A Very Special Award

Real-time

I thought I'd better do this blog post before it becomes old news (if it isn't already).

Just before the world went crazy I received a phone call from one of NZMCA's head office team members (NZ Motor Caravan Association) to see if I might be going to the National Rally & AGM in Oamaru in early March.

Unfortunately I had to say we wouldn't be there as we were in Napier after an unscheduled quick trip to Tauranga from Twizel in mid January and we were not due back in the South Island until later in the month. 'There's no way you could make it?' the team member persisted.  I thought they might have wanted me to take some photos or do a write up on the rally for the magazine. 

I didn't think any more of it until a week later when I received another call (while I was in the local New World supermarket) from the NZMCA President Bruce Stanger to inform and congratulate me on receiving Life Membership of the Association. The award had been announced at the AGM. To say I was shocked is an understatement, my fellow shoppers must have wondered what on earth was happening when I let out an exclamation of surprise. But I am thrilled with the recognition and very pleased that it also includes David. After all, out of sight in many of my photos sits my ever patient husband waiting for me to shoot 'just one more' photo. 

Chris (the magazine's editor) also called to congratulate me just as I got home with the groceries. After another round of excitement and exclamations, Mum came out to see what all the noise was about. She them wanted to know if we were going to receive special purple wings! Now there's an idea........   (For my non member readers 'wings' are the red decals and membership number that we stick on the front of our RVs, they look like a set of wings.)

We were going to call into Christchurch to meet with Bruce and receive our award on our way back to Twizel but as we all know the world as we knew it changed in the meantime, so that'll be on the back burner for the time being.

Here's the article that is in the latest magazine which was released March 31st, 2020. Click on the photo to enlarge and if you still can't read it I've posted a larger version of it further down the page (although it's a little blurry).

The icing on the cake was that one of my photos was also the cover shot for the latest magazine; a very fitting photo during Alert Level 4 Lockdown, of a lone camper at Mavora Lakes.

Take care everyone, we're doing great! 

Where Did I Get To?

Real-time

Apologies, apologies! I bet some of you have wondered where I'd got to. And now I am so far behind with my blog posts it's not funny! I feel like I've been playing a game of Snakes & Ladders; nearly catch up, slide back down, catch-up, slide down.... Or perhaps, more like one of those mice on the spinning wheel, round and round going nowhere fast! It has been a very hectic few weeks and would you believe it, we've been parked up at the Mount (Mt Maunganui) for the last two weeks.

Yes, that's right the Mount, we're back in the North Island but not before spending some time at Marfells Beach in Marlborough and a night or two in Blenheim and Koromiko after leaving Molesworth and before crossing over. Somewhere in there, there was one of my regular 'Calamity Jane' moments, a visit to Blenheim A&E and a moonboot! No worries, nothing too serious, you'll hear about it in due course.

From Wellington we had a change of plan and detoured to Napier for a week- Mum & Dad won a garden competition and we wanted to surprise them with a visit and attend the prize giving (more on that in another blog too). Then it was onto the Bay of Plenty where we've been catching up with family and friends before we return to Napier next week for Christmas and New Year.

I will be posting blogs, just not so many over the next few weeks- I will catch up eventually though, I  REALLY WILL!! In the meantime I thought I'd post a link to my recent article which appeared in the last NZMCA magazine; some of you will have seen it of course but those that aren't members can click the link below to access the PDF.

Snowing Down South- A How-to Guide to Wintering Over in the South Island

I was also very pleased to not only get the front cover, but have 'Out There' featured on it too- taken on the morning of the minus 12c frost in the Ahuriri Valley, MacKenzie Country.

That's it, see you soon! 

The Lady Behind The Lens

Real-time

I know many of you are NZMCA members and will have already read the following article but for those that aren't members, here's the write-up that appeared in the latest Motor Caravanner magazine.

At first I was a little reluctant to come out from behind my camera when Katrina (a friend and fellow 5th-wheeler) asked if I'd mind if she wrote a item about me and our lifestyle. It didn't take too long for her and David to convince me that people would be interested in reading a 'behind the scenes' article. Katrina sent me 101 questions to answer and I was away typing- you know me, I can't stop my fingers once I start typing (and she didn't really send 101 questions, just sufficient to glean enough relevant information).

It was a lovely surprise to find out that Chris (editor) had also chosen one of my photos for the cover of the latest magazine- Autumn in Bannockburn, Central Otago. This is my 6th cover and because I've now run out of room on our lounge's tiny wall space, I'm now having to hang the older framed covers in the toilet! Framing them is not something I'd normally do but it just seems to fit in with our nomadic lifestyle (and cover some crappy wallpaper).

And here's the article- the first two pages were a double spread of the sunrise photo from Hinahina in the Catlins. I've increased the size of the other pages so you'll be able to read the article a little better, remember to click on the photo to enlarge. But if you're still struggling to read it, there's a link to a PDF at the bottom of the page.

Enjoy! And a big thankyou to Katrina, who did an awesome job in gathering it altogether and asking the right questions.

The Lady Behind The Lens- PDF

Feature Photos

Since we’ve been on the road my photo portfolio has been growing in leaps and bounds- mind you it’s more of an on-line presence than a proper portfolio. I’d love to devote a bit of time to building up an actual portfolio but that ain’t going to happen any time soon so in the mean time, I have to make do with adding my better shots to Flickr, an image hosting website that I belong to.

My Flickr Albums are basically a record of many things and span some eight years of photography. They include many places we’ve visited (not only during the last 20 months of travel either) along with buildings, people, landscapes, animals, birds, and of course, churches I’ve spotted along the way. It’s a private record in a public location. Very public; my account is fast approaching 2 million individual photo views. I do have a few private albums in there too but you won't see them unless you have the link.

It has never been my intention to be a ‘professional’ photographer, I like doing my own thing and I don’t think I’d be that great at it anyway. The few weddings I have done for friends were so stressful it swore me off that genre of photography for good.

I have, however had many requests for various photos from my Flickr Albums over the years and this has been slowly building probably because of the number of photos I’m uploading and the wide variety of places we’re visiting in New Zealand. It also helps that I add ‘tags’ to all my photos when I upload them. I usually upload a batch of photos that are of the area, attach a link to the particular blog post that relates to them (that helps with traffic through my blog) and most importantly, add tags which helps people to search Flickr for particular photos.

For those less computer savy, ‘tags’ are a non-hierarchical keywords or terms assigned to a piece of information. For example in this photo below, I would have added these tags- Department of Conservation, DOC, Hut, Able Tasman, Walk, Great Walk, Anchorage, Bay, Tasman, Accommodation. The more tags and the more relevant they are the more likely that they’ll be picked up by search engines when someone is looking for a specific photo.

Which would have been why I was contacted by the deputy editor of the Wilderness magazine wanting to purchase the above photo for a article in their latest issue.

And here it is- don't worry about what's in the article, this is all about the photo! :)

Within Flickr there are hundreds of thousands of Groups- you'll understand the number when I tell you that there are estimated to be 51 million Flickr members worldwide. Groups are collections of similar photos that can be to do with anything and everything- you name it and there’ll be a group for it. One of the groups I belong to is ‘Heritage New Zealand’ and I link any of my historic or heritage building photos to it. Which is why one of my church photos was requested for a recent brochure.

That’s St Mary's Basilica in Invercargill.

I’ve had many requests for photos for advertising material; where companies don’t need to engage the services of professional photographer for a expansive photo shoot, they may go looking for one-off photos to purchase on the net.

I also get many requests for photos from private people wanting a particular photo so they can have it printed or put on canvas for their wall. Mostly the photo has evoked a memory of a place they’ve left behind or a long ago childhood but one of the more unusual requests has been for this Kereru or native wood pigeon.

It now adorns the splash-back of a new home built in the bush at Titirangi in Auckland.

So, even when not actively seeking out opportunities, it’s pleasing to know that my photos still do have some appeal and it's always a thrill for me to see my photos in print.....or behind glass, whatever the case may be. And I’m earning a little bit of pocket-money along the way.

Walking On A Dream- Part 2

Finally I have caught up-to-date. And it’s just as well as it’s time to hit the road again after our extended stay with the family in Winton.

A few weeks ago the second part of my article was published in the latest NZMCA ’The Motor Caravanner’ Magazine. Not only that but it was a huge surprise to find out that I had also won the Summer Photo Competition with this shot of David on the Key Summit Walk overlooking the Hollyford Valley on the Milford Road in Fiordland. And the prize was a $500 voucher to be spent with a Motor Caravanner advertiser of my choice. Sweet!

Below is the second part of the article, if you’d like to see the first one, you’ll find it here. Although this one has been titled “Taking the Scenic Route’. Remember to click on the page for a larger size if you have trouble reading the article.

Unfortunately this is a copy of a pdf file and the words may be a littler hard to read

Can you see the grasshopper in the photo below? His camouflage is so good that he fooled the layout artist in the page above….

If you'd like to see some more photos (and read more) about each of the places in the article here are the links to their original blog posts-

Kiwi Burn Walk, Snowdon Forest, Mavora Lakes, Southland

Key Summit, Milford Road, Fiordland

Pupu Hydro Walkway, Takaka, Golden Bay

Catlins River Walk, Catlins, Southland

Sawcut Gorge, Marlborough

Walking on a Dream

As promised, now that the NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine has been out for a few weeks, here’s a copy of the article I wrote for them. As you know I also managed to have my photo on the cover too! This is the second article I’ve written for the magazine and as it says below, a second part of  this ‘Walking on a dream’ article will appear in the next magazine. Remember to click on the photos for a larger size if you have trouble reading the article.

Once again I enjoyed writing and putting together the article which is made easier because I have the original blog posts to refer to.  I do have to condense them quite a lot though as I had a word limit for each article - hard for someone who talks 'types' so much!

If you'd like to see more photos (and read more) about each of the places in the article here are the links to their original blog posts-

Archway Islands - Golden Bay

Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway - North Canterbury

Diamond Lake - Wanaka


And a footnote- you might wonder why this post appears in the middle of the Lake Brunner posts. Well,  this also happens to be my 400th blog post and it seemed fitting to acknowledge all that writing by posting the magazine article to mark the milestone. 400 blog posts (and especially 400 long blog posts as mine usually are) is quite an achievement if I must say so myself. A big thankyou to all my readers who make it all worthwhile, and to my ever patient husband who tells me he's no longer a golf widower, he a blog widower! Thanks darling, I love you too. 

Cover Girl

It was a great thrill and honour to find out, just a few days before the publication of the latest NZMCA magazine, that our rig, our humble abode on wheels, ‘Out There’ has made the front cover. And after the last cover shot, there is no chance of me not recognising this one!

It is also great to see a fifth-wheel RV make the cover of the magazine; I can’t recall seeing our mode of transport & accommodation on the cover before, at least while we’ve been members anyway.

This shot was taken on the Napier-Taihape Road, at the Springvale Historic Suspension Bridge Reserve. It was taken when we were back in the North Island during December & January.

And inside is another contribution from yours truly; Great Walks- a two-part article on some of the wonderful walks we’ve done on our travels- which of course you'll have read before. Still, I’ll post a blog with links to refresh your memories once the magazine has been out for awhile.

Now I must get back to catching up on the back log of blog posts…..


Tomorrow we will leave Greymouth for Lake Brunner and then continue on through Arthurs Pass where we'll not likely have cell phone reception so this might be the last post for a week or so. I'm not sure how long we'll take to get to Christchurch, it'll depend on the weather. 

The West Coast nearly let me down today. Our drinking supply of fresh rain water ran out. Then, just as I was about to head off to buy some, the heavens opened up again. Drinking water containers are full once again along with the house tank.

One Article, Two Covers

I hit the jackpot!

Not only did I get an article in the latest NZMCA Motor Caravanner magazine (sent to all 56,000+ members) but I also got the front cover. And not only did I get an article and the front cover, I got the front cover of the members handbook too, which was sent out in the same pack!

It was a huge surprise to get the magazine front cover because- what a laugh- I didn’t even recognise the shot until I read the credits! Here’s the original; it was taken on the The Road to Walter Peak Station in Central Otago.

I have been sending photos to NZMCA's IT & Social Media department for quite awhile and when they needed a handbook cover photo I sent a selection to Ryan and 5 of them were chosen as possibles, Ryan put them up on the NZMCA Facebook page where members voted for their favourite. It was nearly an unanimous vote, they chose autumn at Butchers Dam, Alexandra. It just happened that the handbook was sent out with the magazine. And here's that original

And here is the article, hopefully you’ll be able to read the text. Enjoy.

I enjoyed writing and putting together the article, especially as I had the huge benefit of being able to use my blog posts on each of the 'hidden gems' that I had selected. But I had to condense them quite a lot as I had a word limit for each item- hard for someone who talks 'types' so much! 

If you'd like to see more photos (and read more) about each of the places in the article here are the links to their blogs-

Langford Store, Bainham, Golden Bay

Fishing Huts, Lake Onslow, Central Otago

Bullock Creek Hut, Mt Nicholas Station, Southland

Matanaka Historic Farm Buildings, Waikouauiti

Lonley Graves, Millers Flat, Central Otago

Mt Peel Station's Himalayan Lilies, Peel Forest, Geraldine

Photos Going to Good Home

As some of you know amongst many other subjects I also take photos of country churches around New Zealand and have built up quite a portfolio over the last 4-5  years. And I'm sure it will come as no surprise that once we were on the road I've been adding to the file everyday while heading south. In fact I have over 500 photos to sort & process and these will add another 100 plus churches to the list.

 

I upload and store all my photos in a Flickr photo account, a worldwide photo storage & sharing website. For awhile now, after uploading, I have also been adding my church photos to the New Zealand Historic Places Trust (NZHPT) group account. There are thousands of Flickr Groups, if you were to think of something, there's bound to be a group for it. It's where similar themed photos are grouped together for viewing. The NZHPT have a group so they can build up their database of photos of historic buildings & items around New Zealand. For them to take a photo of every listed &/or heritage building in NZ would be near impossible, so they, with permission, use the group photos to slowly build up their national database.

 

Back in September, & because I am one of their more prolific suppliers of photos, I was approached to see if I'd do an interview for an article that was to appear in the next quarterly Heritage magazine.

 

 

Of course I was happy to and to also supply high resolution photos of a few particular churches they had picked out. Strangely enough they chose all Hawkes Bay churches. I also had to provide a photo of myself to go with the article and as all photographers know we are not very comfortable on the other side of the camera. Luckily I was able to get Sophie, my daughter-in-law, to take one of me while we were parked up at the Mount Campground. And thankfully it turned out to be a reasonable shot (you can click on the photos to increase their size I you wish)

 

 

 The magazine came out in mid-October and I've been hanging out ever since to see a copy. They were going to send one to our mail box number but of course by the time it was published we were on the road & every time we had the mail forwarded on to us it wasn't in the pile! I've been getting pretty frustrated at not seeing a magazine especially as a few acquaintances made mention of the article.

 

 

 Every book shop or supermarket magazine rack I found I'd quickly scan to see if it was there, all with no luck. It's quite a specialist magazine that is mainly distributed via subscription. But finally it arrived yesterday by special courier, our son-in-law Cameron who had flown up to Tauranga to collect a car and drive it back here to Invercargill. He checked our postal box and also did a few errands for us while he was there.

 

At long last I was able to view it. The article highlighted the work of four different photographers, here's the rest of the article. And if you'd like to look at my Flickr Church sets you can find the North Island Churches here and the South Island Churches here . I have still to add a lot of South Island church photos that I'm in the middle of processing & of course there will be plenty more as we travel around the South Island. There's a couple more of my photos in the montage on the opening page; the belfry from a Tutira church(middle left) & a special (a friend got married there) chapel on Napier Hill (bottom right).

 

 

I had another church photo requested for a magazine that came out at the end of last year too.