Day 8 #blog12daysxmas In which we visit water gardens

It was a lovely day and we decided to visit Wright's Water Gardens in Patumahoe.  DH has a new macro lens he is playing with so he hoped to get some action in the photography department.  We took a picnic since the cafe was closed for New Year's Day.



The lotus flowers are out (they have pink and white ones), plus many other water lilies. I do love their luminous quality. One of these days I want to paint a triptych with them as a subject.



We also saw frogs in the pools near the entrance. Funnily enough I didn't notice them at first but as we waited for DH to try and capture some damselflies I suddenly noticed them! Just goes to show it is worth stopping, being quiet and still in such places instead of rushing about.



I'm participating in a Daily portrait challenge so I made DS take this one at 1.11pm on 1/1/2011 just for the record.



DD (and DS) got a bit fed up with it all eventually and claimed to be "totally bored". However, I managed to persuade DD to pose under this lotus leaf umbrella.

From a photographic point of view it was a successful day - DH has posted some results on his photostream if you'd like to see.