Dominion

Kangaroo Island

2011-12-30T10:39:00.008+11:00

After a stressful and exhausting year, we took a break in November and drove across to South Australia on a four week holiday. First stop was Piccaninnie Ponds for an interesting, and freezing, fresh water snorkel. Then on to the Cooroong National Park and into McLaren Vale for some wine tasting.

The main event was a three week stay on Kangaroo Island, where we visited all the major tourist attractions and did a whole bunch of hiking. We also spent a lot of time at 'home' at our accomodation; Gaia, Demole River Retreat. An amazing place by the river in the middle of heavily forested bushland.

Needless to say, my time there included a whole bunch of wandering about and photographing wildlife. It was great to have some time to practice the use of my camera and new tripod, to focus on the photography without having the time pressures of hiking/trekking/travelling to get in the way.

I came home with a whole bunch of rubbish and a few gems. It will take some time to sort them out, but I'll post a link to the gallery when I'm done.
The trip concluded with a visit to Coonawarra for more wine tasting (and buying, of course) and a brief visit to the southern Grampians.

I have many plans for 2012, some of them will be life-changing if they come to fruition. It seems that the next year is a pivotal point, for me. Hopefully it will all make for interesting (and more frequent) reading!

Heron Island gallery

2011-09-08T20:40:00.003+10:00

It took a little longer than I would have liked, but Heron Island photos are now in my gallery. They're divided into Above and Below.

In other news, we've had to cancel our Antarctic voyage planned for November, thanks to the continuing Puyehue-Cordon Caulle rift eruption and our inability to get travel insurance to cover possible flight disruptions. Obviously we're very disappointed, but hopefully we can revisit this one next year or early in 2013. In the meantime we're planning a trip to Kangaroo Island for some rest and a whole bunch of photography.

Our delayed Great Himalayan Trail adventure is still pencilled in for 2012, but we're now unsure of dates and the big 60 day trek could now be a lot earlier than expected. Time to panic on getting fit!

Heron Island photos soon

2011-07-05T13:07:00.001+10:00

In May we spent a week on Heron Island. It was our second visit, the first was back in 2007. We had good weather and of course spent quite a lot of time in the water. The island is a snorkeller's paradise as well as being a hugely relaxing break from the stress at work.

I'm in the middle of processing the photos at the moment and should be ready to upload them to my gallery in a couple of weeks. I had a few challenges with my new waterproof camera (thanks to an appalling underwater white balance), but still managed to get a few decent shots. They should be worth a look once I'm finished. I also got a couple of nice shots on the helicopter on the way to the island (example above) and I'm pretty happy with those.

I'll post a link when I have the photos in the gallery.

A year on and Lady Elliot Island photos finished

2011-04-28T15:41:00.005+10:00

Well it may have taken a year, but I'm relieved to say that I've finished processing Lady Elliot Island photos. They are now available for viewing over at my gallery. They're split into two sections, one for above the water line and one for below.

The underwater photography at Lady Elliot was a real challenge (even more so than usual), thanks to overcast weather, poor visibility and a lot of 'stuff' in the water. I guess that the 'stuff' is why the manta rays live there, it's what they eat, but it makes getting a clear shot incredibly difficult.

Lots of Photoshop work was necessary to turn them into half decent shots, but hopefully there are a few there that make the effort worthwhile.

I got a few nice sunset shots too and even managed to capture a lone turtle hatchling as he/she was making their way to the ocean.

It's good to have this work done, but just when I had my new book (Lord Howe Island) lined up next in the queue, something else has surface that will cause more delays. We're off to Heron Island very soon for a week in the water and, of course, more photos as a result!

New camera has arrived and new photos in the gallery soon

2011-03-11T15:29:00.003+11:00

I recently purchased a Nikon D7000 as an upgrade from my D5000. Brilliant camera. Although I haven't really had a chance to test it properly I'm incredibly impressed so far. Great features and a really good button layout means it should be an easier camera to use (less reliance on menus to change settings, more settings at your finger tips). Being fully compatible with my existing lenses was essential and it has improved the functionality of my 80-400 since I'm no longer restricted to manual focus.

Here's a test shot I took a couple of weeks back:

I've also been working on a few other shots I took over the last few months (with the D5000). This is one of my favourites:

I'll be getting back into the processing soon and hope to have a bunch of stuff done in the next couple of months including Lady Elliot Island. Then it will be on to the Lord Howe Island book.

Bhutan: Volumes 1 and 2 now available!

2010-12-23T13:07:00.002+11:00

At last! More than a year in the making, the Bhutan books are finally finished. Links to more information and full previews are in the 'In Print' section of the blog (right).

Thanks for looking (and possibly even buying!).

Time for a short break from books. I'll be spending a little time on Lady Elliot Island photos and other more recent stuff before going back and putting together a photographic art book on Lord Howe Island. This one will be a little different. Instead of being a photographic journal of our journey, it will be more theme based and ...well, arty and I'll be aiming at a slightly smaller volume.

Then there's my other hobby, miniature painting, from which I've had a 12 month hiatus. I really need to get back into this and start working on the massive horde of unpainted figures.

Bhutan: Books soon (probably!)

2010-09-16T12:39:00.006+10:00

So, a bunch of stuff has been happening since my last post. Here are some edited highlights:

Mrs Nosferatu has been having knee problems and is currently out of action after surgery on her right knee. 6 weeks in a splint, then 6 weeks of physio, then it's on to the other knee. The surgery should solve the problems, all going well.
Knee problems have caused the delay of our proposed traverse of western Nepal and Borneo adventure that was scheduled for May-July 2011. We've postponed until 2012, which is disappointing but more realistic in terms of rehabilitation after the surgery. It's a 60 day trek, so we'll both need to be a lot fitter.
On the positive side Mrs Nosferatu's immobility has enabled completion of the text for our Bhutan books. We still need to write photo captions and do final photo processing. I'm now half way through creating the maps for the books and will be concentrating my efforts on getting this project finished. It is now 12 months since we were walking the 23 day trek. An embarrassing lag in getting these books done...

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Tsho Tsho Tshang to Sephu)

2010-07-10T16:22:00.003+10:00

Photos from the last section of the Snowman Trek are now in my gallery.

A very wet beginning to the day as we crossed the river. This time there was no bridge and despite efforts by our crew to create stepping stones, in the end the strong current and wide river meant there was nothing for it, but to get wet!

We trekked down the river valley, often rock hopping, through some beautiful terrain. Autumn colours were everywhere, lots of bright oranges and reds as we descended through low ground covers, shrubby bushes and finally, trees.

The trail in this area was particularly rocky, but by this stage we were getting used to it. Some, less conservative, estimates were for 200 kilometres of rock hopping in the 350km trek!

The afternoon was a nice walk through pine forest and then climbing again in mist and a little rain. A truly beautiful area and great for photography. We also saw a couple of squirrels, which was exciting for us Australians. Our English and American companions couldn't work out what all the fuss was about until we informed them that we don't actually have squirrels in Australia!

Finally we climbed back above the tree line to our camp by the beautiful lake, Thampe Tsho (at 4330m). Unfortunately though, the campsite is set in very boggy conditions and that, along with a generous serving of yak dung, rubbish and old camp fires made for a damp and unpleasant camp. Still, the setting is gorgeous!

The second last day of trekking included the crossing of our last pass, the Thampe Tsho La (4655m) and then a steep descent along the Nikka Chhu through rhododendron and pine forest. The rain came and went and by the time we reached the 'Snowman Shop' it had set in. The shop is a tiny 3 room dwelling and we all crammed in, for some to consume their first beer in days!

Eventually the yak herders caught up and passed us and we headed down to camp by the river at Maurothang. Apparently this site is used by the nomadic yak herders as a meeting place, for trade and to socialise. It is also the point where we farewelled our yak herders and exchanged our own yaks for horses, as we were heading down to lower altitudes the next day and the yaks couldn't follow.

The final day of trekking (day 23) was the wettest day I've ever spent on the trail! It had rained quite a lot in the night and we began trekking in light rain. As the day passed it got heavier, until our waterproofs were as wet on the inside as out. We walked through mossy forest with lots of fungi and as we descended, increasing amounts of bamboo.

Lunch was an unpleasant experience; cold and wet and increasingly concerned by the marauding leeches! The day was a trial, by the end it was impossible to tell if you were walking along a trail or a river bed, it was so wet. Thankfully this was the last day and not our first. It would take days to dry out all our gear.

Eventually we reached the town of Sephu and our bus, the end of the trail. ...and the start of a 3 hour winding road to our hotel at Ongde. It seemed to take an eternity, but finally we were in our rooms to dry off, but only after our first shower in 23 days! After picking off the leeches and putting on some almost clean clothes we enjoyed a vegetarian meal (arghh!, a vegetarian restaurant!) before retiring to a real bed!

Probably not the way I would choose to spend my birthday (rain, leeches, rain, looong bus ride, rain and vegetarian food ...when all I wanted was a nice steak, after 23 days of Bhutanese trekking food), but the shower and bed almost made up for it!

This concludes my brief summary of our trip to Bhutan: 350 kilometres of trekking, 17000 metres of up, 17000 metres of down, amazing scenery, intriguing culture, friendly people and 7kg lighter.

You can see all the photos in my Bhutan gallery or you can see some highlights of Bhutan and the Snowman Trek in the highlights galleries. If you want to look at everything then just skip the highlights galleries.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Chozo to Tsho Tsho Tshang)

2010-07-09T18:55:00.002+10:00

Almost there! Photos from the second last section of the trek are now in my gallery.

Leaving Chozo, we crossed the East Pho Chhu and started the steep climb towards the Sintia La (5200m). Vegetation gradually disappeared as we climbed higher, eventually reaching the rocky pass.

After the pass the terrain flattened out into a Tibetan-style barren plateau, the only vegetation seemed to be very small ground covering plants, typically with red leaves. An amazing place, just a shame about the ever present, thick cloud cover. We reached our campsite at Tsho Chena eventually for a high and cold night.

More high plateau the next day and we crossed the Loju La (5145m) on our way to another high, and this time snowy campsite called Jichu Dramo. The following day would see us cross our highest pass, the Rinchen Zoe La (5326m).

My favourite part of the whole trek was probably this day. After crossing the magnificent pass, with nearby lakes of various colours and snowy peaks and glaciers, we crossed a large plateau with more lakes including one that was steaming, fed by a geothermal hot spring. This lake was our lunch spot and we watched as our yaks caught up and passed us. The barren landscape, steam from the lake and the trudging yaks made for an incredibly picturesque moment and one that I'll remember for a long time.

The last part of the day wasn't quite so pleasant, as thick fog with snow and rain descended. Eventually we reached our camp at Tsho Tsho Tshang.

Next up we complete the trek, making it all the way to our final stop at Sephu.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Woche to Chozo)

2010-07-01T11:21:00.002+10:00

Photos from the Woche to Chozo section of the trek and our rest day in Chozo are now in my gallery.

We passed through our first village in the remote Lunana district, called Woche. Here we stopped for a break while a small group of local children and a couple of their mothers came to greet us. They had fun looking at the odd foreigners and posing for photos. Digital photography is great for them, because they love to look at photos of themselves on the camera's LCD screen. I guess they don't see themselves in photos that often.

In Woche one of our fellow trekkers, Mort, was almost a casualty to a feral yak that came charging through our group. Luckily he managed to dive aside at the last minute. This episode, along with a number of others in the coming days, taught us even greater respect and fear for the yaks. The yak herders would often laugh at the silly foreigners hiding in the bushes as the yaks came past! The charging yak incident was also the catalyst for many jokes at Mort's expense.

Moving on from Woche we trekked through some beautiful country and got to appreciate a magnificent storm over the mountains, from a distance for a change! We crossed the Keche La (4670m) to our night's camp.

The following day we passed through another small village called Thega, being told to stick together as a few years ago some local people had kidnapped some foreigners for a ransom. Hmmm, they don't tell you that in the guides! Still, we needn't have worried as the walk through the village was incident free.

We soon reached another village, called Lhedi, the site of a school and new medical centre. Here we disrupted classes as the kids came out to greet us and the teachers had a chat with our guide.

The afternoon trek was long and arduous as we crossed a huge pile of moraine that had been swept down the valley in a flood caused by a breached lake a couple of years earlier. It was hot and tiring work climbing over the rubble and we were relieved to finally arrive in the village of Chozo, our camp for the next two nights.

I have mixed feelings about town camp sites. There is something special about a remote mountain camp and although it's nice to visit the local communities, it can be difficult to relax when everything you do is observed by the local kids (no school in Chozo). I'm also not keen on toilet tents in the middle of the village. Sometimes some privacy would be nice! ...but I guess that's something you give up when you go trekking with a group!

Anyway, the rest day in Chozo was a chance to do a little washing and explore our surroundings, including a visit to the local Dzong. Built approximately 600 years ago, it is not in the best condition, but was quite photogenic and covered in ravens!

Next up we head for our highest and final passes on the way back to civilisation. There's still some amazingly spectacular mountain scenery to come.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Laya to Woche)

2010-06-29T13:14:00.003+10:00

Photos from the Laya to Woche section of the Snowman Trek are now in my gallery.

Leaving Laya we trekked a short distance through forest to an army post near the Tibetan border. Here we camped and swapped our mules and horses for the heavy-weight baggage carriers required for the higher altitudes of Lunana. Yes, it was finally yak time.

Yaks are short-sighted, easily startled, very big and well armed. Best thing to do is stay well out of their way. They have a nasty habit of swinging their head and large horns around if they are taken by surprise, or charging off in a random direction. Best not to be in the way. We had a couple of near misses in the next couple of weeks, but fortunately no serious injuries.

The next day we headed off ahead of our new companions, nervously waiting for them to overtake (as they normally did by early to mid-afternoon). We climbed steadily, through forest and then above the tree line towards the Tsemo La (4905m), the pass we would cross the next day.

After crossing the pass on the following day we continued over high ground, battling hail and a little snow, before the weather cleared to provide magnificent views of Gangla Karchung (6395m). We camped near the foot of the mountain at 4940m (our highest camp so far), and while the site provided magnificent views, it was a restless night as the lack of oxygen made sleeping difficult.

A cold start greeted us the next day, but it proved to be one of the most spectacular days of the entire trek. For once, the weather gave us some clear skies and the trek up to the Karchung La (5240m) provided magnificent views back along the Gangla Karchung massif and also east into the Lunana region towards lines of snowy peaks and glaciers.

After crossing the pass we made a 1200m descent past more amazing views to the West Pho Chhu valley where we would be camping for the night.

Next day we headed for Woche, our first Lunana town, and beyond.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Laya)

2010-06-21T11:09:00.004+10:00

Photos from our short stay in Laya are now in my gallery.

Traditional country houses in Bhutan are 2 or 3 levels, the animals, usually a cow or two, live in the bottom level, while the family live upstairs. This helps bring a little more warmth in the middle of the high altitude winter (Laya is at 3850m). The top, attic level is used for storage, the house usually also contains a Buddhist shrine. These houses don't have a chimney and smoke from the fire inside the house escapes through gaps in the eves and the windows, which don't have glass. The ever present solar panels are not quite so traditional, but are now considered essential (used mostly to power the TV!).

The paintings and carved phalluses hanging from the corners of the roof are designed to bring good luck.

(Note: The following information on Drukpa Kunley has been collated from Wikipedia and Lonely Planet's Bhutan guide.)

The phalluses represent the 'Divine Madman', Lama Drukpa Kunley (1455-1529) who was renowned for his outrageous and often obscene behaviour, a deliberate way of provoking people to discard their preconceptions. He was known for his crazy methods of enlightening other beings, mostly women, which earned him the title "The Saint of 5,000 Women". He taught in exchange for chhaang (barley beer). He apparently possessed very strong magic and had an immediate and complete charm over women. Women would seek his blessing in the form of sex. His existence in Buddhism elucidates the role of sexual union in some paths to enlightenment.

His numerous sexual conquests often included the wives of his hosts and sponsors. On one occasion when he was receiving a blessing thread he tied it around his penis instead of his neck, saying he hoped it would bring him luck with the ladies.

On another occasion a large congregation of devotees gathered around the country to witness his magical powers. The people urged the lama to perform a miracle. However, the saint, in his usual unorthodox and outrageous way, demanded that he first be served a whole cow and a goat for lunch. He devoured these with relish and left only bones. After letting out a large and satisfied burp, he took the goat's head and stuck it onto the bones of the cow. And then with a snap of his fingers, he commanded the strange beast to rise up and graze on the mountainside. To the astonishment of the people the animal arose and ran up to the meadows to graze. This animal came to be known as the dong gyem tsey (takin).

It was harvest time while we were in Laya and the people were busy bringing in crops and preparing for the winter months. There was also some construction going on with a couple of new houses being built.

On our night in Laya we were entertained by the Layap ladies who came to dance and sing for us. They wear traditional hats made of bamboo, wood and beads. Their songs and dance are very distinctive and it was quite a surreal experience sitting by the fire while they performed for us.

Next up we move on from Laya, heading into the incredibly remote Lunana region.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Chebisa to Laya)

2010-06-18T21:40:00.003+10:00

Photos from the Chebisa to Laya section of the trek are now in my gallery.

After a night of many, many barking dogs and noisy early morning children in Chebisa we were back on the trail for the 4 day trek over 3 more passes on the way to Laya. Many blue sheep and yaks to see on the way too.

We crossed the Gobu La (4440m) on the first day seeing more yak herder encampments, many with the traditional yak hair tents and some with the less traditional, but very popular blue tarps. The one thing they all have in common is their solar panels!

Finally on the next day we got to see the tops of the some snow capped mountains! Amazing views from the Jare La (4785m) before descending through dwarf rhododendrons and mossy cypress forests. Also our first very questionable bridge, which was just a little frightening with rushing water below causing a disturbing sense of vertigo. Telling us only to step on 2 of the 3 skinny logs that made up the bridge because the 3rd was a bit dodgy probably didn't help!

Third day out from Chebisa we crossed the Shinge La (5005m), our first time to 5000m on this trip, but not the last. It was made more interesting by the hail storm that met us at the top. At least hail is better than rain, it just bounces off, but the storm didn't do much for the view! Still, later in the day we did get some great views of snow covered mountains, including Gancheta (6840m).

Another interesting bridge on the final day before Laya. This one was a single log and turned out to be completely unnecessary as our guide had wandered slightly off the trail. Great, back across the dodgy bridge we go!

After a great walk descending through mossy forests with lots of fungi we finally reached Laya and that's the subject of my next gallery.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Jangothang to Chebisa)

2010-06-17T18:12:00.003+10:00

Photos from the next section of our trek are now in my gallery.

Following our acclimatisation day at Jangothang we head for our first pass, the Nye La (4870m). It was a gradual climb to a gently sloping pass, but was still challenging given that we were still acclimatising and I wasn't feeling that great. We did see a few marmots, including a couple having a wrestle.

We finally got a view of a mountain peak through the clouds on the other side of the pass, Jitchu Drake (6794m), before it once again hid itself.

We also passed the impressive Lingshi Dzong, built in 1668 to defend the area against Tibetan invasion. We camped near Linshi village at 4025m before heading on the next day to Chebisa.

Along the way we stopped for lunch at a house in Goyok, a small but very picturesque village in a mountain valley. Then, after large quantities on noodles, trekking continued to the village of Chebisa for a night of inquisitive children and barking dogs!

Next up we head for Laya, crossing 3 more passes on our way to the trek's half way mark.

Bhutan: Snowman Trek (Drukgyel Dzong to Jangothang)

2010-06-07T13:14:00.004+10:00

Photos from the first quarter of the Snowman Trek are now in my gallery.

The 23 day trek began at the ruins of Drukgyel Dzong (at 2580m), a short drive from Paro. We quickly explored the ruins before heading off into the wilds and our big adventure.

Trekking began in the Paro Chhu valley and we ascended gradually on the first day (to 2860m), and then rapidly on the second, spending the second night at 3600m and moving up to 4100m at Jangothang for our third night and first rest and acclimatisation day. The rapid altitude gain was very draining and I found the second and third days particularly taxing as I was also feeling unwell (possibly due to one or all of dehydration, altitude and Bhutanese trekking food).

The country was heavily forested until close to Jangothang where we climbed above the tree line for views of our first yaks and the feet of the surrounding mountains, including Jomolhari (7314m). The weather didn't treat us too kindly in this first part of the trek, with low cloud obscuring many of the best views. Luckily we had some better weather later (and some more low cloud too!).

On our rest day I took a stroll up a ridge near our camp site with Brigitte (our leader for this trek was the amazing and legendary Brigitte Muir) to assist with acclimatisation, while the majority of our group took a daywalk up another valley to Tsophu Lake.

Next up we cross our first 4 passes during 6 days of trekking on the way to Laya.

Bhutan: Paro

2010-05-24T10:30:00.005+10:00

The next batch of Bhutan photos are now in my web gallery.

Paro is a town of 20,000 people and the home of Bhutan's only airport. Just one airline flies to Bhutan (Drukair - Royal Bhutan Airlines) and you can see half of their massive fleet of aircraft on the tarmac in the first photo of my gallery! They fly in from Thailand, Nepal and India. Paro was the start and end point of our Bhutanese adventure.

Paro town (at 2250m) and the Paro district are the closest populated areas to Tibet and the people have the closest ties to the Tibetans due to invasions and trade. Paro is home to Rinpung Dzong, a fortress/monastery built to defend against those invasions. The Dzong was completed in 1646.

We also visited a 7th century temple before heading for the high and wild country on our long trek.

The 23 day Snowman Trek is all that remains. It is likely that I'll be adding a quarter of the trek at a time.

Drukyel Dzong (2580m) to Jangothang (4100m) (with views of Jomolhari) is next.

Bhutan: Thimphu and surrounds

2010-05-21T12:16:00.007+10:00

The next batch of photos from Bhutan are now in my gallery, they're from Thimphu and the surrounding area.

Thimphu is Bhutan's capital and largest city. It has a population of around 100,000 people (total population of Bhutan is just under 700,000) and is at an altitude of 2320m. The country's only airport is in Paro (second largest city) due to Thimphu's mountainous surroundings. Paro's not much better!

These photos were taken on the road to Thimphu from the end of our trek, within Thimphu itself and also on the road from Thimphu to Paro (the country's best road). Highlights include the Tashichodzong (17th century fortress-monastery) and Thimphu's main stupa.

The last day of our trek was incredibly wet and areas around Thimphu had received record October rainfalls. This led to many landslips and rock falls, particularly in road cuttings. There are a couple of photos showing the types of things the road crews have to deal with.

Road crews are normally made up of Indian families who get working visas for 2 or 3 years in Bhutan and live in shacks while they are there. The whole family will work on clearing the roads, often with nothing more than brooms and hoes.When they return to India they may have enough money to start their own business. Bhutan is relatively wealthy, the local people will not work on the roads for the low wages.

Paro is next and then on to the Snowman Trek.

Lady Elliot Island and first Bhutan photos

2010-05-12T17:37:00.009+10:00

We've been back from Lady Elliot Island for more than a week now, with even more photos to process! Argh!

We had a great time snorkeling with manta rays and all sorts of other fish and corals. The results of my underwater photography seem a little disappointing this time around. We were plagued by overcast weather that can severely affect the colours and sharpness of underwater shots. I'll see what I can salvage.

Finally some good news about Bhutan! The book layouts are pretty much complete and I'm working on final processing of the photos. As I complete each section I'm adding them to my web gallery. You can check out the first batch now, they're from Taktsang, the Tiger's Nest Monastery.

Bhutan photo processing and book progress

2010-04-16T17:03:00.001+10:00

Slowly getting somewhere at last! The good news is that we've almost completed a first draft of the book layout for Bhutan, the bad news is that it might be 2 books! We need to finish up and then go back and cull for a second time. We're trying to be brutal but it's hard to tell the story if we leave out too many photos! ...and of course there are some photos that I'm really happy with and they need to stay in.

We don't have any text yet and I still need to do final processing on all the photos we end up using, but we are getting somewhere. At this stage it is likely that I'll begin adding some photos to the website in the next couple of weeks.

There is just one thing in the way; we're headed to Lady Elliot Island (on the Great Barrier Reef) very soon and we'll be off snorkeling and taking more photos for a week.

At last!

2010-03-10T16:31:00.000+11:00

Picked up my new monitor today (NEC 26" 2690WUXi2). I'm still waiting for the hardware calibration software, hopefully get that on Friday.

First impressions: Wow!

...back into Bhutan photos as soon as the software turns up.

Monitor dead!

2010-02-08T13:09:00.001+11:00

I've been making really good progress on processing the Bhutan photos, but it all ground to a halt on Friday when my monitor at home died.

On the positive side, this means I'm upgrading to a bigger and much better quality monitor, which should help me improve the quality of my final photos. On the negative side, it is costing me a lot of money and I'm not able to get hold of the new monitor until next Monday. That's another whole week without the PC at home where I do all my processing.

The delay is frustrating, especially when I was on a roll!

Catching up - 11 (Wilsons Promontory)

2010-01-11T10:20:00.014+11:00

A big trip to Bhutan was planned for September/October 2009 which included 23 days of trekking on the 'Snowman Trek'. It's described as one of the world's most difficult treks, so when we got back from LHI it was straight into training.

Our training included day walks on the weekends leading up to the big one, culminating in a three day, full pack hike at Wilsons Promontory in August.

We chose to do a loop, in an anti-clockwise direction, of the southern half of the Promontory. It was a purposefully strenous walk and included a couple of long days. Heavy packs and variable weather made for good training. We'd be swapping the heavy packs for altitude in Bhutan, but it's the best we could do given Australia's flatness!

The northern half of the Prom is recovering slowly from last summer's bushfires. Fortunately, most of the southern part has been spared.

It was an interesting walk and only felt like a forced march a couple of times! On the second day we were stalked by marauding ravens who helped themselves to most of my snack food after opening the zip on the top of my pack. We'd dumped the packs for a quick walk down to the lighthouse and returned to find orange and white M&M's scattered everywhere, a whole bag of fruit and nut mix empty and an unopened bag of Squirms also empty. I hope the raven had a bellyache after that lot!

Being winter, we were not terribly surprised when the wind picked up on the second night. It was blowing a gale by the time we reached Oberon Bay and the sand blasting we received as we walked down the beach was pretty intense. The last portion of the walk was accompanied by horizontal rain.

It would end up being good practice for hail, snow and a very, very wet day on the Snowman Trek!

Up next: A month in a remote region of the Himalaya. ...Bhutan!

New look

2009-12-18T21:41:00.002+11:00

Time for a change. Nothing too dramatic, but both my gallery site and this blog have been refurbished to bring you an exciting new look! Hope you like it.

Catching up - 10 (Lord Howe Island)

2009-12-04T10:19:00.008+11:00

Skipping forward a bit to the next interesting thing!

In March 2009 we spent 4 weeks on Lord Howe Island. This was our second visit, we were there for 2 weeks back in 2005.

If you are addicted to snorkeling and to hiking then it is paradise. A great place to visit. There are many off-the-beach snorkeling locations and some only reachable by boat. As well as that there are several interesting and, at times challenging hikes including one of Australia's most difficult day walks: the ascent of Mt Gower (875m) from sea level.

Unfortunately, due to our next big trip, I'm yet to process this year's LHI photos. The major difference this time around was having the waterproof camera, opening up a whole new photographic world at LHI.

It will take me a while to sort out all the photos but they'll be added to my web gallery at some point. At the moment Bhutan is highest priority.

Catching up - 9 (Peru: Lima -> Chile: Santiago)

2009-11-17T12:30:00.014+11:00

Back in Lima we had another short stop-over. Just enough time for a bit of a rest and some last minute shopping.

To be honest I found Lima to be a little depressing, if not oppressive. This is probably mostly because they have several months a year of thick, low cloud. It must be a miserable place to live and it's impossible to get your washing dry!

On one of our earlier stops in Lima we took a taxi over to Lima Centro and I found that even worse. I never really felt comfortable there, perhaps because I'd never been to a city quite like Lima. By the time we were leaving, I had grown accustomed to Miraflores, but it is one of the wealthiest suburbs.

We were sad to leave Peru after our seven week visit and I'd love to go back, but by then we were also ready to move on.

We flew back to Santiago feeling ready to go home. On arriving, Chile felt so different after our time in Peru that we were disappointed to only have a couple of days to explore before the trip home.

Returning to Santiago we started to see its character and feel less overwhelmed by the differences from our own home. We found a great little strip of shops and cafes and went for long walks, exploring the central part of the city, its museums, galleries and the zoo.

We also worked on our new hobby, which is photographing bizarre electrical and communications wiring and, of course, the city's dogs.

Chile's food seemed far inferior to Peru's, but perhaps we just chose poorly. I am sure we'll be back in Chile soon(ish) so that we can visit some of its wonders like the Atacama desert and Patagonia so I guess we'll get to find out for sure then.

After a great couple of days we were sad to leave Chile so soon but also looking forward to a rest back in Melbourne.

It was the incredibly long flight from Santiago to Auckland and the delayed flight back to Melbourne that taught me just how horrific long flights can be. I'd picked up a flu virus in Peru or Chile and the aches and pains were severe on the way home. I spent the next week in bed. Ah well, at least it was the end of the trip and not the start!

I hope you've enjoyed my ramblings and, more importantly, gone to check out all the photos in my gallery.

If you really liked what you saw, you may be interested in seeing full resolution photos and far more coherent writings from Mrs Nosferatu in our first publicly available book:

Peru by D. and L.M. Bibby | BOOK INFO

Up next: a month on Lord Howe Island!

Catching up - 8 (Peru: Machu Picchu)

2009-11-13T10:25:00.002+11:00

We were approaching the end of our time in Peru but one major highlight was left: our day at Machu Picchu! We awoke early to catch the first bus up the mountain. They run all day but it is a good idea to get up there as early as possible to avoid the bulk of the tourists and catch the rising sun.

It well worth the effort, not only for the sunrise itself but for the chance to take a few photos without the need for people-removal during post processing! As is usual with any major tourist attraction, the biggest problem is all the other tourists!

As you'd expect, it is an amazing place, full of atmosphere, incredible stone masonry (especially considering the lack of metal tools) and llamas!

We spent several hours seeing the major sites and just generally immersing ourselves in the place. It was a day I won't forget in a hurry.

When we finally had our fill we caught a bus back to Aguas Calientes for some late lunch and to catch a train back through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. From Ollantaytambo we travelled back to Cusco, ready for our flight to Lima the next day.

Catching up - 7 (Peru: 'Inca Rivers' trek)

2009-11-12T19:43:00.003+11:00

After our short stay in the Sacred Valley we headed to Cachora to begin our second Peruvian trek. The 9 day 'Inca Rivers' trek traverses the Vilcabamba range, the last stronghold of the Inca empire, between the Apurimac and Urabamba rivers. This area is quite remote and incredibly steep terrain.

Dropping or rising more than a 1000m in a day is not unusual and you soon become accustomed to steep, dry switch-back tracks covered in dust and slippery gravel.

After 2 days we arrived at the magnificent ruins of Choquequirau. These ruins located on a remote mountain ridge are perhaps only bettered by the larger ruins of Machu Picchu itself. The Inca terraces on incredibly steep mountain sides are truly amazing feats of engineering as are the stone lined aqueducts and the stone buildings themselves.

From Choquequirau we headed up through some cloud forest containing many orchids and fungi before moving back into very dry terrain and a long descent into another river valley. The following day we ascended into higher country where the very welcome temperature drop was accompanied by superb mountain vistas.

We then descended back below the tree line and through more cloud forest heading for the ruins of Paltallacta (also know as Llactapata) where we had a magnificent view across the valley to our final destination: Machu Picchu!

The trekking ended soon after when we descended to the Urabamba River where we caught a train to Aguas Calientes, a very strange town that's growing at an amazing rate thanks to the popularity of the near by ruins at Machu Picchu.

Bhutan: Blog stopper

2009-10-29T15:27:00.004+11:00

Way behind again. We've just spent a month in Bhutan trekking, so now there is even more to catch up on...

I'll try to get up to date soon.

Catching up - 6 (Peru: Sacred Valley)

2009-08-25T12:03:00.009+10:00

The Sacred Valley is an incredibly interesting place. Here we visited Chinchero to experience traditional dying and weaving.

There were also the Maras salt pans, in use since Inca times. They were quite spectacular in the unusual lighting caused by a passing storm (which never amounted to much, thankfully!).

We travelled to Ollantaytambo where we visited the incredible ruins before heading off on an acclimatisation walk the next day. The walk took us to another ruin, Pumallacta. We were accompanied by one of the local dogs, she was very friendly and seemed relieved to get away from the other dogs for a few hours!

The next day would see the beginning of our second trek, 'Inca Rivers'. Lucky I was starting to feel a little better after my illness in Cusco!

Catching up - 5 (Peru: Cusco)

2009-08-11T10:21:00.006+10:00

Back in Cusco we had some time to see some sites and re-adjust to the lack of oxygen before our next trek.

It's an interesting city, the architecture is a strange mix of pre-Columbian Inca stonework, Spanish architecture and small amounts of modern architecture. The Spanish destroyed large amounts of Inca buildings and built their own cathedrals and town halls on their foundations. By taking away Incan religious sites and replacing them with Catholic iconography they hoped to use religion to control their new subjects. Of course it worked, as it usually does.

The Spanish were not so great at building for earthquake prone regions like the Peruvian Andes and some buildings have been re-built several times, including the cathedral towers. The Incan architecture was much more robust and very little damage has been done to the buildings and foundations that remain.

Unfortunately I picked up a bug in Cusco and spent a very unpleasant night. The next day was recovery time and unfortunately that meant missing out on Sacsayhuaman and Q'oricancha. Disappointing indeed, but it was important that I be fit enough for the trekking to come.

Cusco also features the excellent Museo de Arte Precolombino. Home of one of the best collections of pre-Columbian artefacts we visited in Peru.

Off to the Sacred Valley next.

Catching up - 4 (Peru: Rio Tambopata)

2009-08-04T17:25:00.005+10:00

After returning to Lima, we took a flight to Cusco on our way to Puerto Maldonado in the Amazon jungle. It was a flying visit to Cusco, but we did not rush the site seeing as we knew we'd be back a couple more times before the trip was over. It's a very interesting little city, but more on that later. Our flights too and from Cusco provided spectacular views of the Andes.

The trip to the jungle for 4 days was an excellent change of pace and was quite relaxing, despite lots of walks, in comparison to trekking at altitude.

The lodge on the Rio Tambopata was open to the jungle and you always felt very close to the monkeys, birds, other animals and bugs that live there. We weren't too afraid of the tarantulas as we had a cat to keep guard on us at night time!

While we were there we went on several trips up the river in long boats and walked through the jungle looking for animals and birds (and fungi of course!). While we didn't see any giant otters on the ox bow lake, we did see lots of other things including a toucan. Piranha fishing (catch and release) allowed us to get pretty close to the notorious, ferocious looking fish. Sharp teeth they have!

A visit to a local farmer and a shaman were also very interesting. To see how people live in the jungle was confronting and, to some extent quite inspirational, as simple lives seem to be for us westerners.

Our jungle interlude soon came to an end (sooner than we would have liked!), and we flew back to Cusco for our next adventure.

Catching up - 3 (Peru: Cordillera Huayhuash)

2009-07-24T15:20:00.006+10:00

After flying back to Lima from Arequipa, we prepared for the first trek of the trip; 11 days of trekking in Cordillera Huayhuash.

We started off with 2 acclimatisation day walks, firstly to pre-Inca ruins of Wilcahuain and then in the Cordillera Blanca.

Next day we started an amasing trek in the most spectacular and beautiful mountain country I've ever visited. Amasing stuff, and certainly one of the main highlights of our Peru adventure.

Despite being ill during this trek and, of course, struggling to get enough oxygen at altitudes up to 5000m we had an amasing time. Waking up to views like this from your tent, certainly didn't hurt!

Beautiful mountains, glaciers, lakes, tarns, even llamas! What more could you want in a trek. If you're physically able and can afford to get to Peru you should do this trek. You won't be sorry.

A small plug here for World Expeditions who organised this trek, and our whole trip, they did a great job. Javier and David (our guides from Tambo Treks) and our cooks and the 4 horsemen (and their donkeys!) all contributed to make the trek an incredible experience.

More Peru soon...

Catching up - 2 (Peru: Lima to Arequipa)

2009-07-21T10:20:00.004+10:00

Peru is a land of contrasts. From the coastal desert to the Amazonian jungle and the magnificent Andes in between. Then there is the extreme poverty and very basic living conditions of the deserts, mountain regions and outer city slums in contrast to the, almost western style city centre (in Lima) and grandeur of the old Spanish architecture and cathedrals.

For me, as an Australian, used to living in a large city, a couple of months in Peru was a life changing experience. For those with a sense of adventure and the will to experience something new and exciting, I'd highly recommend it.

The natural wonders are superbly blended with the archaeological marvels to create an intriguing blend. Then there's the challenge of 2 new languages (Spanish and Quechua) and a very different culture.

During our stay we took a five day trip down the coast from Lima to Arequipa. First up was amasing bird life and sea lions at the Ballestas Islands. Then it was on to Ica for a day tour with a difference (...too much Pisco tasting!) and Nazca for the 1500 year old Nazca cemetery and, of course, the Nazca lines. The flight over the lines in a small plane was breathtaking, not just for the flying and the lines, but for the view of the desert. Magnificent!

On to Arequipa: a beautiful city with many buildings carved from the pale, local volcanic rock. Very local indeed, El Misti and other volcanoes surround the city on its eastern side. And yes they're dormant, but most definitely not extinct!

Our first trip to altitude followed, on an amasing drive up into the Andes to Colca Canyon. Here we saw up to 13 condors soaring on early morning thermals!

All this was just the beginning...

Catching up - 1 (Tasmania -> Chile)

2009-07-07T10:20:00.010+10:00

So training walks continued in the early months of 2008, culminating in the Overland Track (Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair, in central Tasmania). We had magnificent weather and a really nice 9 days of walking (with heavy packs!). It was a great training walk for much bigger things. You can see a load of photos here.

Then came the big one! We spent May and June (about 8 weeks) in Chile and Peru. Just a couple of days at either end in Santiago and the rest was our Peruvian adventure.

I learnt a lot on this trip. The first lesson was about air travel and how horrendous it can truly be once you get past 10 hours sitting in an uncomfortable seat!

Chile was quite confronting when we arrived. Very few people spoke English and since we arrived on a Sunday everything was closed except the many pharmacias! We were right in the heart of the city and there seemed to be more dogs and guys in military style uniforms with guns than normal people on the streets. Welcome to South America! :o)

It was actually funny to arrive back in Santiago on our way home. 7 weeks in Peru does a lot to open your eyes, Santiago was almost Melbourne in comparison.

Peru is an amasing place. So much amasing stuff to see and so many cultural differences to deal with!

I'll talk a little more about Peru (and everything since then) soon...

Only 12 months behind...

2009-02-03T21:44:00.000+11:00

...I will catch up soon. Lucky no-one reads this blog!

Road Closed! ...on a public holiday?

2008-01-31T10:23:00.000+11:00

Our second training walk was scheduled for Monday (Australia Day holiday). The plan was a day walk at Lake Mountain, which sounded simple enough until we drove all the way up to Marysville to discover that the Lake Mountain road was closed for Sunday and Monday. ...a public holiday weekend, nice one!

On to Plan B. Some quick thinking on ways to salvage the day led us another half an hour north to the Cathedral Range. The terrain there is a lot steeper than on the top of Lake Mountain, but would be a good test of our fitness. We hadn't been there for about ten years so it was also a nice walk, although very different from what we had planned.

In contrast to the Donna Buang fiasco it was a hot dry walk, not a leech in site! We did however see one undesirable character, a large yellow bellied black snake was taking a break across the track. He wasn't too keen to see us, but after we backed off he decided he'd wander off the track, which allowed us to pass.

The rest of the day was spent watching the track very carefully and jumping every time a skink moved!

We walked for about 4 hours in eucalypt forest on the rocky range. The track was steep at times and the final hour was a long, knee grinding down hill walk.

Perhaps we'll try Lake Mountain again next weekend.

Leeches suck!

2008-01-22T10:08:00.000+11:00

OK, so in April my wife and I will be heading to South America (Chile, Bolivia and Peru) for 10 weeks of serious trekking. Apparently the Andes are quite large. We’ll be trekking up to 5000m at times. So not only will we have trekking for 18 days at a time in steep terrain to cope with, but also the effects of altitude.

Obviously we both need to be pretty fit for this. My training has been inhibited by a knee problem, but that seems to be improving quite a lot since I’ve stopped running. It’s just too hilly where we live and running down hill is a killer. It looks like I’ll be relying on my bike for some exercise.

We’re also doing a series of day walks during the weekends leading up to our trip. These will culminate in the 8 day overland track from Cradle Mountain to Lake St Clair in Tasmania at the end of March.

Our first day walk was on Sunday, and what a way to start! It was a wet day, but since we need to get used to walking in adverse conditions (and since we just bought some new waterproof pants!) we headed for the hills. The planned walk at Mt Donna Buang started with a climb up along Cement Creek to the summit of Donna Buang. This is only about 3km, but includes a nice steady climb of about 650 metres.

The walk wound its way up the mountain through some beautiful ferny gullies and mountain ash and beech forest. We spent the whole walk inside a cloud. Visibility was limited and the rain was constant. Great temperate rainforest at its most rainy!

We saw several lyre birds and even some kind of yabbie on the track! Yep, that’s how wet it was. Occasionally the track did follow the creek, but the yabbie was on a relatively dry section!

Sounds like a nice walk apart from the rain doesn’t it? Well almost. The problems started after about 15 minutes of walking when we saw our first leech. Well, a few actually! We pressed on, hoping that we’d pass through this patch of suckers as quickly as possible. Oh how wrong could we have been!?!

To summarise, we spent the next 4 hours fighting a rising tide of little black leeches as they climbed our legs like the enemy forces in a game of space invaders. We were struggling, in vain, to keep them out of our clothing and off our skin.

Nosferatu to Mrs Nosferatu: "Do I have one on my neck?"
Mrs Nosferatu, laughing: "You actually have five!"

Hours later after beating a hasty retreat from the summit we emerged from the forest back at our car, wet and bloody. That of course was not the end of the struggle; we were still pulling them from our wet weather gear and skin when we got home after a 30 minute drive.

40 to 50 met a salty demise, when we finally reached the safety of home, and that was a small fraction of the numbers that we saw that day. I’ve never seen anything like it; at times the ground was seething with them!

Now, 2 days later, the itching from numerous leech bites continues…

I hate leeches.

A Blog? ...but what have you got to say?

2008-01-18T15:49:00.000+11:00

Hmmm, good point. Let me think about it.