Australia, land of contrasts. 41C and more yesterday for Xmas. Today, cloudy, cool in the mid 20s and occasional rain. If you crave variety we have it 😀

Hope everyone is having a good Christmas. Turned out the be a 'proper' hot Christmas day here. Cold drinks, cold lunch. Yum. There are some prawns left over for this evening. We'll sit out and watch the lightning and hope for no fires.

While many folks in the #astrophotography community are focused on the Orion constellation this time of year I am still plugging away with the Small Magellanic Cloud. Slipped in another 2 hours last night to give a total of 4hrs. Trying some different processing to bring out details. Happy Xmas all!

Summer Solstice for us in Western Australia today. Nice day at 29C so doing a barbie lunch. Christmas is predicted to be 41C, so maybe 43C here. The swimming pool is ready for a proper Christmas Day 😀 🎅 🌞

Almost the summer solstice and the Western Australian Christmas Trees are well in flower. These are average to half decent ones I saw while I was doing a shopping run. They are fairly common in bushland reserves in and outside of the city.

Dredged out the small telescope to do round two on the Small Magellanic Cloud. Got photo bombed by a plane plus I got the settings wrong. The data turned out to be rubbish. Hope to try again tonight. The mozzies will feast on me again!

Just did a wildlife check before mowing the lawn and found one of our resident Bobtails warming up in the sun. I got hissed at. 😀 This one is about 25cm/10in long. They get bigger. Very fiesty. Slow moving and harmless. Keep the snails and slugs under control.

Airport time again. Gazed one last time over the hills to Ruapehu. Got a lift to the local airport and flew up to Auckland. Awaiting our flight to Perth, which will not be photogenic. Signing off from New Zealand and hope to be back. 😞 #newzealand

Today in New Zealand. Last day of fishing. I need a rest from all the walking. Hips hurt. Knees hurt. I'm not a young thing any more. Airport time tomorrow. Had a good time but looking forward to going home to milady.

Today in New Zealand. Our trip is coming to a close. Went to have a look at the famous Tongariro River. Too crowded for us. We went elsewhere. I suppose it's famous so everyone has to fish there. We prefer a bit of solitude.

Today, well yesterday in New Zealand. Crossed the Cook Strait to the North Island. Staying on a farm in what might as well be South Farthing. A clear afternoon with the volcanoes in the distance.

Today in New Zealand. Shifting location again today. Not much fishing, but quite a bit of driving. NZ Christmas Trees are starting to flower. Must be summer so maybe the rain will pack it in 😀 Was drooling over the rally cars in Murchison. Some nice amateur kit there.

Got to bother some fish in this lovely little river today. They were too smart for us. I fell in as well. Not used to this wading on rocks lark. Shifting to another location tomorrow, so looking forward to some different scenery.

Not original but funny. We will see what they have for breakfast in the morning. BTW the bakery is the small caravan in the background. Alleged to be New Zealand's smallest bakery. PS. Country town. Everyone says hello to us strangers 😀 Feels good.

Moving day today. Headed back up the road about 100km, past our start point to our final fishing location on the South Island. Managed some fishing on the way. I was driving, so no photos of half of the spectacular scenery.

Another day in New Zealand and the weather has swung again. Going mildly stir crazy as the rain keeps us inside. Went for a bit of a drive to have a look around in case I ever come back. Our South Island time is almost up.

Another Summer day in New Zealand. Warm, mid 20s but windy az up in the mountains. The ozone hole is reducing, but the bite of the extra UV is still a risk. Have to find my lost sun glove.

First day of summer at home. Hottest start to summer in a long time.

Another day in New Zealand's South Island. Started the day with cold, damp weather and finished warm and clear 80km away. Up into the highlands tomorrow if the road is open.

Did a little exploring today combined with bothering some fish. Fish were not in the mood. Rain and cold forced us to retreat a bit after lunch. It may be wet but it's still a lovely place. So different to my part of Australia. #newzealand

Some pictures from the current New Zealand trip. Beautiful place. There is still a little snow on the mountains in this area. That will no doubt melt as summer kicks in.

I'm taking a pre Christmas break, so no new videos on Youtube for a couple of weeks. You have not got rid of me though. I'm heading over to New Zealand again for some unfinished business. I'll no doubt be unable to resist posting scenery etc while I'm there. I'll work over Xmas to make up. Promise!

I've mentioned a few times about the mystery creature in my yard that crashes around the bushes at night when I'm out with the telescope. This is one of them that was out in the day. It's a small marsupial called a Quenda, or Western Brown Bandicoot. Detail in the ALTs. #marsupial #wildlife

Am I jinx or what? I've been posting about our last trip to the Berkeley River Lodge and it just got hit by a cyclone. This is why it is closed in cyclone season. Their official statement says they hope to open in May as usual. Maybe three chalets down. www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...

Africa 2025, Episode 3 is out on my Youtube Channel. We go shopping in what could be called a 'wet market', get treated to some dancing, have a look at some historical structures and get rained on big time. #travel #Africa #Benin #Ganvie www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGCW...

Rescued this silly bastard from my swimming pool today. He/she had sunk to the bottom, motionless. Fished out with a net, laid out on the warm bricks to dry out and warm up. Just checked and it was back at the mouth of their burrow under my pool. They moved in years ago and I'm a softies.

Some more pictures from past travels. More Berkeley River. You know, I might just Youtuberise these next year, or maybe we'll have to go again :) This is 'modes of transport'. Apologies to low vision users. I use the ALT Text to rant on with more detail about what the picture is.

Just rummaging through some old photos and I came across these from my pre Youtube days. This is from a trip to one of the most remote places I have ever been apart from Antarctica. It's Berkeley River Lodge in my own state of Western Australia. No roads in. You fly or get a boat. #kimberley #travel

Just thought I'd post a couple of Youtube Video related pictures from our recent trip to Africa. Behind the scenes and teasers. Credit for all of these goes to my good lady and companion in travels and life. Yes, I am busy editing the next episodes.

I was working at my sisters house and glancing at the cricket (Perth Test) every time I wandered past the TV. Looked interesting. On the way home, I put the radio on in the car to find it was all over. In two days! Just watched the highlights. Never seen so many boundaries in a test before! Wow!

I'm seeing all these posts about autumn/fall whatever you call it. Cold weather, etc. Here's a post from the south to remind you where spring has got to. This is today for me. Sitting outside in the shade with a soft drink 😀

My first image of Henize 70 aka N70 in the Large Magellanic Cloud that I'm prepared to show anybody. It has no common name. It's still a bit faint. I need another night on it. I'll see about fixing the stars too. If I get a better image I'll post it for comparison. #astronomy #astrophotography

Yet more self promotion 😀. New Zealand Video Episode 7 is out on Youtube. Escape from the doom and gloom in the world by watching my glorified home videos. Then again it's a couple of Boomers so... www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKXk...

Exploring a new astro target last night. I think the Large Magellanic Cloud is going to keep me busy for a summer or two. These are two not good images of Henize 70, a 'Super Bubble' in the LMC. Yes, the images are not good. See that ALT text for the explanation. #astrophotography

My peas have germinated! Not just any peas, but Sturt Desert Peas. Tricky to germinate and grow in this corner of the state. Wish me luck for a mass of flowers over summer. No, no pic of what the flowers look like. Have to wait like me 😀

Tried NGC346 within the Small Magellanic Cloud last night. Interesting target complicated by the vast number of stars behind it. I've reduced the to about 20% using software tricks to make the structure visible. NGC346 is an open star cluster surrounded by a nebula. #astrophotography

Noticed today that I have reached 60 vids on the travel channel. Woohoo! Plenty more to come. Finalising a trip for 2027 and next year we might stay home and show you some more of Australia. Maybe Borneo too? We'll see 😀

Africa 2025 Video, Episode 2 is out! Start working on New Zealand Video immediately! What have I got myself into! In this video we tour some of the sites of Cotonou, home of the worlds longest mural and a large, imposing lady. #travel #Benin #Ganvie www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm_T...

Nice night last night (about time too!) so I got the little 50mm scope out on the Large Magellanic Cloud again. Not a really stunning image, but it shows a lot of interesting bits for further investigation. It also shows that I need a better small scope to do this wide field work. Honey, I need....

Yes, blasted wildflowers again. Went to a specialist native plant nursery to get a specific tree. No luck, but just down the road was a profusion of Kangaroo Paws, our Western Australian state flower. The tree? Eucalyptus caesia. Small and beautiful. Google it 😀

Quickie today. A Black Kangaroo Paw, Macropodia Fulginosa. I mentioned these in a previous post. Endemic to WA but getting hard to find in the wild these days. This one was for sale at a specialist native plant nursery. Tempted but did not buy it.

The processed data from my recent trip to some dark country skies. These three galaxies, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds and the Triangulum Galaxy are all part of our Local Group of Galaxies. The other notable member is the Andromeda Galaxy but that's too far north for me #astrophotography

Here are some results of my trip to a dark sky site over the weekend. I got three of our Local Group galaxies, The Small Magellanic Cloud, The Large Magellanic Cloud and the Triangulum Galaxy. As a bonus I also got the Topsy Turvy Galaxy, NGC 1313. I'll post once I process the data #astrophotography

Beautiful morning drive back home today after 3 nights 'out bush'. Definitely wheat country out that way with the crop getting close to harvest. Props to the farmers for growing so much grain in what is essentially slightly salty sand.

Spent the weekend away from the city lights doing some astrophotography at a free camp site about 200km from home. Wildflowers were out there, too, but almost finished. Managed to forget some equipment so we'll see how the astro pix turn out.

OK, so not only have I been updating everybody about Public Transport network upgrades in a city that most people have never heard of, but I am still working on Youtube Videos. The next New Zealand vid of Series 4 is up. Find it at www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aao9... #travel #newzealand #wellington

But wait, there's more! Had a look at the bus interchange area and parking. Never know when I might need to use it.

Testing out the newly re- opened local train line today. Has been closed for two years for a massive re- build, mainly to remove level crossings. It also extends further south to Byford, an area with massive population growth about 10km south of the old terminus at Armadale

OK Blueskyers, back to shameless self promotion again. The first video in the 2025 Africa series is up! Haven't even been back a month! New Zealand is not forgotten. I have the next video in that series in production at the moment. #travel #Africa #Benin www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci3b...

Working away on videos. Hopefully there will be the first Africa one tomorrow and then a New Zealand one later in the week. I'll post links when they are done. In the interim, some misc pix. #woodwork #coffee #africa