Photo Blog 2007 - 2021

Along the trail

Posted on 31 December 2021 As I looked down on this scene of Wellington Harbour and Steeple Rock from the cliffs above the Oruaiti Reserve yesterday morning, I realised that while Steeple Rock figures in many of my images, particularly of shipping where it can provide a useful counterpoint, I seldom photograph it from this angle or from this distance - so I did. © 2021 Ross Collins

Raising the bar

Posted on 30 December 2021 This new mural has appeared on the side of the former Beach Battery WWII gunnery post near the entrance to Wellington Harbour, and is light years above the standard of adjacent tagging. It is credited to the well-known local street artist 'Dside' (aka Damin Radford-Scott). © 2021 Ross Collins

Warm welcome

Posted on 29 December 2021 The tanker 'Silver Ellie' was caught in early morning sunlight in this shot partly obscured by rocks as it was entering Wellington Harbour on arrival from Tauranga on Sunday. © 2021 Ross Collins

Right hand down a bit

Posted on 28 December 2021 After discharging petroleum products at the Seaview Oil Wharf, the Korean-owned and operated tanker 'Silver Ellie' was setting course for Nelson as it was entering Cook Strait after departing from Wellington Harbour yesterday morning. © 2021 Ross Collins

Pedro being Pedro

Posted on 27 December 2021 I was joined early yesterday morning at Point Dorset near the Wellington Harbour entrance by Pedro, whose parents arrived soon after to provide some stimulation. © 2021 Ross Collins

Peep hole

Posted on 26 December 2021 The scoreboard at the Basin Reserve provides a good vantage point for people watching. © 2021 Ross Collins

On fire

Posted on 25 December 2021 Already an established international cricketer at the age of just 21, Amelia Kerr was on her way to being joint top scorer for the Wellington Blaze with 42 as the home team soundly beat another undefeated team in the Domestic Super Smash Twenty20 competition, the Auckland Hearts, at the Basin Reserve yesterday. © 2021 Ross Collins

Taking a pounding

Posted on 24 December 2021 The Wellington Coastguard Naiad vessel 'Spirit of Wellington' was struggling to make progress into a ferocious northerly on Wellington Harbour, choosing to tack across the wind soon after I captured this image earlier this week. © 2021 Ross Collins

Taking cover

Posted on 23 December 2021 The Centreport pilot boat 'Te Haa' was scampering for shelter after placing a pilot on board the incoming French-owned container ship 'Keta' in gale-force winds in Cook Strait on Tuesday. © 2021 Ross Collins

Keeping a safe distance

Posted on 22 December 2021 When this starling in our backyard saw me approaching with camera in hand looking to capture its colourful plumage in bright sunshine, it quickly retreated high in a magnolia tree. However, fortunately for me, its colours were still on show. © 2021 Ross Collins

Staring down the barrel

Posted on 21 December 2021 Familiar to most Wellingtonians, this row of colourful houses in Waitaha Cove, Lyall Bay, at the southern end of the Wellington International Airport, faces directly towards Antarctica. © 2021 Ross Collins

Going analogue

Posted on 20 December 2021 While driving by, I noticed an artist painting these Breaker Bay boatsheds which I photographed at the time they were seriously damaged by a southerly storm a few years ago. © 2021 Ross Collins

It's a cracker

Posted on 19 December 2021 After an extended layover in Wellington, the US Coastguard Polar-class ice breaker 'Polar Star' was departing for Antarctica yesterday afternoon. Hopefully the voyage will not be in vain and there will still be some ice requiring to be broken. © 2021 Ross Collins

Like clockwork

Posted on 18 December 2021 Looking every bit the epitome of Swiss design and engineering, this privately-owned, Australian-registered Pilatus PC-24 business jet was slipping quietly into Wellington after a flight from Invercargill yesterday afternoon. The aircraft appears to have been based at Wellington after arriving from Sydney on 2 December, since when it has completed a number of return trips to Wanaka, Dunedin and Invercargill. © 2021 Ross Collins

Hanging on

Posted on 17 December 2021 This tree lives a perilous existence high above the surf at Princess Bay on Wellington's South Coast. © 2021 Ross Collins

Making an impression

Posted on 16 December 2021 The redeveloped Lyall Bay Surf Life Saving Club building on Wellington's South Coast is hard to miss. © 2021 Ross Collins

Stand-in

Posted on 15 December 2021 From Falmouth, UK with just a brief stopover in Panama, the rollon/rolloff ferry 'Valentine' was still wearing its grey hull but with the wording 'Interislander' added above and its previously yellow funnels also overpainted as it entered Wellington Harbour in disgusting weather yesterday afternoon to provide temporary freight capacity while the 'Kaiarahi' is out of action having its gearbox problems addressed. © 2021 Ross Collins

When blue means red

Posted on 14 December 2021 I spotted this sculpture of a notorious communist dictator and murderer looking out onto the street from the backyard of a house on Wellington's South Coast. © 2021 Ross Collins

Your new car may be here

Posted on 13 December 2021 Looking no more attractive than many of the other vehicles carriers, 'Sunrise Ace' arrived into Wellington Harbour from Auckland on another wet and dreary day in Wellington yesterday. It commenced its journey to New Zealand from Hiroshima, Japan on 24 November. © 2021 Ross Collins

No, not me!

Posted on 12 December 2021 Anyone who knows me well also knows that I rarely, if ever, use a tripod and certainly don't use Canon camera equipment. However, another local ship spotter and photographer (who shall remain nameless) had also interrupted his breakfast (Weetbix in his case, muesli in mine) to dash to a suitable vantage point to catch a shot of the tug 'Rossco' which had departed earlier than scheduled last Wednesday morning. © 2021 Ross Collins

Identity crisis

Posted on 11 December 2021 The French-owned, Korean-operated container ship 'Rotterdam Bridge', which was arriving at Wellington from Auckland in bright sunshine yesterday afternoon, has had four different names since it was launched in 2001. © 2021 Ross Collins

Crossing paths

Posted on 10 December 2021 The Mediterranean Shipping Company container ship 'MSC Shahar' was entering Wellington Harbour around Point Dorset after arriving from Lyttelton in unpleasant conditions yesterday morning, as the tanker 
'Harrison Bay', which has a Monaco-based owner and operator, was setting off for Nelson. © 2021 Ross Collins

Big bang theory

Posted on 9 December 2021 After arriving from Picton in the early hours of yesterday morning, the Nautilus Pacific tug 'Rossco' and the barge 'Harvest Star' were passing Steeple Rock as they headed out of a misty Wellington Harbour at first light to return across Cook Strait. I was reliably informed, but have no way of confirming, that the purpose of this clandestine voyage was to convey two containers of explosives, a cargo which cannot be carried by ferry for safety reasons. © 2021 Ross Collins

Waterfront

Posted on 8 December 2021 High rise buildings in a section of the Wellington CBD are crowded along the harbour edge in this view looking across Queens Wharf from Point Halswell. © 2021 Ross Collins