Aiden is now in Year 1 at school. This photo is from his first day back at school.

Aiden lost his front teeth.

I just completed this photo of the boys about to be eaten by a leopard in the dark jungle.



At the airport in Victoria Falls they had these awesome stuffed animals that I though could be fun for some composite work.

Trying to get the boys to act scared rather than just being silly was a different matter.

Here are some more photos of the animals.

Traveling with the two boys can sometimes be a bit of a challenge, but this time it actually went very will. They behaved well on the flights watching movies, playing, drawing and looking out the windows.











They were even lucky enough to be invited into the cockpit while at the terminal and were allowed to press the big red button on the flight stick (transfers the flight control).



During the trip the boys were sleeping in the same bed (and sometimes in the same room as us), and they were usually so tired after a days of activities that they would sleep rather than muck around.





The accommodation was a combination hotels, lodges, cottages and apartment. (useful to have two toilets sometimes).



They also loved seeing large beetles and grasshoppers - but refused to touch them.





Some of their highlights were the unusual playgrounds they got to play in and the large lollipops at the airport.





And some of my highlights were the local toys such as the cars/tractors made from wires and the homemade slingshots.

The West Coast National Park north of Cape Town is something special. During the spring all the South Africans go there to see the spring flowers, but it is equally beautiful other times of the year with its remote beaches and azure blue water inside the lagoon.





It was a beautiful spot to have Kim do a bit of modelling.





The boys absolutely loved playing in the water.









Even though it is a long drive (on easy roads) there were some interesting creatures along the way.



Such as Eland



And lots of Ostrich.



And lots of scenit spots in the small villages along the Atlantic coast.

Cape town is a nice place and fairly small by Sydney standards. Although very modern it still has an African feel to it.







It is possible to walk through the city and get a pretty good overview of most things in a single day.



In the centre of the city is the Company Gardens which is where the Dutch East India Company used to grow supplies for their ships. This is now a big park full surrounded by old buildings, souvenir stalls and full of squirrels.












On the squares there are people entertaining with dance, music and entertainers everywhere.









At the waterfront it is full a bustling environment of museums and restaurants.

Hout Bay is just south of Cape Town - Besides from being a nice little fishing village it is also famous for its boat tours out to Seal Island. This is an island with a large colony of predominantly male seals.



From the harbour it is a short 45 minute round trip out to see the seals.



Back at the harbour there was one of the locals who had managed to train one of the wild seals to come and get food from him. It would jump out of the water and grab the food from his hand or from his mouth.





It was also tame enough for the boys to touch.

We spent a day driving out through the wine lands around Cape Town, namely Stellenbosch and Franschhoek.



As everywhere else it is a beautiful area surrounded by mountain ranges.



Kim had been recommended a nice restaurant in Franschhoek, but when we got there it was fully booked (or invitation only - not sure), so we ended up at an equally nice french restaurant down the road.





The vineyards there are massive compared to Australia - they are proper estates on massive lands.





One of the estates had this nice McLaran parked outside.



We didn't do much tasting though - the way they do it (you order a sit down wine tasting or a wine package for a fee) didn't really fit with me driving and traveling with kids.

The Boys were as usual more interested in playing.

One morning we went to the Cheetah Outreach centre outside Cape Town.

Here they train dogs to keep wild cats away from cattle and sheep so that these don't get eaten. The idea is that if the farmers keep dogs to keep their animals safe then they don't have to set traps to kill the wild cats. Interesting idea, but I would think that it would take a lot of dogs, and the farmers would probably still shoot or trap the wild cats anyhow.

The centre also keeps some cheetahs that visitors are allowed to pat (for a fee).

The Cape Peninsula is a beautiful area with nice views and little isolated beaches where ever you look. We spent a whole day exploring along the coast...breathtaking.

I think it is about time that I introduce myself. It has afterall been two weeks since I was born...but my parents didn't have a name ready for me when the Stork arrived....typical!!

They have now finally named me...took them long enough. They had a shortlist of names, but they weren't sure which one I would prefer. I was trying to tell them but there is an interpretation problem, they don't understand Baby and I am still unable to speak English. Fortunately they chose the name that I like as well. For the first couple of weeks they just called me 'Baby'.


So here I go....Hello everyone. My name is AIDEN LEE PALLESEN....and I am pleased to meet you!




The first two weeks of my life has been busy. I arrived to this world on the 7th June 2010. Suddenly I was removed from my mums comfortable belly and was expected to take my first breath. Yeah right...I'd like to see you guys have your head put under water and see how quickly you adjust!! I was worried that they would slap me in the bum like I have seen on some of the movies.



Anyway, only took a couple of hours before I got the idea. It is really not that hard, you just move your chest up and down and the rest takes care of itself.

One thing though...for the past two weeks I've felt sooo sleepy and really hungry. I know I am giving my mum a really hard time wanting food every couple of hours but at least she has my dad there to help her out a bit and take care of my night feeds.

Last week I was introduced to my new home. My dad carried me around the house and told me where everything was. I must say that my mum and dad has done a fantastic job decorating the room I will be living in when I get a bit older.




I feel that I am very lucky that I have two very loving and caring parents. It is a new experience to them as well as to me, so a bit of a learning curve ahead.
For example the first few days after I arrived home they kept taking my clothes off all the time. They said it was so that they could change something called a 'Nappy'. I don't like the cold so every time they did it I would start crying. Now I know that this is one of the ways they show me that they love me...so I don't mind it so much anymore.



Also, every morning my dad takes me to the bathroom and gives me something he calls a 'Bath'...sounds like Thai to me, but apparently it is supposed to make me clean and smell nice.
It involved my dad using something called 'Water' to first clean my fair and then submerge me into. Silly dad...he should know that I have quite gotten used to do this thing called 'Breathing' now and dont need water.


Anyway, in the beginning I was crying everytime he put me in the water, but I am slowly getting used to the idea as long as the water is warm enough. I still panic once in a while due to the feeling of weightlesness. I prefer when daddy takes me in the shower...I like the feeling of water sprinkled onto my belly. Once in a while I return my love by sprinkling my daddy with warm water too...




My dad and I will give you some future updates on how I am experiencing my new life. I am still getting used to the idea of him taking photos of me. The flashes are really bright! Mummy is worried about my comfort...I love her deerly for her concern. I should be getting more used to him taking photos...he's already told me that he's got so many ideas and I would like to help him. I am still working on the learning how to pose in photos so that I am ready for what he would like me to do...It is hard to look cute when you are put in an unfamiliar basket like above and don't have any control of your arms and legs yet.


I am really pleased to say hello to all of you! I can't wait to meet you all!

Ok, He has now been cleaned up a bit but is still sleeping most of the time.

I brough my camera gear to the ward to take some more (and better) photos than what I could do with the small pocket camera.

On the 7th June in the morning Kim started going into labour.She woke me up at 6am and told me that her water broke...and that it was time to go to the hospital.

When we got there the contractions were only 4-5 minutes apart and pretty irregular. After a few hours they started infusing to move things along. Eventually the contractions were very close and very painful (for Kim), so we aked for an epidural.

As soon as she got the epidural everything stopped and slowed down. Eventually the Obstitrician said that it was time to do a C-section to get the baby out.

It was pretty quick and those critters definitely look like little aliens when they come out.




In the beginning he had a few breathing problems (which apparently is normal with children with ceasar children) so he (and I) was rushed to the nursing care unit for closer observation.




While we were there Kim was eventually rolled past an hour later so that she could have a quick cuddle before herself being rolled up to the ward for observation.

Here's a photo of the very proud mum:



I was still in my operating theatre outfit and here's a photo of the very proud dad too:



He also managed to get a quick feed while he was there.


After spending 4 hours in the care his breathing was relaxed and his carbondioxide levels had dropped he was released and I could roll him up to mummy in the ward for some sleep for both of them.

On the 4th of June 2010 my grandmother (on my dads side) passed away being 90 years old. She had a stroke about a months ago and was unconscious for a long time.



She did regain a bit of conscious to the point where she could nod and recognise people.

After this her condition deteriorated but her being such a tough woman she was hanging on in there.

Eventually she couldn't hand on any longer and passed away. She was the last one of my grandparents and she was burried on the 10th June, 3 days after my son was born, so unfortunately they never got a chance to meet.

Tonight is my GCC break day (Only 11,000 steps today compared to over 20,000 yesterday). I celebrated this with a glass of wine...and then I though why stop there.I could take a cool photo as I was pouring the glass (my second).




I did do a bit of playing around but I found that it worked best if the flash was able to burn out some of the details and illuminate the wine from behind.

Flash was positioned on the floor (glass on a chopping board on a chair) @ 1/4 power...the background is a white wall.

The wine is a Southern Sisters 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot...not a bad drop for an everyday wine.

I did another photo session with little bob. He was going "More, More...." and Mummy was going "Not again!".

Anyway, had the chance for a couple more creative shots.







Not sure if I like the reflection in this shot...so I may have to re-do it.

Here is another GCC photo

I am currently participating in the GCC (Global Corporate Challenge). This is a team event where each participant has to do more than 10,000 steps per day using a pedometer (step counter) for the next 16 weeks. I will when convenient take my camera with me an try and do something creative.

This was day one where I walked to a meeting in North Sydney over the Sydney harbour bridge. When I got home I did some tilt shift effect to it so make it more toy like:

It is now week 35 and the baby is expected within the next 5 weeks (hopefully at week 40). Kim is getting pretty big and yesterday I used the opportunity to take a couple of photos of her belly (and a worried dad)...evidence below.



I alto tried to take a couple of nice ones as well as some artistic ones.




I would have taken a lot more, but even though the baby was saying "More, More..." the mummy ran out of patience...maybe I'll get another chance during the week to take some more.

Some time ago I saw a photo of a kiwifruit and wanted to see if I could do something similar. It took a bit of experimenting, but eventually I got there. First a thin slice of kiwifruit (I chose to keep the skin on for effect), a couple of toothpicks to lift it off the surface and then one toothpick to hold it upright.

20 cm behind the flice I positioned a flash (SB600) firing at 1/64 power. Camera is set at 1/250th sec, f13, ISO 200 @42mm (on Nikon D50)....viola:

My gallery of black & white photos of the Chilli Festival!

Whilst we were in Morocco, our whole family went riding on donkeys.

That included my grandparents! They needed a bit of support to keep their balance, but otherwise they were doing all right.

You can see my grandmother, my brother Claus and my mother in succession behind by grandfather.





Here is my father! Do you not think that he looks so much like his brother in one of the photos on the 80th birthday page?






Here is my brother on the donkey. It is quite amazing how much these small animals can carry.





My mum on her donkey. Not quite as elegant (maybe relaxing a bit would have helped) as the rest of the family, but at least she didn’t fall off!

This is one of the few pictures I have of her where she is not smoking! (oh, and the other one at my grandmother's 80th, of course! It was a very nice picture of her smiling!



Finally, someone got a photo of me on my donkey!

Our main reason for the trip to Morocco, was to come together as a family and attend my grandmother's 80th birthday. We also managed to explore Morocco, and even had a fun day riding donkeys - yes, the whole family - my grandparents, parents and brother!

We met different people and there were some really beautiful women in this country. There were some interesting buildings and we even found some strange goats!

The Women of Morocco . . .







People in the city tend to be more extremist/fundamentalist when it comes to religion, then those who come from the country areas.

One reason could be that the people living in the cities are mainly Arabic, and those living in the countryside are Berbers.

Berber women are less dressed up than in the cities.

Some of them are extremely beautiful.

Also, I noticed that those in the city tend to be more self-conscious of photos being taken than those in the country.People are naturally a bit shy, but by showing friendliness, it a makes it a lot easier to take good photos.

Hmmm... Do you know that I was actually offered to buy this girl on the right for two camels? I do not know why they wanted to get rid of her. Maybe she was making too much trouble in the village?

Anyway…I refused the offer.






The girls decorate themselves with what is called henna. It is a dye that stains there hands for a long time. They paint different patterns onto their hands and it actually looks very pretty. Much nicer than tattoos - which are permanent!





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Goats . . .



We came across a couple of trees full of goats. They were climbing around the tree to reach all the green leaves. Our first though was that someone put them there, but they were too much out of reach for that idea.

My whole family was in Morocco to celebrate my grandmother's 80^th birthday.

This is my grandmother. Even as an 80-year-old woman, I find her pretty cool (you should see some of the pictures I’ve got of her with dark Blues Brothers sunglasses).

(No need to say that the flags are Danish.)

It was a family reunion. We do not all live in the same place, but all of us make this journey as it is one of the few times that we all get together. Unfortunately, there were a few of us who could not make it.

It was important for me to be there it was hard to tell whether the whole family will ever come together again as a large group, as my grandparents are no longer living there.











My brother, Claus!

Another person I find pretty cool is my brother.

He has not been well in the last few years, but I love him anyway
( Definitely can't do without my big brother )




Mum's pretty cool too! She will probably hate me for putting this photo on my homepage. But it is a really nice photo of Mum with a big smile.

She hates the idea of me climbing mountains, but at the same time she bought me a climbing helmet as a Christmas present. She thought it will keep me safer when I am so far off the ground.

Thanks Mum for supporting me.

I also find my dad pretty cool. He’s a bit of a nerd just like me which means that we probably understand each other better than anyone else in the family.










This is my dads brother and his wife. The resemblance is unequalled. My dad and his brother looks very much like each other. They have the same bad habits (just like my grandfather) and both their wives are smoking like chimneys.




Finally, a picture of me...

I do belong to the family even though most of them have probably forgotten about it by now!

I am sitting outside one of the food places on the local market. We each got a serve of excellent calamari, shrimp and fish. I think this was the best meal I had while I was in Morocco.

Most tourists would avoid a place like this just because of the hygiene, but I have never had diarrhoea because I had been eating local food.

Perhaps all this travelling I do has made me immune to germs and bugs! Or maybe I just pick good food!



Do you want to see my family on a Donkey Day out?
Click Here!






Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001

Laos is not a place one can forget.

One day I would like to go back there again in my travels.

It is a beautiful place with friendly people who welcomed me with open hearts.

It is also a place of sorrow because of war and loss.
Yet the people try to go on with their lives despite the war.
They live in hope and their beliefs keep them going.

There are tribes there who seem unaffected by western influence and change and keep to their tradition after all this time.

I met many children there, some happy, some sad.

I also spent time with a special family and also managed to enjoy the local food.




War . . .




All the eastern parts of Laos was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War. More bombs were dropped in this area than the number of bombs dropped during the entire Second World War (approximately 10,000 bombs for every citizen of Laos). Laos has the sad reputation of being the most heavily bombed country in the world ...

Ever.

The Ho Chi Min trail went through Laos, and the Americans tried to destroy it with every means. They tried everything from carpet bombing, dropping cases of Budweiser Beer (hoping that the Vietnamese soldiers would get drunk) to dropping washing detergent during the wet season (hoping the trail would get slippery). It is estimated that the Americans only succeeded in stopping 10 percent of the traffic on the trail.


In Vietnam, the Americans were not allowed to bomb within 500 meters from temples and hospitals. Their rules of engagement furthermore said that they were not allowed to return to their home base with a bomb load. The result was that they flew across the border to Laos and dropped all their bombs there. In Laos, there were no rules of engagement. They could bomb whereever they wanted to bomb.






This also means that there is quite a large amount of UXO (Unexploded ordnance) in the country. Land mines and unexploded cluster bombs (shown on left) are some of the biggest problems.

In Laos, there are still approximately 4 accidents per day resulting from UXO.






Sad as this may seem, people have been pretty creative about using some of the leftover bombs. In this case they have used a couple of 2000-pound bombs as decoration outside the house.





No matter where you go you are reminded of the war.

In all the local villages there are unexploded bombs and shells from the cluster bombs.






A lot of the remains from the war are sold as scrap metal. In this pile there are shells from cluster bombs, wheels from tanks etc. >>>






<<< Shells from the cluster bombs have been used to make this bridge.







Here as fence posts outside a house. >>>






Outside a school, the schoolyard was surrounded by the shells from the American cluster bombs.













Sorrow . . .




This girl's parents were both killed by Hmong guerillas in 1997.

There are still areas where there are lots of problems with guerilla warfare. This is especially the case on Route 7, along the eastern border towards Vietnam and in the western part of Laos west of Vientiane, in the area between the Mekong River and Thailand.

The government is trying to control these problems, but it is difficult with such wast areas of jungle.

Unfortunately such incidents have affected a lot of people. This girl is not the only person in Laos who has lost her family.

Remember that the area has virtually been a permanent warzone since the Vietnam war, until the mid 90’s.

The person behind the girl is her grandfather.
He is now looking after her to make sure that she gets an education

He is after all, her only family left.













Hope . . .




Looking at this beautiful photo, it seems really serene and calm.

You couldn't really tell that things are pretty bad in some parts of the country.

The northern part of Laos is especially poor. The mountainous terrain limits what can be grown. Outdated farming methods using “slash-and-burn” of whole mountainsides are not very appropriate for feeding a growing population. A lot of the western countries are represented in Laos with health care workers. What Laos really needs at the moment is help using more environmentally-friendly farming methods, which at the same time improve the growing of crops. The slash-and-burn method basically means they burn a whole mountainside to grow rice. There is nothing left to hold back the nutrients in the soil, and fertiliser is not added. After a few years there are no more nutrients on this mountainside and they move on to the next mountainside. They need to learn how to grow crops in terraces and add fertiliser from their animals to the soil.




One of the problems with growing rice is that the men are unempleyed most of the year while they are waiting for the rice to grow.

Vinchu is working for the Swiss Red Cross. She intends to buy a piece of land in the 32-kilometre village of Muang Xai, and convert it into a fish farm. This would keep some of the men occupied for most of the year. The profit from the fish farm could be used to take care of the village’s basic needs such as education of the children and buying medicine.

Vinchu is one of the few catholics in the country. She is fluent in English and has had a primary healthcare education. This has enabled her to get a job for one of the foreign representatives in the country, which means she is getting a salary that is considerably higher than what her peers get. Also she gets paid in US dollars instead of kip, the local currency.

On average, the government employed in Laos receives 100.000 kip a month (approx US$30). This is not enough to survive on, so most people have either two jobs or let the wife work as well. Lots of people have small vegetable gardens. This allows them to grow a few things to sell at the markets.









The employees from the hospital in Muang Xai have not received any money from the government for more than 6 months. The government declared that they should participate in the annual dragon boat race.

Vinchu paid for transportation of the employees to the local river, and other expenses, from her own paycheque.

Most of the people in the boat are doctors and people from the hospital.






Vinchu and I in a sailing raft!















Religion . . .




Buddhism is a big part of Laos.

The holiest place in Laos is the stupa in Vientiane. There are practically no temples in the eastern part of Laos due to heavy bombardment during the Vietnam War. The only great temples around is the one in Vientiane and Luang Prabang.







The Buddhists in Laos are a bit less extremist than in Thailand. People do not have small alters in their homes, and it is not compulsory for the males to become monks.

In Laos, becoming a monk is voluntary. It is mainly people from the poorer parts of the country that become monks, because it is a good and cheap way to get an education. Some of them are studying English and are therefore very eager to practice their English on the tourists.








When they call the monks in for prayer, they either beat a big drum or the use a wooden ram to chime the bell.











Tribes . . .



There are three main tribes in Laos. One of these tribes is called Lao Tsung (or HMong).

They live mainly in the northern part of the country.



The women still wear traditional clothing. I am wearing a traditional Hmong hat.



The Hmong have a dialect that is different from the other tribes. They keep to themselves and are very isolated from the rest of the society.



The difference between the Hmong village and the other villages is that the Hmong build their houses on the ground instead of on stilts.



The Hmong is responsible for most of the opium growing and trading in Laos. The government is trying to stop this trade, but it is difficult as the Hmong live in areas that are not easily accessible.

The Hmong are also responsible for most of the problems in the area around Route 7.









The Children of Laos . . .

The kids in Laos are wonderful. There are always kids around you no matter where you go and they are always very joyful and curious to find out who you are.



You see a lot more kids playing with each other in Laos than in the western world. I guess it also somehow encourages them to grow up being socially responsible. This could be the simple reason why people are so friendly and welcoming in this country.

Lots of people say that it is because of the religion but I believe that it is something more fundamental than that. People in the western world have just forgotten how to be responsible towards each other. Why? Maybe they do not spend enough time in one another's company.



In Vang Vieng, I saw a kid playing around with a snake. It did not seem to bother him or his parents that it might be poisonous.
I don't know if the pad on his chin was caused by the snake. I doubt it though since he had been very sick.

He was pretty proud of his snake.
I am not sure what kind of snake it was. I did see a few other snakes around, especially at the temples.




It tends to be the elder children’s task to look after their younger brothers and sisters while the parents are busy. The system seems to work fairly well since the whole group of children play together, no matter what their age group. It is therefore not such a big burden as some might think.

The photo was taken approx 40 kilometres north of Muang Xai (where Vinchu was).












This photo on the right is one of my favourites.

It was taken in the northern part of Laos, at the 32-kilometer village outside Muang Xai.

The girls were collecting flowers outside one of the local schools.





The younger kids tend to be afraid of Europeans. Most of them have never seen a white face before.

This little fellow here was a bit worried about my presence...






This is the girl’s first piece of chewing gum... Pretty interesting to watch! *smile*





In the cities kids love to have their picture taken.






















The Tanoy Family . . .

I stayed a few days with a family running the Tanoy Guest house.

The eldest daughter of the place was called Tanoy.

The girl on the left of this photo is one of Tanoy’s friends from school.
The woman on the right is Tanoy's mum. Tanoy’s mum is 40 years old and has had 6 kids. She does not look that old and still looks absolutely stunning.






Below are a series of shots of Tanoy herself.

I guess she will one day take over the guest house.




Whilst I was staying at the Tanoy Guest House, I saw the preparations for the annual Water Festival.

Every year when the monsoon ends and Water Festival coincides with the full moon, The festival included Dragon Boat racing.



Everyone was taking part by making lanterns for this festival, including the monks!

All the monks were making lanterns to decorate the temples.



The festival lasts for three days.

During the festival, they celebrate with all their friends and families. They also drink a lot of “Lao Lao” (or Laos Whisky), which is a kind of rice wine.

Everyone walks down to the river during the day to watch the boat races.

Later in the evening, everyone parties some more and drinks more beer. It does not matter that it is pouring down. The whole village is at the party and everyone is happy.



On the night of the festival, people light candles. They also float the candles in the rivers.

Unfortunately it was raining a lot that night, so people had difficulties keeping the candles lit.



At the end of the day, I managed to get a photo of me sitting outside the Tanoy Guest House!








Food . . .



The food is excellent in Laos.
It takes some time to get used to eating noodle soup for breakfast, but once you get used to it, it is excellent.

There are pigs and turkeys all over the place. Above is a pig being weighed.

An essential part of farming is the water buffalo - it is important for pulling the heavy plough and there feet are designed to walk in water-logged gxround.



All ingredients used are very fresh. People are walking around selling vegetables on the streets.

It is hard work getting the rice ready for eating. First the rice is to be pounded to break the husks. Then thrown up in the air to remove the husks from the rice itself.









Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001

Thailand ( 1999 ) . . .

On my way back from Laos, I stayed in Bangkok for a few days, visiting a friend whom I have known for a long time.

On the right, I am standing in front of a huge statue at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. There are many statues like this, very ornate and detailed. They are brightly coloured and some of them can look scary! As you can see in the background, the architecture and design of the roof is also very detailed and many of these were built a very long time ago by very gifted artists.






Here is Nui on the left.

She was the girlfriend of one of my friends at University in Denmark. She used to be a lecturer at the University of Bangkok and specialised in software design.

I stayed at her family's house for a few days in the outskirts of Bangkok. It was very nice to get away from all the pollution, noise and chaos of inner city.

You will now be happy to know that Nui has finally married Søren after all these years!




I am on a canal cruise!

Much of the water near the cities are very polluted, but it is very interesting to see the floating markets in Bangkok - yes, you will see people selling vegetables and meat from little boats...










Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001

I can apply a lot of Dilbert's Principles to my work, that is why I always go to the Dilbert website to see what else Dilbert has come up with. More importantly, I thought Dilbert an accurate description of what I do, hence the first think you see on this page is... Dilbert!



I had the privilege of working as a contractor in the world's leading company in bionic implants, Cochlear. I worked there for 1½ years as the head designer/developer of the software programming the bionic implants. I worked with some of the best developers, and had a lot of fun whilst I was at it.



I had the chance to go on the Harbour Bridge climb, organised by the company. It is quite an expensive trip up over thte top of the bridge and normally would not pay to do it, but had the opportunity to do this with my colleagues. It is very windy up there and the view spectacular. There is quite a lot of people on the bridge climb - average about 10-15 per group, with about 3-5 groups on the bridge at a time. The whole walk from the bottom, to the top and back the other side takes about 2 hours. Many tourists take the opportunity to try out the climb, and I am told that the trip at sunset is spectacular.



I took this trip on a Douglas DC-3 (from the 1930-40's) with PMP Software. PMP Software was the company I worked for during the years I was waiting to get my permanent residency in Australia. I had the chance to see this state from an aerial view. There were quite a few Danes working for PMP, and at present, Kenneth is also working for them.

New Zealand ( June 1998 ) . . .


My first trip to New Zealand took place in June 1998. I travelled with the Lenehans - friends I have known since my arrival in Australia. This was one of many trips I took with Lance and Anne. We rented a campervan and decided to explore the south island of NZ.

I have since been to New Zealand again - NZ has some of the most beautiful mountains and I had the chance to go there again in January 2001 to do a technical ice-climbing course.

I took so many photos and would have loved to place all of them on this webpage.

Instead, I have selected a few to show some of the places I managed to go to, such as Milford Sound, Nelson, Arthurs Pass and Mt Cook.

There were many glaciers in NZ and lots of seals to go with them!

NZ is a beautiful country with many unusual natural formations. It is a photographer's haven. We ended our trip with a farewell dinner in Christchurch.




Seals . . .

The Lenehans and I decided to spend 2 weeks in New Zealand in the winter of 1998. We flew to Christchurch from Sydney, and drove north to Nelson.

On the way to Nelson, on the east coast of the southern island, there are hundreds of seals. It was a spectacular sight and I managed to get quite close to them to take photos.



They did not seem to mind me taking a few photos. Some of the seals look tired - I guess even seals, like humans become tired. Who wouldn't like to pet a seal? They look different when they are wet though.



This was taken near where the seals were. I like the blend of colours and the harmony of the picture.

A lot of friends have commented on this photo! Most of them really like the photo, and feel there is something calm about it.








Nelson . . .

Nelson is located at the northern most part of the southern island.

We explored the area around Lake Rotoiti.




These were taken from the ridge itself.

There is a lake at the end of the mountain ridge. From here, it is all downhill. We camped just below the lake at 1,500 metres altitude.

It was snowing the next morning and all water was frozen. We estimated the temperature to be around -7 degrees celcius.




The side of the ridge was one big stonefall.

It was very cold and the wind was strong that day so it was necessary to wear gloves hat.

We managed to get a group shot from the top of the ridge. The mountains in the background are knows as the McAngus ridge at Lake Rotoiti.

Here are the mountains at Lake Rotoiti.




The mornings are incredibly beautiful at Lake Rotoiti. Here you can see the morning mist floating gently on the water.

It is also very cold here - that is why there is ice on the bridge in the foreground.


The photo on the right shows the Lenehans crossing one of the suspension bridges at Lake Rotoiti.

At this point we had walked 15 kilometres, with a 1,000 metre descent. We had yet another 7 to 8 kilometres to go that day!



This is what happens when you do not use a tripod. The effect is quiet interesting and makes the photo look like a painting by Monet.

This photo has has been dubbed "The Renet" among my friends.









Arthurs Pass . . .


We drove to Arthurs Pass, on the way from Nelson to Queenstown further south.

There is a place called Goat Pass, and there is only one way in - on foot.

Here, you can see Anne climbing up ladders on the Goat Pass track.



It was raining so much that we were not able to get down through the canyon on the other side of the Pass. We therefore decided to go back the way we came.

Further down the track, we had passed a bivouak and decided to stay ther during the night. It was very dirty and Anne would rather sleep outside in the rain.

Everything was wet so she changed her mind and came back in. *laugh*



She wore plastic bags on her feet, in her boots are so that she could wear her boots without getting cold feet! Aussies will never get used to the cold.

Here is Anne crossing one of the rivers.

Every time she crossed a river, she would sit and massage her feet for 10 minutes until they warm again.

I guess Aussies will never get used to the cold. Neither will Danes for that matter! An Australian winter is like a Danish summer - so you can imagine how cold Denmark is! Still, Danes cannot get used to it - just ask Kenneth or Soeren!



Sleeping ???

Aussies will never learn to live with the cold!

I must admit I hate the cold. I loved it when I lived in Kenya - so hot and humid!

Even living in Denmark for all those year did not make me like cold weather any more than I used to. That is why I love Australia - warm summers and mild winters. Sometimes winter in Australia is a bit too cold for me! But I do not usually wear more than a T-shirt or a thin jumper in winter. My girlfriend was complaining about me having the heater on full-blast in the car during spring!

Okay, so I love the heat!





Inside the campervan.

Temperature was down to -10 degrees Celcius during the night and there was no heating in the van.


This explains why Anne was wearing a thick blanket. There was only enough water for a two minute shower. That is why Anne is wearing a hat indoors.


See the expression on her face? She knows I will write a stupid description for this photo.




In the campervan I had the top bunk.

This is one of my girlfriend's favourite photos!












On the way to Milford Sound, we saw some unusual formations - The Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are located near Hokitika, between Kumara and Ross.



They do not taste as good as real pancakes - you get sand in your teeth...



At Queenstown, we had the most glorious view of "The Remarkables". The Remarkables are the mountains in the background - don't ask me why they call The Remarkables, I don't know. But the photo on the left shows Queenstown with these mountains in the background.

The photo on the right shows the a sunset at The Remarkables (with snow on top!) Pretty 'remarkable', huh?








Milford Sound . . .


Milford Sound is located near the southern-most tip of the south island of NZ. It is the series of 'islands' that you can see on the western tip of NZ on the map.

To get to Milford Sound, we had to take a huge detour from Queenstown. To come back from Milford Sound, we had to take the same detour before heading east from Queenstown.

Driving down to Milford Sound, we had to put chains on the tyres of the campervan.

In the pass, there was at least 10 centimetres of snow on the road, and it was illegal to continue on without chains. Chains help create friction on the roads and makes it easier for the vehicle to drive on in icy conditions.

We managed to rent a set of chains in Te Anau because we had heard rumours about chains being mandatory.

If you go to New Zealand during the winter, then make sure you have a set of chains for the car.





How many postcards have you seen from Milford Sound, where there was snow on top of the mountains?

It is beautiful, but nothing compared to the Mount Cook area.






The sun rising in the Milford Sound area.






Glaciers . . .



Most of the glaciers we went to were located on the main range.

We had to drive inland when we were heading south on the west coast because the Westland was too rough and wild to drive through.

Here on the right is the Tasman glacier near Mt Cook village. It is 35 km long - a hundred years ago it was 85km long. The ice is 600m thick and used to be 1,300m thick.

Where the glacier ends at the water on the photo, the ice is more than 200m thick.





Both the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers are located on the west coast.

On the left is The Fox Glacier.

It is so huge that if you built a house at the end where the ice begins (or ends since it is a glacier), you would not be able to see it on this picture.




The pile of ice behind me are 3 to 4 times bigger than the size of a house.

I am standing about half a kilometre from the glacier.




At the Franz Josef glacier, people have been feeding the keas. The kea is the only alpine parrot in the world.

This means the keas associate every man-made thing with something edible.

They are therefore making the attempt to eat the cars. You can see the keas on the roof of our campervan.

It is a very weird bird. They can survive in extreme conditions with freezing temperatures and snow.








Mount Cook . . .


On the way back to Christchurch, we went to Mt Cook.

Here is Mt Cook as seen from the west coast.

I achieved my goal to climb it in January 2001! You can see the photos from this trip.




Take a look at the colours. The photos were taken at Lindes Pass, just north of Mount Cook.

There was no sound up there. You could not hear the wind or any birds. The only sound you could hear was yourself breathing.




Lance praying towards Mecca???

No just Lance in a weird posture taking a video of Mt Cook.




One of my favorite photos.
"The man and his mountain". Kerenyaga.

Here is Mt Cook in the background (almost 4,000 meters). I am so glad that I had the opportunity to go back to NZ and actually climb on Mt Cook!







Farewell Dinner . . .



From Milford Sound, back to Queenstown, we then drove back to Christchurch via the east coast. We saw some pretty spectacular sunrises along the way.

During our last night in New Zealand, we went to a restaurant called "The Sign of the Takahe". We had our farewell dinner at Christchurch before returning to Sydney.

It is an old castle/house built in the same style as the old English castles. The atmosphere and food is excellent.

This is the place to bring a date.

Someone was playing quiet piano music in the hall.

The photo is taken with a long exposure because I wanted to capture the atmosphere with the woman playing the piano in these old surroundings.






Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 19 Sept 2001

I have the most spectacular view from my home in Narrabeen.

It is an apartment on the beach, only 10 metres away from the sand. As you can see from the picture on the left, this was taken from my balcony, with the beach in the background.

Almost every morning, these beautiful white birds, come in abundance to visit me. I usually hand-feed them sunflower seeds, but you have to be extremely careful because sometimes they mistake your fingers for food!

Cockatoos are approximately the same size as a duck. They are very intelligent and not afraid of humans. However, along with the cockatoos, I also get the pesky pigeons - I wish I could get rid of them!!!




Created: 12 Aug 2001 Last Updated: 25 Oct 2002

• The swords are of a Burmese style called Dha (Means sword in Burmese).
• They are of museum worthy pieces
• I should NOT EVER attempt to restore them. This would degrade their value significantly.
• The flower script design on the swords are reserved for the rulers and officers of those days.
• အဲဒီဓားတွေကငါတို့ရဲ့ဗမာဓားတွေပဲလာအိုဆိုတာအရင်ကဇင်းမယ်လို့ခေါ်တယ်အင်းဝခေတ်မှာမြန်မာတွေတက်သိမ်းခဲ့တဲ့နိုင်ငံပဲဓားကိုငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓားလို့ခေါ်တယ်ဓားကဓားကောင်းပဲ အခုငါပြတဲ့ဓားဟာလည်းသမိုင်းဝင်ဓားပဲငှက်ကြီးတောင်ဓားပေါ့ (Translation: These swords are our Burmese swords. Laos was formerly called Zin Mae, a country that was conquered by the Burmese during the Inwa period. The sword is called the Sword of the Bird. The sword is a good sword.).
• It's a Ngat kyee daung Dah the sword that was once used by Burmese warriors and Thai during the dark age of Konbaung (1765–1767).
  
• This Burmese Empire was destroyed during the English colonized to the East and totally wiped out by the English cannons kind of like a scene from the last samurai movie in the end! They were like charging to the enemy where they were being shot at.
• These are also antique pieces in a good state of preservation! Swords, even if they are in such good condition, belong in the museum. You have to take a look at the Malaysia Sword Museum! They are great specimen
• One would have to analyze the material metal wood winding fibers would certainly be very interesting! You don't see such a bundle every day
• The handle on the smaller sword is made from wound rattan fibres.
• The larger sword is made from silver and wound silver threading (I believe it is the typical not so pure silver/tin that was used).