Day 5 - The Hunters Marlborough Garden Tour - Garden 2

The second garden we went to was not very far from the first. When we pulled up, I thought the front was very stark. A long driveway, a bridge over a pond and then the house. Hardly any garden. How wrong I was, the garden was all at the back.

I found the pond fascinating. It was that time of the morning when the reflections were perfect. So I got Nikki and Carol to pose for me. I'm sure they thought I was taking a photo of them on land. How wrong they were...



At the pond were a pair of herons. The owner of the property told us that they had laid an egg, but they just leave the egg in full view and unprotected, never seeming to look after it...



Not very good parents at all - and they didn't like me getting too close either - I found it extremely difficult getting images of them, despite being the only one around whiie everyone else was at the garden part of the house! Even this photo wasn't that good - but it was the best I got. They moved fast, and they were too far away. I have no idea what kind of heron it is - it must be some sort of South Island bird!



I went down to explore the garden at the back and was really surprised. Quite formal and beautifully laid out. I loved the way the eye was led down the path and into the grapevines...



This garden had absolutely beautiful soft roses which I fell in love with..



Simply gorgeous..



There were beautiful clematis plants as well - my favourite flower. I think they go superbly with roses..



And another one...



Ok ok - thats enough flowers. While people were still wandering around the garden, I went back to the pond and experimented with the reflections. I had so much fun. This one I really like. The pond water makes the image look like a painting...



I really like this one too - very minimilistic, almost surreal as I've flipped the image 180 degrees to make the reflections look like sky...



Here's another one of the reflection - but I'm not sure whether I like this one as much - tell me what you think?



I love the way the reflections can change the perspective of an image..



The pond was small but reflected so many things around - trees, bridges, seats and the even the vineyard itself...



Another reflection that I've flipped...



Here's Carol - she thought she was getting her picture taken properly - even posed so nicely. Little did she know I was only after the reflection in the pond again!!!



Carol posed so nicely I felt guilty, so took her photo anyway properly. I won't tell you which one I prefer...