Albatrosses...understanding poetry.

Trip Start Sep 09, 2007
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of New Zealand  ,
Wednesday, January 2, 2008

I never understood the significance of THE RHYME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER until I came to Dunedin.In the poem an old sea dog kills an albatross and for this act,the corpse of the bird is hung around his neck as proof of his crime and the focal point of the ship"s bad fortune that follows.

Dunedin has an active albatross colony at the end of the penisula wherin the land stops and only Antartica is beyond. It is wild,rugged and prone to severe cold wind. People run from it but the birds soar in it. This is the only place in the world where they nest outside of remote frigid and inaccessible islands much further south in the Pacific.

They are incredible birds.

They are the Royal Albatross. Huge.Majestic. Soaring. Stately. Intelligent.

They migrate overwater 12,00 miles....without mean-spirited stewardesses and stale peanuts.

You can drive out of Dunedin on a winding road for 45 minutes and watch them as much as you like...for free!

WIth a huge lens and a tricky tripod head called a Wimberly Head I snap their pix as they soar. THese are some of the ones I like of perhaps 600 images...they fly fast,the lens must be hand focussed....sooo...lots of blurry images and shots of empty sky. Very hard work in cold wind at about 40 mph.

Hope they thrill you too.
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