Harry Ell Walkway is a 3.2 km walking track that runs along Dyers Pass between the Sign of the Takahe and the Sign of the Kiwi. The photo above is a view of Christchurch as seen from the Harry Ell Walkway.

This track is suitable for all levels of fitness. I even saw an elderly man with crutches along the way. The gentle slopes also make it suitable for beginner runners like me, though I only walked today.

This year, I chose a different spot to photograph Earth Hour. I went up Mount Pleasant and took this shot from Dyers Pass Road. There are a lot of people parking up there at night. With a view like that, you can imagine why.

Took me a while to sort out the Lightbox 2 script for the image overlay but here it is. Enjoy! My favourite is the one with the pigs.

In case you’re wondering, i-gotU is a GPS travel logger. This tiny little device can track and record your journey for up to 40 hours on a single charge. When the data is uploaded into a computer, you can view your journey on Google Earth. You can also tag any photos you took along the way with GPS information, pinpointing the exact location where the photo was taken, making it a must-have for any landscape photographer. It costed me NZD 70 though you can now get it for less.

i-gotU has a very minimalistic interface that consists only of a single button and two LEDs. For the most part, the simple interface works well but there are definitely times when I wish there is a bit more information and feedback on what the device is up to. It took a bit of getting use to before I could remember what the various light sequences mean, though there’s only less than five that you’ll commonly encounter.

In terms of accuracy, I’m definitely impressed. I took the device with me on my tour of South Island recently and it managed to track almost the entire journey accurately, down to the road I’m on. It did have a bit of difficulty getting a GPS fix while I was in the dense bushes of the West Coast. Errors also start to increase in more densely populated areas. Indoor performance is poor, with error in the range of up to kilometres, but then again that’s not what it’s designed for.

The bundled software does an adequate job of what it’s designed for but does leave a lot of room for improvement. The main functionality that I find lacking is the ability to import and export the raw GPS data. So, I did what any hacker would do.

The obvious thing to do is of course to locate the data store where all the GPS information is stored. After a quick hunt through the machine, I located the Tracer.mdb file under C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\MobileAction\GPSTracer. The file is password protected to prevent users from doing silly things and corrupting the data store. As I’m not silly, I guess it’s safe for me to hack it.

After a bit of playing around, I concluded that the password must be stored somewhere within the program. So, I downloaded a disassembler and proceeded to pull apart the program. After a quick scan through the assembly code, voila. The password for the Tracer.mdb file is mytracer. Couldn’t get any simpler than that. Now that you have access to the secret code, use it wisely. Always backup before messing with the file as I’m not responsible should you lose your data.

I have rather high expectations for Earth Hour 2008. By 7:45 pm, I was all ready with my camera at the Cracroft Reserve up on the Port Hills. As for the uphill drive, I’ll try and offset my carbon emissions with… I’ll think of something. The view of Christchurch from up here is excellent. On this particular evening, the sunset view is magnificent. A bunch of people have gathered up here to watch Christchurch’s effort for Earth Hour.

7:59 pm – I have already taken my before shots and waiting intently for the lights to go out. Seconds tick by, then minutes. To be honest, I can’t see much difference before and after. Christchurch is still pretty bright in general, but then again I’ve never really seen what Christchurch is like at this time of day. There could be a number of reasons to explain what may have happened.

According to Orion’s Earth Hour 2008 report, Christchurch showed a 12.8% reduction in electricity use during Earth Hour. I suppose that is what really matters, and more importantly what people will be doing in the future in terms of global warming. I hate to see more chunks of the South Pole falling off.

That aside, I have some photos of Christchurch before and during Earth Hour in the gallery section:

Unauthorised Gallery – Earth Hour 08

I didn’t stick around till the end considering the disappointing start but good effort Christchurch.

I have recently completed the Photographic Memories section of the Unauthorised Gallery. It holds a bunch of photos taken ever since I got my first digital camera less than six months ago. The bulk of the photos are from my recent trip to Bangkok and Malaysia. Be warned, I do tend to take some pretty random stuff.

I would describe myself as a photography enthusiast. As for my photography skills, let’s just say that there is a lot of room for improvement. Some shots are good but most probably don’t do my Fujifilm FinePix S6500fd justice. So as backup, I generally end up taking multiple shots of the same subject. That’s what digital cameras are for anyway rite?

Unauthorised Gallery itself is very much still under construction. I’m currently starting on the Wallpaper and Panaromas sections. I actually have a wallpaper and a panaroma of Lake Tekapo ready but the pages aren’t.

I hope you enjoy the photos!