My Guitar

Walking along Karangahape Road, Sarah and I spotted a vintage guitar store, so we decided to pop-in. I found this vintage Suzuki guitar and talked the guy down to NZD$200. It's acoustic-electric, heavy, solid, and black. The strings are a bit too high, so my fingers throb in pain after playing too long. However, since the strings are so high, the tone is loud, rich, an full. A true face-melter. I like it.

Auckland City

Auckland isn't exactly the nicest city in the world... It's not the worst, but it has a dark side. The city is surprisingly dirty. It is a sprawled-out and poorly-planned city with mostly sterile modern architecture. People rely on cars. The air is VERY dirty due to the fact that cars are not required to have catalytic converters and loads of buses spew forth black clouds of diesel exhaust. We don't have a car, hence we live in a modest closet-sized room which is all we can afford that is near the University. We walk and suck on the fumes.

It was my naive hope that things would be "better" here. More enlightened. "Clean, Green New Zealand," right? Instead, I've found a city grappling with maturity and the human race acting so superbly like the human race.

On-Line Wedding Picture Album

Click here on this link to view our On-Line Wedding Photo Album.

These pictures are mostly of the wedding party and family. We are expecting more candid pictures from another photographer. We'll post those pictures when we receive them.

Sarah's Sails

Sarah took this picture. ...I altered it a little bit.

Tiritiri Matangi

Sarah took these pictures on her class field trip to Tiritiri Island.

Auckland Harbour

The big tower to the right is the Auckland Sky Tower. The tower dominates the Auckland skyline. It was completed in 1997. It is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. Sarah says it looks like it belongs in Star Wars. I agree.

Auckland Volcanoes

Auckland was built on top of an extensive volcanic field.

Rangitoto, Auckland's largest and most recent volcano, can be seen in the center of the first picture. Rangitoto last erupted approximately 600 years ago.

The second picture features Mt. Eden's large crater. It is located right in the midde of the city.

Charlotte Meets the Bridge

I made another HDR image. This is a picture of the Harbour Bridge in Sydney, Australia. The yellow and green boat entitled Charlotte is a passing ferry. The Sydney Opera House can be seen in the distance.

Click on this picture for the full effect.

New Zealand in HDR!!!

You should click on this picture to get the full effect.

This is a picture that I took about an hour north of Auckland. Yes, it really is a picture. It has been significantly enhanced using a program called Qtpfsgui. This program creates an HDR image. HDR stands for High Dynamic Range imaging. It is NOT the same as High Definition (HD), as commonly seen on televisions.

HDR images are kind of trendy right now, so I figured I'd give it a try. The sky came out a little pixelated, but I think it still looks kind of cool.

Click here to see the original image that was used to create the posted image. ...it isn't quite as impressive.

Moonlit Bay

Taken from the Aroha Island Ecological Centre in New Zealand.

Mataka Station

Image living here. You could! For millions of dollars and a your signature on a very strict contract, you could live in this gorgeous part of New Zealand!

Yes, believe it or not, this is a "subdivision." It is called Mataka Station and has significant historical and natural significance. The Europeans first met the indiginous Maori near this site. It was commonly used by the Maori and is a fantastic archaeological site. It is also a rich habitat for the country's official bird: the Kiwi. So why isn't it a National Park? Apparently, the Dept. of Conservation didn't want to pay the 14 million dollars to purchase the land. I don't know why.

Now homes are being built on this site. However, there are some VERY strict regulations for the residents. Homeowners are not allowed to own dogs are cats because they threaten the Kiwi. The residents must pay an annual sum to plant native species and help preserve the natural resources. The residents also sign strict contracts that prohibit them from harming any of the natural resources and restrict what kinds of houses they can build. This subdivision is an example of the private sector marketing conservation with scenic views to maximize profit. They have actually done a pretty fair job of protecting and increasing habitat. One could argue they do a better job of managing and protecting land than a government agency/ministry.

Of course, there is no good public access. They do allow ecologists and archaeologists on the land with permits. ...but it is basically preserved for the native species and the rich. Is this a good or bad thing???

Bay of Islands

New Zealand: Sheep and Green Hills

New Zealand has approximately 43.1 million sheep. That means there about 12 sheep for every one human that lives in New Zealand. When you drive through the country, you see a lot of scenes like this...dotted with sheep. To be fair, there are a lot of cows as well.

You may have to click on the picture to see the sheep clearly.

This picture was taken on the North Island in the Far North District.

Colorful Sydney

Summertime! Down under in the southern hemisphere, February is summer...and it was hot in Sydney. Sarah and I both got nice sunburns. We had a day to spend in Sydney due to the fact that our flight to New Zealand was two days after we arrived in Australia from Hawaii.

The city is quite lively and colorful. Lots to see and do. It was kind of a shame that Sarah and I were both exhausted by the time we got there. However, we forced ourselves to play tourist, rode some ferries, and saw the sights. Good times.

We are now actually in Auckland, New Zealand, but we have been too busy to even take one picture of the country...

(My favorite part about the southern hemishere is that the moon is "upside down.")

Snow Cones!

We went up to the top of Mauna Kea on Tuesday to get a first hand look at the snow. Mauna Kea is 13,796 feet high (from sea level). The mountain was a perfect place to go sledding with body boards...lots o' fun. However, the oxygen was a little thin at that elevation, so hiking up the hills was exhausting after a while.

Snow in Hawaii

This picture of Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawai'i was taken on the roof of Sarah's family's house. This is a rare clear view of the mountain with snow.

Married!

We'll be married on 2/2

February 2 is just a few days away... Life has been very busy, but California is still treating us well. Good Ol' Fontaine came down to visit and took this picture while we were in Santa Barbara. Good times.

LAX

Ojai Valley

The rains here in Southern California have temporarily stopped and revealed snow on the mountain tops. It is most beautiful here...I fear that I may want to live here at some point. A scary thought because of the high cost of living in this general area.

Pictured is the Ojai Valley. The mountains are part of Los Padres National Forest. This picture was taken quite close to where Sarah and I are staying.