walking the Paekakariki escarpment track

fantail, from artwork at Pukerea station

I am back down under.

In north island, New Zealand.

Fo two months of work in rural Wairarapa, about an hour north of Wellington. An escape from the cold and dark of an English winter.



Coming to an unknown place to work is always a bit of a gamble.

My previous three visits have been a total success, so I felt that I might tempting fate to make one last working visit before I hang up my stethoscope.

And the first week has been a real challenge.

Barely over my jet lag I was thrown into full time work. Something that I haven't done for a while.

It was a long week.



I am staying in a converted barn next to a large mansion in the middle of the woods.

It is a bit dark. under the trees ...

there are a lot of flies....

and there is no wi-fi.

I am challenged to be positive about my chance to live in the proper countryside.

And if you are living next to a field of cows, I do not recommend opening the window whilst cooking bolognese sauce.

Every fly in the district turned up in my kitchen to check out the good smells.




This is my road... I live in those trees.

My other half (OH) has been very supportive at the end of a phone in London.

He says I need a project.

So far I have only come up with one on dead insects.

Hopefully I can improve on that with a bit more time.

I decided to spend the weekend at the beach, for some bright open vistas and a fly free environment.

I chose Paekakariki. A very small seaside resort between the coast and the railway.

The sun shone brightly, and I decided to walk the escarpment track. 800 steps, and 10 km along the clifftop.

I thought the exercise might clear my head.

on the right track

I dressed appropriately. I carried many more clothes than was necessary., expecting a cold wind on the clifftop.

 Everyone else was in singlets, trainers and shorts.

The first 2km were uninspiring. A stroll beside the railway tracks.

The flowers were cheerful though.

I prepared myself for a steep, exposed, on the edge walk, and started the climb.

Up the hill was blue and sunny.

Kapiti island from Paekakariki

There is a lot of effort locally to reintroduce native species to the hillside.  Native shrubs are being planted, and there are mice traps to encourage bird life.


There were no real lizards to be seen in the lizard garden.

Down below ran trains and vehicles on the main coastal road.

Paekakariki escarprment

Kapiti Island

There were many steps.

I stopped a lot.

Higher and higher.

I watched the clouds.

Up and down.

Down and up....

And then two lovely swing bridges across steep gullies.

nearing Pukerua Bay

Finally the path descends towards Pukerua.

Back along the railway, and just when you think you have nearly finished, another 2km of track side walking to Pukerua station.

It took me three hours at a leisurely pace. I tested all the benches along the way.

A local train service picked me up and delivered me back to where I had started.

Paekakariki station

Back to the beach road deli, for a well earned snack.

Paekakariki beach road deli

After that I felt so much better that I went to the beach for a long walk and some beach combing.

There appeared to be a sand castle competition going on.

Industrial sized spades and buckets were in use.

The results were impressive.

a bit more serious than the normal bucket and spade....

sand castle

sand castle

Along the shore I found fragments of sand dollars.

The inside of a sand dollar is delicate and beautiful.

A bit better than a dead fly.....

Gunns bush and the song of the bellbird

A brief video from a walk at Gunns Bush reserve. The song of the bellbird is something I have been looking forward to hearing. There are none in the town of Oamaru.

Only penguins and other sea birds in abundance.



I walked alone and passed no-one in the 90 minutes that the track took to complete.

No phone reception.

No one knew where I was.

I lived dangerously for a while whilst walking for the first time in my life on a carpet of soft green moss.

Gunns bush reserve

mosses and ferns

moss carpeted path

South bound - moving in new photographic directions with double exposure landscapes

Time to go home.

I am in Perth and ready to return to English springtime.

Australia is hot and I have had enough heat.

I feel as though I have been away for a long time, and it is time to reflect on what the photographic outcomes have been from my time in New Zealand.

The images that sum up this trip for me are the ones I will share here.

Double exposures of the quieter back roads in New Zealand's South Island. Places where I travelled alone and felt the wide open space and the peace and quiet.

Treading on gravel roads, dry grasses and footpaths I got to really know the landscape and to love it.



I experimented with different exposure levels of the wider landscape and what my feet were standing on.

This one a bit heavy on the grass.....

I processed the images in Lightroom to give a uniform monochrome tone.

I don't feel the need to say where the images were taken.

I want them to remind the viewer of journeys that they might have made.

Dusty roads and dirty windscreens.

Hedges and fences.

Man made structures alongside natural ones.

The series can be seen on my website here


And one is currently showing in Budapest at PH21 Gallery in their exhibition 'Lines and Curves"

Ph21 gallery opening of Lines and Curves. photo: Gábor Ancsin / Képszerkesztőség 

Which makes me feel that all those hours of wandering were worthwhile.

It takes a lot of time to make a new body of photographic images.

About three months in this case, and now I am ready to go home.