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From cobblestoned Portuguese alleys navigated one-handed with a stroller to reef dives in Fiji, this is where the trips live. Told through words and whatever camera happened to be with me.

I shoot film and digital and travel with family in tow. These posts are part travel journal, part photography log, and part love letter to the places that made an impression. I hope they make you want to go see them for yourself.

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The Road to Hana — Beyond the Turn (Part II)
The Road to Hana — Beyond the Turn (Part II)

The Road to Hana and beyond — narrow roads, raw coastline, and the question every traveler faces: turn back, or keep going?

West Maui in Monochrome — Kaanapali, Napili & Kapalua (Part 1)
West Maui in Monochrome — Kaanapali, Napili & Kapalua (Part 1)

When I booked a week away to the Island of Maui, a project dawned on me to abandon the temptation to capture the vivid colours of the island and seek instead to document it as I first saw it through the monochrome images shared by explorers and tourists generations before me.

Portugal - Sintra
Portugal - Sintra

The last leg of our trip was here in Lisbon. We had several days to explore the city and the idea was to do so on foot, rambling the narrow and hilly cobbled streets with one hand on the stroller and the other with the camera. No plan of action here, so let’s see what the city decides to show us!

Portugal - Lisbon
Portugal - Lisbon

The last leg of our trip was here in Lisbon. We had several days to explore the city and the idea was to do so on foot, rambling the narrow and hilly cobbled streets with one hand on the stroller and the other with the camera. No plan of action here, so let’s see what the city decides to show us!

Portugal - Nazare
Portugal - Nazare

Nazare sits on a steeply sloping hillside terminating at a broad crescent beach adjacent the ocean. The beach you see in front of the bulk of the town is not in fact where the world-famous big-wave surfing takes place. That area rather, is on the opposite side of a steep rocky outcrop that extends 500m or so into the sea on the north end of town. But for starters we thought we’d tour the city and see what it has to offer.

Portugal - Comporta
Portugal - Comporta

It's a bit of a tricky beach. And what I mean by that is, on the first day one could wade out through the surf quite some distance before it got above thigh height. The waves were of a decent size and surf-board rentals and lessons are available here which certainly suits the character and conditions of the waters. On the second day, I tried the same wade into the ocean and got a bit of a surprise…

Portugal - Cabanas do Lago
Portugal - Cabanas do Lago

As we approach the area the dam becomes visible towering over a small valley. The road soon changes from paved to dirt, but nothing most cars can’t handle. We snake along it’s winding path and turn off onto a steep sided valley that surrounds one of the hundreds of coves around the perimeter of the lake. At the end of the road we see the large main house appear through the trees and are immediately greeted by one of the smiling hosts, Filipa, as we arrive.

Portugal - Lagos
Portugal - Lagos

The Algarve seemed the logical choice for starting our trip to Portugal. It was well recommended by friends, and since we were arriving in early September, the timing gave us the best chance of experiencing some beach-worthy weather to kick off the relaxation.

Mallorca - Palma
Mallorca - Palma

The sun came out for us in Palma and we got a taste of the heat that makes Mallorca such a popular destination for travellers. It’s here we’d get a bit of real beach-time, plenty of walking, cold drinks and al fresco dining.

Mallorca - Cala St. Vincenc
Mallorca - Cala St. Vincenc

It didn’t seem right to do a trip to Mallorca without staying at a beachside resort of some kind, so we decided to take advantage of shoulder-season rates to stay at the Grupotel Molins, located along one of the crystal blue bays of the resort town of Cala St. Vincenc.

Mallorca - Fornalutx
Mallorca - Fornalutx

The views from town are magnificent, especially looking back across the valley at the various and ancient terraced orchards and olive groves. There are a number of hikes up and down available to explore, but with the stroller in tow we decided to stick to the cobble stones streets which were a steep enough challenge on their own.

Mallorca - Soller
Mallorca - Soller

Soller was buzzing with activity when we were there. While there were plenty of tourists, it’s clear that there is a large local community here and the buzz of them going about their day creates a great vibe in the town center. While bigger than Deia, Soller is by no means large, and exploring it on foot is the best way to go for the most part, especially with the aforementioned narrow lanes.

Mallorca - First Taste of Spain
Mallorca - First Taste of Spain

It was a last minute idea. From intention, to booking, to flight in less than two weeks. It’s not often one makes a significant career change, and this one warranted a few weeks abroad to rest and reset. Mallorca was not an obvious destination for us, coming from Vancouver where Hawaii or Mexico might be the more frequented, and frankly closer, destinations.

Japan - Epilogue - Travelling with Film Photography
Japan - Epilogue - Travelling with Film Photography

One Camera, one lens, and one film stock. That’s where we started this first photographic sojourn to Japan. A fitting assignment, I think, considering the countries’ own reputation for blending the new with the old. What follows is a few of my learnings for would-be film photography travelers.

Hiroshima - Japan
Hiroshima - Japan

I was at times perhaps too stingy with my shooting, and other times I felt compelled to snap a photo of some okonomiyaki. In time I’d develop a rhythm (and tendency to overpack) to my shooting that freed me to shoot unencumbered by worry of running out out of film.

Koyasan - Japan
Koyasan - Japan

After a long day of travel getting here, we lay on our comfortable mattresses preparing to sleep when the deep hum of a gong reverberated from the forest and filled the room. It was a low tone that you feel more so than hear and one that had the hairs standing on the backs of our necks.

Kanazawa - Japan
Kanazawa - Japan

A guide to Kanazawa, Japan—Kenroku-en gardens, historic districts, incredible seafood, and a slower, more local side of Japan.

First Frames, Tokyo - Japan
First Frames, Tokyo - Japan

Admittedly the first few days of this trip were spent shooting sparingly, driven by the neophyte’s underlying fear of depleting a limited film stockpile.

Japan - Prologue
Japan - Prologue

“Does it work"?” I asked, pulling the metal brick out of a dusty cupboard. “Find a battery for it and find out!” My Dad replied. And like that, sometime in early 2017, my curiosity for film/photography was reborn.

Undersea Fiji - Viwa
Undersea Fiji - Viwa

The first adventure of every Viwa dive excursion is crossing its barrier reef. There’s a small gap forming a channel about a hundred meters off-shore that the boat has to blast through in order to get to the deeper waters beyond.

Little Viwa
Little Viwa

The sandy beach here is amazing and really the star of the show on Viwa. Soft-white and stretching the length of the resort, I could walk end to end all day long…

Undersea Fiji - Rainbow Reef
Undersea Fiji - Rainbow Reef

The first time I dive a new area I find my focus starts out on the big picture - landscapes, colours, and the contours of the seafloor/reef. At the Rainbow Reef, that big picture immediately sends you into sensory overload.

A Glimpse of Village Life
A Glimpse of Village Life

While the villages’ appearance was spartan by Western standards, it’s integration with its environment and the sheer abundance therein is nothing sort of astounding. Everything the Vunikurans need grows all over the village grounds, on the mountain slope behind, or in the sea.

Let's Get Remote
Let's Get Remote

They don’t call it remote for nothing. Located on the far Eastern shore of Vanua Levu, in a bay that was once home to a palm tree plantation, The Remote Resort forms a wonderfully secluded oasis.

Travel Yarko Petriw Travel Yarko Petriw

Undersea Fiji - Rainbow Reef

The first time I dive a new area I find my focus starts out on the big picture - landscapes, colours, and the contours of the seafloor/reef. At the Rainbow Reef, that big picture immediately sends you into sensory overload.

Coral Garden, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3, Dive Housing

Read Part II: A Glimpse of Village Life →

As a kid, I grew up idolizing Jacques Cousteau. Inventor, adventurer, owner of the fabled RV Calypso, and leader of a band of like-minded explorers ready to go at the drop of a starfish. Cliche? Sure but that doesn’t make it less true and so here I am, a grown-man diving while imagining myself a part of his crew. The imagination doesn’t have to stretch too far though, because The Calypso visited the Fijian Islands, and Captain Jacques himself discovered some of the reefs I would have the opportunity to dive on this trip.

As lush and beautiful as Fiji is on the surface, beneath the waves it can be even more spectacular. I was fortunate to complete 8 dives on our two week visit to the Fijian Islands, half on the Rainbow Reef in the East, and the other half in the waters surrounding Viwa in the far West. Surprisingly, the two areas couldn't be more different, but both have plenty to offer the undersea explorer. The Rainbow Reef is situated in the waters between Vanua Levu and Taveuni -known locally as “The Garden Island” for it’s lush jungles. The local dive companies operate off Taveuni, but most resorts will arrange for you to meet them via shuttle boat or a ride to their home base. Fun fact about Taveuni: the International Date Line runs right through it, cutting the island in two. The locals refer to each-other as the people from the future, or the people from the past, depending which side of the island one lives on - how fun is that?

Can’t see on the surface, what will we see down below? Olympus Tough TG3, Dive Housing.

Admittedly, I wasn’t expecting a storm, this was meant to be the dry season after-all, and yet a day after our arrival in Fiji the clouds ominously appeared and the wind started to blow. Oh well, I best dive then. One of the wonderful perks about being a diver is that a rainy day that might bum-out the sun tanners won’t dampen your spirits because you’re getting wet anyway. So when the skies darkened, I was on the resort shuttle boat to meet up with Taveuni Ocean Sports for my first two dives at the Rainbow Reef.

The scene above the waves wasn’t too inviting. Timing the leap from shuttle boat to dive boat was an adventure unto itself (you don't want to get pinned between the two), but the crew did a great job helping me aboard. After some brief introductions we reviewed the mornings' dive plan and quickly geared-up. The crew were confident that this squall would blow over soon, so after the usual final-check it was giant stride off the back and down we go...

Coral Spire, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3, Dive Housing.

It’s busy down here, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3, Dive Housing

The diversity is mind-blowing. Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3, Dive Housing

The first time I dive a new area I find my focus starts out on the big picture - landscapes, colours, and the contours of the seafloor/reef. At the Rainbow Reef, that big picture immediately sends you into sensory overload. The abundance and diversity of fish & corals packed into every square meter of reef is unbelievable. I was immediately relieved to see the corals healthy and unbleached. We quickly reach our target depth at around 20m and catch the slight current which will send us along one side of the reef. As we drift, I spend some time just observing and enjoying feeling a part of a scene equally hectic and serene.

As the initial “wow” factor settles down, it’s the little things, then the tiny things that start to capture our attention. Most dive masters and instructors I’ve met around the world seem captivated by the smallest denizens of the sea, and as they seek them out for us, so to my own lens sharpens in focus. Inevitably the little game begins (in my head) of who will spot the coolest creatures first.

Dive Master finds a Whip Coral Shrimp, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

Nudibranch. The diversity of these “sea slugs” is utterly amazing. Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

I love finding these Christmas Tree Worms. Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

Blue Striped Nudibranch, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

Another Whip Coral Shrimp held by the Dive Master, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

This is a dive site that leaves you with a whole new appreciation for nature’s ingenuity. You think animals on land adapt well to their environments? How about a shrimp that perfectly matches the colour of the single whip of coral it lives on. And then there’s the Nudibranch’s, did they land on Earth following an asteroid collision? Probably one of the more wildly diverse and colourful species I’ve ever seen. Sure there were larger fish swimming with us here as well, blacktip reef sharks, humphead wrasse, barracuda and more, but I’ll leave those for you to find.

I would do 4 dives in total at the Rainbow Reef; but you could do 40 and still not see it all. While I rarely visit the same places in the world more than once (there’s too much to see in one lifetime!), I think if I were to book a dedicated dive trip in the future it would be on Taveuni so that I could dive these waters over and over. Due to the timing of my trip, I missed the Great White Wall altogether, meant to be the single best dive site here -that alone is meant to be worth a trip back. The next half of my Fiji trip would be in the far western side of the island group, on tiny Viwa. Will the experience be similar? Let’s find out!

Continue to Part IV: Little Viwa →

Clownfish, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

Sea Anemone waves good-bye, Rainbow Reef Fiji, Olympus Tough TG3 on Macro Setting, Dive Housing, Integrated Flash

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