A Wet Summer at Imbil: Lake Borumba above full supply level

Thank you for your encouragement, Agnieszka.

Ian

Ian, sorry for my silence. After your comments to my Kamchatka many force major events have happened in the world: your awful floods and heets, our icy rain and so on. Difficult winter/summer. I hope your natural tragedies didn't touch you much.

As to my Kamchatka - this was a wonderful trip and we hope to come there in 3 years again. More detailed presentation of my pictures is in my Picasa site. There are many comments, but only in Russian, as there is no sufficient place to make translation for everything. My Kamchatka-2010 has 7 albums for 2010 and the 8th - the oldest - my previous visits there. Kayaking-2010 is a trailer, that my son made for the firms that make kayaks and water-suits. All the summer part of this movie was filmed during our trip this year. At the end you may see how a big wale eats. It turns practically at its back, open the mouth, sucks water with plancton, and then coloses its mouth, turning to its right side. This last part of the process was filmed by the cameraman who was with us.

I am not abl now to be often in PAN - too much work. Thank you very much for you interest, Olga

Dear Olga,

Thank you for your empathy and concern. We were not directly impacted by the floods, but have been close to many who were, including whole communities where we have served and lived in the fairly recent past.

Your Kamchatka images have already enthralled me, and the Kayaking 2010 trailer has been played several times. Your journeys to the volcano in particular is quite amazing, and the landscapes along the way unlike anything I have seen before. I have been in and on quite a number of active volcanoes in PNG, Indonesia, Vanuatu and New Zealand, but none of them are like the Kamchatka ones.

Thanks you for all your special sharing.

And this image of mine is one place where I have skied and canoed, and it is most docile compared to the sea kayaking of your son.

All the best from Brisbane,

Ian

Dear Ian! this year is sever for your country. As they say a huge typhoon is going against you. These events are inevitable, but people suffer much, and our sympathy is with all of you.

As to Kamchatka. I am sending you the address of the site by Igor Shpilenok: http://shpilenok.livejournal.com/. He is the ispector of Kronotsky reserve at Kamchatka and one of the best photograpers of animals may be in the World (he had fist primes for his pictures during international competitions). The site is in Russian, but pictures mostly don't require the translation or big explanations. At the right, as usually, a list of his entries, the titles will be in Russian, but entering iside you will find new pictures. We read his texts and look his pictures as everyday lecture. I think, you will find pleasure there. Olga

As to kayaking: the professionals say that kayaking in rivers is more dangerous, than the kayaking in the sea, but the sea kayaking requires more staer traing and some other technics of landing and exiting in the sea. Wind waves are also a speciality of the sea or big lakes. Your lake is bewenn montains, so no much open flat land for the wind rises huge waves.

I come back to the site, I told you above. Today there the first pictures is Karymsky volcano (it is necessary to enter inside the post (after the text there are words in R - continue). Igor shows there a crater of this volcano in huge clouds of ashes, but in 1970th it was a calm guy (I tell you about the text in this post). And fish specialists decided to put in the crater lake special kind of salmon "Nerka", which can live in closed lakes. The salmon was very happy there and in 10 years its amount grew up to 100000 adults. In 1996 it started its acivity just in the bottom of this lake. In one day they had more than 100 explosions and water boiled. There were the biggest fish soup in the world :-(. It is active up to now.

I have been enthralled, Olga by the photos of the volcanoes. Some of them are exceptional photographs and of course Kamchatka volcanoes are exceptional in their own right. You are right about the quality of the wildlife images also.

Many years ago one of my former students chose to research Kamchatka volcanoes as part of her geomorphology studies. As she talked to me about her assignment she got me very curious and then excited about Kamchatka. That would have been in 1977. Then in 2002, I flew from Washington to Seoul and that daylight flight took me the full length of the Kamchatka Peninsula, down the western coast. Again I was enthralled as I peered to my starboard window. Never to be forgotten.

Thanks for continuing my education on Kamchatka.

Warmest regards,

Ian

Nice scenery. Greetings, Cinzia. Like.

This is one of my favourite corners of my home region, Cinzia. Thanks for your compliment.

Best wishes from Australia,

Ian