It is the 29th February and the last day of the bet I had with Kim....and believe it or not, but Aiden started walking by himself today.



We are very proud of him and I am double proud of him as he delivered the goods just in the nick of time...one day later and I would have been cleaning the house (lucky that this year is a leap year)!

Aiden is now able to stand up by himself.

He is now 20 months and should have been walking ages ago, so he is a bit behind on that front. Hopefully I can get him to take one step before the end of next week...I have a bet with Kim going whether he will walk before the end of February.

Today we went to Centennial Park to take some family photos. I had been complaining that I didn't have enough (good) photos of myself and Aiden so Kim offered to take some.

We found a nice spot in the park and managed to take a couple of shots before my camera ran out of battery...and unfortunately I had forgotten my spare at home.



Kim just came back from a business trip to Singapore a couple of days ago and it is really nice to have her back. I missed her but I am not sure Aiden missed her as much as he is such a daddys boy. When she was back he just turned away and would rather stay with me.

Also the little tiger is now 20 months and he is still not walking...what is going on?

Last night Kim and I went to the Ronan Keating concert in State Theatre in Sydney.



Kim is a long time fan of Ronan and really wanted to see him live. I am to be honest not really familiar with his music but had a good evening nonetheless.

The warming up band was Sharon Corr (from The Corrs) and I really enjoyed her both playing and singing...she is pretty talented on the violin.

Chong brought his Tinny (Australian slang for boat) to Tomakin and every morning the guys went out fishing for a few hours (I only went out one morning because 1. I had to look after Aiden and 2. I am not a morning person).





We caught lots of fish, but none of them were worth keeping as they were too small.



Just as well we didn't keep any, because on one of the days the fishing inspection gave us a visit.




In fact the only thing we caught that was above the size limit was this blue swimmer crab (and he was allowed to live another day).




We also had a visit from two massive sting rays (about 1 meter in diameter).

The house we stayed at had a table tennis table in the garage. We had enough people to form three double teams and we spent quite a few hours playing each other.





Kims dad is 78 years old and is still going strong...he loves playing games.

On the last couple of evenings we went to the beach to do some nice sunset photos. Tomaking is very onique in that it has some beaches that are facing west so you can use the nice light in the evening.

We did some family photos (some of which are on the previous blog post) as well as some of just Kim, Aiden and I. Kim still looks as beautiful as the day I met her.











I also did a rush job taking some long exposure shots of the ocean and the cliffs (not sure if I like the post processing...may have to come back to it some other day).

This years christmas family trip went to Tomakin on the NSW south coast (about 5 hours drive south of Sydney).



We rented a house with four bedrooms (for 9 adults and 5 kids) very close to the beach and fishing in the river. Fun with this large a group of people.





As usual we spent some time at the beach and I was showing Aiden how to build sand castles again.



He is still not walking so we had to hold his hands walking on the beach and in the water.





Right next to the house there was a nice litte organic coffee shop serving really good coffee and scones.



One morning we went to Mogo to have a look at the shops. There was a lot of art and crafts shop that Kim was interested in. The town had very conveniently created facilities for husbands as well.

Christmas day we spent at Bondi Beach with Sacha and Mavis and their daughter. We met up at the kids pool at the end of the beach to let our kids have a splash in the water.



Aiden couldn't get enough of walking around in the water with myself and Kim holding his hands (he still can't walk by himself), he is very fond of water.



Sammi, Sacha and Mavis' daughter was wearing a flotation suit which was causing her a few problems as this photo series testifies.

Christmas Eve this year was celebrated with Kims family. Normally we do this on the 25th like all other Australians, but this year we decided to do it the day before like in Denmark to avoid a lot of leftover food before going down south on out family trip to Tomakin.



Later in the day Santa Claus arrived to hand out presents for the kids.



For the lunch I roasted two ducks and Kim baked a chocolate ganache and made a salad.





Aiden was very excited and played with all Ethand and Kaylas toys.

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

There are a number of waterfalls on the main island Efete in Vanuatu.

Some of these are very accessible as they are right next to the road such as this one.



Others are a bit more of a hike, but definitely worth it...such as these ones at Mele.

Unfortunately the access to the falls is not being very well managed. They have cut steps into the limestone and scrubbing the surface to avoid people slipping when walking. Unfortunately this also erodes and changes the waterfalls and I think they should put a walking track adjacent to the falls instead.

One day we hired a driver to take us around the island.

One of the places we stopped was the Blue Lagoon which is a small semi freshwater lagoon with large lime stone deposits making the water very blue to look at.



We also stopped at Turtle Bay which is supposed to be a turtle sanctuary...but for what it is (tiny) and the knowledge of your guide (none) very over prised.

But they did have some live coconut crabs.



Some baby turtles



And a couple of large turtles in a very small and dirty enclosure.

The hotel we stayed at was in a great location at the back of the lagoon with a little private beach.





...and a Tam Tam out the front.




It was great using some of the watersport equipment such as kayaks and catemarans







And it had a golf course which we didn't get a chance to use.



Mostly we would just relax or swim when around the hotel.

You would think that a country with access to some of the best seafood and freshest produce would have fantastic food.

Although the food was Ok, we didn't find it fantastic and generally very over prised.



There was plenty of restaurant in and around Port Vila and some of them serving specialties such as coconut crabs and flying foxes.

We tried the coconut crab...but it was overcooked and dry and had surprising little meat on it (no meat in the body itself).




So we stuck to more traditional seafood which most often was battered and deep fried.



And as usual Aiden got into the free kids menu desserts

This weekend we went up to Lake Macquarie with the family to stay for a couple of night at a resort. I didn't take a lot of photos because we either didn't do much or were too busy with the family.

I did however take this one photo one evening at Katherine Hill Bay.

The beach at the hotel was full of really big and colourful star fish....couldn't help but take a few snapshots.

Lucas is now 7 Months and for this month we decided to take his Monthly photos while he was on his first overseas trip to Vanuatu.

This series of photos was taken at Eton Beach on the east side of the island of Efate in Vanuatu...he loved the water and had a hard time to understand that it is unpleasant to eat the sand and drink the salt water.

He is now almost able to crawl...he just needs to figure out that it is not enough to just move the legs...you also have to move your hands.

I know it was a couple of months ago, but I only now got around to processing it.

Here is another photo that I took of Lucas when he was 4 Months.

The other night we went for dinner at Marks place. He asked us if we could help him take some photos of the kids Axolotls...our response was 'Their WHAT??'.

Anyway, it turns out to be some sort of Mexican Salamander and he'd attempted to get some photos using his point and shoot camera, but wanted something better that he could print and hang on the kids wall.

Here are some of my efforts:

When Lucas doesn't have any toys to play with then his favourit pass time is to suck his feet. Here is a quick snapshot from the other day when he was at it again.




He's now got two teeth, so hopefully he wont chomp off his toes.

Going through some old photos I came across these of my great grand parents (on my mothers side).




I am pretty sure that the little girl on the left is my Mum (So the photos must have been taken around 1943-1944) and the other two girls are her sisters (My Aunties) Eli on the right and Yrsa in the middle.

I assume that the women in the back are their grand parents (my great grands) with the woman on the right being my grandmothers (mormor's) mum and the one on the right being grandad's (morfar'd) mum.


Here is a family photo of what I assume is my grandmothers (mormor's) family. I think it is my grandma in the middle right behind my great grandmother.


I assume this is my great grandparents, but I cannot be certain.




This must be a birthday for my grandmother.


This was taken outside the farm where my mum grew up. It is my grandad (morfar) in the middle on the right and it could be my grandmother (mormor) on the stairs with her mum. The farm is still there today owned by my uncle.






This must be some of the family on my grandads (morfar's) side, so possibly some of his siblings.

A friend asked if I would do a commissioned corporate portrait for professional usage.

I said I was happy to help and on a very rainy day we managed to get the the shoot done. This is the most corporatey of the lot.

I purchased a cheap ring flash and had a bit of a play with it one evening and took the following happy snap photo of Kim.




We are planning a holiday and I am thinking that I might bring it along.

In Kenya we would just camp somewhere in the bush whenever we went out on safari. In the evening we would sit around a camp fire and on more than one occasion were we visited by lions either wandering past or approaching the camp site at night.

One night my mum woke up with a lion starring into the tent and we had paw prints on the car next to the tent.

 






































Some of the sights were truly amazing such as the extinct volcanoes.



Or Lake paradise in Marsabit in the middle of the desert.




Or lake Nakuru with all the flamingoes (and as I discovered, ancle deep poo).



And the locals were always friendly.

When I was a kid we spent a lot of time in southern Europe.

In 1983 I went with my mum and dad through France and through Avignon.

We were camping on the opposite side of the river just where the half bridge would have met the other bank.



One night there was a firework and we got showered in debris from the exploded rockets.

Last weekend when we went to Eastgardens I spotted one of the shops were setting up new clothes on the mannequins. Two of the arms were placed on the floor perfectly for this tender embrace.

Sunday we went to the Easter show at the Fox studios.

This year we bought an unlimited rides pass for all of us. This mean that both Lucas and Aiden could do a lot of rides with bot Kim and I.

Aiden was feeling a little sick but he didn't let that stop him and Lucas was a bit more hesitant and spend the first couple of hours refusing to go on any rides but once he got started he wasn't to be stopped.







We went with a couple of friends and everyone had fun.
















Except he who had to take Aiden on all the rides that make me seasick.










The also had a 1:1 size Lightning McQueen car and Mack truck, but Aiden wasn't in a mood to say hello or have his photo taken.

On the weekend we went a trip to Symbio wildlife park. We have been there before, but we managed to purchase some cheap tickets and it is a great place for small kids as they can pad and feed the animals. Aiden especially loves animals and is getting good at feeding them himself.







Even Lucas who is normally terrified of animals eventually took courage to touch a Joey (baby kangaroo).







But he was too scared to approach the larger ones.




We also looked at some of the other animals there, such as the crocodiles.




The Dingo's.




The snakes.




The Emu




And the chameleons.




And the red panda.

This week Kim and I went with a couple of friends to Lyric Theater to see Le Noir.

It was a bit of a last minute decision day before as cheap tickets suddenly came up.



It was really good with death dying stunts and great performances and rancy sexiness to enjoy.

I February my dad came to visit for a couple of weeks with Connie, mainly to see the two boys.

Aiden was very excited to have him here and Lucas was initially a bit shy but eventually warmed up.



My Dad brought all my old lego from Denmark, much to the amusement of especially Lucas who enjoys building things.




Aiden eventually also wanted to join.




They also spent time in the garden playing ball.










One day we went to Darling harbour for the Chinese new year. We stopped for some coffee and chilled out.










Afterwards we went to see the chinese decorations.
















And we also did a carousel ride.







And we also stopped to get some photos of my dad with both the kids together...which is never easy.