tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40629723016502568232024-03-14T05:34:33.992-07:00Australia, New Zealand and Myselfjeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.comBlogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-22849982280832934202008-06-01T16:01:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:25.811-08:00After 2 1/2 weeks of driving, and 2,500 miles later, my tour of the south island of New Zealand is complete. These pictures and words can do nothing in way of describing this land, it transcends any description and can only be appreciated by actually seeing it, but this is a good start.<br />Along the way I:<br />slept in the back of my car most nights and was caught in a blizzard and was almost snowed in crossing a mountain that already had several feet of snow on the ground as I drove through, battled hypothermia in a sleeping bag at night, learned that 4 days is about as long as you want to go without a shower, learned that where this is a will there is a way when it comes to finding showers, toilets, and other common amenities not found in a Subaru stationwagon, battled malnutrition as I ate nothing but ramen noodles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and indian curry when I found it, saw more waterfalls than I can count, saw the most spectacular mountain ranges in the world covered in snow, watched a pod of 30 dolphins jumping out of the water to greet our boat in Milford Sound and swam with us for several minutes, defied every single warning sign I found about any danger and rolled boulders off unstable rock cliffs, skipped rocks across frozen glacier filled lakes, hiked mountain ranges to see the most spectacular views imaginable, stood dangerously close to a partially collapsing glacier as tall as a skyscraper, drove so much my body would go numb while taking in the unbelievable surroundings, chased herds of sheep on private property, shared roads with herds of cattle migrating through the countryside, grew tired of seeing sheep on the hills, learned that the sun goes down around 5pm here and when you are by yourself sleeping in a car in the middle of nowhere on a beach, that you eventually become ok with silence and being alone with your thoughts-otherwise you quickly would lose your sanity.<br /><br />And throughout the entire trip I continually tried to find a word to describe what I was seeing, and I finally had an appropriate time to use this word...majestic. to be in a valley surrounded by cliffs that rise straight up out of the ocean that scale a mile high, and to see innumerable waterfalls falling from heights of a 50 story building, the wind so cold that you lose the ability to talk from your face being so cold and the water being crystal clear...it is such a surreal moment that majestic was the only thing I could possible do justice describing with.<br /><br />All in all, a good road trip....<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1J0_Ed_Q2j2sjBQ0pI8uBPVUk75X4xaQ2x4RHZyHy1UieNDb7ddQpe265EECxiE0FtTNwlCIU3k1AolkbAMJjw7_R-YF5Wr2LcJBS4blw8OwQURz-PNm2AKzjuZogEksXRsT-Sp7W2L_v/s1600-h/IMG_9965.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; 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display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaychMkEuKnTI0l6aNKQkTWY5z8xxeSLjr8Bxb6LlCVA2zBrthUIZOlUW1E4flC9KHShFPqIJu_svsFhAwfAPYl1ds_VVyYcTRuPxAl8Zazjpd4x4jMVLI4dnfDpayRwwnGhfpJfpfuTS3/s320/IMG_9048.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoxihlMg0OXpdmMEhk7h-AKRcx6eUjhp-ra6CeSU_caYIHNtTS3zVBdau2VVZLW4jE4DYoZlI1MjAg2_XpSBToj8U_S1DWYDwg8wN4nhMi4Sdjx3MhPTgttDRzW2yn_afMKDnUvBOH4PK/s1600-h/IMG_9133.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207055012580910962" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpoxihlMg0OXpdmMEhk7h-AKRcx6eUjhp-ra6CeSU_caYIHNtTS3zVBdau2VVZLW4jE4DYoZlI1MjAg2_XpSBToj8U_S1DWYDwg8wN4nhMi4Sdjx3MhPTgttDRzW2yn_afMKDnUvBOH4PK/s320/IMG_9133.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8a25lL45PF5z29xZdd6OnfxbLx-HHT_uPA1_cM8exbc9dQ7s5MqP4i8W-Gk8-OSmAPDlVzByihljDMp0XnU_GoCHa8ELVrAs143xmtVWHt72XLT0_jkEY6zneZkPFT6MejdSsEp86swcL/s1600-h/IMG_9232.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207055025112978866" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8a25lL45PF5z29xZdd6OnfxbLx-HHT_uPA1_cM8exbc9dQ7s5MqP4i8W-Gk8-OSmAPDlVzByihljDMp0XnU_GoCHa8ELVrAs143xmtVWHt72XLT0_jkEY6zneZkPFT6MejdSsEp86swcL/s320/IMG_9232.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMqBNfJJSbCa0pX9-gjjQNxto0eIW5-Mex9Ms0jAVwxPagFPHMSYw0NspmAqN8vKl6oD3BeqjToVME-0nj-k4oqZZkQCApDItCy2kuh3enZqAKdBrM9v-E7u3viJlM1FiXaN-QK4jE40Z/s1600-h/IMG_9250.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207055040591726738" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtMqBNfJJSbCa0pX9-gjjQNxto0eIW5-Mex9Ms0jAVwxPagFPHMSYw0NspmAqN8vKl6oD3BeqjToVME-0nj-k4oqZZkQCApDItCy2kuh3enZqAKdBrM9v-E7u3viJlM1FiXaN-QK4jE40Z/s320/IMG_9250.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjum97B7NzumRVLZRJ5HHXEoA55KsKrVLLUIvec83OL1qVRtceOltIcFOsXfnpIx4byqjWy4Vj1XDhV1A_BcsgjTnWIczgU-zmutaVeRLNOOmIrWaS9MVKnUchzWtlQjowffp-LDd_wzKp3/s1600-h/IMG_9261.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207056963142878946" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjum97B7NzumRVLZRJ5HHXEoA55KsKrVLLUIvec83OL1qVRtceOltIcFOsXfnpIx4byqjWy4Vj1XDhV1A_BcsgjTnWIczgU-zmutaVeRLNOOmIrWaS9MVKnUchzWtlQjowffp-LDd_wzKp3/s320/IMG_9261.JPG" border="0" /></a>notice me in the pic below, the small blue spec in the bottom right. that is a big wall of ice<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvI3yMYSYvYWW6d-rRjNKDMfLomTe3H9HHfjzK0ExeK_SG8rjaKQr7JYD-1L5uylI0Jwq_-qtZg7WeI585GZ2cUr0jTYTtg2vN7twszXkIDtkPbHTufC-KO4HTx2qTEx9da61CmzqUHg-/s1600-h/IMG_9252.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207056967208311890" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZvI3yMYSYvYWW6d-rRjNKDMfLomTe3H9HHfjzK0ExeK_SG8rjaKQr7JYD-1L5uylI0Jwq_-qtZg7WeI585GZ2cUr0jTYTtg2vN7twszXkIDtkPbHTufC-KO4HTx2qTEx9da61CmzqUHg-/s320/IMG_9252.JPG" border="0" /></a>and of course no road trip would be complete for Jeff Stafford without a good in depth convo with a random crazy man on the street about how he regularly talks to aliens when they land "just over that hill there"<br />he literally came up to me, and after offering to take my picture, after talking to him for a good 2 seconds he asked if I believed in aliens. well, since I already hand my camera in hand, I figured this story wouldnt capture the full weight of the moment, so here is the actual cognito footage..enjoy. (and by the way, he definitely says "my cousin married a girl, she's quarter alien")<br /><object height="350" width="425"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kLZG45uJ4Z4"> <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kLZG45uJ4Z4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" height="350" width="425"></embed> </object><br /><div></div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-76307242892081660592008-05-17T22:34:00.000-07:002008-05-17T22:45:06.585-07:00So I have been staying with Richard and Jacqui this week in Christchurch, and they have been nice enough to offer a car for me to borrow, so in the morning I will departing on a two week tour around the south island of New Zealand. Christchurch is on the upper east coast of the south island, and tomorrow I will drive to the west coast to begin my venture, and on Wednesday I should be in Franz Josef where Fox glacier is located, so yea, not everyday you can just go climb a glacier..unless you are in New Zealand..and I just happen to be. From there I will see Wanaka and Queenstown before arriving at Milford Sound, supposedly one of the most beautiful and scenic places in the country, so that should be pretty awesome. I will make a few other stops that you have never heard of and I cannot pronounce, so we'll skip that and hopefully arrive back here un-frostbitten in a couple weeks. So, off to my next adventure, hopefully will have some pretty amazing pics when I return!jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-50068332232751152832008-05-15T03:43:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:26.893-08:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTaGTaZfLhzwD9nuq1yWCkTceM8fPsGdTUjqXuU_N27vEt6N2Tv6izuUnYvP0_l2x-IlTY0u3FbqU4aHIMISNDAt5Y-8Su_2pIjFDc2uI_Dm1xq4dSB90zKRJagdckKQxqo_MZC4uESo3/s1600-h/EPV0091.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinTaGTaZfLhzwD9nuq1yWCkTceM8fPsGdTUjqXuU_N27vEt6N2Tv6izuUnYvP0_l2x-IlTY0u3FbqU4aHIMISNDAt5Y-8Su_2pIjFDc2uI_Dm1xq4dSB90zKRJagdckKQxqo_MZC4uESo3/s320/EPV0091.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200556325418008050" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjps3rtig15QUNKganrDh1UaFOp4LeprClpZ8nsxMaFeTzYqMMiedfZGdVrUoG65s_Ln7O8Yzb4qmK7LGRl9TuOUsQO-y_fTUxi-Il_dt7Z61NuTyr26tGvQKb1fYgcMwRvMn9dQNDlkReZ/s1600-h/EPV0103.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjps3rtig15QUNKganrDh1UaFOp4LeprClpZ8nsxMaFeTzYqMMiedfZGdVrUoG65s_Ln7O8Yzb4qmK7LGRl9TuOUsQO-y_fTUxi-Il_dt7Z61NuTyr26tGvQKb1fYgcMwRvMn9dQNDlkReZ/s320/EPV0103.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200556329712975362" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqEF0yw_iQu2v6DFfDZZpzzb3f_zKvObQwvV6zgk-T-C1n31PPa6swF1OQHCo_zg4h6BUcYIIWg9UnfpcTrCOSf_yrgZ79F8wXaBC6M2YBpIKw5M-AjVyY8B6nj67_69L8LSzRJx92YFw/s1600-h/IMG_8846.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqEF0yw_iQu2v6DFfDZZpzzb3f_zKvObQwvV6zgk-T-C1n31PPa6swF1OQHCo_zg4h6BUcYIIWg9UnfpcTrCOSf_yrgZ79F8wXaBC6M2YBpIKw5M-AjVyY8B6nj67_69L8LSzRJx92YFw/s320/IMG_8846.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200556338302909970" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyNYWw3-b7p96TJXxcTAephEi71wib25d19QEkyi_DCqm3EA9sVv9UA74gB7OJaRS8q1A3xdRGjBj0_3VqpffSzD-NcNPkMNj9t8joekgqto7CAUgGCfx2s8YZ02JmjbqVDtj4jdB9hwXT/s1600-h/IMG_8850.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyNYWw3-b7p96TJXxcTAephEi71wib25d19QEkyi_DCqm3EA9sVv9UA74gB7OJaRS8q1A3xdRGjBj0_3VqpffSzD-NcNPkMNj9t8joekgqto7CAUgGCfx2s8YZ02JmjbqVDtj4jdB9hwXT/s320/IMG_8850.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200556338302909986" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcMh-RbITd6f4G3JsR80iGaw049uDmGisCdPsZXz6AdFeIwn3iTsUaE7W32fs2NRHePJ9SRdRTd1V2VPwVAVzc6y9QYil7xUq7NsWIjOpN2uzzxfvLF2OInHtUsWRk-8LDFYO388BQryS/s1600-h/IMG_8861.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVcMh-RbITd6f4G3JsR80iGaw049uDmGisCdPsZXz6AdFeIwn3iTsUaE7W32fs2NRHePJ9SRdRTd1V2VPwVAVzc6y9QYil7xUq7NsWIjOpN2uzzxfvLF2OInHtUsWRk-8LDFYO388BQryS/s320/IMG_8861.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5200556342597877298" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxO84m3y-24w0kzc9c_YduJc_iIyp79fqhqh6jcR7iGzkHNdqb046FJGOwYcaz0EIdDIfMi2gq6NHjnJc6_Bw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I flew down to Christchurch on Tuesday, which is on the top of the south island of New Zealand, and am staying with Richard, who is from Dallas, and his wife just outside of town. The scenic pics and the video above are from his front porch, quite a stunning view to wake up to every morning. Weather wise, the days are absolutely perfect, roughly 60 degrees, but once the sun goes down, wow does the temperature drop rapidly. Even inside the house if you are not next to a heater you can see your breath, and the fact that no houses in NZ really have central heating equates to quite a climate shift from Aussie, but overall I am loving the cool weather. I am hopefully going to road trip around the south island for a week or two, and planning to leave on monday, and will see some of the most incredible views in the world, Richard has shown me a lot of pics of where I will be going, and it seems too good to be true that I am really here. But I am.<br />Other than that, I have been looking for a job and have a few good leads, so hopefully once I get back I can get to work, I am really ready for a little normality in my life, the whole nomadic traveler's life is really starting to wear on me, so the idea of working and settling for a season is a good one. Also have been to a couple events with his church here, and it has been so refreshing to be around solid Christians again, have really missed church and other believers in my life, so that has been great.<br /><br /> We'll see where I am in a few days..jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-84737372240900932552008-05-11T00:14:00.000-07:002008-05-11T00:22:09.866-07:00Oh, and totally forgot...Yesterday as I was going through customs at the Melbourne airport, I was randomly selected to be tested for explosives, basically they pat you down and waive the magic stick over all your stuff. They people were really nice and joking with me as they were intimately patting me down, and then it happened. Again, keep in mind I am being check for EXPLOSIVES, and the lady's smile quickly disappeared as she turned to me and said very worried-looking, "Sir, what is buzzing in your bag?!" The guy puts his hand on his gun as I reach into my bag to find that my electric razor had conveniently started up as the bag was just sitting on the table..of course this would happen to me..jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-45115770767930392002008-05-10T15:02:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:28.404-08:00<div><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBBNFxNbWXiIpGK3jzygdNR1xhcXjYv2Wk5xJ3kVARJt7wxHXeeTTh0rercaoPA3do9RlY7z9tPfWS8Vybm3bUmjE9XSWch3EpWYM7pznyN4P64PoyvkX11ZCaiw_JiotZBJ0asZ9E-T9/s1600-h/IMG_8616.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198881413574392930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDBBNFxNbWXiIpGK3jzygdNR1xhcXjYv2Wk5xJ3kVARJt7wxHXeeTTh0rercaoPA3do9RlY7z9tPfWS8Vybm3bUmjE9XSWch3EpWYM7pznyN4P64PoyvkX11ZCaiw_JiotZBJ0asZ9E-T9/s320/IMG_8616.JPG" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198882405711838402" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhybdIFyvw-XsilzKWSKyKP2C5tYY9INrd3_ZciOMafOO45abVxyDERyS7LaYD0WjFEqz9vJ-7ikzT3CDU8HcNVx8-onReaG8124eeMYTL9OJSqiWqYmgL2jhndgk8gWBOovnZzGrqDT5hv/s320/IMG_8705.JPG" border="0" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoS3NgrPxgjBNoDTe7KsY6Mds6AnBrH3IO92r2m8i1WbG2I6ZtQ3b8E45ZwsBJ-fWTl2Gnksm9LfSEkPYsKiYX5jzivWXry94Rjofy7yES04syyb5kA7GxfT9_QIw4cF84WQ0GtMPXb5G/s1600-h/IMG_8634.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198881417869360242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCoS3NgrPxgjBNoDTe7KsY6Mds6AnBrH3IO92r2m8i1WbG2I6ZtQ3b8E45ZwsBJ-fWTl2Gnksm9LfSEkPYsKiYX5jzivWXry94Rjofy7yES04syyb5kA7GxfT9_QIw4cF84WQ0GtMPXb5G/s320/IMG_8634.JPG" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198882405711838386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfGcBRvEaUkwSZmnf_YifIK1askpJzJN5VCkpwiwuSkXKNrtaMzWmotUtiiYlcJL5H07JsF69-6oqAdXv2JWZLv7w330QZnZ9LxsTqZH3wakodC6i51awGlyJ59AJ7UuwKyyO1pezx_43W/s320/IMG_8680.JPG" border="0" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisP-eIitUiU1IXcSrYkVGdztyOL8WtlNQ-DnI1zXXymQet4B7IkZt47SnAZ7fG1ILrsMBU3L1rXOXDBuNmo3iA60OLj72mMCtLirV76WPZ7IoRfOjF2Pr1JdBb7PpkrskuyiTw_OMCyS1C/s1600-h/IMG_8637.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198881422164327554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisP-eIitUiU1IXcSrYkVGdztyOL8WtlNQ-DnI1zXXymQet4B7IkZt47SnAZ7fG1ILrsMBU3L1rXOXDBuNmo3iA60OLj72mMCtLirV76WPZ7IoRfOjF2Pr1JdBb7PpkrskuyiTw_OMCyS1C/s320/IMG_8637.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDCFo5HUwBVIEHEmmli5Cyrur_xflR55QBbVENftobXfUcSg3rolCWp958AYX0RDMOdxW77AaLaJl6ghcqyhkg2C5N9cxnvJYi0GU4gOTJdfOpBahQFpIbBBNpZLY-E75HJTqfqIyWWsGZ/s1600-h/IMG_8601.JPG"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBoyA2tsxU0ce5TZCIbiL-jtd0jWmlvAUXLBxngGW4jkJpjAK8jJf94Gq_Tzn6iylbyC6Gx314up2TCMHyNhGQN-yu-9hSUAhOj5S6Bqq3xANFpKgHtWAC4tOTQ6PgfjCfiiqywdJb8ReG/s1600-h/IMG_8635.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198881426459294882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBoyA2tsxU0ce5TZCIbiL-jtd0jWmlvAUXLBxngGW4jkJpjAK8jJf94Gq_Tzn6iylbyC6Gx314up2TCMHyNhGQN-yu-9hSUAhOj5S6Bqq3xANFpKgHtWAC4tOTQ6PgfjCfiiqywdJb8ReG/s320/IMG_8635.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198882805143796946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX8ob8iztKYJOGWtO520kzJrRRi39T49QTe1ghwaYMk2dJtXXPa4ax4EhIsr4lhHYnMGhNX7Qoh_wKE98zUeU8zWPtAXbExZQmZqaz47x21eNIjobhnuXaD8zdxH-NNSx4ft9jjvlMFwKf/s320/IMG_8671.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><div>Well I made it into New Zealand yesterday evening, and got here just in time to see an incredible sunset to usher me into a new country. And as soon as I arrived at the hostel, my adventure began, as only fitting for Jeff Stafford in a new country all alone. So I met my hostel mates, 3 guys from the UK, and after a good 3 minutes we became old friends and decided to head down to the pub for a beer, around 7:06pm. We walked in and noticed the entire pub was full of guy and girls dressed up as doctors, nurses, and random camo outfits, and after being in the pub for about 3 minutes as well, and my total time in Auckland bordering half an hour, I went up to the table and sat down with these people and struck up a conversation, and turns out they were all local people from Auckland having a going away party for Charlie, and they were doing a "pub crawl", traveling around to different pubs. Roughly 7:10pm at this point. Around 7:11 I was invited to join them, so at 7:17 I commenced out of the pub and followed them to their private bus and found out as we left that I was going to a different city, and ended up travelling for 1.5 hours with 30 strangers on a charter bus to a town called Hamilton where we went to a few clubs and continued the Crawl. I ended up getting home finally around 4:00am after all our stops, and couldn't help but laugh every couple minutes all night long as I looked around and took in the fact that I am on a different continent with total strangers on a bus going to a different city, and somehow it was not the slightest bit awkward, and just fit. They were a great group of people, and they absolutely loved the fact that I was just some random dude from Texas on their bus celebrating Charlie's goodbye party and the fact that I don't know Charlie. Solid gold.</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>I am just hanging around Auckland today and will go to my orientation tomorrow, then probably head out to Christchurch on the south island in the next couple days, so stay tuned, we'll see what comes my way next....</div></div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-25441852033828775162008-05-05T04:15:00.000-07:002008-05-05T04:39:31.244-07:00After an adventure filled 3 months, my run here in Australia has come to an end, and it is a bittersweet time. I have come to love this place, and I must say I will miss dearly my substitutionary Aussie family and the friends I've made here, but the prospect of a new chapter of this trip and a new adventure on the horizon has got me quite excited. I wasn't scheduled to leave for another month, but alas after 3 months of travel and not working a single day (come on, that's pretty impressive), the money is starting to run low and with such a short time left on my work visa, finding a job has proven next to impossible, so I must depart. I am flying into Auckland at 5:00pm on Saturday, where I will spend a few days, then most likely head to Christchurch and interview with a Ski Resort just outside of town, as well as meet up with a fellow Texan I've been in contact with who is now living there, and hopefully find work on the slopes for the winter season.<br />And yes, I am arriving on the cusp of the middle of winter on the Southern Alps, so I anticipate some warm summer photos being taunted at me in the upcoming months in retaliation for my previous beach photos sent over to Tx when they were getting their snow...nonetheless I will be in winter in New Zealand...I still come out on top I think?<br /><br />That's about all I know for now, but I will update from the next country I end up in as soon as possible.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-69091672918314902752008-04-28T20:19:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:31.562-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rpkvo-388nfHKQHTlhu3fAnQotJl_RVAgFqIqUzzYYJFOwvy_7hcs2ooV-I9yWB1SqSOv6MrKDbHe2M52Z0uzLGn3BMTWg2QhhDIgp6doIShdiCwhvGQQLtJ97R0lTyZEn1Id6NvF63H/s1600-h/IMG_8453.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194508981621504546" style="DISPLAY: block; 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MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfAvmtL8LeivCRgUBmxRG59vsNjLBZwcocGz5le-lzXROq4oV9ASGvjzfdhwj6VKBZZX2gGvx2Xhj5rJX_SNPkdQCKcz0_JlmhCGJmMgC3K_6nnVdWoQ8PeYa0Wa0sK9bco86VgaZUilNE/s320/IMG_8235.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><p><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyAjkTXeajxrj0DthDCcCVKdtYX8io98r0SIaVBJ1wYTyoOTxzP7O_uauYSSdPjomfJ0wzT9dDt3SK65e3xtQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><br /><p><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dx9j6s0mcTsERSTXh5SjTOFY62PX62gNIqigJrmxOIdzeidGKtxXE4EQivdmgy0vKUdCZcrcfIzi2fRxuGvKw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><br /><p><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxrg_ohk3FAPOzXa_BDCDr0rrQ9fm4ISxsTHLOVZ8OBD9vX1paA-mZcf8v-Z8SeZKAiPLtXY4cPv9UKh7hidw' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></p><p></p><p>Ok, sorry for the long delay on the blogging, just now getting back to civilization with internet access. So last Monday I set out on what ended up being a 7 day camping adventure deep in the heart of the Australian bush, and what an event it was. I met tons of great people along the way from all over the world; I met people from England, Turkey, Germany, The Netherlands, India, and a few local Aussies as well. I traveled to the Twelve Apostles , The huge rocks in the water pictured above somewhere, with a group of these travelers on Tuesday, and then set out on my own to continue camping. The next night I chased down a small herd of 6ft kangaroos through the wilderness, but Wednesday was the unforgettable day. As I was setting up camp about 15miles in the forest all by myself, I look down to see a 4ft Tiger snake slither next to my shoe, and so in keeping with my values, I grab the camera and long stick and let the adventure begin. Turns out the Tiger snake is one of the worlds deadliest ( no surprise for me), but what I didn't know was that it is one of the only snakes in the world that will aggressively attack and chase you instead of trying to get away. </p><p>So, as I am poking it with my very long stick, it stands up about 8 inches off the ground, flattens its neck like a cobra, and starts coming at me, so I put the camera on the ground and you can see what I was seeing as I was running for cover like a small school girl.</p><p>I also found out later on that night as I was paranoid-ly shining my flashlight on the ground every few seconds that the ground was also covered with scorpions...I left first thing the next morning in quite a hurry. But not before coming across Bull Ants that are almost an inch long.</p><p>At the next campsite I came upon a heavenly creature, a big koala just sitting in the road, and after deciding against putting him in the backseat and taking him, I feel we shared quite a beautiful moment, although he was probably just a little high off all the eucalyptus, still it was special.</p><p>The trip will definitely be a highlight of my time spent here in Oz, as well as the shower I had after going a week without one. </p><p></p></div></div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-86816625829363631512008-04-16T08:05:00.000-07:002008-04-16T08:07:46.296-07:00To all/any faithful readers, sorry for the long posting delay, been fairly busy, yet not really, probably more just on the lazy side here lately. I am still alive and well and have some pics to post soon of all the interesting things I've been getting into in Melbourne, so stay tuned, they are coming soon!jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-49271084704613461112008-04-06T22:51:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:34.285-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSirAsnQdUsuiba0gBnhJKBQWfbzbFpVPhNKGFOdQzoUdtMRVLG2OHRxJN3YMv_dAZZWdfHZVZrv8UA0yXIx7ri646I5EBDiXqoclw-YQzvXCnzjOlSM18z_RevDaPycRIhW8Abdk7Eaf/s1600-h/IMG_7924.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186395676675268610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnSirAsnQdUsuiba0gBnhJKBQWfbzbFpVPhNKGFOdQzoUdtMRVLG2OHRxJN3YMv_dAZZWdfHZVZrv8UA0yXIx7ri646I5EBDiXqoclw-YQzvXCnzjOlSM18z_RevDaPycRIhW8Abdk7Eaf/s320/IMG_7924.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ8-ZCt9ZPmT1NZAJuCT2EcVFillzJLr_4iqJUCKFqHMAglaTBcEvVqHh2qcO7b8WNTAUnOBoRkUVHRH8CgL8P-PFtv6THtcoiUEjaKYdGQWsGix4FOR_8Ppt9pTRVfH-8UNJxLDvu62N/s1600-h/IMG_7705.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186395680970235922" style="DISPLAY: block; 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MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSR-ppDmaFnl56YElrCOGvBvPPDs8UDVPN1puj5k9ZFQRW7mPhg7XeNYIEe5l6CL8MgIqpoqxaQ3SFOk0LUC1cxlE1RU_WU9cIf9ZyEs7piTiIfMHVjfQcKFJamhG7sPtwMZD2aBVO6Ls/s320/P4060883.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8_sHtx-98AUeF3pM_BnbbMCDV8cCwYQejR8OHNvK9zaRDkeSc9MdM8q8pxabg6Nh1usF8hgkHK1qUi9zjJcJBR3W9SB2gNMGf-j15eVmhhj8nKlIhnzt1_nkCBrkW0J1bW7OFHvlaode/s1600-h/IMG_7780.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186387408863223746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy8_sHtx-98AUeF3pM_BnbbMCDV8cCwYQejR8OHNvK9zaRDkeSc9MdM8q8pxabg6Nh1usF8hgkHK1qUi9zjJcJBR3W9SB2gNMGf-j15eVmhhj8nKlIhnzt1_nkCBrkW0J1bW7OFHvlaode/s320/IMG_7780.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyJ8EEzeC6GiIbkuX6AUhf0MGEGCBqJhwrK1HiA48zaMEnSp9v9ltKcG5rukYtAYfFQ1GcZHu2Y1jzBNMdsayenpny6bHxHhDsUq-oH_xBT12i_ddMMK72czRuQO6luk6vvTv4-afZyBT/s1600-h/IMG_7853.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186387413158191058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDyJ8EEzeC6GiIbkuX6AUhf0MGEGCBqJhwrK1HiA48zaMEnSp9v9ltKcG5rukYtAYfFQ1GcZHu2Y1jzBNMdsayenpny6bHxHhDsUq-oH_xBT12i_ddMMK72czRuQO6luk6vvTv4-afZyBT/s320/IMG_7853.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrYXADt-5gUHHPWxKKLpJ9-ph6Q41SFU5Pilfxe5oSwNjeJpa2Iy_Sl9wlqS8UgoxH1_YNsEt3SC9E4alCkAzAV_BTJu4MzR760Lc7f7OliSaprL9a-kmiQmAJq3vNoeMF0UozBQdgQbp/s1600-h/IMG_7947.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186387417453158370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZrYXADt-5gUHHPWxKKLpJ9-ph6Q41SFU5Pilfxe5oSwNjeJpa2Iy_Sl9wlqS8UgoxH1_YNsEt3SC9E4alCkAzAV_BTJu4MzR760Lc7f7OliSaprL9a-kmiQmAJq3vNoeMF0UozBQdgQbp/s320/IMG_7947.JPG" border="0" /></a> <img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186396359575068706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5uxk8Lusp6L5sgEVlemFOkiPFQYFjyQ9O1ZLP8P0y6x3vLESc5cxIk9m68-BueI9SOAH-6j0eZKrJi826SgIoQ3g_MP2NJngdl3SmnwmQ64fRFDXqnXstBTIf7hiVpGh7i98ZX7ZHKSpX/s320/IMG_7878.JPG" border="0" /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKZ26f7TlcN9oCc5NiRDSSgSnytgQ5f8XbEmrgSnMi0WjYsf7sAqlwaIgn49-VW4WZUlvIwaB49zvMsY1FCPI-aOvAlzNxGVEb9Vo-6rTHp_awTzceTekNirZWZZRi8A6WYn0QMvTLW6y/s1600-h/IMG_7865.JPG"></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div><br />The past week or so has been pretty relaxed, I've had the pleasure of eating at several restaurants that I've never tried before, the latest was yesterday eating <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">chinese</span> for a brunch meal..a far cry from <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">IHOP</span> pancakes, and so much better. The serving <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">stlye</span> was called Yum-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">cha</span>, basically they just wheel around carts of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">chinese</span> stuff and you pick whatever you want, I just smiled and nodded and hoped that Tony would pick something good because I couldn't understand a word they were speaking, which was composed of roughly 98.3% <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">chinese</span> and just a dash of English, but some of the better food I've eating while in Melbourne nonetheless.<br /><br />While waiting to eat we walked around the city a bit, and saw a street performer doing an act, so we sat down to check it out. Well, by the time we had sat down he had changed into a superman costume, and picked me out of the crowd to be a "volunteer", which meant that I got the pleasure of laying on the ground with 3 other people, head to toe, in a line and let Superman do <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">backflips</span> over the top of us; I was at the end which meant I had the highest probability to get my face kicked in by him losing his balance, but luckily it went off without a hitch, and I was quite entertained.<br />But I think the thing I have found most interesting is people's reaction when they hear I am from Texas, it is always 1 of 2 reactions. Superman displayed the first reaction...giggling. He asked where I was from and didn't wait for my answer before starting talking, then stopped <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">midsentence</span> and laughed... why can't someone go, "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">hmm</span>, what a fine and reputable place, congratulations on being from the Lone Star State!". So if people don't giggle, they will get very snobby and say, "oh. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">hmm</span>." and I have to explain that George Bush isn't my father and that I am not the cause of the war, then things are usually fine after that. But 99% of everyone just giggles, which is hilarious.<br />A few nights ago, I found myself in an "alternative" club, which in reality just meant an "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">Emo</span> Hangout", I felt a little out of place in my American Eagle fleece pullover and trendy hat...I had no emotional <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">combover</span>, no skinny legged-girl jeans, no mascara on or enough piercings, but it was the people watching zenith of a lifetime, so I had quite the time.<br /><br />Other than that, I've really just been taking in the fact that I'm on vacation and smoking cigars in the evenings and enjoying good conversation over a few glasses of wine, and playing my new guitar that I bought, which is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">phenominal</span>..and cheap. It was cheaper just to buy a new guitar vs. getting mine shipped over here, so I justified my new purchase as a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">souvenir...I feel good about it. Plus I get to share Fishbate with the world now, and if you don't know what that is, either consider yourself lucky or just ask Matt Curtis about it. </span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected"></span><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-corrected"></span>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-8201976594156888502008-03-30T01:35:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:36.321-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLYcvvOIp7g01wrJDuEuqUSXt7kytGujJVNgGLXR2hOQiPrZbznmP4cqIjpB92pnGkCEannKcGlzjiuYjQ0Ii01TAB0Bcj55yvaCyzwOUNG04HCHZ4cLy_u-FWxjhyztePAClCwRSmcN9/s1600-h/IMG_7704.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183458331361664930" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwLYcvvOIp7g01wrJDuEuqUSXt7kytGujJVNgGLXR2hOQiPrZbznmP4cqIjpB92pnGkCEannKcGlzjiuYjQ0Ii01TAB0Bcj55yvaCyzwOUNG04HCHZ4cLy_u-FWxjhyztePAClCwRSmcN9/s320/IMG_7704.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZW3y61coGR8xx_WIOziLRF4M4Ung85x-Gukt64ahgGfycd23hO_q-t1vmPhp6cR76gqVKkakb_vp5Rq2AJvz7hpODZauLYa8ACUUnv62QE9PYOOGakKnE05jOKxw5lph_n8J6yrN3W84P/s1600-h/IMG_7603.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183457811670622050" style="DISPLAY: block; 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MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCYx2UHvpidEVRh1vml5ll0f8T00Xqk_olBr6vXQsPN6Z3-E7au7SsDVuIsQmCHX8YstA7zRlJIa1Goq83IzqxtRb4VsBvbrxVLx7HUVhV1qxUxW5x7AZe5tpE9KA0EmhFatliM0StQto3/s320/IMG_7328.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqZfXMH5k_CfoubjpXW_wfAd42l7Tpx2aiH8Lndsqgz3LKhOFdkSHVFXu7-kg_B3MetbRzPzWkmEJj8hYJB9x5UJfmKxxsUCIB2MFM9QKPULZF9EWQBl1-UC1sGt0P1C-8OG5iYiowbZD/s1600-h/IMG_7267.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183454882502926114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqZfXMH5k_CfoubjpXW_wfAd42l7Tpx2aiH8Lndsqgz3LKhOFdkSHVFXu7-kg_B3MetbRzPzWkmEJj8hYJB9x5UJfmKxxsUCIB2MFM9QKPULZF9EWQBl1-UC1sGt0P1C-8OG5iYiowbZD/s320/IMG_7267.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8K1UNytT1OfV6f7A19rwZ6DiHLzTu-qMXdNjFki99pbrA3pkMFirfVdPdNTLPIYhNSvNJi33cVss20ML8YYRlDRutrrcbRa8MXe-YEb7dJaPGKH5oFWrSPHauqE5TWydFTail-yL9cte/s1600-h/DSCN0940.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183454891092860722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip8K1UNytT1OfV6f7A19rwZ6DiHLzTu-qMXdNjFki99pbrA3pkMFirfVdPdNTLPIYhNSvNJi33cVss20ML8YYRlDRutrrcbRa8MXe-YEb7dJaPGKH5oFWrSPHauqE5TWydFTail-yL9cte/s320/DSCN0940.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhCZEZKXi-f8E1t6Z2cFVlfq0mNOwdZTrTv0CVi6hNy83kfLmjSmGp0ooGKTwZdadfa8Gvg8X8g3ebIaM8AvdC7V7DapZkkWGdOCHCvXaSLCxulBUu1LzPwyzbn0vBeCQESFbVqwFE8bJ/s1600-h/IMG_7490.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183454895387828034" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxhCZEZKXi-f8E1t6Z2cFVlfq0mNOwdZTrTv0CVi6hNy83kfLmjSmGp0ooGKTwZdadfa8Gvg8X8g3ebIaM8AvdC7V7DapZkkWGdOCHCvXaSLCxulBUu1LzPwyzbn0vBeCQESFbVqwFE8bJ/s320/IMG_7490.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPls1-zTqDHJNdyuewtHClcwKw9W7KTtQnSV_iYO7cKpjH8ZEvOSoybvKUBgteD0GAM5b2WyM3n7o280kK4Dc0_-GK3SQXIjmuGOQcAcXVBulYJ6FbL1RPwQEyfuX53ojngF_pbFj0Z_na/s1600-h/IMG_7590.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5183454899682795346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPls1-zTqDHJNdyuewtHClcwKw9W7KTtQnSV_iYO7cKpjH8ZEvOSoybvKUBgteD0GAM5b2WyM3n7o280kK4Dc0_-GK3SQXIjmuGOQcAcXVBulYJ6FbL1RPwQEyfuX53ojngF_pbFj0Z_na/s320/IMG_7590.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>The biggest thing I have missed so far on this trip has been some good ole Texas chinese food, and the first night here in Melbourne they all took me out and I had the much awaited honor of gorging myself on some fantastic chinese, and then while leaving Tony tossed me the keys to the car and told me to give it a go... and it was in this moment that 2 fundamental problems arose in my mind. </div><br /><br /><div>1. I have not the slightest clue how to drive a stick shift. </div><br /><br /><div>2. I have not the slightest clue how to drive in Australia on the opposite side of the road. So what did I do? </div><br /><br /><div>Well the first thing was walk to the wrong side of the car to get in to drive, and then remembered that the driver's seat is on the right, but after this was sorted in my mind, the jouney began. Since last Wednesday, it has been one adventure after another as we have basically taken a daily road trip somewhere, and I lost track of how many busy intersections I have stalled in because I am too focused on not pulling into oncoming traffic in the right lane. But alas, I have survived the test and now am just another local commuter, who's car occasionally dies at red lights, nonetheless just another local. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>We took a drive to a town called Torquay which is home to the Great Ocean Road, along which we stopped and caught an amazing sunset on the beach and enjoyed a scenic drive getting there. This weekend we are going to an AFL game, Aussie rules football, so that should be interesting to see, a little more fast paced than American gridiron. </div><br /><br /><div>Other than that, just enjoying seeing my face again after a 2 month break from shaving, getting my nose pierced, and finding my latest reason to love this country...the fact that Cuban cigars are legal Down Under...life just keeps getting better.</div></div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-72960561343035085522008-03-25T19:02:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:37.608-08:00<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181872294428532450" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGNJB_hXrtDW0QistOiSH_a2J806MQUakr7YUdf-N6CH05qRqKeCuiPsPDFUxhT3PTGL_QnbhJpl-RZPoXUXbVZ2eP9xh9bjAOR_Fk_7cTxBz-nrBHbVkOS9B46x3a97n7B-zcOYQdui_C/s320/IMG_7661.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZq5zgw0sHhCchX5o8wH88e2lDWN6Lvzwqb1_ppn5TBykyZYrOo5OhCkcBX6p1ih-NtE-nbnWqJHbZel3BeRGgsnSi-3lxKLpvvTYIE9ac-TDC-NovD_dlOiwx-wDyKBFlpA_5mrjyHFB/s1600-h/1376718896_l.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181872285838597842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTZq5zgw0sHhCchX5o8wH88e2lDWN6Lvzwqb1_ppn5TBykyZYrOo5OhCkcBX6p1ih-NtE-nbnWqJHbZel3BeRGgsnSi-3lxKLpvvTYIE9ac-TDC-NovD_dlOiwx-wDyKBFlpA_5mrjyHFB/s320/1376718896_l.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-j2-fy4fkMf0V-qnvFabE6P0ovrvUHrKS2qH4SSsdVwbj6gFTCRuNPRxb0ol3JXLP9vyN41zU8PXCB4fJCdUVGdLKG_Wszea7d48jB3d0VrbZuqesB90KVrqXCx2NddbYYWdXCcm3dUX/s1600-h/IMG_7586.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181872298723499762" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5-j2-fy4fkMf0V-qnvFabE6P0ovrvUHrKS2qH4SSsdVwbj6gFTCRuNPRxb0ol3JXLP9vyN41zU8PXCB4fJCdUVGdLKG_Wszea7d48jB3d0VrbZuqesB90KVrqXCx2NddbYYWdXCcm3dUX/s320/IMG_7586.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqmpiP3Dl9HjzqB4IYqyVIpyaNC343yuywdVmdUdDsw8wNVggrNPHgmO30s0rdCSgJSVRrZZGQ3kE0MRnVQzgbo0KzsjlJ_IQRa5L_cprQ6z8GAbqBfhM47eqiW4iTbmQVQY0L47zPiUD/s1600-h/IMG_7395.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181867471180258994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqmpiP3Dl9HjzqB4IYqyVIpyaNC343yuywdVmdUdDsw8wNVggrNPHgmO30s0rdCSgJSVRrZZGQ3kE0MRnVQzgbo0KzsjlJ_IQRa5L_cprQ6z8GAbqBfhM47eqiW4iTbmQVQY0L47zPiUD/s320/IMG_7395.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxiomzEDibzT4GqMpOjxyrVeh_tKCkRoSwzIVATj-8oqLxh_J18dHkHFWE3wVp20NIpidFixbXgpSLe1U1S4xY4VSst_yOYlaJfx_8Nf90ze_zvqCAtlKJZomVONpNH2ISy4FHzR1GQiV/s1600-h/IMG_7447.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181867479770193602" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxxiomzEDibzT4GqMpOjxyrVeh_tKCkRoSwzIVATj-8oqLxh_J18dHkHFWE3wVp20NIpidFixbXgpSLe1U1S4xY4VSst_yOYlaJfx_8Nf90ze_zvqCAtlKJZomVONpNH2ISy4FHzR1GQiV/s320/IMG_7447.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGq-V4H5KYeQYOdwNxDQTIQaxva3X_uvhoWERo_-iDI12wLQWjg9vUWvwbsxfw49YrvuNhig1MWEDnog8twolPixuo6ut-terZbtMKUx-6x2kdY4M7RLZxK8mwAS9ftp0FQ1xH5rOpoyS/s1600-h/2.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181865190552624802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGq-V4H5KYeQYOdwNxDQTIQaxva3X_uvhoWERo_-iDI12wLQWjg9vUWvwbsxfw49YrvuNhig1MWEDnog8twolPixuo6ut-terZbtMKUx-6x2kdY4M7RLZxK8mwAS9ftp0FQ1xH5rOpoyS/s320/2.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div>And now a blog dedicated to my two favourite people in Australia..Emma and Ana. It all began in Magnetic Island where shortly after we met, they taught me how to pronounce "no" properly in Australian, which later spurred me to be renowned as an Aussie local where ever I may traverse, so for that I was already endebted to them, but it has gone much farther than that since I arrived in Melbourne. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I want to first say that Ana, Emma, and her family are honestly some of the best people I have ever met in my life, and I will be forever grateful for their hospitality. I was a complete stranger to Emma's dad, Tony, and he was gracious enough to arrange a room in his house for me to stay in while I was just some stranger from Texas, and they have truly made me feel welcome, not to mention made my trip infinitely better by showing me around and getting to see the highlights of this amazing city. And in a couple weeks her mum and stepdad, Trish and Bryan, have offered to let me stay at their house as well; so being a weary traveler far, far from home, to have all these people to do life with for a bit really does make this the trip I had hoped for when I first started planning this.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And since Emma and Anastacia are professional talent scouts for Calvin Klein models here in Australia, they have shown me a few "tricks of the trade" if you will, such as the slicked back hairstyle of the Europeans, the "pout" look that all good models have, and of course the secret language of the model industry...I think my portfolio is well on its way.</div><br /><div></div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5181895229553893122" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4Xr1d6YWswOE1ZCjifLwtpjuydLk1TOyYx38OWAukDnop3e_XlvX-RUd4yVzV_ZXra5awhYduntkfyq1bJF38wDjWNA_UFqo9MLrlWybpWRP9U-jpZR1gxJLGRIalv5pG_gxhgVdIqpK/s320/DSCN1030.JPG" border="0" /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>So, all that to say, thank you Emma, Ana, Tony, Trish, and Bryan for already making this the trip of a lifetime!</div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-6505260350518621242008-03-21T05:00:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:40.195-08:00After we left Maggie Island we took a bus down to Airlie beach Saturday morning which is about 4 hours south of Magnetic Island, and departed on one of the most amazing trips of my life, sailing the Whitsunday Islands. We left the pier Saturday night, then Sunday morning we reached Whitsunday Island, which is the largest of the 74 Whitsundays, and home to Whitehaven Beach. As you can see from my pics below, it is a stunning beach with perfect white sand and amazing water, well, you get the idea from the pics...awesome. Then, Sunday afternoon we left there and commenced to THE one thing I came to Oz to see, the Great Barrier Reef. I'll post another blog for those pics, as it deserves its own page to describe the things I saw...and swam with... :)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180180390846520834" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLABxMpz1CHYk8NfuffMi6_gZrcsZpybhd9C4QYh0Wdcex13WQlct1dhn3Y0Zyh9FYSnVKrq8UotSqq6f4snPLbO-x9jfEvwrI-yzwyNbJko2oibZaKOie31XAMzD5_eDbxne0-SQXjnA4/s320/EPV0020.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180180395141488146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGHNAvOjbiN1v46wavSwBe5vC4HMVWfb6_DsK329WQLr8gtzfJTIwaKEej2f18vzJTHOr2BDPDsA1V5LkIEHQDrCM4_aZ88VtUAgNFCG5gsePqAIqOPmO7h35dTfxx8yY4gcIhmXTl-nCN/s320/EPV0085.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180181730876317266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDlhRn7EwMJIN8neer0C-yMx4jTBWH5QcCEa5YbAsqb568TlpXiaWj-vQyCGVdPy8vS5T2qnODmHhu5A-s7G5htFv5zT91EJsB-flPnuu3H79HcGBZf3cDQM2Fc0ShdNyPqmWJovXplFF8/s320/EPV0077.JPG" border="0" /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAui4e7d3EutEC_IuETU193E5aViH6hshpWvsiIyid4nwYYPIzcZG8xeyfYTWUsQOxwdoq5XD_U3wx5Z8N2V7pZrwUk6-B86scVWSesM7krM-uD5XzcHqdho9FotWAe_j7YLv80XW8shX6/s1600-h/EPV0080.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180180399436455458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAui4e7d3EutEC_IuETU193E5aViH6hshpWvsiIyid4nwYYPIzcZG8xeyfYTWUsQOxwdoq5XD_U3wx5Z8N2V7pZrwUk6-B86scVWSesM7krM-uD5XzcHqdho9FotWAe_j7YLv80XW8shX6/s320/EPV0080.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdWPmjO49jwSzpWMsRFBQsQseCWvwv5ExV0FPbcwwm9oIQLZ6Watwv12hRPMVaRwQdO48SHNbBcQ08wOgb89Rtk6BGKKlQoZPJK9-Erllnv73-b3aJiHhKbBYQz-Njht770LYlK_O58O-/s1600-h/EPV0013.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180180403731422770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkdWPmjO49jwSzpWMsRFBQsQseCWvwv5ExV0FPbcwwm9oIQLZ6Watwv12hRPMVaRwQdO48SHNbBcQ08wOgb89Rtk6BGKKlQoZPJK9-Erllnv73-b3aJiHhKbBYQz-Njht770LYlK_O58O-/s320/EPV0013.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsRzyQvjmSvMJEH-qbraS6jjMgKzbNFsXNMfxec-0zA0yLOeggmcE4eDpl0UAvbSIQdvbY13P-T-m1RgD0Pzitn02ZbZsZwHX6xcXFzRnYPQrpFSJ_Zngg21YekWOeGKEbDo1ViASgCm2/s1600-h/EPV0067.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180180412321357378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsRzyQvjmSvMJEH-qbraS6jjMgKzbNFsXNMfxec-0zA0yLOeggmcE4eDpl0UAvbSIQdvbY13P-T-m1RgD0Pzitn02ZbZsZwHX6xcXFzRnYPQrpFSJ_Zngg21YekWOeGKEbDo1ViASgCm2/s320/EPV0067.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VeTTw1q_MGjnFbqNTOsog5rf6qIM2Pkizqhq2H8ue_l5Coly8L40XAIY-803phh7_vWUenjZmAhoMuUAAjL16Pnnibe5Emn2BRy1ozD-Uw38xpxbktqQx5Zedn2ccPMc33FTSBoEa5kO/s1600-h/EPV0037.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180178226183003634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5VeTTw1q_MGjnFbqNTOsog5rf6qIM2Pkizqhq2H8ue_l5Coly8L40XAIY-803phh7_vWUenjZmAhoMuUAAjL16Pnnibe5Emn2BRy1ozD-Uw38xpxbktqQx5Zedn2ccPMc33FTSBoEa5kO/s320/EPV0037.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p><br /><br /><p></p>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-36324733057377576712008-03-21T04:59:00.000-07:002008-12-09T16:33:41.206-08:00<img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180192893496319586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipObD_puW5Vo9rFUte5GpqVIspgpFs8yAmobJqgMZiiI_OSjWqES5dmMiVaynVKes2W-OzE6gP24BlJSyCMnmBsyDHlIPVYzRzMluJY3gc9WEoTyo-DrEtn5ukbNVGyUjf6Vc-PDj6_39f/s320/EPV0073.JPG" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180206414053367410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNf2Xf7KhOEI5J5bUFAAI3Bo_zmoCthM9X0Z7WNjbE40WaNBTzx5ov4BvPTku5UnDV8cTd8uH1BUp9FzaOk8ufVMEk4mUeOGehZN1hpGNoGbEYiy7pSz2WwYQpkVom8d742srpoGRAIoQ3/s320/EPV0135.JPG" border="0" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtN8er4rkSNZu5npZ1mueqEy9N4PIGP6JtyiyQUFwe5ixMr9GpHSG5Kb75v8TLhTs3xJuzyktyT-CR-PaLXm93ZQujEWqKrXiqD67RcwH_XDnGx2J0Nrza1kPKLUQFRRBpZbxWAVB7cCNo/s1600-h/EPV0158.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180219178696171138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtN8er4rkSNZu5npZ1mueqEy9N4PIGP6JtyiyQUFwe5ixMr9GpHSG5Kb75v8TLhTs3xJuzyktyT-CR-PaLXm93ZQujEWqKrXiqD67RcwH_XDnGx2J0Nrza1kPKLUQFRRBpZbxWAVB7cCNo/s320/EPV0158.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwVYN6dvLGYqax7-a-YJEk8UxC22m5Tcv8iBNQgxAkWuPX93WCGJyvW69NiCY3SNWoha3DcqEw7iNZG5T6xqJD68Ex7lXSlxk04yut_5HeQJks8oXtH2cw0pS8JqIqXLozMB_mLVCoejR/s1600-h/EPV0162.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180219187286105746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDwVYN6dvLGYqax7-a-YJEk8UxC22m5Tcv8iBNQgxAkWuPX93WCGJyvW69NiCY3SNWoha3DcqEw7iNZG5T6xqJD68Ex7lXSlxk04yut_5HeQJks8oXtH2cw0pS8JqIqXLozMB_mLVCoejR/s320/EPV0162.JPG" border="0" /></a> <div></div><div></div><div><div><div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyqH1KjvJCbnLvvqmONR8zyAYiof8rUQJQ1S6USqNIMzjy3md_AeGa0jbbBYDG0jD-NpIpZYJ5qTtYaM9iIrg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div></div><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzaGNwUTeSutMG1Rq7CUjOEq_2yEN6xwuyjVFpoG0srVwAzwxhNS4dYkTJ9gvQXgKYxu3OE5b4ffX88QmiapA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br />Here is a slideshow of all my reef pics<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz9w4IJNMv_d33TBHvT946zXRHngzEuXWpEl4rOwN8bYkk5pkeiWl6ovGQxpnQtmL9yicZSmfSuKd9x7BQByA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br />On Sunday afternoon our yacht sailed to the Outer Great Barrier Reef, about a 4 hour sail from the Whitsundays, and after very rough seas and a good 4 hours of being seasick, it was like an oasis coming upon the reef. As the name suggests, turns out it is a really good barrier, the huge waves were breaking over the edge of the reef, then the water turned perfectly calm over the expanse of the reef...pretty awesome to see. After suiting up in my scuba gear, I got the chance to take 2 dives on the barrier reef and see the most incredible sights I imagine I will ever see in my lifetime. The coral and fish life were breathtaking, and was so amazing to see all the sea life that I have grown in my tank back home the past few years actually at home on the reef, makes a 60 gallon tank look a little unimpressive compared to what was in front of me..sigh. We were greeted on our second dive by a huge 5 ft parrotfish that came a couple feet away from our faces and slowly checked us out, but the biggest surprise came as I was heading back to the boat.<br /><br />Let me spell out the situation here...so the reef is very very shallow, only a few feet of clearance as you are drifting over it, then suddenly it comes to a complete drop off into deep ocean where you can't see the bottom, and this is where I found myself treading water as I was waiting my turn to get back onto the boat. It was in this moment that I saw a large shadow move under me, and as I put my face underwater and looked below me, it was in this moment that I watched a 10ft SHARK pass directly under me, and what made this moment even more spectacular was that its top fin just about grazed my foot as it passed. Somehow fear never really came into my mind; seeing something as unreal as this, my brain just shut down and I just watched in awe as the graceful creature swam into the darkness below... and probably went and ate one of the snorkelers nearby, but for my purposes, it was a beautiful moment.<br />We then saw a second shark in the video above, but wasn't quite as menacing, but the fact that we were in such close proximity to sharks was stunning. After our 2nd dive we put our snorkel gear on and they tendered us out to the edge of the reef, and with a strong current moving over the reef all you did was make yourself as flat as possible to not scrape the top of the coral, and enjoy as I floated back over the width of the reef, whick took about 20 minutes. This is where the 2nd video above was from, so all the coral and fish were about 2 ft from your face and in such shallow water, the colors and formations were beyond words.<br />And as I was floating, the only thing I kept thinking about was God's love for us, that the Creator of the universe would take time to make something so beautiful, full of colors and such incredible complexity and balance, all for us to admire the beauty of His work; just a small glimpse for me of how He loves us and if he would go to such complexities just to make something most people would never see, I can only imagine what lengths He would go to in providing for all my needs and desires...all in all, it was a great day :)jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-67885745487326347062008-03-20T17:02:00.000-07:002008-12-10T18:42:37.066-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwI17saCoaVGNAIxbuty9u1bH-hTmOjIZW7xIi923PfMDyfRN7tVhCiyZ1HsEs0xehHMC7FOGqa8YawrHmvyJG-tsjK-aCyFlOWmCBkutE1vA_auoW8KL6itXTOxnc_cSLuDXcSgOf_vX/s1600-h/IMG_6915.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179994169654500802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGwI17saCoaVGNAIxbuty9u1bH-hTmOjIZW7xIi923PfMDyfRN7tVhCiyZ1HsEs0xehHMC7FOGqa8YawrHmvyJG-tsjK-aCyFlOWmCBkutE1vA_auoW8KL6itXTOxnc_cSLuDXcSgOf_vX/s320/IMG_6915.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC7rOdbLuEAbZgtTRGgTtD7OE6d60qYIhL3q_u-VTf3KEfReUA5ZAugEhw5UxRgMnu5Ylx_GTqieqXYLZS5Jr83C6IXJhdRgihvPSbf8PB7DkVWI2MHFl3F4BvzvQN-_V9PN0e5HQX8V0/s1600-h/IMG_6954.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179994178244435410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinC7rOdbLuEAbZgtTRGgTtD7OE6d60qYIhL3q_u-VTf3KEfReUA5ZAugEhw5UxRgMnu5Ylx_GTqieqXYLZS5Jr83C6IXJhdRgihvPSbf8PB7DkVWI2MHFl3F4BvzvQN-_V9PN0e5HQX8V0/s320/IMG_6954.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcFYln5gTocyom8i26_rZgIANIUX6aNijXvj_6AeCNfoExrsfjYqFO_LqQX0qUw7xnywZMY35d4yUi3qG8yDU5Xo3R1jy2R31alz41FWV7Ycy5gIYCChuRtP1pDkbB6zGl3H2Ez0M7YwY/s1600-h/IMG_6857.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179992224034315634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXcFYln5gTocyom8i26_rZgIANIUX6aNijXvj_6AeCNfoExrsfjYqFO_LqQX0qUw7xnywZMY35d4yUi3qG8yDU5Xo3R1jy2R31alz41FWV7Ycy5gIYCChuRtP1pDkbB6zGl3H2Ez0M7YwY/s320/IMG_6857.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFfJufnprUcgQk94FaP4_HfrCMJx-WtrtYU1hy4gI8iUuZPK1MTM4W7tNphrz5BmT-hI2fzpO7Hj8rDwg4Vg2fFGoGFWppgf1tjupsopaNbKY_gXzjqNBfu-fh9b3Fu5k0XhG2H1lVaFl/s1600-h/IMG_6905.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179992232624250242" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFfJufnprUcgQk94FaP4_HfrCMJx-WtrtYU1hy4gI8iUuZPK1MTM4W7tNphrz5BmT-hI2fzpO7Hj8rDwg4Vg2fFGoGFWppgf1tjupsopaNbKY_gXzjqNBfu-fh9b3Fu5k0XhG2H1lVaFl/s320/IMG_6905.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZsB6ez4Nmzq9WDVGbysWFVFGu8MwhWrWdLCDm_7evxIFOednsAXukdZWFxnDnBtctO1SwJe4AuKRYByb-dxyeGJMZ6DmfrmWlkMaqE4ogiuQgygC2cxBKy_ehMbnXb03LAfE2lT-HxCg/s1600-h/IMG_6909.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179992232624250258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZsB6ez4Nmzq9WDVGbysWFVFGu8MwhWrWdLCDm_7evxIFOednsAXukdZWFxnDnBtctO1SwJe4AuKRYByb-dxyeGJMZ6DmfrmWlkMaqE4ogiuQgygC2cxBKy_ehMbnXb03LAfE2lT-HxCg/s320/IMG_6909.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbjICOaLwZsGmodF1a7JpYR2fDAmUq9vQIrJVK0qF7ccyknkbgnZoxHjjMrlg2CmR14sXkysOh8STjNreyqQx7YxJpabVfsdhUgzFtGrClrGjR6WDuOTOHXX7ogDxr_qXbSisVYohLKqs/s1600-h/IMG_6911.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179992236919217570" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrbjICOaLwZsGmodF1a7JpYR2fDAmUq9vQIrJVK0qF7ccyknkbgnZoxHjjMrlg2CmR14sXkysOh8STjNreyqQx7YxJpabVfsdhUgzFtGrClrGjR6WDuOTOHXX7ogDxr_qXbSisVYohLKqs/s320/IMG_6911.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0I2H4fwyiqdNR9YMYIktba-FvqgXNKc_3bd5LIUhRff-mGOLJlJdzW8ush-vQTeM1JILcFuueo8v_BjEMajNZdIEsaidLtJMjRSUojRtjS05O1D3peaefpOv1KrDjxgMJIqTEC3zzjh2/s1600-h/IMG_6950.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5179992241214184882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe0I2H4fwyiqdNR9YMYIktba-FvqgXNKc_3bd5LIUhRff-mGOLJlJdzW8ush-vQTeM1JILcFuueo8v_BjEMajNZdIEsaidLtJMjRSUojRtjS05O1D3peaefpOv1KrDjxgMJIqTEC3zzjh2/s320/IMG_6950.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzKzS3mqanAB707TQ2R-LvhYCqRJY3QrG1sFH_tCt69Xl70pWgk-KNZtQaRXWvzbAR34v98kP0ratk1q_7RWQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><br /><div>Ok, so it has been quite a while since my last post, but I am just now getting to a computer to post some new pics, this past week has been quite a blur as I've done quite a bit of travel. So last friday was our last day on Magnetic Island, and to celebrate we rented scooters for the day and toured the island, which turned out to be a really awesome experience. The island only takes roughly 30 minutes to drive around, so we definitely saw all the sights there were to see...in about an hour, then basically just had scooter races the rest of our 7 hours, which I came up lacking in since I think it only had 1 horsepower where as Colin's had the full 2hp. </div><div>It was a bittersweet day leaving Magnetic Island, when you work closely with people for 5 weeks you make pretty good friendships, but that is what comes with a trip like this, meeting people one day then moving on the next, so I am thankful for my time there, but I was definitely ready to move on to the next adventure. </div><div> </div><div>Oh, and I was extremely excited to:</div><div>1) Make it off the island alive </div><div>2) Be able to enjoy, or for that matter, even look at my surroundings without having to perpetually scan the ground for the next snake waiting to claim my life</div><div>3) Eat something other than the 5 items on the dinner menu at the hostel, and a PB&J for my other two meals</div><div>4) That's about it, otherwise I am easily satisfied.</div><div> </div><div> </div></div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-51818375444206690062008-03-11T03:08:00.001-07:002008-12-10T18:42:38.966-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0T-JQxtw3LFZZVevvML3wqRYGtlgbZlICmImoCWZi0h5ZcVVkHQ8-IJ0GSu79K1Erl2fg7_n0t5lr42apbB7tc0Jmw1cnOZ7EwFEhX7ZlSAmM1H2qkMi69_My7h4QPM0EtRX8aKeP7ZKR/s1600-h/IMG_6835.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176447197098056818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0T-JQxtw3LFZZVevvML3wqRYGtlgbZlICmImoCWZi0h5ZcVVkHQ8-IJ0GSu79K1Erl2fg7_n0t5lr42apbB7tc0Jmw1cnOZ7EwFEhX7ZlSAmM1H2qkMi69_My7h4QPM0EtRX8aKeP7ZKR/s320/IMG_6835.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNucXOatu2gbb6DMvgH_TuGq-T-R7079PKZZdp93CFWc_9gZ99eqGrLvPQyYW-Sux7pM8inVBsU4m3NOzkD-sMzKAps-d2KlR9K_mKq1zMHoSEwl1m6-3DE0qKH0f86V4pA8AVffMQ90B/s1600-h/EPV0360.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176431855474875442" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHNucXOatu2gbb6DMvgH_TuGq-T-R7079PKZZdp93CFWc_9gZ99eqGrLvPQyYW-Sux7pM8inVBsU4m3NOzkD-sMzKAps-d2KlR9K_mKq1zMHoSEwl1m6-3DE0qKH0f86V4pA8AVffMQ90B/s320/EPV0360.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ql_MlRFyFa-d8BypuZbsmnmw10-2ktfrfxhGOvejiebIgcNEXiOGsJN72mBao5nu2o2g5QWFN1YZZSeePVlee6ez7CMhKQUF1Rjb-RaNsGfZAp2JfR0PyXIm7aiKWUBCYy4Lh8ESzpP8/s1600-h/IMG_6790.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176431864064810066" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ql_MlRFyFa-d8BypuZbsmnmw10-2ktfrfxhGOvejiebIgcNEXiOGsJN72mBao5nu2o2g5QWFN1YZZSeePVlee6ez7CMhKQUF1Rjb-RaNsGfZAp2JfR0PyXIm7aiKWUBCYy4Lh8ESzpP8/s320/IMG_6790.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zTXZ_ZSbHjVFGyoL3vnsvuUDdnKbBl2OoTPzaoyLP2SRYgqXqndFskGs9PQbWemk392HrxApVoq-a3nL09V8wODypuXxJj9NvyGLWZqEmQGCfTVAdminBw1jrSc2v4Mfy5B84u2lxM_Y/s1600-h/IMG_6793.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5176431868359777378" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0zTXZ_ZSbHjVFGyoL3vnsvuUDdnKbBl2OoTPzaoyLP2SRYgqXqndFskGs9PQbWemk392HrxApVoq-a3nL09V8wODypuXxJj9NvyGLWZqEmQGCfTVAdminBw1jrSc2v4Mfy5B84u2lxM_Y/s320/IMG_6793.JPG" border="0" /></a><br />Its been a really good relaxing few days here on the island as our time comes to a close. Today was day 28 of shirtless Aussie summer, thats right, a full 4 weeks without dawning upper clothing, and I'm really starting to wonder how hard its going to be returning to shirted society...not something I'm particularly looking forward to. One of the staff we work with, Lisa, took us out to the ocean pier a couple days ago and we fished all afternoon, and ended up catching some interesting things, definitely not your average Texas perch. or catfish. We caught a lot of small I forget what they're called, a freaking huge pufferfish the size of a watermelon, as shown in the video below, and I caught a Rock Cod, but it is almost small enough to be considered bait, so we'll just say we were shark fishing but were unsuccessful.<br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzHR9FmurLCU_U7aPk0XSVD9H3bG85nmpjXlHscr5W6XktRckxMSPeAI_ZDLLC5etnCzwuy6215H7r3f23isA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Then yesterday we went for our usual mid day mountain hike to a nearby beach, and ran across our 4th Death Adder, so we sprung for the usual "pick up the deadly snake with a stick and video it", another successful day on Maggie Island. Although this guy was much more calm, I think we have achieved Snake Charmer status with the locals, but I think its time for me to get off this island so I can find something better to do with my time.<br /><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwChlrnb0h5cbjZTIKoqW0a8Izrl_Ky0f58FMWN0e-xvR7lfKwJ3wOd8H_GxWPvN9Qb_WJAIT7VG9Dm8RrKpg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />Only two more days of scrubbing toilets, which is always a good thing, then on to our yacht sailing, then staying in Melbourne to finish out March. I think the most exciting prospect about the near future is chinese food in Melbourne, and this is amplified by the fact that I've been having the same 5 entrees for dinner every single day for 5 weeks, so I'm about ready for something besides PB&J for breakfast and lunch, and Chicken Curry for dinner, but I make sure and get my daily beach time in to offset this depressing thought. It's worked thus far.</div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-5776756371582351742008-03-07T18:13:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:39.936-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPvV4DuWTMGtijlZ6zGKU6q0PBEhcmi46IK7KeKFSMYEGn3psG_a9uO3H6tPHc9HxgC6CXTNkXu6xXol1AxET42VVaQS5t7hXbRkB3YgQlgUoUqel5i2OUzDrY4fFWkIOvIzi1o4zftjN/s1600-h/IMG_6592.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMPvV4DuWTMGtijlZ6zGKU6q0PBEhcmi46IK7KeKFSMYEGn3psG_a9uO3H6tPHc9HxgC6CXTNkXu6xXol1AxET42VVaQS5t7hXbRkB3YgQlgUoUqel5i2OUzDrY4fFWkIOvIzi1o4zftjN/s320/IMG_6592.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175189888371825458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXm1-6r83oa_sZ98rihCwddlQ4O4DqkPjIFd_XMZu__6sm6yJnSIGjdlXYDx4iSuoQVcvnOeYF8N2GTWTXjpmKzRLi5T-PXUPWAi9HiNlBQRg96dv7KwwckStZTYsneVVeXzP0O18Ivyw/s1600-h/IMG_6589.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJXm1-6r83oa_sZ98rihCwddlQ4O4DqkPjIFd_XMZu__6sm6yJnSIGjdlXYDx4iSuoQVcvnOeYF8N2GTWTXjpmKzRLi5T-PXUPWAi9HiNlBQRg96dv7KwwckStZTYsneVVeXzP0O18Ivyw/s320/IMG_6589.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175189892666792770" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTN5wTKc5JAqV8_O1LuDjZS6RWLv_FKWmxvL-Hkuu7qugOGymwSvF9sdU9JPOptaVe7HyY9VMnHpOGIh1sp4KeACIRB4G90plfGOyuI8nDHAfA0L8snTSWfEjCDnd0sBGF-IWyqLGfcC49/s1600-h/IMG_6566.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTN5wTKc5JAqV8_O1LuDjZS6RWLv_FKWmxvL-Hkuu7qugOGymwSvF9sdU9JPOptaVe7HyY9VMnHpOGIh1sp4KeACIRB4G90plfGOyuI8nDHAfA0L8snTSWfEjCDnd0sBGF-IWyqLGfcC49/s320/IMG_6566.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175189901256727378" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3E7TkjHflJlZwK4TNdF2q2HnCPX-GbaU7CzQUtQD1N6fK-A0cKRS31UhZBMgn3QVAEWw67XtXdIugld0jXrth9DZApVVaMzla0tlrIb0wYB00r4tC56JM6mJCagOolJAnM4IX3U13_Fm/s1600-h/IMG_6651.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiV3E7TkjHflJlZwK4TNdF2q2HnCPX-GbaU7CzQUtQD1N6fK-A0cKRS31UhZBMgn3QVAEWw67XtXdIugld0jXrth9DZApVVaMzla0tlrIb0wYB00r4tC56JM6mJCagOolJAnM4IX3U13_Fm/s320/IMG_6651.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5175189918436596578" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I started my 25th day without shirt the right way this morning, at 4:30am...uggh. We left early and hiked up to the top of a nearby mountain and watched the sunrise, which was incredible, but turns out that the top of a mountain before sunrise is actually quite windy and cold, probably amplified a bit however by the absence of a shirt..oh well. We hiked up there 2 days ago to catch the sunset, but it ended up setting behind the mountains, so we decided the sunrise over the ocean would be worth it, and it was. And it is just about time to go hit a hammock by the pool for a well timed nap. This past week has been very relaxed, haven't really been doing much hiking, just enjoying the perfect 85 degree weather laying by the ocean and hanging out with friends here at the hostel. My time is winding down on the island, we leave next Saturday morning to bus down to Airlie beach; we've seen about all there is to see here, and cleaned enough hostel toilets to last a lifetime, so I think I'm ready to move on. Although Colin and I have found good ways to keep ourselves entertained..we've become scientists of sorts you could say, performing experimental research on the fauna and flora, such as... What will happen after a month of pouring the dirty mop water on a tree? Or how will the subject in question (australian possum) respond when a laser is pointed at it, or how will it respond to me kicking it after it bit me on the toe? Or what will the response be when lemon spray cleaner is applied to various flying insects that get in our way while cleaning? We'll see, thats just what scientists do.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-2752147886563320042008-03-05T18:55:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:41.048-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaNZwK1xCPqKQ6CLVcBCytOGbVoWBj2z49Hyrr1PFGGmTPq_ug4oFBMXt6vely0EjyyAptJLaFFHAKcaZzOwprSnngMLC0z8meriI04LEunYvb87wpNcPB9C0kYwqlmmnu8dA4BM0PM3X/s1600-h/IMG_6488.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxaNZwK1xCPqKQ6CLVcBCytOGbVoWBj2z49Hyrr1PFGGmTPq_ug4oFBMXt6vely0EjyyAptJLaFFHAKcaZzOwprSnngMLC0z8meriI04LEunYvb87wpNcPB9C0kYwqlmmnu8dA4BM0PM3X/s320/IMG_6488.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174504254776761618" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mF_6emMUYw73lDuwSEcfRi7AFLwlkIgzQIH-mTmnOG-oPcxkJ0ofKID6-A9nqor8DBviXl-VoyPY4o9EPgTDMp63O5VL6o1chH_rK_qzhILPrZycv4HNX1Nlp1nkPsPeNHs2J-_D8d-M/s1600-h/IMG_6534.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1mF_6emMUYw73lDuwSEcfRi7AFLwlkIgzQIH-mTmnOG-oPcxkJ0ofKID6-A9nqor8DBviXl-VoyPY4o9EPgTDMp63O5VL6o1chH_rK_qzhILPrZycv4HNX1Nlp1nkPsPeNHs2J-_D8d-M/s320/IMG_6534.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174504259071728930" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJqFauQFsLvEYWcML7ZwnyczJkH31SE5aZA8B2s2s34OkEhwkaaCkJmPJC0cGoJViFhGBhLil3uYyqlMQpX8J3lIGT3Qe6f3aFt9kWsETEAjL-P0ujaAC-L_wdyrqB5WXsSOjJ44csg28/s1600-h/IMG_6513.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQJqFauQFsLvEYWcML7ZwnyczJkH31SE5aZA8B2s2s34OkEhwkaaCkJmPJC0cGoJViFhGBhLil3uYyqlMQpX8J3lIGT3Qe6f3aFt9kWsETEAjL-P0ujaAC-L_wdyrqB5WXsSOjJ44csg28/s320/IMG_6513.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174504263366696242" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1_HVmPJpBvrRaEPyHW3a2RmP2VN3jbYHA7lODIacIPElmmAlE9LpfHscLcPtrjNlN03GG1oPYE5Xstz3LiGIvcWZBCU7R2uc1Wo_mj1cBvL-SrnFzP9soC_NIEoLJAVdYxfQXs4-cEm/s1600-h/IMG_6520.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrw1_HVmPJpBvrRaEPyHW3a2RmP2VN3jbYHA7lODIacIPElmmAlE9LpfHscLcPtrjNlN03GG1oPYE5Xstz3LiGIvcWZBCU7R2uc1Wo_mj1cBvL-SrnFzP9soC_NIEoLJAVdYxfQXs4-cEm/s320/IMG_6520.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174504267661663554" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EzceSuUL2RxIADZDGpAxOvLccBSp8e7vMQYnoaqW98tmL88AV6z0ZrW9NeOC71p-twA2GvwmqBH6LZ6qVrIzAQixs2FkJCybUVIdgtr3Axjmq7FCFb4jXS9mDUG2pz-5Bmqznj5AtLhb/s1600-h/IMG_6527.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5EzceSuUL2RxIADZDGpAxOvLccBSp8e7vMQYnoaqW98tmL88AV6z0ZrW9NeOC71p-twA2GvwmqBH6LZ6qVrIzAQixs2FkJCybUVIdgtr3Axjmq7FCFb4jXS9mDUG2pz-5Bmqznj5AtLhb/s320/IMG_6527.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5174504276251598162" /></a><br />Here is a quick video snippet of everyday life on the island, and one of the local inhabitants we ran across two days ago. We were with a park ranger hiking up a mountain, and there was a small creek in our path we had to jump across, and I went first. Well, as I went to put my foot down, I had to make a quick change of plans because my foot was going to step directly on a death adder's face, and he looked pretty pissed. So, naturally we got out the video camera and messed with it using, and I note, a much longer and proper snake handling stick. (and no mum, I didn't pick it up this time!) We saw it strike a good dozen times, and I now have a much healthier respect for the creatures, because there is a lot of death bundled up and waiting for me there, so I'm keeping a much closer eye on the ground now.<br /><br /><br /><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-4523602489790489786&hl=en-AU" flashvars=""> </embed>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-89900179897069527402008-03-01T18:58:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:42.771-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHZzgYB8pqHbfdahhj4-dOMyQ1Yc0Djcjw3WbHtE39CSMxCGnRIXK5htAfUUl2e66BBYDb9SsZkH9AS5IKDnWLPHPhNAeBSQNAQX5bI_EKrHT4aQJk15GErOcgmunP9bNMiVYGjJEmBeo/s1600-h/5+beach+bay+60.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPHZzgYB8pqHbfdahhj4-dOMyQ1Yc0Djcjw3WbHtE39CSMxCGnRIXK5htAfUUl2e66BBYDb9SsZkH9AS5IKDnWLPHPhNAeBSQNAQX5bI_EKrHT4aQJk15GErOcgmunP9bNMiVYGjJEmBeo/s320/5+beach+bay+60.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172997513073990130" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkpl7FLGwwowLx1kVZYXajt1WzB9ph4sb0Cxo_M2rVmxrfpS9qfEb0OVSeI24mRCeMV88L1KrbaTrKjt8sIODgsO9BfFt8cY-PYC1GPOjZC24kh5MmAJXieRYIzT5wYZqPlBRkO5_cOqv/s1600-h/river+4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpkpl7FLGwwowLx1kVZYXajt1WzB9ph4sb0Cxo_M2rVmxrfpS9qfEb0OVSeI24mRCeMV88L1KrbaTrKjt8sIODgsO9BfFt8cY-PYC1GPOjZC24kh5MmAJXieRYIzT5wYZqPlBRkO5_cOqv/s320/river+4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172997530253859330" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ4rWNemHjLHI5GS12pwx2ITVe-DsoEUn1nTfTbnNedGFwPAYaQ0yHvc1h_xqdPJd11aZQH7GeVqN62Qx5tpHHEVNww7qbRQ8wKrH6xegFURHU0lCOkHiZZAkG5Pwd1Kg5RL70eU-GyqG/s1600-h/fun+on+island+24.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwZ4rWNemHjLHI5GS12pwx2ITVe-DsoEUn1nTfTbnNedGFwPAYaQ0yHvc1h_xqdPJd11aZQH7GeVqN62Qx5tpHHEVNww7qbRQ8wKrH6xegFURHU0lCOkHiZZAkG5Pwd1Kg5RL70eU-GyqG/s320/fun+on+island+24.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172997543138761234" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEH6LfaojDyE7z8Pa6bNK5-fwGQPOes0FlmTXNEohlXBBnszKtvDt95Nl9IMIz_VUe3IXTc3h9-Ed05iP31GjpmfmNJGGRft230x1od3VjvQAgnmft37Cjrs5L7zi-J0X9RxUfZPXi16o8/s1600-h/IMG_6377.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEH6LfaojDyE7z8Pa6bNK5-fwGQPOes0FlmTXNEohlXBBnszKtvDt95Nl9IMIz_VUe3IXTc3h9-Ed05iP31GjpmfmNJGGRft230x1od3VjvQAgnmft37Cjrs5L7zi-J0X9RxUfZPXi16o8/s320/IMG_6377.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172974985970522562" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IIxcOfRpDqmaNXAyqRqSllI7obuN_VOlnhhWvl4gq871oAemtyn2bCKs_1dRAJTmJqOiW1O90KMR9Hu2fFg4jpteHb9FwaVHUyGtm1sRK1EzkZ8n-1GP4i4UQFxAC4YhsPapfqenS9Di/s1600-h/IMG_6456.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5IIxcOfRpDqmaNXAyqRqSllI7obuN_VOlnhhWvl4gq871oAemtyn2bCKs_1dRAJTmJqOiW1O90KMR9Hu2fFg4jpteHb9FwaVHUyGtm1sRK1EzkZ8n-1GP4i4UQFxAC4YhsPapfqenS9Di/s320/IMG_6456.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172974994560457170" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP2i3YbxUmP5LK6aZn4_0IQeafwb30Z-6h8PHsA6SPf3zbzL3Nb_buWSrMJm6kFEzIz1YMT4Pq4rsVKC8yyCdxdKn2sqost3x0rn_nQ5xHrTHWfoVY97sVLiqillQgZettiHPmS3-hFwQ/s1600-h/IMG_6461.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGP2i3YbxUmP5LK6aZn4_0IQeafwb30Z-6h8PHsA6SPf3zbzL3Nb_buWSrMJm6kFEzIz1YMT4Pq4rsVKC8yyCdxdKn2sqost3x0rn_nQ5xHrTHWfoVY97sVLiqillQgZettiHPmS3-hFwQ/s320/IMG_6461.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5172975007445359074" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />For weeks we have been searching Magnetic Island for the best beaches and sights to see, and we have heard from all the locals about Five Beach Bay, this cove on the other side of the island that can only be reached by boat, something we've been lacking up to this point. We finally hit a stroke of luck and the manager here offered to take us out to the bays, and what a sight it was to see. After almost hitting a huge sea turtle and also almost losing our boat off the beach from the waves, we took a short hike up some rocks and came upon a 30 ft waterfall that flowed onto the beach and into the ocean, absolutely breathtaking. So of course we got in it, what else would you do at a waterfall?<br /><br />And I just got done booking my flights and upcoming trip..on the 15th of this month, we will bus down to Airlie Beach, where the Whitsunday islands are located. If you don't know about the Whitsundays, do a quick google search and you will understand why this is a very exciting prospect for me! We will be getting on a yacht and taking a 3 day, 3 night cruise around the Whitsundays, making several stops at the phenominal beaches there, and one day we sail out 3 hours from the islands to the outer Great Barrier Reef, where I will be embarking on my first scuba dive, as well as unlimited snorkeling on the reef, which will mark the completion of #2 of my 2 goals in Oz, to see the reef...#1 was to hold a koala, check.<br /><br />Then, I will get back to shore tuesday the 18th and spend the night at Airlie beach, and Wed morning I take a ferry to Hamilton Island to the airport, and fly out to Melbourne. I made some friends here at the hostel last week from Melbourne, and they have graciously offered to let me stay in the family's spare bedroom, so I will be finishing out March seeing Melbourne. And it just so happens as I found out in conversation that they have actually been having "Texan night" every two weeks for 3 years now, no lie, where they cook texas food and who knows what else Australians do for Texan night, but whatever it is, I will be honored to bring some authenticity to this sacred event by heaps of Ya'lls, actually pronouncing my r's, and saying the word saucepan correctly, instead of sawspin. <br />From Melbourne, I will be flying to Perth, which is just about the only city on Australia's western coast, where I have another contact through a lady I work with here. A dear friend of my coworker owns a huge ranch south of Perth and shouldn't be a problem to go stay out there for a bit, and eventually I would head into the actual city of Perth, but I will get that all sorted once I get over there. And just for a quick geography lesson, my flight from Melbourne to Perth is basically the equivalent of flying from tip of Florida to the northern tip of California with absolutely nothing but Outback desert in between, so needless to say not many backpackers get over to Perth, but everyone says it has the most incredible beaches in Australia, and from the sound of it, a much more authentic Oz experience vs just staying on the East Coast with all the other thousands of travelers and seeing the typical tourist sights...I never was one to take the typical path. So we'll see how that all pans out, but for now, 2 more weeks on Maggie Island with all the great people we've become friends with!<br /><br />Oh and having a great tan from 18 days without a shirt in February hasn't been too bad either, that was just for all my fellow pasty peeps back home without a beach to go to everday :) By the time we are done with the Whitsundays it will be 35 days without a shirt; I don't really know how I'm going to cope with wearing actual clothes again once in Melbourne, it might be a rough adjustment period.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-91477727351836603192008-02-28T02:11:00.001-08:002008-02-28T02:26:10.922-08:00Oh, and I don't think that I have mentioned the weather much up here thus far in my ramblings, but the word "monsoon" now has completely new meaning. So we are in Queensland, the northern state of the east coast, and we are well into their wet season. Today is the 3rd straight day of nonstop torrential downpours, which I might add are quite the joy to be outside working in. Not wearing a shirt does help however. But yea, when I leave this island, things I won't miss:<br /><br />1. Lots 'o rain<br />2. 300-400% humidity<br />3. 300-400 mosquito bites, the lack of a shirt doesn't help<br />4. The 4 very distinct leaks in my bungalow, and having to position my luggage accordingly<br />5. EVERYTHING ALWAYS being damp<br />6. Lots and lots of mildew<br />7. Missing out on your surroundings because you can't look up for fear of stepping on a death adder<br />8. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast and lunch, everyday<br /><br />But then again, I still am not missing my Dallas cubicle, so 1-8 are easily bearable...jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-79562642741598158142008-02-26T22:20:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:44.151-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4j4S4m8rwYgzSt_f7BTHP62j09-PRmUB7etFT4SwWjUtI-Mx822dSQsLrhJFKH-Wn-oEZOqkg2iOJZxsMkbHAmrnhRLW48NOyAQ8M3zL-RrkcHp5Tl5I_hGMiaNkJkS8OWngaM9-gwaEM/s1600-h/IMG_6338.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4j4S4m8rwYgzSt_f7BTHP62j09-PRmUB7etFT4SwWjUtI-Mx822dSQsLrhJFKH-Wn-oEZOqkg2iOJZxsMkbHAmrnhRLW48NOyAQ8M3zL-RrkcHp5Tl5I_hGMiaNkJkS8OWngaM9-gwaEM/s320/IMG_6338.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551656847590834" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihq75oW0C1aNtdUSzwsK8UVl7y43VxkXLfUjxzqPID_PoDaX3M8kPRn0qDbu3B_rl8c_4T9ytSM_tInT0xwNdvpIlqWIsjOxjG3oogA2pxgpspCg65rQu4JTRXpFllMMx7PPGRogWh4Y4a/s1600-h/IMG_6321.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihq75oW0C1aNtdUSzwsK8UVl7y43VxkXLfUjxzqPID_PoDaX3M8kPRn0qDbu3B_rl8c_4T9ytSM_tInT0xwNdvpIlqWIsjOxjG3oogA2pxgpspCg65rQu4JTRXpFllMMx7PPGRogWh4Y4a/s320/IMG_6321.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551665437525442" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMxgjTJBr1Wo9j-cGBx5Z3V3Z7E4vwP7Rgih20AekkhsAC5sppXybx0AMaN04C3q1KdsVFBn_1jUc76wqwnU2sNnsStsyFUkSOse4yazom-FsbjGJf3OiziOKcdTw9wCIvtw61UElqCEB/s1600-h/IMG_6322.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMxgjTJBr1Wo9j-cGBx5Z3V3Z7E4vwP7Rgih20AekkhsAC5sppXybx0AMaN04C3q1KdsVFBn_1jUc76wqwnU2sNnsStsyFUkSOse4yazom-FsbjGJf3OiziOKcdTw9wCIvtw61UElqCEB/s320/IMG_6322.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551674027460050" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4jdu5ux4EP1jRveaoeJvKcQ2ZgGAw3wGD7_LkHwQj3S8B4iZbfrYcK7_wUGD7Qd0fbKXhSOWPannNzDHDDsGKcA0xLZjtY7cvH8m8GyGPPHqzTKZPWuu5D9Hb1aZoEDY-_4Vq2MHpxxv/s1600-h/IMG_6337.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA4jdu5ux4EP1jRveaoeJvKcQ2ZgGAw3wGD7_LkHwQj3S8B4iZbfrYcK7_wUGD7Qd0fbKXhSOWPannNzDHDDsGKcA0xLZjtY7cvH8m8GyGPPHqzTKZPWuu5D9Hb1aZoEDY-_4Vq2MHpxxv/s320/IMG_6337.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551678322427362" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFevNcznmP9fpxesO_CvHMB1q7BaUOxs06J52OqOsW7zSPhsKyEqa6Ck2RsNYQnWCUxe9VHFNSyhr8Xxoux5KSnkqNyxKyZXmNmlRFetZB5JmwCTkcXX7CwtHfOxJH5pM_ZKMRGi1cptD/s1600-h/IMG_6271.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEFevNcznmP9fpxesO_CvHMB1q7BaUOxs06J52OqOsW7zSPhsKyEqa6Ck2RsNYQnWCUxe9VHFNSyhr8Xxoux5KSnkqNyxKyZXmNmlRFetZB5JmwCTkcXX7CwtHfOxJH5pM_ZKMRGi1cptD/s320/IMG_6271.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171551691207329266" /></a><br /><br /><br />Well first, I need to start out by explaining the video below before its watched, and how we are well known around Magnetic Island, and smalltime local celebrities, if you will. So today is the 2 week anniversary of not wearing a shirt, and it has been a glorious 14 days of innumerable bug bites, sunburns, rashes, and most of all, being a main topic of conversation around the island. So we became friends as I mentioned in a previous blog with Chris Franklin, the Australian stand up comedian, and we were invited to a comedy show with some popular Aussie comedians that was being held here on the island, so of course we were honored and made quite the appearance. With our prestanding no-shirt contest coming upon the zenith of its existence at 2 weeks, there was no way we could end our streak so close, so we decided to chance it and head to the show in our formal island attire, jeans, shoes, and a necklace to hopefully offset our bare chests. Well we do manage to get in despite this being one of the nicer clubs on the island, and we said to ourselves once inside, "what luck, front row seats!" <br />This is where things went horribly wrong, unbeknownst to us at the time. None of us had ever been to a comedy show, otherwise we would have known better, but anyway we sit, and the show starts. To paint this painful picture for you there are two Americans, Texans at that, sitting in the center of the front row, feet from the comedians, with no shirts on in a formal hall, where I might add people are wearing shirts, most are actually in semi nice attire...<br />To make a long story short, we were the majority of all 3 comedians' acts, and I don't think I have ever enjoyed being publicly mocked more than I did this night, mainly because they bashed us nonstop and with such indescribable vulgarity, but with that really cool accent; somehow it was almost like a compliment...hmmm. The guy at the bottom of the blog in the video is Chris, and he was really tasteful about his Texan jokes, as you can watch below. The main guy however, called us terrorists, made a comment about how Colin and I were responsible for 9/11, told us to deliver the F-word to the much loved George Bush next time we see him, who by the way is viewed a little less than ideal over here as I've found out, and told us we could leave the country as soon as possible. Just throw in about 14 minutes of explatives and that was the act. <br /><br />It was all pretty funny though, and I talked to the comedians after the show and we all had a good laugh and he confessed he secretly likes Texans, but we are just such an easy target, especially when we don't wear shirts...so I was ok with this.<br /><br />I then got attacked by the grand-cougs; two 60ish year old women, who said, "if I had a body like that I wouldn't wear a shirt either", a strange little woman came and rubbed my back while I was turned the other way, and then the woman in the pic above tried to bite my nipple for the picture, and it was at this time that I decided it was time to run for my life, and barely made it out alive. Why me?<br /><br />Anywho, here is the video, and I am also getting a plan together for the rest of my trip here in Australia, it is looking like I will be sailing around the Whitsunday Islands on a 3 day yacht tour the latter part of next month, then heading to Melbourne for 2 weeks to see the city and stay with some friends I made here at the hostel last week, and finally going over to Perth to finish my last 2 months. This is the plan for now anyway, and I should know more definites in a week or so once I get all this booked, but it looks like my time here on the island will be drawing to a close in another 2 or 3 weeks..on to see more of the land downunder.<br /><embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=-5719448011328072958&hl=en-AU" flashvars=""> </embed>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-70171846717411705612008-02-22T00:12:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:45.271-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91CWYpJfcn5ZN1wUlbzuzi9kJkUxNpTRGX9BIYjfQ5x9H5c5RtfzzFW_FU4mRL3DFbAi8IoCqw3yIjoJdxNvWsQxJaPQIPWvbh1HWw1G0T3GNP_UFgThfKmytTqLnBfcOuLobX58Wq6xL/s1600-h/IMG_6278.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91CWYpJfcn5ZN1wUlbzuzi9kJkUxNpTRGX9BIYjfQ5x9H5c5RtfzzFW_FU4mRL3DFbAi8IoCqw3yIjoJdxNvWsQxJaPQIPWvbh1HWw1G0T3GNP_UFgThfKmytTqLnBfcOuLobX58Wq6xL/s320/IMG_6278.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169718384417031458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1cfC6UjaEz-5malyJssw_Nxd7I5wq_Ve9ZC66J9of7Cy7faCUYMQzsoqwcWRGxAZVnmfKtp-pHRbmG_dT5hTtKLHTlqbxvmcFDHTer8hYG83q1NXcm1hLXUOBYCezNESA-oahT2dx1Pq/s1600-h/IMG_6198.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1cfC6UjaEz-5malyJssw_Nxd7I5wq_Ve9ZC66J9of7Cy7faCUYMQzsoqwcWRGxAZVnmfKtp-pHRbmG_dT5hTtKLHTlqbxvmcFDHTer8hYG83q1NXcm1hLXUOBYCezNESA-oahT2dx1Pq/s320/IMG_6198.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169717645682656466" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3UYd_UmIAanGD266EN60WV7HZRI8GipvhFoqXUsfMFjAmOTi-lbb1JiL_GfeA0u-cRO1JAgX-m-qQbFP7yjTTJmBr38tC72zuqZy0nw50tOAbF-ipYQpdXWdOMEAxMmJ_7L1J1muMtn7/s1600-h/IMG_6222.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3UYd_UmIAanGD266EN60WV7HZRI8GipvhFoqXUsfMFjAmOTi-lbb1JiL_GfeA0u-cRO1JAgX-m-qQbFP7yjTTJmBr38tC72zuqZy0nw50tOAbF-ipYQpdXWdOMEAxMmJ_7L1J1muMtn7/s320/IMG_6222.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169717662862525666" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWM6iOxpfMyx6efviWGWOHxzlEZ-PMYxHJfL8un71H1krCpLYeCzQ9C1qfRsE6LKa27PXk-JmJXNXRtSqw_NRz3J-otxseNWI8bdu_9qiSDgKI4e_0kKqTQ0S8gWxO-d-hkaMLbnGCfpyT/s1600-h/IMG_6242.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWM6iOxpfMyx6efviWGWOHxzlEZ-PMYxHJfL8un71H1krCpLYeCzQ9C1qfRsE6LKa27PXk-JmJXNXRtSqw_NRz3J-otxseNWI8bdu_9qiSDgKI4e_0kKqTQ0S8gWxO-d-hkaMLbnGCfpyT/s320/IMG_6242.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169717667157492978" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcX12RnSHWPQjl0ZORYqomkxQzXcoOSpcO-DxW9R4EtSDrWMK3M9YA5lTrUyX_qo3Eww5YKOjrjZX4YH31usLkuA9QBl-LpmB_Zjv6BZ56peDIi3fITW94ANnatkUQS41JEyVg8so_nHJ/s1600-h/IMG_6320.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHcX12RnSHWPQjl0ZORYqomkxQzXcoOSpcO-DxW9R4EtSDrWMK3M9YA5lTrUyX_qo3Eww5YKOjrjZX4YH31usLkuA9QBl-LpmB_Zjv6BZ56peDIi3fITW94ANnatkUQS41JEyVg8so_nHJ/s320/IMG_6320.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169717680042394882" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7smDbwMIpvkZXbdONnyCxWklubTnqnrZTLbxFx8atrQW4KcQZASwNyAftrBgU4pkSB6oAOhBciFttgcj91DB3OMEYeRApFzFD8eaZlmmXZNuKkWaw4BHxja-jcHbQdplkLLNsxuXeXGBO/s1600-h/IMG_6282.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7smDbwMIpvkZXbdONnyCxWklubTnqnrZTLbxFx8atrQW4KcQZASwNyAftrBgU4pkSB6oAOhBciFttgcj91DB3OMEYeRApFzFD8eaZlmmXZNuKkWaw4BHxja-jcHbQdplkLLNsxuXeXGBO/s320/IMG_6282.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169717692927296786" /></a><br /><br /><br />The past few days have been pretty uneventful...which equates to snorkeling, laying on phenominal beaches, meeting heaps of great new people, good music by the pool, red wine and Thai green curry chicken, cigars, chasing birds with my laser pointer at night, clearing the paths of kangaroos, nightly walks on the beach, rock climbing, and of course tonight being day 9 of no shirt february, basically just another day in paradise..isn't that a Kenny Chesney song? I hate country music but somehow I'm ok with that today.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-90634801320786597942008-02-17T20:07:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:46.785-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtHLKfvGCgGpiv08WXw0ctcET3ABsFT1vd06cu3UZNGw35hVHld6t5BkOGAQ-DQ1svaz789nv-36bE20ZQHF0TsY6ZucoG1L9GSOUIPBwG6yrAuXKeWQe4BjDHFOwsYOHkIRrdvl8RJx6/s1600-h/IMG_6127.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJtHLKfvGCgGpiv08WXw0ctcET3ABsFT1vd06cu3UZNGw35hVHld6t5BkOGAQ-DQ1svaz789nv-36bE20ZQHF0TsY6ZucoG1L9GSOUIPBwG6yrAuXKeWQe4BjDHFOwsYOHkIRrdvl8RJx6/s320/IMG_6127.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168170572692833458" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvwUxtUw2evH-kOp0JFASJHpf8ZWXmwhG2wL0uxWL6x2bjai1_j3IoEpgjd4tlyOUBE5qWuzU5hsVzVj5YEh9zvbpvXMtY-boAO_k2dIUl5ofom-3r2SXu-XcUCaV0Tb_uk2iw7bLg4FdX/s1600-h/IMG_6172.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvwUxtUw2evH-kOp0JFASJHpf8ZWXmwhG2wL0uxWL6x2bjai1_j3IoEpgjd4tlyOUBE5qWuzU5hsVzVj5YEh9zvbpvXMtY-boAO_k2dIUl5ofom-3r2SXu-XcUCaV0Tb_uk2iw7bLg4FdX/s320/IMG_6172.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168170581282768066" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu8UIm1ytsMTVhQ9cAocQKkHtRBvous05mXebjpyhVXZW3UhOyUS1cISFCCpFzjm8dNKa7TU4ZICLvOV7XpgL7buWRNSKJzuZc7xOhFZP7GmKHZc65RoxcHGAoPfOY1FomwuLVoAtmVmG/s1600-h/IMG_6111.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDu8UIm1ytsMTVhQ9cAocQKkHtRBvous05mXebjpyhVXZW3UhOyUS1cISFCCpFzjm8dNKa7TU4ZICLvOV7XpgL7buWRNSKJzuZc7xOhFZP7GmKHZc65RoxcHGAoPfOY1FomwuLVoAtmVmG/s320/IMG_6111.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168169387281859682" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqI-bphxgaeqBHp4bmk1_Zak2jSiVUbymXPAJ7_R_pS5hiq-IQDGe-z8IZVJ5QT0zUp-wWEnin1XJBSOrP5b_-BfgkSowxeH5EWMiXOAkD_yS5eGZCIWEoo56Xo2ESgPbejOugGYc-8s4/s1600-h/IMG_6115.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqI-bphxgaeqBHp4bmk1_Zak2jSiVUbymXPAJ7_R_pS5hiq-IQDGe-z8IZVJ5QT0zUp-wWEnin1XJBSOrP5b_-BfgkSowxeH5EWMiXOAkD_yS5eGZCIWEoo56Xo2ESgPbejOugGYc-8s4/s320/IMG_6115.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168169395871794290" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-6KJ7H5DWMfTT-xbo51rltWw87iFIzon7IwoS5WxgEbTskZv4k9Da4o4btaB7t9N39jCGiOtCZTimdGMa9Y8txfgowFu7TIIl3e8ITU267tDKr2CHGKeBcaLnE-01IXzUsSA3IB1foNv/s1600-h/IMG_6121.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-6KJ7H5DWMfTT-xbo51rltWw87iFIzon7IwoS5WxgEbTskZv4k9Da4o4btaB7t9N39jCGiOtCZTimdGMa9Y8txfgowFu7TIIl3e8ITU267tDKr2CHGKeBcaLnE-01IXzUsSA3IB1foNv/s320/IMG_6121.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168169404461728898" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMq_eSqqsqYflSgO1ixiMHTD-anVGHiI1dSoYCiyWPffpUOqGTCWSUfGVML4aStmEysJ2x4uCFsQXdDNqAGBrnxe-BsVs9lLDa7I-xvOjFYzkmCZ5SQ0adgLprQimKJP-p7-frPLpuAad/s1600-h/IMG_6161.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRMq_eSqqsqYflSgO1ixiMHTD-anVGHiI1dSoYCiyWPffpUOqGTCWSUfGVML4aStmEysJ2x4uCFsQXdDNqAGBrnxe-BsVs9lLDa7I-xvOjFYzkmCZ5SQ0adgLprQimKJP-p7-frPLpuAad/s320/IMG_6161.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168169417346630802" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGW9qqf1_ZG3R8r5XyNzDEgYXfqluC-vnCIZM4H310DmBb-TdjNFRy5dHgRPyMMSZ55OQ7yvZQjyQToNm8tbckkmSdI4ovc6H1o3Aw8v_9H-B__x1sxssyGfTpf6UVBsQvpqNTgvc-xpl/s1600-h/IMG_6149.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisGW9qqf1_ZG3R8r5XyNzDEgYXfqluC-vnCIZM4H310DmBb-TdjNFRy5dHgRPyMMSZ55OQ7yvZQjyQToNm8tbckkmSdI4ovc6H1o3Aw8v_9H-B__x1sxssyGfTpf6UVBsQvpqNTgvc-xpl/s320/IMG_6149.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168169434526500002" /></a><br /><br />Yesterday was another amazing day! The lady that we work with, Jo, invited us over for a barbie, and so we went over there for lunch and met her husband who is a stand up comedian, and it turns out he is known for his phenominal mullet that he has had for 30 years now, and is actually called the King of the Mullet. He did a parody song which was a number one hit over here a few years ago, so we were eating with a celebrity, and he was a hilarious guy. did I mention it was an awesome mullet? I think the quote of the day from him was, "It's not a haircut mates, it's a lifestyle." They are amazing and hospitable people, and after an amazing bbq lunch, and a good break from my twice-a-day PB&J sandwiches, we loaded up in their car and they showed us around the island and there are a number of things that I had no idea were here. We went to a coast area with a ton of huge boulders, and we grabbed some crackers and they told us to go over there and get ready to feed. Well, within 30 seconds we were engulfed by roughly 70 rock wallabees, which are basically miniature kangaroos about a foot tall, and they would come up and gently take the food out of your hand and some would even let you pet them. There were also several that had babies in their pouches, and you could see their little heads peek out every once in a while and take a look around, it was amazing! And one little philly above even let me hold hands with her for a bit, I think we really shared a moment. After that we came back to the hostel for dinner and met another local guy who kinda reminds you of Mick Dundee a little, and after a good long getting to know us period, roughly 10 minutes, in stride with the typical Australian spirit he invited us over for a beer and strum on his guitar, and though we were too tired last night he told us we can go over anytime, even if he's not there, because he hasn't locked his door in 8 years. I can't think of a better place on earth that resounds with my personality.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-8114467325663778842008-02-15T22:41:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:48.199-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzCi-JTnABjUpbrPNrRjVLFAhBQFf2lrWKJ0kuEXuL8NOUIUiDwRaoVcY5nIvN6PEgEd7BB5hXQ9x1xazJHADGXcDzWQd7NsKLIVa_VWuwinfYCwqoWA22zyQ1el9Jv0ZIjndhZsbYHNF/s1600-h/EPV0006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzCi-JTnABjUpbrPNrRjVLFAhBQFf2lrWKJ0kuEXuL8NOUIUiDwRaoVcY5nIvN6PEgEd7BB5hXQ9x1xazJHADGXcDzWQd7NsKLIVa_VWuwinfYCwqoWA22zyQ1el9Jv0ZIjndhZsbYHNF/s320/EPV0006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167475964811920418" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6JBCGJUqA5D2UuXm6TuuMNGGondcDD_atotrbA6tG1-iRL4DxaJHChWKHgYAnCo0eGKD6dWwbZs-_vS4XDmitzytNyNWRnxGobGAjitLZaHPCb5ACMAnlNRo0sA8hd6RsQk2twjM18meS/s1600-h/IMG_6089.JPG"><img style="display:block; 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margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWlAwmkR2affSOWqx6mqNxwZClE9FsPG-v_pTZPmbEUA8rayWBt76RdFP1kJpNmQXUrRS-i0Vi9RYIf25xtFAzaCNBgzXQM7uMkRA_NQaOcBpUtRVB0C1J_Po6yB-TRD7qPKtAMFEYIUeW/s320/EPV0353.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167467095704454114" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbNxbkmFcgEvLFVVZIFR4MneHyhryvNwraAU47J7SpHmoze7VoSCrkqvzLWxCHPNQIbO0g6OMuc7U0Gf1sU96eWLc6Ik0JN6evxsjw_L5PucwMfXyY2uQrjmfcE9CsUPHybPumN4joa2L/s1600-h/EPV0345.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPbNxbkmFcgEvLFVVZIFR4MneHyhryvNwraAU47J7SpHmoze7VoSCrkqvzLWxCHPNQIbO0g6OMuc7U0Gf1sU96eWLc6Ik0JN6evxsjw_L5PucwMfXyY2uQrjmfcE9CsUPHybPumN4joa2L/s320/EPV0345.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167467099999421426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCwxaGutY1hLQtwSzaBBtO5XEVgT9yb4JgfsSS7mCnqh8YwjfuPG_CVsyiZMXCkqmnARDGxgaWrZcq2B9fxsoEVzsHZxiXJDCJlucJpVZlwjhWtxOtuTJt-rbjNGUDwEp2clDaubxVbYb/s1600-h/EPV0314.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPCwxaGutY1hLQtwSzaBBtO5XEVgT9yb4JgfsSS7mCnqh8YwjfuPG_CVsyiZMXCkqmnARDGxgaWrZcq2B9fxsoEVzsHZxiXJDCJlucJpVZlwjhWtxOtuTJt-rbjNGUDwEp2clDaubxVbYb/s320/EPV0314.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167467108589356034" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubQtvVq6k-NixHnK9JeB3gEG-abEQqZ9c8LprcDRblKgfnR38gzOhvsL2LN_qN9c8nvHkLQFqdgR1u1BEaasMeTAkMXX34HOsRFYtleBGfOvod1dDMvs-ZSN9rCOzg6g-FEWLtlIiHPc0/s1600-h/EPV0356.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhubQtvVq6k-NixHnK9JeB3gEG-abEQqZ9c8LprcDRblKgfnR38gzOhvsL2LN_qN9c8nvHkLQFqdgR1u1BEaasMeTAkMXX34HOsRFYtleBGfOvod1dDMvs-ZSN9rCOzg6g-FEWLtlIiHPc0/s320/EPV0356.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5167467117179290642" /></a><br /><br />First I will tell a quick story fitting for my expectations for this trip, then you can read on about some less exciting crap about everyday life here..its been raining for 2 days and I've not much to do, so feel free to read the highlights then move on :)<br />So yesterday we were hiking to one of the beaches on the island and we did make it there and had the entire beach to ourselves, and it was amazing. (Mother, I'm sure you're going to be reading this at some point so you can go ahead and skip down to the next paragraph). As we were hiking back we were pretty worn out because we decided to continue hiking up some huge boulders on the coast, and were just kinda taking our time and we stumbled upon the first of two lovely creatures pictured above, the much talked about snake, the Australian Death Adder... Did I mention DEATH is included in its name? Now at this point we passed it once already and we are unaware that it is this snake that we were told about by the park guide the day before. When we came back upon it 2 hours later it had only moved about a foot, so...what else is there to do with it? I picked it up with a stick. And kinda pretended to throw it at Colin, but only a little. It moved really slow and never struck at us, and so I put my camera in the close-up setting and took the pic above from about 4 inches away. Climbing down further we stumbled upon another one on the trail, and getting back we talked to the park guide, and showed her the video of us playing with it on a stick and she started screaming and freaking out, and saying many explatives, and it was then that I was informed I had just picked up the 9th deadliest snake on the planet, and also kinda poked it with a stick a little. oops? (sorry mom, won't happen again). Then this morning when two girls came up to us and asked if we were the guys who picked up the snake and told us that the story was spreading all over the island, I realized that I don't think I fully understand the scope of what we did yesterday, because they also said many F words when we showed them the video. anywho, on our hike today we were quite a bit more cautious to say the least, and ended up seeing no snakes, but more importantly, we saw a baby Koala in a tree! Oh, and we also went back in the bat cave and poked the bat clusters with a stick this time to get them really crazy so we could take a fun pic of the girls getting attacked by the bats, so that was a nice addition to the day. <br /><br />As far as the everyday, I am really starting to settle in here on the island, and loving every minute of my days. I've gotten to know the staff pretty well, and they are all lovable friendly people, so it is awesome to be around them and work with them. Today is the second consecutive day of monsoon rain, it basically rained for about 12 hours yesterday, then cleared up enough for us to start a hike then began again as we were halfway up, but no worries because I have been wearing proper attire around the place. When we got here Colin and I began a series of "lets see how long we can go without..." games, the first was going without a shirt, and the bet was quickly upped to no underwear as well as no shaving, so I am finishing up day 4 of wearing nothing but sandals and board shorts, it's quite nice after a while. But tonight I decided to get dressed up and put on shoes with my shorts, so I am looking pretty snazzy if I do say so myself. I dont think I have mentioned many everday details, so there were are few and here are some more. I am in the northern state of Queensland, and it is smack dab in the middle of their wet season, and besides the obvious rain, something else that really punched me in the face when I got off the ferry was the humidity. To say that it's humid here is like saying...it's chilly at the South Pole. I have quickly become accustomed to my entire body being sticky 24/7, and you begin sweating as soon as you get out of a cold shower. Nothing ever dries, and my board shorts have mildewed from all the rain and humidity. My books are starting to curl up from the moisture in the air, and with all this, somehow it is perfect here. Its probably because I dont wear shirts anymore. But it is so laid back and care free, and the days are filled with exploring and the nights with good food and great fun, so there is not much more I could ask for, except maybe for maybe someone to shoort the birds that sound like monkeys that are outside my bungalow everynight..but I'm still working on that.jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-51836782452751583802008-02-12T22:57:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:49.296-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi24b_qu715ET-gJRw91pgxG_378QYWSSwExUkp2Ag926w4Oplbz34LfXUP_IUEAlSrHHw7LPj2xFTxHRENNZ5oEWhlmaDIZSKJRYubAhVViXDTPMcChg6mD6tR6qjHa5Jt8Hb9h0C7jQ/s1600-h/IMG_5952.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmi24b_qu715ET-gJRw91pgxG_378QYWSSwExUkp2Ag926w4Oplbz34LfXUP_IUEAlSrHHw7LPj2xFTxHRENNZ5oEWhlmaDIZSKJRYubAhVViXDTPMcChg6mD6tR6qjHa5Jt8Hb9h0C7jQ/s320/IMG_5952.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166368082292884370" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23f_afEHTjuicR4Q3XZ4T3lG2jMTaw3hXpibaRczUgW79oajIFqIUr94A4EiVyCyuXVPidMTUd82iPNteB0P-ehA2_qFk-K80ak28rZBpntIGhyphenhyphen4XB-41QqKwhOTPin2Es6zkfWnGiopK/s1600-h/IMG_5914.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23f_afEHTjuicR4Q3XZ4T3lG2jMTaw3hXpibaRczUgW79oajIFqIUr94A4EiVyCyuXVPidMTUd82iPNteB0P-ehA2_qFk-K80ak28rZBpntIGhyphenhyphen4XB-41QqKwhOTPin2Es6zkfWnGiopK/s320/IMG_5914.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166368090882818978" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHg5DaAuJXaiFhAAUHVd9WW06xt4eK8eEewkm8x_SBt3XLcw5gnpuyfzdL09bMV5fl364OtmyLBQtT7Y8NLhgf8HjpTM32DJWRm-CaU1DGdtMSopT5H3IDpRVNCWBj7GH0pJe9fmS79YUY/s1600-h/IMG_5884.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHg5DaAuJXaiFhAAUHVd9WW06xt4eK8eEewkm8x_SBt3XLcw5gnpuyfzdL09bMV5fl364OtmyLBQtT7Y8NLhgf8HjpTM32DJWRm-CaU1DGdtMSopT5H3IDpRVNCWBj7GH0pJe9fmS79YUY/s320/IMG_5884.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166368133832491954" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHY0OrSuQTxw5YU7lT97Ekft4kQiBZSZXKYtFaGPldGMoUAqRYaHFqT2ldRZH0xSCPup-eqiQTfXrpY_Dx8GImFSJPgcp34h7qv2uqk7bTmiIIKeFW0bVEzIPKpk_Kqf4teoQXs3Pw7atB/s1600-h/IMG_5906.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHY0OrSuQTxw5YU7lT97Ekft4kQiBZSZXKYtFaGPldGMoUAqRYaHFqT2ldRZH0xSCPup-eqiQTfXrpY_Dx8GImFSJPgcp34h7qv2uqk7bTmiIIKeFW0bVEzIPKpk_Kqf4teoQXs3Pw7atB/s320/IMG_5906.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166368193962034114" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0DoHinhBNN23fmpx6m_e2S_fyozZP-wdEeOYVW1jr_uxvSrA3wQGiRDp8t-0WyDrbJHeu4srdX2BG-eLIXBiLv0WP2pX7abSD8zF9bcMi2iKbvKvXwD6K8Zx7DDoHbVtA9qsQNfnIzRR/s1600-h/IMG_5863.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiK0DoHinhBNN23fmpx6m_e2S_fyozZP-wdEeOYVW1jr_uxvSrA3wQGiRDp8t-0WyDrbJHeu4srdX2BG-eLIXBiLv0WP2pX7abSD8zF9bcMi2iKbvKvXwD6K8Zx7DDoHbVtA9qsQNfnIzRR/s320/IMG_5863.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166368039343211394" /></a><br />First off, I didn't realize that a frog was capable of smiling until last night when I ran across this guy, but who wouldn't smile if you lived here? The weather was amazing today, and I started work for the hostel this morning. did a quick 3 hours of cleaning and yardwork and have a free place to stay and a warm cooked meal, so I am pretty stoked about that! after lunch colin and I set out on our big adventure, and decided to hike up a mountain here. it was an hour hike to the top, but once we got up there probably the most breathtaking view I've ever seen, and I cannot believe this place is my home for the next couple weeks!!! without thinking I also set out on this hike wearing flip flops, which proved to be dreadful when I was hopping across treacherous boulders to get out to the far one for the pic above, but alas I survived and leared a great lesson about the physics of hiking. Oh, and we found a fairly large boulder and of course rolled it down the mountain, and it was in this moment I realized how easily entertained we are..nonetheless it was an incredible day of seeing the island! And we also stumbled upon an old building that also happened to be a bat cave, and once inside we found the perfect photo op with hundreds of bats flying around, so of course we stayed until I couldn't take them hitting me in the face anymore. I also met a couple ladies this morning I was working with, and one was from Perth where I plan on heading soon, and she said she has two different people there that would be happy to let me stay and show me around the western coast, it is unbelievable how the Lord is providing for me on this trip! anywho, time to go eat some dinner, anytime I get the chance to have a real meal vs a PB&J or some bread and Nutella, my new found amazing chocolate spread, I spring at the opportunity!jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4062972301650256823.post-13968273547301360762008-02-12T00:56:00.000-08:002008-12-10T18:42:53.733-08:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUOU_qj4AyPST1RNxJ7xo1K126PKkF03qiYfx6cyu0dDNo3datAC8DGXPl7lAjWGfQECLCXJHZElF5sgxLmcAKz-KEcYHq-BllPp2SMPrvsLrf5StlHFftzxQtX94yUIZCnXXVIbasL4Z/s1600-h/IMG_5791.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUOU_qj4AyPST1RNxJ7xo1K126PKkF03qiYfx6cyu0dDNo3datAC8DGXPl7lAjWGfQECLCXJHZElF5sgxLmcAKz-KEcYHq-BllPp2SMPrvsLrf5StlHFftzxQtX94yUIZCnXXVIbasL4Z/s320/IMG_5791.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5166026701112329042" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-d6YQUw1wi_JyJKIH-v268vz8zvEdTFN0N6uZTP73vT10kWjDcYIImIwR1D_Oi5kkPuo_y3SVLWnCEKKKoh2pK8Qmc56WctrxDyC1PAyw2BLHVsu_7hCwPi7TSObhrdvildS76VAUGPA/s1600-h/IMG_5713.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; 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I got up at 4 am yesterday morning to catch a flight up to Townsville, which is just south of Cairns, the northern east coast region. I then got a ferry and went over to my new residence of Magnetic Island, and I got here just in time. Turns out I arrived in the wake of a mild typhoon, and just before dark I was on the beach looking at the huge waves toss around the boats anchored, and I had to stand at an angle in the wind to not get blown back. Well this morning everyone was looking out at the beach when I arrived, and there were 4 boats that got washed ashore from the storm, one was smashed into pieces, so praise Jesus I survived the night! </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>But, thats all over and today was INCREDIBLE! The sun was out and we took a hike halfway up a mountain til we decided it was too thick to walk any further and too many spiders, so we left, and there ensued the beginning of a great day. I sighted my first kangaroo, and like anyone would, Colin and I hopped the fence and chased it, turns out they are pretty fast. We named it Patty and she came back to taunt us an hour later, so of course we ran after her again, still to no avail. Then we went to the nature park right next to our bungaloes here at the hostel, and after this I can head home a happy man now, yes I held a Koala! and a croc, and some various snakes and what not. I didn't believe it was possible to love something as much as I did at first sight, but when that little fuzzy ball of clouds and fur (koala) looked up after it awoke, I knew why the Lord had brought me to this far away place. Ok a little overkill, but if you have seen one you understand. Oh and I also licked an ant that tasted like a lemon, yep, the guide said to pick up an ant and lick its butt because it was tart like candy, so I did. And it was. Clark, it was goooo ooood. </div><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><div>I started speaking with the staff last night here, and it looks like I am going to be staying on the island for a bit. You can work around the hostel doing yard work or cleaning for 3 hours a day, and you get a free room, free dinner and a beer, so I am probably going to stay for a week or two and live for free on a tropical island in Australia...hmmm...it's moments like this that I really yearn for my dallas cubicle and headset again....</div>jeffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01527151980291014780noreply@blogger.com4