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south yorkshire

Rock Climbing United Kingdom

Cooling Down

Steve Barratt double gastons on Left Eliminate (E1 5c), Curbar Edge, South Yorkshire.

Mark WatsonOctober 17, 2010

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 3/9: With the heavy rain overnight at Park Mor

Day 3/9: With the heavy rain overnight at Park Morpeth Hut the rivers rose. We linked up and safely crossed the Wilberforce opposite the hut and travelled downstream in light rain for an hour and a half, but then reached a steep bouldery side stream that was in flood. We probed upstream for a while considering different crossing points, but none were certain. So we pitched Anna and James tent fly for shelter from the wind and drizzle and rested 5 hours, lunching, sleeping and laughing in our warm nylon bubble. In that time the river dropped a foot - enough to confidently cross, and we walked on until nearly dark.

#tramping #nztramping #canterburynz #hikingadventures #hikingnewzealand #trampingstories #trampinginnz

Day 2/9: Watching the rain come in at Park Morpeth

Day 2/9: Watching the rain come in at Park Morpeth Hut, Wilberforce Valley. The second photo (you can just see @beinghana and Anna and James) is the descent from Browning Pass down into the Wilberforce, where we took the shelter of this hut for a night of heavy rain.

#parkmorpethhut #tramping #canterburynz #hikingnewzealand #trampingnewzealand #shelterfromthestorm

Day 2/9: Browning Pass / Noti Raureka, Main Divide

Day 2/9: Browning Pass / Noti Raureka, Main Divide, Southern Alps. We crossed this pass on day two of the trip. The original plan had been to camp here, but with severe gale winds and heavy rain forecast we decided to continue down to the Wilberforce Valley and Park Morpeth Hut for the night. This was my first time crossing Browning Pass and it was good to appreciate this historic location on a fine day. Although exposed, the pass was long used my Maori for pounamu trade, and later as a stock driving route to supply the West Coast gold rush. It was even considered for a coast to coast road, but this was abandoned in favour of Arthur's Pass.

#browningpass #notiraureka #tramping #trampnz #hikingnewzealand #southernalps #newzealandadventures #explorenz🇳🇿

Day 1/9: East and West, Styx Saddle, Central Wesla

Day 1/9: East and West, Styx Saddle, Central Wesland. We stopped to camp here at dusk, pitching the tents among thick tussock and listened to the calls of weka and kea as we cooked dinner. A great first night in the hills.

#tramping #hokitikacatchments #centralwestland #lightandlandscape #hiking #trampingnz #explorenz🇳🇿

Day 1/9: Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tra

Day 1/9: 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

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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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Day 3/9: With the heavy rain overnight at Park Mor

Day 3/9: With the heavy rain overnight at Park Morpeth Hut the rivers rose. We linked up and safely crossed the Wilberforce opposite the hut and travelled downstream in light rain for an hour and a half, but then reached a steep bouldery side stream that was in flood. We probed upstream for a while considering different crossing points, but none were certain. So we pitched Anna and James tent fly for shelter from the wind and drizzle and rested 5 hours, lunching, sleeping and laughing in our warm nylon bubble. In that time the river dropped a foot - enough to confidently cross, and we walked on until nearly dark.

#tramping #nztramping #canterburynz #hikingadventures #hikingnewzealand #trampingstories #trampinginnz

Day 2/9: Watching the rain come in at Park Morpeth

Day 2/9: Watching the rain come in at Park Morpeth Hut, Wilberforce Valley. The second photo (you can just see @beinghana and Anna and James) is the descent from Browning Pass down into the Wilberforce, where we took the shelter of this hut for a night of heavy rain.

#parkmorpethhut #tramping #canterburynz #hikingnewzealand #trampingnewzealand #shelterfromthestorm

Day 2/9: Browning Pass / Noti Raureka, Main Divide

Day 2/9: Browning Pass / Noti Raureka, Main Divide, Southern Alps. We crossed this pass on day two of the trip. The original plan had been to camp here, but with severe gale winds and heavy rain forecast we decided to continue down to the Wilberforce Valley and Park Morpeth Hut for the night. This was my first time crossing Browning Pass and it was good to appreciate this historic location on a fine day. Although exposed, the pass was long used my Maori for pounamu trade, and later as a stock driving route to supply the West Coast gold rush. It was even considered for a coast to coast road, but this was abandoned in favour of Arthur's Pass.

#browningpass #notiraureka #tramping #trampnz #hikingnewzealand #southernalps #newzealandadventures #explorenz🇳🇿

Day 1/9: East and West, Styx Saddle, Central Wesla

Day 1/9: East and West, Styx Saddle, Central Wesland. We stopped to camp here at dusk, pitching the tents among thick tussock and listened to the calls of weka and kea as we cooked dinner. A great first night in the hills.

#tramping #hokitikacatchments #centralwestland #lightandlandscape #hiking #trampingnz #explorenz🇳🇿

Day 1/9: Day one scenes from our Easter Annual Tra

Day 1/9: 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

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
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