Textures of the Antipodes
Gentians, ferns, Acaena (biddy-bids), Lycopodiums and more! I love photographing wildlife, but something that draws me just as much is the textures of the environment I'm in. All the tiny…
The Light Fantastic
The end of a long day of census blocks, walking in lines over lumpy, orifice-infested vegetation. Wind riffling up the slopes of the southern end of Antipodes island, tossing golden…
Ten ways to photograph an Albatross
Classic portrait Are we surprised that I took lots of albatross photographs during three months living and working on Antipodes island? Not really. But how do you keep things fresh…
The Southern End
I didn't manage to do a great job of blogging while on the Antipodes. I hoped to, but too many competing interests were bubbling around at the time, and my…
Antipodean Summer 1
I’m writing this sitting outside the hut on Antipodes Island, 870km southeast of New Zealand. The fact that I can write and post blogs from here is a bit startling,…
Up close with an albatross
Toroa / Campbell albatross It's no secret that I love albatrosses. Being at sea, watching them in their element is hands down one of my favourite things. Aotearoa is a…
Snares crested penguins
Escapism
Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland) is still in L4 lockdown, which means I can't do fieldwork. I'm running out of research-related things I can do. So as well as photographing backyard birds…
Dawn at sea
I've been slopped around all night in my bunk and woke to a 3am alarm to take watch til dawn. Seasickness has me grumbling and dry-throated (thanks Scopoderm), but as…
Beeman
This view, even mist-bound, is one of my favourites. The winding boardwalk down from the ridge past Beeman hill on Campbell island. Dracophyllum and tan-tussock, bright juicy green Bulbinella leaves…
Celestial Navigators
It’s gone eleven at night, and still. The ocean is a gentle hush against the cliffs below, echoing in the narrow inlet. The sky is clear, velvet dark, moonless, starfull.…
Spring bloom
Karo - Pittosporum crassifolium It’s last light, golden fragments flung from scattered clouds in an icey blue sky painting the tallest reaches of a struggling karo tree that sits outside…
Sitting with the Southern Royals
Come and sit with me in the tussock, looking out across the megaherb gardens on Campbell Island. Tuck down and nest in the golden grass, sheltered from the wind strafing…
Leaving Campbell Island
Leaving a harbour for the open sea can be daunting. We read forecasts and anticipate the swells and the wind, but experiencing the transition from stillwater to rolling ocean is…
A hike around Enderby Island – 2020
In 2015, Enderby island was my first boots-on-ground subantarctic island experience. It was Christmas Day. I opted to see as much of the island as possible on a circumnavigatory hike…