Veronika Wild

Photographing Astronomical features is obviously a highly evolved art It’s 5.10 a.m. Perth time. The first magpie has carolled, a distant rooster crows. Someone sent me a message that the Perseid Meteor Shower is supposed to be visible in the Southern Hemisphere at 5.25 and that it was supposed to be especially spectacular this year. We’d seen it once while overnighting on a racecourse in Cairns and it was the most beautiful sight – showers of falling stars.   I didn’t want the girls to miss it, but after last night’s bonfire with charred marshmallows, I couldn’t wake them, so now I was sitting expectantly in the “dress circle” -that bit of curved retaining wall at the back of the house, looking up at the stars and getting a stiff neck and frozen feet. (It’s better if you can lie on your back, have a blanket and a thermos and maybe a couple of pillows).  Astronomers are a hardy lot. I recall a night with freezing ears watching a friend take photos of Magellani...

Dawn breaks over the El Tatio Geyser Field San Pedro de Atacama has to be one of my favourite small towns, not the least because there's nothing for hundreds of miles, except for volcanoes that is - twenty - eight to be exact, although only one is active. The town itself is a charming mix of simple adobe structures and cobbled streets.  Once a way station for cattle drives to the coast, tourism is now the main reason for its existence and they flock here in droves, not always to the delight of the locals. The delightful village of San Pedro - what a relief after all those miles of desert Even the furniture was made of pisé For the most part though, Chileans are warm and friendly. I got more hugs in my month here than I'd had in the last seven years. Yes, it's expensive and they do take your money, but at least they do it with a smile. During the day it was warm enough for the men to take their shirts off and most of my fellow hostellers wore shorts, but as soon as the su...