25 November 2009

Carcass Island

Currently in transit at Terminal 5 on Heathrow with nothing better to do, I figured I might as well start the picture flood. I will present one pic from each of our landings, or from our passage of the seas where I was fit for photography.

On our first landing at Carcass Island (West Falklands) we had bright sunshine and balmy temperatures. Beautiful start to the trip. Spring was bursting all over the place, with the usual compliment of seasonal activities performed by the local wildlife. And they weren't shy about it either!



Pentax K-7, DA* 60-250/4 at 250mm,
1/1000s, f/7.1, ISO 400
Click image for larger version

24 November 2009

Buenos Aires again

Just a quick note.


First of all, many, many thanks to all of you who have read my blog; and all the more to those who bothered to leave a comment! This is the first time I've had the occasion to see them, and it really warms my heart! Even the shake-up from Maritimtim on seasickness! :-)


To my defence, in that department, I can brag about NOT having been seasick at all across the Drake passage! Despite ocean swells comparable to those that knocked me flat to and fro South Georgia. It seems my system is gradually, ever so gradually, getting used to being at sea.


Actually, as we anchored up outside Ushuaia waiting for the pilot to take us to harbour, I was wondering how much "residue" the ocean swells would leave in my organism when back on solid ground. I guess I will find out for sure tonight when my head hits the pillow, but so far I haven't noticed anything. Much to my surprise. ;-)


Ushuaia is a town that puzzled me. It shares the building style of Buenos Aires, which means that it's a pretty strange conglomerate of ramshackle tin-roofed build-as-you-go houses, and fancy modern stuff. And of course yesteryear's modern stuff; in a variety of states of maintenance. The concept of neighbourhoods does not seem to exist, though. Shacks and middle-class houses may stand wall to wall. The approach to choice of coloring on the house walls seemed also rather haphazard. We saw a B&B, for example, with details in oiled oak and green-painted concrete. And we counted at least 3 distinct varieties of green, ranging from the matte colour of avocado meat to the juicy greens of lime rind.


Tonight we were honeypotted (sorry about verbing) to another tourist trap; a beef restaurant with a live show of the history of Tango. Wine was included, and so it was that I, after nearly a whole bottle of Argentinian Red, tried my hand at stage photography. My mind was blurred (a bit clearer now, thank you), and my pictures got blurred. Most of them anyway. I think I managed to isolate a couple of moments; judging from the rear screen of the camera. Might be worth a blog post after all.


Tomorrow is leisurly; at least compared to some of our schedules on the boat, we only need to be ready for going to the airport at 10:00 AM. A fifteen hour flight to London awaits. Then another couple of hours to get to Oslo; which we'll reach around 16:30 wednesday afternoon. Boy, it will be good to get home.


Thanks again to all of you who have bothered to read my ramblings, I promise I will respond to each of the comments in turn when I get back home.


In the meanwhile, here's a pic I meant to post from the Falklands, but which would never upload through the crappy link. Taken from the whale safari off the Valdez peninsula, Argentina:




Pentax K-7, DA*60-250/4
1/250s, f/8, ISO 400
Click image for larger version