Stewart Island is New Zealand’s little known southern-most island and the closest southern landmass you can travel to be close to Antarctica besides the lower southern part of South America. Stewart Island can be accessed via a short fixed wing flight from the larger South Island town of Invercargill or a longer, but more economical ferry ride from Bluff.

View Larger Map of Stewart Island Relative to South America & New Antarctica

Team Landing on Stewart Island

Furhana Ahmad from Stewart Island’s Ruggedy Range guided tours

The primary goal of our Tourism NZ/Canon Video/Photo crew was to spot an elusive Kiwi bird with the assistance of Furhana Ahmad from Stewart Island’s Ruggedy Range guided tours and record the event, however only 2 of our crew saw a Kiwi and it was after midnight while walking outside so there was barely enough time to move out of the way while it ran down a path and disappeared into vegetation.

Wind Swept Beach Panorama

We were not dismayed by the lack of kiwi sightings as Stewart Island offered plenty of opportunities for outdoor adventure lovers to admire including wind swept beaches with waving grass on dunes that fascinated our resident TV travel journalist Jules Lund, bush walks through a variety of vegetation and sand dunes and a sense of being far away from the noise and maddening crowds of city life.

Stewart Island video

Sombre Atmospheric Weather on Stewart Island

Jules Lund Taking the Road less Travelled on Stewart island

Clive Copeman photographing Stewart island sand dunes

Make Sure You Wear Appropriate Wet Weather Gear from Shoes to a Beanie or Hood and the rest of your body in between

Kiwi Roadsign

Space is our Final Frontier. NASA’s Voyager I and II missions were supposed to last just 5 years from 1972-1977 exploring the outer planets of our solar system and yet they are still powering over 30 years later, continuing to transmit data to Scientists on Earth as they pass through interstellar space, exploring and boldly going where no man has gone before.

NASA Voyager photo credit: NASA

In 1977, two unmanned spacecraft, designed and built by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, were launched on reconnaissance missions to the outer planets. Separate Titan/Centaur rockets launched Voyagers 1 and 2 in September and August 1977 toward Jupiter.

The launch window during 1977-79 which the Voyager missions took advantage of to fly by all four planets in our outer solar system happens only once every 176 years. If this window had occurred in 1965-66-67, we wouldn’t have had the technology to fly such a mission. If it had happened in the 80’s, we couldn’t have launched the mission as necessary rockets had been discontinued.

Each Voyager spacecraft carries a message in the form of a 12-inch gold-plated phonograph record. The record, together with a cartridge and needle, is fastened to the side of the spacecraft in a gold-anodized aluminum case that also illustrates how the record is to be played. The records contain greetings in 55 languages, samples of music from different cultures and eras, natural sounds of surf, wind, thunder, birds, whales and other animals, and a message from then US President Jimmy Carter.

In September 1977, Voyager 1’s camera looked back toward the home planet for a first-ever glimpse of the Earth and its Moon in a single photo.

NASA Voyager view of earth and moon. photo credit: NASA

Voyager’s fuel efficiency is quite impressive. Even though most of the launch vehicle’s 700 ton weight is due to rocket fuel, Voyager 2’s great travel distance of 7.1 billion km from launch to Neptune resulted in a fuel economy of about 13,000 km per liter. As Voyager 2 streaked by Neptune and coasted out of the solar system, this economy got better and better!

NASA Voyager Saturn’s Rings. photo credit: NASA

The rings of Saturn appeared to the Voyagers as a dazzling necklace of 10,000 strands. Trillions of ice particles and car-sized bergs race along each of the million-kilometer-long tracks, with the traffic flow orchestrated by the combined gravitational tugs of Saturn, a retinue of moons and moonlets, and even nearby ring particles.

Through the ages, astronomers have argued without agreeing on where the solar system ends. One opinion is that the boundary is where the Sun’s gravity no longer dominates – a point beyond the planets and beyond the Oort Cloud.

This boundary is roughly about halfway to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri. Traveling at speeds of over 35,000 miles per hour, it will take the Voyagers nearly 40,000 years, and they will have traveled a distance of about two light years to reach this rather indistinct boundary.

Barring any serious spacecraft subsystem failures, the Voyagers may survive until the early twenty-first century (~ 2020), when diminishing power and hydrazine levels will prevent further operation. Were it not for these dwindling consumables and the possibility of losing lock on the faint Sun, tracking antennas on Earth could continue to “talk” with the Voyagers for another century or two!

To learn more about NASA’s Voyager missions and view images these missions took during flybys of Jupiter, Saturn etc visit the Voyager JPL website

GUEST ARTICLE: When travelling through outback Queensland I always try to take the time to turn of the highway into the small towns that dot the country side.

These days the roads no longer go through these towns which are slowly dying as people travel past them on highways at 110kph.

The photo above is from a town called Wyandra.

Pulling off the main road into this town where there were literally emu’s walking on the main street, I spent nearly an hour taking photos in and around the town.

View Larger Map

This photo I felt not only captured the outback, but the way that life is conducted. These days the Pub is often the only shop left working, becoming the corner shop, the post office and in this case the petrol station.

I saw all three people wandering around the town and yet could here a community of activity inside the hotel.

My only regret was not having enough time to stop for a beer, to sit and listen to the locals and the towns living history.

This guest article has been written by my friend Wolf Cocklin (@wolfcat on Twitter). Wolf is interested in photography, mobile, GPS, tech stuff and what the future holds in all of these

If you’ve travelled somewhere off the beaten track, can write well and have good quality photos I encourage you to contact me and I’ll consider publishing your travel diary here including generous attribution and links back to your website as thanks for your contribution

Landline is ABC TV’s national rural issues program. This week’s Landline episode is all about how to survive in the Australian outback. I’ll be watching the show and adding the top tips to improve your safety when travelling in the outback to this review.

I love to travel, especially to remote places off the beaten track where only serious travelers venture (not tourists). View examples of photos I’ve taken on holidays in the Australian Outback in this article to see what I mean.

Almost 25 years ago, two young jackaroos abandoned jobs on the outback stations where they were working and headed, on foot, into the heat of the Gibson Desert – without so much as a water bottle or hat. That is where the pair died.

Teenagers James Annetts, 16, and Simon Amos, 17, had started work at Flora Valley Station, about 100 kilometres east of Halls Creek. After only seven weeks they were sent to be caretakers at properties more than 100 kilometres apart.

Then, for reasons which will never be known, or understood, the two young men – who had no idea about desert survival – left their caretaking posts and walked to their deaths.

So how could this have happened and is it likely this is a tragedy which could happen again, nearly a quarter of a century later? Outback survival expert Bob Cooper knows it can.

The desert is unforgiving and if you don’t know how to react it can, and it will, kill you.

Yet the outback continues to draw people, not just workers but many more tourists, in their thousands, most with very little idea of the risks they are really taking.

In a interview on ABC TV’s 7.30 Report in 2005 Cooper explained how heat stress and dehydration can cause a person stranded in a high temperature environment to make crazy decisions:

BOB COOPER: “We’ve had people walk along the track and throw their hat away. They haven’t put it in their pocket. They’ve discarded it completely. Then they’ve taken their shirt off and thrown it away. You must be out of your mind to do that in 40 degree heat.

The year 2000 we put a guy called Ken Bradshaw, the extreme wave rider of the world, into a heat chamber in the Wollongong University. He was on a slow cycle on an exercise bike in 40 degree temperature. An extremely fit person.

He lost just under two litres of body fluid in 90 minutes. So in an hour and a half he lost two litres of water. That’s enough to impair your ability to think clearly by 30 per cent”.

An ABC Landline crew recently spent a week in the Pilbara bush, working alongside Cooper during a training course designed to equip participants with the minimum skills they need to survive.

Cooper said people who complete the survival course come from all walks of life and were mainly made up of people wanting to step out of their comfort zones.

They might be sunburnt, they might lose weight, they might be dehydrated, But if they take everything in the course on board, remember it and use it, they will be alive.

The survival expert said he hoped people watching this Landline special would be educated in how to survive some of the toughest terrain on the planet – or at least be aware of the dangers involved.

He said some of the most important steps someone needs to take to survive in the outback include:

• to always make a plan
• rational thinking
• prioritising your needs
• stay with your car
• not sipping water but to drink at least a cup at a time

Learn How to Survive in the Australian Outback by watching Landline on ABC1 TV Sunday October 4 12pm. Also repeated on ABC1 Monday October 5th 6pm and ABC2 Monday October 5th 630pm.

For more information on the outback survival course visit Bob Cooper Survival

While I’ll never be fit or rich enough to climb fearsome peaks like the Eiger I enjoy going for holidays to Australia’s Snowy Mountains and the New Zealand Alps to take photos and go for long walks.

Climbing a mountain vicariously by watching films like “The Alps” on IMAX is as close as most of us will ever get to the real thing. If you’re like me and live/work in a city but dream of travelling to remote beautiful places like mountains and deserts than it’s well worth watching.

The “Eigernordwand” (north face of the Eiger) is a 1829metre vertical face of sheer jagged limestone considered one of the most difficult climbs in Europe and has claimed many lives including John Harlin III’s father 40 years ago.

The film follows the preparation and progress of John Harlin III’s team attempt to climb the “Eigernordwand” and finish the task his father tragically failed to complete.

“The Alps” offers breathtaking widescreen visuals with an eagle’s eye view of the Swiss Alps and gives you a glimpse into the life and motivations of someone who spends life on the edge but is also far more safe dogged and well prepared than normal people.

Amazingly the camerawork is very steady even though it was taken using heavy IMAX cameras from a helicopter and the narration from John Harlin III and Michael Gambon (Dumbledore from Harry Potter movies) as well as the musical accompaniment are suitably understated allowing the visuals to take pride of place.

With regular small screen movie tickets at Hoyts and Greater Union already costing $15-$20 it’s worth considering whether to go to IMAX instead and get a true bigscreen experience which literally fills your field of vision. I’ve been on aerial flights of the New Zealand Alps and the views in this film were almost as good

Other People’s Reviews of “The Alps”

An intimate, yet soaring story … John Harlin III was just 9 when his father died after a rope broke during his climb of the infamous, awesome and ruggedly beautiful Eiger mountain. It took him 40 years mostly because he wanted to spare his mother the anguish, but finally it had to be done. And it was done through an opportunity offered to him by the filmmakers, who wanted to tell an Alpine story. This is one of the best.

Shot for the IMAX screen, helicopters were used to transport the hefty IMAX camera gear. Inside the story of alpine climbing are the intimate personal stories of the Harlin family, and the details that give us the understanding – the reasons why. This is important and valuable as the doing itself, a scary task, but also an exhilarating one.

The sensation is almost tangible and the story engaging. We meet Harlin’s family and we learn a bit about the origins of the Alps as well as about climbing. But the majority of the action is cliff hanging stuff. Literally.
- Andrew Urban (Urban Cinefile)

Even though the film was shot and is being shown in the 2-D format and not in IMAX’s sometimes gimmicky 3-D one, “The Alps” is still not for those who have a fear of heights.

After all, the documentary short puts viewers at the base of, on the side of and on top of the European mountains, some of which rise nearly three miles above sea level.
…
Judson is wise enough to limit the voice-over bits (narrator Michael Gambon is appropriately subdued) and makes good use of occasional music from the rock group Queen (a bungee-jumping scene features “Can’t Stop Me Now,” and there are a couple of instrumental solos from guitarist Brian May).
- Jeff Vice (Deseret News)

On the 4th of August 2002, adventurer Mike Horn started his biggest challenge so far: the discovery of the Arctic. He was set on being the first man to travel alone around the Arctic Circle non-stop, traveling a considerable part of the way on foot without any human assistance or motorized vehicle.

Download this 1680×1050 sized wallpaper photo of Mike’s face almost covered with Snow and Ice.

This “Arktos” expedition took 27 months during which Mike traveled solo and covered 20,000km trekking around the Arctic Circle crossing the territory of Greenland, Canada, Alaska, Russia and Norway using only his general knowledge, good equipment, physical strength and determination as his resources.

Mike was set on being the first man to travel alone around the Arctic Circle, keeping above the latitude of 66°33, non-stop and non-motorized. His modes of transport were sailboat, kayak, bike, skis, and when possible, a kite. On the 21st of October 2004 at 10am Swiss time, Mike Horn reached this almost impossible goal 27 months after starting.

Visit Mike’s website for details about his “Pangaea Young Explorers Project” which gives conservation training scholarships to children and young adults aged 13-20 years.

I met Mike in early July 2009 and spent a few hours on his yacht on Sydney Harbour, he’s really inspiring and I hope his Young Explorers Project is successful.

If you know any kids 13-20 years old who are good at sailing & outdoor activities tell them to consider applying for Mike Horn’s “Pangaea Young Explorers Project” – his corporate sponsors cover all the costs of training and it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to learn conservation principles from a great explorer/adventurer.

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