M-whY

Just got back from Milford Sound. It was indeed awesome.. the whole area was. Working on getting that up soon!

Anna: During the day, it's quite warm on the glacier.. the ice melts and sorta flows from top to bottom.. but then it always refreezes during the night.. the top of the glacier gets like 50 meters of snow a year.. so there's always a supply of ice to flow down. On my trip, it seems there are an awful lot of travellers from sweden and israel.. but i meet people from all over. i actually met a couple who lived in antartica today!

Jon: from what i saw, i dont think there was a need for helmets.. it seemed pretty safe. sometimes when they think the terrain is a little dangerous, they'll tie everyone together in a line, so a small slip wont become anything serious. and the helicopter.. it's actually quite cool.. they fly you up to regions of the ice you cant climb too, then you get off and walk around for 3-4 hours. it's supposedly even more awesome, if you can afford it, definately do it.

mojess: well, i havent been to alaska... are you suggesting i go there too?

Scott: i'll let you in on a secret.. just between you and me... it actually takes me anywhere from 30-60 minutes to write each entry. writing doesn't come easy for me!

Liz: haha, i dont eat out often. i just make buy bread and ham at grocery stores and make sandwiches for lunch. thats why i need mayo!

OREO: i bet if i had gotten on one of those 'tour' buses, they woulda stopped more often. but i opted for the cheaper route and took a smaller bus.. i guess you get what you pay for.

Tony: yeah.. i have to say.. this is more fun than work :)

whoa, ppl live in antarctica? luging sounds like so much fun!! Queenstown... I'll remember that...

Boy, seems like you are really stretching it. Alaska? you may have a chance. By the way I heard that the steak in NZ is very famous, ever try it?? yammmmm..

Hey Mark, glad you're having a blast. From the looks of that glacier, though, I think I'd rather be back in Fiji.

Hi Mark,

I’m a PCI’er who started after you left. Steve from PCI sent around an e-mail about your trip. I took a year-plus-long backpacking trip many years ago. Although I’m not a professional or even a very good photographer, I’d like to offer you a bit of photography advice: Know that people, especially you, are the star attractions, both now and decades from now.

Remember that the readers of this blog are interested less in the places you visit than you yourself. I have looked at dozens of photos here and I still don’t know what you look like. Years from now (I know – for me it’s been twenty years!) you will quickly thumb through the nice landscape and building shots that look almost as good as ones in postcards and coffee table books. But you will linger over the pictures evoking cherished memories of the adventures you had with the people in them. And your family (read: parents, siblings, spouse, kids, grandkids) will treasure every picture with you in it. (One exception: your spouse may not like looking at too many pictures of you coupled with attractive singles – but you have years to censor.) You’ll have to give your camera to strangers a lot. But even though they may not be good photographers, they’ll be working with superior material.

One more bit of advice: When you record a companion’s contact info, make sure to write down something to remember who they are, such as where and how you met them. (Nothing that will incriminate you later in life!) You’ll be surprised how a lifestyle of constant adventure can make you forget things.

Best wishes for an exciting journey!

Vic

I agree with Vic, the pics so far have been good but it would be nice to see some faces!

Do we even know what Don looks like? I don't recall seeing a pic of him. Perhaps you could even have a section with the names/pics/info of the major players on your journey.

I've added this page to the group of pages that load when I open my browser, I plan to keep up with this until the end so keep the updates coming. :-)

okay, i have returned from my own little trip to china, so now i am all caught up, everything looks great, i think so far, you have had tons of nature, it would be a strange change when you entire into some of the urban jungles of china and japan :)

so where is hte hoop pic in NZ?

b

hey Mark I'm a friend of Mike's from Rutgers and I've been browsing through your pictures and blogs (which have been keeping me well entertained during this spring break). I thought I should leave a message of encouragement and let you know I think you're taking some gorgeous photographs and it looks like you're having an amazing time. =) keep it up!

I agree with Vic to a certain extent, where you should take pictures of the people that you meet and spend time with. However, I'm more like you, I suppose. When I took a trip to ITALY, most of my pictures were of landscapes. And that's how I wanted it. I wanted to capture the pictures through my eyes. And years from now, that's how I'm going to look through them, as if they were from my eyes. That's all that matters to me really. Don't really care what other people think. -=oP I mean, I know what I look like and I know I went there. I don't need proof of that. I suppose that's just how I think. Oh, and I don't trust other people using my camera -- especially a stranger. -=oP -GEM