by Panedia Team | May 20, 2011 | Virtual Tours
Perfectly located in the Gold Coast’s cosmopolitan and cultural hub, Sofitel sets the benchmark for world class five star hotels. The property is positioned in the centre of thriving Broadbeach, only 200 metres from patrolled beaches, beachside parks and an array of savvy shops, cafes and restaurants. The hotel features direct access by monorail to Jupiter’s Casino and is just a short stroll to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre – the largest regional convention centre in Australia. Broadbeach is minutes south of Surfers Paradise and within driving distance to domestic and international airports for Gold Coast and Brisbane. The precinct boasts over one hundred bars and restaurants and is a lively, safe and vibrant hub of the Gold...
by Aaron Spence | May 4, 2011 | Projects
While shooting Virtual Tours of the HMAS Onslow submarine for the National Maritime Museum I discovered the Sub is a loaner from another Museum in Canberra. That’s quite a loan. From Wikipedia: HMAS Onslow (SS 60/SSG 60) was one of six Oberon class submarines operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The submarine was named after the town of Onslow, Western Australia and SirAlexander Onslow, with the boat’s motto and badgederived from Onslow’s family heritage. Ordered in 1963, Onslow was laid down at the end of 1967 by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Scotland, launched almost a year later, and commissioned into the RAN at the end of 1968. Although never involved in war, three major incidents occurred during Onslow‘s career. The first occurred in 1972, when a disgruntled sailor who disobeyed orders caused the submarine to dive to almost twice her safe operating depth.[3] As a result, the RAN changed the Submarine Service from being able to ‘conscript’ any sailor for submarine service to volunteer only.[3] The second happened in 1981, when carbon monoxide fumes from one of the diesel generators filled the submarine, resulting in the death of one sailor.[4]Although changes were made to submarine operating procedures, the boat’s company was not provided with any psychological counseling, and the incident report remained classified until 2009.[4] The third was a controversial line-crossing ceremony in 1995, which resulted in restrictions being placed on similar ceremonies aboard RAN vessels.[5][6] During her career, Onslow became the first conventionally powered submarine to be fitted with anti ship missiles, and was successful in wargames: ‘sinking’ a seven ship flotila during Exercise Kangaroo...
by Panedia Team | Feb 24, 2011 | Projects
Green Island is a coral cay 27 km offshore from Cairns, Queensland, Australia located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park World Heritage Area. The island is surrounded by coral reef and protected in the Green Island National Park.
by Panedia Team | Feb 23, 2011 | Virtual Tours
Port Douglas is a town in Far North Queensland, Australia, approximately 70 km (40 mi) north of Cairns. Its permanent population was 4,772 at the time of the 2011 census.The town’s population can often double, however, with the influx of tourists during the peak tourism season May–September. The town is named in honour of former Premier of Queensland, John Douglas. Port Douglas developed quickly based on the mining industry. Other parts of the area were established with timber cutting occurring in the area surrounding the Daintree River and with settlement starting to occur on lots around the Mossman River by...
by Panedia Team | Feb 17, 2011 | Virtual Tours
Cairns is a regional city in the far north of Queensland, Australia, founded 1876. The city was named after William Wellington Cairns, then-current Governor of Queensland.
by Panedia Team | Jan 24, 2011 | Virtual Tours
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in southeastern Queensland on the east coast of Australia. The city is 94 km south of the state capital Brisbane.
by Panedia Team | Jan 23, 2011 | Virtual Tours
The Sunshine Coast is an urban area in South East Queensland, north of the state capital of Brisbane on the Pacific Ocean coastline.
by Aaron Spence | Jan 13, 2011 | Projects
A series of floods hit Queensland, Australia, beginning in December 2010. The floods forced the evacuation of thousands of people from towns and cities.[2] At least 70 towns and over 200,000 people were affected.[2] Damage initially was estimated at around A$1 billion[3] before it was raised to $2.38 billion.[1] The estimated reduction in Australia’s GDP is about A$30 billion.[4] Three-quarters of the state of Queensland was declared a disaster zone.[5] Communities along the Fitzroy and Burnett Rivers were particularly hard hit, while the Condamine, Ballone and Mary Rivers recorded substantial flooding. An unexpected flash flood caused by a thunder storm raced through Toowoomba’s central business district. Water from the same storm devastated communities in the Lockyer Valley. A few days later thousands of houses in Ipswich and Brisbane were inundated as the Brisbane River rose and Wivenhoe Dam used a considerable proportion of its flood mitigation capacity. Volunteers were quick to offer assistance and sympathy was expressed from afar. A large mobilisation of the Australian Defence Force was activated and a relief fund created. The head of the recovery taskforce was Major General Michael Slater. The Queensland Reconstruction Authority was formed to co-ordinate the rebuilding program beyond the initial taskforce and a Commission of Inquiry established to investigate all matters related to the floods. The 2010–11 floods killed 38 people in Queensland.[6] As of 26 January, an additional nine people were missing.[7] The state’s coal industry was particularly hard hit. The Queensland floods were followed by the 2011 Victorian floods which saw more than fifty communities in western and central Victoria also grapple with significant flooding....
by Aaron Spence | Jan 3, 2011 | Projects
“Macquarie Visions casts a new light onto Sydney’s ceremonial street, celebrating in stunning and immersive light displays, the 200th anniversary and story of two great visionary leaders, Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth. The Macquaries’ innovations are revealed with illuminating, theatrical and contemporary light displays in a family friendly free night promenade along the length of the Macquarie Street linking St Mary’s Cathedral to the Sydney Opera House and Circular Quay as part of Vivid Sydney 2010, running from 27 May to 21 June 2010.” [According to the marketing blurb, and they were right.] The 20th June 2010 was a long day. Leaving home on the Gold Coast at 7am for a drive to Sydney 900+km away, I typically have a rest after the 11hr journey. But this was the very last evening of the Sydney Vivid festival, so relaxation was the last thing on my mind. Unpacking the car at the In-laws (apart from my photo gear) I drove to a nearby train station for the 1hr trip into Sydney City. At 8pm on a Sunday night the train and station were deserted. Arriving at Town Hall I briskly walked 1km to the start of the Macquarie Visions event. I was expecting crowds, being the last night of the show, but was pleasantly surprised to find the place sparsely populated nearing 10pm. After 2.5 hours of shooting panoramas & a little video I left the Sydney Opera House, hopped a train from Circular Quay back to Town Hall, then another 1hr train to my car. With my head hitting the pillow at 2am, I was very pleased...
by Aaron Spence | Oct 1, 2009 | Panoramas
Uluru, formerly known as Ayers Rock, is a place of immense beauty with a definite spiritual aspect. It’s the worlds largest monolith (single big rock), being located in the middle of outback Australia, it towers over the flat surrounding desert. Official Uluru National Park – Link At present you can still climb Uluru, although the owners ask that you don’t. The climb is located on the western face, it’s extremely steep, with chains to help climb portions of it. The climb closes at 8am on any day the temperature is forecast to top 36°C (97°F) I shot the climb from the ground but am not allowed to show it. I chose to respect the wishes of the owners and not climb. Instead I did the 10km (6.2 miles) walk around the base of Uluru. The base walk is amazing. Even if you choose to climb Uluru, make time to walk the base as well. IMO the best way to walk the base is to start at the south car park before dawn, then walk east, counter clockwise around the rock. This way you walk towards the sun as it breaks the horizon… a sunning sight. As the sun gets a little higher & hotter you turn the eastern edge of Uluru and put your back to the sun walking west along the northern rock face. On this section I was going against the flow of hordes of tourists trying to shield their faces & eyes from the intense sun beating down. I shot virtual tours all around Uluru, unfortunately I’m prevented from showing any virtual tours of the northern...
by Aaron Spence | Sep 27, 2009 | Panoramas
Kings Canyon (Watarrka) National Park is a stunning place, 4hrs drive from Alice Springs in the middle of Outback Australia. It also happens to be 4hrs drive from Uluru (Ayers Rock) You can include it as part of a loop, driving west along the Macdonnell ranges from Alice Springs on Larapinta Drive, then heading to Uluru from Kings Canyon, which is what I did. (4wd recommended) There are 2 main walks at Kings Canyon, a short walk along the valley floor at the foot of the canyon walls. It’s about 500m (1600ft) and takes 30mins at a leisurely pace. Near the end is a beautiful rock pool, depending on the season/rain. The 2nd walk is a much more serious affair of 5.5km (3.5miles) which takes around 3.5hrs to complete. Seeing as this is in outback Australia, which is a HOT place, it’s best to start this walk very early in the morning… or perhaps later in the day. The walk beings with a killer uphill slog, known as heartbreak hill. By the time you reach the top your legs are jelly & your heart pounding. Interestingly this used to be the end of the walk, but lots of people injured themselves coming down the steep hill after walking for 3+hrs. So the park rangers reversed the track to make the hill the start & now have virtually zero injuries. After spending 4hrs shooting virtual tours on the track, my legs really were jelly coming down the gentle slope on the other side of the canyon, I was VERY glad to not be coming down heartbreak...
by Aaron Spence | Sep 23, 2009 | Panoramas
With all the noise about the Sydney Dust Storms this morning we here in Queensland were watching with interest… until about lunchtime when the dust storms hit us as well, 1000km (620 miles) north of Sydney. Surfers Paradise Beach – Under Dust. I figured if the dust got so thick I couldn’t see buildings about 300m (1000ft) away I’d head into Surfers Paradise and shoot some virtual tours for posterity. As it turns out we got the pea soup thick dust, so I took the shots. Surfers Paradise Beach – Typical Morning. Here is the full set of 4 virtual tours I shot today. You can also check them out on maps in the virtual tour player. Click the ‘map’ button, on the lower right control...
by Aaron Spence | Aug 5, 2008 | Production
Today Google launched Streetview in Australia, and it is brilliant. The coverage is simply mind boggling. Included is every major city or town in the entire country it seems. Of course Streetview only shoots from streets at present, so they miss a lot, like Fraser Island, Uluru, National Parks, beaches, trails, mountains, waterfalls, accommodation, tours, shows etc but the vast coverage is great for getting an idea of a place. In addition to incorporating Streetview scenes into Panedia, we’ll use it extensively to scope out places for high quality photography in cities and towns we’ve not been to before. For the Streetview launch, Tourism Australia has chosen 8 virtual tours to showcase Streetview Oz. We have shot all the same places except Perth. So I’ve created a comparison gallery of the best Streetview images as chosen by Tourism Australia and the shots we took at the same place. High resolution image comparison gallery: http://photos.panedia.com/p616902282 (I have changed the Streetview choices a little to make them match up better with the spot we shot from, but in every case the Streetview quality is the same.) Surfers Paradise – Streetview Surfers Paradise – Panedia Canberra – Streetview Canberra – Panedia Alice Springs – Streetview Alice Springs – Panedia Sydney – Streetview Sydney – Panedia Check out all the comparison images in high resolution at our gallery here:...
by Aaron Spence | Jan 5, 2008 | Panoramas
This is an oldy, but a goody. I was shooting on Noosa beach late one afternoon when I notice 2 girls surfing which is not common. Girls surfing is, but 2 girls surfing alone isn’t. I’m shooting panos with a fisheye lens so there is no use taking pics of them, and I would ask permission first in that situation (which is of course impossible). So I continue shooting around the area and then down by the rock wall, when they decide they’ve finished surfing and it’s time to head in. Perfect serendipity, the lead girl is leaving the water just as I’m shooting, creating one of my favourite panos. You can’t see the girls in the thumb, you’ll need to view the pano...
by Aaron Spence | Jan 2, 2008 | Panoramas
Cradle Mountain National Park is a very popular and beautiful spot in Tasmania. On my last shooting trip to Tasmania I managed 2 trips here. On the first one it was snowing after a cold snap in the middle of summer, this shot is from the 2nd visit about 10 days later when the snow had all...
by Aaron Spence | Jan 1, 2008 | Panoramas
It’s New Years day, and time to give my blog some well deserved attention….how many other bloggers have decided this today I wonder? My guess is 1 million. The link posted here is to my favourite pano of the moment. It’s of Uluru (Ayers Rock) and was my submission for the ‘Best Of 2007’ on the World Wide...
by Aaron Spence | Oct 16, 2007 | Production
My apologies for the dormant blog, it was set up as a precurser to the main attraction, that attraction just moved one step closer. May I present a preview of Panedia, with over 700 virtual tours for your viewing pleasure. It’s still very early days with a great deal of functionality & testing to come. I’ll keep you posted as new features are added. Click the image below and spend some time checking out The Sydney Opera House or Darling Harbour, Brisbane’s South Bank, Noosa, Broken Hill, Melbourne’s Docklands, Alcatraz, San Francisco & Fisherman’s Wharf + plenty more… Click this image for the Panedia Preview. You need Flash 9 to see the Virtual Tours in Panedia. We’ll be adding other viewers soon, including hardware accelerated viewing for those who like the ultimate in pano quality. Let me know what you think of the site. Loves, Hates & want to see’s (Note: audio will only be found in Noosa, Alcatraz & Darling Harbour for the...
by Aaron Spence | Jun 2, 2007 | Production
Rather than put the Google Developer Day 2007 Virtual Tours in my blog, I’ve used my VR/Maps application to put all the VR’s on a map. Of course the event happened inside a building, so I’ve placed the VR markers approximately where those things happened inside the building. You MUST view the Fullscreen versions to get any appreciation for the very cool building the day was held in. Click this image for the Virtual...
by Aaron Spence | Jun 1, 2007 | Production
See this Virtual Tour in FullScreen High Definition mode. Opens In New Window + Audio FullScreen Virtual Tour [1.8MB] Yesterday saw me at the Google Developers Day 07 in Sydney, Australia. Google did a fantastic job decking out a beautiful old building for the day, putting on great food and drink, and even throwing in some good talks by top developers…what more could you ask for? I shot about 15 Virtual Tours at the event and hope to put them on a Google Map for you over the weekend. Check back often, or subscribe to my feed to find out when it’s done....
by Aaron Spence | May 30, 2007 | Production
We should have returned to our normal viewing by now, after the great Googlemapsmania post, but we haven’t. This post isn’t a standard one either. Google have just today released an amazing new addition to their maps, 360 degree virtual tours through major US cities, with a lot more to come. Check it out here. Today I’ve also released a demo of my own using Google Maps & Virtual Tours. (Shown Above) It’s a small technology demo using very high quality Virtual Tours, that are not shot on roads. You can check it out here. Have a little fun getting to know Noosa and let me know what you think. (But remember it’s only a basic demo, and none of the hotels or restaurants are...
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