Castlepoint – Just a hop, skip and jump from Wellington

Wairarapa is in very close proximity to New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington and boasts some spectacular sights.  Whether you’re climbing to the Rimutaka Trig or venturing further afield to see the coastline itself you will be in for a treat with two of the regions most spectacular lighthouses both on this side of ‘the hill’.

The Roadtrip to Castlepoint

 

Some people like driving – some people hate it.  Personally I enjoy getting in a car and just blocking out the world (well, maybe exhibiting a little harmless road rage from time to time) and going to somewhere different.  I probably could’ve been a truck driver in fairness!

Castlepoint is about two and a half hours drive from Wellington and is a relatively popular weekend getaway for local Wellingtonians with a reasonably nice beach, some pretty good hiking and good fishing.

Castlepoint Itself

In fairness when I go to photograph I do so mainly for the lighthouse!  You can get some good views looking north-east during sunrise, and looking back south-west during sunset.  At night, there is a bit of a light display lighting the lighthouse itself up into a number of different colours so you can play around with a bit of light painting without actually having to do anything!  One of the joys about this place is that you can climb around the rocks, which are full of fossils, and have quite the explore – but be careful, the waves can surge and the sea here is wild!  Don’t get too close to the edge because it can be easy to get swept away (it has happened before) and if you go in the drink, well that’s probably all she wrote.  Take a look at some of my images:

The first image above is a sunset image looking back south-west while the second is shot in the middle of the day whilst exploring in and around the rocks.  I do also quite like the challenge of trying to defeat the principle of dynamic range so challenge myself to shoot stars with lighthouses around.  I was the most succesful at Cape Palliser but also pretty happy with some of the images I have gathered here from time to time:

Of course, it’s not all about the lighthouse here.  There are tonnes of landscape opportunities with the beaches, treks and of course the actual ‘Castle’ itself!

Places to Stay

Plenty really – book a bach is very popular here and there is a local campground that I quite liked and that provided very easy access to a swimmable beach (amazingly the water was not too bad temperature wise by New Zealand standards this past summer).  The campground provides for powered and unpowered sites, has good cooking and dining facilities and you can also get wee cabins if you don’t wanna put up a tent.

My only real recommendation is take your own food as there isn’t really a decent place to eat in the township itself (there is a local dairy/fish and chip shop which is okay-ish).  Otherwise this pub about 5 minutes back from Castlepoint is a nice spot to sink a drink and have a meal!  I haven’t stayed there myself but the garden bar is good value!

Ngawi and Cape Palliser

Wairarapa is in very close proximity to New Zealand’s capital city, Wellington and boasts some spectacular sights.  Whether you’re climbing to the Rimutaka Trig or venturing further afield to see the coastline itself you will be in for a treat with two of the regions most spectacular lighthouses both on this side of ‘the hill’.

The Road-trip to Cape Palliser

Cape Palliser is a two hour drive from Wellington and is the southern-most tip of the North Island of New Zealand.  Generally the roads are easy going and sealed, but as you get closer you start hitting some gravel, narrow roads.  When I captured the image featured, I actually drove to Cape Palliser and back to Wellington in the one night.

Ngawi

Shortly before you reach Cape Palliser itself, you will pass through the small fishing village of Ngawi – this would in my opinion be the better place to hole up for the night if you’re planning a stay.

If you are wanting to overnight, your best bet for accommodation here is hiring a local bach – it’s pretty isolated!  Alternatively you can camp – but be warned it can get cold and very windy so go prepared!  You’re not exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to food…..my advice is take (or catch) your own.

Ngawi is not without it’s charm though – the number of fishing boats, rusty boat trailors and large tractors right on the shore provide some good opportunity for photography.

The Cape Palliser Lighthouse

The Cape Palliser lighthouse is not for the faint-hearted.  A rather steep and long series of steps leads up to the lighthouse.  From memory you’re looking at climbing about 270 steps.  But from whatever angle you want to see it, whether making the climb or from down below there are some spectacular photographs to be had regardless of weather conditions.

At the bottom, you will not be in short supply of sights to see and photographic opportunities when facing away from the lighthouse.  The rocky shoreline in itself provides plenty of subject matter – throw in the abundant rock pools in which seals lounge around or play in and there is scope for the wildlife photographer as well as the landscaper.

I went at night, when the skies are very dark and the stars spectacular……it’s pretty much a night shooter must-do!

This image is also taken from the top of the steps right next to the lighthouse itself.  This was early in New Zealand’s milky way season.  Camera settings used for this image were:

• 24mm
• f/4
• 20 seconds
• ISO 6400

The featured image is what I regard as one of the best images I’ve ever captured (I rank it only slightly behind  one of my Chimpanzee images).  It is a three shot panorama and I used the following camera settings:

• 24mm
• f/4
• 20 seconds
• ISO 6400

Overall, Cape Palliser (and Ngawi) are definitely worth the trip out.  Along the way there is plenty to see and explore.

All images I publish on this blog are lower-resolution versions.  If you like what you see, you can stop by here and purchase a full resolution image over the net!  Simply click on the image of your choice and click ‘Buy Print’ – it’s as easy as that!  I hope this blog helps you in your travels.

Photo Pills and Mark Gee Workshop – Wellington

PhotoPills is probably one of the best photography planning apps going around in my humble opinion – especially for those who are either passionate about, or from time to time dabble in, astrophotography.  Previously it has only been available on Apple devices.  Fortunately, the good folks at PhotoPills have just released a beta version for those of us who have made the switch to Android and have been eagerly awaiting this tool.

Mark Gee is probably New Zealand’s best known astro-photographer and has produced a number of stunning shots of the night sky above our beautiful country.  A number of his images have received awards and international recognition.

On 29 April 2017, PhotoPills and Mark are combining to host a workshop in Wellington which will include advice in planning, shooting, post-processing as well as a local shoot later in the night.  I think this is a pretty good opportunity to learn some new tricks and hopefully develop some new skills – you can never learn too much!  I have gone ahead and booked my ticket to attend and am really looking forward to it.

The image you see with this post was planned by me using the PhotoPills app and shows the milky way rising over a near-by St Albans church in Pauatahanui at about 4:00am early in our Milky Way season.  I used my Canon 6D and 17-40mm f/4L series lens to capture the image with the following settings:

• 17mm
• f/4
• 20 second exposure
• ISO 6400