I was away for half the month. That does mean some flights, which is an opportunity to reduce the backlog. But it also means taking lots of pictures, because I was away on vacation. Some of the Olympus pictures got processed right away and avoided the backlog, but not North Macedonia at all (a great trip).

I’m still just under 2 years’ backlog, through to September 22. It would be good to finish Japan 2024 this month. Net addition for August is 18 sets, though.

The oldest part of the backlog was a trip to the Catlins in NZ in August 2024. I also managed to finish the July 2026 Kaikōura pictures. I’ve been putting up around-Wellington pictures and have a few from July 2026. Continuing to plug away at the TMB, I managed one more day (4 to go). And there are pictures from Christmas 2025 (skiing in Québec) and two sets of pictures from Olympus.

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

Sets of pictures processed: August=11, July=14, June=18
Total pictures selected: August=453, July=698, June=574
Total pictures in selection pool: August=1618, July=3333 (!), June=1868
Accept rate: 28% (min 11%, max 73%)
Pictures posted on this page: 127 (28% of selected).

Catlins: Horseshoe Falls; the sea at Nugget Point. In transit to Japan: Tokyo street. TMB: horse at Maison Vielle; MP; cow. Skiing: last run at Sutton; the Fleuve St. Laurent at Le Massif; experts seulement at Mont Grand Fonds. Field hockey in the Vancouver suburbs. Kaikōura: mountains over the water; debris from Kowhai flooding; kind of destroyed. Wellington: sailing around the bays. North side of Olympus: tree skeleton; protruding rock; entire Naoum Ridge; shadow of a small cloud; golden hour on the peaks.

General birds:

Catlins: kererū; shaggy little shag; red-billed gull; soggy oystercatchers. Kaikōura/Lake Elterwater: kotare/kingfisher; hoary-headed grebe; NZ scaup. Olympus: feather from a short-toed snake eagle.

Catlins (August 2024)

The Catlins are slightly isolated, a couple of hours from Dunedin (the furthest-south city in NZ), and famous for waterfalls. Nugget Point has a good lighthouse and a petrified forest, as well as hoiho/yellow-eyed penguins.

Matai Falls; same falls behind a curtain; Purakaunui Falls; MP and Purakaunui Falls; Florence Hill lookout; headwall and flats; petrified tree; headwall; rounded boulders; tractor; moa statue (not in birds pictures!); Nugget Point lighthouse; rocks around Nugget Point; rocks in the water; hoiho hide and cove.

In transit, WLG-NRT (September 2024)

WLG-NRT (38/52), September 21

The first day of the trip to the Kodokan for the IJF Academy was flying from Wellington to Auckland to Tokyo. Halfway to Toronto, sort of.

Naillington; Air NZ winglet; approaching Auckland; exiting AKL domestic; Air Solomons aircraft; bamboo at NRT; the streets of Tokyo.

TMB: Courmayeur rest day (July 2025)

Courmayeur rest day (66/195), July 25

Continuing to plug along at the TMB pictures. This was a rest day in Courmayeur: we took the chairlift down from Maison Vielle to town. Still a decent number of pictures, mostly from the morning at Maison Vielle.

Mementos in the Maison Vielle dining room; many cows milling about; Maison Vielle; Pace rainbow flag; group of Korean hikers; top of lift; Courmayeur below; many actions are prohibited; still Alps view; laundromat; streets of Courmayeur; tourist tram; takeout chicken for dinner (not a refuge meal).

Skiing in Québec (December 2025)

Two of the three ski days here (I also did an hour of skiing at Sutton for $20 on one day); the missing day is Mont Grand Fonds. Taking good pictures while skiing is tough; easier with a subject, rather than landscapes. I certainly have never skiied with the mirrorless camera, though. Could be interesting.

Gîte à Margot; Sutton base; golden hour sun through forest; Le Coquet airbnb near Le Massif; MP with La Desjardins; MP on toe edge; entering La Fortin; leaving Le Massif; the Moon.

Greater Vancouver: Field Hockey (February 2026)

Field hockey (60/524), February 28

I had a day in Vancouver on a long connection. Tried to see some birds at Delta, but that’s not in this set. There are enough pictures in this set. This is Alex’s field hockey team. I don’t really know field hockey, so no captions, but this is an attempt at sports photography.

Kaikōura (July 2026)

Cycling Kaikōura Track; and Lake Elterwater (51/165), July 12

I tried to do a bike ride. That was an adventure and I got pretty muddy. Also, Lake Elterwater on the way back.

Discount rental bike; perhaps sick fur seal; another fur seal; rocky flats; Kowhai River still high; finally the road; muddy pants.

Around Wellington (July 2026)

July 2026 (31/57)

Some protest outside Ministry of Justice; keep pigeons out of Puku Pies; structure unsafe for climbing; about Māori Jesus; Harbourside Market in the rain; outside Weta Workshop; celebrating LOTR anniversary; sailboat race.

Mount Olympus (August 2026)

Here are two of the four sets from our time on Olympus this year. It was a shorter trip than last year. The objective was Naoum Ridge, but the visibility was not favourable (it was in a cloud). Then we descended by the Barbalas Ridge, except that we took the Olympus Ultra path instead of going through the woods on a track that was not really visible. The other two sets are Mytikas and the Xerolakki ascent. Mytikas is ready but will be in September’s update. Xerolakki should be ready too.

I guess hiking landscapes and hiking companions are the fundamental type of photography that I’ve been trying to do since forever. Birds are more recent.

Also to come: North Macedonia and British Columbia.