photos

March and April: photos post

Posted by Patrick Lam on Friday, May 1, 2026

March and April were both better than January for photo processing. I don’t really have new sets of photos from these months, but I also only processed 8 sets. So the backlog from January 2024 is now 2 1/3 years.

Picture logs available, and, as always, pictures are clickable to go to the full gallery.

  • Sets of pictures processed: March/April=10, February=10, January=1
  • Total pictures selected: March/April=330, February=276, January=27
  • Total pictures in selection pool: March/April=1263m February=1210
  • Accept rate: 26% (min 15%, max 78%)
  • Pictures posted on this page: 94

Unsurprisingly, most of the highlight photos are from the Cascade Saddle: although 3/10 sets weren’t from that trip, the non-Cascade Saddle sets are tiny and not that photogenic.

Tūī; towards Mont Bernard summit; cloudy chiaroscuro; yet another Aoraki picture; at the salmon farm; campsite cat in Arrowtown; moonset; dawn skies from Dart Hut; kea perched atop a hut looking out; takahē on its evening stroll; more waterfalls; MP at Muddy Creek; MP pondering Aoraki.

Some birds from Zealandia and from the Cascade Saddle trip:

Bellbird/korimako; whitehead/pōpokotea; house sparrow; megabombus bee (yes, not a bird); black-billed gull; NZ scaup; gulls and scaups not mingling; gulls in flight; kea; kea munching; kea wings; takahē; South Island robin/kakaruai.

We have: Cascade Saddle (to Wanaka via Unwin; near Dart Hut; to Shelter Rock Hut; Shelter Rock to Muddy Creek; and out via Aoraki); Mont Bernard near Bromont; over the Cook Strait; and Wellington/Zealandia.

Cascade Saddle (February 2026)

I actually managed to finish the photos from this trip, though the last set was on May 1, so we’ll see that in the May photos summary.

First: Christchurch to Unwin Lodge and then onwards to Queenstown/Arrowtown.

Leaving Kelburn in the early morning; kiwi bus engine grate; Easter kiwis; Southern Alps landscape near Unwin Lodge; bubbles in the water; salmon farm; climbing Toe the Line at Mount Iron; Arrowtown Masonic Lodge; MP at Mantra; Magnum Wall at Gorge Road; more rock at Gorge Road; depiction of panning for gold; Arrowtown Holiday Park.

Jumping ahead, this is from the last part of the Cascade Saddle day, after the moraine and along the Dart River, on our way to Dart Hut. A long day.

MP on a hike; flats above the Dart River, below the snow; Brückner Glacier toe; snowy with crevasses; Brückner and Hesse glaciers; Brückner glacier in the early evening; remains of a brown hare; riverbed to mountains; Dart Hut nearby; MP descending ladder to Dart Hut.

Onwards over the Rees Saddle and to Shelter Rock Hut, where the takahē do their evening stroll.

Waterfall; tauhou/silvereyes in a tree; crevasses; Mount Edward; other trampers coming up to Rees Saddle; Rees Saddle and MP; Shelter Rock bunkhouse; takahē.

The last day of the hike has a lot of kilometers but not much difficulty, from Shelter Rock Hut to Muddy Creek Carpark.

Knobbled orbweaver; walking in the dark; MP's headlamp; under smaller peaks; dawn light; into the sun; valley floor and peaks; cloud and summit; sort of braided; some building; almost out; Muddy Creek and digger; man's best friend; sandfly shelter; evening at Ruataniwha Holiday Park.

And on the drive back to CHC, via Twizel and Pukaki, and over the Cook Strait.

Kiwi-as ute; Twizel Four Square (yes, four squares); Lake Pukaki and Aoraki; Aoraki; another Aoraki with Lake Pukaki picture; a corner of Lake Pukaki; off the Wellington coast.

Various Aotearoa

Another set of pictures flying over the Cook Strait, and Wellington/Zealandia.

Naillington with dogs; chiaroscuro over water, plus Marlborough Sounds; more Sounds; near Blenheim; Trips and Transfers van.
MP at home; koromiko; little pied shag; spiderweb.

Quebec (December 2025)

From our walk up Mont Bernard.

Forest; Mont Bernard (alt 472m); pretty flat; Mont St Gregoire; boxy yellow building.

The List

Pretty similar backlog, but more time has passed.

2024:

  • Various (4)
  • [February] Travers-Sabine (6)
  • [June] Nairn St Cottage
  • [June/July] Old Ghost Road (4)
  • [July] Melbourne/Cairns (7)
  • [August] Catlins (4)
  • [September] Skyline
  • [September] Japan (6)
  • [October] Rotorua (2)
  • [October] Ontario (5)
  • [October] Pasadena (5)
  • [November] Johnston Hill and Zealandia
  • [November] Gisborne (3)
  • [December] Cascade Saddle attempt (5)
  • [December/January] French Polynesia (8)

2025:

  • Various (1)
  • [January] Montreal
  • [January] Regina (almost none!)
  • [February] Japan (7)
  • [February/March] Kingston (2)
  • [March] Edmonton (4)
  • [March] Peterborough and Ottawa
  • [April] Lima (3)
  • [May] Escarpment Track
  • [June] Korean Festival in Wellington/WJA (2)
  • [June] Australian Nationals (4)
  • [June] PLDI (8)
  • [July] TMB (13 days, 4131 pictures) (9 left)
  • [August] Grenoble (3)
  • [August] Auckland (2)
  • [September] Auckland SCAM (2)
  • [October] Whitehorse WFR (2)
  • [December] Wellington (1)
  • [December] Quebec (5)

2026:

  • Various (3)
  • [January] Quebec (3)
  • [February] Madawaska Ice Fest (1)
  • [February] Vancouver (2)
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