ that I don't think I've seen the like of before. Very special landscape (it seems to me) and beautiful photos. Thanks for sharing.

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  3. These are beautiful photos, GB, of an intriguing land. I tried to imagine the fragrance of the wild thyme wafting through the breeze...it must have been spectacular to stand in the middle of it. The size of the immense tree caught my eye, as well.
    ;^)

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  4. Gorgeous pictures Nice blog I add you to my bloglist. Thanks for visiting and yes the sense of humour of christchurch people is great even they lost so much Ka kite ano

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  5. Breathtaking shots! The thought of standing amidst the thyme- ~sniff~ Ah!

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  6. Well. Words have escaped me. Yes, I think breathtaking is the word. The mountains are velvety! Superbly well done GB!!!

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  7. Thanks for the clue..the answer is Eversion.......feel free to delete this.

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  8. Great shots, GB. The light and shadows are perfect. Love the wild thyme covered hillside, can imagine it smelled and sounded wonderful.

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  9. Very nice Geeb, very nice indeed. Of course there was no thyme when I was growing up there....
    And that row of hills all lined up from the Peak caught my eye too. I even did a series of paintings, but it looked too unnatural to be real. Sigh.

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