Things I Love...

I recently got an old Canon AE1 camera so that I could shoot this old Canon lens that I have (which I've been shooting on a different camera and LOVE it!). It seemed only fitting that the first roll should capture some of my favorite things on beautiful black & white film. 

SX-70 that survived the South Pole

I'm a sucker for a good street lamp...

Some kind of Magnolia found in a park in Auckland, NZ

Ocean!

My favorite flips that just died and were buried in Auckland.

Devonport, New Zealand

The other day I took a ferry over to the little town of Devonport across from Auckland, New Zealand, on the advice of a friend. It's a colorful little town with sweet cafes on every corner. Perfect for drinking wine on the sidewalk while people watching... And as a bonus, while wandering up the hill in the middle of town I found this fun row of yarn-bombed street rails.

Christchurch, New Zealand

After several days travel I finally made it to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. We're hoping to leave for South Pole tomorrow but there have been a lot of weather delays so we're keeping our fingers crossed.

I spent a day in Christchurch, New Zealand picking up my ECW (extreme cold weather gear). Christchurch has always been one of my favorite cities in the world and to see the devastation wrought by the earthquakes over the last year was a bit heart wrenching. I stood in places that I had been dozens of times before and had no idea where I was because it looked so different with the crumbling buildings, and in some cases empty lots that have already been cleared. The heart of the city is a ghost town and eerily quiet. Churches, houses and high rises are toppled. 


We wandered through the botanic gardens though and it was nice to see that one of the anchors of the city is virtually untouched by the quakes and continues to grace Christchurch with a beautiful, reflective place for people to go.

Postage Stamps of the Week- New Zealand

Hubdude recently returned from Antarctica and picked up a bag of stamps for me in New Zealand on his way through.  Most of these I hadn't encountered yet so it was nice to get new ones.  In the mix was one lone Thailand stamp.  I like stamps from New Zealand & Australia because they typically tend to be more colorful than many other countries.

Postage Stamps of the Week- Antarctica & New Zealand

Hubdude is heading back to Antarctica today where he'll spend the next couple of months hanging out with researchers and writing about them.  He gets to fly to Christchurch, New Zealand to spend a few days gearing up first, one of my favorite cities in the world, and then it's off to the ice.  So today I have a couple of Antarctica and a few New Zealand stamps from my collection for you.