One day we went to the cultural centre in Noumea. This is a short drive on the outskirts of the city (Noumea the capital isn't much more than a little suburb consisting of only 76,000 people).



I have seen photos of this place and I also vaguely remember seeing it in a movie or two without ever realising where it is. The architecture of the Cultural centre is absolutely stunning. It cost France more that 50 million Euros to build the centre and it has got a unique local style that fits in very well with the surroundings.



The centre is surrounded by some gardens huts, and as you walk around there is various art work and totem poles symbolising various aspects of the Kanak culture.







There is also the story of the creation...amazing how similar it is to Darwinism. Maybe Darwin heard these stories on some of his travels and based his story "Origin of the Species" on some of these.




One thing that is a real pity is the usage of the cultural centre. We happened to walk in through the back entrance and discovered that half the building (which is actually quite large) s totally empty. The other half is displaying modern indigenous art where most of the artwork is from the Torres Strait, Vanuatu or Fiji. There is hardly any display of any local artwork and your certainly don't get an insight into the local Kanak culture as intended. The result is that it is not getting a lot of visitors.

What Kim and I was expecting was a display of what the local life was before the colonisation through to how the colonisation changed the way of living. They could have a display of local clothing, tools and weapons before colonisation and tell show how people lived of the land. They could also have 'actors' telling the local dream stories.

The modern display old be showing how the french settlers and the local Kanks are trying to mend their historical legacy and leave peacefully together.

One of the days we walked to the Aquarium in Noumea (just down the street from the hotel). We didn't expect too much, but we were very pleasantly surprised.



Although the aquarium isn't all that big it is extremely well set up with a very interesting display of everything from mangrove plants and fish (including the missing link ones with legs that made Darwin conclude that life must have started in the oceans) to huge displays with corals, sharks and barracudas.









It was Aiden's first time in an aquarium and we could tell that he had a good time (even though it was extelemy hot in there) looking at all those colourful objects (U.F.O's) swimming around.







Here some more photos from the visit...enjoy:

The water was really nice and warm in New Caledonia, my guess is that it would have been close to 30 degrees close to the shore and in protected bays and probably around 27 elsewhere.

Although we were staying at the beach we decided to have a look around the island to see what other beaches were in the area.

In the first day we drove to Kuendu Bay which is about ten minutes from the city centre and is a really nice little protected bay mainly used by locals. The water here was really calm so this was a good opportunity to give Aiden his first swimming lesson.








As you can tell he wasn't completely at ease initially, but after a couple of minutes he started enjoying it.


Aiden also really enjoyed lying on the beach in the shade of a tree and talk to mummy.



On one of the following days we drove up the north coast to a place called Poe Beach and by this time he was a lot more into it (maybe because he was wearing pants this time).





Just after we left this beach we found an ever more beautiful stretch just a couple of minutes away, but less protected by the reef.



This area was absolutely stunning with the pine trees that are so unique to New Caledonia.





On another day we took the boat to one of the islands of the coast (Ilot Maitre) and spend the whole day there.




I wasn't feeling 100% this day. Before we went away the whole of Kims family came down with a 24 hour bug...I think I got the same bug and ended up sleeping most of the afternoon under a tree in the shade (fortunately I was ok again next day).




I also got a chance to take some more beach photos of the family, here one of Aiden and Mummy.



And I spent a couple of minutes taking some sexy model photos of Kim on the beach down from our hotel. I wish we'd had more time to do some more photos, but it was hard to get her to do it in the first place (and once we did it I was hurrying up so much that a lot of them got fumbled up unfortunately).





...and of cause when we didn't go to the beach there was also the massive pool at the hotel.

This Christmas Kim and I decided to take Aiden on his first overseas holiday. Our offices are closed over Christmas and New Years so it is a good time for us to travel.

We decided to go to New Calidonia in the Pacific Ocean as it was easy and reasonably priced. It is a small group of islands about 2000km from Sydney (2.5 hours flight) and is part of Frances overseas territories (this may change in the next couple of years when they vote for independence).

On the first night we went to a seafood place and had a good night out the three of us.




Especially Aiden enjoyed his new surroundings.



We stayed at Anse Vata beach in Noumea which was conveniently located in the tourist area (Although it was far from overrun with tourists).





It was really hot there, 34-38 degrees every day so it was nice to stay near the coast. The locals living inland would spend the nights on the beach in the water cooling down.







In the evening we would try out the local restaurants. Food was generally quite expensive and of very inconsistent quality. The far best we had was a place called 'Le Roof' which is a restaurant placed in the water. I had the best rib eye I've had this year and as a desert we had the best chocolate fondant we've ever had...very nice.



While there we rented a car so that we could explore the island better while bringing Aiden with us (the island is 400km long).It was beautiful with all the flame trees...brough back a lot of memories from when I lived in Kenya.






Aiden coped surprisingly well with the heat, the sun and the water. It has actually helped a lot on his ezema which is almost gone on his legs now. He didn't complain at all and in the car he would just fall asleep once the aircon was turned on and we started driving.



One day we went out to one of the islands on a day trip and spend the day there in the shade at one of the restaurants and on the beach with Aiden (Only day where I wasn't feeling 100% as I'd picked up a 24h bug from the family before we left and had a bit of fever).




It was nice going on a trip as a family with a little one. It was a bit harder to get about to take photos and especially to be really creative, but I did get a couple of chances and we did do a photoshoot on the beach one evening with some of the flash gear I'd brought.




This will be followed by some more post about some of our experiences accompanied by more photos.

Every year one of Kims friends gets someone to take some family photos. Kim told her that this year I could do some for her instead of paying for it...I needed the practice (which is true).

When they arrived at around 4pm Aiden was still asleep so we decided to do some photos in the studio first. I was soooo.. relieved because the sun was out and it would have been really difficult to do outdoor shots in the harsh sunlight.





Karens daughters are quite photogenic so it was easy to get some great photos. I rekon the oldest could get modelling jobs if she wanted.


By the time Aiden woke up and we had finished the inside shoot it was 6pm and we drove down to La Perouse. It was really windy and the sun was still strong. After moving around a bit we eventually settled for the beach where it was slightly less windy and had better light.







I took more than 400 photos on this day and most of them are pretty good. It was pretty exhausting...especially the youngest daughter was really tired by the end of the day.


The photos above are just a couple of the ones I took. I haven't had time to process the others yet so I may make a second blog post later. I took some photos of Karen as well as some where the family is together, but I think Karen would like me to do a bit of work on them first.


I also found that it would have been really hard if I hadn't had Kim there to keep a look out for how the hair was looking, positioning and constant feedback on the photos. She is actually a pretty good assistant even though she doesn't know much about the photography side.


I also realised that I need more practice with taking photos outide in constantly changing conditions, so if anyone if willing to be a 'Model-for-the-day' then let myself or Kim know...it is a win-win, you get some (hopefully great) photos and I get some practice!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2010 will be out little boys first Christmas and he is already getting into the Christmas Spirit. He is still trying to figure out what it means to be Santas Little helper.



We can't wait to see him open his presents....it may be a challenge for him to rip the wrapping paper.

This is our official 2010 Christmas family photo....new tradition for the next couple of years.

There are so many different insects and critters in our garden and they are not all spiders. Every time I do a bit or gardening I get surprised by some of the diversity out there.

I really don't mind as long as they stay out of the house, which they do...most of the time. Most of the insects are too fast to photograph, but yesterday I did spot a couple of caterpillars that were slow enough for me to pull out my macro lens and a flash.







They are actually really hard taking photos of. At that close distance there is a really shallow depth of field and the caterpillars actually move quite fast so it is impossible to use a tripod.


This means that the photos are taken handheld and that I am just holding the flash next to the camera triggered wirelessly.

Today was Aidens first visit to the hospitals Emergency Room.

When I got home from work this afternoon Kim said that Aiden had been unsettled all afternoon. He would be crying/screaming when we were holding him and initially I thought he was hot (it was a warm day). I took him to the shower to see if that would calm him down...it did a little bit.

Afterwards we had him on the bed and we noticed that he wasn't moving his left arm and leaving it limb down his side and when we touched it he started screaming...so off we went to the hospital.

We were lucky that they could take us almost right away to have a doctor examine him. He made the same observation that there was something wrong with his arm and ordered some X-Rays. The X-rays didn't show any fractures or anything (pheeeww...) so they gave him some pain killers. Aiden was so brave having his Xrays taken and being at the doctors. Once the pain killers kicked in he started moving his arm a little.



We were waiting for quite a while for the doctor to come back and when he did Aiden had started moving his arm more. The doctor re-examined the arm and twisted the elbox and bit and said "oh...I felt it pop". Aiden started screaming again, but the doctor said that the arm now should be ok and that he would come back in 10-15 minuted to check.

Surely enough Aiden was a very happy boy when he came back and we think his arm now if back to normal...he had just pulled his elbow.

Apparently it is quite normal for kids. The doctor said that he gets about two cases like that every day.

Thank you Doctor!

It is now the 1st December and the Month of Christmas has officially started. The christmas decorations in the shops here in Sydney went up a little later this year (November) compared to last year (October).

Kim and I have already bought all the christmas presents and this weekend we will put up the Christmas tree. It will be Aiden's first Christmas...he is still a bit too small to understand what christmas is...but at least he will have the photos to remember it by.




Merry Chrismas everyone!

It is now exactly one month to Christmas...the silly season has started.

Kim and I are kicking off the season with some photos of Aiden...it is afterall his first Christmas. He may not remember it later, but at least he will have some photos to look at.

Next week on the 1st of December we will set up the Christmas tree...and I will take some more photos. Already got some ideas...

Again this year I went into the city to have a look at Vivid Sydney. This is a festival of light and music in the city around Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Opera House.

On the first few days of the festival it was raining a bit, but one evening when there was a clear night I went into the city leaving Kim and Aiden at home.

I managed to get a couple of good photos I think although I spent way too much time on photos of the opera house and therefore ran out of time.








This was the third year of the festival and I found this years festival much more creative than the previous years.


Anyway, here are some of the more interesting photos from the evening.

This weekend we made another trip to Centennial Park to go for a walk, have lunch & coffee and take some photos. Is it becoming a regular event so expect some more post in the future.

This Sunday the park was car free, meaning that everyone had to park outside the gates rather then drive into the park. It meant that there was a lot less people in the park which made it even more enjoyable. The trees as beautiful with their golden yellow and red leaves.


It is currently Autumn in Sydney and lately the weather had been fairly miserable and even this Sunday when we went to the park it looked a bit dark and gloomy at first. Fortunately the grass and leaves were fairly dry so I could do our 11 Month photos of Aiden. At first he didn't like the leaves at all, but after a few minutes he warmed up to the idea and started having fun playing with them (and eating them).








He is very funny at the moment, he is starting to crawl a lot faster and would try and get to the camera so I had to keep crawling backwards to keep the distance between us.

Friday night Kim, Dylan and I joined a number of Kims friends on the Abba cruise on the Sydney Harbour.

Dylan had completed a writing assignment we gave him a couple of weeks earlier (to write a 500 word essay about our easter holiday) and as a reward we took him along on the cruise.

The boat was a fairly small boat (almost house boat sized) and probably fitted around 80 people onboard. The Abba band was pretty good. The singing wasn't brilliant, but still very good entertainment and they managed to get the boat rocking. We even managed to get Dylan up dancing (even though we didn't give him much choice).




^{(oh...this photo is intentionally blurred...I tried to create a cool effect by zooming while I took the photo with a rear-curtain sync).}


It was a beautiful calm night, so it was nice to once in a while go up on deck to enjoy the view of the city line. Vivid Sydney had just started so Circular Quay, The opera house and The Rocks was all lit up. I will be heading in there one of the next few nights to take some more photos (I tried to take a couple of photos from the boat but Abba was rocking it too much ;-) ).



I hope Nikon will soon announce the D800...my old D50 was really strugling this evening with the low light conditions and I didn't bring a Tripod along.

Last night Kim and I went to the James Blunt concert in the State Theatre in Sydney. Kim (and to some degree myself) is a big fan of James Blunt so when we heard that he was coming to Sydney we had to get tickets.

The concert was brilliant and it had a lot of energy to it. He played both some of his old songs as well as some of his new ones.




The stage was set up with all these LED panels so that they could project videos, images, colours and patterns onto them to change the mood depending on the songs played.

On the weekend we again went to Centennial Park to go for a walk enjoying a gorgeous Autumn day.


Aiden was a bit tired and wasn't really in the mood to have his picture taken.



This time we brough Dylan along for him to get some exercise (watching too much TV otherwise):

It is getting cooler here in Sydney...the last 2-3 days have been freezing with temperatures at 16 degree during the day (cooler at night). We have turned on the heater in Aidens room as he kicks off his blanket.

One advantage is that there are some beautiful leaves in Centennial Park...

Monday Aiden went to the day care centre (we send him to daycare once a week for him to learn to interact with other kids and more structured play) and the teacher there helped him create a painted "Mum" sign as a Mothers day gift (It is Mothers day on Sunday).

Kim was very proud and asked me to take a photo of it for her to post on facebook. My response was "Sure, I'll go and grap the compact camera"...to which she responded that she wanted a good picture using good lighting so I should go and get my big camera.

So I went ahead and took the following photo of the mum sign using some of Aidens toys as a backdrop.




...but Kim said that she can't use it because it is too good and isn't realistic enough...back to the pocket camera ;-) !

This Easter holiday the family rented a house at Lake Conjola 220 Km south of Sydney (past Jervis Bay). We drove down there Friday morning (about 3 hours) with all our clothes, food etc.It was a four bedroom house for 8 adults and 5 kids, so always something happening somewhere in the house. Aiden was a bit shell shocked on the first day until he got used to the surroundings etc. We had brought our travel cot (a tent) for him to sleep in, in our bedroom and this made it a bit easier for us to put him to sleep.

Every morning the boys went out fishing in Chong's tinny (aussie word for boat). I went along on the first and last day (the other days I valued my morning sleep) and on the first day I caught a 25cm bream...one of the two legal catches during the week. Chong caught a fairly large flathead on one of the other days.


The beach was about a 15 minute walk away from the house walking through the caravan park (On the first morning there was a coffee van parked there and much to Kims dissapointment it was gone all the following days). It it fairly cool this time of the year so none of us went swimming, but it was fun to run around and take some photos. Aiden is getting used to go to the beach and is now quite comfortable sitting looking at things (He has now finally started commando crawling after 10.5 months).
















And at the beach we also had some fun with some 'silly' time.







In the evenings we were playing blackjack...always interesting as we play for money and some days you can be really lucky and others really unlucky. We also played charade where each team should guess movie titles by only showing gestures...which to a large part ought to be X-rated (or as least KC's turns should be).




One of the days I did a bit of creative photography. I showed KC how she could make window blinds look like a nice sunset even though it was grey and overcast outside.





The place had a pool table and this inspired me to the following photo of Kim playing pool.



And I played with the kids colour pencils.




I also did one night photograph on the only clear night we had. I should have spent more time out there, but it was late and I though I'd have a couple of nights ahead where it would be possible.





This year we had agreed that each of us would cook one meal. My meal was Saturday lunch time and I was doing pasta and I has pre-cooked it from Sydney the day before so it was nice and easy. Kim was doing an Indian curry in the evening.

When we ended our stay Kims dad said that this is the best food he's ever had on our holidays together.

This weekend we went with the Heng's onboard one of the last Tall Ships of Sydney harbour called 'Svanen. The day before it had been pouring with rain but we were lucky that the day we had booked was dry and sunny most of the day.

'Svanen' was built in 1922 in Denmark in Fredrikssund of danish oak frames, where she traded as a grain carrier between Denmark and Greenland for the tuborg beer company until 1969. She and James Craig are now the last tall ships in Sydney (The Bounty was sold to china some years ago).




She ain't a big ship, but large enough to carry about 90 passengers.

The interior of the ship is almost in its original state. It is still possible to see all the hand chiseled timer in the cabins.



The ship itself is pretty much still operated as it was back then (although she now has a motor...not sure if she would have had that originally).



And all the rope work is still the way it should be as well.







The cruise lasted a couple of hours and during the trip we were served lunch, beer and wine. This was one of the special deals that Kim had found us so it ended up being a great day.

Every year there is an Ester show at Fox Studios...it is not as big as the show out at Homebush, but it is a lot closer to where we live and entry is free.

Last year and again this year we brough Dylan there as it is difficult for his mum to go there. We normally allow him to get 1 ride or one game at the show, but because we this year brough Aiden along he got three rides as we though we'd check how Aiden would reach to the rides.

The first ride that Dylan chose was a Camel ride (Although they are not actually camels, but Dromedary's).




Afterwards he was complaining about how smelly they are.


In the mean time Aiden was watching the action (It was a pretty cool day and he had been sick the week before so he was dressed in his bunny outfit).



We tried to get Dylan to look scary with some of the local performers, but I think this is the best he could do.



After this I took Aiden and Dylan on the Ferris wheel and the Merry go round.






These are Waaaaayyyy to scary for Kim, so she was waiting down on the ground taking photos.

Going to Boulders Beach with all the penguins was a fun experience for the boys.





There were lots of nesting penguins and they are more agile than you think, jumping between the rocks on the beach (notice how the penguin below is airborne).



They sit on their nests until the eggs hatch.



and they stay with the young ones after they hatch too.



And once in a while a seagull gets lucky and steals one of the eggs.




There are hundreds of them on the beach.





And they are right next to the path.





The whole area was covered in smoke from a massive bush fire up in the hills, so our eyes were watering and hurting by the end of it.



Despite the smoke I still managed to get a good photo of this beautiful flightless bird.

In the evening we went to Cafe Africa. This is a nice little cafe serving authentic African cuisine in the middle of Capetown. The menu was a 16 course degustation type menu with all you can eat of food from all over Africa.

They came around to do a bit of face painting and later there was drumming and dancing from the staff.

On the way down from Table Mountain we visited Bo Kaap.

This is a predominantly muslim neighbourhood with some very colourful houses.



Great as a backdrop for photographing the most beautiful girl I know.



And also the most handsome boys.

After Kruger we flew to Capetown.

The first day we went to Table Mountain. The mountain is often covered in clouds, and with a beautiful hot day we though we'd make the most of it and head up there when we had the opportunity.

The queue getting up there with the cable car was massive, several hundred metres. We quickly learned that the queue for people who had pre-purchased tickets was shorter and also moved faster than the other queue. We quickly jumped across to the other queue and using my mobile I purchased tickets while we were still waiting.



The view from up there is amazing and the top is actually a lot flatter than I though it would be.

One evening at Hazyview we went to a local cultural village of the Shangana Tribe.





First we went to the village itself and were introduced to local food and customs.





The local witch doctor showed us some of the local medicines they used for stomach pains etc.





Afterwards we were entertained by local drumming and dancing in a large hut. Beforehand they had to warm up the drum skins to make them the right tune.



But first we were greeted by the chief of the village.















One of the dances was the boot dance which they danced in the mines of South Africa during the Apartheid.



After the show we had a very traditional and yummy communal dinner as guest of the chief.

At one of the private game reserved the owner maintains a little car museum with some very cool cars.



Especially this Ferrari 335S is interesting. If it is the real thing then it is one of only five ever made where the last one sold at an auction was sold for more that 30 million pounds.

One morning when it was raining at Hazyview we went to the local Reptile Park.

They had a large display of snakes and other reptiles, and also some interesting talks such as about Poisonous snakes.

One of the snakes they showed us was the African Puff Adder, which I remember as a really vicious snake from my days in Kenya. The snake handler certainly convinced me that it is not as aggressive as I thought by walking bare feet past it when it was all curled up really to attack.

Towards the northern end of Kruger there is a wildlife rehabilitation centre where injured animals are cared for before returned to the wild.

Some are unfortunately in a condition where they can never be returned and these are used for educating visitors on wildlife issues.

The guide on our tour around the centre was truly amazing, very funny and very knowledgeable.

Angry Lioness:



Leopard:


Cheetah:


Chevel Cat:


Lion:


Lion with Snack:


Painted Dogs:


Hyena:


Southern Ground Hornbill:


Eagles:








Voltures:




Honey Badger:

In South Africa we did two days in the Kruger National Park.

The first day we hired a private guide to take us around in a 4WD and the second day we did a self drive.

With the guide we were lucky enough to spot all the Big 5 (Elephants, Lion, Leopard, Buffalo and Rhino). The advantage of a guide is that they are in constant radio communications with all the other cars and therefore can track the animals. On this day it was very hot and a lot of the animals were hiding in the bush and it seemed that we spotted all the animals and called it in to the other cars.



Having the private guide was a massive advantage as we could spend the time as we wanted, so we didn't spend much time on say elephants, but we did spend 45 minutes stalking a lion hoping it would get too hot under a bush and get out into the clear.

The second day we went it was raining and a lot more challenging, but we still spotted some that we didn't see the first day.

Camera wise I knew it would be a challenge to get good photos with a normal lens and didn't have the budget or justification to spend on a fast long lens. Instead all the photos in this post were taken with my 80-200 f2.8 with a 2x teleconverter. I used my tripod as a monopod and the guide was great at moving the car into spots where I had a clear line of sight (another advantage of not having to consider other passengers).

Here are the Big 5 we spotted.

Leopard:



Lion:



Rhinos:





Elephants:













African Buffalos:





And here are some of the others such as Zebras:







Hyenas:





Giraffes:





Impalas:





Kudu:





Waterbucks:



Wothhogs:





Baboons:





Monkeys:



Guinea Fowl:



African Fishing Eagles:



Storks:



Marabous:



Turtles (These ones are predators):



Weaver birds:



Chameleons:

On the first day in northern South Africa we drove the Panorama route. This is a beautiful drive up through the mountains and is full of scenic views of the Blyde River Canyon and waterfalls.

The most famous place is Bourkes Potholes.







And the Pinacle







But everywhere is full of beautiful scenery

After our escursion to the park last week the family decided to go there for a picnic on this Labour Day (public holiday).

I was soooo tired after having food poisoning the night before...and wasn't able to eat anything...but the others were having fun.




Here is Kims dad with the four daughters.



What I didn't realise was that this was the park that KC and Chong got married in. The ceremony was in this spot where I took this photo of Kims dad with most of his grand children (the two youngest missing).





I also did some more peacock photos while we were there.



Afterwards there was cake and KC and Chongs place (it was his b'day a couple of days earlier)...but we were too tired to join them.

For the last couple of years work has has an annual photo competition. This year the theme was 'connected world' and I decided to participate.

Not an easy task coming up with an idea and doing a project like this with a new kid. With bit of brainstorming I came up with a couple of ideas and with Kims permission to doing a night shoot in the city I decided to put one of the ideas to life.



I am not sure if it is a strong enough photo to be a real contender, but it was fun trying to put it together. The photo was taking at the Domain in Sydney with the highrises in the background.

Yesterday we made the trip to Auburn Botanical gardens which is located about 25km from where we live.


I am paternity leave at the moment at this was a nice opportunity to get out of the house with Aiden and the newborn and also take some photos.



The garden contains a Japanese section full of Cherry blossoms in spring...unfortunately it is no longer cherry blossom season, but I did find some apple trees with flowers on them as well as other flowers.





There was also a bunch of peacocks around the place...one of them kind enough to show us its pride.

During the last couple of days I have been doing my first series of newboarn photos with the little one (still no name).

So far he is behaving like a typical newborn...wants a feed every couple of hours and sleeps a lot. He is doing his best to keep Kim awake at night...I try to get a good nights sleep and then look after Aiden during the daytime and get him out of the house (swimming, shopping etc.) so that Kim can get some additional sleep without too make additional interruptions.

Anyway...back to the newborn photos. I wanted to take these cute high-key photos with the newborn wearing a hat. It turned out to be a lot harder than I had expected...both due to the little one not behaving as desired, but also because there were a few adjustments that had to be made underway. In the end we ended up doing three sitting where the last sitting was the most successful one.



I knew that I needed to raise the head from the body to get the right pose but I found out that it was a mistake using pillows as they were too soft. After this I tried towels and linen but they were still too soft. In the end I used a hard camera suitcase with a towel on top which turned out to be perfect.





Over the next weeks I will get to take some more photos, so stay tuned...

During the last 9 months since Kim became pregnant I've been doing this project with a monthly belly photo.

On the morning of the 12th September 2012 at 6.10am our little boy arrived to this world. He was keen to get out and as expected (pretty much) he arrived two weeks early.







Labour actually started more than 24 hours earlier and was just dragging on with Kim getting contractions every 30 minutes or so...not close enough to quite panic about, but still with the knowledge that it is close to going to the hospital. At the time the little one arrived Kim had been in labour for more that 24 hours so she eventually ended up with another c-section.







Fortunately there were no complications with the procedure, the only downside was that everyone else in the whole area decided to have babies on the same day, so the hospital natal section was completely full. This meant that for the first three nights Kim and the little one were put in the acute section of the hospital. Very noisy and hard to sleep, but the good thing was that there was a 1:1 carer ratio and they don't normally see little newborns there, so both Kim and the newborn got a lot of attention and assistance.


After 5 nights in the hospital Kim and the newborn (still without a name) came back from the hospital.

The little one actually looks a lot like his older brother...same mold I guess.

Last night I went with Kim and Aiden to Darling Harbour for dinner. We wanted to go somewhere where it was also nice to go for a walk.

We ended up just buying a kebab and sitting on the steps outside eating it while Aiden had fun imitating the sounds of the seagulls trying to get to our foor (in the beginning he was a bit scared of the birds).




I had brought my camera along and took a couple of panorama shots of the harbour...love it, love it, love it. I was able to crank up the ISO and take this handheld with no problems and because of the high resolution it is amazing what I can do with it back home in terms of stitching photos together etc. The end result is a 100 Megapixel image so very big.

Afterwards we had coffee and tiramisu at Guylians...coffee was nice but had better cake before.

We are now 8 months into expecting our new little baby boy and we expect him to arrive any time within the next two weeks.

We did some pregnancy photos the last couple of days to make sure we have some nice ones as a family.

This Sunday it was Fathers Day here in Australia. Aiden had painted me a very nice picture at Daycare as a fathers day present.




In the morning he took me out of for a buffet breakfast at the Crowne Plaza in Coogee...and afterwards we enjoyed a the very nice warm and sunny day at the beach where he got to play in the sand.

This morning Sacha asked me if I'd like to do a sunrise shoot with him at the Opera House. I'd wanted to try out the new camera for landscape so said yes.

This was the very first photo I took and after that the light went pretty bad.




A very nice morning, but I am not sure if I'm cut out for the early starts (had to get up at 4.30am), especially not now that we are going towards summer.

Kim and Aiden stayed at home sleeping and they were still sleeping when I returned at around 7am.

Good news everyone...we are expecting a baby and the stork should be delivering around mid June next year.

I guess most of you guys already know by now....for the rest of you...Surprise!!

It is not unexpected as we were trying.




Now there is a busy time ahead preparing for the baby. Kims wants the baby room painted (Even though in my opinion the baby doesn't care what colour it is).

We will also need to get hold of stuff like prams etc. If there are any baby items that you can spare (especielly items such as car baby seats, pram and changing table) then we would be very grateful.

We don't know if it is a boy or a girl yet (We should know by the end of January).

yesterday it was Kim and I's one year anniversary.

We actually celebrated it on Saturday with a visit to one of Sydney top restaurants called Bilson's.

Yesterday we instead planned to have a nice evening out watching a movie in the evening. Kim was apparently waiting for me to deliver something to her office (or so her colleague said) but after work I was waiting at the car with a bunch of flowers. Kim was so excited to go out in the evening that she forgot to get off the train at our station with the result that she by accident ended up in Parramatta (western Sydney)...it took her one and a half hours to make it to the car...but fortunately the flower still looked fresh.

When we got home I spend some time experimenting with some photos and some lighting of the flowers before we went out, and here are the results. The Macro photos are taking using a 35/50mm lens reversed. The light comes from a single strobe reflected of a mirror.














The movie was really good and entertaining. We saw 2012...and it doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is.

Every year in October & November there is an exhibition called Sculptures by the Sea. The city exhibits close to 200 sculptures on the stretch of coastline between Bondi and Tamarama. The public can go for a walk and have a look at the sculptures and vote for their favourits...if they are able to find parking that is.

Some of them are really good and some of them at just plain weird.

Here's some photos I took of my favourites.

It has been raining almost constantly for the past two weeks (since the dust storm really) and Andy and I had organised to go climbing in the Blue Mountains together with a friends of his (Dan) who's never been on on real rock before.

We looked a the forecast and it didn't look promising for the mountains so the night before we decided to go to plan B and go to Barrenjoey instead.

The quality of the climbing is more limited, but at least it is a shorter drive and walk-in in case you have to bail.

We arrived up at Palm Beach in the morning and the roads were still soaked in water from all the rain the night before. We therefore decided to stop at a cafe and have some breakfast and let the cliffs dry out a bit before walking in there.

While eating breakfast we were having a look at the latest radar pictures and we could see that it was pouring down in the mountains and we could see rain approaching the Sydney area.

After breakfast we were trying to decide whether we should bail or go climbing. After much procrastination we decided to climb and went to the carpark. Andy pulled out the insect repellent and started rubbing it into his genitals (or so it looked) saying that it would keep the chicks away (which I'm sure his wife appreciates)...or was it ticks.



For Dans benefit we started out on one of the easiest climbs around there called Jezebel. Andy did the first lead and as he finished we could feel the first rain drops. I then did the second climb and once I reached the top the rain became heavier. The plan was to have Dan follow me up so that he could try an absail from the top. Once he reached the top it really started pouring and all of us became drenched while setting up the absail and clearing the gear.

Dan made it down in good style (although nervous) and once I'd made it to the ground as well we quickly packed our gear and headed back home for a nice warm shower.

Mostly a non-climbing day really...but Andy did get his sugar-hit with the pancakes.

Saturday evening Kim and I went with a couple of friends to the Capitol Theatre to see the Broadway play called Wicked.

The play is about how the Wicked witch became wicked in 'The Wizard of Oz'.



The play very cleverly provides the background for the Wizard of Oz.

This was Kims birthday present to me earlier in the year...satisfied the criteria for presents: Must be an experience or a consumable.

It was a really nice evening and the play was very funny...especially the Wizard of Goodness (a real blonde)

The last 24 hours has been the most freak weather I've (and anyone else) has experienced in Sydney.

Yesterday we had 30 degrees during the day and in the evening a huge thunderstorm descended upon Sydney with massive rainfalls and very high winds. Kim found that water was dripping through ceiling and my first though was "This ain't good" and rushed up to check if there was a hole in the roof tiles or in the plumbing (if you see one of the previous posts then you'll notice that we've installed Solar hot water and this system is positioned above that same bathroom).

I could clearly see where the water had come in, but it wasn't through any gaps and it seemed that the strong winds had pushed the water backwards and upwards under the tiles...whew...but I'll have another look next time it rains.

Then this morning I woke up and looked out the window and everything was covered in a bright red and yellow haze and it was blowing a gale. I had a look at the forecast and stuck my head outside the window and it turned out that all of NSW was encapsulated in a massive dust storm with fine red dust coming from the Australian outback.



Everything outside is now covered in this fine dust, cars, windows...everything.

One of out friends too the following photo from his balcony:



The area covered by the dust is huge and apparently it may even reach New Zealand.

This weekend we invited a group of my friends over for BBQ.

The official excuse was for my recovery after my Hernia surgery (which is still causing me some grief some days).

It was a beautiful spring day with 31 degrees in the shade and luckily I had put up a gazebo outside to cover the area and provide a bit of shade.

Most of the day I was attending the BBQ cooking Lamb Cutlets, Fish, Prawns, Vietnamese Sausages and Chicken skewers.

The last batch of chicken skewers I forgot on the BBQ with a very predictable result.



In the evening we had Kim's family over for dinner/BBQ, so a repetition of the afternoon.

This weekend we went to Sasha's and Mavis's wedding.




Family and friends were invited to attend the ceremony at Greenwich at 10am. The location they had chosen had a stunning view of Sydney Harvour and skyline.

When we arrived neither the groom or the bride were there. Approximately 20 minutes later the bride arrived, but still no groom, so she did another round in the car.

Finally at 10.30 Sasha arrived with his dad after having been stuck in traffic, shortly after Mavis arrived in her beautiful wedding dress and the ceremony could get under way.



It was a beautiful ceremony, beautiful location and beautiful weather.

After the ceremony it was photo time.

The reception was at a restaurant called Occilate Wildly in Newtown. The food was nice and at the end of the afternoon everyone went on their way.

During the trip Kim took a number of videos using her compact camera. Here are the best ones (Click on the links to download the videos):

Denmark:

Knights Fighting
Firing Weapon

Italy:

Verona
Aida the Opera 1
Aida the Opera 2
Aida the Opera 3
Aida the Opera 4
San Gimignano
View of Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre from the boat
Driving to Portofino
Portofino
View of Lake Como
Lake Como from the Boat
Driving on mountain roads
Cow (Dont kill the cow)
Switzerland

The week before we went away on holiday I experienced pain in the pelvic area. I quickly got it diagnosed with ultrasound to be a hernia. Furtunately it could wait until we came back from holiday to be fixed although it was giving me some problems along the way carrying suitcases etc.

As soon as we came back I went to see the specialist and he told he that it would have to be fixed with surgery and that he could schedule it for the following week.

In the morning of the surgery I had to be at the hospital at 6.30am in the morning. Surgery started at 9am and by 11am I was awake again released at 1pm.

So it terms of the surgery it was very smooth...but it was very painful afterwards. I had problems standing up and sitting down.


This photo was taken two days after the surgery:



The cut is 13cm long and at this point I am still very much in pain.


The feedback from the doctor was that this was an Indirect Inaugural hernia and apparently the type that can cause a lot of problems later on if not fixed.

Unfortunately part of hernia surgery is that they have to cut some of the nerves so that they don't get caught in the mesh they use to repair it with.


This means that now two and a half weeks after the surgery there is still a large area around the cut that has got no sensation to touch or pain and some areas are hyper sensitive with the result that even the lightest touch is painful.

I hope the eventually all the sensation returns to normal (apparently in 25% of the cases this doesn't happen). I also hope that the scar won't be too bad and will mostly disappear long term.

Last night Kim and I went to the show Velvet at the Sydney Opera House.

It was a combination of circus, burlesque and boogie nights (70's music) in one show.




The show had great music with Marcia Hines and Brendan Maclean and the performers were great. I think everyones favourite was the guy with the hula hoops.

I don't know for sure which ones are Claus and which ones are Rene.

This post is mostly about Claus when he was at his top as one of Denmarks top tennis players.

I have kept scans of all the newspaper clippings from when he was winning a lot of tournaments.





























































In the mid 90's he started to get pretty sick and although he still tried to play tennis it was never at the same level again. Eventually he more or less gave up. His illness took to great a hold of him. These are some of the 'darkest' photos I have of him while he was struggling with his schizophrenia and were taken shortly before I moved to Australia.





He lost contact with most of his friends and was very dependent on my mum and dad as well as other support programs in place.







I prefer to remember him as he was before he passed away.


















This poem reminds me of him.

The morning after I killed myself, I woke up.

I made myself breakfast in bed. I added salt and pepper to my eggs and used my toast for a cheese and bacon sandwich. I squeezed a grapefruit into a juice glass. I scraped the ashes from the frying pan and rinsed the butter off the counter. I washed the dishes and folded the towels.
The morning after I killed myself, I fell in love. Not with the boy down the street or the middle school principal. Not with the everyday jogger or the grocer who always left the avocados out of the bag. I fell in love with my mother and the way she sat on the floor of my room holding each rock from my collection in her palms until they grew dark with sweat. I fell in love with my father down at the river as he placed my note into a bottle and sent it into the current. With my brother who once believed in unicorns but who now sat in his desk at school trying desperately to believe I still existed.

The morning after I killed myself, I walked the dog. I watched the way her tail twitched when a bird flew by or how her pace quickened at the sight of a cat. I saw the empty space in her eyes when she reached a stick and turned around to greet me so we could play catch but saw nothing but sky in my place. I stood by as strangers stroked her muzzle and she wilted beneath their touch like she did once for mine.

The morning after I killed myself, I went back to the neighbors’ yard where I left my footprints in concrete as a two year old and examined how they were already fading. I picked a few daylilies and pulled a few weeds and watched the elderly woman through her window as she read the paper with the news of my death. I saw her husband spit tobacco into the kitchen sink and bring her her daily medication.

The morning after I killed myself, I watched the sun come up. Each orange tree opened like a hand and the kid down the street pointed out a single red cloud to his mother.

The morning after I killed myself, I went back to that body in the morgue and tried to talk some sense into her. I told her about the avocados and the stepping stones, the river and her parents. I told her about the sunsets and the dog and the beach.

The morning after I killed myself, I tried to unkill myself, but couldn’t finish what I started.

—Meggie Royer

Here are some more photos from my childhood in no particular order.

The first ones from a New Years eve where we got a bit silly with the hats. These were taken at a New Years even in Kenya and before my brother got really sick, so probably around 1989/90.



And here is Claus.



And my mum.




I was really good at shooting when I was a kid and won lots of championships. This photo is one of the few things I have from that time.


This is Claus and I with our dog.



Not sure which ones of these is Claus and which is me.




















This was taken just christmas day in the back yard of my grandma's (Mormor) house. We got the skis as a christmas present. All the fields behind her house belonged to my mothers brother Flemming.



I think this may be my brother. For the first time I've noticed the photo in the background. It looks like this may be a photo of my mum with her two sisters and brother and what could be her dad Raimer in the middle.















This would most likely be the new years eve where we were trapped by the snow 1978/79. We were supposed to have celebrated with the family but couldn't even get out of the house. Delicious with a glass of milk and a pie.






We didn't have a lawn in the back yard. Instead we had pebbles...lots of fun shoveling them.







This I think is a christmas eve dinner at my grandmas (mormor) place. My mum on the left and my uncle Flemming in the middle. Not sure who the person standing up in. It could be my grandmas brother. Possibly from around 1976/77


I think it is my great grandpa (Raimer) in the middle row number two from the left. The title of the photo says that it is Christoffer (??) in the top left corner. Looking at the age of the boys this would have been taken in the 1920's.


Claus dancing aeound the christmas tree and my mum and grandma (Bedstemor/Farmor).


From left to Right. My grandma (On my dads side/Bedstemor/farmor), Knud Aage (My uncle/dads brother), My mum (in the foreground), My grandad (in the background), Irene (my auntie/dads sister), Grete and I assume the baby is Vinnie which means that it is likely that my mum was pregnant with Claus (born in July).






















This was taken at my grandparents place and after my brother got sick. He was really suffering at this point.






This is one of the happiest family photos I have and the only one I have a print of.



Going for a walk at Marielyst with Lott and Willy some of our german friends. Claus in the foreground and my dad on the right. I think you can just spot me in yellow pants in the background.



I think this is at Lotte and Willy's summer house.






Not sure if this is Claus or myself being babtised. It is my grand mother being god mother.











This was taken outside our summer house in Marielyst.



My brother number 2 from the top right on his school photo.



Claus at daycare number 4 from the top left.



Me at day care top left.

Here is some more old photos of my mum. This time with here brother and sisters.

This first one if probably one of the oldest. You can tell that the photo was shot in black and white and that the negative was later coloured (badly). It would be my mum in the middle with her two sisters Eli (the oldest on the right) and Yrsa.




This is my mum in the middle with what I assume is cousins.





I think it is my grandmother (Karen) holding my mum.


Here is the same as the first photo, but this time without the colour.



My mum and her sisters playing in the courtyard of their farm


My mum with her older sisters.


Eli, Yrsa, Sonja and Flemming Kragh.


Having her photo taken as a little girl.


Upset about having her photo taken?
























My mum with her younger brother Flemming.


As a liitle girl


My mum in school.





From left to right...Eli, Yrsa my mum (Sonja) and Flemming.


As a young girls/woman...possibly from her Konfirmation.



My mum as a girl scout (no 4 from the left).


It is Flemming in the middle and my mum on the right.

When I was a kid we would every summer travel to Southern Europe with our caravan.

Usually travelling through Swizerland or Austria ending up in Italy (Either Lido di Jesolo or the Italian Riviera). Underway we would visit old friends of my mum and dad from the time they were working in Italy.

Here are some photos from that time.









I just noticed the burn scar on my arm on the above photo. I think this is one of the few childhood photos where you can really see it.




















This was out caravan while travelling.








This is our caravan with the tent up in the middle.

This weekend we took the kids for a walk with some friends from Maroubra to Lurline Bay.

It is a nice little pleasant walk that is easy for the kids.




They loved jumping between the boulders.




...and exploring the small rock pools.







Because of the recent storms the beach was full of Blue bottles, so no playing in the sand this time around.





They are nasty little creatures that will sting you badly if you touch them.




This surfer was being very careful in his bare feet.

Earlier this month it was Lucas birthday.

We didn't have a kids party for him, but we did celebrate with the family.







We gave him a new bike for his birthday...he was stunned and didn't know what to think of it, but he loves riding it now.