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RuthsArc

~ Looking forward, looking back & enjoying now.

RuthsArc

Monthly Archives: January 2020

#2020 Photo Challenge – Kiwifruit Orchard

20 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in 52 challenge, one with nature, photography

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

New Zealand, trees

I need a few challenges for this new year, so I was delighted to read that fellow blogger Jude has set a 2020 Photo Challenge to “try out various photographic techniques, skills or concepts”

The theme for January is Composition and Framing. I didn’t know about the challenge when I took these photos earlier in the month during our NZ holiday. But these photos seem to fit the bill, taken on my iphone. I have cropped them to straighten and frame them. I need to get away from the Instagram habit of square images.
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Whilst visiting the Bay of Plenty we stayed with friends of friends whose house overlooked this kiwi fruit orchard and I was able to get up close and stand underneath the trees / vines of hanging fruit.
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I like these photos, looking straight down the “tunnel”. But .. the big leaf in the top left of this one is distracting.
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I like the hanging vine in this, but it hinders the sense of distance and there is not so much fruit in the picture.
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The fruit were not quite ready for harvest, but workers had been there earlier, thinning the leaves and removing damaged fruit.

The orchards are bordered by very high hedges which act a wind breaks.IMG_7648IMG_7662

Have a look at Jude’s photo of Godrevy Lighthouse here and links to other bloggers contributions.

Auckland NZ

16 Thursday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in days out

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

New Zealand

We started and ended our holiday in Auckland.
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We enjoyed the views from the Sky Tower. We did not bungy jump or walk around the outside!
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We visited the Auckland Museum at the Domain, a fascinating building with exhibitions arranged into Peoples, Natural History, Warfare and Memorial.
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Thank you New Zealand for a wonderful holiday. We took a while to plan the trip, didn’t try to fit too much into the time available. We met up with friends, relaxed over delicious meals, enjoyed the local food and wines. We walked city streets, sandy beaches and bush tracks. We saw tourist sights and local hidden gems. It was a true escape from our everyday lives.

Coromandel NZ

15 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

New Zealand

The road around the Coromandel Peninsular takes you close to the water, over the hills, through a gorge. The towns are picturesque, but were busy on the weekend closing the Christmas and New Year holidays. We struggled to find a parking space.
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We had some blue skies but on Sunday 5th January the skies turned an eerie orange, due to the bush fires in Australia, over two thousand kilometres away. These photos are straight from my iphone, no filters, no edits to the colour.

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Rotorua NZ – Forest and Lake

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

beach, New Zealand, trees

Whilst in Rotorua we visited the Redwood Treewalk. A walk across twenty eight swing bridges, with information on each tree platform about the hundred year old redwood trees and the tree ferns below.

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We were staying near Lake Rotorua so took a walk along the banks at dusk.

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Rotorua NZ

13 Monday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in days out, one with nature

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

New Zealand

Rotorua is an extraordinary place. A geo thermal area with geysers, bubbling mud, pools of boiling water, steam rising into the air. There is an underlying smell of sulphur but you soon get used to that.IMG_7476

We toured a Te Puia, a geo thermal park with an interesting guide. But we also found steam, boiling water in cracks in the earth, whilst strolling around the city’s streets.

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Maori culture is on show here. Buildings, such as Maree meeting houses, food stores. canoes, totems. Traditional crafts are taught, such as carving and weaving.
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The Church on the Lake has beautiful Maori carvings and a memorable glass window with Jesus etched, walking on the water. The bodies in the graveyard are interned above ground level due to the heat of the earth.
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Piha Beach NZ

12 Sunday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in one with nature, remembering / musing

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

beach, New Zealand

We’ve just returned from a fabulous holiday in New Zealand. A highlight was returning to Piha Beach after thirty five years.

This secluded ocean beach was just as I remembered. It’s black sand and the towering Lion Rock, remnants of its volcanic history.

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The Brit in me still found it amazing to be in such a beautiful place, in such weather, on new year’s eve.

Happy New Year from New Zealand

01 Wednesday Jan 2020

Posted by RuthsArc in all about me, photography

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

me, New Zealand

Wishing everyone a safe and happy 2020. May we all “live our best lives”.
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