"What the hell was that?!"

[toprob]

I think I've come up with an idea for this month's screenshot theme, I just need to turn it into a screenshot...

Last Wednesday I headed off to the airport for a quick trip to Dunedin, just a couple of days to photograph NZDN and the Taieri airport for the next 'Real NZ' scenery. My flight was cancelled because of the horrendous winds at Dunedin, so Air New Zealand laid on a bus for those of us who wanted it. So a five hour trip rather than an hour, but it is a beautiful part of the country through South Canty and Otago at this time of the year.

When we got to Dunedin it was stinking hot and blowy, and as I was staying in Mosgiel, the driver dropped me off at the end of the motorway. It was like a war-zone there, it seemed like the entire country was up in flames, with choppers everywhere. It took me a while to find a way through all the blocked-off streets, guys repairing dangling power lines, people being evacuated.

Still, finally go to my motel in Mosgiel, and luckily the weather changed abruptly to southerny rain, which helped put the fires out.

In the morning I got up early and walked through Mosgiel to the Taieri Airfield, the home of the Otago Aero Club. I had contacted them the week before to say I was coming, and a few people has offered to help me get access to the place. I was meeting Kelvin, who was gonna show me around, and in the meantime I wandered around taking photos. Then Kelvin rang and said he'd arrived, so I walked back to the main hangar. I could see Kelvin waiting on the tarmac, and as I was walking across to meet him, I was suddenly punched in the chest, what seemed like a gunshot. After a few seconds I realised that I hadn't been shot -- sorry, Kelvin --but my implanted defibrillator had given me a shock.

As I was explaining this to Kelvin, I got another shock, so I asked him to call 111, and I decided to lie down on the ground. In total I had nine shocks in a few minutes, which I wouldn't recommend, and I certainly wouldn't want to go through again.

Luckily the guys next door at the helicopter rescue place were there in a couple of minutes, closely followed by an ambulance. I've now spent a couple of days in Dunedin hospital, and finally home fit and well.

I'd certainly like to thank the Aero Club guys, Kelvin, Jonathan, Ray, and a few others whose names escaped me. Ray actually visited me in ED, probably half and hour after I was admitted, and he kept me entertained in the early stages.

My son, who works in Timaru, drove down and stayed for the couple of days, it's great having grown kids, that's for sure. Yesterday I was discharged at midday, so Josh drove me out to the airfield, where I finally got a few photos for the scenery, but not everything, as I was trying to take things easy. I will have to go back, but I know that there's plenty of very friendly and helpful people to make things easier.

I flew back in the evening, 55 minutes to Chch, then almost three hours to bus/ferry home, but Christchurch looked so great, I was bloody pleased to be back. A bit of a tweak of my medication should stop this sort of thing happening again for a while.

I do feel my age today, so I'll take things easy for a while. I just need to come up with a screenshot for the comp, maybe to illustrate the event from the point of view of the woman who pulled up to the pumps outside the hangar to refuel, and was no doubt entertained by the goings-on, as I was bundled into the ambulance...

[toprob]

Here's the view looking back the way I came, above Mosgiel, I thought I'd taken another shot of the choppers, but apparently not.

[NZ255]

Bloody hell! Sorry to hear that, Rob. But good thing that defibrillator did it's job....

How long do they last?

Shame you'll have to make another trip, but happy to know you're still in one piece.

Nick

[jpreou]

Holy crap! ... glad you're ok Rob. Rest easy.

[SA227]

Crikey! Must have been far too much excitement for one trip but at least the defibrillator did it's job.

A good bunch in Dunedin ED. Ended up there myself after I exploded a disc in my back a few years ago on a Dunedin overnight.

The ambulance crews had a good laugh when they finally got to me. First crew walked in to find me stuck on the floor and the first thing said "hey you're from Lifeflight" Second crew arrived 15 minutes later and made exactly the same statement.

36 hours in ED and then paxed back to AKL on crutches standing in the rear galley of the 737. That was painful trip!

[Splitpin]

Rob , Rob ...... Rob
Glad your still with us , but get it sorted (i know you will) dont need anymore leaving the fold.
I'll be in touch .

[emfrat]

Rob, does it really take 3 hours from Chch to your place?...I've been looking at Omaka having a Flying Day the weekend before the Wanaka show, but if the traffic's that bad, I might need a helicopter
Good to know you still have your roadworthy

[toprob]

Cheers, guys, I plan to be around for a long time yet. Who else is gonna make scenery?

Although I'd love to have an off-switch on the implant, it is handy to have -- and I'd love a battery like that in my phone, lasts ten years apparently. I'm back on the medication which regulates my heartbeat, which means keeping out the sun, which is a bugger.

One mention of Air New Zealand -- I was on a $45 each way grabaseat, and because the first flight was cancelled, they changed the return flight for me, then put it on hold when I went into hospital, then put me on another flight of my choice. Really good service, for less that $100!

Rob, does it really take 3 hours from Chch to your place?...I've been looking at Omaka having a Flying Day the weekend before the Wanaka show, but if the traffic's that bad, I might need a helicopter
Good to know you still have your roadworthy

No, there was about a 30 minute wait for the bus at the airport, a 25 min ride to Central, another long wait for the Lyttelton bus, 30 minute ride, almost an hour waiting for the ferry, luckily only 8 minutes on the ferry:) My flatmate picked me up at the ferry, otherwise it's another 30 minute walk...
Speaking of roadworthy, one annoying result is that I can't drive for 6 months after a shock. Still, I have got used to the buses, and it'll be a while until I can afford another car, anyway.

[Fozzer]

You Southern Hemisphere Blokes get me all confused sometimes with your weather....

Half of you are telling me that NZ has been in the depths of Winter with Snow and Ice...

...and the other half are telling me that the place is in flames with Wild-fires!

Whilst you are looking forward to nice weather now, Winter is creeping up on me at the moment... ...!

Paul ....Weathering the Weather, and measuring the Marigolds.... ...!

[BruceR]

Hello Rob; on your next trip to Dunedin if you need a driver just sing out. I live at East Taieri which is about 3ks south of where you took that photo. I'm retired so have time on my hands. It would be a please meeting you and being your 'driver'.

Bruce Ross

[Charl]

Dunno what particularly makes it so, that photo has real drama in it.

Comes a time when you have to live in the moment...
Be grateful you have another dawn, and BTW when's the scenery going to be released?

[toprob]

Hello Rob; on your next trip to Dunedin if you need a driver just sing out. I live at East Taieri which is about 3ks south of where you took that photo. I'm retired so have time on my hands. It would be a please meeting you and being your 'driver'.

Bruce Ross

That's a very enticing offer, Bruce, when I get to go back I'm planning on being so relaxed that I may not even be able to find my pulse. I will certainly keep that in mind.

Charl -- when's it going to be released? It's already running two months late, and this hiccough adds another month, on top of the four or five at least to do the work. So what was meant to be late this year will now be... something else.

[Charl]

Heh... well, you have work to do!

[Ian Warren]

Sorta recall very similar fire on the Christchurch in late 1989 in the Sign of the Kiwi region on the Christchurch port hills with the police to catch two teenage twits who got caught (denied) lighting a second fire in the Craycroft valley the hill over ... TWITS!

[toprob]

Well, finally got the Dunedin photoshoot finished, after 5 months...
This trip was a bit more relaxed, sorry I didn't contact anybody who had offered to help, but the idea was to not make any plans, so I wouldn't get stressed if things didn't work out, and I wouldn't end up letting people down. This time I hired a car, which makes life a lot easier...

I managed to get a few missing photos from the previous Taieri airfield shoot, plus some landmarks around the city. I also did a trip along the Peninsula, which was looking stunning at this time of the year. Dunedin is beautiful when the weather is good, but of course the weather isn't always good.

I had arranged an airside drive-along at DN, it's always a pleasure to deal with security staff, they cut through a lot of crap, and are happy to help once I explain what I want. You'd be surprised how many security people are sim users.

Only problem this time was my camera -- I always shoot raw, as I'm normally shooting fast so haven't got time to worry about exposure etc, and raw gives me the extra detail to rescue an image if I get things wrong. However when it came to the ride-along, I was getting low on storage space, so I switched to JPG which gives smaller files. Unfortunately when I was shooting trees earlier that morning in the rain, and having to operate the camera under a cloth to keep it dry, I had accidentally switched the camera white balance to 'tungsten'. (this is the result of my bad eyesight up close, I change settings from memory, as I can't actually see all that small print up close.) With raw this wouldn't matter, but just my luck that the ride-along shots were all practically ruined by using the wrong colour balance. Luckily I've been up all night working on a way to recover the colour detail, and I should be able to get enough to build a nice airport.

Only missing bit was the quick over-flight I usually like to take, seemed too risky to trust my heart to a tiny little aircraft in the typical Dunedin wind.

I spent some time just being a tourist, which was great. I have only visited Dunedin a couple of times in my life, so it was a nice experience.

[Ian Warren]

Well, finally got the Dunedin photoshoot finished, after 5 months...
.

Its the focal distance off the camera that makes it longer than required ... course the 230 mile sag of the camera lens over that distance dose not help , have an ant walk on the front of the lens over that distance really affects the shot required ... weight equal's sag .. sag equals photo snapshot realignment .