We have left Auckland last Wednesday, and stopped once more in Bluff on the southern tip of New Zealand, to top up fuel, and now we are heading due south. The weather is getting decidedly colder and the seas rougher, but we knew that already. By New Year's Day, we should be in the Antarctic ice and in search mode for the Japanese whalers. Behind me are nearly two weeks in New Zealand - some time was spent travelling aimlessly through the north island admiring its beauty, and some time was spent agonising and fighting depression at the loss of our helicopter, Tweety. Without it having been repaired in time, our chances of finding the whalers are diminished, as are my possibilities for aerial coverage of the whaling actions and shots of icebergs and Antarctica in general. It is gutting to have lost about 50% of the potential pictures that I could have got before even reaching the scene, but it's a fact of life and I have to move on from that. Finding alternative angles and positions to shoot from is going to be my new hobby between now and the New Year - we have several ideas, but I shall not reveal any before we've tried them so stay tuned on this one...
beauty on my mind. Rather than to drone on about rough weather and heavy seas, I have poetic impressions of New Zealand'sKiwiland being divided into two islands and us having landed in Auckland, exploring the northern island was the obvious choice: Take a car from Jucy Rentals, buy map, buy guidebook, get beers, get cigarettes, turn the key and hit the road. That's pretty much how we left Auckland, blundering our way through some spectacular landscapes on the west coast and then heading south past Hamilton and into the South West around Waitomo. I think we originally decided to visit some caves with glow-worms, but along the way got distracted by spectacular waterfalls and Very Cold swim stops, fish & chip shops, bars with good Gin & Tonic and the odd breathtaking scenery ahead of us. We had far too little time to really get an idea of the vastness and ruggedness of lakes, parks, volcanoes and valleys that are scattered across the country - what we really got is a first impression of how spectacularly beautiful and unspoilt New Zealand still is. And we haven't even been on the south island, rumoured to be much more dramatic. I for one have decided to return here for at least a month, rent a motorbike and tear up the countryside in order to see as much as possible of it at some point in the future. To prove that I am not just blabbering, I have attached a selection of photos which I hope will make you green with envy ;-)
A propos pictures - I have used my time and the availability of broadband internet in Auckland to set up an online archive. Since several of you have been asking, from now on you can view up-to-date pictures from the expedition in the 'Oceans', 'Esperanza Aboard' and 'Esperanza Crew Portraits' folders accessible from the homepage at Digital Railroad. My aim is to be feeding fresh pictures into the archive whenever I have them, as we now have a reasonably fast and stable internet connection on board, a pure luxury most of the time, and essential when needed for the media work. So uploading pictures will not be a problem, the only limits being my own laziness and availability of things to shoot. So hopefully no problems on that front either, as I've learned to make proper coffee and within a week we will be in the ice.
Wish us luck as I feel that only now (well, after two months, actually), this trip is finally beginning to reveal its meaning. Thanks to relentless campaigning, protesting and pushing, diplomatic pressure and extensive news coverage, the Japanese government has agreed to abstain from killing 50 endangered Humpback whales, but they still have close to a thousand Minke and Fin whales on their menu. So good reasons for us to go down to the Southern Ocean and make their hunt as difficult as possible without endangering lives. It's been a long time coming, but now I feel that this voyage is getting serious and the ship's crew means business. Let's hope we all stay safe despite the harpoons and water cannons, and that we can stop the slaughter. Wish us luck.
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