...Australia (2003)...

As part of my PhD research I was able to travel to Australia a total of 4 times, Jan 1999, Feb 2000, Aug 2000 and Feb 2003. Here are some of the photos from my final trip.

I left London on the 15th of Febuary 2003 and after passing through Singapore I arrived in Sydney on the 17th of Febuary. The purpose of this trip was to complete some research for my PhD supervisor (and of course to have a bit of a holiday!!).

Harbour Bridge at Night

I had all day on the 17th and 18th in Sydney. It may have been my fourth visit to Australia but I still enjoyed the time in Sydney. This is a view of Sydney's Harbour Bridge as seen from near the Opera House. I used a slower shutter speed to smooth out the reflection off the water.

Harbour Bridge at Night

A short exposure of the Harbour Bridge which allows the ripples on the water to show.

Harbour Bridge at Night

A longer exposure of the Harbour Bridge which blurs away the ripples on the water.

A Pair of Rozillas

This picture was taken on the side of the street in Sydney... Slightly nicer to look at than a pair of London pigions!

Sydney's Opera House

The Warrumbungle National Park

19th Feb. I picked up my hire car from Bayswater Car Rental and started my journey to the Siding Spring Observatory in Coonabarabran. Unfortunately I never quite made it and spent the night in Gulgong (known as the $10 town) at the Centennial Hotel. I continued on to Coonabarabran the next day. Sunset over the Warrumbungle National Park taken from the gantry around the AAT dome.

The Warrumbungle National Park

Sunset over the Warrumbungle National Park taken from the gantry around the AAT dome.

The Warrumbungle National Park

Sunset over the Warrumbungle National Park taken from the gantry around the AAT dome.

The Warrumbungle National Park

The columns of rock that can be seen in this shot are the central magma cores of volcanos which have been edoded away over time. The lilac tinge to the clouds has been caused by a lilac grad filter.

Telescopes at Siding Spring

Three of the telescope on the mountain at Siding Spring. From left to right, the 2.7 meter, the AAT (in the distance and a little over exposed) and the 24 inch.

The Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring

A Kangeroo...

...actually one of the only ones I spotted on this visit. Siding spring was particularly quiet on this visit when it came to kangeroos.

The Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring

A long exposure with the AAT in the distance taken from the "sumit" of Siding Spring at sunset. The evening breeze has caused the trees in the foreground to become blured.

The Warrumbungle National Park

A long exposure of sunset over the Warrumbungle National Park.

The Warrumbungle National Park

A long exposure of sunset over the Warrumbungle National Park.

Night over the AAT

This picture shows the night sky over the AAT dome. Both the Small and Large Magelanic Clouds can be clearly seen as fuzzy patches on the right-hand side of the image. On the left-hand side of the image a strong diffuse glow is present which is due to the many stars in the plane of the Milky Way. Dark patches are also seen, these are due to large clouds of dust (also located in the plane of the Milky Way) blocking out light from the background stars. This picture was taken with an exposure of a few minutes. Fuji ISO 1600 film was used.

Night over the AAT

This picture shows star-trails over the AAT dome. The exposure was set at around 20 minutes – and should have been a lot longer. Jessops ISO 400 film was used.

The AAT

This picture was taken inside the dome of the Anglo Australian Telescope. It shows the 3.9 meter reflecting telescope and its horseshoe mount.

The AAT

Telescope control at the Anglo Australian Telescope.

Trees in Hyde Park (Sydney)

27th Feb. I left Siding Spring and headed back to Sydney.

Surfers on Bondi Beach

I spent my last couple of days in Sydney, deciding to jump on a bus tour. I decided to spend a bit of time at Bondi Beach, however, I was very disappointed by the performance I saw... I could have shown them a thing or two!! I left Sydney on the morning of 1st March and flew on to Auckland where I was to meet up with Tammay.