Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

My Dad wanted to see the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race again this year.

Unlike the last time we were there in good time this year and found a great parking spot and a fairly good vantage point of the race without too many crowds.

While waiting for the race to start the James Craig was cruising back and forth outside the harbour.

Once the race started and the boats passed the heads it became very busy both on the water and it in air with all the boats and helicopters (at one point I counted 11 at the same time) and my Dad was busy clicking away.

This year turned out to be a new course record, so great conditions all the way to Hobart.

Christmas Day we celebrated with Kims family at her sisters house.

It was the usual crowd of our familys and everyone bringing dishes to share and as usual there was a lot of different foods to try.

It was great to have the whole family together (Aiden was again eating too much).

And even Santa made an appearance again this year...Thank you so much Santa!!!!!

This year we celebrated Christmas at home with my Dad and his partner with the traditional Christmas Duck and Ris-a-la-mande.

It was Lucas' first and Aiden's third Christmas...Aiden is now getting old enough to enjoy the experience...

...especially the food

After dinner we opened presents according to the Danish tradition and Aiden was very excited about the big box from Bedstefar...

...containing a big truck.

From Mummy and Daddy he received a Lightning Mcqueen car (radio controlled).

...and also a drawing pad.

Merry Christmas...

On one of the days we took my dad to Maroubra beach for breakfast.

It gave them a chance to check out what out local beach is like and also Aiden a chance to have a bit of a play in the sand.

At around Christmas time Kims dad asked me if I could take some more photos of him and the grandchildren.

Last year I took some of him using a blue background and he asked for something similar (although I am not a big fan of blue)

Every year I like to take a Christmas family photo.

This year having my dad around meant that I could get hime to assist us with taking the photo as I needed someone to stand on a ladder taking the photo while we as a family was lying plat on a bed.

Merry Christmas 2012 Everyone!!!!

Every year some of the houses in Matraville puts on a spectacular christmas light show.

Every night there are hundreds of visitors and it is worth seeing.

Here are some of the lights from this years show.

This holiday season my Dad and his partner is visiting us from Denmark.

It has been a while since he was here and in also a while since we were in Denmark, so Aiden had grown a fair bit since.

The first couple of weeks we bought then some trips to various places such as Hunter Valley and the Blue Mountains.

One the weekends we would treat then to various dinners Thai, Indian, Moroccan, Brazilian, Aussie, Chinese etc. as well as try to make time to take them to see some of the sights around Sydney.

The first weekend Aiden was sick so we had to cancel our trip up the Northern Beaches to Barrenjoey Lighthouse so we had to stay home and let them explore by themself. On the second weekend we managed to go there and bring Aiden along as well sitting in his little backback.

It was a warm day and the climb is fairly steep so especially my dads partner was pretty hot by the time we reached the top where the light house is.

The view was definitely worth it.

Walking back along the beach we decided to make a drink stop to clench the thirst.

First of all Merry Christmas everyone!!!

With a bit of arm twisting Kim finally agreed to let me do a series of 'sexy' Santa photos.

A lot of work had to go into these couple of photos in terms of getting the outfit, but the right colour wrapping paper, wrap all the boxes, set them up to it looks nice, getting all the lighting right and not least convince Kim to do the actual shoot.

Then I had to sort out the photos I needed and then do all the editing...I think the end result is pretty good and very much in the spirit of Christmas.

And did I mention that I am married to the most beautiful (and sexy) Santa there is???

Lucas is now three months young and the other day I did a series of monthly photos of Kim and him on our bed.

We went with Donna and Sandra up to Port Stephens to go Whale watching.

It was a great day (very cold) and we saw lots of whales.

Click here to see more photos from: Whale Watching/Slideshow

I went climbing with Andy in New Zealand. We flew onto the glacier at Pioneer hut with a skiplane.

We attempted a couple of peaks in the area but were mainly unsuccessful due to sloshy conditions and late starts. Andy eventually insisted going down after taking a bit of a slide after taking a bit of a slide. We did however get a little bit of climbing done.

Click here to see more photos from: Climbing in New Zealand/Slideshow

Believe it or not, I still have quite a few friends in Denmark. I would like to put photos of all of them here - unfortunately I do not have photos of all of them. If you are one of my friends and your photo is not on this page then please do not despair - I still consider you a friend, and maybe, the next time I go to Denmark, I shall have photos of you all!

Kenneth in kitchen

Here is one of my best friends in Denmark. This photo was taken quite a while ago, before I came to Australia.

Kenneth is now living here in Sydney, on the beautiful Manly beach - only about a half hour away from me. Kenneth came to stay with me a few months ago. He was trying out a new job, and actually came back! He is going to give Australia a go, to see if he likes it like I do. No more biting winters, lots of warmth and sunshine, beautiful mountains and bush to explore... and I think he has discovered, there are lots of friends to make - especially the pretty fun-going ones with two legs and a skirt! *smile*

He is actually a pretty good cook. Whist he stayed in my apartment for a couple of months, he cooked pot roast with gorgonzola sauce, and also gave a wonderful 3-course dinner for a small group of friends here. About two years after I arrived in Australia, I returned to Denmark for a visit. On the day I arrived in Denmark, he threw together a party for me!

Ester

Here is Ester, another one of my friends.

She is a fashion designer and paints some wonderful paintings.

Me!

Naturally at parties, there was quite a large amount of beer being consumed (how can you not?? - not possible to have a party otherwise in Denmark.

It was nice to taste one of the annual Christmas beers from Tuborg.
Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001

Photo Gallery

I have placed photos here - those I could not fit on the respective webpages.

Schwedagon
Big Stuba at night

Mandalay
Mandalay facing east

Marionet
Puppet Show 1

Volleyball

Created: 3 Nov 2001

I initially made plans to explore Burma and then make my way across the border into western China at Burma's only border crossing up north. I had not made any definite plans wanted to play it by ear... but in the end my trip consisted of Thailand, Cambodia and restricted areas to Burma.

I was away for a total of 5 weeks and must admit that parts of my trip really frustrated me - there were many restrictions in Burma and being in Bangkok at times stressed me because of all the tourists and crowds. I really only went to Cambodia to see the magnificent Angkor Wat - actually I really did enjoy being there. I think my most enjoyable part of the trip was the days I had climbing on the secluded areas of Krabi.


Burma (23 Jul ~ 5 Aug)	Cambodia (6 ~ 10 Aug)	Thailand

There were quite a lot of monkeys at Mt Popa.

Mother & Baby Monkey

The photo above in the middle, shows monkeys that look like they are playing around. They are actually fighting monkeys and can be very dangerous because they bite and also snatch things from you.

They were rather oblivious to me being there, until the flash on my camera went off. Then their attention was on me and they were ready to attack.

I adopted the “monkey mentality” - avoid eye contact and move away backwards - the only way to stop the monkeys from attacking is to not look at them.

Monkey 1

Whilst I was up north, I watched a rather interesting game of volleyball.

I have never seen such dexterity and agility amongst the players!

It was amazing to see how flexible these guys were.

Volleyball Player Photo 2

There is a monastry on Mt Popa - a hill located 50km away from Bagan.

When I was there, it was a cloudy day.

Woman selling petrified wood at Mt Popa

I ran into a woman selling petrified wood - quite silly really, considering the place was covered with it.

Road sign

They must think tourists are stupid! *laugh* I managed to pick up a couple of small pieces to take back with me.

As you can see, there are stacks of them around.

And no... this is not a tombstone.
This is actually a road sign.

Example of petrified wood

You would be surprised how big some of these pieces are - this piece below was actually about a metre long and 40cm wide.

Toilet in Burma

Actually what I found interesting were the toilets in Burma.

My girlfriend tells me that squatting over a toilet is quite common in Asia.

In many of the city areas, they would have toilets as we know them, and they would also have a carved hole in the ground, on which either side, one places their feet on.

Toilets in the rural area are more crude than that - a hole leading into a gaping pit.

However, what I found interesting about these toilets were that recycled running water was used to wash away any excrement. The water is first used for washing one self and then used in the toilets.

As there were a few toilet cubicles a row, sometimes you would see the excrement from a toilet uphill go beneath you! *laugh*

Very clever and environmental system, I think!

Me at Mt Popa

Trying to grab a snooze... *smile*

Like Schweddagon, most of this is real gold as well.

And yes, there is a monkey sitting near my head.

If you click to the next page, you will see that I have taken a series of photos of the monkeys.

I saw the most interesting puppet show, known as the “Mandalay Marionettes”

There were 2 or 3 puppeteers out the front, with a live band of musicians.

Unfortunately, it was more of a show for the tourists, rather than the locals.

It cost 1,000 chats or US$2 per show.

I decided take a 20-hour train-ride to Myitkyinã *laugh* it took 20-hours to get there by train because there was only one track.

It was definitely faster to run next to the train than to travel in it!

We had to wait for the oncoming train to return before we could travel north.

At one point, we crossed a bridge that was so rickety that I thought it would collapse any moment!

Working in the rice fields

Locals working in the rice fields.

Locals using water-buffaloes to plough rice fields.

Jrrawaddy River

The train travelled along the Jrrawaddy River.

It would have been nice if I was able to travel to Mandalay via a riverboat down the Jrrawaddy River.

People living on lake

It was amazing to find out that people live “on” these lakes, by building houses on stilts.

This sort of housing is quite common in many parts of Asia, especially areas where monsoons quite frequently flood an area.

It is also very environmentally-sound, I think, and hurts the land less.

Most of the houses are made of wood.

Myitkyina in rain

Myitkyinã is pretty dismal in rain!

There is a huge drug problem in Burma, especially through the crossings into China.

I have scanned a copy of a recent newspaper article about this problem in Burma.

This weekend we went with the family up to the Entrance 150km North of Sydney.

We stayed at a small resort in the middle of The Entrance close to the water and restaurants.

When we arrived on the Friday night it was really windy and cold...I had left behind my jacket in Sydney rushing out the door but fortunately I had enough jumpers to still stay warm.

We were staying close to the bridge across the Entrance and underneath the bridge there were some nice lines that I quickly rushed out to capture before sunset.

Next day we spend around the local area looking at the market, playground etc.

In the afternoon there was pelican feeding which definitely was worth seeing.

One of the birds had a fish hook stuck in its neck and the feeders quickly caught it to try and pull it out.

They also have this insanely long jetty going into the lake. I wanted to do a sunset photo but the conditions weren't great...no spectacular clouds and the water was full of seaweed that had been blown in with the wind.

During the day at the Entrance we made a quick trip up to Norah Head light house to scope it out.

Later that evening I headed up there in the dark to take some star photos.

The conditions were perfect with the Milky way clearly visible and I good some great shots. Here is one pretty much straight out of the camera that requires just a little more processing.

As I walked from the gate to the lighthouse (about 700 metres in pitch darkness) with my torch all hell broke loose suddenly when I rounded a corner.

I heard people scrambling in all directions through the bushes falling over branches. I used my torch to have a look and saw these 6-7 kids running away...obviously they were sitting there smoking weed and got a freight.

Later in the evening they walked past me as I was taking photos and one of them said 'Man, you gave us a freight...we thought you were a cop'!

The Cherry Blossom season is about to start here in Sydney (does that mean spring is here) and the first flowers are out. Yesterday I brought my camera along when picking up Aiden from daycare and managed to take a couple of photo along the way.

I may try and take some more photos over the next week or so. Kim mentioned that she would like to hang one of the photos on the wall.

We are in the process of doing some large prints...I have already ordered the first one which is a glass print which should arrive next month.

I love the new camera...it performed abosolutely amazing on the weekend when I did a photoshoot with the family. The 36 Megapixels mean that every detail such as pores in the skin, hairs etc. is visible and sharp.

This photo below shows one of the photos of Chong and Emma zoomed in at 100 percent..the small photo on the left shows the original photo.

A couple of months ago Chong and KC had a new addition to their family.

Last week they asked me if I'd take some photos for them. It was a good chance for me to have a play with the new camera as well as some light setups.

Emma was very good and only had one 'accident'.

It was also a good practice session for when our next addition arrives in a couple of months.

I love the new camera, the details are absolutely amazing in the studio and the autofocus is accurate now after I had it fixed by Nikon.

Yesterday I went to a work conference where at the end of the day they offered us to do some site visits.

I was fortunate enough to visit the satellite tracking facility in the Northern part of Sydney. The company I work for owns a number of satellites (at a cost of around $400 million each) and they will be launching their 10th satellite later this year...the 'O10'.

This photo is from the control room where they look after all the locations, transponders and media broadcasts from the satellites.

It was interesting to be able to see the raw/unedited broadcasts from areas such as the London Olympics, the conflict in Syria etc.

The actual electronics was equally impressive.

I even found the box that currently is receiving all the media broadcasts from the 2012 London Olympics.

This is the Satelite Dish controller...On the display you can see the current position of the dish (and from that you could probably calculate the location of the actual satellite).

Outside was the array of dishes.

Most of the satellites are being launched from French Guyana by the European space agency.

A couple of days ago it was my birthday...I wish it was my 27th...but it wasn't!

Kim took me out for dinner on the day itself to a nice place at Circular Quay...very nice, but absolutely freezing and windy in there.

Day after we went out for dinner with the family to a Japanese restaurant and they ordered a shameful amount of food!

After the dinner we went back to our place for cake.

Aiden is a big fan of the Thomas Trains, so a few weeks ago when Kim saw some vouchers for the Train Shed she bought some tickets.

This morning we went out there with the whole family to go riding on the trains. Aiden was very excited...to the point where he didn't want to get off the train.

The kids had 5 rides each and they also had lunch and scones provided for us.

Aiden had to check out anything that remotely looked like a train (looks like he is taking a wee here).

It was also a good day to try out the new camera (just came back after 5 weeks in the repair shop for recalibration). Kim was using it most of the day and said she loves it compared to my old camera.

On the way in I had seen a signpost towards the Warragamba Dam. This is where 80-90 percent of Sydneys drinking water supply comes from.

This morning it was a beautiful winter day here in Sydney and we decided therefore to go duck feeding in Centenial Park with Aiden and Dylan (I was supposed to have been doing a course, but it was cancelled).

Aiden eventually figured out that it was fun to tear off small pieces of bread and throw it in the water for the ducks and swans to eat.

I showed him how to hand feed the big swans with a flat hand, but he still didn't like them much...and even less so when one of them stole his bread after sneaking in from behind.

Stupid Swan!!!!

But eventually the swan apologised and he was happy to feed the smaller birds.

Also the pond is full of fat eels (and on one occation I have seen turtles there). Some of them would surface to try and steal the bread from the ducks.

Yesterday we went to Emily's birthday party in Centennial park. We were there on time at 10.30 on a very cold morning (it had been 7 degrees overnight) but there was no-one else there...the host and the birthday child turned up two hours later (I cannot stand people who consistently have no respect for other people time).

We had brought Aiden tri-cycle that he got as a birthday present from his grandma last year.

We also spend some time exploring the forest next to the playground.

The trip in New Zealand first landed us in Christchurch where we picked up our rental car and stayed the first night.

Next day we drove through Arthurs Pass to Franz Josef (a long drive) where we stayed for three nights. This was mainly so that we had a spare day in case the weather closed in and we couldn't fly to the glacier.

From there we drove to Queenstown via Wanaka and the Crowns Range (another long drive). We were lucky that this was open and that snow chains weren't required.

Here we stayed for 5 nights whereafter we went to Twizel near Mount Cook for two night.

Lastly we drive back to Christchurch to fly out.

Queenstown is a scenic place, but lost of other scenic places along the way.

At Lake Pukaki there is this little beautiful chapel at the lake.

Again this is a really photographed location and much more busy than I remember it.

At Queenstown we did 4 days of skiing at the Remarkables.

The boys did two days of lessons and were with me the other two days. Some friends of our joined us in Queenstown, so for the other days I had Tod to go with, who is a very decent snowboarder.

Aiden and Lucas are both becoming good skiers, but especially Lucas is getting really good to the point where I can bring him onto black runs.

Although Kim is still very much a beginner she still did two days of skiing sticking to the beginner slope where there is a 'magic carpet' lift. I did see some improvement to last year, but she is still too scared to go on the proper lifts.

I bought my own ski boots last year and brought them along (my feet are not compatible with rental ski boots).

The west coast of New Zealand is really beautiful.

It is not very populated and there are not a lot of tourists either as it is hard to get to.

We did a lot of walks in the area both around beautiful lakes and also at the beach outside Fox Glacier and Franz Josef villages.

Driving back towards Queenstown we had to go through Wanaka. Boy, has it changed! It used to be a small place with maybe fifty houses, but now it is a proper town with lots of cars and traffic.

It is very scenic approaching Lake Wanaka, and the lake itself has this tree growing in the water that photographers from all around the world come here to take photos of.

A place that I have always found really magical is driving through the Lindis Pass.

Kim doesn't think much of it, but since I visited it the first time, I've alwas found the rolling hills and the colours absolutely stunning.

Kims highlight on the trip was to go up on a real glacier.

She had booked a helicopter tour that would take up up on a section of the glacier between the two major ice falls.

This is a section of the glacier that Andy and I dreaded having to walk through 20 years ago when we were climbing higher up on the glacier. Mind you, back then there was probably another 100 metres of ice on top of where we landed on this day.

Driving from Christchurch toward the west coast we passed the Castle Hills boulders.

This is a phenomenal place to go climbing if you are a good boulderer. It is also quite scenic to just go for a walk.

We saw lots of people with their bouldering mats (a soft mat to land on when you are climbing).

At Mount Cook we did a long 10km walk to the start of the Hooker glacier.

It is a beautiful walk where you walk past the Tasman Glacier and Muller Glacier before you eventually come to the Hooker Glacier lake.

The lake was frozen with an iceberg floating around in it.

As usual, we did a family thing at Kims sisters house.

At home I had Aiden make Havregryns Kugler (oat balls).

We just finished another grading as a family. This time the boys and Kim graded to their first brown belts and I graded to my third brown belt.

We were supposed to have graded about a month ago, but because of Kims dad's funeral we had to postpone it for a month.

It therefore turned out to be just a mini grading with just the four of us as a family.

Now it will be quite a while before any of us are grading again. The boys need to get a fair bit stronger before grading for the next belt based on the feedback. I will need to start working towards the black, so Kim will probably be the next one grading towards the end of the year.

The boys putting up the tent.

Our campground from across the lake.

Teaching the boys to fish (only caught seaweed).

The kids spent hours climbing up and down this little hill.

Lots of brains trying to put up a gazebo. Eventually we had to consult the instructions.

Sunset scenery

It was raining so we gathered under the canopy.

Lots of curious ducks (waiting to be fed).

Spotted a 2016 vintage from Coonawarra...had to try it.

Scenery from our camp ground.

Great selfie with Lucas and I.

More spectacular scenery.

Cuties in the hammock.

I have seen steam tractors in museums before, but this is the first time I have seen one that is still functioning. This one is from 1913.

One day we went mushroom picking. These ones you definitely can't eat.

And these ones you can.

First time I have seen a Leopard Slug.

A pretty good picking...

The kids found a bird skeleton. It could be a dead lyrebird, or maybe a dodo.

Here are some various photos from first part of 2022.

Here is one of Aiden in his happy space at the Piano and Guitar.

At Cabramatta we sat down having an asian drink. It looked so much like one of the birds from Angry bird that I just had to get a photo. See the resemblance?

This is a Lego truck that Lucas built.

At karate Aiden is sometimes asked to teach the newbies. It is great to see how it gives him confidence.

Aiden went to a birthday party with a Virtual Reality experience...a bit scary for him.

The local corner shop was refitted for a TV show.

Easter egg loot.

What do the boys get up to in their room sometimes???

Family photo at QVB

Having desserts in the city

A seal resting on the rocks at the opera house.

While at Warilla Beach we one day did a walk at the Macquarie Pass National park. This was an easy walk with the reward of a waterfall at the end of the walk.

One one of our trips down south we visited the Nan Tien temple south of Sydney.

It is a Chinese Buddhist temple that is worth a relaxing visit for anyone with some time.

During the Christmas holidays we rented a place at Warilla Beach a couple of hours south of Sydney.

We discovered that the beach has pipies in the sand, so every day we made sure that we harvested a plate full of them for dinner.

We brought Aidens new guitar, so that he was able to practice his music while enjoying the scenery.

The kids also attended online drawing lessons.

It was a beautiful spot to sit on the balcony, enjoy the view and have some great food (including fresh pipies).

One day we also visited the Jambaroo Water park. This was a disappointment with long queues at every ride and Aiden was too scared to do any rides so it was a bit of a miserable day.

Last weekend it was Ethans 21st Birthday. He had a bit party with the whole family and his friends.

They had arranged for catering with lots of Cambodian, Laotian and other asian foods.

It has been three years since I last spent time with my dad. This is due to Australia closing its borders for two years due to the Covid pandemic.

As soon as they announced opening the borders again in February my dad booked his ticket to come a visit.

It was really nice to have him here and different from when he has been here previously. For starters, he was here by himself which was a different dynamic and also Aiden and Lucas have grown older and really enjoyed bonding with 'Bedstefar'. Especially Aiden and my dad found that they had music in common and Aiden took great prise in being able to play some of the pieces on piano that my dad was able to sing.

I really enjoyed having a few beers (and other good stuff) with him while he was here.

A couple of years ago I bough a machine to transfer my dads and grandads old 8mm film to digital. Because of the pandemic I was never able to try it out. My dad brought one of his films to do a trial transfer. It worked really well and he'd now brought it back to Denmark with him to transfer the rest.

One afternoon dad and I went up to the Barrenjoey lighthouse. My dad is still able to do it although he is a bit slower and not as strong as he used to be.

Kims dad passed away 92 years old. He will be greatly missed by his daughters, grandchildren, grandsons and friends.

It was a beautiful funeral following chinese traditions with wearing white clothes to celebrate a long life.

Aiden played a beautiful song on the piano in front of everyone and we had put together slides showing his life.

Day after we did the traditional cleaning of the tomb stone and also the burning of paper clothes and money (theory is that it will then go to the afterlife for him to wear).

I hope that the boys are old enough to remember their time with him.

Even though his old body was failing him, his mind was still sharp enough to play Mahjong and other games with us. These photos are from our last trip with him down to Bowral.

Lucas is part of the schools chess club.

The other day he was very proud that he'd received this award.

I have now added photos from 2004. The highlights from this year was a trip to the United States and Canada as well as a family trip to Egypt. This was also the year that Australia entered the war in Iraq, so there are a couple of photos from the anti war demonstrations.

Click here to read about 2004

In Mid 2006 I was in Portugal for our International Partner Conference with the company.

It was a week of being busy setting up for the conference, socialising but also a lot of fun and partying.

Click here to see more photos from:Portugal/Slideshow

I quite regularly head up to the Blue Mountains to go Rock Climbing.

We normally camp overnight and then depending on the weather and temperature decide on the day what walls we are going climbing on. The photos in the gallery are a selection of some of the photos I've taken in 2006, but there will be more to come in 2007.

Unfortunately I don't have a lot of photos of me climbing as I tend to forget to pass my camera to someone else.

Most of the time I go with my friend Sarah, but she has now moved to Canberra so she doesn't come up there as often as she used to.

Click here to see more photos from: Climbing in the Blue Mountains/Slideshow

In September 2006 I went on a business trip to Tokyo along with a colleague of mine Tsukada-san.

Most of the trip was hard work and very long days, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos here and there.

We did get the deal in Tokyo, so the trip was worthwhile, and we are now installing our solution across all of Asia.

Click here to see more photos from: Tokyo/Slideshow

In early 2006 my Mum had a stroke while my parents were on holiday in Thailand.

A few months later in April when I was in Europe for work I used the opportunity to go and visit and check up on how my mum is doing.

She is now in a wheelchair and still getting used to finding new ways of doing things.

I didn't do much while I was there, because it was mainly a social visit to help my mum and dad.

Click here to see more photos from: Denmark/Slideshow

I have a number of photos that don't really justify being in individual albums. I have now added all these photos from 2006 into one album.

Click here to see more photos from: Miscellaneous/Slideshow

In early 2006 I went a trip to Seattle for our annual kick-off event.

Some of us flew over there a few days early to go skiing in Wanatchee east of Seattle. If was a weekend of perfect skiing. It was my first time skiing so I took some lessons after which I was doing fine (blue slopes).

During the week we had lots of meetings and dinners. There were award nights as well as just social nights where we could meet up with the rest of the company.

The following all of us in International went down to Crystal Mountain at Mount Raineer to do some more skiing. It was a lot of fun and we all had a great time.

Click here to see more photos from: USA/Slideshow

Mid 2006 I went with Soeren and his family (visiting from Thailand) to Thredbo to do some skiing. We drove down there Friday night and returned Sunday night. Thredbo is located in the Australian Alps 5 hours drive south of Sydney.

Generally the skiing conditions are pretty good, but last year was pretty bad, but we did get some skiing done.

Click here to see more photos from:Skiing in Australia 2006/Slideshow

In 2006 I went to Holland a couple of time for work. We have an office in Vianen 50 milometers outside Amsterdam.

I normally don't take a lot of photos when I go there, but if you click on the link below then you can see some of the ones I did take.

Click here to see more photos from:Holland/Slideshow

The year 2007 as you can see was a busy year with lots of traveling and adventures.

It is now time to move onto 2008 and see what this year can bring.

You can follow my adventures in 2008 by clicking on this link.

Can I at the same time suggest that you bookmark this page and I can highly recommend using the new RSS feed features on this website.

While visiting my dad we made a daytrip to Burg in Germany. It is a short ferry ride.

The boys joined a naming ceremony of my dads boat. It is named 'AILU' after AIden and LUcas.

We went past the Cemetry to where my Brother and Mum (Aiden and Lucas' Uncle and Grandmother) is burried.

While there we also say all the other ancestors on my Mum's side of the family back to Aiden and Lucas' Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother and Grandfather.

One day in Denmark we went to Tivoli to see the christmas show.

Lucas got a ride pass so that he could jump on whatever ride he wanted, and Aiden was happy cheering.

We also saw the 'real' santa (Julemanden) and went past the Lego store.

While in Denmark it was snowing for a couple of days. The boys love playing with it.

On the first day after arriving we went past the little mermaid from HC Andersens story and also past the residence of the queen, Prince Frederik and Princess Mary.

Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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10. September 2007 05:39
by Rene Pallesen
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Birthday Party

10. September 2007 05:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Because Kim and I was busy travelling we never really managed to hold a birthday party where friends were invited along.

So, in mid august we held a small party celebrating Kim's, Luke's and My birthday.

Kim and Luke has got birthday on the same day and I was out travelling at that time, and on my birthday we went skiing in the Snowy Mountains.

It was a fun evening at a nice Thai restaurant in North Sydney. Click here to see more pictures from: Birthday party

11. August 2007 10:03
by Rene Pallesen
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The Gold Coast - Microsoft TechEd

11. August 2007 10:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This week I went to The Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise) to work on our stand at TechEd. This is our biggest marketing push of the year and gives us a chance to talk to more than 2000 people over the 4 days of the conference.

To attract people to our stand we had hired to girls to hand out brochures regarding our price draw. This turned out to be really effective. They managed to hand out 1500 brochures in just one hour so we had to get more printed for the second day. And a lot of people came to visit our stand to see what we were all about.

Click here to see more photos from The Cold Coast

It is pretty hard work. Most days start at around eight in the morning and generally didn't finish until around nine at night..and during this time there is a constant flow of people through the stand and constantly people to talk to.

On the last evening Microsoft hosted the TechEd party at MovieWorld...free rides, free drinks and lots of actors dressed up at star wars and star trek characters. None of my colleagues wanted to go, so I went by myself and did some of the rides and alng the way I bumped into various people I knew at the conference.

And it was a pretty good fun evening and I took a lot of cool photos, so I recommend you see the rest of the photos in the gallery...just click on one of the photos or on the link provided below.

But tell you what...it is really nice being back in Sydney where Kim is.

Click here to see more photos from: The Gold Coast

11. August 2007 09:51
by Rene Pallesen
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Playing Golf at The Coast golf club

11. August 2007 09:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sunday Kim, Luke, Sasha and I went to The Coast to play golf. It is a beautiful course located along the cliffline of Little bay.

I had just received my new golf clubs (Cobra S9's) and that needed some adjustment so I didn't play particular well, but I had a good day out nevertheless.

Kim at The Coast

A lot of the shots on the course are over the water which can be a bit intimidating if you play the course for the first time...but once you have played it a few times then it is not so bad.

Sasha on Hold #14

The day before I was climbing with Andy at Berowra. It is normally difficult to get him outside climbing, but since he went climbing at Krabi in Thailand during his holiday he's been hooked. Berowra is one of the local Sydney Crags located about 30 minutes drive north of the city centre. It is not a tall cliff line, but a lot of the climbs are very crimpy and there is a lot of variation in the climbs.

Andy at Berowra

30. July 2007 12:56
by Rene Pallesen
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Skiing Australia 2007

30. July 2007 12:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend it was my birthday and it also happened to be the ski peak season here in Australia.

Click here to see more photos from Skiing in Australia

(click here for more photos)

A group of us rented a house in Cooma not too far away from the ski fields and apart from a few mechanical problems with my car we had a blast of a time. On the Saturday we went to Perisher. The snow was perfect and a lot of the runs hadn't been groomed so it was still deep powder snow that we were skiing in.

Kim, Luke and Karen took lessons in the morning and later in the afternoon I went for a couple of runs with Luke (Soeren didn't make it to the ski area that day). In the evening we were watching a video (I fell asleep 15 minutes into it), and we had birthday cake and wine/beer.

The day after all of us went to Thredbo (which in my opinion is much better) and I was skiing with Soeren all day. The girls were having fun skiing down in the beginners area and Luke was skiing by himself higher on the mountain.

We left Thredbo at around 3.30pm and arrived back home in Sydney at around 10.15pm....a long drive.

I took a couple of videos of Soeren and myself skiing:
Video of Rene Skiing #1
Video of Rene Skiing #2
Video of Soeren Skiing #1
Video of Soeren Skiing #2

Click here to see more photos from: Skiing in Australia/SlideShow

11. July 2007 04:34
by Rene Pallesen
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Denmark 2007

11. July 2007 04:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ok, it is not just in Holland that they steal with arms a legs. I am not proud to admit that the same seems to happen in Denmark (my birth country)...but more about that later.

After Holland I flew a quick trip to Denmark. On the way there in Heathrow Airport I met up with Kim who had spend a couple of days in London with a couple of friends. I was really looking forward to introducing her to my parents.

My flight arrived a bit late in London so we arrived to Copenhagen without my luggage which turned up the following day.

All the time while in Denmark it was pouring with rain, but we did have one good day in Copenhagen where Kim got to see the sights Fredriksborg Slot, The Marble church, Amalienborg, City Square and City Hall, Stroeget, The little Mermaid, Runde Taarn, Tivoli and Gefion Springvandet. We had lunch at Kultorvet and here Kim got her handbag stolen by a very professional bag snatcher (Latin American or Eastern European looking, dark short hair, wears a dark green suit and will sit down at the table next to you and talk on his mobile. When he leaves he will take your bag).

Click here to see more photos from Denmark

We also spent a couple of days at my grandmothers place where we we had a look at Koldinghus and Trapholt. Kim got to meet most of the family in Jutland (The family on my Dads side).

Click heer to see more photos from Denmark

My cousin had a child recently and the christening was taking place while we were visiting, so it gave us an excuse to visit my grandmother.

On the way back from Jutland we visited my Uncle and Auntie Eli and Henning on their farm and also had a look at their windmill.

One day we went also sailing up through Guldborgsund with my dad and we also went a quick trip to Germany one afternoon with the ferry.

It was good to see my parents again, but I also realise that apart from them there is not much left for me in Denmark and I would never be able to live the same lifestyle in Denmark as I do in Sydney Australia.

I took a number of videos while in Denmark and also a lot of photos. I can recommend that you click on the following links to see more from Denmark.

Video of my Uncles Windmill #1
Video of my Uncles Windmill #2
Video of my Uncles Windmill #3
Video of Kim and my dad picking strawberries
Video of sailing with my dad #1
Video of sailing with my dad #2
Video of sailing with my dad #3
Click here to see more photos from:Denmark/ Slideshow

22. June 2007 06:58
by Rene Pallesen
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Holland 2007

22. June 2007 06:58 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

After my stay in Athens Greece I am now in Vianen in Holland where our European office is. The purpose with my stay here is to do a bit or coordination and do some planning.

Vianen is about 45 minutes drive south of Amsterdam not too far from Utrect. I am staying at the only hotel in Vianen which is located 3-4 kilometers from the office, but fortunately I have been able to borrow one of the company cars.

Vianen really is in the middle of no-where. It is a sleepy little town with no major attractions.

The hotel here is really weird. None of the floors meet and the numbering system of the rooms is all over the place. It is generally faster to get from one room in the hotel to another by always taking the lift to the ground floor, exit the hotel, enter it elsewhere and then take the lift up again...at least the ground floor is always on the same level.

The room itself is nice enough. When I wake up in the morning i wake up looking at a cow paddock with a couple of horses wandering around...did I say that this is out in the sticks?

Click here to see more photos from Holland

People in holland steal with their arms and legs. Yesterday I asked to get an ironing board and an iron brought to my room.They told me that they could not do that (could be because of the mile long walk from the reception but I don't think so, because the room also don't have an alarm clock and the tv is bolted to the table) and they told me that they now had a special ironing room. The iron and ironing board was bolted with a big chain to the wall.

The only positive thing about the hotel is that the breakfast is pretty nice (dinner isn't) and the internet is reasonably priced at 25 Euros for a week.

Its is nice to catch up with colleagues although the schedule is pretty busy here. I interviewed a couple of people for the office here and we are going to give an offer to one of the guys.

Also a couple of the restaurants in Vianen itself are fairly decent and the fact that I could borrow a car meant that I could get around a bit.

12. June 2007 07:35
by Rene Pallesen
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Greece 2007

12. June 2007 07:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here in mid June I am in Greece assisting one of our partners on a project involving our software.

I arrived Sunday evening and started working Monday morning with the partner. One of my colleagues Karsten is also here and last night we went to this fantastic restaurant called moorings.

It is the most fantastic setting right next to the sea, and the food was fantastic. My starter was goats cheese wrapped in prosciutto ham baked in the oven and then served on a bed of wild mushrooms. For mains I had Grober (a fish) and it was really nice. The servings were massive so no chance of leaving hungry. It was a pity that Kim wasn't there joining me...she would have loved the place. The whole dinner including a bottle of wine, pre-dinner drinks for two people amounted to approximately 135 Euros which is really cheap considering the food and the setting.

During the week Karsten and I have been pretty busy assisting the partner on the project. Later in the week they requested to get some more of my time to assist them. Since Athens is a nice place to be (more interesting than Vianen anyway) I as happy to stay. This means that my stay will ten days in total before continuing to Holland.

During the weekend I had time to do some windows shopping along Ermou street and in the Athens Flea markets as well as visit the Unknown soldiers grave.

Click here to see more photos from Athens

After that I continued up to see the Acropolis.

I was in Greece and Athens about 15 years ago and managed to see a lot of things, but it was nice with a bit of a refresher. One of the things I particularly remember from Acropolis is the Porch of the Maidens.

One evening around sunset on the weekend I walked up this hill close to the hotel that has a small chapel on top. There were also a couple of restaurants up there so I decided to sit down and have dinner. The evening view from the hill was fantastic with a view of Acropolis lit up as well as all of the lights of Athens all the way to Pireus.

Click here to see more photos from Greece

Click here to see more photos from: Athens / Slideshow

21. May 2007 12:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Golf at Wakehurst Golf Course

21. May 2007 12:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sunday afternoon Kim, Luke and I went playing golf at Wakehurst Golf Glub near Manly.

It was the first time on this course and it was in perfect condition and a very scenic course.

Luke joined us and managed to loose a fair amount of balls until he figured out that he should keep his head down to be able to hit the ball. After this he was able to play a fairly decent game...which was excellent, because I had been giving him a bit of a hard time until then (especially after being 30 minutes late for the game).

I think I managed to play the first none holes 7-8 strokes over par.

After the first nine holes Kim and I continued on our own and managed to play an additional 6-7 holes before it got to dark to play (and Kim was starving).

I recorded a couple of videos of us playing. Click on the links below to download them:
Me playing golf (first movie)
Me playing golf (second movie)
Kim Playing golf
Luke playing golf

17. May 2007 10:41
by Rene Pallesen
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Australian Drought

17. May 2007 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Since 1998 we have had a drought in Australia. The water supply in Sydney has been declining ever since and early may 2007 the supply was down to around 30% with only about 8 months supply left.

On the 17th of May it started raining in most parts of NSW and in many areas the drought now seems to be either over or at least less serious. Here is a radar photo from that day:

The day the drought was over