This month, I processed 50% more photos than usual (and produced other content as well). Easier to do when not travelling and not actively submitting papers. There are a lot of sets and there are some big sets in there.

It’s always hard to know how to count sets for the month in progress. Anyway, I removed 22 sets from the queue and added 7, with only 3 net-new sets from November 2024 that I didn’t process immediately.

The “earliest unprocessed” set pointer moved from November 2022 to December 2022. There are tons of pictures from December 2022 though (in 15 sets). Not sure I’ll get through them in December 2024. But, after December 2024 and 5 days from January 2024, the next set is August 2023.

Picture logs still available. As always, pictures are clickable to go to the full gallery.

Sets of pictures posted: 22 (October: 12)
Total pictures posted: 900 (284)
Total pictures in selection pool: 3011 (767)
Accept rate: 30% (min 12%, max 59%) (37%)
Pictures posted on this page: 95

NZ native bush (Remutakas); kererū got fruit; Tasman River valley; to the Tasman sea; Bullers mollymawk; superb lyrebird; crimson rosella; Anna's hummingbird; yellow-rumped thornbill; a vantage point of the Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti; along the streambed of the Mangatoetoe Stream

Around Wellington (November/December 2022)

Darwin's Barberry; gorse; tauhinu; harakeke/flex; horokaka/native ice; bottlebrush; kererū; rose garden at Botanical Gardens; screaming tūī; rose; duckling; oh joy, a cruise ship; harakeke bloom; kākā.

Remutakas Tramp (November/December 2022)

Manuka hut; the Remutakas; Haurangi Hut (×2); tree trunks; Waionumata view.

South Island trip (December 2022)

There are still 600 more pictures from Christmas 2022, but here’s the first set.

Up to Mueller Hut (43/155), December 25

plam & MP; snow and Tasman River valley; Mueller and Hooker lakes; Ngakanohi glacier and Eagle Peak.

Doubtful Sound Cruise (May 2024)

Also one more day from this 3-day Doubtful Sound cruise, but here’s day 2, with rainbows, waterfalls, and Buller’s mollymawks.

Submerged tree trunk; double rainbow; MP and ship; jib and rainbow; three falls; tops of falls; Marcaciones Point; sunset; Hares Ears; mollymawk.

Melbourne (but not Cairns) (July 2024)

Only 700 photos left from this trip.

Sherbrooke Forest (40/147), July 21

Eastern yellow robin; two galahs; sulphur-crested cockatoo; pied currawong; crimson rosella; cockatoo stare; don't feed the kookaburra.

Smaller October trip to Flagstaff (October 2024)

Managed to finish processing this trip, which may well have had more pictures than the much longer trip (where I was also much more tightly scheduled).

Farewell Wellington; United Club outdoors; PHX SkyTrain station; Flagstaff: red sky at dusk; Hotel Monte Vista; Phoenix: house finch; gnatcatcher; white-crowned sparrow; LAX: airport or mall?; AKL tomokanga; Air New Zealand Waka Rererangi.

Bigger October trip, Sydney day (October 2024)

Here’s one day from my second October trip, with lots of birds in Sydney.

Sydney birbs (66/192), October 29

pied cormorant; NO GO ZONE; galah; New Holland honeyeater; superb fairy wren; pied stilt; chestnut teal; sharp-tailed sandpiper; spotted dove.

Hīkoi mō Te Tiriti (October 2024)

On November 19th, perhaps the largest demonstration ever in Aotearoa’s history converged on Parliament in defence of the Treaty of Waitangi.

Aorangi Crossing (November 2024)

I joined this Wellington Tramping and Mountaineering Club trip to do the Aorangi Crossing, which would normally be somewhat logistically complicated because it is not a loop. There was a fair amount of elevation gain and loss over slippery terrain, but we had great views on the last day. Not sure about the effort-to-reward ratio. 33km, +/- 1860m elevation gain/loss.

WTMC van at the Aorangi Crossing; Mangatoetoe stream; rock in the stream; closeup of Sophie the dog; rewarewa; Adam; Pararaki Hut; broken pole club; mattresses, cleaner; around the hut; camping at Pararaki; sole stream crossing of the day; Palliser Bay and Lake Ferry; the Pinnacles.

The List

Onwards to the December 2022 photos (15 sets), January 2023, and then August.

From 2022:

[December] Auckland
[December] Wanaka Grebes (3)
[December] Gillepsie Circuit (4)
[December] Omarama
[December] Glacier iceberg kayaking
[December] Mueller Hut (3)

And 2023:

Various (5)
[January] AMC (5)
[August] Rotorua (quick)
[August] Ski trip (4)
[September] Wellington double rainbow, Zealandia (2)
[September] Waterloo/Calgary/Seattle/Squamish (8)
[October] Winnipeg, Scarborough and Sydney (3)
[November] Whitireia Park (1)
[November] Puke Ariki Traverse (1)
[November/December] Ouvea, Noumea Zoo, Riviere Bleue, Aquarium, Grandes Fougeres, Pic Malawi (6)
[December] Seattle, Montreal, Nelson (4)

2024:

Various (5)
[February] Travers-Sabine (7)
[May] Doubtful Sound (2)
[June] Light Cycles
[June] Nairn St Cottage
[June] Kapiti Island (2)
[June/July] Old Ghost Road (6)
[July] Melbourne/Cairns (7)
[August] Catlins (3)
[September] Skyline
[September] Japan (6)
[October] Rotorua (1)
[October] Ontario
[October] Pasadena
[November] Remutakas (2)
[November] Johnston Hill and Zealandia

November: photos post