Skip to content
Out There Learning
  • Home
    • For Teachers
    • For Scientists
  • About
    • Awards
    • Feedback
  • Online Courses
    • Science Communication with Ease
    • Science Communication Ebook
    • Science Communication in Middle Schools
    • Waldorf High School Teaching
  • Julian’s Blog
  • Videos
    • Out There Learning Videos
    • Video Creation
    • Educational Journey Videos
    • GNS Science Videos
  • Projects
    • Antarctic Sea Ice Research 2022
    • Geotrips
    • A Nature Connected Curriculum in Taiwan
    • TV Documentaries
    • Natural Hazards Activities for Schools
    • Roping Students into Science
    • Ice Cores in New Zealand
    • Antarctica Drilling Rock 2006
    • Antarctica Field Assistant 2005
  • Instagram
  • Contact
  • Search

out_there_learning

Nature, geology, travel - New Zealand.
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/outtherelearning
Newsletter
https://julianthomson.substack.com/
#Prague, what a city! #Prague, what a city!
A few days at Lake Balaton sailing and #Budapest, A few days at Lake Balaton sailing and #Budapest, #Hungary...
Sarajevo, beautiful city with a complex and someti Sarajevo, beautiful city with a complex and sometimes brutal history. The street corner at which Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, triggering World War 1, lots of Turkish and other influences, and the terrible 4 year seige in the war with Serbia in the 90s, have all left indelible marks. A city still in recovery but great to visit... #sarajevo #bosnia
A couple of days in the walled city of #Dubrovnik, A couple of days in the walled city of #Dubrovnik, Croatia, next stop Bosnia...
Hiking around the castles and limestone hills of M Hiking around the castles and limestone hills of Montenegro at #kotor, #risan and #hercegnovi. History wherever you look.
Hiking in the Albanian Alps with friends. Valbona Hiking in the Albanian Alps with friends. Valbona - Theth area. Stunning limestone mountains, forests and rivers
From Gjirokastër fortress with its epic history to From Gjirokastër fortress with its epic history to the Albanian Alps via the stunning Komani Lake.
Albanian southern coastal trail with friends... Albanian southern coastal trail with friends...
Great to show off NZ to visiting teachers from Tai Great to show off NZ to visiting teachers from Taiwan on a road trip to Queenstown via #Tekapo, #Aoraki Mt Cook and #Lindis Pass this week.
Filming at New Zealand's fossil wonderland last we Filming at New Zealand's fossil wonderland last week, where I was shown around the 'insides' of Otago University Geology Museum. #fossils #otagogeology #paleontology
Tongariro Crossing with clear skies... #tongariroc Tongariro Crossing with clear skies... #tongarirocrossing
Ruapehu ecology and geology field trips with Lewis Ruapehu ecology and geology field trips with Lewis and Clark students this week...
Swipe 👉 to see where teaching took me this month: Swipe 👉 to see where teaching took me this month: Chengdu, China! 🇨🇳 8 days of workshops with Steiner/ Waldorf teachers 💥 Field trips to a cave, fossils, and the 2008 Sichuan earthquake fault 🤸Exploring how to inspire students with Earth Science. I've shared the story and insights in my newsletter - link in bio #waldorfeducation #geoscience #geoeducation
The Mamaku Tors and conical mounds just west of L The Mamaku Tors and conical mounds just west of Lake Rotorua. These features are the eroded remnants of a very thick (volcanic) ignimbrite layer that was erupted 240,000 years ago, resulting in the caldera now occupied by Lake Rotorua. The puzzle is that there is no evidence that the rock was eroded by a river or glacier. So what was it that removed all that material and where did it go? And why are the remaining stumps so similar in dimensions, and distributed across a wide area many kilometres across?
Lake Rotorua (top left on Google Earth image) is a Lake Rotorua (top left on Google Earth image) is a caldera (collapse crater) from a massive super eruption about 240,000 years ago. It has a relatively simple, not quite circular shape about 10km across. Just to the East is another, much messier caldera atleast twice the size and about twice as old. Its original outline had been obscured due to the eruption of multiple later craters and lava domes so that now there are many separate lakes scattered within it. This is the Okataina caldera, and the photo of Bruce Hayward shows the caldera rim in the background across Lake Rotoiti. We explored these lakes for another Out There Learning video to be produced some time in the coming weeks 🙂
Prehistoric Megalith or mere natural rock outcrop? Prehistoric Megalith or mere natural rock outcrop? In the mid 90s claims were made that this was part of a pre Maori ancient pyramid like structure, and the debate is still alive in the minds of some people. Visiting the Kaimanawa Wall near Taupo with Bruce Hayward to see it through the eyes of a geologist. On our North Island video filming tour...
MĹŤhakatino cliffs, Taranaki, NZ. Incredible coasta MĹŤhakatino cliffs, Taranaki, NZ. Incredible coastal erosion, tunnels, sea stacks, caves and a fossil forest
Mangapuhoe Natural Bridge, Waitomo District, NZ. O Mangapuhoe Natural Bridge, Waitomo District, NZ. On a video filming trip with Bruce Hayward
My cold water pool has been nicely washed by recen My cold water pool has been nicely washed by recent rains, and tempted me to a quick dip. Super chilly, but always so good afterwards...
The amazing lava slugs on the southern slopes of # The amazing lava slugs on the southern slopes of #Ruapehu volcano. Made when lava flowed down into melt water tunnels within a glacier and then quickly cooled to create smaller than usual cooling columns at right angles to the cooling surface. The slugs look like small fractured hummocks, quite different from the more common 'normal' lava flows.
Follow on Instagram
Copyright © 2026 Out There Learning