Blogs from Oceania - page 7822

Sunday, 21 March It took an hour to reach Gembrook. I parked the car outside the Puffin Billy railway station and waited for another photographer to arrive. Our assignment was to photograph the scouts being presented with awards at Gillwell Park. As usual I had arrived ages before we had arranged to meet. This gave me a chance to catch up on some sleep. We hadn't seen each other for a while and over a cup of coffee, supplied by the friendly ladies of the scout movement we took the opportunity to find out what had been happening since we last worked together. The "shoot" started around nine o'clock. For the first hour members of each troop wanted group photos so they could be forwarded to their local newspapers. When the Governor arrived, we were introduced ... read more

Well, Kangaroo Island was just a taster of what was in store over the next 9 days. We had booked a tour with Campwild Adventures from Adelaide to Alice Springs. 9 days, 3 showers – a far cry to what I’m used to at home! It turned out to be the best part of my trip. Again, sleeping in a swag, nothing to protect me from the weird and wonderful things to be found in the Australian outback. Sleeping under an outback sky is one of my favourite memories from my whole 8 months away. The stars are so bright, the sky is so black, it really was amazing. I saw the most amazing sights I’ve ever, the Flinders Ranges, Oodnadatta Track, Lake Eyre, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Watarka, and so so much more. The amount of ... read more

So, firstly we have what can only be described as a rather interestingly named shop, not sure what to say really... Secondly we have the Spice Girls reunited, in New Zealand only!:o) Third pic is of Mike's femine side coming through, doing a bit of Maori(native New Zealanders) flax weaving. Flax grows widely around NZ, and the Maori's use it to weave all sorts of things from baskets to dress's! 4th pic is Moa the hostel cat, she has many personalities due to meeting so many people, friendly, but can be a vicious little thing if she's doesn't want to be stroked! 5th pic is of Sky Tower in Auckland, it is an amazing piece of engineering and looks pretty kool on the skyline, apparently it can with stand an earthquake of up to 6 ... read more

So here firstly we have Christina doing some kiwi fruit pruning, lovely work that it is, it can be neck, back and shoulder breaking, until you've done it for a few weeks and then you get used to it, kind of! Then secondly here we have Mike doing some Mandarine thinning, which again was lovely work in 26 degree sun, trying to avoid wasp nests and large nest of baby spider(none poisoness thankfully!:o), but all made the better for the nutty backpacker we work with! Thirdly here we have a rather thoughtfully named drink, after what has happened recently with this you would've thought they would have renamed the drink, but hey, this is New Zealand for you! The 4th picture is of Shu a Japanese backpacker, doing his fire dancing on a warm spring ... read more

I did a 3 day/2 night camping trip to Kangaroo Island and I loved every minute. We slept in swags under the stars and amongst the possums, made damper bread on open fires and hardly saw a flushing toilet the whole time! This was the first time I tasted kangaroo meat. Delicious with barbecue sauce! We saw lovely scenery, Admiral’s Arch, The Remarkable Rocks, Seal Bay and went sandboarding at Little Sahara. Typical Aussie outback adventure – great!... read more