An anonymous Sydney photographer found himself with a front-row seat to one of nature's most jaw-dropping natural spectacles on the other side of the world, and his photos are now receiving international acclaim.

The photographer, known only by his social media handle Lost Mtns, is based in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.

But this week he found himself photographing a different landmark when a volcano erupted in Iceland, south of the capital, Reykjavik.

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Lost Mtns told 9news.com.au it was a happy coincidence the volcano erupted when he had leave booked, but getting to the molten mountain was a journey in its own right.

"When I first landed I was stuffed," he said, with a laugh.

"But I have learned my lesson in the Blue Mountains, if you wait, if you're tired, nature changes.

"I had just been in a family's kitchen in Abu Dhabi in the desert, then I was in Paris, and then I landed, but tired I decided to go straight to the volcano".

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Jetlagged, he made his way to the car park closest to the volcano and met two locals who insisted they knew where the crater was.

"Worst mistake of my life, we got lost," Lost Mtns said.

"At the end of the day I did 52 kilometres, carrying gear at least 20 kilos.

"I had everything."

But the sight he was met with was "absolutely phenomenal". 

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"The emotions were really raw and powerful," Lost Mtns said.

"To fly over it and feel the force of it was just absolutely incredible.

"Words just don't do it justice. There's nothing man-made that could contain it, nothing man can do could stop lava."

The very next day, the car park closest to the volcano closed due to the threat of poisonous gases.

The recognition

After trekking to the volcano by foot, and flying over it on a helicopter days later, Lost Mtns decided to enter photos in a competition held by two renowned photographers: Chris Burkard, from the US, and Benjamin Hardman, from Australia.

Burkard, has had his work showcased in National Geographic, and together with Hardman, decided to select a limited number of community-sourced photos of the eruption to hang in a gallery they co-own together in Reykjavik.

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The funds raised will be donated to the Icelandic Association of Search and Rescue (ICE-SAR).

One of Lost Mtns' photos has made the cut.

"I met Lost Mtns a few days ago at the gallery and really admired his work and approach to photography and travel in the Blue Mountains," Hardman, who is from Perth, told 9news.com.au.

"His close-up image of the lava really struck my attention, the contrast of blue against the explosion of lava was the perfect abstract image to add into the exhibition collection.

"We have work from 25 photographers after an overwhelming volume of submissions. It's incredible how much variety in artistic expression and composition can come out of three days of an erupting volcano."

Lost Mtns is still pinching himself, as he describes the pair as his heroes.

"Meeting them was huge," he said.

"The top 25 photos will be printed and hung in the gallery for a few months.

"And this has ignited a volcano-chasing itch for sure."

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Loved ones of a young Adelaide man who lost his battle with meningococcal disease have remembered him as healthy and vibrant.

Luke Wingfield is the first South Australian to die from meningococcal this year.

The 36-year-old was in the prime of his life, which was cut devastatingly short at the hands of the deadly bacteria.

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His older sister, Tania Wingfield, told 9News the loss had left the family devastated.

"Just absolutely heartbroken," she said.

"It's a disease that is absolutely devastating to families."

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He was taken to Royal Adelaide Hospital from his Ferryden Park home on Tuesday morning.

Tania said his initial symptoms appeared to be flu-like with the family hopeful the 36-year-old would soon bounce back.

"He looked after himself, he was into fitness, he ate well, he didn't smoke, he didn't do drugs," she said.

When Luke rapidly took a turn for the worse, his family rushed from Port Augusta to be by his side, but by Wednesday night he was dead.

"My brother was such a beautiful person, he was really kind-hearted and he'd do anything for anybody," Tania told 9News

There have been 16 cases of the disease so far this year, surpassing the total of 14 recorded all of last year.

"Meningococcol has a huge impact every year, where there's a number of cases which leads to hospitalisations which sadly leads to deaths," SA Health Minister Chris Picton said.

The vaccine for the B strain has been free in SA for some groups of people since 2018 but is available to others who want it.

"Whether you think it's not serious or not, please, please get help, because I wouldn't want this, wish this upon anybody," Tania said.

Oren Klemich lost his 18-year-old son Jack to the disease 14 years ago.

He says the vaccination is a necessary protection, as often symptoms develop so fast there's little time to act.

"I guarantee if you're unlucky enough for one of your children to get meningococcal, you'll only wish they were vaccinated, it's a horrible disease," Klemich told 9News.

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A man dubbed "the Easter bunny" by police has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for stealing 200,000 chocolate eggs.

On February 11, 32-year-old Joby Pool stole more than $59,200 worth of Cadbury Creme Eggs, after breaking into an industrial unit and making off with the haul in a stolen truck, the PA Media news agency reported.

The milk chocolate eggs, filled with a "yolk" of yellow and white fondant, have a cult following in the UK and are exclusively sold around the Easter period.

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Cadbury, which is owned by US food company Mondelez International, told CNN it sells 220 million Creme Eggs in Britain every year.

According to PA, Pool was jailed by Judge Anthony Lowe for a year and a half at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Thursday.

Half of that is to be spent in prison and the other half on licence, with his previous six months in custody counting toward his time behind bars.

Pool had previously pleaded guilty to theft, criminal damage and driving without insurance.

The court heard Pool had used a stolen tractor to tow the trailer full of eggs away from the industrial unit, PA reported.

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In an earlier court hearing, Pool's then-solicitor John McMillan told the court: "He stopped the vehicle when he realised he was being followed. He realised that the game was up – he realised the police were behind him and pulled in when it was safe to do so."

McMillan added: "He wasn't offering any resistance and he was then arrested."

Tweeting after the arrest, West Mercia Police said they had "helped save Easter for Creme Egg fans" calling the incident an "eggs-travagent theft."

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