Borneo, jungles, beaches and wildlife; a photographers dream. Pt 2.

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animals, birds, Borneo, insects, landscape, Mount Kinabalu, natural, photography, photos, plant, Sabah, travel, weird, wildlife, wonderful

The thing about Borneo is the fantastic range of every natural thing. The smallest animals, the most colorful birds, the most unusual plant life and weirdest and wonderful of insects.

Fireflies do the aerial dance while spotters from back of safari vehicle or from river boat point their spotlights high into the tall trees that are the Borneo rain-forest. All the while looking to get a glimpse of something looking back that would encourage stopping to investigate further.  Few birds and owls have been close enough to photograph and then at Bukit Pitoh after virtually nothing for 2+ hours, a slow loris.

This cute thing barely 20 cm long clinging to tree about 20 metres up with great big eyes.

Although we’ve seen a number of orangutan high up, surrounded and camouflaged by leaves of trees and usually cleverly back-lit by setting sun, it’s beginning to look like we will not get a decent photographable look at them in the wild. Just our luck! We see a couple building their beds (nests) for the night and watched them climb in and go to sleep, about 500 metres away in the forest canopy.

And, the next morning, I was lucky enough to get off the vehicle and go leech-evading, well nearly, clambering through jungle following one of the amazing primates hoping to get closer with the good people at Bukit Piton. It was fun though I did cop a leech or two while clever man of the forest kept right on swinging away, looking back at us periodically but staying just far enough to make a photograph problematic.

A morning trip to Taliwas lake and forest was organised by bikeandtours.com for our last day in Lahad Datu. With our bird guide and 3 local rangers we trudge through jungle seeing small critters and a few birds. Lovely forest and good exercise!

A couple of weird examples; on left two tractor millipedes approx 10 – 15 cm long joined in holy matrimony, and believe or not the ball is a pill millipede, it rolls up in defense presenting a hard shelled ball 

the 100cm moon moth and kind of intricate Chinese lantern bug are a couple more of the amazing array of bugs and insects.

At Sukau on the Kinabatangan River the night cruise along the river edge yields a few interesting birds and on the day cruises we find monkeys, a snake and birds high up or flying overhead.

Long tailed macaques suggesting they don’t like us and showing off!

Our guide Othman continues explaining the differences between similar bird species and the traditional uses the natural fauna was once put to. Everything imaginable including cooling you down in the heat to giving any blood-sucking swine of leach that attaches itself you a real hurry-up and a leaf that was the original curry.

With over 700 bird species we were never going to see the lot. Compare that with the less than 200 we have in NZ.

Above are a selection of the oh so colourful birds, including 2 of the 12 kingfishers, 2 some of which are only about 10 cm big, the largest of all horn-bills the rhinoceros horn-bill, and another tiny beaut the black-naped monarch.

A nesting colony of diminutive Pacific swallow, there would have been about 200 of them in a recess in a riverbank about a metre square, and white browed shama (this one collected by Anne waiting for me to return from a bat cave).

Soaring overhead, a raptor,  brahminy kite one of the dozens of birds of prey in Borneo.

It’s on Tuesday 21^st, the very time we are due for our afternoon river cruise (that’s their fancy name for getting in a long dinghy and being propelled by an outboard) that thunder has struck with rain so heavy it could knock me over. However, we’re back on for night cruise. Screaming up the river in the black night cluttered with small and even bigger logs and clumps of water hyacinth keeps us mere mortal passengers on edge. We end up in an amazing tributary spotting some more sleeping tiny birds.

We move on to Sepilock Rainforest Edge Resort. Really lovely place. With orangutan and sun bear recovery centres and Rain-forest Discovery Centre nearby.

The sun bear, reputedly the worlds smallest bear, looking worried about what its seeing.

A night walk first up. Snakes, spiders, including tarantula and scorpion, long-legged centipedes and some weird millepedes included

Next morning about 6.30 I decide to head off solo on a handy bush walk. All pretty basic until I hear all this crashing and smashing in the tree canopy. Orangutans, several, what a thrill. Unfortunately, it takes half a morning for camera lenses to stop fogging after a night in airconditioned comfort so the photos are crap. An exiting experience though.

Turtle Island is our next stop.

Not a turtle, but a monitor lizard, he’s about 800 -a metre long amongst some rocks. The turtle experience is an after dark one in which we see an egg laying, and removal then transposing them into an egg nursery for a couple of months until they hatch and are then released with the hope some will survive long term.

Variety applies to everything in Borneo, no more so than to the islands flora.

Walking through the jungle, one comes across  some amazing plants. This pitcher plant is one of over 25 Bornean species, but was in a botanical garden.

The giant rafflesia flowers about every 5 years, and grows up to to a  metre in diameter

The striking bright red fruited kurrajong .

Brilliant red flower of one of ginger species seems to grow out of the ground.
       Delicate flame flower

The variety of fungi and mushrooms surprises, in particular the very rare veil fungi on right. We stumbled upon this to real excitement of our guide who in 20 years has only seen one 3 times.

There are 32  tribes and 70 odd dialects on Sabah that is about 25% size of New Zealand.

Some of the people we “met”.

 It’s hard poorly paid work we are told. Man cuts, wheelbarrows and stacks the oil palm fruit clumps to be picked up by and trucked to the factory.

Fisherman in small boat searches for his trap, not clearly marked he tells us to avoid theft, lifts and clears it when found and heads off looking for the next one, while not far away farmed fish are fed by workers. Fish farming is quite a big industry here, large 14 year old groper are fared for Chinese in one farm we visit.

Ismail sees us pull up on a country road near his family sales stall and runs to help.   

From the white coral sand tropical beaches to 3rd world urban cities and the steaming dense jungles the landscapes of Borneo express the diversity that makes this country what it is.

And the seemingly endless oil palm plantations. The good news is, unlike other countries, Sabah has now stopped the spread of these plantations in a conservation effort. There is to be no more natural habitat destruction.

The sun sets on the tip of Borneo, the northern-most point of the island.

We certainly leave with the feeling we did didn’t get more than a taste of what is offered here, and I know that the best, the most colourful birds, the large range of cats including the clouded leopard, the small large animals, elephants and the incredible flora has still to be experienced.

And I haven’t mentioned the shopping malls of Kota Kinabalu, or the cuisine or the myriad of other experiences including our crooked guide and the actions that were required rectifying his influence on our trip. Those are stories for another time.

And there is  amazing wildlife and rain-forest conservation going on now here in Sabah, while plastic and litter sickeningly clogs the sea and covers the beaches. Typically 3rd world I guess. Just wish those who seek to signal their virtue by telling us all how to manage our lives would actually make a real effort to help sort out the genuine problems in places like this. that would take action, not just words, though wouldn’t it?

Cloud around Mt Kinabalu at sunset.

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Why Namibia? – more just than a few reasons.

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africa, aloe, animals, big cats, bildlife, bird photography, birds, brianscantlebury.com, cheetah, dancing, Dead Vlei, digital images, gecko, goshawk, Hidden Vlei, Himba, images, Keetmanshoop, landscapes, light, lion, lions eating, lizards, Namibia, palmato lizard, people, photography, photos, places, portrait, Quiver Tree Forest, rosie-faced lovebird, sand dunes, secretary bird, shade, small animals, Sossusvlei, sun, traditional, travel, trees, tribal people, whydah, wild animals, wildlife photography

That’s the question, why Namibia?

Have just returned from a three week tour with World Photo Adventures of this startlingly stunning country and through the images shared here hope to give you more than a few reasons.

With the thousands of images I have returned with, it will be quite a while before I get through them all. So, this will be an evolving blog. It will be updated progressively.

And back to the “more than a few reasons;

Landscapes, I’ll bet you’ve never seen anything like what Namibia has to offer;

Sossusvlei dunes are breathtaking. Dead Vlei and Hidden Vlei are so immense and stunning

Touring photographers cast shadow on golden sand dunes.

Then there’s the Quiver Tree Forest with it’s unworldly aloes  scattered randomly across a rugged rocky terrain;

    

Wildlife, big cats, Lions and cheetahs in particular, there’s more to come of these;

And birdlife;

   

Great white pelican portrait

                                       Secretary bird 

The diminutive long-tailed or paradise whydah

Rosy-faced lovebird

 

 

 

 

 

Pale chanting goshawk on top of acacia bush.

Flight of the flamingos at Swakopmund as sun sets over wetland

We came across these lions, him & her, not long after they had made their kill. Here feasting happily together. We went back next morning and watched him take charge and drag the rest of the carcass away from her. She then left the scene and headed to a water hole about a kilometer away, as the crow flies, where we came across her again.

All creatures great and small;

 

Small desert adapted lizard and a shy palmato lizard poking its head out of the sand

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What about the people;

Portrait of traditional tribal woman holding child.

Dancing in the tribal way. The Himba people in their small remote village and woman sitting outside shack (below)

And finally some birds in flight, Southern Yellow Hronbill, pale chanting goshawk and lilac breasted roller below.

More to come, check back please. and large digital images are all available at www.brianscantlebury.com The Namibia images are in the travel folder, Africa library.

 

Wellington new stock images New Zealand

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"travel image", #brianscantleburyphotography, #newzealand, brianscantlebury.com, city life, fine art photography, photography, scenic, street scene, travel images, urban, Wellington, Wellington architecture photos, Wellington night photos, Wellington stock images, Wellington stock photography, Wellington Stock photos

New Wellington stock images to show some of the vibrant creative capital city recently added to http://www.brianscantlebury.com stock photo library

Wellington is a cosmopolitan city with an energetic personality. Please click on the images here to link through to these and more similar Wellington stock photos.

Windy Wellington sign on hillside at Miramar in white corrugated iron mounted on side of hill to look like it is blowing away with Weta Cave tourism sign below.

The city is surrounded by wonderful scenic bays

Evans Bay from Shelly beach Road Wellington

Titahi Bay, Wellington New Zealand

rocky foreshore at Breaker Bay at entrance to Wellington Harbour

Some with classic old beach or boat sheds

Titahi individually leased and painted boat-sheds along the beach Wellington New Zealand

Coastal road around Wellington harbour Lowry Bay with bright coloured boat shed.

Skerrett Boat Shed Lowry Bay Eastbourne Wellington white weatherboard construction with olive green door owned by Hutt City Council in February 2016

Titahi individually leased and painted boatsheds along the beach Wellington New Zealand

Monochrome nautical image of hanks of rope hanging on inside boats sheds on harbour edge with open door and dinghy stern in opening.

 

Rufus, the owner of this homely shed had just returned from his morning paddle in Titahi Bay, Wellington New Zealand

And the city waterfront is constantly busy and interesting whter is people watching, the coastal scenery, the public art trail or old architecture one can spend hours there and still miss so much

Summer day people enjoying Wellington waterfront strolling along the esplanade watching and relaxing in warm coastal public space.

Mooring ropes lying on dock Oriental Bay Boat sheds and boats across bay Wellington New Zealand

Old white weathered warehouse buildings Shelly Beach Road, Miramar, Wellington New Zealand

Markets like the Porirua Market enable a visitor to share some of the life and cultures

Lions Club of Titahi Bay Porirua Saturday Market early morning on Feburary 13 2016 stall holders are open for business and locals arriving and wandering buying food, fresh produce and nick nacks. Model/property Release; No, for personal and editorial use.

Lions Club of Titahi Bay Porirua Saturday Market early morning on Feburary 13 2016 stall holders are open for business and locals arriving and wandering buying food, fresh produce and nick nacks. Model/property Release; No, for personal and editorial use.

 

 

Like any cosmopolitan city, there are the characters and street scenes that captivate too

Street scene of bare backed with spiky hair Wellington street car window washer Willis Street cleans windscreen of car stopped at intersection lights

Wellington wooden architecture old shop building now coffee outlet and Fidel’s cafe

Wellington architecture Shepherd’s Arms Hotel in Tinakori Road dates from around 1870, this laid-back hotel in the historic Thorndon suburb .

 

Red car in front vintage effect cottage in Tinakori Street, Wellington

 

Outdoor cafe patrons enjoying the activity and warmth on Evans Bay Shelly Beach Road Wellington

 

Inside the historic Railway Station

Wellington Railway Station classical architectural style concourse with granite floor and inlaid compas

Wellington Railway Station classical architectural style intricately decorated main concourse domed ceiling.

 

Night scenes around the spectacular harbour enthrall anyone taking a walk after dark.

City lights across Oriental BAy to boat sheds and city buildings Wellington New Zealand

Hectic night scene of buildings, streets, lights tram lines and power poles across Jervois Road with The Rugby World Cup Celebration sculpture in small park Wellington New Zealand

Light effects created by zoom blur through Te Aho a Māui split pyramid sculpture with path leading to Civic Square and city lights and scenes Wellington New Zealand

And there is so much more – Wellington

 

Autumn at McLaren Falls Park, Tauranga

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autumn, autumn colors, Bay of Plenty, brians scantlebury blog, colors, colours, fall, fall colors, McLaren Falls Park, new zealand, photography blog, taurang, travel, travel blog, travel images, Travel photography

Autumn at McLaren Falls Park, Tauranga is always a special time.

Tauranga’s climate is generally too warm to produce the stunning autumn colours found in cooler locales. But up in the Kaimai Range that all changes.

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Borneo, jungles, beaches and wildlife; a photographers dream.

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#brianscantleburyphotography, Adventure, animals, asia, asian, birds, Borneo, Maslaysia, nature, people, photographer, photography, Sabah, scenery, travel, Travel photography, wildlife

Borneo, jungles, beaches and wildlife; a photographers dream. And we are expecting an experience like no other.

Borneo, the world’s third largest island. About 3 x size NZ and headed-off by Greenland and New Guinea. It is best known for its ancient 165 million years they say), bio-diverse  rain-forest (15,000 plant species) , home to and incredible array of wildlife  (over 1,4000 animal species) including the man of the forest, orangutans. But that is only the start.

Leaving Auckland incurs about a 40 minute  delayed departure on 8 May. That’s traveling for you, and the first of a series of minor hiccups.

We arrive on May 8th. The Tawau forecast is for thunder storms, we fly though and above cloud  and mist from KL the predicted weather does not eventuate.

Looking down on expanse of oil palm plantation through a break in cloud as we arrive.

Our bags though decide they want a holiday on their own and head off  somewhere else. We’ve sent the search party out hoping to find, apprehend and return asap. Let’s hope, at least I have my cameras.

We are met by Zahari our naturalist photographer guide at airport 40 minutes late, but he turns out to be the nice guy we expected. He gets us to the Shervinton for or first night. A “flash on-the-outside but rough-as-guts on the inside joint”. Guess that’s the standard for the next 3 weeks but we didn’t come here for the hotels.

Tawau is a typically Asian city but with less motorbikes. The 3rd largest city in Sabah – Malaysian Borneo.

Earning a living. Row of umbrella protected shoe repair and second hand sales operators on street in Tawau and in local food market.

From Tawau we head to Semporna and our first resort. Lato Lato is a built on stilts resort that looks spectacular as we approach by boat. It touches no land but the shallow coral seabed where the stilts made out of slim tree trunks (I’m told they are ironwood, never rot and as hard as hell, but never-the less a little spindly looking) a bit like old fashioned fence post.

Through the chalet window at Lato Lato looks relaxing and wonderful, but this belies the underlying story.

We check and head to our room. Kind of unprepared for this we were. The room is rustic, but without charm, the bathroom has a dunny, no seat, a bucket and ladle as a substitute for a shower. a  tap, a shower-head for appearances sake cos it ain’t plumbed. But something even more interesting, as we walked the gangplank, so to speak, to get here I noticed the external plumbing and wondered where the waste went. Looked specifically at ours and it appeared to terminate about where the tidal level then. We did a wee test, flushed the loo, and voila into the tide she flowed.

Hmm, went back to our guide and explained that we would not stay in that room and explained the environmental concerns we had. All denied, until we said we would photograph another test. Change of mind occurs, oh yes you right comes an admission, the tradie hasn’t quite finished comes the excuse, we’ll shift you.

Mattered not really because it wasn’t long before someone else was checked into that room. uuggh. Temps are about 30+f, humidity about 500 and only a fan to cool us during any time we spent in our room.

Tall palm trees on one of the Semporna islands we visit.

Children of sea-gypsies we pass visiting some minute tropical Semporna islands see us approach and paddle out in their little boats in hope of receiving some gifts.

Sea-gypsie mother and two small children peer out at us from window of their boat off a Semporna Marine Park island.

Decided to check out a day early from this place, the Lato Lato Resort.

Idyllic tropical sunrise from Lato Lato Resort, on the morning we leave, Sabah Borneo,

Our guide had to find somewhere else. we end up at  an expensive but very nice Hawag Danum Valley Resort in the middle of the jungle.

It’s expensive, but lovely. aircon and a nice clean room. It’s a package deal, so we get their guides to handle us for our stay. Sagely, we’re advised to buy some leach socks.

Dumb Kiwi’s that we are we put these big baggy things on, as you do, under your trousers, then to to meet our guide who asks if we have leach socks. proudly we say yes, pull up our trouser legs and display them. Laughs from our guide, and no doubt others standing around as its explained you put them on the outside and tie them below the knew well we had that right).

Off we set, very soon to learn the importance of these things. By the time we get home the blood sucking leaches had beaten the socks and found ways to attach themselves all over us. Deprived of lots of blood and being in a place with no alcohol (that’s a blood substitute I’d always believed) we had to re-calibrate our expectations.

Although we spend 2.5 days being leached every which way (and i mean that) this was to turn out to  be a beaut experience.

Dinner then a night drive. Bumping along a dusty on back of a ute with a couple of spotlight wielding spotters and our guide we look for critters under the trees, in the trees and flying about.

Venomous pit viper in Borneo in rainforest, Sabah.Danum Valley.

Brown wood owl high in tree in Borneo Rainforest, Danum Valley, Sabah

File-eared tree frog in Borneo rainforest at in Danum Valley, Sabah.

There’s a long story to be told here, but that best left for a seParate blog, or another time. It involves our guide, a few lies, and the police. enough said, but it becomes important to dump him.

Withe the help or a very nice Linda at Borneo Refugia, we are put in touch with  http://www.bikeandtours.com , Simon and Tisha. Our luck changes. More on that next blog.

Enjoy.

Tauranga to Tauranga, via the South Island

Tags

albatross, Anatoki, art, Christchurch, city at night, costume, Desert Road, display, fashion, Kaikoura, lake, landscape, Marlborough Sounds, night scene, Parliament, Picton, QT Museum Hotel, Rangatikei River, Rangitikei, river, road trip, salmon farming, Te Papa, Tekapo, travel, Wellington, WOW

First night en-route to Wellington we stop at Taihape – wow. To get there we took State Highway 1 through the Desert Road.

A rustic kinda evening ensues as we checked into the River Valley Adventure Lodge. The workers shed somehow shows the rustic nature that is the lodge experience.

The lodge, on Rangitkei River is base for river rafting, kayaking and horse trekking. Some beautiful though raw scenery surrounds the lodge.

The rushing river and spring cherry blossom flowers create further contrasts for this memorable stop-over.

Then on to Wellington and WOW, and a couple of days drifting around our capital.

You will recognise these buildings for sure.

WOW was an experience, even for a women’s fashion numb-skull like me. Our hotel, the Museum Hotel had this piece on display from an earlier WOW event.

The hotel is a really nice property. Shame they see it worthwhile to practice the small minded surcharge on use of credit cards, regardless of their not insignificant tariff.

If I return I’ll seriously consider paying in cash, and then see them incur some real handling and banking costs, but under their policy, I won’t. Now got that off my chest!

Some of the capital city’s iconic street art outside the Museum hotel.

Wellington at night.

Had time to drop into Te Papa. Below a couple “engaging” with one of the vibrant installations.

See more Wellington images; https://www.brianscantlebury.com/New-Zealand-Town-and-country/Wellington-Capital-City/

Then we headed to South Island on the Bluebridge ferry.   Passengers enthralled by and photographing the Marlborough Sounds as we head for Picton. As well as the dramatic scenery, salmon farming set-ups are part of the landscape.

Something to consider on this service, there is no access to the bow, so travellers can only look at where they’ve been, not where they are going.

Picton waterfront after dark.

Stunning spring tree colours, as we head towards Farewell Spit, appear more like autumn lining dry river bed.

A night at the golden beach of Kaiteriteri offers some evening shots and sunrise next morning.

The blue hour over the bay, then the sun breaches the horizon.

Above; pied stilt in farm puddle on way to Whakariri Beach

Two rocks

Two rocks and two walkers on Wharariki Beach

Driving the highway through Takaka this rustic old farm shed under a gum tree has become a landmark

Grafitti painted on old rustic corrugated Iron shed

Braeburn Track, Lake Rotoroa lush green New Zealand native beech forest in Nelson Lakes National Park

Natural fresh clean water flowing through and around granite boulders through lush green New Zealand bush.

White buildings one each side of straight road passing between buildings and leading to distant hills in vintage style image at the Sunday Creek turn-off.

Anatoki, definitely worth a visit.

Father and two sons fishing in small picturesque lake, Anatoki in South Island New Zealand.

Anatoki River surrounded by dense bush and southern mountains.

Vineyards in Marlborough, you can’t go here without a wine stop or two. Long rows of springtime growth across flat fields running to foothills in distance

Possibly the world’s most photographed tree; “That Wanaka Tree”, willow tree growing in lake is popular tourist scene in long exposure with sunset colors reflected from snow covered mountains behind. Instagram “thatwanakatree”

More of the natural beauty of Lake Whakatipu, with jumping platform just of the shore in alpine Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island.

Collection of heritage signs and buildings brought together as tourist stop-off point on highway at Burke’s Pass.

iconic Church of Good Shepherd and tourists on a low Lake Tekapo

Two young women travelers in distance, walking on flat mud-rock ledge on Kaikoura coast

Seabirds, albatross just some of the wildlife of Kaikoura coast

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Christchurch, post quake a new city landscape emerges with some remarkable new architecture

Long exposure – urban lights photo-art

Tags

boats, bridge, City, harbour, lights, new zealand, night scene, photo art, photography, photos, scenic, Tauranga photographer, tauranga photos, travel, urban lights

The night offers just so many photographic opportunities. Ever noticed that when you are out? Too busy, to preoccupied to to notice.?

When it comes to urban lights there is so much to capture, they are all around you in a city, just stand back and take a look and you can’t help but be inspired.

Here’s a short long exposure Tauranga urban lights series. All available click  urban lights

Night lights on railway bridge built in 1928, crosses the Tauranga Harbour joining downtown Tauranga to the Matapihi peninsula.

 

Night lights and sky on railway bridge pedestrian path and distant lights of Maungatapu.

Night lights and sky on the curving bridge moon above calm harbour.

Lights from Tauranga Harbour Bridge from Sulphur Point to Mount Maunganui  illuminate night sky and reflect in long streams across harbour.harbour

Zoom blur effect adds an abstract or ethereal feel to bridge lights

Glow and sparkle of port container terminal lights viewed from Tauranga Harbour Bridge and surrounds illuminate night sky and harbour

Urban transport route, night scene sparkling lights and trails from moving vehicles on Tauranga Harbour bridge crossing.

Just a short long exposure series of Tauranga harbour lights.

 

Railway yard obsolescence as fine art photography.

Tags

art, art deco, fine art photography, historic, museum, photography, photos, railway, red, rolling stock, steampunk, travel

• Not all photos suitable to be fine art photos.
• Fine art photography is a challenging and rewarding photographic art form.

• It’s less about what the camera sees, and more about how the photographer/artist interprets and presents the image.

 

 

Three boys stand on rear of rail carriage, not so much fine art but more people interest

Walking around Namibia’s capital city, Windhoek one can come across it city’s old railway station. Now a museum with the old ticket/reservations office and station along with a range of the rolling stock and associated historic rail items.

This short series will appeal especially to anyone with an interest in rail, especially historic rail stock.

Pretty much “steampunk” these days.

Close-up freight cart wheelOld steam boiler, casing, piles and valves in sepia tone.

 Railway freight cart

• *All images are available for purchase as prints, framed or on canvas and/or as digital images.

*If you are a NZ resident print purchaser, please contact me to obtain a considerably more economic supply and print option.    email;  brian@brianscantlebury.com

This is Namibia – photo book just published

Tags

africa, animals, books, elephants, gift, images, landscape, lions, Namibia, photography, photos, places, This is Namibia, travel, wildlife, zebra

We just published our photographic book. Take a look, a full preview is available for free.

The comprises 30 pages of full color images on 30 pages and dust jacket.

Be interested in any comments you have too.

Classic city – Vienna in 4 days then on to the Sound of Music city – Salzburg. Europe 2017

And more travel and photographic images www.instagram.briansphotography.com/ and www.brianscantlebury.com

Train from Prague to Vienna. Confusion reigns as normal in these places. Half, at least, of the intending passengers running round in circles. Eventually most if not all of us board and take our seats.

It’s a drizzly day, the train takes us through expansive flat largely featureless landscape occasionally interrupted by what appeared to be economically starved towns. In these the buildings and rail yards appeared as if they’d been forgotten long long ago. Totally lacking upkeep, a property managers nightmare. Reminded me of those Soviet/East German era magazine and film images we all saw back then. I couldn’t motivate myself to take a picture, so desolate they were on an already grey day. Regret that now.

As we approached Vienna that changed, the rural scenes of cultivated land and industrial areas as we approached urban areas showed signs of life.

Vienna has a few surprises. Firstly its a city of 2 million and possibly the cleanest and best ordered place we have seen. Initially it all looks a bit monotone, in a sepia kind of way. But as you find your way around it turns out to be quite a delight. We are located by the Rathaus (City hall) area. Great name that in English, would to apply it back home!

Rathaus Platz Park, divided by beautifully tree lined walks with so much bench seating lining all paths I reckon most of Tauranga could be seated there at one time.

A beautifully kept park are pretty much adjacent to our hotel. It’s Saturday and we find Rathaus Platz is busy with workmen installing a large screen, seating and other stuff for the last night of month long film festival. This has been run around the city with the events of last 2 nights centred here.

10 minutes walk sees us in the Museum Quartier. and only short walks to trams and underground to most of the city. However, as we find seeing is better walking, we spend the day doing that.

Some of magnificent stained glass window in churches here. These are in a church I haven’t seen in the tourist material, but a real beaut anyway. The Votive Church, a beaut neo-Gothic structure, like many of the building we’d like to photograph the exterior is largely covered up for renovation.

This one is on the tourist list, St. Stephen’s, as you can see partly under reno too. Again well worth stopping by even though you may feel you are churched out

Amongst all the museums and galleries, a must see from I reckon, if you have any interest in art is the Hundertwasser Museum, if art is not your thing the Hundertwasser weird and wonderful apartments, not far from the museum, are certainly worth a visit.

Hundertwasserhaus, or the Hundertwasser Apartments, wonderfully eclectic as was his art and he himself.

We use the underground, so called even though much of it is overground, to get out to the Schoenbrunn Palace. Actually a tip here, we’ve found its generally best to buy a 1, 2 or 3 bus pass which gets you on all public transport. Cost less than the so called Vienna Pass which also offer discounts. Seems hard to earn the cost of those discounts. Together with the Museum Quartier these are must sees. Worth heading to Vienna just to see these.

Magnificent Schoenbrunn Palace with it’s little train and one of the fountain ponds in foreground and the city of Vienna in background.

The Gloriette in distance beyond palace gardens through wrought iron balastrade on rear porch of palace, one of large white pieces of statuary, large fountain and one of the many wide tree lined boulevards leading through gardens to palace.

Graffiti in this city seems contained largely to river banks and underground. Here on walls of the Danube canal under one of the many bridges.

And amongst all the historic architecture there is an area of modern too. Known colloquially as UNO city.

On the train again, headed for Salzburg. The scenery en-route is generally lovely field patterns of rural cropping, small towns and villages scattered throughout. Very attractive. get a little more hilly especially close to Salzburg, and some of those architecturally traditional homes become part of the view.

Our first afternoon is taken up with a walk to the other side of the river. That’s where all tourists head. It comprises acres of classy shops set on narrow winding streets around squares of plazas surrounded by more shops and restaurants. Each square has at least one phenomenal church. this whole area is nestled into a the surrounding rock face of the hills.

The lakes scenic area is another must do here.

Pukeko, slightly goofy but intriguing New Zealand swamp hen

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animals, birds, brian scantlebury phoptography, brianscantlebury, new zealand birds, new zealand wildlife, photography, photos, pukeko, swamp hen

New range of Pukeko images and portraits added to www.brianscantlebury.com wildlife images.

Please take a moment to check my other wildlife images; click here; the animal world

 Always standing out from their environment with the striking blue and black feathered body and bright red beak and cap.

 A swamp hen, this is the most commonly encountered of the five living species of the rail family native to New Zealand.

Yet to color up this chick cautiously approaches the water edge.