Pukekura Park Lights

Every year in December and January (summer), the city of New Plymouth puts on an amazing light display in Pukekura Park. (For pictures of Pukekura Park in normal, unlit conditions, see my post in September called "Spring Walk in Pukekura Park").

My friend Belinda came up from Whanganui with her kids, and Patty and I met them for dinner and a beautifully lit stroll. Then Anna and Ollie came to visit (while Patty was off helpxing elsewhere) and they came with J and I. Everyone was very impressed, and we'll definitely make sure to go every year. 

There is live music playing all evening, from 6:00 to 11:00, and the lights turn on at about 8:30. It's not really dark enough for them by then, but it's still fun to walk around and do a little exploring as it gets darker. You'll notice that my pictures get darker and darker as they go on. I had to borrow Patty's fancy camera for some of them, because it dealt with the darkness much better than mine did.

This is one of the signature red bridges of Pukekura Park, with lovely lights above it. Also, the rowboats have lights in them, and are for rent to paddle around all evening.

The best part of all this is that it looks like a Monet painting. Love it.

There was a man blowing bubbles, and I decided to try bubble photography, then discovered that I could actually capture bubbles and Mount Taranaki in the same picture! How cool!

These jellyfish were one of the highlights for us. And I really love their reflections!

This (in case you couldn't tell) is a golden tree. The sign said that it was "hand sculpted," and there was some dispute in our little group about whether the whole thing was in fact man-made, or whether parts of real trees had been assembled and painted sparkly gold. I lean towards the former, but was overruled by the rest of the party. Oh well.

This waterfall had colour-changing lights in each section, and so showed a myriad of different colours and patterns.

Somehow the simple act of putting a floodlight somewhere near this ponga (fern tree) made it irresistibly fascinating to me. There were heaps of these, and I felt the need to stare at each one. They seemed both stately and ghostly, and I loved them.

This is a small lake with a fountain in the middle, and floating balls all around. Both the fountain and the balls changed colours and did all kinds of crazy patterns, which were rather mesmerizing.

I do not know how I managed to get these awesome bolts of blue in the picture which was just supposed to be of that awesome green tree. Perhaps an aquamarine angel was ascending at the moment, and I just missed her. But I thank her for contributing beauty to my picture on the way.

Here is the bridge again, only in full darkness, so as to appreciate the beauty of the lights and reflection (in a much less Monet-esque fashion).

Looking up from the bridge. The brown ones are like birds' nests with glowing eggs (perhaps the baby birds will also glow?), along with teardrop lights and waving flags of lights.

This was my attempt to capture exactly how many floodlights were in place here. It is completely dark outside, and the picture is taken across a dark lake, but the entire forest (and path) on the other side is brilliantly lit. When you're walking through it, it doesn't feel quite that overwhelmingly bright (thank goodness), but it is very impressively lit.

There was also a very impressive black light section, and a huge giant hanging in a hammock between two trees, but I couldn't capture them in pictures, so you'll have to imagine them. Or come to visit next December/January. You have a whole year to plan!