Newfoundland One

 

We are just back from two weeks in and around Newfoundland. The first image is as our cruise ship Sea Adventurer (passengers 118) left St. Johns. This is the area referred to as "The Battery". The ship was late in leaving, held up by customs having arrived from winter duty in Antarctic.

The second image is from L'anse Aux Meadows - the Viking settlement at the northern tip of Newfoundland. Keep in mind that pack ice in the background was solid, the wind was howling and the temperature hovering around freezing point - sure can see why they left after 10 years but still some 500 years before Columbus. We learned they may have headed south to modern New Brunswick.

The third image is of Snorri - a repilca Viking boat, named for the son  of Eric The Red, who settled in Newfoundland, after being kicked out of both Iceland and then Greenland for multiple murders. Charming but tough bugger! In 2000 the boat was sailed from Greenland to Newfoundland to commemorate the 1000'th ann. of the original trip.

All three images were made with my new A6000 - I'd fallen in love with the viewfinder - so much better than the Nex-7, and at low ISO, smoother more detailed images. With my 10-18, 16-70 and 55-210 kit, it made a small portable package for travelling and ended up being used a lot more than my A7r. I was very pleased with the A6000. No, it doesn't focus as well as a good dSLR, but decent, definitely.

I didn't have my tripod for the interior shots of Snorri but simply held the camera against a post as best I could, and with the amazing image stabilization of the 10-18, was able to make the shot.

I never would have guessed that IS would matter in such an ettreme wide angle, but repeatedly on this trip it proved helpful.

On Newfoundland itself, it was wonderful and we can't wait to return. Wild, friendly, beautiful. The ads for Newfoundland are all true.