For the past few years, every Halloween, we’ve had fireworks in Dublin. I go out, take photos, post them on my blog along with a bit of a commentary on what I got up to during the day. I generally also give a nod to Z-Day along the way (back in 2005, I was working on the ZFS test team when we integrated into Solaris, something I still feel proud to have been a part of)

This was the first year in a long time that I’ve not done that, and while my birthday was great in every other way, I really missed the fireworks. Halloween just isn’t a big thing here in NZ, and I think that’s a shame. In or around my birthday, since the day I was born, there’s always been something extra special in Ireland – fireworks, a spooky atmosphere, and some pretty wonderful parties (I like to think Tim’s Halloween Fancy Dress parties had a bit of a reputation, back in the day)

It turns out that NZ, with it’s colonial background, has more celebrations for November 5th than it does for Halloween, and Wellington seems to go all-out on the fireworks front. So, armed with my 70-200 f4 (no tripod, I enjoy the swirling pattern that you get from handheld fireworks photos) I took off up to the hills of Khandallah this evening, ditched the car wherever I could find some space, and rushed to find a vantage point. I didn’t get the best spot, but I was reasonably happy with the photos I got nonetheless.

The SmugMug album is here, and I’ve thrown in a few thumbnails below (if you want them bigger, go for the SmugMug link instead). I’m looking forward to next year’s fireworks already, wherever I’ll be at that stage.

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