moonscape | Andrew McInnes Photography

Days 5 and 6 – Moeraki and Dunedin.

Just outside the coastal town of Moeraki there are numerous large concretions, exposed and highly visible, lying along a stretch of Koekohe Beach. I thoroughly recommend reading more about them (here is a Wikipedia link).

Here are a series of images captured during our brief visit.

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000526. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000500. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000496. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000517. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000533. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000549. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Boulders 2AM-000538. ©Andrew McInnes

After a thoroughly enjoyable dinner washed down with a local amber ale at the Moeraki Tavern, I took these shots of the nearby harbour. We had hoped to also eat at the famed Fleurs Place restaurant another night but, alas, it was closed for a while over the Christmas break.

Fleurs Place – Restaurant 2AM-000598. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Bay 2AM-000599. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Bay 2AM-000593. ©Andrew McInnes

Moeraki Bay 2AM-000595. ©Andrew McInnes

A little further south is the city of Dunedin, where I have family heritage. We had a joyous visit with a cousin and her family, and she accompanied us on a lovely hike to see the Organ Pipes. “The Otago peninsula was formed entirely by volcanic activity and the tall polygonal columns featured on this walk are remnants of this past. As molten lava cooled slowly beneath the hardened crust, it contracted and formed geometrical cracks which propagated downwards as the mass cooled.” (source: NZ Tramper website).

The Organ Pipes 2AM-000567. ©Andrew McInnes

The Organ Pipes 2AM-000576. ©Andrew McInnes

The Organ Pipes 2AM-000577. ©Andrew McInnes

The Organ Pipes 2AM-000578. ©Andrew McInnes

After the organ pipes we wanted to visit the world’s only mainland breeding colony of Royal Albatross so we ventured out to Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula. Unfortunately we did not see any albatross, but there was a rather active colony of gulls. Whilst wandering along an observation path, we heard, then saw, quite an aerial commotion… upon further observation we saw a Black-backed Gull being harassed by several smaller gulls – the larger gull had apparently “kidnapped” a chick and was heading off with it. For those who may be a bit squeamish about natural history, the following two images may concern you.

Black-backed Gull 2AM-004861. ©Andrew McInnes

Black-backed Gull 2AM-004882. ©Andrew McInnes

Looking down the steep cliffs of Taiaroa Head I was entranced by bull kelp (Durvillaea species) as it seemingly twirled and shimmied in a whimsical tango with the ocean.
Rimurapa - Bull Kelp 2AM-004857

Overlooking the spit within Otago Harbour – our lunch spot on our way back to Moeraki.

Harrington Point 2AM-000580. ©Andrew McInnes

Back to Mouraki, we were thrilled and fortunate to observe, up close, a few Yellow-eyed Penguins (Megadyptes antipodes)! These New Zealand endemics (native) are purported to be among the worlds rarest penguin species.

Yellow-eyed Penguin 2AM-004739. ©Andrew McInnes

Yellow-eyed Penguin 2AM-004780. ©Andrew McInnes

Thanks for visiting – I hope you enjoyed these images.
Cheers 🙂

I recently embarked on what turned out to be a quite a drive with the purpose of visiting an old mate from my teenage years whom I have not seen for more than 20 years! My old vehicle (1984 Toyota Hilux diesel) logged 9,193 km (5,712 miles) doing my return trip from Fremantle – Kununurra – Fremantle, Western Australia.

With an esky full of water and assorted sandwich-construction material, plus spare diesel, oil, etc., I essentially drove until it was time to find a bush-camp for the night. I’d awake early and continue northward, repeating as required until I arrived at Kununurra.

Subsequent blog postings will present more images from the trip to the north of this bloody big state.
Theses images document my travels up and back – I hope you will find them appealing.

It isn’t long until these emblematic signs present themselves, with varying fauna presented.

Having previously visited and photographed The Pinnacles (click here to view these) at Nambung National Park, near Cervantes, I chose to revisit and shoot more images from this amazing ‘moonscape’ before moving on and finding a place to camp for the night.

This leaning tree is but one of many around the Greenough area. These River Gum/eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) have horizontal trunks due to exposure to strong and near-continuous southerly winds.

Should you find yourself anywhere near Geraldton or Walkaway, I thoroughly recommend a visit to Ellendale Pool, be it for a day trip or a place to camp – as I did for an evening.