Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

29. February 2012 07:51
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden Walking

29. February 2012 07:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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)!

19. February 2012 09:25
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Aiden Standing by himself

19. February 2012 09:25 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

5. February 2012 08:57
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Centennial Park - Feb 2012

5. February 2012 08:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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?

29. January 2012 07:38
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Ronan Keating Concert

29. January 2012 07:38 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

29. December 2011 10:24
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Tomakin 2011 - Fishing

29. December 2011 10:24 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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).

28. December 2011 10:23
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Tomakin 2011 - Table Tennis

28. December 2011 10:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

27. December 2011 10:12
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Tomakin 2011 - Evening Photos

27. December 2011 10:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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).

26. December 2011 09:59
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Tomakin 2011

26. December 2011 09:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

25. December 2011 09:46
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Christmas Day 2011 - Bondi

25. December 2011 09:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

24. December 2011 09:35
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Christmas Eve 2011

24. December 2011 09:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

17. November 2013 08:42
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5 years wedding anniversary

17. November 2013 08:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Kim and I just had our 5th wedding anniversary.

She still looks as beautiful today as she did when I first met her.

We celebrated by going out having dinner at Darling Harbour and watched the weekly fireworks.

12. November 2013 01:23
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International Fleet Review 2013

12. November 2013 01:23 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We recently had the international fleet review in Sydney with lots of navy ships from international countries visiting Sydney to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Australian fleet.

This also meant that not only were there lots of sailors in town, but also lots of navy cadets.

Aiden and I chose to visit the American USS Chosin and British HMS Daring.

The US ship is an older class ship, and from the outside fairly unimpressive.

but on closer inspection it had an impressive arsenal of missiles.

As well as guns.

The crew were very friendly and were happy to have their photo taken.

The British vessel on the other hand is a very modern ship, again with a very impressive firepower.

The crew again were happy to have their photos taken.

After this Aiden was over the ships and when he spotted a firetruck he got very excited. Lucky the firemen were pretty bored so they were pretty happy to entertain him for a while and it also gave me a bit of a break from carrying Aiden in my backpack.

After that he was hungry and wanted something to eat.

1. November 2013 02:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Halloween 2013 - Steampunk Vampire

1. November 2013 02:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night was Halloween and we walked around with the kids (KC's and our kids) to do trick or treat.

Aiden was a little sick with gastro but we did managed to get him along dressed in his spider man shirt.

I was dressed up as a steam punk vampire.

When we came back I did the photo above in my home studio.

14. October 2013 02:53
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Lucas 1 year portrait

14. October 2013 02:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

I finally managed to take the 1 year portrait of Lucas that I had planned and it turned out really well I think.

He is a big boy now and he is able to walk by himself (took his first unassisted steps just before his birthday).

13. October 2013 03:05
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Lucas 1yo Centennial park photos

13. October 2013 03:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day we went to Centennial park to take some 1yo photos of Lucas using a balloon.

What we had in mind was to take the photo down a row of trees.

...but it was impossible to get both the balloon and Lucas to behave in the same photo and the light wasn't great anyway with patches of sun and shade in the middle of the day.

We instead tried to be creative with other photos.

13. October 2013 02:57
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Aiden on the bridge at Centennial Park

13. October 2013 02:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago we went to centennial park to take some photos of Lucas for his birthday (see separate post).

I also took this photo of Aiden running across the bridge at Centennial park.

12. October 2013 06:01
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Test portraits of Lucas

12. October 2013 06:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here is some more test shots of Lucas...his facial expressions are priceless.

12. October 2013 03:01
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Self test portrait

12. October 2013 03:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day I was setting up for a portrait using my new beauty dish strobe.

I was using myself as a subject and this one turned out rather well.

12. October 2013 02:49
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Sculptures by the sea 2013

12. October 2013 02:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Sculptures by the sea is on again and Kim and I managed to find a couple of hours to go and have a look.

I was carrying Lucas in my backpack and didn't bring my camera, so these photos are all shot with my phone...I seriously regret that I didn't bring my larger camera.

11. October 2013 05:24
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Working in the Sydney

11. October 2013 05:24 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Recently I have been doing a lot of work with a client in the Governor Macquarie Tower in Sydney CBD.

It has been great working in the city as the commute is a lot easier and more interesting in general.

This is the building I have been working in.

11. March 2018 22:03
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Monks - Laos

11. March 2018 22:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Religion is an integral part of Laos society where the majority are Budhists.

The monks dressed in orange and red ropes are still visible everywhere and it is largely seen as becoming a novice (junior monk) is seen as an opportunity to get an education and support your family if you come from a poor rural area.

The high influx of tourists, especially to Luang Prabang is therefore a bit of a win-win situation for everyone. The tourists support the temples in the area by paying their admission fees to visit and on both my trips I have found that the monks are keen to have a conversation as it is a way of practicing their language skills.

In Luang Prabang the monks walk in procession every morning to collect rice from worshipper along the roads. Before sunrise there are hundreds of monks walking the streets in every direction. There is an equal horde of tourists trying to take photos of these monks and equally tourists handing out (sometimes dubious) rice to them.

There are posters around the city encouraging being there and seeing the monks as well as providing some guidelines such as keeping a certain distance, not using flash photography and if you hand out rice then where to get it from. Most of it common sense really, so it was sad to see how some would be blocking the paths and sticking their camera phones with flashes into the monks faces.

Sacha and I went there a couple of mornings, but because of the time of the year everything was dark and because the monks move quite fast through the streets it was a challenge getting good shots.

One afternoon we walked past a temple and a group of monks were in progress of cutting down a large tree and afterwards trimming off the branches. They were going to use some of the tree trunk for traditional drums and the rest for ornamental purposes inside the temple.

In the late afternoons you would hear them chanting in the small rooms of meditations, chanting and prayer. These are often smaller places of worship and not part of the main temples which are used for more ceremonial purposes.
One evening I heard such chanting and went to investigate and found these monks. Definitely one of my favourite moments in Luang Prabang.

A common assumption and misconception is that the monks live by an ancient code with a simple life, so it is quite interesting to see that even they have adopted modern technology with smart phones and cameras.

11. February 2018 22:03
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Locals transport - Laos

11. February 2018 22:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The locals are still relying on motorbikes to get around. They are far cheaper and more convenient in the towns. It is even possible to fit an entire family onto a single motorbike.

Younger kids and high schoolers ride their push bikes for transport.

Although Aiden and the other kids definitely preferred the motor bikes.

Nothing too flash for weddings - a normal new car will suffice. If you notice the sign on the door, then I am not sure if the bride was expecting to come home to 'Meat & Sausage'.

There are also some vintage cars around which have survived since colonial times - like this 1952 Citroen.

10. February 2018 07:03
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Bowling - Laos

10. February 2018 07:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the last day in Luang Prabang we went to the local ten pin bowling alley.

We had heard and read that this is the place where things are happening in Laos. When we got there the place was totally deserted apart from a few staff members.

We did play bowling and it is a bit surreal to play by ourselves in this fairly modern centre in Laos.

They didn't have any support rails for the kids, but Aiden especially did really well and the kids managed to beat Kim on points.

9. February 2018 07:03
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Water fall - Laos

9. February 2018 07:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Just outside Luang Prabang there is this amazing waterfall cascading down a limestone creek.

We decided to get up early to go a take photos, so that we could be there early before all the crowds arrived.

At the entrance to the park there is also a Bear rehabilitation centre. They rescue bears from captivity and keep them until it is safe to release them back into the wild (if ever). The bears have a big area and seem to love climbing and sleep in the hammocks provided.

8. February 2018 22:03
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The kids and families of Laos

8. February 2018 22:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

What I especially remember from my last trip to Laos was the kids. One of my most cherished photos is one of two little girls holding a bouquet of flowers that I took 20 years ago (it is on this blog if you look for it through the search function).

The children are still there. They are still very shy, dirty and smiling.

They make up their own games such as these kids at a school playing marbles with tamarind seeds.

These kids were playing a game where the kid under the table had to poke the feet of the kids above the table.

And some things never change, kids teasing each other.

The girls in the school yard 'hang out'.

Visiting a local school was great for our kids to get a glimpse of how other kids live.

Along the road we stopped and a family was outside with the mother breastfeeding her son in their outdoor living room. This is where everything happened such as the cooking, washing, feeding etc.

The chicken were running around freely

Here is a rare shot that Kim took with my camera in it.

It is a very family oriented life they live

8. February 2018 22:03
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Our kids - Laos

8. February 2018 22:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Our kids had a blast of a time in Laos. They loved each other company (for the most part) and sometime looked like real little travellers.

They were respectful at the temples and even offered a prayer.

At other times they behaved like animals and should be lock away in a cage.

But for the most part they liked exploring things that us adults wouldn't see such as this crater from a crash landed U.F.O.

7. February 2018 21:03
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Catching local transport - Laos

7. February 2018 21:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

For getting around the towns in Laos we mainly used Tuk-Tuks. These are small motorbike powered minibuses and the experience can be very mixed. Most of them are generally good, but some have bad brakes have a plume of smelly two stroke engine smoke trailing behind them. We could easily fit our two families into one and I'd joke that there would even be room for another couple of adults.

The kids loved the tuk-tuks and have the fresh air blowing in their hair while riding.

The only downside is that you'd never quite know what the fare would be until you started bargaining and from town to town the fares seemed to be very different. Even though I believe I am reasonable proficient at bargaining, I'm still confident that we paid more that the locals would be paying for the same trips.

For the longer trips we would catch either local buses (mini vans) or in some instances it was worthwhile us hiring a private bus as we were enough people to fill it.

From Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang we hired a private van taking us across the mountain pass at Kasi. Last time I went through here it was in an open bus and at the pass it was raining and really cold. This time round we had a beautiful clear day with a great view of the valley below from the top.

The week before they had a lot of rain and a landslide had taken out large parts of the last section of road (I read in the local newspaper a few days earlier that the road was closed). Our little van was struggling getting enough grip and our driver had to reverse to get enough of a run-up in the next attempt to make it through the steep and muddy section.

The larger trucks were really struggling getting through.

6. February 2018 16:03
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Morning Markets - Laos

6. February 2018 16:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The morning markets are interesting. This is where the locals still go to buy their fresh produce and all kinds of specialties are being sold here. It would be easy to go here and get the ingredients for some really delicious food.

There are also some unusual things that we don't see in our western kitchens. such as:

Dried Squids:

Fresh fish - of cause, but this have sharp teeth.

A protein and herb table that would make most chefs (and diners) salivate:

The Chillies in Lao are more hot than in Thailand - We loved the heat.

A pig:

River crabs:

Beetles:

Dried rats:

Caterpillar - these are yummi when fried:

Frogs:

River snails:

Dried squid, shrimps and fish:

5. February 2018 16:03
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Silk - Laos

5. February 2018 16:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

They still manufacture silk they way they used to. It was interesting for the kids to see the process from small caterpillar eggs that hatch to worms to the production of the silk itself.

I had always wondered where the colour blue (Indigo) came from. I knew it used to come from a seashell, but I was fairly certain that this wouldn't be the case here. It turns out that they use a special leaf from a plant that when mixed with water and left fermenting/oxidising turns into a blue dye.

They also use plants for most of the other colours.

After they spin the thread they use traditional weaves to make it into pieces of garment. These days the silk garments are fairly expensive - hundreds of dollars, but it used to be really cheap.

5. February 2018 16:03
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Bamboo Bridges - Laos

5. February 2018 16:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

During the dry season the people of Luang Prabang builds traditional bamboo bridges across the smaller river. This saves them a lot of time (and cost) to cross directly into the centre of town rather than a long detour to the other larger bridges.

It also earns them a small income to charge foreigners a small fee to cross the bridges.

10. January 2003 10:53
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Mum and Dad in Sydney 2003

10. January 2003 10:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My mum and dad spent some time in Sydney over christmas and New Year.

While they were here I raught my dad how to absail.

And for Christmas I gave my parents some tickets for the Sydney Harbour bridge walk (they gave Arumi a ticket too).

1. November 2002 11:19
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My brothers funeral

1. November 2002 11:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My brother passed away in the end of 2002. He had been suffering badly from his disease for almost a decade and eventually it got the better of him.

I still miss him a lot even though we weren't close when he was alive....but I still feel him close to me to this day!

I still light a candle for him once in a while.

His two biggest wishes in life was to become a professional tennis player...he was a pretty damn good player and I never played against him because I didn't have a chance.

His second biggest wish was to get himself a girlfriend. This is one of the last photos that was taken of him.

I still blame the psychiatric system in Denmark for what happened. They were too focused on treating his disease with medication and never paid any attention on teaching him to live with his disease and provide quality in life.

I still love him very much and I really miss him. I also regret that I wasn't there more for him.

He always looked after me and he has never hurt anyone.

This is the last family photo that was taken.

I would appreciate if you click here to see some of the photos from my brothers life: May he not be forgotten

26. October 2002 11:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Growing Up . . .

26. October 2002 11:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Invitation for Claus' confirmation ceremony

26. October 2002 11:09
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My Memories of Claus . . .

26. October 2002 11:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Amstmester - Claus Pallesen (newspaper article)

Before Claus became ill, he was a rising star in the world of tennis. He was featured in the local newspaper as Amtsmester - he came first in the local "Amst" - level similar to state-level.

Trip to Karrebæksminde, during René's and Arumi's visit to Denmark (June 2002)

Claus loved being out in the wind and the sun. He was also prone to seasickness.

At my old apartment in Narrabeen, Sydney

Claus and my family came to visit me in Australia in 1999. I think he liked it here - warmer winters and friendly people. I really like the top middle photo, of Claus eating oysters. He looked very happy. They did a lot of sightseeing here, and even visited my apartment on Narrabeen beach.

At airport - when René and Arumi leave Denmark

René & Claus at Sonja's 60th birthday celebrations

The following are the last photos that were taken of Claus, on one of our sailing trips.

26. October 2002 11:08
by Rene Pallesen
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My Dear Big Brother...

26. October 2002 11:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My brother had schizophrenia, and he passed away not long after his 33rd birthday.

I love my brother, and I regret not telling him this. My girlfriend tells me that Claus knew I loved him.
I am not convinced of this, so I wrote him a letter, in the hope that he will read this, wherever he is.

There is so much I wanted to say to him.

I want to remember him when he was not sick, when he was happy, and when I was last in Denmark in June 2002. I want to remember him, as you will see him in these photos.
blue line

26. October 2002 11:01
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Always Part of My Family . . .

26. October 2002 11:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last photo with Claus - Home in Denmark 2002

26. October 2002 10:35
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My Big Brother

26. October 2002 10:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

My Big Brother . . .

Sharing toys

Created: 8 Oct 2002 Last Updated: 24 Oct 2002

10. June 2002 11:47
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Singapore

10. June 2002 11:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the way back from Denmark we made a stopover in Singapore to have a look as well as do some shopping.

Here a photo from Little India in Singapore.

4. June 2002 11:36
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My mums birthday

4. June 2002 11:36 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

We surprised my Mum by turning up in Denmark before her 60th Birthday.

She had a big party where a lot of her friends and family turned up.

While we were there we also got to visit some of my friends and family as well as do a bit of Sightseeing in Copenhagen and Legoland. Click here to see more photos from: Mums 60th Birthday/Slideshow

29. March 2002 02:52
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Drive in Australia

29. March 2002 02:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Over the Christmas holidays we went for a drive through some of the most scenic parts of Australia.

First we drive down to Melbourne and then along the Great Ocean Road to Adelaide.

The sunsets were spectacular.

We then continued up to the Flinders Ranges and along the way had a look at cave paintings.

In Broken hill we went down into the old Daydream silvermine.

We also had a look at some of the Desert Sculptures

Along the way we saw some Australian Wildlife. Here a wombat.

And here a possum.

Lots of Koalas

And here one very angry Lizard.

And of course some Emus.

We were camping along the way.

Click here to see more photos from Driving in Australia / Slideshow

14. November 2004 02:02
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Nile Cruise

14. November 2004 02:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:59
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An Egyptian Perfumery

14. November 2004 01:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:58
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The Unfinished Obelisk

14. November 2004 01:58 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:54
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Memphis - the Ancient Capital of Egypt

14. November 2004 01:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:52
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Kom Ombo's Temple - Dedicated to Horus & Sobek, the Crocodile God

14. November 2004 01:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:51
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Valley of the Kings

14. November 2004 01:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:49
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 4

14. November 2004 01:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:49
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 3

14. November 2004 01:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:47
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 2

14. November 2004 01:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:45
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Temple of Horus - the Most Complete of Its Kind Part 4

14. November 2004 01:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

15. September 2000 11:05
by Rene Pallesen
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New Car in 2000 . . .

15. September 2000 11:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

In September 2000, just after I returned from my trip to Borneo, I had to buy this new car because my girlfriend had written off my car whilst I was away! *smile*

I did not look forward to hunting around for a new car, but I found a good buy locally. This car is a 1997 Ford Futura, with 4.0 litre, 6-cylinder, 220-horsepower, power-steering, central locking and electronic windows (I think I am starting to sound like a car advertisement...)

Frontal view of car

It is pretty much the same colour as my old car, and it feels so nice to drive!

As you can see, pretty similar, but I also really miss my old car! It had a lot of computerised features - from a digital odometer, to adjusting the internal temperature of the car. It was a pretty cool car and wished I could have kept it for another few more years.

Frontal view of car

A huge contrast to my first car!

It is a red hatchback that I bought early 1998, a few months after I arrived in Australia. But someone wrote it off a few months after I bought it. It was a pretty bad accident, but luckily I was alright. I was only covered by Third Party insurance, and to go through a lot of paperwork just to get reimbursement for the car!

15. August 2000 10:43
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Away from Headquarters . . .

15. August 2000 10:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Away from Headquarters . . .

I managed to explore the villages at Silam.

The people here wore this white stuff on their faces - I guess their form of sunscreen.

These people were refugees from the Philippines.

Kids in the village

The kids were fighting to fit into the photo!

Kids in the village

The kids here were really cute. Caught Monkey

These kids here, had caught a monkey and was trying to sell it at the camp for 5 ringgit (AUD$2.50).

No-one wanted to buy it because they knew if they bought it, and set it loose, the kids would just catch it again, and try to sell it.

In general, there were lots of great photos at Silam village.

Car in a ditch

One of the helicopter pilots was driving through the jungle roads, took a corner too fast, and had a minor mishap.

All of us having dinner

We headed into Lahad Datu to get some seafood!

An escape from camp food. Camp food was disgusting. There were live worms in the vegetables (yes, after cooked). Most of the food was not fresh, and was pretty boring. The seafood was fantastic here. Whenever we had the chance, we ate lots of seafood.

Yum... Paul did not get to eat all of the crabs - all of us had a portion of it.

Huge lobster

Yummm... they were huge, but we did not eat them. They were too big for us to eat, pretty impressive though. They were the biggest lobsters I have seen in my life. We saw these at the same place we ate our seafood and frogs (below).

Frog

We had this frog for dinner about 2 min after I took the photo.

This was actually when I went out with Glen in Kota Kinabalu - he asked me to pick some food and to surprise him.

I did not tell him till a year later that he ate frog meat. He asked me what it was, because he reckoned it tasted funny, but I did not tell him at the time.

I think he will only eat it again. Only if he really had to.

The tallest building in the world

Petronis Towers - the tallest twin towers in the world.

Actually, they are the tallest buildings in the world, followed by the Sears Towers in Chicago.

The towers are joined by some sort pedestrian platform.

These towers are located in Kuala Lumpur.

I went to Kuala Lumpur to pick up my Permanent Residency for Australia.

Woohoo!!! After 2 years of lots of paperwork, and correspondence back and forth with Berlin, I finally managed to get it!

The inconvenience of it all, was that I actually had to leave Australia ie collect my PR before re-entering Australia.

Below, is the only photo I have of the Lateral Linking Team that I worked with during the race.

The radio communications team

15. August 2000 10:42
by Rene Pallesen
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Helicopters . . .

15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Helicopters . . .
The radio communications team had to arrive a few days before that because we had to hand out over 2,000 pieces of radio equipment. We had problems getting the necessary approvals for helicopters so they were grounded! I ended having to hand out most of the equipment as Glen and Paul had to sort out our use of the helicopters.

We had to fly all the equipment to Silam before the start of the race, and our team managed to fly to Silam the day before the race started.

Do you believe that Paul managed to take a photo of me whilst I was flying the chopper? He was standing to the side of me, and took the photo at night time, with the door open ...

Jeez, I would love to be the pilot!

Don't you think I look good as the chopper's pilot?

Just kidding.

A couple of days before the race started, I was at the airport most of the day. We had some problems with the radios in the helicopters... I must have been in and out of those helicopters at least 200 times.

I did manage to get someone to take some photos of me in a helicopter, looking very much like the pilot!

I had hoped that I had the time to explore Kota Kinabalue, but we were so busy, it had to wait.

Helicopters at HQ

Here is the 212 or "Huey" - a twin-turbine Vietnam helicopter taking off. It is a hell a lot more powerful than some of the other helicopters we were using, which were 206s.
Landing at HQ

Here are the medical guys practising abseiling out of the helicopters (Aussie style)!

At the start of the race, I was sitting there listening to the first rescue on the radio.

3 hours after the start, four boats had capsized... helicopters and boats were very busy!

The competitors were due to arrive at Silam (another checkpoint) the next day (21st Aug).

For the first few days after the race started, I had to help organise to get the fuel to the top of the mountain.

After that the helicopter came in useful. It brought up 100 litres of fuel on the 4th day so I did not have to ferry fuel anymore!

Glen with repeater station

At the end of the race, we had to sling-load the repeaters, to get them off the mountain. That means we had to strap them onto the helicopters, and pull them off the mountains that way - quite effective really.

Transporting Equipment Photo 2

Repeater station finally airborne!

You can see a pole in the right photo.
My girlfriend asked me what it was for - it helps balance the load so that it does not keep swinging whilst airborne.

Below, you will see some pretty good photos from the chopper.

View from chopper - over the river

Towards the end of the race, we had to scan the rivers for the last competitors coming in - to make sure they had completed this section of the race course. It was low-altitude flying of the river-bed.

The photo on the left shows the chopper approaching Silam Village. This village was located just outside of Silam HQ.

Aerial view of the village

Glen liked wanted to have a photo of the back of my head - and I ruined the photo by turning my head as he took it...

Here's a sunset shot of the helicopters flying around.

I had to put in this fantastic photo - the lighting gives a really nice feel to the photo.

15. August 2000 10:42
by Rene Pallesen
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The Wildlife in Borneo . . .

15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

The Wildlife in Borneo . . .

The jungles in Borneo are really dense, dark and humid.

You will find that some of the photos look as though they have been over-exposed, but in reality, it is just the humidity in the air.

Me in the jungle

I have a photo of this at home - Glen enlarged it for me, and framed it!

Don't ask me why - I think I look rather wasted there.

Glen and I tried to race through the jungle.

The climb to the top of the mountain is rated as a 1.5 hour climb... Glen and I have done it in 26 minutes... actually I was confident that I could do it in less than 20 and so I did!

I held the record of taking 17 minutes to race to the top of Mt Silam, covering a distance of approx 4 kilometres through the jungle, up a mountain.

I was getting really fit (My girlfriend was proud of me).

Glen in the jungle

This photo shows how dense and dark the jungle can be. It was so humid there... no, not because I hadn't cleaned my lenses.

Glen in the jungle

You can see how muddy it is in the jungle - I became quite dirty after many trips into the jungle.

Look how big these trees are!

Me standing in front of one of these big trees!

They look almost as big as the Californian Redwoods!

I think these trees are just as big as the Californian Redwoods. They might not be as old, but definitely just as big.
Beetle

This was taken with a 300mm lens, from 1.5 metres.

The most amazing thing about them, is when they are scared, the curl up into little "marbles".

It looks like a small bug, but it is actually at least 7cm long, which is actually quite big.

Moth in palm of hand

I noticed in Borneo, most of the insects there were huge.

The wingspan of the brown moth was about 15cm wide - huge!

They are mostly active at night, which is quite common for creatures in the jungle.

A couple of the girls stationed in the jungles, was stationed here. Not a wise decision, considering these girls were paranoid about the insects.

(Note: in the photo below, I still had conjunctivitis) I had the red eyes for most of the trip.
Moth on my elbow

Big and beautiful, don't you think? You can see how big the black moth is compared to the size of the telephone.

These plants were kind of special because each branch split into two, so by the end of it, they formed a hexagonal pattern.

Below, are plants known as the "pitcher" plant.

The pitcher plants are meat-eating plants - you have watch out not to fall into them because they will swallow you whole.

If you just believed that, you are very gullible! *laugh*

The pitcher plant, like other carnivorous plants, feed on insects.

They have sweet-smelling nectar that attract the unsuspecting insect to it.

When the insect lands, it finds the surface slippery and fall straight into the “pitcher”, where the plants juices drowns it and is digested by the plant.

You may have heard of other type of carnivorous plants such as the Venus Fly Trap, and the Sundew plants.

Me holding a dead snake

Yes, you see me holding the snake with a leaf.

It was a poisonous snake, and I was worried about it's venom getting on my skin.

For example a puff adder, contact with the venom numbs the skin.

I was not familiar with the snakes in Borneo, and was not about to risk it.
A Tarantella

The tarantella was sitting inside the catering tent hunting.

Everyone was looking at it and admiring it, which was pretty amazing, considering I know many people who would willingly kill a spider in sight.

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Created: 7 Dec 2001

15. August 2000 10:41
by Rene Pallesen
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Repeater Stations . . .

15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Repeater Stations . . .

Paul and repeater Station in aircraft

Here, you see Paul and I transporting some of the repeater stations by air.

From Silam, we flew down to DFVC. We stayed there for three days before going back to Silam.

Me at site of repeater station

I am at one of the repeater sites. Here, the top of one of the mountains was cleared, so we could safely land a helicopter there.

Oh... did I forget to mention that I almost chopped one of my fingers in half at the repeater site?

On top of my infected eye, I had another thing for the medical team to look at. The fingernail had been chopped in half and there was not much I could do about it except clean it up and try to avoid infections. The medical team was great there... they were extremely good.

Site of Repeater Station

We had a few problems with some of the communications gear.

Paul and Glen were handling it, and at times I tried to assist.

The first few days had been really tough.

Solar Panel Photo 1

The top of Silam is covered in clouds for most of the afternoons, so the solar panels are quite useless. A survey of the conditions made prior to the race was useless.

If you ask any of the locals, they would have told us that the peak is always covered in clouds... but apparently no-one asked them!!!

Generator

We had problems keeping the generators running - they were using more power than predicted and there was no sun on the top of Silam to recharge the batteries.

The generator itself was a re-built petrol engine with a car alternator on it.

We basically tried to use a system where we used a jerry can, cut holes into it, and relied on the force of gravity to transport the fuel to the generator.

This design ended up working best for us.

Site of repeater station

Our helicopter pilot sitting on the side there, just grinning...

On the third day of the race, I hiked up the mountain three times. I was really tired and all I could think of was getting a bit of a rest and some food. I managed to get a bit once I got to Danum. In Danum I managed to get 6 hours sleep before someone woke me up and told me that the repeater had died in Silam... again all the cars had to leave in a convoy... so rush, rush to find my driver and managed (just) to get into the convoy!

The road to Danum closes at 6.30pm and all the cars had to go in the convoy.

Helicopter at Repeater Site Photo 1

The helicopter flew all of us to the top of the mountain, and waited there for us till we were finished. Glen quite often told the pilot, "You don't have to shut down, because we'll only be here for 5 minutes." Well... quite often, we were there for as long as an hour and half! (Don't worry, the pilot was sensible enough to shut down immediately... he got to know Glen very well.)

I went up there often make sure that it was still running. It is much better getting a helicopter to fly me up there so that I can bring some fuel with me !

Glen fixing generator Photo 1

Glen has mostly been on top of the mountain getting the generator back online.
We have to keep the generator running 24 hours per day until the end of the race.

Glen fixing repeater Photo 1

On the third night after the race started, one of the repeaters went dead.

I had to hike up the mountain on the previous day as the generator had died.

I did not leave the mountain until it was dark, so I had to climb down through the jungle in the dark!

Fortunately I had my torch with me!

Glen fixing repeater Photo 4

Paul later gave me strict instructions to make sure that I leave the mountain so that I could be back at HQ while there was still light!

I found out that I did not have any problems navigating at night... I even offered Paul to go back up when the repeater died!

Anyhow, we ended up having to send the airborne repeater up!

Helicopter at Repeater Site Photo 3

15. August 2000 10:41
by Rene Pallesen
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The Competitors . . .

15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

The Competitors . . .

The competitors did not rest... three of the teams were half way through the 600 kilometre course after only three days... pretty amazing!

Two of the teams were Australian. 18 teams were out of the race. At least 10 of these were due to medical problems.

Hardly any people around here get enough sleep... the place is active 24 hours per day because there are always competitors coming in!

I was keen to find out how the Danish team would turn out. At the beginning of the race, they were not very sociable. But by the end of the race, I think the tension of the race had gone, and I managed to have a chat with them. By the third day, the Danes are doing pretty well... they had a 22nd place!

Race on mountain bikes

This was the mountain-bike leg of the race.

The guy you see being transported to hospital in the helicopter (photos below), was doing this part of the race. He was rounding a corner on his bike and rode straight into a large branch.

Rush to medical facilities

We had a lot of medical urgencies... we almost lost a guy with a punctured lung !
I got some great photos and helped getting the guy into the mobile hospital. There was a lot publicity on the website and through the media about it.

Fortunately, he was only 15 minutes away from HQ, so it was possible for us to get him to the helicopter very quickly, and to the nearest hospital.

River Race

Another leg of the race involved rowing in these “sampans”, a Malay term for “boat”. At some point, the teams in the race had to also split up - some of them swimming, some of them rowing, to complete the water leg of the race.

Below, the competitors had to use a flying fox to cross the canyons. I managed to have a go at it - compared to rock-climbing... well, I found it pretty boring *smile*. I imagine most people would find it quite fun though.

Setting up of flying fox

There are no places to climb here.

I had hoped to take one of the helicopters to Madai Caves to check out the 200 metre abseil. The road to the Madai Caves lead directly through the tiny village of Gua Madai - a small cluster of homes, their wood bleached grey.

The town’s main sources of income are tourism and birds’ nests. The nests are found high up the walls of the cave, tucked away in cracks and crevasses, and can command thousands of dollars. They are harvested about three times a year.

My girlfriend mentioned trying "bird's nest soup" whilst I was there. She said normally the bird's nest they use belong to the swallow. It is a delicacy to many Asians, and similar to shark's fin soup - that is if you have tried it. Normally the nests are made out of the birds' saliva.
Headquarters flooded!

There was so much rain at Silam that HQ was often flooded.

Many of the competitors took the opportunity to get some sleep and the slept on whatever they could find.

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Created: 7 Dec 2001

15. August 2000 10:40
by Rene Pallesen
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Silam and Jungle Ops . . .

15. August 2000 10:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Silam and Jungle Ops . . .
It is so bloody hot in Silam! It must have been at least 40 degrees and 100% humidity!

Silam was the overall headquarters, and Danum Valley Field Centre (DVFC) was referred to as Jungle Ops. Jungle Ops controlled all radio communications and conducted the race through the the jungle.

From Kota Kinabalu, we flew to Lahad Datu and drove the rest of the way to Silam. Silam was the site of one of the repeater stations. We had to set up a HQ a few kilometres from this station... heaps of opportunities for a few walks in the jungle.

The operation at Silam was huge!... I had never seen such a busy place before. The place was crawling with energy. It was bigger than any military operation I had ever seen! You would be amazed to see the logistics involved in this project ! At the time I did not have the time to take a lot of photos.

We had many army trucks transporting the competitors' equipment - very good cooperation from the military. They helped out with the preparation and set-up of HQ, and with the transportation of fuel.

Arrival of army trucks at Silam

This is the headquarters on the left.

The whole Ecochallenge race is governed from this office.

The map in the background contains the position of all the checkpoints at which the competitors have to go through.

View from helipcopter

Both of the above photos are aerial shots of HQ and were taken from a helicopter.

I managed to get a nice aerial shot of Silam HQ. The big white patch in the middle is where the competitors stored all their equipment. Just to the left are the containers from where the race is controlled. The 4 'finger-like' white pads on the right are the heli-pads. The long rectangle to the left is the eating area, and just above it is the hospital.

Aerial view of Jungle Ops HQ

Approaching DVFC in helicopter.

This is actually a research centre in the middle of the jungle - commonly known as DVFC (Danum Valley Field Centre).

DVFC is not normally accessible the tourists and the general public, only to researchers.

DVFC is concerned about contamination into the jungle.

Jungle Ops HQ

Outside Jungle Ops HQ.

The green boxes contain bottled drinking water.

By the time the race was over, most of this had been consumed - quite amazing really, considering there were really only 10 people at Jungle Ops.

During the competitors were not allowed any help from us, and that included the provision of drinking water.

Paul at HQ

Paul with some of the radio equipment at Silam.

He is standing next to the HQ matrix, which contained all the communications equipment for headquarters.

Paul is also standing next to the only 2 beds in the HQ building. These were used by the radio operators to nap in between shifts.

Below, you see me sitting in the catering tent at Silam.

I think it must have been a good day, to have been sitting there, smiling... I am just guessing here, because obviously I did not take the photo, and I cannot remerber the place.

Me relaxing at Silam

Bad hair day?

I did not have a shower for a very long time, and to hold my hair in place, I adopted various techniques, such as the sunglasses-hairband...

This place is a breathing ground for tropical diseases!

As you can see, my right eye is really red. I somehow managed to get conjunctivitis and did not know it was contagious. I did not want to trouble the medics as they were pretty tied up with the competitors. When my vision on the left eye was getting blurry and I had problems seeing what was in front of me, I was ordered to get it checked. Just as well I did!

In Kota Kinabalu, I had the same problem on the other eye... at one point both my eyes were infected. It started on my left eye on the way to Kota Kinabalu in the plane ! It then spread to my right eye. The nurse at Silam told me that I should be careful because it could re-infect to my left eye. It started to look and feel a lot better after using the eyedrops that they gave me.

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Created: 7 Dec 2001

15. August 2000 10:39
by Rene Pallesen
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Preparations at the Magellan Hotel

15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Preparations at the Magellan Hotel
( Kota Kinabalu ) . . .

All the Ecochallenge teams gathered together at the Magellan Hotel in anticipation of the race, which was due to start on 20th August.

During our stay at Kota Kinabalu, we were staying at the most extravagant hotel - as pictured on the right. It is huge! It has 3 swimming pools, and takes us an hour to walk around the perimeter.

The radio communications team had to arrive a few days before the start of the race because we had to hand out over 2,000 pieces of radio equipment. We had problems getting the necessary approvals for helicopters so I ended up having to hand out most of the equipment whilst Glen and Paul sorted out the issue of the helicopters. We had to get all the equipment and our team to Silam before the the race started.

Paul & Glen preparing the equipment

Glen and Paul checking all the equipment and re-programming some of the radios.
Yes, I'm busy working too!

Behind me are all the radio equipment, ready to be handed out. I am standing here waiting for the competitors to arrive as I have to sign out the equipment as I give them out.

We had to improvise a lot of the furniture, using old crates to set up tables.

Vegging in really nice rooms

After the race, Glen and I decided to make most of the luxury and just veg... aaahhh... bliss!

Relaxing on our balcony

Created: 7 Dec 2001

15. August 2000 10:39
by Rene Pallesen
0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )

15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Ecochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )


Arrival	Silam / Jungle Ops	Repeater Stations	The Competitors	Helicopter	Jungle Around Us	The Village

Click here for full size map of Sabah, Borneo

Ecochallenge in 2000 was held on the east coast of Borneo, in the jungles of Sabah. It was an extreme race where the competitors taking part have to endure 10 days of running through the jungles; kayaking and swimming many kilometres offshore; and mountain-biking for 150km on dirt roads. All in all, the fastest competitors travelled 600km in a space of just over 5 days!

I had the privilege of being there, being the developer of software that was used by the radio communications team. I also helped out with the setting up of all equipment and made many trips to the repeater stations.

Being in the jungles of Sabah, let alone part of the Ecochallenge preparations, has proved to be a challenge and an experience worth remembering, and hope to be part of any future Ecochallenge events.

As shown in the map, the red trails are where most of the competitors either ran or walked. The purple trail was the kayaking/canoeing leg. The orange trail was the mountain-bike leg and the blue trail was where the competitors had to swim with all their equipment.

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Created: 7 Dec 2001

4. March 2000 11:07
by Rene Pallesen
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Chilli Festival ( 4th March 2000 ) . . .

4. March 2000 11:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Yesterday we decided to do a little excursion to Circular Quay and the Opera house with the boys.

The both love trains, so we took the train into the city so that they could have the experience.

It was a cold and windy winters day here in Sydney so standing still for too long was freezing.

But it was great getting out and also get another family photo.

30. June 2014 07:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Kims Birthday 2014

30. June 2014 07:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It was Kim's birthday on the weekend.

In the morning the boys and I woke her up with singing Happy Birthday to her.

In the evening we had a babysitter so that we could have an evening just the two of us. We went to the Bridge Room restaurant in the city, food was nice!

10. June 2014 11:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Spiderman face paint

10. June 2014 11:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

The other day Aiden cam back from daycare with Spiderman face paint.

Normally he avoids face paint so him having the whole face painted was a first.

10. June 2014 11:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Mothers day card 2014

10. June 2014 11:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Here is the Mothers day card that Aiden made this year.

10. June 2014 11:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Bumble Bee

10. June 2014 11:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Recently Kim bought Aiden a yellow bumble bee umbrella and gumboots.

They will come in handy now that winter is here.

10. June 2014 11:06
by Rene Pallesen
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Aidens 4th Birthday

10. June 2014 11:06 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we celebrated Aiden's 4th Birthday.

Because of the weather forecast we decided to have it here at home rather than at the park as originally planned.

As entertainment we had hired a pirate who came to do magic tricks and games with the kids for a few hours.

We had combined Adams and Aidens birthday parties so there were a lot of kids and parents and lots of food and cake.

14. May 2014 07:05
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden at the filming of 'Play along with Sam'

14. May 2014 07:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Yesterday Aiden went with his daycare group to the filming of 'Play along with Sam'.

All very formal with model release forms to be signed, what T-shirts they had to wear etc. Aiden said that he liked the dancing!

I hope we get a chance to see the show at some stage and it will be interesting to see if we can see Aiden in it (he was sitting to the side).

8. May 2014 11:05
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden meets the Rabbitohs

8. May 2014 11:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Earlier this week Aiden went with daycare to the local park and they happened to meet some of the players from the Rabbitohs (National Rugby League).

Apparently he went missing from the group at one point and when they went looking for him it turned out that he was chatting to the players.

5. May 2014 15:05
by Rene Pallesen
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Australian Museum - Dinosaurs

5. May 2014 15:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Autumn has arrived and this weekend was really cold and wet so we decided that Sunday morning should be a museum day.

We had heard that the Australian Museum has a dinosaur exhibition on, so we thought this could be fun for the kids.

They had some pretty cool interactive displays on where you could interact with the dinosaurs.

The kids handled it pretty well without being too scared (although they jumped a few times when they heard the loud roars).

Some of the displays were pretty scary.

And Aiden certainly wasn't too happy about posing next to the big teeth (reminds me of a photo with a crocodile from last year).

...so dad had to show him that it wasn't scary at all.

The skeletons were really impressive.

Lucas was hing a good time staying close to mummy.

And Aiden was having a great time exploring.

4. May 2014 09:05
by Rene Pallesen
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Don Quixote - The Russian Ballet

4. May 2014 09:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend Kim and I went to the State Theatre in Sydney to watch the Russian ballet perform Don Quixote.

The performance was pretty good and apparently they will be back next year performing Swan Lake.

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2. January 2007 10:02
by Rene Pallesen
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New Years Eve 2007

2. January 2007 10:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

New Years eve this year was celebrated on the Lawn at the Botanical Gardens near the opera house. We had a nice combined view of the fireworks in the city, on the harbour and on the bridge. We were there with a group of friends and and we brought picnic blankets and food to eat.

The 9pm fireworks were a bit disappointing compared to other years but the midnight one was really good. This year they use the whole area, so simultaneously fireworks were being fired from the harbour, the bridge as well as the high rise buildings in the city.

Fireworks are illegal to buy and sell here in Australia, so instead the city (and most other cities) instead put on large firework displays. This means that you every year get professional firework displays instead of the sporadic stuff you get in other countries where people themselves buy it.

Besides, if firework was allowed then the State Emergency Services would be spending three weeks after New Years Eve fighting bushfires every year. Click here to Download video of Firework Display #1
Click here to Download video of Firework Display #2
Click here to Download video of Firework Display #3
Click here to Download video of Firework Display #4

Click here to see more photos from New Years Eve

20. March 2006 01:50
by Rene Pallesen
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Tokyo 2006

20. March 2006 01:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:56
by Rene Pallesen
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Thailand 2006

19. March 2006 03:56 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

In Mid 2006 I went to a work meeting in Krabi in Thailand.

This happens to be a few kilometers away from one of the best rock climbing destinations in the world. So, after the meeting I took a few days off to go rock climbing.

Kim happened to be travelling in the Northern part of Thailand with some friends who had to leave on the same day my meeting ended. Kim flew down to Krabi where I picked her up at the airport.

Unfortunately it was rainy season, so most of the time in Railay it was raining, but we did manage to get one day of climbing done and the rest of the time we spend in the restaurants and playing cards.

Click here to see more photos from: Thailand/Slideshow

19. March 2006 03:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Holland

19. March 2006 03:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:53
by Rene Pallesen
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Skiing USA

19. March 2006 03:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:53
by Rene Pallesen
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Skiing Thredbo Australia

19. March 2006 03:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:51
by Rene Pallesen
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Denmark 2006

19. March 2006 03:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:51
by Rene Pallesen
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Various

19. March 2006 03:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:48
by Rene Pallesen
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Rock Climbing & Blue Mountains 2006

19. March 2006 03:48 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

19. March 2006 03:46
by Rene Pallesen
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Portugal 2006

19. March 2006 03:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

23. August 2023 20:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Driving and Various

23. August 2023 20:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Pukaki chapel

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Skiing

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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).

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - West coast

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lake Wanaka and the famous most photographed tree.

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Lindis Pass

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Glacier Tour

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Castle Hill Boulders

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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).

23. August 2023 19:08
by Rene Pallesen
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New Zealand 2023 - Mount Cook

23. August 2023 19:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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.

25. December 2022 18:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Christmas Day - 2022

25. December 2022 18:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

14. November 2004 02:02
by Rene Pallesen
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Nile Cruise

14. November 2004 02:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:59
by Rene Pallesen
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An Egyptian Perfumery

14. November 2004 01:59 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:58
by Rene Pallesen
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The Unfinished Obelisk

14. November 2004 01:58 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:54
by Rene Pallesen
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Memphis - the Ancient Capital of Egypt

14. November 2004 01:54 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:52
by Rene Pallesen
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Kom Ombo's Temple - Dedicated to Horus & Sobek, the Crocodile God

14. November 2004 01:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:51
by Rene Pallesen
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Valley of the Kings

14. November 2004 01:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:49
by Rene Pallesen
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 4

14. November 2004 01:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:49
by Rene Pallesen
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 3

14. November 2004 01:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:47
by Rene Pallesen
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Karnak - "the Most Perfect of Places" - Part 2

14. November 2004 01:47 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

14. November 2004 01:45
by Rene Pallesen
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Temple of Horus - the Most Complete of Its Kind Part 4

14. November 2004 01:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

2. October 2012 07:19
by Rene Pallesen
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Auburn Botanical Gardens Picnic

2. October 2012 07:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

Here is Kims dad with the four daughters.

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

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

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

29. September 2012 05:57
by Rene Pallesen
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Photo Competition

29. September 2012 05:57 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

28. September 2012 08:39
by Rene Pallesen
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Auburn Botanical Gardens

28. September 2012 08:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

24. September 2012 07:45
by Rene Pallesen
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Newborn Photos

24. September 2012 07:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

13. September 2012 04:34
by Rene Pallesen
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9 months project

13. September 2012 04:34 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

12. September 2012 07:20
by Rene Pallesen
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Baby Brother for Aiden

12. September 2012 07:20 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

9. September 2012 07:12
by Rene Pallesen
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Darling Harbour 2012

9. September 2012 07:12 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

9. September 2012 02:29
by Rene Pallesen
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Pregnancy Photos 2012

9. September 2012 02:29 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

6. September 2012 11:13
by Rene Pallesen
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Fathers Day 2012

6. September 2012 11:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

25. August 2012 08:55
by Rene Pallesen
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Sunrise at Sydney Opera House 2012

25. August 2012 08:55 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

25. December 2009 10:24
by Rene Pallesen
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Expecting

25. December 2009 10:24 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

It is not unexpected as we were trying.

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

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

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

17. November 2009 08:46
by Rene Pallesen
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One year Anniversary

17. November 2009 08:46 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

Click here for more photos

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

2. November 2009 08:13
by Rene Pallesen
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Sculptures by the Sea

2. November 2009 08:13 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

Here's some photos I took of my favourites.

12. October 2009 11:44
by Rene Pallesen
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An almost non-climbing event

12. October 2009 11:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dan and Andy at Barrenjoey

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

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

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

12. October 2009 11:37
by Rene Pallesen
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Wicked - How did the wicked witch become wicked?

12. October 2009 11:37 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

Wicked

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

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

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

23. September 2009 04:35
by Rene Pallesen
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Freak weather and dust storms

23. September 2009 04:35 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dust Storm

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

NSW

14. September 2009 12:55
by Rene Pallesen
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BBQ

14. September 2009 12:55 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

BBQ

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

6. September 2009 10:44
by Rene Pallesen
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Sasha's and Mavis's wedding

6. September 2009 10:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

After the ceremony it was photo time.

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

27. August 2009 12:18
by Rene Pallesen
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Videos from our trip in Italy and Denmark

27. August 2009 12:18 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

Denmark:

Knights Fighting
Firing Weapon

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

27. August 2009 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Hernia Surgery

27. August 2009 10:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

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

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

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

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

This photo was taken two days after the surgery:

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

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

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

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

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

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