My initial thoughts on what I will be doing in 2019.
Plans For 2019
Australia 2019
Ok so I’ve been having a little think since I did my end of year review/vlog yesterday.
I have always wanted to go back to Australia again, it’s such a big country you just can’t do it all in one go or even two or three go’s.
The first time I went was for four weeks (December 2006- January 2007) for the Ashes so I didn’t really do much else apart from when I was in Melbourne & Sydney.
The second time was in May 2017 for three weeks, in this case I had decided to do a 500 mile photographic road trip most of which was the Great Ocean Road (from Torquay to Port Fairy Victoria). I kept a photographic blog of my trip which can be seen here.
So now to my prospective 2019 trip. I’m thinking of three weeks in June/early July, I don’t want to cut into the English summer holidays otherwise I might not get the time off I want for this trip. I would be hoping to land in Adelaide, spend no more than five days there some of which would be to reset my body clock which takes two to three days. Then move on to Alice Springs for four or five days before finishing in Perth & the surrounding area Western Australia and then fly back from Perth.
I don’t want to spend too long in Adelaide as I’ve been there before, from what I remember I spent about a week there last time. I’m really interested in Alice Springs as I’ve never been there before & it’s quite different from the metropolitan Australian experience. I have been to Perth before but saw nothing of it as I spent to whole time resetting my body clock & then flew out to Adelaide, there is quite a lot to explore in Western Australia which would be my main area this time round.
Well I’ll put up more post’s when I have more news.
Iceland Video Slide Show
Australia Photo Slide Show
Kirkjufellfoss
Kirkjuefellfos was my destination today, things didn't get off to a good start however. My car hire sat nav wouldn't take my destination so I had to choose the nearest point & go from there.
Next instead to taking me through the toll tunnel (the shortest route) my sat nav sent me the scenic way which added another 1 1/2 hours to my journey time. On the plus side I did get to see these beauties.
So having taken the scenic route I finally reached Kirkjufelloss, to my surprise there weren't as many people there as I thought there might me. What really made it so great was the sun, it shined ALL day which made for great photos.
After spending an hour shooting photos I had some lunch & headed back to Reykjavik only this time I forced the sat nav to go the shorter route.
All in all a good day so lets hope tomorrow is as good for my trip out east.
Reykjavik
Well where to start?
As I eluded to in my previous post the weather was indeed changeable. Having started off quite grey & overcast when I started my walk into town from my accommodation the cloud lifted & the sun began to try to break through.
Until then I hadn't realised that where I was staying was on the highest hill in Reykjavik, it gave a great view of the town/city but this would come back to bite me later.
As you can see from the photo above Reykjavik is quite spread out (this is only a section on the city). The big pointy thing in the middle of the photo is Hallgrímskirkja Church which was my initial destination.
The church has a beautiful ornate door on both the inside & outside.
As you can see the weather started to get worse as it often does with little or now warning.
I went inside where there was an organist playing the main organ.
By the time I left the church the weather had not improved, in fact the wind had started to get quite strong so I decided it would be best if I turn back & return to my accommodation.
The route back was a more direct one, this mean't I could visit the Perlan Viewpoint.
Below the glass domed roof there is a museum & restaurant. The viewing area is outside the dome on the 4th floor, I had to buy a ticket for 480ISK (that's about £3) to get up there.
Having climbed 4 flights of stairs I eventually reached the viewing area. There were little devices you could use to look further afield with.
From the Perlan Viewpoint you can see the whole of Reykjavik including the domestic airport.
By this time it was mid afternoon & I was in need of food so I made the rest of the way back to my accommodation.
I didn't realise just how much my walk had taken out of me until the next day, I could barely walk from the pain in my feet but especially the pain in my Achilles Tendon in my left foot. This has mean't I've laid up today and have had to push back my plans by a day meaning I won't be able to do what I wanted on Thursday which may be a blessing in disguise.
Below is a gallery of all the photos I developed from my walk.
I am in Iceland!
Ok so I got to Gatwick Airport this morning expecting some kind of delay for the weather but to my surprise there was none! Also on the way to the airport I saw a double rainbow :)
So after checking my baggage & going through security I wondered the South Terminal waiting for my flights gate number to come up. While I was wondering I thought I'd get a travel alarm clock so I didn't have to reply on my phone, could I find 1? It appears you have better odd's of winning the lottery than finding a travel alarm clock @ Gatwick Airport. I don't get it.
Anyway after a while my stomach started to grumble so I had a nice breakfast as food was extra on the flight.
Having filled myself up it was time to get on my flight.
When I went to Australia back in May I was seated one row back from two screaming children that screamed the plane down for the full eight hours of that flight. So when about twenty plus teenagers boarded I was a little concerned. Two & a half hours of constant noise was torture but there was a silver lining.
The Air Steward was quite different, a mixture of sarcasm & dead pan humour would be the best way to describe him.
When we landed it was cloudy with sunny periods so better than what I had left behind.
Getting through the airport only took about twenty minutes which was good. I had a nice surprise when I got to the Hertz car hire desk too, they upgraded my hire car at no extra coast! Instead of a roller-skate (Toyota Yaris) I got me a automatic VW Golf Estate! They even threw in the Sat Nav at half price.
So I've never driven a left-hand drive car before, when I got into town I kept getting to close to the kerb (I even mounted it a little bit once but at low speed & no apparent damage was done). I found the scenery really hard to ignore, I saw loads of spots I'd like to photograph so I have a feeling I won't be lacking photographic opportunities while I'm here in Iceland.
So eventually I reached my accommodation, you get a lot for just over £20 per night. I'm a bit underwhelmed by the lack of power points in my dorm room (sharing with 3 other people).
I did pop out for some supplies but managed to get a little lost, still I got a few of the items I wanted.
More to follow soon...
16 Days To Iceland
Only 16 to go!
Hire-car booked (paid for).
Accommodation booked.
Flights booked (paid for).
I’m still planning where I will visit in Iceland, I’ve decided to limit myself to no further than a 5-hour drive (each way), that’s a lot of places to visit.
When I have decided on some definite sites I’ll put up their locations (Google Maps), the glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón is on my list along with the Solheimasandur Plane Wreck & Snaefellsnes.
More to follow.
Iceland
Ok so I have purchased my airline tickets & arranged my accommodation so all I need now is a hire car and I'll be set.
My camera is nice & clean (had the sensor cleaned a few weeks back @ Park Cameras), my 24-70mm f/4L lens is getting fixed so should have that back by the end of next week at the latest which is good as I want to exchange it for a Tamron 28-300mm lens which is much more practical.
All things being good I'll have my 5DSR, tripod, action video camera & 2 lenses (Samyang 14mm f/2.8 along with the Tamron I mentioned earlier) nice & ready for my trip.
I'll post the places where I will be photographing later once I have a better idea my where I want to go.