tiabunna's photos

From an old slide. Royals are the most common penguins on the island, forming very large colonies. Did you notice the ring-in in this shot?

Copied from an old slide. Dating from the early 1950s, the Lusitania Bay hut was a recycled aircraft engine packing crate! But it did provide overnight (if basic) accommodation. When I returned in 2005 for a visit, it was noticeable how the King Penguin colony had expanded to completely surround this hut.

From an old slide. King penguins at Lusitania Bay, with chicks from previous season.

From an old slide. From a hundred or so metres up the side of the escarpment, on the climb out from Hurd Point at the south of Macquarie Island. Unfortunately it was winter, in the summer months those beaches are packed with one of the world's largest penguin colonies (nearly a million Royal Penguins). To give a scale, the tiny dots on the lower RHS near my ID are elephant seals, several metres long.

The Light-mantled Sooty Albatrosses nest on very steep (and dangerously unstable) slopes on the sides of the plateau. They have no natural land predators, so are very unconcerned by photographers (well, I guess within reason). From an old Kodachrome slide taken with Minolta SR1 and Auto Rokkor 135mm 2.8 lens.

From an old slide. The main plateau is over 30km long, so walking it requires a few breaks. This much younger version of me is doing just that. The plateau is frequently enshrouded in cloud (as is rolling in here), so marker pegs provide guidance on the main walking routes.

Probably because he is an English speaker, the "local PR" for the visiting Russian Viking boat appeared to have been left to crew member Andy, who seemed happy to chat with an endless stream of visitors to the wharf. I could have spent ages talking with him as he was a mine of interesting information. He is an Australian who joined the boat only in Brisbane as radio operator (language again). Many of the Russian crew have undertaken previous adventure tours around the world including a motorcycle run through outback Australia. He met them at that time as he is a motorcycle enthusiast and owner of Russian bikes. That also explains how he came to be aboard the boat, and this is his first small boat voyage: what a way to start! The boat's next port of call is Hobart, where it will participate in the Wooden Boat Festival. In reply to my question, Andy told me that the boat does have a diesel engine as reserve if needed (though there is a traditional set of oars, in best Viking style). This picture is best viewed at Large/Original size and is 03 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

I found myself down at the local marina, admiring the visiting Russian Viking boat and chatting to a pleasant young woman, Kayla (01:100) who also was showing an interest in it. She called her friend who she was sure would be interested, and he arrived shortly afterward. His name is John and he claims Viking links back to the time of Eric the Red. Together we talked as a group to an Australian crewman from the boat. It was all so relaxed and pleasant that when my photographic urges took over I found that I wasn't just taking photos of the boat, but that I'd also asked my companions if I could take their photos for this project. We exchanged names and John very obligingly allowed me to take his photo. Isn't that just the perfect shirt to wear in front of a Viking boat! This picture is 02 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page

I'd been thinking about taking up the "100 strangers" project challenge, but hadn't managed to overcome my discomfort about initiating the process of approaching strangers for photos. Then I found myself down at the local marina, admiring the visiting Russian Viking boat and chatting to a pleasant young woman who also was showing an interest in it. She called up another of her friends who she thought also would be interested, and together we talked to an Australian crewman from the boat. It was all so relaxed and pleasant that when my photographic urges took over I found that I wasn't just taking photos of the boat, but that I'd also asked my companions if I could take their photos for this project. After that we exchanged names. Should you see this, thanks Kayla, you helped to get me started. This picture is 01 in my 100 strangers project. Find out more about the project and see pictures taken by other photographers at the 100 Strangers Flickr Group page