Yellowstone 170927 A loooooong day

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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© NF Photos 170927

This was a really looong day as I travelled from Arlanda, Sweden to Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA. Going there is following the rotation of the Earth so it was a loong day even if your watch told you otherwise.
We took off at Arlanda at 06.30 and landed in Jackson at 14,55.  Seems like a bit more then 8h 25 min.  Not much really.

 BUT,  
ARN -  AMS was 2h 10 min
going through procedures 1h 50 min
AMS-SLC said to be 2h 46 min. In real time it was 10h 46 min Due to time difference.
going through costume in SLC a little more then an 1h
SLC to Jackson 1h 5 min
Mostly on time except for Arlanda when we were delayed due to fog in Amsterdam.

So, from ARN at 6.30 to Jackson at 14.55, both local times, 8h 25 min. In reality it was approx
17h, flight time was 14h

And it was still afternoon so we did take a walk in Jackson before dinner and, finally some sleep.

Most of the trip was cloudy so despite having a windowseat I did not see much of the Atlantic or the USA mainland. But closing in to Salt Lake City the sun appeared. And Jackson welcomed us with a sunny afternoon. We visited the central park with an antler entry in every corner and I also visited an Art Gallery by an artist named JD Challenger. WOW, that was something I could have bought if I had a LOT of money.

Sitting in the sky looking down on Wyoming.

Entry to the park in Jackson Hole.  Made of deer and elk antlers

 View from my room at Jackson Ranch Inn.  A Ski slope.

A native artist

We gathered for dinner at 20.00h and went to a restaurang. Food was great and they had a bison in there. We was supposed to have a session where we presented each other but the place was too busy to do that.  Dinner took 2h so we were to tired to do it at the motell.

Being up for probably more then 24h it was good to finally go to sleep.

Linking up with: Sky Watch Friday  (not much sky today but there are skies and I was in the sky as well)



Image file For Yellowstone trip
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Japan 160124 Tokyo - Akune in Kyushu

Japan 160122-160204
Bird Photography trip

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© NF Photos 160124

Woke up rather early to go down for breakfast. It was kind of, a mix between western and eastern breakfasts. A detail I noticed was that the boiled eggs was marked in the shell where to cut of the "head". So, instead of open the egg by smashing the top I only had to grab the top and lift it off. :) 

We met in the lobby at 9 for the plane to Kyushu. Now, it turned out that the plane was cancelled. A snowstorm had hit the western part of the island. But our guide, Ms Harumi Yamanaka, quickly run out in the domestic hall. After a little while she came back. Smiling. She had rebooked our flight to the airport Miyazaki on the east side of Kyushu where the storm still had not hit. 

Kyushu is a subtropic island so they have almost none experience of  snow. They had no means of clearing snow away from the runway.  

Well, we boarded the new flight and was on our way almost the same time as scheduled. Due to the changed route, I guess, we were rewarded with a beautiful view of Mt Fuji. The trip took about 2h.  Cool to see it has a upside down heart-looking feature on it´s side. See image at the end of the post.

         

When we were going in for landing it was kind of weird. The clouds were very low and it felt as if we were flying in a tunnel. Strange!








Arriving at the airport we found palm trees and other tropic plants and a chill in the air as a warning about what was to come. The bus that was about to pick us up in Kagoshima was rescheduled to Miyazaki. It took a while before it came so we took an early lunch.

Around 13,00 we was finally on our way up north west across the island to find our hotel in Akune. Luckily the driver was used to snow as he sometimes works in the northern part of Japan.

After driving a while the snow started. And increased for every bit we drove. Half way across the island the conditions was bad. The road started to have a lot of snow and the traffic was not used to it. It was sad to see bamboo shrubs and tea bushes bowing heavily with snow on them. 

We made one stop, in an convenience store to buy something to eat. And to give the driver a rest. In the end of the day it was at least 2 dm of snow. At one place we spotted an  excavator trying to get rid of snow on the road. 

We arrived at Akune at nightfall and was having dinner. Then we went to bed as the morning will be an early one. 

From the news!
Snowstorm in Kyushu  more news

The bed, Japanese style :)  Quite good actually.

  Mt Fuji

Linking up with:

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Our World Tuesday
Travel Tuesday

Japan on NF Photo  NF Birds around the world   

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24/1: Flyg Tokyo – Miyazaki på ön Kyushu. Buss till hotellet i Akune

Planen idag var att vi skulle flyga söderut till Kagoshima på ön Kyushu. Nu visade det sig att ett snöoväder hade stoppat alla flyg dit. Snö är extremt ovanligt på Kyushu, där det normalt råder ett subtropiskt klimat. Därför orsakar minsta snötäcke inställda flyg, då det inte finns snöröjning på flygplatsen. Vi lyckades dock boka om flyget till Miyazaki på östra delen av Kyushu, som inte drabbats av snön. Vi nådde dit vid lunchtid och fick sedan en lång bussresa till området där tranorna övervintrar. Bussfärden tog oss genom ett landskap med snötäckta teodlingar, bambudungar och palmer - på vissa ställen med upp till 2 dm snö! Många udda intryck med andra ord! Så småningom nådde vi fram till vårt hotell i Akune lite efter mörkrets inbrott, glada att det gick att ordna så vi kunde ta oss hit överhuvudtaget. Imorgon väntar en heldag bland tranorna vid Arasaki och då ska vi äntligen kunna börja fotografera på allvar! 

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Japan 160121-22 Katrineholm to Arlanda airport - an adventure in itself

Japan 160122-160204
Bird Photography trip day one!

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© NF Photos 160121 and 160122

Katrineholm to Arlanda airport - an adventure in itself

I had tickets for a train in the afternoon. As usual I took an earlier bus downtown. As usual I had my little camera in the pocket and took some photos of the, still up, Christmas decorations. In the tunnel I checked up the timetable of the trains. Crap, my train was cancelled! What am I supposed to do now? The ticket office was still open so I went there. The woman told me there had been an incident with  smoke detected in a train. And that effected the entire region. Lots of trains cancelled or very late.

In a way I was lucky being early to the station. An earlier train, that was 1,5h late, was arriving a bit later so I could jump on that one. A tall man helped me with my suitcase. It turned out he was from Syria and could not speak English. But he was accompanied by a Somalian man who helped him out. The three of us communicated with hands and feet :)  That went well.

When I arrived to the station in Södertälje where my daughter lives the escalator was out of order. I went for the lift and found it all dead! Back at the escalator I had to carry the luggage down 2 floors. Not fun, but in the end it turned out I got to my daughter 15 min ahead of schedule. Despite everything. So I could spend the evening with her and her husband to be.

In the morning she drew me to Arlanda where I met the rest of the group that would start the trip from there.

On the highway through Stockholm I spotted a beautiful sun halo and managed to get some shots through the car window. 

And also a shot of the beautiful skyscraper north of Stockholm. Victoria Tower, the highest building in Stockholm. 

It is really great to be a passenger, take a look! I could even talk to my granddaughter that is studying in Honolulu. 

Linking up with:   Skywatch Friday

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22/1: Resdag. Flyg från Stockholm/Köpenhamn via Frankfurt

23/1: Ankomst Tokyo, natt där

22-23 januari

Idag väntar en lång resdag, som tar oss via Frankfurt där gruppen sammanstrålar och sedan vidare över många tidszoner österut, innan vi landar i Tokyo på lördag lunchtid lokal tid (tidig morgon svensk tid). I Tokyo tar vi in på hotell i väntan på vidare flyg söderut till ön Kyushu på söndag, då fotograferingen äntligen kan påbörjas.

Japan on NF Photo  NF Birds around the world   

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150306 Varanger, Norway. Gardermoen to Båtsfjord

Varanger, Norway 150305-150311 
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© NF Photos 150306
For maps see blogpost Varanger

I did sleep on a couch but woke up because of cold drafts from a corridor so I had to move. But I got some sleep anyway. In the morning, after checking in, I met with my travel guide and fellow travellers. Lots of planes was cancelled due to the Norwegian pilots strike. see image of scedule reflected in airport,  but we was airborne according to schedule. It took two hours to get to Kirkenes. But in a way the trip was a disappointment. I had expected to see the mountain range but we travelled over Sweden and low country. I did not see mountains until we
got very close to Kirkenes. 

Image to the left, Varanger from above a few min before landing. 

After we picked up the rented cars we took off to Båtsfjord.

To start with it was a beautiful road,  now and then close to rivers and the arctic sea.

The sun came out occasionally and we made a stop at a frozen river with some water still flowing down a small fall.  First stop was at Skoltefossen.

When arriving at Varangerbotn we took a lunch break. And then continued inland due north west. We made a few photo stops and once we did see moose. A cow and half grown calf. 

31 km from Båtsfjord the road was closed due to snowy condition. There was a road barrier over the road. No passing permitted until they cleared the road of snow.  It was very windy and slippery and traffic had to wait to go in a caravan behind a truck with a snow blower the rest of the way. So we had to wait 1.5h before we could continue and then it was already dark. There was some piles of snow outside the house with the waiting room. The light from the room lit it up and I took some shots. People wondering why I shot them. But what I saw was not piles of  snow, I saw this: Watching. 


When the truck arrived it did not take long before we reached Båtsfjord. We arrived at the hotel around 18.00h. Got our rooms and took a quick shower before dinner was served at 19.00h.

After dinner we had an info meeting and was given our warm overalls to use in the hide. Well, that was kind of fun. You really feel clumsy in that suit. But it turned out to be great.  Then we were all very tired and forgot we was about to check for aurora.

I got to bed rather early as we were to meet again at 05.00h to go to the first session in hide. 

Winter in Varanger

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140603 Waterfalls and Strokkur, additional images

ISLAND 2014-05-28--06-04
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Faxafoss located a bit south of  Gullfoss
© NF Photos 140603

Faxafoss is not as well known as Gullfoss, and it was hard to find online, but our guide thought it to be nicer. Not as powerfull but in a way nicer. And it have what  seem to a salmon ladder.

Gullfoss
© NF Photos 140603

Strokkur blows in Geysir Nat Park
© NF Photos 140603

And this will be the end of reports from Iceland. But images will still be used now and then in other of my blogs.

This days trip report HERE

Island/Iceland on NF Photo   NF Bird  NF World

Travel Photo Monday  Our World Tuesday

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140530 Friday Whale Watching at Husavik additional images

ISLAND 2014-05-28--06-04
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Mostly Puffins and Arctic terns
Whale Watching tour at Husavik
© NF Photos 140530

The trip report for this day HERE

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130831 Surfing and Airport

Honolulu 130811-130902
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© NF Photos 130831 Saturday

130831 Saturday and last day

Time for the last activities in Honolulu. I woke up at six so I have already taken a walk at the beach and parks and are waiting for breakfast. Then I will finish packing so we can go when my family pick me up at eleven. Hopefully for a surfing activity at Waikiki.

At 7 a´clock this woman is already heading for the waves.

My family arrived at appointed time and we were allowed to park the car at the Hostel. We put my stuff in the car and left for Waikiki beach. We waited a while for a friend to my granddaughter as they thought they needed instructions and he knew how to surf. To bad I´m already set for departure so I did not try the surfboards. Did not want to be in the plane with salt on me. But, I finally got to see them surfing. Well, at least trying to.The waves was much lower now then it was in the morning. A pirate ship was also in the area.

After surfing we went to an ice cream store to cool off a little. And then we headed for the market to try to find the dress I liked the first day. And we did so I bought one. 

Then we picked up the car and went to the house. And as usual everyone is busy but me.

Before it was time for the airport we grabbed a pizza at Pizza hut. Had to eat something as food was not served on the plane. And the plane was going straight to Chicago. They drove me to the Airport and with passport and "ticket" in hand we said good-bye for now. And I went into the building.

At midday the sun are right up and don´t cast that much shadows. Only the lifted board cast a shadow. 

And this is the end of Honolulu trip report.

Thanks everyone that have enjoyed the trip with me.

Travel Photo Mondays 30   Our World Tuesday 
Travel Photo Thursday   Shadow Shot Sunday

And, as usual, now the trouble begins.

The first thing that happened was that the luggage had to be scanned for plants and animals. That turned out ok and my luggage got a yellow tag on it.

Then I went to the line for check in. I was assigned a station and headed for it. But when I was closing in the person staying there was leaving. Eh.... and did not come back. What the f....  Looking around the station I located a computer. Seemed like I was about to have to do it on my own. I did not like that. I was going two planes and having the luggage. I did not want to take any chances of getting it wrong.  Or be without a seat. So, I stayed put until somebody came and did it for me. And....she could not appoint any seats for me due to software problems. :(  So, I had to go in to the gate without having seats in any of the planes.

In the gate I finished the pizza I had brought with me and then I lined up at the empty desk to see if I could get the seats. Somebody came after a while and started to work at a computer but did not care about us people waiting. Then another one came and we could start talking to him. It turned out the first one was fixing the in-checking for all of us that was not finished. So at the time we were to board the plane I got my tickets and the note for my luggage. Turned out they gave me a seat in the middle of both planes so I could not move around as I usually do. First plane was  night time flight so it was dark most of the time. Landed in Chicago at 8.30 and spent 8 boring hours there. Next flight was also mostly dark and we landed in Arlanda at 8 o'clock Monday morning September the 2:nd.

Then I had to find bus and train to get home. With an open suitcase as it turned out they opened and destroyed it in Honolulu. Leaving notes they had checked it for security reasons, again!,  but did not take responsibility for it. What can I say, bastards! My lock would have been easy for them to destroy. But they had to destroy the suitcase. Bad ending of a great trip. The same thing happened to me when I was on Big Island 10 years ago. Hawaii don´t seem to think I shall leave!

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