These are the last photos my beloved and (hither to) faithful 50D is ever likely to take. I’ve been away tramping (swimming) over the last week or so. This probably won’t mean much to most of you, but we walked down the coast from the Kahurangi Lighthouse, situated in the upper west part of the South Island to the Heaphy track – 5 days walking. The first day is just a pleasant beach walk. The second day involves starting at around 4am in order to make the most of the low tide, and heading down the coast. It involves lots of clambering around steep cliffs with heavy packs. Letting go would most likely result in a life insurance payout. It’s quite unnerving because there is this constant background thunder of waves hitting rocks … but all you can see of your surroundings is this small circle of light from your head lamp. Anyway, I had my camera round my neck (what use is a camera in your bag?) and was crossing a series of rocks which were underwater. Unfortunately I missed one and ended up to my chest in sea water, thus submerging my camera. Needless to say it didn’t like the salt water and hasn’t worked since. What added insult to injury though was the tripod and lenses I was carrying. Once the camera didn’t work, it was all dead weight. Sigh.
