The light dances

Don't be sheepish...

The vegetation here is nearly tropical despite the climate...go figure. The density of the foliage in the rainforests is simply unbelievable.
My morning repose...a bit of guitar on a beautiful inlet of the sea at Anakiwa. Shortly before this photo was taken I had attracted a gaggle of ducks with my strumming as I watched about ten dolphins dances in the wake of a boat...magic.

This is Maori Land...

A walk around the peninsula in Kaikura yielded intense sunlight...the hole in the ozone layer is simply brutal here - even the sea lions of sunburns.
Not quite to fjorland yet...though the beautiful coastline of Kaikura is still a fishing mecca.
No people its not a lie...the sheep are almost as prevalent as blades of grass on this impossibly fertile landscape. Snow capped peaks guard the countryside at every turn, leaving you with cricks in the neck and swerves to the shoulder of the road.
The bird, the myth, the legend, the icon from which a country takes its namesake...the KIWI. An adorable, almost furry little creature its closest relative are the now extinct Moa (an infathomably massive creature) and other large flightless birds like the Emu. What lies beneath the attachment of this country to this enigmatic little creature? Is there some sense of eccentricity? An ironic sense of humor?
The Marae at the Auckland Museum...another collaborative effort contributed to by 'iwi' from around the country, though serving quite a different function than the Marae at the university which is maintained as an actual meeting house.

Aotearoa = New Zealand (Sealand...)

A portrait of a Maori man done by New Zealand artist, Charles Frederick Goldie. Conceptually not a far cry from the portraits done by Edward Curtis of Native Americans...depicting the Maori as a tragecially stoic and forlorn, contemplating their inevitable cultural demise....HOGWASH!
The entrance to a Marae built in the 1850s on the North Island and transferred to the museum...for circumstance which are not clear. Hmmmmm.
A view of the Marae from the back, as this site is 'tapu' (sacred) don't forget to take off your shoes and exhibit reverence for the site...after all the house itself is considered a living ancestor...and for most 'iwi' the progenitor of their particular group.
In addition to 'moka', the classic facial tattooing the Maori known for and can be found on cheesy postcards shipped worldwide, some 'iwi' practiced tattooing on the buttocks and thighs. I found this vantage point to be particularly pleasing to the eye, giving you a glimpse of the 'tiki' adorning the spine of the roof which depict the Maori creation story....WELL WORTH LOOKING UP!! Any culture that epistemologically roots the mortality of humanity in a failed attempt by a trickster demi-god to crawl into an obsidian lined vagina before being crushed between the thighs of the mother goddess is intriguing by any stretch of the imagination...
So the least I can do is keep the text updated, if abbreviated, on the photos as the pump out of my camera and direct to you. This 'tiki' guards the entryway of the Marae (traditional Maori meeting house) at the University of Auckland. Intricate wood carving is a long standing institution amongst the Maori, and this particular edifice is the result of a combined effort from representatives of 'iwi' (tribes) from around the country.

Pardon the smell of sawdust....

for this site is under construction. Sitting here in a hostel, waiting for a bus on a drizzly morning in El Calafate in southern Patagonia, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to use not only a computer made post 1999, but a connection worthy of file transmission. Internet access, and more importantly time to use it, has been limited for me as I have scurried from site to site, taking very little time for extended repose. As my time here on the South American continent draws to a close, I felt it was imperative for me to finally conduct a retrospective and get my photographs in some sort of presentable form. What you see here is raw and uncut, the gleaming gems that caught my eye on a cursory glance of thumbnails. The point here is to give you a semblance of my trajectory, aided by annotations which I hope to finish in the next day or so.

If you can´t already tell this blog is constructed chronologically, read from the very bottom to the very top where my most recent additions can be found. Please join as a follower to receive updates on the changing page if interested, and please please let me know if there is a particular image of which you would like in full resolultion and I will shoot it on over to ya. Suerte.

El Chalten

El Chalten

Perito Moreno Glacier

Like a temple to the ice queen these spyres of ancient water adorn the ice field, a forbidding environment rendering the mountains in this area virtually inaccessible.Perito Moreno Glacier, a massively powerful chunk of water that continues to grow and cleave the landscape in its image. A force to behold, as it constantly thrusts its weight upon its furthest extrimities and exfoliates massive chunks of ice into the pristine waters of the lake."Is that all you have to throw at me, you sorry sirons of snow and ice!" The morning after the deluge I pathfind through pristine Patagnonian powder towards my exit from the Torres.

Torres del Paine and Perito Moreno

The wake of the Perito Moreno Glacier near El Cafayate in Argentina yields erratic ice cleaved from the massive glacier. The luminscent blue of the ice is difficult to fathom, radiating a color that my eyes and weak mind have yet to comprehend.
My last morning in Torres del Paine. Having hiked over a mountain pass in winds that literally knocked me down, I hoped the white out wouldnt lead to snow cover. I awoke to 10 inches of snow and a limited visibility which forced me to abort my ascent....though whats an experience in Patagonia without being toyed with by the volatile mistress of the mountains.
Perched on the mountain, I found solace after eight hours of hiking to the glacier with a 20 kilo pack and a headfull of anticipation. Blessed are when we find an ergonomic rock bed, replete with soft moss, to cradle us as we breath in such vistas.
Above is a view of light peering through a shroud of stunning cloud cover of Glacier Grey, flowing slowly like a pulsating muscle of ice into Lago Grey. A mineral rich water source that is completely potable and delectably delicious and vital.
This picture encompasses one of the multitude of glorious perspective available in Torres del Paine National Park in Chile, Patagonia. Bathed in sunlight this tundra-esque ecosystem supports short scrubby vegetation that hugs the enigmatic granite peaks which loom in a two toned glory.

Torres del Paine

Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales

Chile - Volcanos and Birds Eye Views