A Dovedale Wedding

On Saturday I shot a wedding with my lovely assistant Amy...


It was fun to work as a couple. Amy got some great shots when I couldn't be in two places at the same time.

The couple who were getting married are practically neighbors, but we didn't know them before they asked us to take pictures at their wedding. I don't know anywhere else in the world where someone could have a wedding like this. It was terrific. It was just up the road in a little town called Dovedale. They held the ceremony in the charming old single-room church. It isn't being used anymore as a church, so they could use the beautiful old oak shaded grounds for the reception. The bride rode up in a horse-drawn cart...


Notice the loverly assistant, Amy, taking pictures of them as they drive by...


Here's what it looked like from where Amy was...


The ceremony had Amy crying. I don't have a picture of Amy crying, but here's one of the ceremony...


What a charming couple!


After the ceremony, they had a picnic under the huge old oak trees.


We stayed to watch the horse and cart leave before reluctantly relieving our baby-sitter.

flying high

We took full advantage of Nanoo Gubba's (my parents) visit and their offers to babysit while they were here this month. We had a great time showing them around, and we miss them. While they looked after the kids, Amy and I used the voucher I won almost a year ago to fly to Awaroa Lodge in the Abel Tasman National Park. I won the voucher in a local photo contest.

Tasman Helicopters is owned by Tally's. Tally's is the largest employer in Motueka. They use their helicopter for flying their big wigs around the area. When Tally's big shots are on the golf course, the helicopter flies paying guests to the exclusive Awaroa Lodge.


The above picture is our not-so-stressed pilot driving his expensive fancy flying machine out of the custom built (also expensive) hanger. He has a pretty cush job. It takes him 13 minutes to fly his pasengers to the lodge. Then he can relax for three hours until it's time to fly home again. It's not a bad place to sit and relax either. He took his running togs and went for a run on the magnificent bush trails through the park while he waited for us to enjoy our luxurious lunch and walk down the beach.

This was the first time for both Amy and I in a helicopter.


It was exciting and completely surreal when we started lifting off the ground.


In no time at all we were over the park. The views were incredible.



We landed in a clearing at the edge of the bush, where a beautiful bush path led to the lodge.


After a quick look around the lodge, we went to check out the closest beach.


As we expected, it was beautiful with hardly anyone else there.


This was as close to swimming as we got...


The weather was gorgeous with no cloud in sight, although the sea breeze was brisk in the shade.


After a delicious lunch, we had enough money left over to buy Amy a birthday present. She picked out a white carved swirl necklace.


We had just enough time for a short walk through the magnificent bush back to the helicopter...



before we were transported back over the majestic coastline and into Motueka.

Since Nanoo Gubba had taken Beck and Quinne to Nelson, we hung around to watch the next group of passengers take off.


We jealously watched them quickly and gracefully float over the horizon back into the wild Abel Tasman Park.


We look forward to doing it again, but probably taking the water taxi and a picnic lunch instead of the helicopter. Unless I win the photo contest again.

The Nelson Trolley Derby

Last weekend was the annual Nelson Trolley Derby. I dragged jet lagged Nanoo and Gubba (Quinne and Beck's grandparents) through the rain to check it out.

Interesting looking homemade carts ranging from hastily decorated tricycles to high-tech rolling machines took to the Collingwood hill in downtown Nelson to see who could roll down the hill the fastest. Two participants from the same category head down the steep street to see who can cross the finish line first to advance to the next heat. Vehicles must be less than 300 cm long, 120 cm wide, and less than 40 kg. No engines allowed. Carts must have at least three wheels.

This year, the weather was horrible. The heavy rain was unrelenting, but the event was still on - sort of. The organizers must have been struggling with whether they should continue or not. They decided to run the races, but not time them. I suspect the stop watch was not waterproof.

The running of the balls event was cancelled at the last minute when they discovered the ink would wash off the balls in the rain. Sponsored balls are usually let loose down the hill to see who's numbered ball reaches the finish line first.

The youngest participant was three years old!


He won his first heat and advanced through to compete against the Red Baron in the nipper category.


The nippers start half way down the hill. We couldn't tell who won, but it looked close.


Some carts were absolute works of art...


This heat was much closer than it looked...


There was even a bat mobile...


Some deserved points just for being funny...




The kids were the best. How awesome for a little tyke to build his / her own cart and race it down the hill in a big event like this.










There were some spills. The cart in the background of this picture is about to throw the driver and break his collar bone...


He learned how not to design his steering next year.

Mabe Beck will be interested in participating when he turns three. Stay tuned.