Nature’s Pic Images Blog

Had an enjoyable interview last night with Brian Crump on Radio New Zealand. He was keen to talk about my photographs on the new New Zealand bank notes (shown below).  Listen to the interview here. We’ve had lots of nice feedback about it, thanks.

NZ bank notes, showing some of the photos by Rob Suisted

Click to listen to Rob Suisted’s Radio New Zealand interview

There were some photos we talked about during the interview shown below… > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

For two months I'm working as lecturer and naturalist on an expedition ship heading to Svalbard (bet you don't know where that is), Greenland, Iceland and the Canadian Arctic. I'm blogging, and also carrying a satellite beacon that gives my real time location. So, add us to your favs, sign on for the RSS feed, or follow me on twitter and I'll do my best to take you along for the trip.

LATEST UPDATE:8 September 2009 - Greenland & Canada. We got to Nuuk, the captial of Greenland. Of course Santa Claus is a tourist thing here, with his 'headquarters' in the tourist office. The national museum was worth the visit. On display are 4 of the famous perfectly preserved Greenland Qilakitsoq Mummies from around 1475AD. Several days later we were to visit Qilakitsoq, the actual burial site, just across from Uummannaq town. Uummannaq is very scenic, and the recent wind had choked the harbour with large icebergs enhanced the view. Lunch was served with a collection of local foods - esp. fin whale meat and much dried fish at the local hotel. Afterwards we hiked over the island for an hour to a back bay where Santa Claus has his summer house. He wasn't in when we arrived , but Christian one of our team (with authentic white beard) was on hand to pass out sweeties! The traditional turf house was furnished with his belongings. And yes Janette (my able bodied Business Manager), I did leave a note for you saying you'd been good. Ilulissat - now that's a spectacular place in Disko Bay. Jacobshaven Glacier has the highest output of water (ice) in the northern hemisphere. It's calving more ice in one day than New York uses in water in one year apparently. The huge bergs take 2 years to travel down the fiord and out past the town. It is truly impressive, and little wonder why this is the heart of Greenland tourism, and also a UNESCO World Heritage site. It produces very tall bergs as they roll around in the fiord, and these litter Disko Bay and the surrounding Davis Strait. We had 2 days there, seeing a fantastic sunset on departure, humpback whales amongst the bergs and generally just staring in awe from the various hiking tracks at the scale of things. Next was the Davis Strait passage across to Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. We spotted a hundred or so Pilot whales, but within sight of our first landfall, a tiny lonely piece of ice floated past with 2 polar bears eating a seal, 20NM from land. Welcome to Canada! We called at Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut. Had a look in the Government's Legislative Chamber which was festooned with indigenous icons, art, narwhal tusks and meaning. I enjoyed seeing this, and the strong connection still with nature, the environment and the strengthening culture. Then across to Lower Savage Islands to drive zodiacs amongst them looking for Polar bears. The first bear literally popped up in rocks about 30 metres from the Zodiac I was driving. Fantastic! Sadly, in Canada, (unlike Svalbard) Polar bears are hunted, have a great fear of humans, and generally high tail it quickly. But, we saw another 11 polar bears before heading to Resolution Island and spotting another two. 13 polar bears in one day and the Aurora borealis (Northern Lights) playing overhead to end with - what a day!! Then a visit to Lady Franklin and Monumental Islands (both names connected to the famous missing Franklin Expedition in the North West Passage). Had another few polar bear sightings before the largest one I have ever seen decided to lie and/or prance on a rock very close to the coastline with very little concern (wee below right). This was a highlight. A visit to Akpatok Island was curtailed due to high winds, but I spotted a lonely bear walking the cliff top about 800 feet above us. This morning we called into Hopedale, a tiny mostly Inuit town of 600 in Labrador. A beaut setting and historic place with Moravian church and Mission arriving from Germany in 1782 and being possibly the oldest building in east Canada. The local kids were out in force and we spent the morning giving them joyrides in the zodiacs around the ship. We were the first outside ship to call here this year and the smiles on their faces said it all. The kids certainly made the visit enjoyable for all of us. Leaving Ilulissat IceFjord, Greenland, at dusk! Very large Polar Bear on Monumental Island, Canadian Arctic Polar Bear mother and cub on Lady Franklin Island, Canadian Arctic.

Aurora borealis, Northern Lights, Greenland Humpback whales amongst ice Iceberg near Uummannaq, Disko Bay, Greenland Santa's summer house, Uummannaq, Greenland Rob at Ilulissat, Greenland Nunavut legislative chamber, Canada Long finned Pilot whales at sea Lady Franklin Island, Canadian Arctic

The Google Map below is a rough overall view of the trip. Zoom in and move the map around.

Write up of our 2009 Fiordland Expedition posted originally titled as “Where’s Wally? Live satellite tracking of Rob’s remote Fiordland expedition for 2009” post.

The trip was fantastic. Lost about 5kgs/12lbs from sweat and toil…would have been more if the weather hadn’t done its best to muck us up. So, what was the trip all about? Once a year a ballot is run to allow folks to chase Wapiti deer in a remote part of Fiordland. We happened to get lucky in the very popular ballot, so set off into this seldom visited part of New Zealand, seeking in the least to get some great photos.

A unique part of the trip was that I carried a new SPOT personal satellite tracker unit that allowed people to follow us in real time on google earth, as well as an emergency backup with our mountain radio set. We had quite a following after our original post. So, here’s the write up about the trip…..

Below you’ll find the final annotated GOOGLEMAP of our trip you can play with, filled with our satellite transmissions and photos of the locations.  Waypoints are numbered so you can figure which way we went (#1-266). Click on the camera icon’s for photos and further info.  Zoom the map below in to see everything and more photos (use ‘+’ or ‘-‘ on top left), and drag map around with your cursor…..

I suspect Rob knows that I am a bit of a townie!! Before he left for his latest adventure he handed me the transcript of the diary of Mr A Sutherland, well known in hunting circles for his “early exploratory trips and hunting of the Wapiti herds of the Fiordland area” in the earlier part of the 20th century.

Alpine Tarn above the Glaisnock River Valley

> > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >

QUICKIE UPDATE: 14 April 2009: Well, after some very bad weather (5 days straight stuck in the tent with hail, early snows, storm force winds and thunder/lightning – and no book!) we had to pull the pin on heading over Edith Saddle to Lake Te Anau. Instead, choosing to make our way back to the put in point and fly out 2 days early. Top trip though and we saw some pretty tough country and got some great shots and experiences. 14 days worth of food and equipment meant 31+kg (70 pounds) packs on backs pushing through untracked country – loosing a bit of girth and finding a muscles I’d forgotten about in the process. The live tracking tracks are disappearing now (last 7 days display only), so I’ll post some shots and the full trail in a few days time when I get better sorted. Love the comments you all left – many thanks. Regards, Rob.
NOTE: You can now read the trip write up in this new post

Remote wilderness Fiordland.  I’m taking camera and equipment for two weeks unsupported tramping and hunting through some of Fiordland’s toughest terrain, some of the wettest and most rugged land about, and you’ll be able to track the expedition in real time.

Fiordland Wilderness Travel, Glaisnock tops

The plan is to find trophy Wapiti bulls (incorrectly called Elk to those from North America ;-)) to photograph during the breeding season. Evan Mardell from Wellington will be the other person in the party.  I’ll have a new system with me that you can track the last 7 days of my movement via satellite beacon….. > > > Continue reading : full post + comments > > >