Did anyone guess where I have been since the last post? A country with 4 letters in its name, only 3 of them different? It was, of course, Fiji and there will be a batch of Fiji photos following over the next weeks. Let's finish this series of New Zealand photos with these taken on the way out of Auckland harbour. The channel to the north is fairly narrow and marked with many lighthouses. Here are a few that I managed to see on our way out. The top left one is the Bean Rock light. This is off North Head of the Hauraki Gulf at the entrance/exit of the inner harbour. It has been there since 1871. The next photo is of Rangitoto Island and its red and white striped tower. This tower was built in 1905, but it has never had a lantern room on top, just an open light. Rangitoto is a dormant volcano; it will make a real mess of the harbour when it decides to go active again.The third photo shows some ships waiting at the end of the channel for "Voyager of the Seas" to exit. The smaller ship fitted in with us, but the big car carrier decided to anchor and wait. In the background you can see Tiritiri island. On the south-eastern end of the island is Tiritiri Matangi lighthouse. Built in 1865, this is NZ's oldest active lighthouse and it and the keepers' cottages are being actively preserved. You can take a day trip to the island by ferry from Auckland. The photo was taken at extreme magnification on Dad's camera; sometimes the old guy can keep pretty still.
Labels: boats, cruising, lighthouse, New Zealand
# posted by Bart Bear @ 2:38 pm
