Photowalk #7 - Meola Reef & Western Springs

Meloa reef., Meola reef. Where the heck is that you ask? lol. Well here's the google map :P
(Sorry for my crap as scribble on it lol) . If you can't read the small font, the X is where the Auckland Zoo is.



And here's a little bit of info from good ol Wikipedia :-)

The Meola Reef, or Te Tokaroa Reef in Māori is a lava flow forming a reef peninsula across part of Auckland's Waitemata Harbour, New Zealand. It was formed 20,000 years ago from the final portion of a 10 kilometer long lava flow that originated from the distant Three Kings volcano.
The reef extends for over 2 kilometers across the Waitemata Harbour, to within 500 meters of Kauri Point, on the northern shore.

The reef is easily seen in the west from the Auckland Harbour Bridge at low tide, when much of it lies exposed. The best viewpoint is at Kauri Point, the headland to the east of Kendall Bay. The portion of the reef close to shore is covered by mangroves, and further out, the rocks are covered by rock oysters, then bare. Strong footwear is needed to walk on the lava.

I had absolutely no idea this was here. It was nice to do something different on our photowalk -a slightly more challenging walk than we normally do. It was very rocky and you need to watch where you step otherwise you would get stuck in the mud... literally lol. So glad I bought my gum boots along with me. But I actually really enjoyed it. Here are some of my favourite shots from the localation -

An interesting red plant. Sorry I'm no good with plant names!

Wideangle shot of the reef. You can see the rocks are covered with Oysters!

This part was much easier to walk..

We spotted some others out on the other side. Thought they were part of our group but actually they weren't lol. Lucky we didn't start yelling out to them ay? lol.

A lost feather

I just love love love circular bokeh and the pretty green colour of this lichen.

And next stop was - Western Springs! Everyone knows western springs right? The water is kinda dirty., but no worry.. we can make that look pretty with reflections!

Ok., the following photo was a total fluke.. haha but I love it. I'm totally amazed the sparrow is in focus because I didn't even adjust my settings (had no time to). And the birdie is even looking the right way. *total WIN*


Bird taking flight.

Colourful reflections :-)

Epic clouds. You know I love clouds.. I love the deep blue of the sky. I admit this was slightly enhanced but the colour is true (just deepened slightly)

Ok so the water looks gorgeous right? If you're an Aucklander you know Western Springs is dirty as haha. But you wouldn't know it ay? They make for gorgous reflections - true story!

And I'm really proud of the photo below, I just love the way the ripple looks so smooth. The added feather with its own reflection was just a gorgeous little bonus.

Nothing to say about this one., I just like it so in it goes lol.

And close up shot of the fern

I included this one because of the bend in the tree. Thought it gave an interesting element to the generic tree silhouette picture.

And to end this very long post (hopefully not too long!) some geese! The reflections are almost like a mirror no?

I'll be heading down to the snow this weekend and I can't wait! First time this season so its very exciting. Some friends are coming over from Australia so we want to show them around! Hopefully the weather is kind. You can never be 100% sure of what its going to do on the day.

Have a great rest of the week people! Hope ya keeping dry in this drissly weather :/