In March of 2023 we visited Norway and Iceland, first spending a week and a half in Iceland around the south coast and Snæfellsnes peninsula and then travelling north of the Arctic Circle to Svalbard.

Our first stop in Iceland, after the necessary grocery shopping, was the Snæfellsnes peninsula, where we stayed just outside of Grundarfjörður. Finally seeing the icons of the peninsula such as Kirkjufellsfoss or the black church at Budir, was an amazing experience. From there we visited the quite busy golden circle area and then down to the south coast, which thankfully got more and more quieter the further east we travelled. While the giant waterfalls at Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss were undoubtedly amazing, my favourite waterfall of the trip was the cave waterfall Gljúfrabúi. At Hofn, Vestrahorn was visited twice, once each for sunset and sunrise, with time at both visits hoping other visitors wouldn't put footsteps in my foreground. My first, and only, time seeing the Aurora Borealis was near Hofn with hours spent driving around late at night to find compositions in the freezing dark.

After Iceland we flew to Longyearbyen in Svalbard for a few days. As we were limited to only being able to walk within the town limits, the photographic opportunities were limited, however a snowmobile to Tempelfjorden and boat to Barentsburg via glaciers, showcased the winter arctic landscape.

A few days of a trip to Korea in October were spent admiring and photographing autumn colours in the northeast of the country, including Seoraksan National Park. The steep hillsides of Korea made walking tiring, but aided forest photography.

Along with visits to both the Illawarra coast and the Blue Mountains close to home, two short trips were also taken in the middle of the year. The first was to the Sapphire Coast, with local icons such as Camel and Horsehead rocks photographed, and the second to Mount Kaputar National Park near Narrabri in the north of NSW.