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Franz Josef – Waiau from above

Franz Josef – Waiau is a small West Coast town. In the lower left corner of this photograph you can see the Waiko River that runs from the Franz Josef Glacier to the south and into the Tasman Sea to the north west. Local Māori called the area Waiau, which means swirling waters. In the 1860s it was named after Emperor of Austria Franz Josef I of Austria. The town is home to less than 500 people but has accommodations for up to 2000 people per night. This photograph was taken from a helicopter. We were coming into land on one of the dozen helipads on the edges of the grass area. If you look really closely you can see my little blue car in the carpark.

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Aerial view of Bora Bora

Aerial view of Bora Bora

Flying into this French Polynesia island I wasn’t sat in a good seat on the plane. On my way back I asked the flight attendant for a good window seat. The window was pretty dirty but the lagoon and barrier reef from the air is stunning. In this photograph we see the luxury five star overwater villas of the InterContinental Resort. Here we can see the wonderful colour and clarity of the lagoon water.

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Reykjavik from above

Reykjavik from above

Getting an aerial view, be it from a building, nearby hillside or even aircraft, almost always makes for interesting photographs. This was captured at about 70 metres above the city on the observation floor of the Hallgrimskirkja church. The road off to the left is the Skólavörðustígur which leads your eye through the centre of Iceland’s capital city. Even at 2pm the November sun was very low in the sky. As you can see from the long shadow off to the right. I thought that this balances the photograph in a unique way.

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Auckland Domain from Sky Tower

Auckland Domain from Sky Tower

Sky Tower is an observation tower in the central business district of Auckland City, standing at 328 from ground to the top of the mask it is the tallest free-standing structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Above is a photograph taken from the observation deck looking over towards Parnell on the left with the Auckland Domain in the middle and the Auckland Museum on the right. The Tower also features the ‘Sky Jump’ were you can jump 192 metres down reaching speeds of up to 53 mph.