January '06

Welcome to the New Year, back at the desk in Sydney. Updates to the website for 2006 include a prints page and the news section, highlighting events that have occurred throughout the year.
January 29 brings a new year to Tibet and Tibetan communities around the globe.
The Year of the Fire-Dog will see me return to Tibet to complete photographic endeavours that have seen some delays!

November/December '05

The Bearded Miners of Reefton, New Zealand
While in NZ for the Adventure Racing World Championships at Westport I paid a visit to the old gold mining town of Reefton, where in the local Reef Cafe I bumped into Geoff, Gavin and Pete, better known locally as the Bearded Miners. Next time you visit the West Coast of New Zealand, call past Reefton and buy a beer for the miners, they'll repay you with many stories!

Adventure Racing World Championships 2005 ARWC, Westport, New Zealand

It was New Zealand's turn to host the AR World Champs with the West Coast and Westport as the location. In good Kiwi fashion the Coast laid it on with a traditional Maori welcome to competitors lead by 2004 World Champion adventure racing team Nike Balance Bar. I covered the event primarily for Outdoor Australia Magazine which will publish an article in their Feb/Marc issue. After over 100 hours of racing and only 6.5 hours of sleep through the rugged coastline nad mountains of the Buller region, the Balance Vector Team of Nathan Fa'avae, Kristina Anglem, Marcel Hagener and Richard Usher crossed the line at Tauranga Bay to claim the title of 2005 World Champions and $50,000 in prize money.

New Zealand West Coast - Westport to Karamea

Prior to commencement of the Adventure Racing World Championships I was able to visit the northern region of the Westcoast. Stunning coastal views, excellent seafood and great hospitality is to found in this refreshingly diverse part of New Zealand. From the Greenstone or Jade carving of Ian Boustridge at Westport, along the spectacular coastline between Westport and Charleston where the scenery and surf potential rivals Australia's Great Ocean Road to Mining history of Deniston and Reefton and on to Karamea and the Oparara Basin of Kahurangi National Park. Of course the weather is changeable, from sunshine to light rain to a full on West Coast squall, but not nearly as cool as further south around the Glacier regions. Great food and excellent accommodation was also in abundance, particularly the Bay House Cafe at Tauranga Bay where Luke Macann put together a few items not on the menu for myself,Ryan Craig, Nikki Hewitt and visiting Korean film crew - thanks Luke.

Nov' '05 Alistair Trung Design