i share a link done by a friend:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky8yWjxX5O4
2nd day and 3rd day: we went with the hotel recommendation: alizee diving
alizee second deck on boat: perfect for relaxing or taking in sunshine:
lot of space:
brave new divers: first ever intro dives in middle of the ocean, hang on by a cord. They do the intro breathing at the surface interval time, between the 2 dives
after the trip: they have 2 separate area for rinsing: one with BLEACH for wet suits, one just water for cameras : first time that i have seen this. Everybody was religiously cleaning rinsing
my cameras: nikon1 and my 3d camera photo set up in the background:
Fist day: we booked with dive trip with amedee diving: cost around 14k francs pp, expensive.
amedee is located 20 minutes away from the center of the city noumea. New caledonia is neat in a way that you can go to nice dive sites in less than 20 minutes away from downtown!
amedee is located on an island where they have the amedee light house. Supposedly, because of its location, it have been said “it is always sunny at amedee island”
the boat going there is on a zodiac: very bouncy. your behind REALLY hurts after the trip.
when we went, we were “only” 14 people on the boat. apparently the owner sometimes carries as much as 40-50 people on it small zodiac on weekends ! it is legit ? it is safe? We did not see any life vest on boards…
i am not sure how many divemasters they really have on board, but i am sure our guide was not qualified to sign our dive logs…
no nitrox available. they do introductory dives in the open ocea, (FIRST dive ever with scuba breathing right on the small zodiac)
second day: we went with a japanse owned operation. Completely different atmosphere and operations
the hotel meridien noumea is the only 5 star hotel right on the beach in noumea. There is a big hilton 3-5 blocks away, but it is not on the beach.
meridien noumea hotel:
NOU airport: picture taken with sony tx30
meridien noumea:
our junior upgraded suite (for free as we are spg platinum), once again, booked the cheapest rate, got the 2nd most expensive room at that property
our big suite terrace: and view ocean front:
the suite have 2 FULL washroom !! one on the living room and another one on the bedroom
one of the restaurant: beach front restaurant: serves very good tuna
meridien beach: very popular with locals and windsurfers:
THE IN HOUSE FORMAL RESTAURANT of meridien noumea:
remember that if you fly business class international with quantas at SYD airport, you can check in at a dedicated private area at the end of the terminal.
It is a little like first class terminal at frankfurt : private check in, private security, and the lounge entrance is directly connected right after the security !! that is cool for just business class service
The food at air calin biz class is average, surprisingly for a french airline.
the seat of the flight air calin SYD-NOU is non lie flat, recliner comfortable for a short 3 hour flight
quantas and their partner, air calin does accept reward points booking with AVIOS. and since the distance is short, avios rewards is worth it. It cost 20000 avios plus $235 tax and fees for business class ticket one way per person. Compared to min $1000 usd pp one way.
the nikon 1 series are great for taking fast continuous and completely SILENT pictures of action scene: other cameras, including my A7 is too LOUD to take 15FPS. Even my canon 7d dslr is still too loud, too slow for those action scenes.
The shutter sound on my a7 is So LOUD that i cannot take pictures during play, especially when we are sitting so close to the court. I got stares from everyone first time i tried it. Sony A7 is supposed to me mirroless like nikon 1, but the shutter sounds is even louder than a DSLR
Taken with nikon 1 J3: 30-100mm, not photoshopped , full format: click on picture to see full resolution
ANOTHER advantage of nikon 1: it can take slow mo video in 400fps: sample video: click to view
slow mo video 400fps sample nikon 1
We planned to go to papua new guinea for diving in february right after the australian open. But since the weather at that time is usually bad for papua new guinea, we decided at last minute to go to new caledonia.
new caledonia is about 2-3 hours flight away from sydney. So we had to fly from MEL to SYD fisrt, then spent a night at Syd because the flight does not connect until 11 am next day.
flight SYD-MEL : as we flew a few times already before with virgin in the past in Y, we had enough virgin points to book a one way business class for 27600 points, taxes included in the points reward.
New caledonia, or nouvelle caledonie , speaks french, follow french customs, and have the largest unesco world heritage protected lagoon in the world! south pacific lagoon + less tourism = good diving expected
http://en.visitnewcaledonia.com/
you have to fly SYD to NOU airport first. NOU airport is located about 70 kms away from the main city, noumea. Once landed, transportation to city is either by bus or taxi. Taxi cost around 90 usd.
quantas and their partner, air calin does accept reward points booking with AVIOS. and since the distance is short, avios rewards is worth it. It cost 20000 avios plus $235 tax and fees for business class ticket one way per person. Compared to min $1000 usd pp one way.
The route is mostly leisure travelers, so it is super easy to book, lots of availability. If you book through BRitish airways avios website, enter nou as destination, and even if the avios website does not show you the name of the airport, ignore it and click search.
there is one way of creating artificial 3d photos underwater, or overwater, with only one camera, one lenses:
i have not tried it underwater, as i have a true 3d camera, but if you have two pictures of the same subject, whale, mantas, etc, you can try to create a 3d image for fun. a “true 3d” camera function on the same principle, 2 shot with a slight different view horizontally. It is a lot easier as the shots are taken with fixed deviation, and at the same time, same settings, synchronized. The problem with the current 3 d camera photo is: they ahve problem converging, or changing easily the convergence settings. They can change the artificial axial difference settings, but the convergence and focus at something close up is harder to adjust in current 3d cameras.
MACROS shots:
if you can have a macro view like the one above, then 3d macro is possible. The idea is to make the main subject look like a 3d “island ” and pop out, closer to you then the rest of the background.
the picture below is a picture where 3d macro is harder : too much background, foregoround, and oblique sea fans introducing vertical deviations
here is a sample of manta ray in 3d!
click to download the mpo 3d files here
shot in new caledonia. The weather was good, but the water was very murky.
This demonstrate the difficulty of shooting in 3d, even in ambiant light with no flash. The water have to be perfectly clear, if not 3d camera will focus on everything, including the backscatters.
Normally in 2d shots, when the water is murky, you can try to come closer, or shoot macro. Not in 3d, and not with mantas! The water have to be perfectly clear.
in melbourne, since we are always at the tennis, with no time for a real fine dining, we always ate at our favorite spots: for 2013:
near the hotel:
and of course, in melbourne they have these amazing taiwan dessert: you have to try. It cools you down. costs around 5-8 dollars
mango with ice cream on top of ice
park hyatt melbourne from outside, front view
park hyatt lounge food and drinks:
another good dessert place:
next to the malaysian restaurant killiney:
oh yes, history and odds: