Weekend at Kinloch

My parents own a bach at Kinloch and Graham and I went down last  weekend.  

This is it. It's a bit fuzzy. 

This is the view I was greeted with on Sunday morning. 

This man lives there with these enormous dogs.

 They are beautiful. 

 I really wanted to go down and pat those dogs. 

Next time I  see him and them I  am going to have a photo shoot with them.

 They are gorgeous and friendly.  

All the people on the bikes patted them and they were wagging their big fluffy tails.  

I specifically went down to Kinloch to try to get a really good scaup shot. It looks like this was the only one as I've had a malfunction which means I have to go down again soon.

They are my favourite little ducks. 

 

Hundreds of them live there plus Dabchicks, Mallards and a few swans. 

That marina used to be a lovely idyllic place that was all natural with wooden jetties.

 Then they came in with big concrete overkill pillars and a total million dollar make over and somehow it has lost its charm. 

 But it's still a good place to get some wild duck shots.

The bach looks out over the marina and also has a view of the lake.

This is the view of the beach that is three minutes walk from the bach. 

In summer it is amazing  for swimming. 

You can launch your dinghy off the beach. 

I have a dinghy with a motor. 

I think I should launch it next time I go there and do some adventuring and on the water photography. 

 These blossom trees line the beach and they are apples and plums. 
I love blossoms at this time of the year. 

 Beautiful white colour

 

I love taking photos of blossoms with the background blurry. 

Five minutes walk from the bach you can go to the marina entrance and a willow tree is a perfect perch for shags. 

This is my series of shag shots.

 Shag sitting

 

Shag Stretching 

 
   
Shag preparing for flight



 Shag taking off.

  Shag in Flight 

It was a nice, peaceful weekend away.
 We did a lot of walking, Graham read the Herald and had some R and R. 
I did some sketching towards my "1000 sketches of womens faces in  three years" project. 
I also did some  writing and some photography. 

 We went shopping for groceries first and I bought a small work by an artist in my favourite Taupo Gallery called Verge. 
 I featured this in my newspaper column. 

 We went to the hot pools at DeBretts  on Saturday night after going out to the  Thai Lotus Restaurant, but the food wasn't as good as it usually is. 

 I love these pools, I have been going there since the age of four. 
 They are fabulous  lit up at night time.
It is an excellent place to take the family especially if you want an exhilerating water slide.
 I took my father there once with Graham and talk about scare the living daylights out of you. 

Taupo as a town has a good energetic successful vibe to it.

I always enjoy going there for a change of scenery and being only and hour and a quarters drive away from Rotorua makes it very pleasant. 

 Creative Quote of the Day
I much prefer working with kids whose life could be completely upended by a reading of a book over a weekend. You give them a book to read - they go home and come back a changed person. And that is so much more interesting and exciting.
Russell Banks