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December photos post. The number of photos I put on my post pages keeps on increasing, but there are some photos that I really like here.

patricklam.ca/post/20260114-de…

So far in January I've done 1 set of 91 photos, so January's post might be slim.

Bright red pōhutukawa blooms from mid-December in Wellington. Some leaves, but mostly red.
Smooth streams of water on the Old Ghost Road falling over rocky bands, with some round rocks below and some greenery around.
Lake Angelus from near the summit of Angelus Peak. This was the last picture with GPS coordinates, before I dropped my phone.
Seattle in December 2023. There is a ferris wheel to the left, a brilliantly-lit boat near shore, and many skyscrapers along the water.

December: photos post

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Patrick Lam
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Patrick Lam
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Here's some birds and other flying creatures (pepe pōuri / black mountain ringlet). #Birds #BirdsNZ #butterfly
A kakaruai / South Island Robin seen heading up to Cascade Saddle. It is a small brown bird with a whitish chest and black eye, perched on a branch, in a forest.
Canadian content: a juvenile Olympic Gull in Vancouver is begging for food from its parent. Both are on paving stones. The juvenile is mostly grey, while the parent has a white chest, grey wings, and a yellow beak. The parent's mouth is half open.
The hard-to-see but easy to hear riroriro/grey warbler is a small grey bird. Here it is on a branch, which partially obscures it. There are a couple of other branches in the picture.
A pepe pōuri / black mountain ringlet was flying around on the rocks on a sunny but windy day in Nelson Lakes National Park last December. It's mostly dark brown/black, but has black-and-white antennae and some white circles surrounded by larger black circles on its wings.
#birds #butterfly #birdsnz

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Patrick Lam
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Patrick Lam
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I think December 2023 was the last time I was in Seattle (and I'm not planning to visit again soon, as much as I like the area).
Seattle Public Library: a glass-and-metal building with a non-rectangular shape. Some other buildings are visible, both directly and as reflections off the library.
Mount Rainier, a snowy peak, visible in the distance from Tiger Mountain. A gravel road in the foreground, with a person walking down the road. It looks like the area has recently been clear-cut.
Green islands near Seattle.
A pond at IslandWood on Bainbridge Island near Seattle, at night, with some clouds lit up by the moon (and no stars).
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Patrick Lam
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Patrick Lam
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I have been to Vancouver more recently than December 2023, though I also haven't spent any significant time there either. One of these days...
I think this is a view of North Vancouver from near Canada Place. It's cloudy, there is a large container boat to the left and a smaller boat in front of it, and there are a lot of apartment towers.
A Harbour Air seaplane with a blue tail and white body is, I think, starting to take off (or land?)
A white-and-black-striped prop on a Harbour Air seaplane.
A gateway welcoming people to Canada Place, with representations of a bald eagle and salmon.
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Patrick Lam
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Around that time I also made it to Nelson BC for an avalanche course. Those pictures were posted a while ago, but here are some Nelson pictures.
Gyro Park, pretty close to central Nelson BC, has a sign warning you about a bear in the area. I didn't see any bear.
Looks like a river but is actually a branch of Kootenay Lake. There is a big orange bridge across the water and some hills on the other side of the water. Some houses nearby and below.
We did successfully land in Castlegar on the first try. The runway is visible here surrounded by snow. There are clouds too.
Some tops of snowy peaks are visible above the clouds flying from Vancouver to Castlegar (I think).
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Patrick Lam
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The Five Roses sign is a well-known Montreal landmark. Here's a bad picture of it, while I was riding the REM, before going to Nelson. Also, Taschereau Boulevard is my reference for bad urban design, though I hear they're going to redesign it.
The Farine Five Roses sign is lit up in neon and visible from the window of the REM between Montreal and the South Shore.
Taschereau is very much a canonical stroad in Brossard and adjacent suburbs, with many lanes of traffic, malls, and car dealerships.
The REM is a new light metro system in Greater Montreal. Like any modern system, there is no direct track access; you have to go through doors to get onto the train, and the doors only open when there is a train there. There are also some system maps around the doors and a black column.
The REM crosses the St. Lawrence River on the new Champlain Bridge, which is lit up in red and purple in this picture, above the train tracks.
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Patrick Lam
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Now let's move on to a totally different city in a totally different climate---#Wellington.
A carving on a pole on Cuba Street.
Deep orange sunset over Bunnings. The sun is setting into some clouds but the sky has various other broken clouds.
The Faultline climbing gym's logo is projected onto the ground near the entrance.
Luigi (and Mario, not visible) are dressed up for Hallowe'en on the Terrace near some cars.
#wellington
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Patrick Lam
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Patrick Lam
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I can step out my front door and walk to the beach, or the forest, or the park.
Summer sunrise, early in the morning. The sky is orange, Mount Vic is visible in the background, and a pōhutukawa is to the left.
Island Bay and Taputeranga Island are on the Cook Strait on the southern end of Wellington. This picture is taken from a walking track, but there are houses below.
The large grassy field of Karori Park in foreground, with small hills and houses in background, underneath a mostly sunny sky with a line-shaped cloud.
An eel (tuna) swims in Otari-Wilton's Bush, if I remember correctly. It's a black creature in a dark green stream. There are some branches in the foreground, which are definitely not a beaver dam.
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Patrick Lam
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Patrick Lam
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Over on the South Island, there's Wānaka, which is definitely not a city, but it is in a stunning location.
From Mount Iron one can see the small suburb of Albert Town, with mostly houses and some fields and trees in the distance. To the left there is some evidence that the picture was taken from some rock feature.
Almost all mailboxes in NZ seem to have a "no circulars" sign, though this box allows Mitre 10 circulars.
Used skis and snowboards decorate a fence in Albert Town.
Mount Iron has a bunch of cliffs that one might climb, even on an overcast day like this one.
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Patrick Lam
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Driving away from Wānaka, one can go towards Raspberry Creek and then Aspiring Hut in the Matukituki Valley. There are also a bunch of crags this way (not pictured). #tramping #hiking
The track from Raspbery Creek to Aspiring Hut has a side track to Shotover Saddle, which we didn't take. There are some falls and cliffs on this track.
Going from Aspiring Hut up to Cascade Saddle, there is a pretty tame river crossing.
The Matukituki River and valley in light clouds. The valley itself is the green like grass, while the slopes are treed. You can see some snow on the mountains, barely.
Approaching Aspiring Hut (in the centre of the image, but small), there is one pole with an orange cap (for visibility), as well as the hut itself and two auxiliary buildings to the left.
#hiking #tramping
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dch
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dch
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the Matukituki is a superb wander and I love the ridiculously steep ascent but towards IIRC Bonar glacier.
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Patrick Lam
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@dch French Ridge Hut? I've never been past Aspiring Hut on the West Matukituki Track but would love to go that way one of these days. Towards Bonar does look pretty steep.
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dch
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yeah that was it. We went from there over the Bonar to Colin Todd and then solo up Tititea. Unforgettable views. I think it’s the only tramp ever my friends told me to stop whinging! Carrol hut in Otira is also steep but it’s not as far in my recollection.
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Patrick Lam
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@dch Carroll Hut: "climb steeply up 760m to Carroll Hut for good views". Yes, I'd love to do both of those! NW Ridge on Tititea I take it?
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dch
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no a more unorthodox route direct up the big face and then a rather steep and somewhat unexpected couloir to pop out on the top. Then wobble back down the Ramp to the hut. Need to look at a map to check the face but it’s the one directly above bonar glacier
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Patrick Lam
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Moving along the West Coast, here are some pictures from the Old Ghost Road, another multi-day tramp / mountain bike ride, with well-equipped huts along the way. #tramping #hiking #HutLife
A tree trunk segment in the shape of a heart hangs outside Lyell Saddle Hut. A sleepout is framed inside the heart.
Passing a pair of mountain bikers on the track.
Undercast with the mountains of the Old Ghost Road peeking through the clouds.
Signs indicating that old-school Nokia dumbphones are OK here.
#hiking #tramping #hutlife
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Patrick Lam
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There was that epic on Angelus (mastodon.nz/@va2lam/1156926223…). Here are some more pictures from before Angelus, in particular climbing at Pohara, and Wakefield.
Sunrise at Wakefield, getting an early start out to Angelus Hut.
A pretty easily climbable cliff at Pohara, mostly rock, but with some bushes growing on it (Dr Livingstone Wall). Behind the cliff, Port Tarakohe has docks with a bunch of boats, and there are some hills. The Abel Tasman National Park and Track are nearby.
Port Tarakohe, with a parking lot, a bunch of boats, a breakwater, and an interesting cloud formation with a well-defined boundary to blue sky.
This is a drill: Project Jonah volunteers in high-vis practice what to do in the event of a marine mammal stranding, with a practice inflatable dolphin on a beach. Camera crew standing behind.

Patrick Lam :tinoflag: (@va2lam@mastodon.nz)

Attached: 1 image A windy day, but with excellent visibility, on Angelus Peak, this past Sunday. #NelsonLakes That was the first time I climbed it on this trip, but not the last! #Aotearoa
Patrick Lam :tinoflag: (Mastodon NZ)
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Patrick Lam
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Here's a couple of the "nice scenery" pics, not so dramatic, on Angelus. You can't see the wind. #tramping
Ascending above Lake Rotoiti, which is surrounded by forest. A thin horizontal cloud floats in front of the hills. The village of St. Arnaud is on the left, near the shores of the lake.
Robert Ridge, a marker pole, and a lot of scree.
Angelus Lake is surrounded by scree. There is a peninsula in the foreground, where one could camp.
The Hinapouri Tarns are deep azure coloured, surrounded by yellow/brown tussock. There are some peaks in the background, underneath a blue sky with some clouds.
#tramping
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Patrick Lam
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Have to call it a night. Back tomorrow with some nature pictures.
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wauz ワウズ
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wauz ワウズ
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Maybe you can upload the pic of "vegetable sheep" to wikipedia. It seems, they have no.
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