Photovan does Waikaremoana

[DesmondD]

I'm busy sorting through 400 images right now [ 2 days worth ] , I'll try to post one image per comment so I don't clog the thread with images ....
Yesterday I left Raglan in my 'photovan' and headed through Rotorua and down to Lake Waikaremoana .
It's been 5 years since I was on that road and this picture should tell you why ...




95km of winding gravel roads ... the first time I did it was in an old Toyota 1300 and I got tired of the slow journey and started going faster around the corners until I was so car-sick I had to pull over and sleep in the back of my car 45km from the lake .
The second time I took sea-sick medication to make it easier and got a little drowsy and crashed into the side of another car on a bend .....
After that I swore I would never go on that road again but now that I have my van and stop often to take photos it makes it easier and I must say the journey was pleasant in comparison to the times I was in a hurry to finish the trip .

[DesmondD]

It's not like I was expecting to get petrol here - I just thought it was an interesting building ....




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[debs]

Rather you than me, the Great Ocean Road is bad enough.

[DesmondD]

And further down the road they make sure you know what you are letting yourself in for ....





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[DesmondD]

Rather you than me, the Great Ocean Road is bad enough.

It wasn't too bad this time - I was prepared for it .... psychologically

[DesmondD]

Because I was in 'cruise mode' I took my time and actually went down a few side roads when the opportunity arose and got a few snaps here and there ....

[DesmondD]

The winding road through a dirty windscreen ...

[DesmondD]

I couldn't have done this without the Tokina 11-16 lens

[Analog6]

Nice to hear from you again here, Des. I spent most of May over on the south island, I found myself longing for my van, I sure wish there was some way to take cars over there for a holiday.

I struck some winding roads but not dirt ones and certainly not 95km of them in a stretch! Nice shots, very autumnal/wintery feel to them.

[DesmondD]

Then I stopped for a few shots next to this open area - you get tired of being closed in with nowhere to pull over when you're driving - there were a few spots I would have liked to have taken pictures but there was nowhere safe to stop .



Then the horse walks up and says "nice lens!"





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[DesmondD]

Nice to hear from you again here, Des. I spent most of May over on the south island, I found myself longing for my van, I sure wish there was some way to take cars over there for a holiday.

I struck some winding roads but not dirt ones and certainly not 95km of them in a stretch! Nice shots, very autumnal/wintery feel to them.

I'd love to spend more time on the South Island - maybe in the future sometime !


Maybe I should have called this "the waterfall tour" because there were plenty of them - this was the first lot ...

[DesmondD]

it had a name ....

[DesmondD]

And this is the first glimpse of lake Waikaremoana ....



I'm sitting here in a motel [ maybe I'm getting soft ? ] looking through the pictures and the sun has just popped out outside so I'll leave it at that for now and come back in a few hours .... with more images to go through [sigh!] .


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[grw46]

Great shots

I drove that road 30 years ago (with a boat on behind!! ) and found the scenery as you got closer to the lake spectacular .
Have also spent lots of time boating /fly fishing on the lake , miss those yummy trout.
Its got to be one of the prettiest , and then, undiscovered spots in NZ.

Looking forward to more photos

[flash]

I love these kind of roads and will go a long way out of my journey to do them, and your piccys show why, I love them all and would dearly like to do that road, maybe one day, your tyres are running a bit low as well, bump them up to 45psi rear and 35psi front, you'll find the Hi-ace will handle a lot better and use less juice, we have a camper the same model and love it to bits!

[Philr]

A great series, really like the composition of the 4th!

[DesmondD]

Great shots

I drove that road 30 years ago (with a boat on behind!! ) and found the scenery as you got closer to the lake spectacular .
Have also spent lots of time boating /fly fishing on the lake , miss those yummy trout.
Its got to be one of the prettiest , and then, undiscovered spots in NZ.

Looking forward to more photos

I've walked the 53km around the lake before - in winter , it snowed for about 30 seconds one night !

I love these kind of roads and will go a long way out of my journey to do them, and your piccys show why, I love them all and would dearly like to do that road, maybe one day, your tyres are running a bit low as well, bump them up to 45psi rear and 35psi front, you'll find the Hi-ace will handle a lot better and use less juice, we have a camper the same model and love it to bits!

Sounds like good advice ! I'm only getting 7 1/2 k's to the litre in this thing !

A great series, really like the composition of the 4th!

Thanks !

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[DesmondD]

Did I mention the word "dangerous" when I said "narrow winding roads " ?

[DesmondD]

It's always a little nerve-wracking looking back at the van and wondering how good the park-brake is and how stable that piece of land jutting out from the cliff face is .

[DesmondD]

Valleys and greenery all over ....