The Chile volcano is continuing to spew ash into the atmosphere and disrupt air travel and last night my flight home from New Zealand that was scheduled to leave this morning was cancelled by Virgin (yet again). I seem to be somewhat magnetic to volcanic eruptions. First it was Iceland last year and now New Zealand on the way in and out of the country. Two of my friends are now saying that you don’t need to ask if a volcano is going to erupt; just ask “Is Josh flying soon?”

Thankfully it appears as though Air New Zealand are again going to come to the rescue and after more phone calls I have been able to secure a ticket home at crack of dawn Sunday morning. Why Air New Zealand can fly and everyone else can’t makes little sense – very frustrating.

It has been a whirlwind trip and I feel like I have crammed in a huge amount of photography all over the island into a very short period of time. The weather and light has been a real mixed bag with everything from patches of brilliant sunshine to torrential rain; and just about everything in between. In point of fact, the weather has been remarkably warm for this time of year and as yet there is still no fresh snow (there are some really grumpy looking skiers around the place at the moment). In terms of light it has not been great; although there was some good sunrise and sunset light yesterday (the best of the trip). Most of the time the skies have been quite overcast at both sunrise and sunset which has lead to very grey and drab light – ce’st la vie.

Rather than sit around in my hotel room I have been invited out to go shooting today with a fellow local photographer who is also accompanying me to Antarctica in November this year. We went out shooting last night near Port Levy and had some wonderful sunset light. The volcanic ash particles in the air reflect the light beautifully and seem to extend sunset for what seems much longer than normal. Last night’s sunset was definitely the best light of the trip so far.

I returned my Maui camper van yesterday on my return to Christchurch. I did just over 2,500 kilometres in seven days and have shot just over 2300 frames – so I have a lot of sorting, editing and processing to do when I get back to Melbourne; which hopefully is tomorrow morning…

With the bad luck getting a flight to New Zealand I was ready for a bit of luck to finally go my way and thankfully I did not have to wait very long. On arrival to pick up my rental camper van the good people at the hire centre took pity on me and upgraded me to a top of the range Maui camper van – thank you! After the wasted travel time and time spent at Christchurch (what a mess the city is in from the recent earthquakes) it was very refreshing to get underway in a high level of comfort.

Speaking of earthquakes, I was awoken this morning in my hotel by quite a large after shock; it gave me quite a start.  You just have to feel for what the poor people of Christchurch are going through with these continual aftershocks – they must really fray the nerves; especially since the news is now reporting that another large or even larger quake is possible in the foreseeable future. I am glad to be out of the city and moving on. Tomorrow I hope to head to Fox Glacier weather permitting. At the moment its very cold and snow is forecast for tonight.

After multiple phone calls to Virgin Blue, American Express and Air New Zealand I have just been able to secure a seat on a delayed (due to volcanic ash) Air New Zealand flight to Christchurch late this afternoon that was scheduled to leave this morning. That is the good news. The bad news is the single ticket was about the same as a one way ticket to Las Angeles and that the flight may still be cancelled. Currently Christchurch airport is closed and a decision is pending wether to re-open it for flights later today. Thankfully the ridiculously priced aire fare is fully refundable should the flight be cancelled. I wont know until later this afternoon if the flight is actually leaving. Until then its more waiting time at the airport…

‘Thanks’ Virgin Blue. I got up at 4am this morning and logged onto the Virgin website to see if my flight to New Zealand had been affected by the volcanic ash cloud that has been hovering around Australia and New Zealand disrupting air travel. I have been keeping an eye on it over the last few days as my trip was drawing closer and there was no mention of cancelling the flight. At 4am this morning and again at 6am all systems were go and green – at least according to Virgin’s Website. So bags in tow I drove to the airport (a one hour drive) expecting to fly out this morning only to find on arrival at the airport that the flight had been cancelled at 3am and Virgin had failed to update their website or alert their customers to the cancellation. To add insult to injury the best Virgin can now do is to book me onto what I am told is the next available flight; which does not leave until Saturday.

I don’t mind that the flight has been cancelled, I understand the safety implications of flying through volcanic ash. What I object to is the complete lack of communication by Virgin – its pathetic in this day and age of the internet, social media, mobile phones etc. that an airline cannot alert its passengers to cancellations or delays.

I am currently sitting at the Lounge at Melbourne Airport trying to get onto another flight to Christchurch; but its not looking good. Everything is either cancelled or fully booked (and about to be cancelled). Volcanic ash strikes again… This could be a very short trip indeed.

I am leaving for New Zealand in less than 12 Hours (provided the plume of volcanic ash does not delay or cancel my flight). I am packed (almost), bookings confirmed, itinerary set and feeling very much like I was before leaving for Iceland in July last year…nervous about Volcanic ash.  It seems I have a small knack for planning photographic travel that syncs with the eruption of volcanoes. All being well I should in Christchurch by tomorrow afternoon and time and internet permitting I hope to post some updates to my blog throughout the trip. New Zealand’s spectacular South Island is a place very dear to my photographic heart and I cant wait to compose the first frame of the trip.