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Highlights of Doubtful Sound, a photographers dream
Until yesterday, the Keukenhof Gardens were the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I milked the tulip shots for a lot of posts, and I think I will be doing the same with Doubtful Sound. When I don’t have a new photo, you’ll be seeing something from the collection!
The tour company, Real Journeys, did an extraordinary job. I thought we were done after the water sports part, a couple hours in on the first day, and the rest would be resting and relaxing on the ship, enjoying the nice company of a lot of Australian tourists and a young American couple who are living in Queenstown. But they said there was a lot more to see, and they weren’t kidding.
One of the many great features of this tour was the nature guide. He was wonderful. I learned a lot and I have a lot of information to share with you along with a lot of photos. It’s a bit overwhelming, but one has to start somewhere, so I’m starting with my top four favorite photos. I have done nothing to alter these photos. I have done some creative modifications with some of the other photos, but I will tell you when I have made alterations. The reason I am calling attention to processing in this case is I want you to know the images, even the colors of the sunrise, show how it really was. I did have to adjust the horizon of one of them, though. It’s tough to stay straight on a ship, even with the horizontal guideline, which is one of my favorite features in my new camera.
Speaking of new cameras…I am hoping mine will be okay. It has had rain and fog on its lens and been dried with a lot of cotton shirts. Fingers crossed!! But even if it doesn’t last, the camera served very well on this epic journey.
Australian Outback Author, John Holland
Hello blog followers! Boy, do I have photos for you from Doubtful Sound. While I work on pulling those together for you, I thought I’d re-blog this shout-out from Cynthia Harris for the novella I just finished editing. Yes…I did do some work while I was in Townsville!
Thank you, Cynthia, for the nice boost. I’m so excited about this novella. It’s appropriate for children, too. Probably 12 would be about right, and grown-ups should enjoy Buck’s journey and learning about the outback too.
Left of the Rising Sun by John Holland is now available on Amazon and Smashwords.
About the Book:
Ten-year-old Buck Brown is the sole survivor of a plane crash in the interior of Australia’s Northern Territory. Watching the plane sink into the murky water of a remote outback billabong, he remembers the pilot saying they had been flying off-course for hours. Search parties will never find Buck, he decides. There is only one way out, to walk several hundred kilometres home.
With grim resolve, Buck sets out on a trek that will require resolve, knowledge, and ingenuity, a journey that will test his strength to the limit. He will be a participant in the elemental struggle for life and survival.
Buck’s gruelling trial will also teach him surprising lessons about friendship and loyalty. If he is successful it will be a trek that leads not only back to his…
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Monochrome madness from Beijing
Hello blog followers! Sorry for the long silence. For the part of the trip in Townsville Australia, I was very busy with my co-author’s family…the kids were on school holidays, and we had a lot of playing to do.
Today we are in Queenstown New Zealand. I wish I had my camera out when we flew in, also when we arrived. I was tired as we hadn’t had much sleep, but I did take a phone photo, fortunately, because now it is raining and you can’t see as much.
Today’s photos are 3 monochrome shots I took in Beijing, some of which will show up in Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness series.
Flowers (and a plant) from Bali
Some eye candy for you. 
Riding the subway in Beijing
Yes, we did it! We felt safe in Beijing and a Chinese man we met in Sweden said we had to try the subway. We would be amazed at its efficiency. Once we were assured that the signs were also in English, we decided to give it a try. We rode all the way across the city to go to the zoo.
It was a challenge but manageable. It was nice to mix with the locals. We avoided rush hour but even so, the way back was more crowded, because it was around 3:00.
We made one mistake and went the wrong way on the above-ground connecting train. We stepped off at the first station and waited for the train in the opposite direction. I used the opportunity to take pictures out the window, finding it fascinating to see a non-touristy part of Beijing. It was called the Wudaokou Area. Apparently there are three universities in this area including one where Chinese learn other languages and foreigners learn Chinese. It is written about by a native here: http://blogs.transparent.com/chinese/top-10-places-in-beijing-wudaokou/. I was tempted to learn Chinese when I was on the Subway because the recorded voice pronounced the words clearly and I could hear the musicality in the language. It was good to spend a day really concentrating on the language. Who would have thought that a trip on the subway would have been a lesson in Chinese? I asked our guide, the previous day, why they had signs in English. She said for convenience. I asked if it was because there were a lot of American business travelers, and she said, no, it was that they are teaching English in the schools now, and it is a good common language. Anyway, it was interesting to listen to the translations on the subway.
Here are a couple shots from the train station window. Not much, I know, but a little peek at another place.
Yes, we did make it to the zoo, which is pretty. I have a few shots, but I won’t share the ones of the giant pandas, the reason for our trip. These magnificent animals shouldn’t be in zoos. I get depressed every time I go to a zoo because I don’t like seeing wild animals confined. I made an exception to go see these pandas, but I had the same reaction I always have. I think the only place I didn’t have that reaction was the Desert Museum in Tucson.
According to this sign, the preservation of habitat is expanding. I know the reason for zoos is to show people these magnificent animals and that helps people to have the will to protect them in the wild. The children who saw the pandas that day were delighted.
Here is a WWF article about the giant pandas and their work with the Chinese provinces to preserve their habitat: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/panda/where_panda_lives_habitat/
I think the waterfowl are quite happy, though. For one thing, they aren’t confined. Here is one I thought was pretty.
I decided not to enhance the photo so you would see the smog, which is quite heavy a lot of the time in Beijing.
Android shots from Bali
Swim up bar
Bali
I couldn’t get a good photo of the pianist at the hotel bar, but he was incredible. So was the singer. Her name is Grace. She sang Bridge Over Troubled Water for us, as a request. I asked for it because it is great for piano. They both did great.
I love the song’s meaning. Isn’t that what we all need to be for our friends and we sometimes need our friends to be for us?
They had fire dancers and drummers at sunset. They were beautiful and fun, if a bit hard to capture in a photo.
I’ll be taking more pictures of Bali. The resort has a botanical park with a carnivorous plant. I have to see that! There are also a lot of pretty flowers.
Neon nights and typhoon days in Kowloon and Hong Kong
There are a lot of high rises here in Hong Kong and Kowloon. We’re staying in one of them. Hong Kong is also along the edge of a typhoon that is slamming places south of here. There was a weather warning this morning, which we didn’t notice before wandering out into the wind. It wasn’t raining at the moment so we figured we’d explore a bit.
I enjoyed taking pictures of the nearly empty streets, and learning that my lens can get fogged up. I thought it was the display screen that was fogging, but eventually figured out it was the lens. The pictures are kind of interesting though, I thought.
The storm has tapered off and now the streets below are filled with honking traffic and people with umbrellas. There are a few sirens now and again, too.
I spent the day pretty much holed up inside after getting drenched while out on the morning’s brief adventure. I have work to do on my writing, so it’s been a good day to get caught up. But I took a moment to photograph the International Commerce Center with its top in the clouds. It’s the tallest one here and now ranks as the 7th tallest in the world. Man reaches higher and higher with buildings, but I’ll take a pine tree any day. Apparently, if you go just a bit east of here on Hong Kong Island, you get to nature. That would be nice to explore, but probably not in the cards with this weather! Not that I’m complaining, it’s kind of exciting for a Californian to be in this much rain.
The rain has stopped and I can see between the buildings to a far reach of Victoria Harbor.
Yes, I love the zoom on my Panasonic. The picture above is really far away
And here’s what Hong Kong looks like at night, as viewed from Kowloon, across Victoria Harbor.
If that looks like a TV floating in the sky…well, it is. It’s on top of a building, but somehow the building doesn’t show, so it looks like it’s floating. It’s in Kowloon, and that’s Kowloon in the foreground. The wall of lights in the distance is Hong Kong, across the harbor.
Tomorrow, by the time you read this, we should be out exploring things a bit more and capturing more photos of this teeming metropolis.
Nicci Carrera 