Queenstown, NZ

By Lake Wakatipu, Queenstown, New Zealand

And we're back to our regular every-other-day photography service! I've been kicking myself lately because there's been a few times when I've been out and about and seen opportunities for some really interesting photos...and I haven't had my camera with me. Fail! But along with a new resolution to try to carry a camera with me more often, that's also inspired me to dig out some old pictures from before I started this blog. This one, as with several upcoming photographs, was taken on my old camera which was nowhere like as good as my current one. For a fairly reasonably-priced non-DSLR camera, my current one is great, but my previous one was not as good - but it would be a shame to let all the nice pictures I've taken on it languish on my hard drive, so I'm posting them anyway.

This photograph was taken on my gap year, when I was staying at a youth hostel by the shore of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, on New Zealand's South Island. I was there in May/June 2007, right as the winter season was beginning. Queenstown's a big spot for adventure tourism; me and the friend I was travelling with wanted to go hang-gliding, but the weather wasn't good enough. But we did manage a trip to an ice bar, a cruise around the incredibly beautiful Milford Sound and a speed boat trip.

Oh, and a canyon swing, which was terrifying. I refused to go bungee jumping, because I can't think of anything worse that doesn't involve actual bodily dismemberment. But we wanted to do something adventurous, and as hang-gliding was off, we settled on the canyon swing as a good alternative. I thought I could probably cope better with falling off a cliff if I was at least the right way up.

What the hell is a canyon swing? I hear you cry. Well, in this case it's a platform 360ft (109m, if you're feeling metric) above the Shotover River. You stand on said platform, after being tied into a harness, and then you jump off it, freefalling for 60m and then the "swing" aspect kicks in and you're transformed into a giant pendulum swinging wildly back and forth above the river. If you're a complete mentalist - like my friend - you can mix it up by, say, tipping yourself backwards off the platform while tied to a plastic chair. If like me you're terrified of heights, you can just jump off, though I should warn you that a split second after doing so you will be genuinely convinced that you've just accidentally committed suicide.

Tell Me A Tail

Squirrel Monkeys at London Zoo

And... we're back to the squirrel monkeys. Because they're oh so adorable. I took a frankly worrying number of photos in their enclosure, and I don't regret it for a moment. Although the foolish lady who tried to prod one and got a nip on the finger for her trouble may do. Seriously, there are signs everywhere that say "Don't touch the monkeys. The monkeys will bite you. Just don't touch them. They bite. No really, they do. LOOK AT THIS PICTURE OF A BLEEDING HAND-STUMP. THAT IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU TOUCH A MONKEY".

And what did she do? Tried to touch a monkey. Oi vey.

Filaments and Fronds

I believe this is a picture of some Old Man's Beard a.k.a.clematis vitalba although I'm not actually sure. But the delicate little fronds and filaments make an interesting picture when they shine in the light of a setting sun.

Dew on the Grass

A photograph of dew droplets on grass stalks underfoot. I almost trod on this particular one before noticing that it was unusually dewy and deciding to take a picture. This is the reason I'm always late everywhere.

The colours of the grass in the photograph are so lush and vibrant, and I like the contrast of the greens and browns. Even in winter, good sunlight can really bring out the colours of nature.

And on the subject of dew-based photography, much though it pains me to link to a Daily Mail article, I just had to post a link to these incredible pictures of insects covered in dew droplets that look like diamonds.

I really wanted to post this link as well, to a photographyblogger article called "20 Spectacular Dew On Grass Pictures". Obviously, if you look at the link you will be struck by the hideous contrast between these amazing photos of dew and my poor offering, but I liked some of the pictures so much that I just can't force myself not to post it. I love this photo by Tico, in which all the dewdrops reflect the greenery around them, and this photo by ecstaticist - the huge glimmering globules of dew remind me of a pair of frog's eyes.

Sunlit Holly

I like this picture because of the way the edges of the holly leaf seem to glow in the sunlight. Also, it reminds me of Christmas. Ah, if only I had two weeks off work to sit around eating delicious starchy foods more often. Once a year just isn't enough.

Campsight

When we arrived at our campsite in Cornwall this summer, this was the view over the fields at the back. Sadly it didn't stay quite as sunny for the entire duration of our stay. One evening it was raining so hard that we drove from our tent to the sinks to brush our teeth...

Beautiful Blue

Doesn't need a whole lot of explaining!

Oh yeah, except for it's upside down.

Cairn

Another photograph of my summer holiay in Cornwall; there was a whole herd of cairns scattered across this beach. I don't know who built them or why, but it looked very picturesque.

In a not-unrelated note, my word of the day is tumulus, a "mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves". Purely because it sounds good. Also known as a barrow, a less awesome word which greatly confused me as a ten-year-old reading Lord of the Rings for the first time. Near the beginning of the book there's a bit which involves much unexciting messing around in/near barrows, and as I had only come across the word in the context of a wheelbarrow (and was too lazy to go get a dictionary), it caused me a great deal of confusion.

Dappled Light

A return to my traditional "yay! flowers" approach to photography - although as I recently proved, I am trying to break the cycle of addiction. This is some kind of rose, which was boldly protruding from a stranger's garden fence. If this were the olden days, perhaps I would have picked it and stolen it away with me, leaving them with a sadly denuded floral display. Fortunately, however, the power of the digital camera means I didn't have to.

We also discovered some very cool African Geese. Sadly all the photos I took of them were rubbish, but when I tried to find a better one on Google, it seems that all the other photos out there are even worse. Consequently I may, somewhat shamefacedly, put up the rubbish pictures, just because I want to convey how awesome these geese are. They have strange knobbly heads and one of them (I'm guessing the male) had a huge dewlap which wobbled disconcertingly as he walked around.

Diversify

What an odd-looking flower. OH WAIT.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing delectation it's... a picture of a landscape! With sunshine and everything.  Taken from the top of Langstone Rock at Dawlish Warren in Devon, on my holidays. A very nice coastal path runs along the edge of the beach, and my very intrepid mother and I* couldn't resist the chance to climb up the Rock, despite our impractical footwear.

It's only a shame that you can't see how red the cliffs are; even the sand is actually quite dark there. The route of the old South Devon Railway follows the coast very closely; it's very picturesque, gliding out by saltwater marshes and past beaches. The history of the line is interestingtoo; built in the mid-nineteenth century, it was originally conceived as an atmospheric railway with the trains powered by the use of vaccuum pumps. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the brainchild of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who (in addition to having possibly my favourite name ever) was fond of making cool stuff. Also he wore a top hat. So I think we can concede that he was pretty much a legend and it was not his fault that rats ate his vaccuum tubing.**

*Note grammar.
**Not a euphemism. Euch.

Sunshine After The Rain

I went on a trip to the local Botanical Gardens with my mother one day and we had the most peculiar weather. All in all it rained - heavily - on four separate occassions, but always at a relatively convenient moment; on our first trip to the tea rooms for lunch (delicious soup... tomato and chorizo, I believe, which I loved), then when we were standing right by the large greenhouses, then twice when we were back at the tea rooms, enjoying another couple of well-earned cups of tea. These gorgeous flowers (my mum told me their name and I promptly forgot. She would be very disappointed in me) grew all around the greenhouses, and when the sun suddenly emerged from behind the clouds, like an increasingly confident streaker at a public sports match, they looked fantastic, all damp and fresh from the rain.