General

September 11-12, 2005: Orkney at last, after a full day of travel from Oxfordshire. The least said about that, the better! In contrast, it’s easy to run short of words when trying to describe Orkney. For starters, the lighting is so variable. It can change from full sun to overcast in minutes and days that start with drizzling rain can evolve into either mist or intermittent sun and cloud.

Puno is located on the north-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca and provides a base for visiting the floating island communities of Uros and the Taquile community, which can only be reached by boat. Both communities live traditional – though very different – lifestyles, the Uros communities relying on hunting water birds and fishing, while the Taquile community farms the land.

We left La Paz in a mini-van early the next morning, spiralling upwards towards the valley’s rim. Bolivia is a poor country and the roads are, frankly, terrible. Road rules appear to be ‘first in best dressed’ and traffic often diverges to avoid huge potholes or areas of impossibly corrugated track. Sealed surfaces are a rarity.

Day ten began cool and windy and the sky was cloudless at dawn. For the first time on our trek, we would head south today. Leaving the campsite at around 9.30, we retraced our path back to Eyre Creek and, after crossing the creek bed, walked for about 20 minutes along a narrow vehicular track between coolabah trees. Before long, the northern end of a red sand dune appeared east of the road so we left the road to follow the dune.

If you’re looking for local colour, Bolivia is a good place to begin. You fly in to the highest commercial airport in the world – more than 4.1 kilometres above sea level – climbing up from the coast across steeply undulating ridges, with the ever-present peaks of the high Andes in the background.

Having only walked for 3.5 kilometres on the first day of the actual trek, we expected to do a lot more on the fifth day. The day itself promised better conditions and the camels were rapidly getting back to a working routine. It was still cold at breakfast time and most trekkers lingered by the campfire for as long as possible.

Rapa Nui (as the locals refer to it) – or Easter Island as it is known to the rest of the world – lies almost mid-way between Tahiti and the South American coastline. Totally isolated in the Pacific Ocean, it is one of the three key compass points of Polynesian culture, the others being Hawaii to the north and New Zealand to the south. The island is small, with only one population centre, Hanga Roa, and roughly 4000 permanent residents.

Since Tahiti, I have been fitting polarising filters to my lenses for most shots taken in sunny conditions because it’s the only way to record the intense blue of the skies correctly. Sometimes the polariser has to be turned back a tiny bit to avoid over-emphasising the blue of the sky. But, in most cases, full polarising is needed to reproduce the colours accurately. Naturally, when it’s overcast – and for most close-ups, the polarisers come off. It means a lot of juggling, but the end result is worth the effort.

Days 3 and 4: Learning the Ropes

Arriving in Tahiti is a bit of a shock after leaving Sydney’s winter; it’s hot and very steamy and you soon wish for air conditioning. But that wasn’t to be. Tahiti is an extremely expensive place to visit so, to save funds for later in the trip, we opted for a cheap pensione for the night. It was clean and close to facilities but very basic, so it filled the bill – but only just.