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On Road

A few shots from the Jasper region and Icefields Parkway

Mark WatsonJuly 5, 2009

Thanks for visiting the blog of Mark Watson & Highlux Photography. Here, you can find the full account of our Alaska to Patagonia (2016–2020, 2022–2023) bikepacking journey, as well as our New Zealand adventures.

Alaska – Ushuaia Route Map.

Donate to Mark & Hana's Expedition Fund

@highluxphoto

Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tramp aka EA

Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tramp aka EAT! This was a 9-day journey from the Styx River to the Whitcombe River taking in one of the least visited huts in New Zealand, along with a couple of crossings of the Main Divide. We started at lunchtime on day one and walked up the Styx Valley to Styx Saddle, where we camped. The full story is on the blog, link in bio.

#tramping #hikingadventures #hikinginnewzealand #hokitikacatchments #southernalpsnz

Here's a few more shots from an excellent weekend

Here's a few more shots from an excellent weekend spent riding on the Rollesby Range, right on the edge of the Mackenzie Basin. See my previous post for more...
.
.
.
#mackenziebasin #mountainbiking #explorebybicycle #mountainbikeride #mountainbikers #nzmountainbiking #newzealandadventures

We struck gold with the weather last weekend for a

We struck gold with the weather last weekend for a couple of forays onto the Rollesby Range, high above the Mackenzie Basin. Courtesy of Bauchops Hill Station two days were spent riding farm and 4WD tracks. The highlight was a Saturday afternoon skyline ride along the crest of range, with epic views of one of New Zealand's most iconic landscapes, including Aoraki Mount Cook and other prominent peaks of the Southern Alps. On Sunday we rode a steep 800m back up there again because we could not get enough of the view, oh and the downhill was pretty damn good too ⚡Can't beat good weather in the hills with a great crew.
.
.
.
#mountainbiking #mountainbikeride #rollesbyrange #mackenziebasin #southislandhighcountry #southernalps #cyclingnz

Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina 🇦🇷

#beaglechannel #tierradelfuego #argentina_ig #patagonia #ushuaia

A humpback whale blowing and breaching in the Beag

A humpback whale blowing and breaching in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego 🐳

It's hard to believe it's nearly a year since I took these photos on a day trip on the Beagle Channel. The day before it had stormed and snowed right down to city level in Ushuaia, so we got lucky with a clear day this day - our last in South America before the long journey home to New Zealand.

#spermwhale #beaglechannel #ushuaia #tierradelfuego #southerncone #patagoniafantastica #patagoniatravel #explorepatagonia

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te W

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te Waipounamu have added an immense amount to my life: leaving indelible memories that have been forged from what is, at its base, a very simple activity: moving through the countryside as efficiently as possible, without support and against a clock that never stops. As many before me have explained, this challenge extracts from us some of the essence of what it is to be human; to have extraordinary endurance, a capacity for optimism, a drive to keep moving forward, and a subconscious desire to continue to correct our errors and to improve."

✍️My full 2024 TTW write up is on my blog.
🔗 in bio.

#bikepackingrace #bikepackingultra #tourtewaipounamu #bikepacking

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@revelatedesigns
@biomaxa
@gearshopnz
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te W

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te Waipounamu have added an immense amount to my life: leaving indelible memories that have been forged from what is, at its base, a very simple activity: moving through the countryside as efficiently as possible, without support and against a clock that never stops. As many before me have explained, this challenge extracts from us some of the essence of what it is to be human; to have extraordinary endurance, a capacity for optimism, a drive to keep moving forward, and a subconscious desire to continue to correct our errors and to improve."

✍️ My 2024 Tour Te Waipounamu write up is on the @highluxphoto blog now. It covers a few aspects: my challenges with Achilles issues in previous races, prep for this year, my @otsocycles Fenrir, a detailed race account, and some further thoughts on ultras and what they have added to my life.

🔗 in my bio.

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@biomaxa
@revelatedesigns
@gearshopnz
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu #bikepackingrace #bikepackingultra #bikepackinglife

✅ Unpacking My Tour Te Waipounamu Bike - Video +

✅ Unpacking My Tour Te Waipounamu Bike - Video + full packing list (LINK IN BIO)

For those of you wondering what a 3x TTW finisher carries on their bike, here's a video walk though, as well as a link to the full list (for those items I forgot to mention).

Excuse the occasionally vague delivery - I think I should have rested a few more days before making this! 🙃

I'm quite happy to answer any questions here, or in the comments over at YouTube.

📷 @antonmcgeachen

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu #packinglist #bikepackinggear

It has taken me over 24 hours since I finished my

It has taken me over 24 hours since I finished my third Tour Te Waipounamu bikepacking ultra to find the focus to create a Facebook post, which says something about the energy I spent out on the course this year.

36 hours after finishing at 5.10am on Saturday my knees are starting to bend again, the fluid buildup has drained from my lower legs, and my lower back has stopped tingling, but my appetite has been relentless and I can't make it more than a few hours without needing a nap. That's the toll taken by finishing the ride by cycling from Lake Pukaki to Slope Point (~500km) on less than 2 hours of sleep, including several hours of exposure to Friday's storm high in the Lammerlaws.

I hoped this year to go 'a bit' faster than my 2022 time, but never imagined I'd carve off 17 hours. Going under 6 days (5 days, 22 hours) feels like an amazing achievement for me, but coming 8th and setting an over 50s record are a bonus and make a third run feel even more worthwhile.

I trained for 6 months so that I'd go at least as fast as last time, but the biggest time gains came from riding longer, sleeping shorter and carrying lots of food so that I wasn't delayed anywhere by opening hours. Additionally, my body cooperated this time, with the Achilles issues that plagued me in the past absent. There was still lots of pain (mostly knees, neck and wrists), but not injury or anything that could shut me down.

Thanks everyone for the amazing messages of support and encouragement during the ride, I have read them all 🙏🏻

Thanks also to Brian Alder for creating this 1300km event which provides a priceless opportunity for people to discover and expand their limits all among the South Island's extraordinary landscapes.

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@biomaxa
@revelatedesigns
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_
@gearshopnz

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu

📷 @ascent.phill @antonmcgeachen @brianinpics

⚡ At 7am this Sunday, January 28th I'll be linin

⚡ At 7am this Sunday, January 28th I'll be lining up at Cape Farewell with around 60 other bikepackers for the third edition of the @tourtewaipounamu bikepacking ultra which spans the length of the South Island/Te Waipounamu of Aotearoa. After completing the first two, in 2021 and 2022, I'm one of only four racers aiming for a third finish. I've put 6 months preparation into this one, as I did last time, and although my body likes to remind me frequently of the wear and tear it's suffered over the years I'll be aiming to have a smooth and efficient run and hopefully shave a bit more time off my 6 day, 14 hour finish from 2022.

Hats off to @brianinpics for the amazing opportunity he has created with this race. Incorporating some perplexing challenges and weather exposure among beautiful South Island back country, TTW has the potential to provide the deepest of human experience for anyone who takes it on.

I'll be riding my @otsocycles Fenrir Stainless 29er this time, after doing the last two on my Voytek. After a ton of training on it, the Fenrir has proven itself an excellent tool for this race, with its mix of rough back country riding, technical singletrack, hike-a-bike and long gravel stretches.

Thanks @wolf_tooth_comp for pedals, tools and other components, @revelatedesigns for the reliable bags and @gearshopnz for tyres, bivi kit and Ultimate Direction Adventure Vest.

🧐 If you'd like to 'dot watch' a link to the live tracking can be found via my bio.

Thanks @robbodeezal for photo #1

#tourtewaipounamu #bikepackingultra #bikepacking #bikepacknewzealand

The last day was an easy one; we climbed a steep d

The last day was an easy one; we climbed a steep dirt track to Paso Garibaldi (our final crossing of the Andes), and then it was a fast sealed highway right to the Antarctic boom town of Ushuaia. It was late autumn and cold, with snow low on the hills and icicles on the embankments.

Finally we had no more road to ride, no next destination to visit, no new landscape or culture to experience and no more planning and route research to do. We were at the end of our American Cordillera journey to cycle from the north coast of Alaska, to Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America.

We left Deadhorse Alaska on June 6, 2016 and arrived in Ushuaia on the 28th April 2023, having had to take a three year break back in NZ during the pandemic. A trip we thought we be two years, that extended to over four, and with the break back in NZ, where the project never left our minds, it became a seven year committment.

It was a long time, but it's a journey that has reshaped how we see the world and ourselves, our families and friends for the better and left us with untold memories, and a yearning to discover more.

#bikepacking #bikepackinglife #ushuaia #alaskatopatagonia #alaskatoargentina #alaskatoushuaia #cycletouringlife

Autumn in Tierra del Fuego, April 2023. Lago Escon

Autumn in Tierra del Fuego, April 2023. Lago Escondido & Rio Lasifashaj.

#tierradelfuego #lagoescondidoushuaia #argentina🇦🇷

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Otso Voytek, Peru

All of your long-distance bikepacking questions answered here…

Recent Posts

Tramping Browning Pass and Hokitika Saddle to Sir Robert Hut April 23, 2024
Three out of Three: Racing the 2024 Tour Te Waipounamu Bikepacking Ultra March 1, 2024
Bikepacking Packing List for the Andes, South America (Updated 2023/24) December 17, 2023

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Mark Watson, Photographer

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Phone: +642040132232

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Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tramp aka EA

Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tramp aka EAT! This was a 9-day journey from the Styx River to the Whitcombe River taking in one of the least visited huts in New Zealand, along with a couple of crossings of the Main Divide. We started at lunchtime on day one and walked up the Styx Valley to Styx Saddle, where we camped. The full story is on the blog, link in bio.

#tramping #hikingadventures #hikinginnewzealand #hokitikacatchments #southernalpsnz

Here's a few more shots from an excellent weekend

Here's a few more shots from an excellent weekend spent riding on the Rollesby Range, right on the edge of the Mackenzie Basin. See my previous post for more...
.
.
.
#mackenziebasin #mountainbiking #explorebybicycle #mountainbikeride #mountainbikers #nzmountainbiking #newzealandadventures

We struck gold with the weather last weekend for a

We struck gold with the weather last weekend for a couple of forays onto the Rollesby Range, high above the Mackenzie Basin. Courtesy of Bauchops Hill Station two days were spent riding farm and 4WD tracks. The highlight was a Saturday afternoon skyline ride along the crest of range, with epic views of one of New Zealand's most iconic landscapes, including Aoraki Mount Cook and other prominent peaks of the Southern Alps. On Sunday we rode a steep 800m back up there again because we could not get enough of the view, oh and the downhill was pretty damn good too ⚡Can't beat good weather in the hills with a great crew.
.
.
.
#mountainbiking #mountainbikeride #rollesbyrange #mackenziebasin #southislandhighcountry #southernalps #cyclingnz

Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina 🇦🇷

#beaglechannel #tierradelfuego #argentina_ig #patagonia #ushuaia

A humpback whale blowing and breaching in the Beag

A humpback whale blowing and breaching in the Beagle Channel, Tierra del Fuego 🐳

It's hard to believe it's nearly a year since I took these photos on a day trip on the Beagle Channel. The day before it had stormed and snowed right down to city level in Ushuaia, so we got lucky with a clear day this day - our last in South America before the long journey home to New Zealand.

#spermwhale #beaglechannel #ushuaia #tierradelfuego #southerncone #patagoniafantastica #patagoniatravel #explorepatagonia

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te W

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te Waipounamu have added an immense amount to my life: leaving indelible memories that have been forged from what is, at its base, a very simple activity: moving through the countryside as efficiently as possible, without support and against a clock that never stops. As many before me have explained, this challenge extracts from us some of the essence of what it is to be human; to have extraordinary endurance, a capacity for optimism, a drive to keep moving forward, and a subconscious desire to continue to correct our errors and to improve."

✍️My full 2024 TTW write up is on my blog.
🔗 in bio.

#bikepackingrace #bikepackingultra #tourtewaipounamu #bikepacking

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@revelatedesigns
@biomaxa
@gearshopnz
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te W

"My experiences preparing for and racing Tour Te Waipounamu have added an immense amount to my life: leaving indelible memories that have been forged from what is, at its base, a very simple activity: moving through the countryside as efficiently as possible, without support and against a clock that never stops. As many before me have explained, this challenge extracts from us some of the essence of what it is to be human; to have extraordinary endurance, a capacity for optimism, a drive to keep moving forward, and a subconscious desire to continue to correct our errors and to improve."

✍️ My 2024 Tour Te Waipounamu write up is on the @highluxphoto blog now. It covers a few aspects: my challenges with Achilles issues in previous races, prep for this year, my @otsocycles Fenrir, a detailed race account, and some further thoughts on ultras and what they have added to my life.

🔗 in my bio.

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@biomaxa
@revelatedesigns
@gearshopnz
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu #bikepackingrace #bikepackingultra #bikepackinglife

✅ Unpacking My Tour Te Waipounamu Bike - Video +

✅ Unpacking My Tour Te Waipounamu Bike - Video + full packing list (LINK IN BIO)

For those of you wondering what a 3x TTW finisher carries on their bike, here's a video walk though, as well as a link to the full list (for those items I forgot to mention).

Excuse the occasionally vague delivery - I think I should have rested a few more days before making this! 🙃

I'm quite happy to answer any questions here, or in the comments over at YouTube.

📷 @antonmcgeachen

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu #packinglist #bikepackinggear

It has taken me over 24 hours since I finished my

It has taken me over 24 hours since I finished my third Tour Te Waipounamu bikepacking ultra to find the focus to create a Facebook post, which says something about the energy I spent out on the course this year.

36 hours after finishing at 5.10am on Saturday my knees are starting to bend again, the fluid buildup has drained from my lower legs, and my lower back has stopped tingling, but my appetite has been relentless and I can't make it more than a few hours without needing a nap. That's the toll taken by finishing the ride by cycling from Lake Pukaki to Slope Point (~500km) on less than 2 hours of sleep, including several hours of exposure to Friday's storm high in the Lammerlaws.

I hoped this year to go 'a bit' faster than my 2022 time, but never imagined I'd carve off 17 hours. Going under 6 days (5 days, 22 hours) feels like an amazing achievement for me, but coming 8th and setting an over 50s record are a bonus and make a third run feel even more worthwhile.

I trained for 6 months so that I'd go at least as fast as last time, but the biggest time gains came from riding longer, sleeping shorter and carrying lots of food so that I wasn't delayed anywhere by opening hours. Additionally, my body cooperated this time, with the Achilles issues that plagued me in the past absent. There was still lots of pain (mostly knees, neck and wrists), but not injury or anything that could shut me down.

Thanks everyone for the amazing messages of support and encouragement during the ride, I have read them all 🙏🏻

Thanks also to Brian Alder for creating this 1300km event which provides a priceless opportunity for people to discover and expand their limits all among the South Island's extraordinary landscapes.

@otsocycles
@wolf_tooth_comp
@biomaxa
@revelatedesigns
@we_are_sungod
@bigagnes_
@gearshopnz

#bikepacking #tourtewaipounamu

📷 @ascent.phill @antonmcgeachen @brianinpics

⚡ At 7am this Sunday, January 28th I'll be linin

⚡ At 7am this Sunday, January 28th I'll be lining up at Cape Farewell with around 60 other bikepackers for the third edition of the @tourtewaipounamu bikepacking ultra which spans the length of the South Island/Te Waipounamu of Aotearoa. After completing the first two, in 2021 and 2022, I'm one of only four racers aiming for a third finish. I've put 6 months preparation into this one, as I did last time, and although my body likes to remind me frequently of the wear and tear it's suffered over the years I'll be aiming to have a smooth and efficient run and hopefully shave a bit more time off my 6 day, 14 hour finish from 2022.

Hats off to @brianinpics for the amazing opportunity he has created with this race. Incorporating some perplexing challenges and weather exposure among beautiful South Island back country, TTW has the potential to provide the deepest of human experience for anyone who takes it on.

I'll be riding my @otsocycles Fenrir Stainless 29er this time, after doing the last two on my Voytek. After a ton of training on it, the Fenrir has proven itself an excellent tool for this race, with its mix of rough back country riding, technical singletrack, hike-a-bike and long gravel stretches.

Thanks @wolf_tooth_comp for pedals, tools and other components, @revelatedesigns for the reliable bags and @gearshopnz for tyres, bivi kit and Ultimate Direction Adventure Vest.

🧐 If you'd like to 'dot watch' a link to the live tracking can be found via my bio.

Thanks @robbodeezal for photo #1

#tourtewaipounamu #bikepackingultra #bikepacking #bikepacknewzealand

The last day was an easy one; we climbed a steep d

The last day was an easy one; we climbed a steep dirt track to Paso Garibaldi (our final crossing of the Andes), and then it was a fast sealed highway right to the Antarctic boom town of Ushuaia. It was late autumn and cold, with snow low on the hills and icicles on the embankments.

Finally we had no more road to ride, no next destination to visit, no new landscape or culture to experience and no more planning and route research to do. We were at the end of our American Cordillera journey to cycle from the north coast of Alaska, to Ushuaia at the southern tip of South America.

We left Deadhorse Alaska on June 6, 2016 and arrived in Ushuaia on the 28th April 2023, having had to take a three year break back in NZ during the pandemic. A trip we thought we be two years, that extended to over four, and with the break back in NZ, where the project never left our minds, it became a seven year committment.

It was a long time, but it's a journey that has reshaped how we see the world and ourselves, our families and friends for the better and left us with untold memories, and a yearning to discover more.

#bikepacking #bikepackinglife #ushuaia #alaskatopatagonia #alaskatoargentina #alaskatoushuaia #cycletouringlife

Autumn in Tierra del Fuego, April 2023. Lago Escon

Autumn in Tierra del Fuego, April 2023. Lago Escondido & Rio Lasifashaj.

#tierradelfuego #lagoescondidoushuaia #argentina🇦🇷

Follow on Instagram

© 2024 Highlux Photography. Mark Watson

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Blog
Alaska to Patagonia
Countries
- New Zealand
- North America
  - Canada
  - Mexico
  - USA
    - Alaska
    - Arizona
    - California
    - Colorado
    - Idaho
    - Montana
    - New Mexico
    - Wyoming
- Central America
  - Guatemala
  - Belize
  - Honduras
  - Nicaragua
  - Costa Rica
  - Panama
  - Cuba
- South America
  - Colombia
  - Ecuador
  - Peru
  - Bolivia
  - Chile
  - Argentina
- China
- South East Asia
  - Cambodia
  - Laos
  - Malaysia
  - Thailand
  - Vietnam
- Europe
- United Kingdom
Bikepacking Info
Explore
Portfolio
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About Highluxphoto
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Contact +64 2040132232