Punakaiki Beach

Punakaiki is a must stop location on New Zealand’s west coast. Driving south along State Highway 6 there is a lot of amazing landscapes but not a huge amount of places to stop and photograph the coast. This is the view north from Pancake Rocks looking along Punakaiki Beach towards Te Miko. If you look closely on the right of the photograph you can see vehicles coming up the hill along the highway.

Maruia Falls

Driving through the South Island from Nelson towards the west coast we had to stop here. Maruia Falls is easily accessible from the road (State Highway 65). Its an ideal picnic stop. A couple of hours drive away from either Greymouth or Hanmer Springs. The height of these falls is 10 metres. When I first arrived I was disappointed at the cloudy weather and didn’t think I could take a good enough photo to share online. Exploring the area I was able to get down close to the water. The rocks shown here in the foreground weren’t very big but add much needed interest to the composition of this photograph.

RHS Garden Bridgewater

Opened in May 2021 this is the Royal Horticultural Society’s fifth public gardens. It’s in the village of Worsley in Salford on the grounds of the former Worsley New Hall estate. This square pool is in the middle of the Weston Wall Garden with the Fruit House and Mediterranean House behind. The chimney in the middle is from the old power station that powered the stately home. If you are in Manchester I recommend visiting RHS Bridgewater. It was a wonderful day out.

The Glade of Light – Manchester

The Glade of Light is a memorial garden in the city centre of Manchester. It commemorates the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing of 2017. Opened in January 2022, the stone centrepiece is inscribed with the names of the 22 victims. Behind the garden is the Manchester Cathedral. I was there on one of the first days it was opened to the public so it was impossible to get a photograph without people in it. In this case it adds to the picture to have people in the photograph.