Interisland ferries coming and going to/from Wellington to/from the South Island - Parangarahu Lakes area - East Harbour Regional Park - Wellington - New Zealand

            A nationally important wetland and one of the finest in the Wellington region, these beautiful little coastal lakes are a stones throw from the borders of our capital city. 
Cradled within the steep rolling hills of Pencarrow Head, the area abounds in natural and human history. Early Maori hunted and food gathered here and some of the ancient karaka trees, not natural in the Wellington region, were almost certainly planted by them as their fruit were an important food source. The lakes would have abounded in birdlife in pre-European times and eel, which are still there. Birdlife is still abundant here and with local volunteers now maintaining a network of traps for possum, stoat and rat (all introduced aniumals to New Zealand) the wildlife and plantlife is recovering. Black swan and mallard (introduced) and native little grebe and paradise duck can be found here and the raised lake banks that separate the lakes from the sea are important breeding grounds for banded dotteral and several rare species of cusion plants and native moths that breed and feed on them.
The hills above the lake were the sight of early New Zealand lighthosues, the two Pencarroew lights a popular destination for the many trampers and mountain bikers that visit here. Life was tough and the grave of a lighthouse keeper’s child sits below the upper lighthouse.
Today the hills are denuded from burning and pasturalisation but the small pockets of native forest in the valleys are recovering and spreading with protection. The introduced gorse, although a weed, helps with this. It provides shelter for the natives to grow through and is a nitrogen fixer so fertilised the soil.
Ancient karaka, tree fern and nikau palm, along with mahoe and manuka form the dominant trees in the recovering forest.
Wind is a constant here. Wellington is one of the world’s windiest cities and the Pencarrow Heads are infamous for sudden and violent windstorms. Yet the valleys can be tranquil even when gales are roaring over the tops. The photos in this series were all taken on a day when it was hard to stand upright and achieve pin-sharp photos, such was the force of the wind.


A nationally important wetland and one of the finest in the Wellington region, these beautiful little coastal lakes are a stones throw from the borders of our capital city. 
Cradled within the steep rolling hills of Pencarrow Head, the area abounds in natural and human history. Early Maori hunted and food gathered here and some of the ancient karaka trees, not natural in the Wellington region, were almost certainly planted by them as their fruit were an important food source. The lakes would have abounded in birdlife in pre-European times and eel, which are still there. Birdlife is still abundant here and with local volunteers now maintaining a network of traps for possum, stoat and rat (all introduced aniumals to New Zealand) the wildlife and plantlife is recovering. Black swan and mallard (introduced) and native little grebe and paradise duck can be found here and the raised lake banks that separate the lakes from the sea are important breeding grounds for banded dotteral and several rare species of cusion plants and native moths that breed and feed on them.
The hills above the lake were the sight of early New Zealand lighthosues, the two Pencarroew lights a popular destination for the many trampers and mountain bikers that visit here. Life was tough and the grave of a lighthouse keeper’s child sits below the upper lighthouse.
Today the hills are denuded from burning and pasturalisation but the small pockets of native forest in the valleys are recovering and spreading with protection. The introduced gorse, although a weed, helps with this. It provides shelter for the natives to grow through and is a nitrogen fixer so fertilised the soil.
Ancient karaka, tree fern and nikau palm, along with mahoe and manuka form the dominant trees in the recovering forest.
Wind is a constant here. Wellington is one of the world’s windiest cities and the Pencarrow Heads are infamous for sudden and violent windstorms. Yet the valleys can be tranquil even when gales are roaring over the tops. The photos in this series were all taken on a day when it was hard to stand upright and achieve pin-sharp photos, such was the force of the wind.
   

Taken in: New Zealand / Wellington / Moa Point (show map)

Taken on: January 15, 2011

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boat

ferry

Interislander

Parangarahu Lakes

East Harbour Regional Park

Wellington

New Zealand

Canon

Landscape

East Harbour Regional Park' Wellington New

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Camera: Canon EOS 400D, f/8.0, 1/160 sec, 18mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 400D
Aperture:	f/8.0
Exposure Time:	0.006 sec (1/160)
Focal Length:	18mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Landscape
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	QuickTime 7.6.6
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