Oh goodness, the balloon has gone up... I've decided to depart in about 12 hours North-wards. 2-3 hours driving in that direction is going to take me to the shores of Lake Pukaki with views of Aoraki / Mt Cook (13,000'). And on to Lake Tekapo with its Night Sky Reserve and centre of the Milky Way up for viewing (with the moon setting increasingly later each day this … [Read more...] about BLOG: Launch Battleships!
BLOG: ‘To Glenorchy’ he cried!
The sun came out finally today for a few hours, I blasted over to Glenorchy - at the Northern end of the lake that Queenstown is on (Lake Wakatipu). South Island, NZ. Looking down Lake Wakatipu towards the small township of Glenorchy Two of the mountains near Glenorchy nestled into the and so begins the Southern Alps, New Zealand. … [Read more...] about BLOG: ‘To Glenorchy’ he cried!
BLOG: Astrophotography in the South Island, NZ (1st session)
I went out for my first Astrophotography session on the night of Friday, 12 May 2023. The moon was not rising until 11:30 pm with clear skies so I had a chance to get out try some photos. In the transition and using a new reduced setup, I forgot to include my head torch in my bag so had to repeatedly turn on the flashlight in my iPhone to check camera settings, lens focus … [Read more...] about BLOG: Astrophotography in the South Island, NZ (1st session)
BLOG: The Lens Conundrum (pt II)
The lens saga continues, it is pretty goosed... I did manage to get it to take 'one' photo the other day (see right) but as a whole it is going to have go in for repair. Last photo with the zoom lens I asked here in Wanaka and they would just send it away themselves. And I could drive to Queenstown which is 50km away (each way) via the Cardrona Hill, or the gorge … [Read more...] about BLOG: The Lens Conundrum (pt II)
BLOG: An Aspiring Adventure
It was rather cold overnight dropping to 2 deg C and climbing to a 'high' of 7 deg C today! Brrr! Nonetheless I decided to set off to Mt Aspiring, some 50km away - with 35km of which is on gravel road. It was not the greatest of days with lots of cloud cover and a touch of rain, but I had the full-frame camera, a 360 camera, the drone and my trusty iPhone, with me. To say … [Read more...] about BLOG: An Aspiring Adventure