A place to sit and listen.

A frosty sunrise, the details highlighted by the smog of household fires from the night before. 28th July 2007

Oamaru Breakwater, silent after the crashing of the last wave.

Taken April 2009, this is the eastern side of a large panorama showing storm squalls moving across Christchurch into the sea with beautiful clouds forming above Pegasus Bay. Be sure to check out the western side of this panorama.

Taken April 2009, this is the western side of a large panorama showing storm squalls moving across Christchurch into the sea. Be sure to check out the eastern side of this panorama with beautiful clouds forming above Pegasus Bay.

A beautiful image showing close up detail of a penny farthing bicycle, Oamaru New Zealand.

The penny-farthing, also known as a high wheel, high wheeler and ordinary, is a type of bicycle with a large front wheel and a much smaller rear wheel. It was popular after the boneshaker until the development of the safety bicycle in the 1880s. It was the first machine to be called a "bicycle".

Although the name "penny-farthing" is now the most common, it was probably not used until the machines were nearly outdated; the first recorded print reference is from 1891 in Bicycling News. It comes from the British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other, so that the side view resembles a penny leading a farthing. For most of their reign, they were simply known as "bicycles". In the late 1890s, the name "ordinary" began to be used, to distinguish them from the emerging safety bicycles; this term and "hi-wheel" (and variants) are preferred by many modern enthusiasts.

In 1869, Eugène Meyer, a Frenchman, invented the High-Bicycle design and fashioned the wire-spoke tension wheel. Around 1870, English inventor James Starley, described as the father of the bicycle industry, and others, began producing bicycles based on the French boneshaker but with front wheels of increasing size, because larger front wheels, up to 1.5 m (60 in) in diameter, enabled higher speeds on bicycles limited to direct drive. In 1878, Albert Pope began manufacturing the Columbia bicycle outside of Boston, starting their two-decade heyday in America.

Although the trend was short-lived, the penny-farthing became a symbol of the late Victorian era. Its popularity also coincided with the birth of cycling as a sport. (source Wikipedia)

Before the storm the boats lay still in Oamaru Harbour.

A digitally painted piece showing the dramatic  clouds minutes before sunset in this beautiful location.

European settlement at Oamaru began in 1853 when Hugh Robison built a musterer’s hut on the foreshore. North Otago was good for sheep-runs, and in the 1860s the town grew rich servicing pastoralists and gold miners.

Oamaru, though, was no port. Cape Wanbrow, a stubby little headland, gave some shelter from southerly winds but none from easterlies. In the absence of breakwaters and wharves, ships anchored in the open sea, loading and discharging cargo into surf boats. It was slow, sweaty work.

It was also dangerous. Cables guided the surf boats through the breakers in a hair-raising surge of foam. Once on the beach, the boat crews sledged them up to a cargo shed. Passengers received similar treatment. As the boats approached the beach, boatmen waded out, took the passengers on their backs and carried them ashore.

This was possible only in fine, calm weather. Ships’ captains kept a weather eye on the horizon. At the first sign of danger or a shift in the wind, work stopped and they fled out to sea.

Oamaru’s exposed beach made it one of New Zealand’s most dangerous anchorages. More than 20 ships were wrecked there between 1860 and 1875, and many more were damaged and recovered. In the worst example, on the night of 3–4 February 1868, a huge storm wrecked a new jetty foolishly built out into the bay from an unprotected site, as well as the ships Star of Tasmania, Water Nymph and Otago. Four people drowned.  

'Oamaru Harbour', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/oamaru-harbour, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 20-Dec-2012

Behind the hustle and bustle of Harbour street lies a quieter place, sometimes dark.

March is the month for rainbows in Oamaru.

Here we see a beautiful example rising above Oamaru Harbour, reflected light from the clouds lighting the green waters below.

Oamaru Breakwater is all that stands between the harbour and the roaring sees of the south Pacific ocean. 

Storms bring huge waves breaking over the stone sides, sometimes, at high tide, the breakwater can disappear completely under the waves, so take care if you want to capture a photo yourself!

Check out the history of the Breakwater here.

Oamaru Harbour is the perfect place to learn how to sail. Here we have a boatie racing to turn around the marker, with waves crashing over the breakwater behind.

The colours of this sunrise, taken on the 21st of April 2009, never fail to stun the viewers.

Below Benmore Dam, Waitaki, willow trees grow. A digital painting by Derek Golding.

Benmore Dam is the largest dam within the Waitaki power scheme, located in the New Zealand's South Island. There are eight other power stations in the Waitaki Power Scheme.

The dam is the largest earth-filled water-retaining structure in New Zealand. Its core is low permeability clay material, supported by two massive shoulders of river gravel. Lake Benmore has a volume of 1.25 billion cubic metres, about 1.5 times as much water as Wellington Harbour. The dam's spillway can cope with 3,400 cubic metres of water per second, about 10 times the mean river flow.

Canterbury Fire I, a stunning sunset taken from close to the car park at the base of Mount Vernon, Banks Peninsula.

From memory these were taken Late August 2010, 1 week before the first earthquake hit the district.

Canterbury Fire II, a stunning sunset taken from close to the car park at the base of Mount Vernon, Banks Peninsula.

From memory these were taken Late August 2010, 1 week before the first earthquake hit the district.

The panoramic "Night" was taken after the this sunset, the lights of the city starting to awaken.

Christchurch City East, one of Derek's earlier panoramic photos of Christchurch City, as seen from the Port Hills.

Created on the 6th of October 2007 using a powerful telephoto lens, hundreds of images were taken of the city then stitched together using Autopano software by Alexandre Jenny, of Kolor fame.

This image is the East side of a larger panoramic, the West side is also available to purchase, or you can contact us for a special edition full sized print.

This image is also a zoomable interactive tour in our Gigapixel section.

Sit back and take time to explore.

Christchurch City West, one of Derek's earlier panoramic photos of Christchurch City, as seen from the Port Hills.

Created on the 6th of October 2007 using a powerful telephoto lens, hundreds of images were taken of the city then stitched together using Autopano software by Alexandre Jenny, of Kolor fame.

This image is the West side of a larger panoramic, the East side is also available to purchase, or you can contact us for a special edition full sized print.

This image is also a zoomable interactive tour in our Gigapixel section.

Sit back and take time to explore.

During daylight the Church of the Good Shepherd offers stunning views across Lake Tekapo to the distant mountains.

A landscape version of Study of Safety Flag.

A big storm was coming in casting the sky into a grumpy black.

Oamaru's beautiful stone buildings are miniature worlds, each wall is inhabited by flora and fauna that started to colonize the rock as soon as the blade cut and the face was open to the elements.

Here we have the side of Steampunk HQ, moss and plants flow along the lines of moisture created by old and damaged spouting.

A cloud burst rains down over Kakanui, Waitaki.

Clouds from a passing storm slowly move to the south

A Partial Eclipse of the sun, covered by cloud. A fishing boat leaves Oamaru Harbour for the days catch. 22nd September 2025.

Oamaru Breakwater and the September 2025 Eclipse sunrise

Oamaru Breakwater and the September 2025 Eclipse sunrise