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ROTORUA - NEW ZEALAND

AGRODOME

Photos from the Day 06 video are here with a few extras thrown in.

For the boys, our first morning in Rotorua started with a visit to the Agrodome. The girls spent the day shopping. We spent pretty much all morning here. We did the Farm Show and the Farm Tour. Both excellent and worth doing. They do have two other tours but we didn’t do those. Agrodome is well worth a visit for young and old but kids will especially love it for the hands-on experience with the animals.

There aren’t a lot of photos from the afternoon as we joined the girls for a stroll and shopping. Nearing evening we made our way towards Lake Rotorua and and got to see swans and cygnets near the shore. On the way down here we discovered Eat Street. We came back here for dinner at Mac’s Steakhouse. Very nice food and the staff were excellent. We had a good laugh with them. We stayed at a free camper-van parking area that night, just opposite the Polynesian Spa.

Well that’s it for this quick post. I hope to see you for the next video, which should be out in the next two, three days.

p.s. a big thanks to Alain for the use of some of his videos and photos.

New ZealandCHRIStophe Robert HERVOUËTMarch 24, 2019nz, new zealand, north island, rotorua, agrodome, farm, country, animals, travel, explore, discover, landscape, macro, photography, christophe Robert hervouet, christophe hervouet, tours, show, kiwi, kiwifruit, tractor, trip, road trip, wander, wanderer, voyage

NEW ZEALAND: NORTH ISLAND

ROTORUA - AGRODOME

day 6

Welcome back for day 6 of our little trip around the North Island of New Zealand. Today we leave The Coromandel for Rotorua. This video is the first of the two and half days we stayed here.

Arriving in Rotorua, Alain and I dropped the girls at a shopping mall before heading to the Agrodome. They have four experiences you can choose from or you can do all of them if you have the time. Alain and I did two, the Farm Show and the Farm Tour. Before the show started, we were treated to a sheep gathering performance outside. The show itself is entertaining, has a bit of humour, is educational and has hands-on experiences. It is very interesting. I didn’t know there were 17 different types of sheep in the world. The tour is also great because you, not only, visit the farm but you also get to mingle with some animals and feed them. Oh and you get a little tasting of their homegrown kiwifruit juice. Delicious.

After the Agrodome we joined the girls for some shopping and just walk around a little. We ended up wandering down to Rotorua Lake where we saw swans and their cygnets. A beautiful area. Coming down here, we walked through Eat Street where we had a delicious dinner at Mac’s Steakhouse. And I have to give a shoutout to the waiters and waitresses who were just fantastic.

Tonight we stay at a free camper-van parking area near the the Polynesian Spa. Though there were a number of camper-vans, it was very quiet. So I bade you goodnight my friends and invite you to the next video, where we dip our feet in hot water, race, wine taste and visit a small Maori village. Goodnight.

p.s. yes, I’m sure you know by now but I without his photos and videos my story wouldn’t be coherent. Thanks Alain.

MUSIC :

Steel Guitar Rag by Les Thomas and The Countrymen

THE 309 ROAD - THE COROMANDEL - NEW ZEALAND

FROM WARKWORTH THROUGH THE 309 ROAD TO COOKS BAY

Here are the photos from the last video. I’ve added a few extras that weren’t used in the video.

To recap the video and these photos, we stayed overnight at the Sheepworld Caravan & Camping Park in Warkworth (New Zealand) then traveled across The Coromandel via The 309 Road to Cooks Bay.

Though we didn’t stay very long at the Sheepworld Caravan & Camping Park, after walking around the place, I became very fond of it. The rustic country look. The Crash Start in the middle of the backyard. The volleyball net with stuff growing off it. The red sheep. Cow50 who posed for a photo but then wanted to eat my tripod. And beautiful, little, white flowers. Oh and the view of the mountains from the carpark was amazing too.

Our first stop of the day was Auckland to sort out some problems we had with the camper-van. We didn’t record any of that part of the trip. I regret it a little but can’t do anything about it now.

From Auckland we headed south-east to The Coromandel towards Preece Point. From there onto The 309 Road where we stumbled upon Stuart & The Pigs (without Stuart) and stopped at Waiau Waterfall. I really like this waterfall because the area is small, it’s completely surrounded by forest and there’s a small waterhole. Lovely little spot.

Our day ended in Cooks Bay where we parked our camper-van on a free site just behind the Purangi Regional Reserve, along the Oyster River (I think that’s the river’s name but am not sure). Only took a couple of late afternoon shots then we just sat back and relaxed. It was the end of a long day of driving.

Next post is a video where we visit a cathedral and a gorge. Hope to see you then. Ciao.

p.s. can not forget to thank Alain for his contribution to this set of photos as well.

NIGHT ZOO

As I mentioned on my last post we had dinner at the cafe in Taronga Zoo in wait for it to reopen just after dark for Vivid Taronga Zoo. It’s beautiful and amazing and a must do if you’re ever in Sydney while it’s on. And the kids will be inthralled.

A little challenging for photos especially for positioning and framing. You’ve got to have a lot of patience. Many times I had to wait for people to move and a few times for photographers as they had the perfect spot for the shot I wanted. Because there are a lot of people around, you need to be aware your surroundings. You don’t want someone bumping into your gear or taking a kid out with your tripod or backpack. Be careful and tolerant. And talking about the tripod, a must as all of my images are long exposures. It’s the way to go if you want sharp photos.

A big thank you to my friend and her kids for their patience. They endured the cold temperature for at least an extra hour, instead of being warm and cosy back at the hotel, to give me the chance to capture everything. Merci.

DAY ZOO

A must do in Sydney, especially if you have kids, is visit Taronga Zoo in Mosman (Sydney, Australia). It was a beautiful sunny day, so we (my friend and her two kids) took the ferry from Circular Quay to get there. It’s also a nice way to see the harbour and the city from the water. You get great views of the city from inside the zoo as well. There’s a lot to see there so give yourself plenty of time. At least four hour if you don’t want to rush to see the koalas, wallabies and wombats before closing time. Talking from experience.

I took a few photos but saw later that my focus was off for a number of them. I concluded that the auto focus was off about a third of the time. Not by much but enough to matter. I use single point focus for precision but as you can see on the lizard photo, I focused for the eye and it missed. I’m a lot more careful now and try to review the photos as soon as I take them but that’s not alway possible.

There are a number of photos that I particularly like from this collection. The giraffe about to enter it’s enclosure is one of them because it show the height of it on the frame. Another is the adult and baby elephant playing with the blue barrel. The little guy was so funny. The black bear, on the other hand, seemed so unhappy. I mean I don’t know if he was but that’s the impression I got. Love the majestic pose of the sea lion though. He got into position just as I framed him. The poser.

I can highly recommend the cafe at the entrance too. We had dinner there as we waited for the zoo to reopen, just after dark, for Vivid Taronga Zoo. Now you know what the next post will be about.