Hawkes Bay Hills in Evening Light

The hills of Hawkes Bay and South towards the Manawatu Gorge hold an intense fascination for me.  On the way to and from Wanganui last weekend I took the opportunity to take photos out of the car rear side (and not too clean) window.  The photos were all taken in the evening with the light at it's distorted richest.  They are not brilliant but they will serve as a record of the hills that I love so much.

The Journey From Dannevirke

As a change from the written word here are a few photos from the car window (I wasn't driving) on the way home from the croquet tournament in Dannevirke a week or so ago.

The central ranges down the spine of the North Island under big skies

Remnants of snow on the ranges - telephoto from moving vehicle through the haze.

Just a pic

Fairly typical Hawkes Bay farmstead between Wairoa and Hastings

The Journey Home From Mount Maunganui

I've often been asked to show more of the countryside of this beautiful country.  Like my brother, CJ, when I am lucky enough to be a passenger rather than the driver (which is my usual role) I continually click away with the camera in the hope that I'll get the occasional, or hopefully more frequent, useable photo.  Here's some to show the journey home on Tuesday. The countryside in New Zealand is immensely varied from Alpine glaciers, fiords, live volcanos and subtropical forests to beaches stretching for 50 miles or more.  It's a wonderful and spectacular place.  These photos represent one tiny part of that rich variety.

Reminders of Summer

'Inner' Hawkes Bay midsummer

Highland cattle near The Cottage - early summer (before The Rains).

A Beautiful Tree

My initial reaction when I saw this was that it was a Willow Tree. I'm sure that it's not a native New Zealand variety. Unfortunately I couldn't get across the ditch in front of the fence so I couldn't get a better photo and the entrance to the field was not on the main road. However I thought it was a beautiful tree and worth sharing with you.

Tuscany?

When out walking down the road recently I looked up and saw this scene. All at once I was back in Tuscany. I'm sure that if I had access to my Tuscany photos (pre-digital and therefore stored in Scotland) I could find an almost identical scene.

Evening Light

On Tuesday at Croquet everyone was commenting on the eerie pink light of the previous evening. This was it from my deck. Eerie it certainly was. Pink it certainly was. There is an artist who painted landscapes in a similar light but I can't recall who it was. Any ideas?

Tranquility

I pass this scene every day as I drive along Rotowhenua Road where I live. It seems unchanging. There is a constancy about the rural landscape here in that it changes slowly from week to week, month to month, season to season but not, as the view from my house on Lewis, from minute to minute.