Eagerly awaiting the mail...

[Tronhard]

I actually stopped by a farm to get a shot of the mail boxes, but immediately the curious cattle gathered to watch what was going on. Still, they LOOK like they're waiting for some urgent post...

[Wavelength]

Beauty of innocence

[Tronhard]

Too true Nandakumar! Little do they know what might be visited upon them soon...

[NorthernFocus]

Interesting capture, Trev. One thing we noted to be very consistent in NZ is that cattle come toward people and sheep run the other way.

[Tronhard]

Perhaps one could describe them as acting "sheepish?" ...

Interesting capture, Trev. One thing we noted to be very consistent in NZ is that cattle come toward people and sheep run the other way.

[Mike Buckley]

Great eye, Trev!

[pnodrog]

Trev, what are you doing at Whananaki? A great place to be over Christmas.

There are some interesting sets of letter boxes scattered all over NZ. The cows complete the shot.

[Shadowman]

Very nice, it's so funny but sometimes a bit nerve wracking when animals approach humans. It happened last summer with a city squirrel, now that made me nervous as I heard about some recent attacks. And just recently, I was getting set up (monopod with ball head) to shoot some chickens which made their home in a city park, I looked down and the young hen was right at my feet pecking away like she knew me.

[bnnrcn]

Great eye indeed.

[NorthernFocus]

...it's so funny but sometimes a bit nerve wracking when animals approach humans...

Which reminds me of a funny/embarassing story. The first time that we visited NZ back in '08, one of our accommodations was a farm stay B/B. They had on the order of 1500 sheep and a couple hundred head of cattle. When we arrived the host encouraged us to walk through the pasture behind the house to the top of a hill to watch the sunset over the Whanganui river valley. Which we did. It was a fairly good trek through several separate fenced areas and on the way back we wandered into the area that held the cattle. All two hundred of them. Half way through the pasture they spotted us and came running(literally) towards us en masse. The logical side of my mind reasoned that our host surely wouldn't have sent us through the pasture if there was any danger but the emotional side of my brain was screaming RUN. Happily when they got within about five meters of us they stopped and just stood there staring at us with our backs to the fence. After the fact it was pretty funny.

[Shadowman]

Which reminds me of a funny/embarassing story. The first time that we visited NZ back in '08, one of our accommodations was a farm stay B/B. They had on the order of 1500 sheep and a couple hundred head of cattle. When we arrived the host encouraged us to walk through the pasture behind the house to the top of a hill to watch the sunset over the Whanganui river valley. Which we did. It was a fairly good trek through several separate fenced areas and on the way back we wandered into the area that held the cattle. All two hundred of them. Half way through the pasture they spotted us and came running(literally) towards us en masse. The logical side of my mind reasoned that our host surely wouldn't have sent us through the pasture if there was any danger but the emotional side of my brain was screaming RUN. Happily when they got within about five meters of us they stopped and just stood there staring at us with our backs to the fence. After the fact it was pretty funny.

I would definitely have run, as a city boy I couldn't tell a cow from a bull at a far distance.

[Tronhard]

Hi Paul:

We were invited to stay with friends at their camping ground at Motuara Farm. They have a veritable compound of about 8 "Glamping" tents for their whole extended family. We spent about 4 days/3 nights there before returning to Auckland on Christmas Eve - in the process of which I took the post box shots.

This is a shot from one of the high points on the farm at sunset looking south-west - it's a composite and not really processed much apart from the merging. it does give you an idea of bay on one side of the ground while on the other is a surf beach.


Down in the bay below we found a lone fisher patiently waiting for a fish coming in with the tide to give him a bite.

Trev, what are you doing at Whananaki? A great place to be over Christmas.

There are some interesting sets of letter boxes scattered all over NZ. The cows complete the shot.

[madcrow]

Nice images.

[Wavelength]

beauty

[pnodrog]

Hi Paul:

We were invited to stay with friends at their camping ground at Motuara Farm. They have a veritable compound of about 8 "Glamping" tents for their whole extended family. We spent about 4 days/3 nights there before returning to Auckland on Christmas Eve - in the process of which I took the post box shots.

This is a shot from one of the high points on the farm at sunset looking south-west - it's a composite and not really processed much apart from the merging. it does give you an idea of bay on one side of the ground while on the other is a surf beach.


Down in the bay below we found a lone fisher patiently waiting for a fish coming in with the tide to give him a bite.

We use to boat over to Whananaki from a place we stayed at on Sandy Bay. A long way by road but not so far across the bay. All the coast up to Russel is fantastic. It sounds (and looks) like a wonderful place to be glamping. You would have been in one of the cars going south making me wait to get onto the main road.

[Tronhard]

I was actually amazed at how little traffic was on the roads as I went south yesterday. It all turned to custard for those heading north at about Wellsford though. There was a tail of over 1km.

On the way up, a couple of days ago there was some event, most likely an accident as there were police milling about a the northern end of Whangarei. We got stuck but managed to get onto side roads and outflank the car park that was the main highway. On the way back I figured out that the jam was almost 5.5km long... I think I saved us over an hour of sitting.

We use to boat over to Whananaki from a place we stayed at on Sandy Bay. A long way by road but not so far across the bay. All the coast up to Russel is fantastic. It sounds (and looks) like a wonderful place to be glamping. You would have been one in of the cars going south making me wait to get onto the main road.