Wanaka, New Zealand

It was a delight to see the sun today and what a beautiful place.

 

Punakaiki, Franz & Fox

Punakaiki -the weather is still pretty rainy but good enough to continue with my journey, well that was until the last 40km. Before leaving Punakaiki went to look at the world famous pancake rocks and blowholes

 

 

So the drive started out fine, a little rain here and there but the rain really started to pick up about 40km before my destination. I could also see the destruction from the storm from a few days earlier, the trees even though they had been cleared from the roads where everywhere and as I got closer to Franz Josef you could see the power lines were down. I began to get a little paranoid about the power lines on a ground and the huge puddles and me in my little pink metal car.

 

Funny as it sounds I didn't care a bit when my accommodation told me that there was no power and it had been out for a couple of days already, all I wanted was a dry place to rest. (It was so wet that I had to leave my luggage in the car).

 

Good news power was restored later that evening, yeah heat and the drying all of my wet gear can begin.

 

It's funny the little things you forget, in the early evening the air raid siren went off, I got a little confused, after travelling to places like Thailand and other island nations my first instinct was tsunami but remembering from my childhood this is the call out sound for the fire volunteers. Phew I did notice that a few other guest popped their heads out the door to also see what was going on.

 

Sunday April 20, 2014

 

It was nice waking up to the sounds of the native birds, I manage to take a quick trip to the glacier between breaks in the rain.

 

In the afternoon I decided that I didn't want to be stuck inside all day so I covered myself and all of my camera gear with plastic and went for a walk alone on of the walking tracks. I got drenched but it was a nice walk.

 

 



Kaikoura to Nelson

So the plan for today was to go on a whale watching cruise in the morning and drive to Nelson in the afternoon. However the cruise was cancelled due to the weather. So I began my drive early.

 

couldn't resist stopping at Cloudy Bay for a taste test

Got stuck in a traffic jam for around 1 hour near Rai Valley on State Highway #6, couldn't get out of the car due to  a colony of wasps hovered around the car.

Kaikoura

Today I travel 135km from Hanmer Springs to the seaside town of Kaikoura

Beautiful countryside

more beautiful countryside

Once I had arrive at Kaikoura I had a few hours until night, so I went to find seals at the Kaikoura Peninsula. There is a few walking track which takes you down to where the seals can be found.

my pic of the day

Christchurch to Hanmer Springs

Teresa Parker Photography takes you to New Zealand in April 2014. A month long adventure with the highlight, a 2 week road trip around the South Island visiting Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura, Nelson, Punakaiki, Franz Joseph Glacier, Wanaka, Queenstown and Mount Cook.

The road-trip has begun, today I traveled in my little pink rental car from Christchurch to Hanmer Springs 135 km north west along highway 7.

Hanmer Springs

Autumn

I went for a walk and found some beautiful fungus

Beautiful colours of Autumn

As the clouds set in I will call it a night

Christchurch 2014

Teresa Parker Photography takes you to New Zealand in April 2014. A month long adventure with the highlight, a 2 week road trip around the South Island visiting Hanmer Springs, Kaikoura, Nelson, Punakaiki, Franz Joseph Glacier, Wanaka, Queenstown and Mount Cook.

After a couple of days catching up with family we venture into Christchurch city on Sunday 13th April.

After devouring a delicious Souvlaki from Dimitris Greek Food located at the Restart Mall, Cashel Street (if you get a chance to eat here I highly recommend it) We wondered through "The Square" I have been to Christchurch several time since the earthquakes and it is nice each time I revisit the changes and progress being made. 

 Tourist viewing what was once the Christchurch Cathedral, a somber moment to reflect on the destruction and devastation of February 22, 2011 and a chance to move forward and focus on the future.

The countdown has begun for my New Zealand Trip

12 days until my New Zealand Road trip

Argentina - Pre Antarctica

My Journey to the White Continent – Antarctica

By Teresa Parker

Thursday 6th June 2013 was the day when I heard of a fantastic trip, the chance to go to Antarctica. The trip would entail a 9 Day Cruise departing from Ushuaia, Argentina on board the Ocean Nova 20-29 November 2013.

This would also mean I would need to have all of my assignments completed, 3 weeks early.

The following 5 months flew by like crazy, working, classes, assignments, more assignments, overtime and I still managing to attend and photograph many festivals and events.

Gear list – these I found quite helpful from other peoples blogs so will add separate list on what I took.

Wednesday 13th November 2013.
After finishing a 12 hour night shift this morning instead of going home to bed, I am catching a flight to Santiago Chile. The start of a 3 week adventure to Antarctica.

Before I had even left the office there was a 2 hour delay leaving Sydney, meaning I would have been awake for close to 24 hours straight, this made me a little worried about falling asleep at the gate and missing my flight.

The flight departed without any further delays. I was able to sleep the majority of the flight, however as I was not able to select my seat on web check in with Qantas, I was stuck in an aisle seat and my neighbours had to constantly had to climb over me while I was in my sleep coma.

Over the next two days I would be breaking the journey in Santiago and Buenos Aries to avoid any flight delays or missed connections. Instincts proved to be correct and there was a delay departing Buenos Aries on the Friday due to an early morning storm, my flight was only delayed for 1 hour but all of the earlier flights were delayed at least 2 hours.

Friday 15th November 2013 – Ushuaia, Argentina
I had finally arrived at my destination Ushuaia, Argentina. The apartment I had booked great, a few blocks from the main street and close to a supermarket.

 

Ushuaia - the gateway to Antarctica, the capital city of the Argentine Province of Terra del Fuego. Ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world and the closes to the Antarctic Peninsula. The city is located on the shores of the Beagle Channel, surrounded by the Martial Mountain range, Ushuaia has a population of about 60,000 people. The climate in Ushuaia is sub-polar, during summer the weather can change from sunny to snowing in just a few minutes. I did experience this more than once during my time here. During summer there are 17 hours of daylight so the sun would not set until 21:46.

 

Today I have booked a day trip with Pira Tour Travel to see some penguins. The tour is 6 hours, which would take us to Haberton Farm 90 km from Ushuaia. Haberton Farm is the closes port to Martello Island where a limit of 80 people per day are able to walk amongst the Penguins.

 

 

 

The tour was great spent 1 hour walking amongst the Magellanic Penguins in their natural habitat. It was cold and raining but an exciting day.

The Magellanic Penguin is a small to medium sized penguin found off the coasts of South America. Magellanic penguins are highly sociable birds and live in flocks with numerous other Magellanic penguins. These penguins primarily hunt Cuttlefish and squid along with numerous species of fish and krill. Predators of the Magellanic penguin Leopard seals, fur seals along with sharks and killer whales. The Magellanic Penguin, although quite numerous in some parts, are considered to be a threatened species due to changes in their natural habitats. Oil spills are thought to be the biggest threat to the species and their native breeding sites.

Photographic Equipment Canon 7D, 50-500mm, plastic bag to keep the rain off.

Clothing warm and waterproof, hat and gloves essential.

Sunday 17^th & Monday 18^th November 2013 – Lake Escondido, Lake Fagnano and Tierra del Fuego National Park

For the next couple of days I have booked 2 day trips. The first a 4x4 drive to Lake Escondido approx. 1 hour from Ushuaia which offers stunning views

 

 

 

 

After viewing Lake Escondido we travel off road, where the 4x4 experience begins. This is my fellow day tripper from Brazil who wanted a unique view of the journey.

 

Lake Fagnano (Cami Lake) is shared by Argentina and Chile. The lake runs east-west for about 98 kilometres, of which 72.5 km belong to the Argentine Tierra del Fuego Province, and only 13.5 km belong to the Chilean Magallanes y la Antártica Chilena Region

 

 

 

The following day Monday 18^th November I travel through the world’s southernmost national park Tierra del Fuego. I travelled via train on the Southern Fuegian Railway. This old railway once held prisoners who worked on the railway and surrounding areas

 



 

Tuesday 19^th November 2013

Today I am changing accommodation and stayed at the hotel with our group. Once checked in we did some shopping and enjoyed Ushuaia. Here is some street art I saw today

 

 

Tonight I met the other 18 people from Australia, USA and Switzerland. 

Parramasala 2013

Parramasala 2013, a set on Flickr.

Friday 4th October 2013 combining art and culture of Western Sydney.

This is the 4th year the festival has been running. Opening Parade kicked off at 18:30 with a procession of dancers, drummers and an array of costumes danced their way from Parramatta town hall to Prince Alfred Park.