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Simon Williams

@si_williams_

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As I bring the viewfinder towards my eye, one process comes to an end & another begins
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Tohu - Tūī are in the māra this week. Two of them appear to be in permanent residence, which is such a joy. We wake to the sound of their beautiful call and they also sing us into the night time, with a constant accompaniment all day long. It’s the beginning and end of day where they seem to give their best performances though.

During the day they bounce around the rākau, with their current favourite being the poplar. We noticed Mr. Woody taking an interest in the sticky buds that have been falling from the poplar in the past few weeks, they appear to be a sweet treat for him to graze on.

Word seems to have gotten around and the Tūī are in on the act as well, who knew? Probably someone, but not us.
The kōwhai flowers are just starting to appear as, so that’s going to be a great treat for them and always a joy to observe.
Looking around, we seem to be about 4 weeks behind lake level. The main tohu I noticed from this was the midges flying around the harakeke next to the lake, and then they appeared four weeks later for us.

It’s a welcome breath of fresh air for kōaka (spring) to have arrived in terms of my work in kā taka o te marama (Maramataka / Māori Lunar Calendar). There are tohu popping up all over the place.

I’m around 9 months into the formal monitoring and recording, and I’m starting to really understand the affects of te marama (the Moon) upon my mental well being. The large energy moons appear to be able to make me feel like I’m walking through mud if I’m not physical. The lower energy moons, which often are cited as ones where we can’t get much done, have been really productive for me. It seems as though cerebral tasks shine in these low energy phases.

This might just be related to this time of year, but I’m adapting my recording and evaluation methods, so hopefully the patterns will start to be more apparent as the month fly by.

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#tui #maramataka #tohu #kōwhai by @si_williams_

41

9

a year ago

As Ariroa sat in te whare o Raki last night, reasonably high at three and a half shaka’s above the horizon, reflecting the light from Tamanuiterā from 63% of its visible surface, all of a sudden Hinenuitepō joined the chat.

What an absolutely beautiful display. Naked eye beams to around one and a half shaka’s above the horizon, not a whole heap of naked eye colour, but who cares right?

Once again, a massive reminder that you just have to be out there looking. Regardless of the strength of the moon light, the skies above Tāhuna are incredible at night. Tawhirimātea finally left us alone to peacefully stand in the embrace of te taiao.

One of the tōhu I’ve come to notice is the appearance of kā Kurakura o Hinenuitepō rather unexpectedly, and also briefly, usually indicates when I wake the next morning I read the news of someone incredibly well loved and respected who has journeyed to Raroheka.

Moe mai rā Jane Goodall, you were and will continue to be an inspiration for many of us. I hope you watch down over us and become proud of what we achieve as a result of your leadership

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#janeGoodall #tureLeader #authenticAs #tōhu #tāhuna #AuroraAustralis #NightSkyStories #SouthernLights #TeTaiao #StarrySkies #TāhunaNights #CelestialConnections #MoeMaiRā #NatureAndSpirit by @si_williams_

75

4

a year ago

Tohu

Doesn’t it feel like we’re in some kind of holding pattern? The Takaroa Marama of Te Tahi o Pipiri feels like an age ago, and what’s been occurring since? A whole heap of inverted spring like nonsense.

Matariki feels like it’s risen early this year, as those Takaroa Marama arrived it was barely above the horizon, certainly down here in the deep south. On the morning of our annual celebration day, we managed to get a brief peak.

My read, for what it’s worth is as follows.

As we left the house to our local viewing spot, I noticed cloud to Tomokaka, Rehua himself was just breaking through and not very orange at all, definitely there and representing wellbeing, love and kindness.

As we looked toward Whitika, Puaka stood tall and bright, good twinkle, more in magnitude than colour. Kōpu was dominant and incredibly bright. Tautoru, feint, but there, Putara nowhere to be seen. Taumata Kuku, weak orange and visible to a trained eye, but ever so easy to miss. As for Matariki, it was fleeting. A combination of light from Te Rā and forming cirrus the read was fast. Matariki herself appeared and stayed, another tohu for wellbeing. Tipu-a-Nuku and Hiwa i te Raki came and went. The others, no where to be seen.

This lap around Te Rā I need to be very mindful of my wellbeing. I also need to put effort into growing vegetables, and I’m also reading this as needing to plant seeds, not so much physically but spiritually. This is the year to actually make these dreams come to fruition. As this occurred to me, I realised why the other whetū was Hiwa - luck and prosperity - feint and fleeting but there to be nurtured.

Continued in the comments ...

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#authenticAs #queenstownLive #nikonNZ #nz #aotearoa #newzealand #photography #prophotographer #nzphotography #nikon #nikonnz #maramataka #livingByTheMoon #tohu #LakeWakatipu #CloudKissedPeaks #AotearoaUnfiltered #HiddenNZ #whakatipuWaiMåori #queenstownLive #winter2025 #remarkables #NZSki by @si_williams_

62

4

a year ago

Tohu o Te Rā

With no Kā Taka o Te Marama for the whenua where I live, well not one that I’ve been able to find, it has been advised to me that I need to make my own. Yeah cool, kinda daunting that one, but also perfect. It heightens my observations and makes me explore even more.

I’ve been using Living by the Moon, written by Wiremu Tāwhai as my base Marama, but rather than begin on Rākaunui, I begin on Whiro, but that feels more semantic than anything else. Mostly, what’s written here aligns reasonably well with the Tohu I observe here.

Yesterday, Mawharu rose. I like that Marama, I find it productive, reassuring and I have a good sense of purpose. It delivered once again.

This morning I rose early, Emma going to work early helped, but in the back of my mind is the knowledge that Puaka should now be visible and Matariki soon. I have a spot in mind. Bracing the cold, my spot didn’t really work out. Puaka was there, he stood proud and boy was he prominent with the most beautiful colour twinkle, red, blue, white and even touch of green. A magnitude shiver, but always on.

Kōpu dominated the morning sky as usual, but was hiding behind a tree, and the rest. Difficult to see from that vantage point, so I moved.

In my early morning roaming, I felt the cold, and it was cold, but no wind. Down on the shore of Waiwhakaata the temperature difference between the water and the air was causing mist to rise. It’s beautiful. As for the Pūtakitaki (Paradise Ducks), they were causing such a commotion.

Let’s see how Ōhua pans out

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#authenticAs #queenstownLive #nikonNZ #nz #aotearoa #newzealand #photography #prophotographer #nzphotography #nikon #nikonnz #maramataka #livingByTheMoon #tohu #LakeWakatipu #CloudKissedPeaks #AotearoaUnfiltered #HiddenNZ #whakatipuWaiMåori #queenstownLive #winter2025 #remarkables #NZSki by @si_williams_

68

1

a year ago

Tohu o Te Rā

Hukāpuka (Snow) to around 400m overnight. Wind coming from Raki to Tokerau, a very unusual direction, with it an extremely cold bite.

Beautiful blue skies for much of the morning, stratus still hanging around the base of our beautiful mauka.

Cumulus Humilis forming from Tokerau, Raki & Whakararo in the afternoon.

Ground frozen, hard frost / snow level snow still in effect at sundown.

Piripi the pheasant risking life with his new toilet.

Mawharu o Te Tahi o Pipiri risen, taking a high path across the heavens, shrouded slightly in cirrus. Great naked eye viewing, in no mood to be photographed.

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#authenticAs #queenstownLive #nikonNZ #nz #aotearoa #newzealand #photography #prophotographer #nzphotography #nikon #nikonnz #maramataka #livingByTheMoon #tohu #LakeWakatipu #CloudKissedPeaks #AotearoaUnfiltered #HiddenNZ #whakatipuWaiMåori #queenstownLive #winter2025 #remarkables #NZSki by @si_williams_

54

2

a year ago

I’ve managed a couple of early mornings of late, and I’m still keeping up with observing tohu during the waking hours. As we navigate the Tamatea phase there have been a fair few interesting things going on.

Weather forecasts are hopeless. Kā Kurakura Hinenuitepō (The Aurora Australis) has come for a huge vacation here. The clouds are incredible to look at but scuppering viewing of the celestial objects, well, my lowish levels of motivation tell me this.

Given a heap of effort there are treats a plenty to be had out there. A great time to push yourself.

As I look ahead at my diary for the next two months, it’s filling up fast, so my goals are to just rest up a little, conserve energy.

We took a walk yesterday morning to look over the basin. Kawarau was looking incredibly beautiful, pure early winter gorgeousness. The most notable thing though were the hebe’s, still in flower at around 1000m

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#authenticAs #queenstownLive #nikonNZ #nz #aotearoa #newzealand #photography #prophotographer #nzphotography #nikon #nikonnz #maramataka #livingByTheMoon #tohu by @si_williams_

45

3

a year ago

#illRaiseYouApowerPole

It’s been a while since I found me a power pole to be real stoked on .. bonus points for a bird on the wire

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#illraiseyouapowerpole #QueenstownNZ #ShotInQueenstown #SouthernAlpsViews #OtagoLandscapes #RuralAotearoa #NikonD850 #Tamron150600 #TelephotoLandscapes #MoodyMountainscapes #LinesInTheLandscape #ElectricInTheWild #WiredInWakatipu #UnexpectedCompositions #PastoralPowerlines #MountainsAndManmade #NewZealandThroughMyLens #NatureAndInfrastructure taken in Queenstown, New Zealand by @si_williams_

21

2

a year ago

Snow

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#QueenstownVibes #MysticAotearoa #WakatipuWaters #MoodyLandscapes #SouthIslandScenes #NatureDrama #NZHighlands #AtmosphericLight #MountainMood #PainterlyViews #ExploreAotearoa #WildernessWorship #NZNatureFix #StillnessAndStorm #SiWilliamsShots #EarthTones #LakeWakatipu #CloudKissedPeaks #AotearoaUnfiltered #HiddenNZ #whakatipuWaiMåori #queenstownLive #nikonNZ #authenticAs by @si_williams_

56

4

2 years ago

Paddock Art

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#WestCoastNZ #AotearoaVibes #SouthernAlps #StreetArtMeetsNature #GlacierViews #WildAotearoa #UnexpectedBeauty #MountainsAndMurals #RuralGraffiti #KiwiLandscapes #NatureVsManmade #ArtInTheWild #GoldenFields #NZMustDo #SiWilliamsShots #TravelNZ #BackRoadsNZ #HiddenAotearoa #GraffitiInTheWild #SouthIslandMagic by @si_williams_

35

2

2 years ago

Kei te mihi ahau ki a Kawarau

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#MoodyMountains #MistyPeaks #MountainMagic #IntoTheMist #EpicEarth #WildNewZealand #NZScenery #MountainMood #NatureIsArt #DarkAndDramatic #WildernessCulture #LandOfTheLongWhiteCloud #ExploreNewZealand #NatureLover #AdventurePhotography #MountainLayers #FoggyVibes #AtmosphericLandscape #HiddenWorlds #NZLands #TravelPhotography #LandscapePhotography #RawNature #WildBeauty #ChasingLight #MoodyVibes #AuthenticAs #QueenstownNZ #SereneScenery #MinimalistNature by @si_williams_

59

7

2 years ago

Kā mihi nui ki a kā kura kura ō hinenuitepō

I made a plan for Saturday night and whilst I deviated slightly, it worked out better than I ever imagined, although clear skies and all that activity in the heavens it was almost impossible to go wrong

This was my last pano of the night, 8 maybe 9 locations, I happened across 4 people, many cows, sheep and deer. I’ve now got some truly amazing destinations for @authenticAs Day into Night Adventures

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#authenticAs #aurora #auroraAustralis #nikonNZ #nikon #landrover #landroverNZ #glenorchy #queenstown #queenstownLive #nzMustDo #aurorahunting #stargazing #authenticAsStarryNightAdventures #starryNights #darkSky #darkskies #darkskiesNz #defender #defender110 #solihulSideShots #milkyway #milkywaychasers #northface #northfaceNZ #ACG taken in Aotearoa by @si_williams_

135

12

2 years ago

There was a nice wee display on the Southern horizon last night. Not one to get overly excited about, but still beautiful.

The nights are getting longer and colder. This can easily keep us inside, and that's not always the best place to be.

Remember, wrap up warm and venture out for a walk and a stand around. The world is so different once the sun goes down and too many of us forget that.

If it's clear, enjoy the stars, regardless of what the phase the moon is in, there's always something to look at, don't believe anyone who tells you different.

If it's cloudy, enjoy the darkness for what it is. It heightens our other senses and once you get over any eebie jeebies you can listen harder to everything else that's around and inside of you.

Too often, night time is portrayed to be something to be wary of, it's not. You need to have your wits about you, for sure, but again that only connects us further

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#nikonNZ #centralotagonz #authenticAs #QueenstownNZ #PureNewZealand #aotearoa #QueenstownLive #newzealandvacations #lovequeenstown #queenstownholidays #ExploreNZ #AdventurePhotography #astronomy #milkywaycc #starryNights #darkSkies #astrotourism #stargazing #aurora #auroraAustralis #southernLights by @si_williams_

59

3

3 years ago