Tag Archives: Wellington

I’ve always wanted a Leica camera

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LeicaI’ve been an SLR camera guy for as long as I can remember. Ever since I bought my first camera back and lens – a Ricoh KR10 with a 50mm lense – I’ve relied on the control and quality a good SLR provides. The downside of an SLR is the bulk of the camera and various lenses – my current camera bag weighs around 6kgs. There is nothing subtle about taking the camera out for the evening and nothing subtle about using it.

I’ve always wanted a compact camera that could go anywhere, which still took great pictures, and which gave me the ability to control things like depth of field and shutter speed.

I’ve also always wanted a Leica camera but have always been put off by the prices – particularly in New Zealand.

The opportunity to get both came my way when we stopped to browse at the Leica shop at Hong Kong airport. Leica’s range of compact cameras have always got good reviews and their latest mid range compact – the D-Lux 6 – has been no exception. And there sitting in the display cabinet was one calling my name.

Now the geeks among my readers will know that the D-Lux 6 is essentially the same camera as the Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX7. There are some minor cosmetic changes – like the addition of the round red Leica logo – but the cameras are one in the same. Leica have been working with Panasonic for years, using Panasonic’s hardware but then writing their own software to control image capture and processing.

This is where the two camera’s differ and the results are impressive. In fact it’s almost impossible to tell the difference between a shot taken on the Leica and a shot taken on my Nikon DSLR.

The Leica version of this camera carries a price premium but it seems worth it – for the added image quality as well as that small red circle on the front.

A HOT travel app

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HOT AppMuch of our holiday was booked by our travel agent, the lovely Petra, and the team at House of Travel in Wellington. As always, everything was organised perfectly and went off without a hitch.

But this trip there was a bonus – House of Travel’s iPhone app.

We punched in our booking code after downloading the app and had our itinerary available in an easy to digest and easy to use form on our phone. It was amazing the number of times we used it – to quickly check a departure time or to confirm a flight number when completing an arrival card – it was incredibly useful.

And there’s much more to the app than just the itinerary. There is a plethora of options available.

I’ve been involved with designing and developing  a few mobile apps and can appreciate the time and attention to detail that has gone into this app. It’s a great piece of work.

I’ve just checked the app and it has archived our holiday itinerary and is ready for our next trip. Nice.

 

And then home

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UnpackingWe arrived back in New Zealand earlier in the week after 4 fabulous weeks away.  We were greeted by warm spring weather (which has now turned back to winter) and two very happy puppies who, after an initial frenzied greeting, proceeded to ignore us just to make a point.

The last few days have been spent recovering from jet lag and unpacking – as well as returning to work because, let’s face it, the holiday has to be paid for somehow.

There are still a number of posts to write covering such things as our dinner at the 3 Michelin Star restaurant La Pergola in Rome, some thoughts on modern air travel, how purchasing a laptop case on Via Condotti in Rome can turn into something much more and the temptation of Hong Kong duty free shopping.

I’ll post these over the next few days – just as soon as I write them.

 

One step closer to Italy

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Holiday ShoesOver the weekend we took the first steps towards Italy. Our suitcases came out of the cupboard and we started to think about packing. For me that involved a lot of T-shirts and shorts and not much else.

For Jean it began closer to the ground. Darling, you’re packing how many pairs of shoes?

 

And then winter arrived

Gallery

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This gallery contains 2 photos.

After an incredibly mild start to winter we were brought back to reality as a southerly front straight from Antarctica arrived in Wellington. Think six degrees, biting wind, hail and driving rain. The only place for any sane person (or dog) … Continue reading →

The calm of a winter morning

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Watching DawnOur weekends usually start well after the sun has come up – but not last Saturday. Sister Tina has been staying with us for the last few days and she was catching a flight at 8:30am. This meant the house was awake early on a July winter morning which was windless and warm.

After farewelling Tina we enjoyed a coffee on the deck watching the dawn slowly arrive across the harbour.

Bella meets our bath

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Bella in the bathLittle Bella has never really been fascinated with our bath – up until this evening when she jumped in. Luckily the bath was empty but even then she discovered that jumping in the bath is a lot less scary than jumping out.

So she sat there, and sat there, and sat there until she was finally rescued. But not before the obligatory photo had been taken.

Another cute dog shot

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Let me start with an apology. Sorry, it’s yet another cute dog shot. Yesterday Bella the puppy discovered a green Cicada in the back yard. Every time she went to sniff it, the Cicada flew a few inches away, which for Bella was captivating.

A footnote for the animal lovers among you – both Bella and the Cicada survived the encounter unscathed.

 

Last of the autumn sun

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Kids in the Autumn sunI’ve mentioned a few times that our place loses the sun for a couple of months every winter. This means we all make the most of any chance to enjoy a sunny day in autumn.

So when Rosie the 19 year old cat, Poppie the 8 year old Bichon and Bella the nutcase puppy had a chance to lie in the sun last weekend, they took it.

My wife and the science of baking – part 2

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Torta GiangujaAnd now, by popular demand, the finished Torta Gianduja, ready to be served. It was rated a triumph by the panel of expert judges who enjoyed it last night.

And as a bonus – crediting Dish Magazine April 2010 – the recipe is below.

Torta Gianduja Recipe

My wife and the science of baking

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Kitchen ChaosOn Sunday afternoon my lovely wife baked. We were going out for dinner at friends and she had offered to make the dessert.

She has a stable of excellent desserts she could have called on but decided to try something new – to bake a Torta Gianduja or Chocolate and Roasted Hazelnut Cake.

The only issue with this decision is that Jean is not a natural baker – as she is the first to admit. Something about the discipline of following a recipe runs counter to her “free spirit” approach to cooking in general. After each baking adventure she wonders aloud why she ever attempted the recipe, why baking is so complicated and stressful, and why she doesn’t learn from past experience.

Testament to the complication and stress involved is the state of our usually spotless kitchen at the end of Sunday’s baking odyssey.