Kau Point Part 2
This is part of the observation post above the disappearing gun…
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Fort Balance Revisited
This was straight after we had come down from Kau point… Fergus and I were already pretty tired from climbing up cliffs and down into underground passages but decided to go to Fort Balance which was just round the next point. We have been there before but not for a couple of years. We drove round to where the gully was and parked the car and then proceeded to follow the track up the hill… Unfortunately it was the wrong track and we ended up climbing through bracken for 45 minutes before coming out way too high up and being blocked going down by a large and vertical cliff. Luckily the was an unmarked radar station of some sort which had a road up to it that we could go down to the fort.
When we got there there was a couple of people taking photos there already and I think we gave them a bit of a fright since technically it is still military land and it probably didn’t help that I was wearing khaki cargo pants that were a bit military looking 🙂
Anyway as it turned out the light was pretty much at its best just as we got there even if we were a bit worn out…
Fergus finally got himself a TLR… Still haven’t seen the shots out of it but here is hoping that it is good 🙂
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner.
Kau Point aka Underground Ruin
Constructed in 1891 to support Wellington’s main coastal defense site at Fort Ballance, the Kau Point Battery is a rare remaining example of an unmodified battery constructed to protect New Zealand from attack after the second Russian scare of 1885.
During the first World War, Fort Dorset became Wellington’s main bastion of defense against attack. Despite this, Fort Ballance and its supporting batteries remained operational throughout the War. In 1922 the gun at Kau Point was decommissioned and removed. The site was then used solely as an ammunition store, and from 1942 served the new emplacement at Mount Crawford Anti Aircraft Battery on the next promontory of the peninsula. The fort fell into disuse after the Second World War and, now surplus to army requirements, is not maintained. (http://www.historic.org.nz/TheRegister/RegisterSearch/RegisterResults.aspx?RID=7542)
I have been looking for this one for a while as its the last fortification in the Wellington region that I haven’t been to… Lets just say that it didn’t let me down.
The entrance (not the best photo but have still got to develop the other films) is a small hole just behind the pit where the disappearing gun sat is the only entrance but after you have slid down it opens out to full height tunnels and rooms.
The still glowing glow-stick meant that someone had been there in the not to distant past and it certainly had an eerie feeling especially the side room that had obviously had a fire and then been written all over…
All shots were taken with a tripod and a 10W torch 🙂
Nikon D70s,Tokina 19-35mm Lens, ISO 200, 10W Torch
Wrights Hill Fortress WW2 Remains
Wrights hill Fortress is THE best preserved WW2 fortresses that I have been to. It is currently being restored by a small group of enthusiasts and is open on most public holidays. If you are in the area on a public holiday it is definitely worth going to see it.
I managed to get a bit of a look round without the crowds when one of the photographers, Bev, who I do some assisting for planned a photo shoot there so we went along to do a recci before the shoot and of course I took some test shots also 🙂
It was originally meant to have 3 guns but only 2 ever got built. The only time they were fired was when they were “proofed” and the force of the shock wave broke the windows of houses at the bottom of the hill.
Nikon D70s and F5
Fort Buckley WW2 Remains
Some shots of Fort Buckley. I stress these were just test/location shots as the day I went the light was super bright 🙂
Fort Buckley at the entrance to the Kaiwharawhara gorge housed a couple of guns for defense of the inner harbor and was originally built around 1885.
When I was there at the end of 2009 it looked like the area was getting an upgrade with a new walking track down to the gun pits.
Nikon D70s, 50mm f1.8, ISO 200
WW2 Fort Dorset Remains
More location shots of bunkers again today. This time above Seatoun, these were to protect Port Dorset which lay on the other side of the ridge and the harbor entrance.
There are some old images of it HERE although the two gun pits are pretty much just rubble.
These were by far the most overgrown battlements and it looked like someone had been living in one of them. I especially liked how the metal shutters on one of them had rusted to look like lace.
In some places houses have been built only meters away from some of these structures so it makes you wonder how much longer they will last…
Nikon D70s, Various Lenses, ISO 200.
Sinclair Head WW2 Forward Observation Post
Looking back at some images on my hard drive I found a couple of series of WW2 Gun Emplacements and Observation Posts that I wandered around from late 2008… The idea was to go round all the sites and take reference images and then go to the National Archives, National Library and Military Museums and get historical images and try to put a book together…Maybe with all the renewed interest with the military selling off lots of its land this is something I should re-look at.
Sinclair Head Forward Observation Post was a radio post used for spotting ships coming through the Cook Straight. I assume that it was relayed up to Wrights Hill where the main battery of guns were. You can see where the radio antenna was located in the main lookout.
This was about a 3 hour walk around the Red Rocks Reserve and then straight up a hill bordering on a cliff… That being said these were the best preserved and least graffiti-ed remains that I have found to date.
Nikon F5, 50mm f1.8 Lens. Ilford Delta 400 ISO Film, Noritsu Scanner.
Fort Balance Retrospective
On the front of Fridays Dominion Post there was an article about the military wanting to sell off the land that a number of the historic fortresses are on. A few years ago I decided to go and investigate all of the old forts and battlements around Wellington and found this one while looking for something else… I think these were taken around 2008… I have kept meaning to try and get actual permission to go back since this one and a couple of others are on Military land but have never got round to it… Possibly because I have no idea where to ask 🙂
Here are some shots of Fort Balance which was built in the 1880s. There is a good article HERE which details most of the history of the fort.
Nikon D70s, 18-70mm Lens, ISO 200.
Sunset On top Of a Bunker
Looking out towards the South Island of New Zealand from on top of a World War 2 observation post above the Wellington Airport.
The lights are for shipping navigation around the point and into the harbor… I think… 🙂
Rolleiflex 2.8 E, Ilford HP5+ 400 ISO Film, CanoScan 9000F Scanner
Wrights Hill Fortress Tunnels
Today (25th April) in New Zealand is ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Day, Where we honor all the people who fought and died in the various wars.
In honor of the occasion here are some shots of the tunnels beneath Wrights Hill Fortress which was built for WW2 to protect agains a Japanese invasion.
The fortress is currently being restored by volunteers and open on public holidays (like today)
All these shots were hand held in very low light so sorry if they are a bit blurry
Nikon F5 50mm f1.8 at f1.8, Ilford Delta 400 ISO film
Balance by Torchlight
Fort Balance, Wellington
Nikon F5, Ilford Delta 3200 film, f1.8 Â 30 secs with fill light from torch
Pre WWII gun emplacement… Abandoned by military, Adopted by graffiti artists.
Part of a series I am currently working on about abandoned gun emplacements around Wellington.
Darkhalide Photography 
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