Onward

You don't even know, but I'm slowly walking towards you...

:-)

Not dead, quite the opposite, living it up down under :-)

Mid-Week Funny

The new Will Ferral video comedy site trailer, good shit:

Manly Union League

Sunday afternoon last week and back from Taz. There's nothing better than hooking up with 20,000 Manly/Sydney-ites and one kiwi to check out the weekly Rugby game staring local first place team the Manly Sea Eagles. We certainly had our game faces/bellies on ;-)



The weather wasamazing and the stadium was jam packed. Because it was so busy and a televised game the line for tickets wrapped completly around the entire stadium. Figuring we wouldn't get in before half time we first had a few pints at the supporters club watching it on their big screen projection, then mozzied on over to the stadium at half to walk in and watch the rest for free. What a great day :-)

Tasmanian Times

After a great time in Melbourne it was ti me to get to Australia's unloved stepson Tasmania for some serious outdoor adventure. The city of Hobart surprisingly had some non-outback gems to check out:



Being an island off the coast of Australia certainly lends itself to having a thriving fish industry. Some of the restaurants are built right into the boat and are amazingly popular after 7pm when the sun goes down:



You might not think Tasmanian's are very cultured and rather forgettable, you'd be wrong. In Hobart they even have a (small) university dedicated to the arts. Some great rookie art is free on display for everyone:



Taz might not have alot of people or modern comforts, but if you're into hiking this is definatly the place to be. Even outside their "biggest" city Hobart (125k people), you're only 5 minutes away from some stunning paths:



The view going up the mountain was absolutly stunning:



The sun goes down over the Tasmanian outback, what a great adventure away from everywhere else in the world...

Only In Canada

Thanks to Al who got this in :-)

Great Ocean Road

Needless to say last Saturday wasa total blowout, it was time to get some fresh air and light exercise into the system. Just south from Melbourne along the southern coast is the "Great Ocean Road". Considering that our ferry to Tasmania didn't leave until that night (we eventually missed it and flew) we decided to go hit the road.

Very windy-windy, stunning views, great little surf villages all along (the Bell's Beach Ripcurl tournament started there 2 days later) and the famous "12 appossels", a group of rock formations along a section of coast formed over millenia of tides:



Later that afternoon we moved inland and lone behold drove through the now famous in Canada "Colac", home of the 3 "Backpackers" on OLN (just read that they are starting a sequel). Well there's definatly not much there, but there was one interesting thing for this Canadian: :-)



Off to Taz...

Manly Fight Night?

I guess Manly isn't quite as posh as I thought it was. While me and a colleague sipped wine and beer over a candlelit diner at a trendy local restaurant, the following was occuring right under our noses:

Police are appealing for witnesses after a young English tourist had part of his lip bitten off during a pub fight in Manly overnight.

"The 23-year-old became in involved in an altercation with a group of men at a hotel on The Corso about 12.50am.

Security were able to pull the fighters apart but the tourist required hospitalisation after part of his lower lip was bitten off.

He was taken to Manly Hospital but is expected to be transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital today for further treatment.

Anyone who witnessed the incident is urged to contact Manly detectives on 9977 9499 or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000."

Well Manly just won't stand for that! It certainly must be a result of all the Sydney riff-raff coming over on the jetcat, back to the ferry days I say!! ;-)

Melbourne Days, Melbourne Nights

After a great start to Melbourne with the opening season AFL game it was time to get up and experience the city. Before that however we caught up with Oz and bines and their new diggs. Here Aussie shows off his sweet new ride... I'm talking about the bike ;-) No way was I going to miss out on hitting the road on that beast! (again, talking about the bike! ;-)



Aussie's new dog. Best... dog... ever!
Update: Just got an e-mail that our little friend Brandy has left us suddenly. We all miss you buddy and I'm glad I got a chance to meet you.



The afternoon couldn't have been better, some kite surfers enjoying the afternoon:



Melbourne harbour. Great view, and the last picture before the hard core boozing started :-)



The view above the patio at the bar we baked at all afternoon. Considering that this is the only web-friendly picture from the entire afternoon should give some indication of how hammed we already were before going out Sat night :-)



More from Sat night and the MASSIVE sunday morning hangover tomorrow, time to hit the beach :-)

Mystery Photos

The mystery photos from last Thursday night (when we missed our flight) are just now starting to emerge. The guilty: Aussie, Ross and 2-minute Chad :-)

Stuttgart Time-Killer

Slowly approaching 1k views of "Killing Time On The Stuttgart S-Bahn". That's got to be some kind of milestone ;-)

Off To Melbourne... Maybe

After a crazy night out in Sydney catching up with old friends and having good times we had to catch an obscenely early 6:15am flight to Melbourne for the weekend. Yeah that didn't happen. At 5:45 we awake to start a mad dash for the airport. Ninty minutes and $400 later we are finally in the air on our way to Melbourne:



Oz took it like a trooper and headed straight to work upon arrival, while some of us took the opportunity to sleep off the in-flight beers (no joke):



The whole reason for the rush to Melbourne in just my 3rd day in Australia was to catch the opening season AFL game at MCG stadium. Of course this was my first AFL game live in stadium and it totally lived up to expectations:



Exciting game, even if Melbourne did eventually check out and get blown up by St. Kilda :-(



Friday night in Melbourne starts with a bang, and it was just an indication of what was to come Saturday night...

Congrats My Lady

Congradulations are in order for Canada's national Women's Hockey team as they took home the 8th (of a total 9) world hockey championship today. Quite simply they are the best:

The Land Down Under

As the sun comes up I realize I'm on the other side of the globe, just about to arrive in Sydney:



Although Australian culture is very close to Canadian there are definatly subtle differences. Notice the little blue symbol on the sign? That's used to denote surfing, not skiing. As if! That's a skier if I ever saw one, of course the weather doesn't really lend itself to snow bunnies eh ;-)



Driving through Sydney on route to the suburb of Manly: (click for video)



That's Sydney in the background, if I could take a decent night pic with my crappy camera you'd see the amazing lights from downtown. What a view! This is home base for my travels around Oz over the next 5 weeks:



The beach in Manly (Sydney), click pic below for a video:



Time to hit the beach, my surf nickname is "Goggle-Google-Boy" relating to my geek and swimmer background, just great. They couldn't have just called me "Spikey" or something?!? ;-)

Alcatraz

The day before leaving San Francisco I did one of the most touristy things imaginable and went to Alcatraz for a tour. It was totally worth the time/money. Some pics below, one actual day (and two calendar days) later I would be hitting the waves off the coast of Oz.

As approaching the island:



A prisoners "living" space:



The keys to freedom are held tantalizingly out of reach:



From the small outdoor grounds (prisoners allowed to go outside for one hour a day with good behaviour) you can just see over the wall to the city across the bay:



Touristy? Yes. Awesome? Also yes.

Evil Jokes

Evil joke of the day:

THE SITUATION - You are in Florida, Miami to be specific. There is chaos all around you caused by a hurricane with severe flooding. This is a flood of biblical proportions. You are photojournalist working for a major newspaper, and you’re caught in the middle of this epic disaster. The situation is nearly hopeless.

You’re trying to shoot career-making photos. There are houses and people swirling around you, some disappearing under the water. Nature is unleashing all of its destructive fury.

THE TEST - Suddenly you see a woman in the water. She is fighting for her life, trying not to be taken down with the debris.

You move closer. Somehow the woman looks familiar. You suddenly realize who it is. It’s Hillary Clinton! At the same time you notice that the raging waters are about to take her under forever.

You have two options: You can save the life of Hillary Clinton or you can shoot a dramatic Pulitzer Prize winning photo, documenting the death of one of the world’s most powerful women (in her mind, at least).

THE QUESTION - Here’s the question, and please give an honest answer….

Would you select high contrast color film, or would you go with the classic simplicity of black and white?

VfB Stuttgart ist unser Leben, ist unser Ziel

Another week, another VFB Stuttgart victory. Can't wait to get to the Pokal finals in Berlin this May :-)

San Fran Character

There are lots of interesting people in San Francisco

Peace brother:

Animal Crackers

Animal crackers in my soup,
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop.
Gosh oh gee but I have fun,
Swallowing animals one by one.

When their inside me, where its dark,
I walk around like Noahs Arc.
I stuff my tummy like a goop,
With animal crackers in my soup.

Actually it's animal bread :-)