Geraldine 2013

21 September 2014  

Last year I celebrated my birthday by spending a long weekend in Geraldine.

People then ask "why Geraldine?"  Because on a previous trip to Lake Tekapo I discovered someone was offering Lord of the Rings tours from Geraldine using a four wheel drive vehicle.  That person was Wayne Keenan (www.alps2ocean.co.nz) .  Most of the journey was up the Rangitata Valley as I was more interested in photography than chasing Orcs around the place.

Wayne picked us up before Sunrise and dropped us back after Sunset. This included a lovely lunch on the river stones (see where did you have lunch?).

This is also when a breeze blew my camera onto the stones and smashed a lens!  Moral of the story- never leave your camera unattended on a tripod, even in the calmest of conditions. The repair cost over $1500 (24-70mm lens). Fortunately I had my 14-24mm and the 70-200mm to use for next day. Only the 50mm focal length wasn't covered and I had to rely on cropping the 24mm focal length. No worries with a 36mp D800! 

Apart from the damaged lens it was a great day and I can recommend Wayne if you want to see parts of NZ that most tourists don't see.