A date night at the Cape {with lighthouses and friendly cows}

When I told Mark that I wanted to go and get some sunset shots of the lighthouse at Cape Egmont, he said 'I guess I'd better come along for protection too then'.

You see that? That's true love right there.

We left the boy's at Gee Gee's with strict instructions to go to bed after the start of the national provincial rugby final which was coincidentally being hosted and contested by Taranaki that night and they won too which was even better - the first time ever! The drive to the Cape is almost an hour around the Coast, and the further round we went, the more the skies darkened.

I have this ability to get pretty het up if I think that the weather is going to put a kybosh on my plans. So when a few spots of rain hit the windscreen I had to seriously hold in my anxiety. The mountain had long disappeared behind a thick cloud so I knew I wouldn't be able to get any of the lighthouse foreground, mountain background shots I'd originally wanted.

That being said, from past experience I know that stormy skies and lighthouses makes for an equally exciting backdrop so I figured I'd better reserve judgement till we arrived.

The lighthouse is on farmland very close to the sea (funny that!) but not right beside the water as some lighthouses are. We had to step our way through some very large cow pats to get up the hill and sure enough soon we were surrounded by some super inquisitive and friendly four-legged friends. So much so that they followed Mark right around the lighthouse and back again.

This photo is available for purchase in my Lighthouse Gallery on Meghan Maloney Photography

I was actually getting a little miffed after a while as the cows were appearing in in ALL my shots - but hey, it's rural NZ and we were on their patch so what can you do but go along with it?!

Not so miffed about this guy though - it was so nice to share this night and experience with him even if he does look rather pained in this shot, I think he was secretly enjoying himself!

I don't know what it is about lighthouses - they are so majestic and always seem to be set against such stunning landscapes that it's kinda hard to take a bad shot in my opinion. When the lovely setting is combined with time spent with your loved one and some Lindt dark chilli chocolate to share - well it's always gonna be a good night.

This print is available for purchase in my Lighthouse Gallery on Meghan Maloney Photography

This print is available for purchase in my Black and White Gallery on Meghan Maloney Photography

As the sun sank lower in the sky, we headed down to the beach - well tried to. It was a very rugged beach with pretty big slippery rocks so in the end decided that instead of slipping and sliding all over the place, perhaps this vantage point would do just fine actually!

I would so love to come back here on a night where the mountain is clear - just IMAGINE the cool backdrop that would make - maybe at Christmas I can give it a whirl when we'll be back to see Gee Gee for a couple of nights on the way home from Hamilton.

What about you? Do you love lighthouses? Have you ever even seen one up close and tried to take photos of it?!