But today I join the photographer line-up at Zabriskie Point; the soft dawn light revealing the canyons’ subtle shades of colour.
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Morning of day two – I fancy the sunrise on the desert, but W stays in bed: no film to make, so he has a well-deserved sleep-in after doing all the driving yesterday. I am not usually a morning person, so the “golden hour” at sparrow fart usually sees me firmly snuggled into the bed-sheets awaiting my daily dose of caffeine to magically appear on the bedside table.
But today I join the photographer line-up at Zabriskie Point; the soft dawn light revealing the canyons’ subtle shades of colour. More
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Valley..We left LA at 10 on the biggest freeway I have ever seen, and stopped at Denny’s (a fast food franchise) for a late breakfast. The portions are still so huge in the US that W and I have to split every meal. The closest thing to eggs Benedict that Denny’s can offer is eggs cooked inside an o-shaped dough, hash browns (adapted from the swiss rosti, and I bet they thought they invented it) with bacon so crisp it’s easier to eat with my fingers. The coffee is bottomless, but America is not renowned for its coffee – even Starbucks is looking good here! It’s good that this is a bottomless cup; I have to drink a gallon of it to equal a regular shot of caffeine in Sydney.
More Actually it’s two right feet I ended up with – in my packing I didn’t think to check the two sandals I grabbed off the shelf. Husband, having an identical pair, I ended up with one of my right shoes, and one of his. So he has two left to match my right. Sigh, I only noticed that when I arose in San Diego, somewhat befuddled after twenty hours of travel. More
Voyage to Shackleton Country ![]() Our companions on this sea voyage from the Falklands to South Georgia were a medley of albatross and petrels. Hardly ever flapping their wings, they glide effortlessly in the wake of the ship, soaring high above us one moment, and then barely skimming the waves. We had a following sea, with howling winds pushing us to our destination, the ship corkscrewing along in a lurching rolling movement. There are a lot of green faces. South Georgia is where Shackleton landed with two of his men after rowing 800 nautical miles through these seas. Experiencing first hand the size of the waves, the power of the wind, and the sheer cold, it is hard to imagine a journey of such hardship successfully completed. Indeed, to this day, not one person has managed to replicate this epic of human endurance. Not only did Shackleton get his boat across these heaving freezing oceans, but he managed to climb over the southern mountains and hike across glaciers and crevasses to arrive in Grytviken in winter. All equipped only with canvas, wool and leather gear. It's humbling to reflect on this kind of endurance - in today's modern age with gortex, satellite links, email and text, we are never that far away. I often wonder whether anyone from today would survive, dropped into similar circumstances with what little existed in 1914. Or have we become too soft? Our most arduous experience here is a tummy bug that was introduced to the ship - we are nearly all laid low with some symptoms, but at least we have a warm cabin with hot and cold running water, and three meals a day when we can face up to them again. After two days we spot land. All of us are photographers of some kind or another, so we are getting trigger happy after only having birds on the wing to try and shoot. It certainly hones our tracking skills, but there's only so many blurred images of albatross that I can snap before I tire of it. |
AndreaIn no particular order my passions are travel, horses and photography Archives
April 2014
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