photos

June: photos post

Posted by Patrick Lam on Wednesday, July 1, 2026

No trips further than the Kapiti Coast in June, but did read books on some evenings, instead of processing pictures, so the counts are less than in May. (Also, I process pictures on long-haul flights sometimes, and didn’t have any of those).

The backlog remains (barely) under 2 years, with the last modern-era set being July 23, 2024. I can surely finish the July 2024 and August 2024 pictures this month. There are still a number of big sets in September, October, and December 2024. But the 2026 backlog is so far still manageable, with no extra sets being added for June (since no trips).

Highlights processed this month include the Old Ghost Road, a pretty birdy day in Cairns, one more TMB day, and half of the May 2026 pictures.

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

  • Sets of pictures processed: June=18, May=22
  • Total pictures selected: June=574, May=846
  • Total pictures in selection pool: June=1868, May=2330
  • Accept rate: 31% (min 16%, max 80%)
  • Pictures posted on this page: 140 (24% of selected)

Pretty consistent rates with last month, though the numbers were bigger last month. The thing about this data is that I only count when a set is done, and I’ve finished two huge TMB sets so far in July (it’s July 6th as I write this), so those numbers are going to be way up.

Old Ghost Road: Specimen Point Hut at night; reading about the Old Ghost Road on the Old Ghost Road; more waterfalls; The Old Ghost Road sign; sunset over Nelson; a throw at the 2025 Wellington Open; Tour du Mont Blanc: Grand Col Ferret; weird rock under high compression; Quebec: sun behind clouds at Mont Grand Fonds; at home in Waterloo (note new floor); Travis Wetland: pied stilt; Wellington: reflections of pink sky.

Just birds (well, almost):

Brook Waimārama: Pīwakawaka/fantail; Old Ghost Road: Kakaruai/S Island robin; miromiro/tomtit; coral lichen; kakaruai; TMB: Eurasian crag martin; Eurasian griffon; Montreal: blue jay.
Australian birds in Cairns:
Little egret; striated heron; straw-necked ibis; Torresian kingfisher; muscovy ducks; Australasian grebe; willie wagtail; red-billed gull; kingfisher; pelicans.

Old Ghost Road (June/July 2024)

Managed to finish the Old Ghost Road and some days around it:

Here are the non-water pictures from these days on the Old Ghost Road; we stayed at Specimen Point instead of walking in 60mm of rain, having combined two previous days.

Waiting for the weather report on the inReach; time for a fire; reading about the Old Ghost Road; leaving Specimen Point Hut; gear; tree fern; MP with Anderson's Creek Bridge; Danger! Do not climb; plam at the Old Ghost Road northern end.

A lot of the Old Ghost Road runs along the Mōkihinui; here are some water pictures.

And we went to Nelson on our way out:

Central Nelson bike parking; lemon; magnolia; Nelson and mountains; mountains view; Queens Garden Bridge; sailing out.

TMB Day 8 (July 2025)

More progress on a medium TMB day:

Tureens and cowbells; window at the Chalet Val Ferret; Val Ferret in the morning; valley (towards Pre de Bar); Rifugio Elena; rainbow; hostile weather walking towards the Grand Col Ferret; trail in the landscape; mule; two Swiss cows; Ferret; Chemin du Boquetin and excess shoe; Gite de la Fouly; stag and bear sculptures; mules; pile of donkeys.

Cairns (July 2024)

Still have e.g. the Great Barrier Reef pictures to process, but here is a link to Cairns photos; all the pictures I selected are birds (above).

Montréal and points East (December 2025/January 2026)

Christmas in Montreal and then travelling East to Mont Grand Fonds and then back.

Some pictures from Montréal:

Louie the dog; après la tempête; VIA trains from the REM; on the REM; Beta Bloc; warming up.

and from Baie St-Paul and Mont Grand Fonds:

World maps without NZ; sign leaning over; lift at Mont Grand Fonds; cafeteria; diamonds this way; still in the glades; confit de canard (we were alone at the restaurant).

Waterloo to Montreal to Waterloo (April/May 2026)

and the most recent pictures from Montréal:

Montréal Gare Centrale; skyline picture; mural at de Castelnau métro; exo train; YUL P4; Mila (the lab that looks like a startup); exposed rock inside Édouard-Montpétit REM; poutine at La Banquise; 146kpm on the VIA.

Ontario climbing (May 2026)

Cargo ebike at Grand River Rocks Kitchener; large whtie trillium; violets; looking out near Buffalo Crag; Rattlesnake Spring Fling; James, thinking about it.

Wellington (2024, May 2025, May 2026)

City pictures; usually cellphone pictures are higher-accept-rate, but not these.

Windows on a public display; Net Talks on decolonization; inside the newly-renovated Library; delayed luggage retrieved; repotted cactus; Mounties on a mural in Petone?; lost my plane; Lyall Bay lifesaving club; outside the Library; various boats at the Wellington waterfront opposite Harbourside Market.

Some animals:

Bird of the Century mural; cat; foster puppy; "we want you to vote kororā" Bird of the Year poster; tuatara at Vic.

Landscapes:

Wellington from the air at night; leaving at dawn; Kāpiti Island sunset; fall foliage; Anderson Park.

And sports and culture:

Kids' class at Wellington Judo Academy; taiko again; 2025 Wellington Open; VM-66 podium from 2025 Wellington Open; NIBS 2026 at Faultline.

Christchurch (May 2026)

I have more pictures from Christchurch, including in particular part of the Rāpaki Track, but here are Travis Wetlands pictures (mostly birds):

Tauhou/silvereye; Australasian shoveler; pukeko; row of Canada Geese; goldfinch; grey teal; swamp harrier; paradise shelduck; golden hour tree; cat; scaup; back near the viewing hide.

Duck harassment!

The List

Earliest date: late July.

2024:

  • Various (3)
  • [July] Melbourne/Cairns (4)
  • [August] Catlins (2)
  • [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 (2)
  • [June] Korean Festival in Wellington/WJA (2)
  • [June] Australian Nationals (4)
  • [June] PLDI (8)
  • [July] TMB (13 days, 4131 pictures) (6 left)
  • [August] Grenoble (3)
  • [August] Auckland (2)
  • [September] Auckland SCAM (2)
  • [October] Whitehorse WFR (2)
  • [December] Wellington (1)
  • [December] Quebec (4)

2026:

  • Various (3)
  • [January] Quebec (2)
  • [February] Madawaska Ice Fest (1)
  • [February] Vancouver (2)
  • [May] Waterloo
  • [May] Sydney (2)
  • [May] Christchurch (3)
  • [May] Wellington/Zealandia (2)
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