Auckland Panorama
This image was taken from Stanley Point on Auckland’s North Shore while the Queen Mary 2 was in town. Usually cruise ships and passenger liners berth at the grey cruise ship terminal to the right of the brick clock tower of the Ferry Building. However, the QM2 was too big! She was berthed at the container terminal out of picture to the left. The panorama is dominated by Auckland’s Sky Tower and the Vero Building (with the halo – colloquially known as the “toilet seat”).
Sony Alpha DSLR – A200, 1/250 sec, F16, ISO 200, Sigma DC 18-200mm lens at 40mm
The Queen Came to Town
Last week, on a glorious late summer’s day, the Queen came to town – “Queen Mary 2” that is. Because I knew she was coming into port early in the morning I was up at 5.30 am to watch her sail slowly down the Rangitoto Channel and around North Head into the City of Sails, Auckland.
Queen Mary 2 is a large ship. She stands out from the crowd, but because of her size she is unable to berth at the normal cruise terminal and was consigned instead to the Bledisloe Container Terminal. This meant that the citizens of Auckland could not get an up-close view unless they were aboard a passing boat in the harbour.
Having made a fruitless trip to the city to get some photographs we returned to the North Shore to capture the views from Devonport and Stanley Bay on the opposite side of the harbour. Such is the spectacle that this became a simple task.
As she left port at 8.30 pm people lined vantage points at beaches and headlands to watch her sail into the dusk.
Sony Alpha DSLR – A200, 1/250 sec, F16, ISO 200, Sigma DC 18-200mm lens at 75mm
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