Nowhere Gallery NZ

The Lantern Festival has moved from Albert Park to the Auckland Domain. This was my first visit to the new location.

We were at the Leadfoot festival this year taking photos for Parkside Media the article can be found here

More photos can be seen and purchased here

We were at Leadfoot this year providing shots for Parkside Media.

    The published work can be found here

Hi thanks for stopping by and having a look. Your comments and questions are welcome.

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New track, same level of difficulty for all of the 90 entries. Race day weather was perfect, after the rain of the previous days, allowing the track to dry out. The signature obstacle was the tunnel. At the end of day one, Ben Thomasen was the only competitor to complete 10 laps and was leading in NZ2.

The selection following are some of the highlights. The rest can be found here

Four weeks after returning from Fiji I finally decide to find time to write this blog.  A blogger supreme. So here it is……..

Day 0 : Auckland to Nadi

After leaving Auckland behind to it’s wetness it was marvellous to step of the plane in Nadi to warmth. finding our way to the tour office proved interesting but after picking up our tour vouchers-everything is run on vouchers, we set off to find our ride.

Welcome to Fiji time – 25 minutes later our ride appeared and took us through the dust of road works to Aquarius on the Beach.  Drinks time, the holiday had started.

Day 1 : South Sea Island

Coffee and headache remedies were the first order of business ( dehydration on the plane of course, nothing to do with alcohol ) followed closely by breakfast and repacking for the adventure. We had started the way we meant to continue.

After a quick trip to Denerau and a queue to handover the first of our vouchers and pick up our baggage labels we boarded the Yellow boat for the first of what would be many trips.

We were deposited, 25 minutes later, at our first destination – South Sea Island resort, a postage stamp sized coral island. When I  say “postage stamp sized” I mean small. So small in fact I could walk around it in 10 minutes at a dawdle.  Oh what to do with ones self????? Nothing maybe. The holiday had started.

Day 2 :  Mamanuca Islands

There was a bit more to this trip than just idly sitting around drinking you know, we had some side trips to take part in.  So back in the tender we went to meet the white boat, this time, for a trip out to Mana Island where we boarded the Seaspray (an 83 foot ketch).  the Seaspray makes daily trips out to Monriki Island (the island made famous by Tom Hanks, in the movie Castaway). Tom Hanks wasn’t there but his rescue sign was.

We snorkelled around the lagoon in front of the beach and I made my first attempt at underwater photography. The camera survived but I found that I had a lot to learn about setting up the camera.

After lunch back aboard we visited the local village for a kava ceremony and the customary trinket buying session.  The wind had gotten up by this time and the trip proved to be a bit rough, there were a number of green faces scattered about. THANK GOD FOR SEALEGS!!!!!

We arrived back at South Sea Island after the day trippers had left to find that there were only 7 of us staying on the island over night. More staff than guests.  The oldies out lasted the young ones.

Old people 1 – young people 0

Day 3 : Waya Lailai Island Resort

We were back on the yellow boat and off to the Yasawa’s proper.  It was a beautiful,  glass calm day and after a pleasant hour long trip we were deposited in a tender and blasted off to the resort.

Waya Lailai  is a village owned resort with it’s own rustic charm. Accommodation was in a six bed villa that we shared with Kat, who was from Germany via Australia.  so much for relaxing, there was an organised walk to the top of the mountain!!!  Patricia went and learned how to weave while Steve and I did manage to find our way to the beach and the bar though.

  Day 4 : Waya Lailai Island Resort

So this was a holiday day, It was determined that there would be no exercise for some of us , other than the walk from the beach to the bar. Life was tough.  In the evening we were treated to a large amount of Kava with the staff. I still don’t know whether it was the Gin or the Kava that affected me more.

    Day 5 : Mantaray Island Resort

After a slightly slow start but no hangover we packed and sat on the beach to await the yellow boat. After saying our goodbyes we headed off for a bumpy, spray covered trip up through the Islands to Mantaray island Resort.

Mantaray island resort had more of a resort feel to it and felt less relaxed as there were more people there, drawn by the desire to swim with the Manta rays.  The weather had taken a turn for the worse and the wind had come up meaning all the proposed activities for the day were cancelled.  A typhoon in the Solomon’s was affecting us and was apparently settling in for a few days.

There was the evening games of “push the stone” to amuse us.

Day 6: Mantaray Island Resort

The halfway point. It was still windy, the weather had set in. There were no Mantas and none of the on-water activities. The snorkelling turned out to be as good as promised and the water was still very warm. Overall the resort was a good place to stay. it was well mainained and the food was great. Also the beer was always cold.

Day 7: Coral view Island Resort

A bumpy trip to the top of the Yasawas.  The weather had well and truly set in as the Cyclone did it’s worst. Coral view turned out to be not what it was advertised to be in the brochure – promoted as one of the more modern resorts, it was infact one of the oldest. The brochure was in bad need of an update. It had a look of disrepair about it.

Entry to was through a narrow cutting through the clam bed to a narrow beach in a small relatively sheltered inlet.

Run by Niko whose family owned the Island (or part of it) and many other holdings in and around Fiji.

The afternoon was spent drinking, playing cards and sheltering from the rain. We met Nyree ( Ngaire) and Claire from Scotland who had been taking the bad weather with them on their travels and Stracy and Nicky from England.

Day 8: Coral view Island Resort

It was still raining and very windy so there was no small amount of discussion about whether we would take part in the activities on offer today (Sawailau cave trip and Blue Lagoon snorkelling). After much toing an froing we decided to brave the sea and headed off to the caves.  It was a bit rough ( understatement) and we were buffeted about in the boat as we headed into the wind for a 40 minute trip only to find the caves locked and no one there to let us in. On enquiring with the cave “owners’ we were told that no one was expected today-too rough, you must be mad, someone would be over to let us in. Fiji time be buggered, after another 40 minutes of waiting some people got impatient and broke in. We got our swim. The r trip back was equally as rough but I’m glad we did it, all part of the adventure.

The afternoon was spent at the Blue Lagoon which looked decidedly grey, unfortunately but the snorkelling was ok. All of this was topped off with a cold shower – luxury!!!

    Day 9-10: Barefoot Manta Resort

We headed back down the Yasawas to Barefoot Manta, hoping the weather would calm enough for the Manta’s to come back and allow us to swim with us. Barefoot Manta Resort was my personal favourite of the trip.  A lot of work has been done to blend the resort into the surrounding area and it had a really a good feel to the place. Bugger the wind -no Mantas still but at least the sun was out. more sunbathing in order.

Day 11: Beachcomber Resort

We got on the White boat, the Yellow one had broken down further up in the islands, and sailed to our final destination- Beachcomber Island resort. Beachcomber has the reputation of being the party island and has become a rite of passage for some. It was my least favourite stay but having said that there was actually nothing wrong with the place. It’s centrepiece was the sand filled dance floor. no mistaking what the purpose of this place was.

One bonus, hot water!!!!!!  We managed to finish off our final bottle of spirits, all was good in the world.

Day 12: Back home again

Our final day. breakfast and a sit in the sun before boarding the early boat to Denerau via the Mamanucas. We arrived at Denerau with plenty of time to spare before the flight so we spent a pleasant afternoon at lulu’s bar and restaurant before heading to the airport and home.

Reality and a wet Auckland awaited us but at least there was the weekend between us and work. It had been a fantastic holiday.

Well that’s another Woodhill 100 over and done with. As  expected it was a gut and car breaking event.

Congratulations to the winners and those who finished. Commiserations to those who didn’t.

A special thanks to Grahame Steedman for driving me around the track and to the organisers for putting on such a great event.

See you next year…..

Visit our shop for more images

Visit our shop for more images

The Race to the Sky-Wanaka 2015

Here’s the thing…….

Sometimes you get an idea and sometimes, just sometimes, it’s even a good one. Having been a long time fan of the Race to the Sky always having wanted to attend, when it was announced that is was to be run again this year, I got thinking about how I was going to get there.

My opportunity came when Jono Climo and JRC Racing announced their participation and I offered my services as team photographer for the venture.

So let’s do this….

My first attempt at Blogging, Jono’s first attempt at the Race to the Sky, what could possibly go wrong? WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!

Oh , and there will be photos.

Finally the reveal…..

After much “toing and froing” I finally managed to find the time to catch a look at the refreshed beast ( it’s a bugger when your day job gets in the way of your photography and Motorsport interests) and take some shots.

Kent and the guys at Brave Design have done a great job of the graphics and the truck looks superb. They even managed to get my logo onto the truck.

      So tomorrow we leave and head to the SNOW….Yes folks winter has struck and snow awaits us at Wanaka. Think of all that extra cooling for the truck, I tell myself as I contemplate freezing my butt off.

….Now to finish packing. More tomorrow.

15th April. Day One the trip down…..

We arrived at Jono’s and as soon as we were all packed up we headed off towards Wellington. After a couple of stops at Chicane Racewear , Kumho and of course the Mandatory Macca’s breakfast, we finally settled in for an uneventful trip down the country.

The fun started when we got to Wellington to find that because of the rough weather in the Cook Strait, our ferry was cancelled and we would be unlikely to get on another boat until 8pm tomorrow. So it was a quick race down the road to the Interisland where a quick charm offensive by our resident chat up guy Mike ( gorilla) Hendy we managed to get on the 8:30pm sailing. AT the time of writing this ( 10:30pm) we are still tied up along side waiting for the swells to settle below 6m so sailing an get underway. I am not the worlds best sailor so it’s sealegs and ginger ale for me and hopethat I can sleep through it.

But for now we wait…….

16th April. Day Two the trip down…..

Well we made it. Thanks to ginger Beer and sealegs. After a two hour delay and 5m swells spilling all the kitchenware on the boat and coughing up free orange juice to anyone who could catch it, we arrived at about 2:30am. First stop was to feed the truck at Blenheim. No BP’s until Christchurch.

Jono insisted on driving but gave in at Kaikoura when Josh took over. 4 hours later we ground to a halt outside Belfast as we hit Christchurch rush hour. A detour into and around town to meet Craig and then pick up Roger two more pit crew at the airport. Breakfast was needed.

Then it was off to press the flesh and do sponsor stuff, photos needed to be taken, engines listened to and team uniforms picked up.

So we hit the road again for another 5 hour drive through some of the most beautiful scenery in New Zealand. Wanaka here we come……….

17th April. Practice/Recce day…..

Yay, a good night’s sleep (more than 3 hours ) and despite the headache from 3 beers ( soft***k), I felt relatively refreshed and ready to go.

We arrived at the pits to find we were almost the first there. All sensible people had stayed in bed!!! The good side to being earlier was that we got a prime pit site, just behind Monster Tajima. So now the Kumho Tyres tent sits proudly next to the media office.

Scrutineering was a breeze and I even got my lovely pink high-res vest which means that now I can roam the track . Thanks Kate.

Really all that was left to do was head up the track for a Recce. Wow what a road, 14.5 km, 135 corners of groomed and graded fast track up to the Snow Park. Jono was drooling. It was worth the $50 fee to drive it, even if it was freezing cold at the top. The snow is still there.

This is so much more fun that working for a living…….

18th April. Race day 1…..

Great weather in Wanaka today. The sun was shining although not when we got there (it was still dark). There were three runs up the hill today each run getting faster as the guys got themselves dialled in.

Practice 1 10:38

Practice 2 10:02

Practice 3 9:58

The truck came through the runs with only a power steering belt needing to be changed. Looking forward to the two runs tomorrow…..

  19th April. Race day 2…..

Not such a great day today, weather wise. I managed to get a lift up to a point near the top and the temperature was significantly lower than down at the bottom. Picture the Michelin man in a pink hi-viz vest and you’ll get the idea of what I looked like.

Jono decided it was full boost day and made a really good run in the first pass. His second was unfortunately marred by a spin close to the top which robbed him of a place on the podium.

Practice 4 9:55

Final run 9:56

Overall the performance of the team and the truck were superb. 4th in class and a truck that could still be driven on to the trailer at the end of the day was an effort to be proud of. It is also a lot more than some of the other teams, including Monster Tajima, could say.

The publicity for the team, sponsors and the sport cannot be underestimated. Offroading is still not well known amongst the general public and gauging from the interest shown over the weekend, it could gain a lot better following with more exposure at events such as this.

  Now the trip home starts…..packing up time.

20th April. The trip home…..

Oh what joy, a 24 hour drive home. We left at 5:30am after a 5:00am roll call. Making a couple of stops along to way to checkin with sponsors, friends and of course to eat we just made the 7pm sailing to Wellington.

My first experience of Bluebridge ferries is that maybe the Interislander should take more notice. I’m impressed. After a bit of a feed and some urgent photo processing it was time to sleep. I woke up in Wellington. This was a much smoother sailing.

We caught up with James Rolton (bringing back Jack Hawkeswood’s car) at Paraparumu and drove through the night in convoy. The pies, muffns and coffe at Wairakei BP are to be recommended, especially at 5:00 am after a long drive.

We made it back through the Waikato fog to be greeted by Auckland rush hour traffic. What timing!!!

    So now for me it’s a shower, washing, grocery shopping,finish this blog and sleep…

Thanks to Jono, Josh and Mike for being great travelling companions and the rest of team for a great weekend of Motorsport and for giving me the opportunity to come along and photograph.

    Lets do it again next year……….