Some of this news is a bit out-dated but i intend on keeping my readers as enthralled with my adventures as possible. No details will be overlooked, no stories untold, and no photos hidden from sight. That’s right, this travelog has it all.

I’ve whipped up a new highlight video that covers the last 3 months. Have a look and let me know if you’d like any clarification on the whereabouts of each clip.

After completing the first South Island jaunt I quickly embarked on another circumnavigation this time accompanied by my darling mother. She and I traveled together for a week and a half in an attempt to see as many key features as possible. My mother learned quickly that, unlike Miami, you can not see New Zealand in a week. We stayed in what seemed like the finest 5 star accommodations but made sure not to leave a few nights to camp in the van.

Our first stop was the astonishing Lake Tekapo. Garnishing turquoise blue waters this lake village is said to be one of the best places in the world to see the night sky. It’s central island location and lack of light pollution combined with a big hole in the ozone layer allows for a crystal window to the heavens. I was immediately drawn here because my research found that they have built an observatory here designed to take advantage of the conditions.

The tour of the observatory atop Mt John was awesome. With a multitude of high powered telescoped trained on various celestial bodies visitors can see nebulae, planets, close-ups of the surface of the moon and many other things not visible to the naked eye. Using the deep space telescope I was able to see the polar ice caps of Mars and Saturn’s rings. The above shot was a 60 second exposure that was taken using a tripod-esque device that rotates mounted cameras in conjunction with the movement of the stars eliminating star trails that one might get with a stationary camera. Cool stuff.

We then high-tailed it to the ever-popular Milford Sound for a day time cruise. We were blessed with terrible weather in the form of torrential rain and horrendous winds. Being a fjord, Milford is like a wind tunnel allowing the storm-force gales to rip through its gully creating truly unique apocalyptic conditions. On this greyest of days I chose to shoot in black and white seeing as how there was very little color to capture anyhow.

At one of the wettest places on earth the cliff faces become so swollen that new waterfalls form before your eyes. They push over trees as they crowd the walls of the fjord in a chaotic attempt to find the best route down to the sea. Never before have I seen such disorganized waterfalls. There are a few clips of this activity in the video above.

We rounded up our excursion in Kaikoura with a dolphin swimming tour. Here, a company takes paying visitors out to a giant school of Dusky dolphins, 400 strong, and chucks them in the water for a little play time. The dolphins generally take a great interest in the intruders and give you quite a bit of attention. This was one of the most majestic experiences of my life. Unfortunately I couldn’t photograph the interaction between the dolphins and I, but was still able to get some nice shots from the boat.

This is my happy, wet mother. She was a trooper. She endured the rain and cold with out so much as a complaint for a toilet and upon leaving I think it’s safe to say, as she might, that she was a happy camper.

After my Mom’s abrupt departure I immediately shot north to hunt for work. There I was able meet up with my good friend Lennart to practice some tunes for busking. We played on the street for the first time this last weekend and earned 8 bucks! Next weekend will be better, I’m confident.

We’ve been camping on and off and seeing some of the finest sunsets to date. This is Lennart’s van, Bertie. I was able to find work picking apples but I will detail all that in another post a little further down the road.

And here’s what I’ve been listening to:

Daft Punk – Digital Love

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Cool how it works..

When I first moved to Portland three years ago I was eager to seek out the best and most promising musicians that were defining the scene I had heard so much about. I remember so clearly two bands sticking out as shoe-ins for success. Bands that were giving me exactly what I wanted, bands that were making me smile and giving me chills at the same time. One of those bands was the fledgling Starfucker and the other was Typhoon. These days Starfucker (now Pyramiddd) signs commercial deals with IBM and Target like their signin’ autographs. Typhoon has yet to reach these heights but with the upcoming release of Hunger and Thirst it seems as though extraordinary things are on the way for this band.

Over the past few years Typhoon embodied a persona quite contrary to what their moniker suggests. They were illusive, playing the odd show here and there and releasing quiet tracks that only their friends knew about. Hardly a downpour, hardly dangerous.

Enter Hunger and Thirst. Recorded over the last few months in Portland by Paul Laxer, this heavenly collection of choral ballads will be released in May on the band’s new record label, the winsome, spectacular, Tender Loving Empire.

Like the first drops of an oncoming tempest, Hunger and Thirst opens with the plunks of differently pitched hollow percussives. These elements form into slow puddles of bass-heavy guitar and eventually burst into a thunderstorm of triumphant horns and angelic vocals in the background. The record continues on in constant undulation. The high points are epic choral explosions and the lows are monologues backed by guitar with heaps of delay. As usual, all of the new Typhoon tunes are soaked in passion. This record is impossible to take lightly as it will rest heavy on the strongest of hearts. Good work guys, nice to hear from you, and good luck.

Typhoon – Starting Over

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Typhoon – Affliction (off of 2009′s Friends and Friends of Friends TLE ’09

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