New Zealand

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let me start off by saying for most of you who don't know... i was denied nursing registration in new zealand d/t an in adequate education... according to their standards. i was made aware of this in the beginning of august while on the high seas by my brother, tony, who reluctantly forwarded the disappointing news. i was hoping the pen would be mightier than the sword for a rocky balboa comeback after i sent a letter of all letters justifying my ten year+ of experience vs an education that was taken over a decade ago... but alas, the denial is official. while this has come as a blow to the ego, i simply ask, 'would i have left colorado and sold everything i owned knowing this?' ... never minding the answer, i have considered to travel on with backpack in tow and to find another way. so come what may... and that's all i have to say about that.

ever onward!

australia : a summary thus far... i've been witness to breaching humpback whales on three separate occasions, surfed tallow beach (the most easterly point of aussie land) where a posted chalk board sign stated, "WARNING!!! 3m shark spotted this am.", seen a "snake handler" get bit by one of the 'world's ten deadliest' as he was unwrapping it from a car engine in front of a bar in byron bay and was carted off by ems, lived on a farmstay in the rainforests of nimbin where wild lizards were as long as i am tall roamed, worked at a hostel campground chopping down 6m high banana trees with a machete in exchange for accommodation, met a friend of a friend in sydney who showed me a bit of the city and took me sailing across a fantastic inlet surrounded by national park (not another boat!), and i have come across some interesting and soulful people from all walks of life... i can't wait to go back... but for now i'll make my way around the two island nation of new zealand and hope the stock market rebounds 5000pts.

side note -- AH! i just discovered that my memory stick has a virus! bugger! inaccessibility, at the moment, to the 350+ pics... will have to remedy that soon.

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Photos

space needle
sydney

the opera house
synonymous with sydney

outside the art museum
the old and new

sydney harbor
at it's best

sailing... again.
on sophie's boat north of sydney

self-portrait
with a hills fig tree

sophie
behind the wheel of 'wanda'