Chair on the Swan River

A beautiful early morning walk around the Swan River. I love how the twinkles in the water danced towards this chair.

Deborah's Chair

We went for a lovely walk around the Swan River today. Had to get a photo of Deb sitting on Deborah's Chair. I would love to know who the original Deborah was and what the story is behind her chair.

Kayaking on the Swan

Had a lovely day down by the river at Matilda Bay. The kids had fun in the Kayak on the Swan.

The tripods

One of my favourite books when I was younger was The Tripods by John Christopher. The huge powerlines marching across the barren fields always remind me of that book.

Happy Christmas

Some people really go to a lot of effort at Christmas!

Raffles on the River

This image is of the Raffles Hotel on the Canning River, which has a lot of memories for me as a teenager - there was a club at the back of the hotel where we could listen to local bands like Slim Jim and the Fatts, and they were really lax at checking ID so it was my underage hotel :) I'm sure it is not like that now. And if my kids are reading this... I'm making it all up, I never went to a club until I was the legal age.

The city of Perth

I took my camera on my walk around the river this morning. This image is the city of Perth framed by the Freeway sign on the Canning Bridge. It was another overcast morning with the sun streaming through the clouds, which made for some lovely muted colours. Spent the majority of the day in shopping malls again. I have been in Perth for three days and have been to three different shopping malls now - hopefully won't set foot in another one for the rest of the trip.

Sunrise on the Canning River

I went for a run around the bridges of Canning River this morning. My body clock is still adjusting the five hours difference between Perth and Dunedin, so I was out running at 5:30am. The sun was streaming through the clouds and took my breath away. Lovely way to start a day that was only going to go down hill fast with the task of last minute Christmas shopping at a huge soulless shopping mall ...

Another sunrise

I will be spending the majority of today on planes, so here is another image from St Clair beach at sunrise. I love the clouds in this one, wish I had made the foreground a bit sharper though.

Sunrise at St Clair

The possums were playing possum on my roof this morning and woke me at 5am. So I thought it was a perfect opportunity to go and watch the sun come up over the ocean. It was the most magnificent morning and it was very hard to choose just one image for the day.

A man and his dog

I went for a photo walk through Dunedin, with the task of capturing city life. I quite liked this image.

Delicacy

Through the grasses

On the way home from Middlemarch the other day I meandered home. Taking my time to take photos and appreciate the countryside. I laid down in the long grasses surrounded by wild flowers to take some photos. I quite like the hazy feeling of this photo.

Contrast

The contrast of this simple cross and the elaborate headstone struck me. In the end, the haves and the have nots still end up in the same place ...

Middlemarch

Driving back out to pick up 'the band' from their weekend in Middlemarch. I was struck by the subtle colours of the landscape.

Another St Clair Poles image

A beautiful sunny day in Dunedin. I took myself down to the cafe at St Clair to have a lazy cup of tea, read my book, and take photos. These poles fascinate me. One day I will get a photo I am happy with. Today I was trying to highlight the textures.

On the road

I drove 'the band' out to Middlemarch which is about 80km out of Dunedin. There is something about driving along the open road with your mind to keep you company that is quite alluring.

Duckling

A duckling I saw on my trip to Christchurch

Dramatic performances

Today was the end of year production for the Drama club that Z belongs to. He really stretched himself this time, in his role as a teenage musician, walking around playing his guitar.

View from the deck

This is the view from my deck looking out across South Dunedin towards St Clair Beach. That is where I take my lunch time runs, it is about 3km away.

Robbie's hand

Robbie Burns statue in the Octagon on a lovely Dunedin day.

Sunday afternoon relaxation

A beautiful day in Dunedin, finished with a good book and a glass of wine on the deck.

Standing out from the crowd

A nice walk in the botanical gardens.

Self portrait

Wandering around the Octagon, camera in hand.

Regent Theatre

The Regent Theatre is a beautiful old theatre in the centre of the Octagon. I love how retro the sign looks.

Owl butterfly

Caligo memnon or Owl is from Central and South America and is 12 to 15cm in size. I had a lovely time walking around in the butterfly house at the Otago Museum. Well worth a visit if you are in town.

Gecko

I saw this guy today at the Otago Museum in the tropical rainforest enclosure.

Circles

New York state of mind

Chick's Hotel

My boys are in a four piece band called Gunslinger. They have been playing at the Chick's Hotel in Port Chalmers on Saturdays. It is a very old and beautiful building.

More St Clair Poles

Another photo of the jetty poles at St Clair.

St Clair Poles

I have been playing with depth of field. In this image I liked how the most distinguishing feature of St Clair Beach was sent out of focus, giving an indication of where the photo was taken in a dreamy like way. A bit like a hazy summer time memory

Otago Champs

It was the Otago Champs athletics carnival and of course the girl was in fine form, placing in hurdles, sprints and relay.

Warmth and reflection

I bought myself some beads in a lovely shop and couldn't resist taking this shot. I quite like the clarity of the reflected image as well as the warm colours.

Blue sky

I have a friend who takes amazing photographs with the blue sky as the connecting element. He inspired me to take this picture of an old bike in Oamaru.

Boats in Oamaru

My daughter had a touch rugby tournament in Oamaru today, so I had the opportunity to look around and take some photos. The water was such a stunning colour and the contrast with the yellow really caught my eye.

Chair thing take 2

I wasn't that happy with the photo I took yesterday on my iPhone so I went back today with the DSLR to have another go. I like this a bit better.

Embracing the chair thing

I have decided to embrace my need for photographing chairs and play with the idea. This is a playground in St Clair.

Master and apprentice

I spent the day in Christchurch yesterday with our CORE media team. It was great to see how we each work, and share ideas.

Kidz @ Conference

I have spent the last two days at Kidz@Conference at the Dunedin College of Education. We have put this event on now for the last five years and it is always so exciting. The kids come for two days of workshops using all different technologies with the idea that they can then help implement these back at school. Each school also sends a teacher along with a couple of kids so it is good PD for the teachers too. My job is to get all the kid's work up onto the wiki before the end of the second day. I have tried to include links to information about the software as well so there are examples of work and information for how to get started in your classroom.

Another run to St Clair Beach

Finished the day with another run to the beach. This is taken on my iPhone. A friend has pointed out that I seem to have a thing about chairs lately. So I tried not to take a photo with a chair in it, but if you look carefully to the very left - oops.

St Clair Beach run

I have a new favourite route for my daily run. Now that the sun is shining and Dunedin is so stunning, it is a real treat to run down to St Clair Beach, enjoy the sights and sounds and then return home.

Follow the leader

It was a beautiful day and as I walked around Balclutha, I couldn't help but muse about how lucky we are to live in this country. I miss some things about the big city but beauty is in every corner of New Zealand and I never get tired of it.

Balclutha bridge

I spent the day in Balclutha today while my daughter tried out for the Otago touch rugby team (she got in). Balclutha is famous for its bridge and the beautiful river it spans.

Love teacher

Sitting at my desk today I noticed this gift that I was given by a student a few years back. I love what I am doing now and I enjoy seeing the big picture of education, but every now and then something like this reminds me of how much I miss the kids.

Mt Cargill

Was a glorious day in Dunedin today so I climbed Mt Cargill. I used my iPhone Nike GPS app to see how far it was - 3.4km up to the top. I used my iPhone Foursquare app to tell the world I had got there, and I used my iPhone to listen to the TWIT podcast on my way up and down. Somehow I think my whole adventure into nature sort of missed the point.

This is the view from the top.

Christchurch flower gardens

My last shot from Christchurch was taken on the morning I was leaving. The flowers in the bright morning light were so vibrant. Loved my week at ULearn10.

Blossom in Christchurch

The blossoms were out and beautiful in Christchurch. The week was perfect, even though the ground kept shaking.

ULearn10

I have spent the last week in Christchurch at the ULearn10 conference. What a wonderful week! Nearly 2000 people all getting excited about the education of our children and sharing with each other. My week was spent interviewing people for the CORE EDtalks website and I've got to say, I enjoyed every minute of it. It was great to meet so many people and get to talk for a little while about what they are passionate about within education.