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I've taken to carting my camera around with me again. This morning the harbour was still and the light was a diffused silver. So, what with it being my day off and everything, I drove to Aramoana.   Otago Harbour.   Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom (18mm) 1/250 f8. Post processed Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom 50mm 1/400 f10   Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom 70mm 1/800 f5.6   Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom 95mm 1/800 f5.3  Can't go anywhere without running into a Red Billed Gull  Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom 70mm 1/640 f6   Nikon D7100; Nikkor AF-S DX VR 18-200 zoom 90mm 1/640 f6.3 C/Pl filter And Earlier in the month I drove to Gabriel's Gully after visit to Lawrence. In the hills above it I encountered Blue Spur. Once a town with a population of 500, shops, a school and two churches, nothing much now remains.   Nikon D7100; Nikk...

Recently I deconsecrated the church of the Holy Trinity in Lawrence. This small brick church is very pretty and contains some remarkable objects. A small pipe organ for example, and a beautiful brass altar cross given by the second bishop of Dunedin, Isaac Richards, in memory of his two sons killed in the first world war. But most interesting is the font. This is a plain piece of worked limestone about a metre high. Around the base is an inscription in Latin, the translation of which is "Jesus is the name which is above all names". It has a wooden lid and the bowl is lined with a light metal, perhaps zinc. It is quite unremarkable except for one thing: its age. This font is about a thousand years old. It is Norman, and would have been made in England or France at about the time of the  conquest in 1066, when the new regime in England had a flurry of church building as part of their colonising strategy. The bowl and base are made from Caen stone, a French limestone in com...