Between Christmas and New year we went to the Hunter Valley with Sasha and his family.

We stayed overnight in a cabin in Lovedale.




During the day we tasted wines at the various wineries (found some good ones).






















The kids also loved playing at the cabin in the evenings.

This year we decided not to celebrate on the eve of the 24 and just stick with the 25th at KC's place (too much cooking otherwise). I was responsible for the Christmas ham (with limited success).

It was a relaxing day and the kids were very exited about their presents.

Sometimes when I am setting up for a photo especially Aiden likes to jump in a get silly.

It is a good way to test the lighting and sometimes I managed to get a 'keeper' such as this one from a few weeks back.

It is almost Christmas and I've just completed our annual family Christmas photo and this is the final version.



It was an interesting process getting to this photo this year. Last year we did a photo in the kitchen of us baking a cake, but this years photo has so many more elements to it.

The idea came from a combination of Kim and my ideas. Kim wanted to do a photo of the boys through a crystal ball. I actually bought the crystal ball right after Christmas last year with this year in mind.

We did a test in front of the tree in early December which was reasonably okay, but Kim didn't like the feel to it. She wanted more snow (pretty ambitious on a summers day here in Sydney Australia).



My idea for our family photo was based on me wanting to do a story of us as a family out in a snow storm 'Looking for Santa'. I had purchased a bag of artificial snow and a Christmas cape a few months back and we had some lanterns downstairs so I pretty much had all the components in place for the shoot.

I knew I had to do it as a composite with the boys as there was no way that I would be able to get the photo with all four of us at once. We did the photo over a couple of days, on the first evening (after the kids had gone to bed) I took the one of Kim and myself holding the lantern. Once I had this photo I could show it to Aiden and Lucas so that they knew what we needed them to do (Lucas just had to copy Aiden).



I had Gaffa taped markers on the floor so everyone would know where they were supposed to stand. Inside the lantern I had hidden a speedlight gelled with CTO to make it look light the lantern was lit. We are actually lit by a large Einstein strobe also with CTO, grid and barn doors to control the spill of the light.
At the back left and right were another two speedlights providing a bit of rim light to emulate moon light.

Because of the first 'failed' attempt of the crystal ball I got the idea to extend my 'Looking for Santa' photo into Santa's shed where he would have a crystal ball where he could look at us looking for him.
This would require three components - The crystal ball, the lights from the Christmas tree to create atmosphere and then Santa himself. I created Santa by hanging a hat on a chair which was easy to light and then I had another light which I used to balance the ambient with the lights from the tree.

The final photo all combined looks like the following, but in the end we decided to just use the tighter crop in the first and final photo.

It was time again for the annual Christmas concert with Aiden and Lucas' daycare.

Aiden is starting 'big' school after Christmas, so this was also his graduation.



Kim and Aiden had both practiced some dancing and songs for the concert and were both dressed up, Aiden as a doctor and Lucas as a pumpkin.





Although Aiden was very excited leading up to the concert and was telling everyone how he was going to sing and dance, he absolutely broke down once we got there overwhelmed by all the people and the noise.

It was heartbreaking to see him like that on an evening where he should be enjoying himself. He was crying and didn't want to get on the stage. Eventually we managed to get him up and he did try and participate.





Lucas on the other hand had a great time, unfortunately I didn't get a lot of photos of that because I had to try and comfort Aiden.





After the show Santa turned up wit presents for the kids and he was a lot happier again.







After that the graduates had their photos taken and had cake.

This month Kim and I had our anniversary.

I cant believe we have been married for 7 years...still love her to bits.

Saturday Kim and I went to the Sydney Opera house to watch the Sleeping Beauty performed by the Australian Ballet.



It was one of the better ballets we have seen. The story was great and the dancing (lots of it) was of a really high quality.

The even managed to weave in some of the Red riding hood story, Puss in boots, Cinderella and other stories.

It was beautiful to watch.

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

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




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

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

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

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





























































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





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







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


















This poem reminds me of him.

The morning after I killed myself, I woke up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

—Meggie Royer

This weekend we finally got around to taking some nice outdoor family photos.

We made out way to Centennial park in the afternoon for a coffee, walk and photoshoot. When we got there they had closed most of the roads for a bicycle race so we had to park outside the park.

After the coffee we walked over to one of the closer located lakes and set up for a couple of photos and these are the results.

Aiden was very well behaved although having a few problems with locating the direction of the camera and being confused with the new exciting surroundings. He is now 11 weeks young.












(strobist: SB80DX @ 1/2 power with 1/2 CTO camera left triggered by CTR301P, Nikon 80-200mm f2.8, 3200s, D50)

Every year my work provides with a Volunteer day where we don't have to work and can do volunteer work for any organisation of our choice.

This Friday some of the guys at work organised a day of work at the Celebral Palsy centre (spastic) so I chose to help out (beats sitting behind a desk on a sunny day). The location was at one of their houses in Frenchs Forest and we were to do some maintenance of their garden and some painting of the interior.

There was seven of us so we split up into two teams where I was on the team doing painting. The gardening team definitely had the easier job.


It was a really good day and here are some of the photos from our day out.

Last year Kim and I won 5 days worth of accommodation at Smiggings Hole at Perisher. Because we had Aiden it was difficult for us to go (for some reason the place would not allow children that young).

We therefore decided to let KC and Chong have three of the days with their kids and then I would go with someone else for a weekend. We were lucky that the place would allow all of us to go on the same weekend during the peak season at Perisher.

Soeren and I left Friday afternoon to do the 500km drive to Perisher. We stopped at Cooma to pick up car chains and ski gear and arrived at the lodge just before 7pm...just in time for dinner with the rest of the family.


In the morning we woke up to a glorious day and we hit the fields immediately heading straight to the Blue Cow area after doing a few warm up runs. In the past I have only been skiing in the front of the valley and Mt Perisher itself so it was nice to have some new unexplored territory and it was also nice to get away from the crowds.

In the evening we again had dinner with the family...4 courses at the lodge. I think everyone was pretty tired from a whole day outside so it was a fairly early bedtime.




On the second day the weather closed in and there was a blizzard. On the tops there was a fresh load of snow. My highlight was that I managed to have a good run of Kamikaze which is the only double black diamond in the area and I felt really good on it because of the great conditions. The photo above was taken on top of Bluecow shortly earlier.

Later in the morning Soeren and I met up with chong and we did a couple of runs at Perisher Mountain. Again, because of the blizzard there was no crowds and off the sides of the slopes the snow was soft and deep (for Australian standards). I had really good fun on the unprepared runs in the loose snow and felt solid getting down the terrain (you don't gain much experience from running on prepared slopes all the time).


In the early afternoon we headed back down, packed up and made our way back to Sydney (in just under 6 hours).

So how is daddy coping with fatherhood. Fatherhood is great...So far it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. So far I would by lying if I didn't say that I enjoy every minute of it.

Everyone around me told me that it is sooo hard having kids, especially the first few months are a nightmare. Not sure what they are talking about...yeah Aiden wakes up at weird times wanting a feed, but besides from that he is doing what babies are expected to be doing. He is sleeping, pooping, crying and eating...easy!



...That is when I'm around. For example this weekend when I was in the snow he was crying all the time. It seems that he somehow senses when I'm not around and then starts being difficult. Maybe he is turning into a daddy's boy ;-)


When we were expecting I promised myself that I would just relax and enjoy the new company. There is no point stressing and swimming against the current...so if he wants to cry then he can cry, and if he wants to eat then he can eat. While we were planng kids I was worried if I was parent material and how good a dad I would be. I had never really been around newborns...let alone picked up one. I am getting a lot more confident now.

During the week Kim does the night feeds as I have to go to work in the Morning, but during the weekends I generally give him the bottle at night. Sometimes I have to then catch up on some sleep later in the day (otherwise Kim will have to deal with two babies) but that is ok.

Aiden turned two months old a couple of days ago and is a good little boy. He has started smiling and laughing once in a while when he is in a good mood. He is very curious and looks around to study and understand his surroundings all the time which I take as a good thing.

I think his favourite time is when we take a shower together. Kim and I discovered that it is a lot easier to just take him in the shower with me rather than having to fill up bath tubs etc. We also think that his least favourite time is go leave the shower.

This morning I had an early start (for a Sunday) taking the bus into the city to participate in the city to surf race. This is a race that starts from Hyde park in the centre of Sydney and ends at Bondi beach which is one of the most famous beaches in Australia (but not the best).In this years race there were over 80,000 participants.




I met up with a couple of work colleagues at Martin place in the city. We all also participate in the Global Corporate Challenge and this was a good way to increase our stepcount. We were starting at the back of thepack...which pretty much meant that we were planning to walk the 14.1 kilometers to Bondi.




Out team name in the GCC is Onthophagytes (Dung beatles)...so the photo above is very appropriate.

It was freezing in the morning but the sun was out, so as soon as we started walking we were warm.


Along the way to Bondi there is different people entertaining and a lot of people were dressed up (we were overtaken by Superman and an Avatar).















When we got to Bondi (I'll know my race time later but I think it will be around 2 hours and 15 minutes...It turned out to be 2:29:28...just just below my target of 2.5 hours) te queue for the buses were mile long. I already knew they were going to be impossible and therefor decided to walk to Coogee (another 7km) and then have Kim pick me up from there. Two of my colleagues decided to join me on the walk and then catch the bus from there.



It was a pleasant walk where we stopped for a bite at Bronte and eventually had a quick beer (for me anyway) at Coogee before Kim called me and told me she was there with Aiden in the car.

Sunday I had a couple of hours to spare to explore while Kim was looking after Aiden. I decided to drive to La Perouse and then walk along the coast to Cape Banks to find the shipwreck of SS Minmi.



The ship hit the cliffs in heavy fog and storm in 1937 and broke in two. Part of the wreck is still visible on the rocks. Because it is on the inside of the heads the wreck isn't as exposed to wind and waves as it would have been on the outside so there is still a lot of the ship left.







The walk out there from La Perouse was longer than I expected so I was a bit rushed and didn't have as much time taking photos as I would have liked. It took me about two hours to walk out there and back via Henry Heads (here there is still some remnants of gun positions from the wartime).

It is actually a really nice walk and I will have to come back with Kim and Aiden sometime. I will have to check out if it is possible to drive a bit closer.



I managed to make it back just in time for the family coming over for dinner.

Hi everyone. My mum and dad is telling me that I am now one month old...what ever that means. I am still coming to terms with me feeling really hungry every 3 hours. One Month....how many feeds is that?

I am getting more used to be in this world, my mum and dad are doing their best to make me comfortable but I still cry once in a while. My dad is telling me that big boys like me shouldn't cry...but I feel so little compared to all of them so why shouldn't I cry?

In the evening I like to sit in daddy's lap. It is nice, warm and secure there. Sometimes I almost fall asleep there before my dad puts me to bed, but I usually beg him to let me stay a little longer. On the weekends he is happy with me spending time there, but I really miss daddy during the week when he is at work. During the week I ask my mummy as well, but she is too tired from feeding me all the time...I think this sometimes frustrates her as she would like some rest in between my feeds. I have grown a lot and I can no longer fit into my first set of clothes it must be all those meals.


I have also started having a shower on some days with my dad instead of a bath in my bathtub. It is really nice to feel the warm water drops on my little body and it feels much nicer and secure than having a bath in my bathtub. I have learned that I should close my eyes and hold my breath when he puts my head under the water. Daddy says that hopefully it will make me less scared in a couple of years time when he is going to teach me something called 'swimming'.



Most evenings I get a little upset for a couple of hours, I don't understand why but mummy and daddy calls it my 'witches hour' and says that it is normal and should pass. My dad is very patient and is telling me that for the first 6-8 weeks they will respond to all my needs, but after that they will start setting some rules to make me sleep all through the night.

My dad is still taking photos of me. I still find it confusing and I am not sure in what direction to look when he is taking photos. Should I look at him, mummy, the lights or all the interesting alien space ships I'm surrounded by?

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

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


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




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



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

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

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




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



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


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




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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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




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




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

Here's a photo of the very proud mum:



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



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


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

Sunday we flew from Santiago to Cusco in Peru via Lima.

Lima is very dry...almost a desert whereas the flight into Cusco was spectacular surrounded by tall green mountains. The hotel came to pick us up from the airport and the hotel is very centrally located in the middle of the city. It is a spectacular place, the people are very different from elsewhere (indians) and you can buy craftmanship everywhere really cheap.



You can see the remains of the inca buildings everywhere. Cusco is located in 3500 meters altitude so we decided to take it easy on the first day to acclimatise (none of us have got any headaches so far)and then head up an see Macchu Picchu in a couple of days time. So on the first evening we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner where we got the most important menu items out of the way...alpaca and cuy (Lama and Guinea Pig). The lama was really nice (like a tender beef) but the Guinea Pig was a bit tough (especially the skin) and there wasn't much meat on it (but tasty).





Tuesday we bought a train ticket to Macchu Pichu (USD 96...so quite expensive and then on top comes bus up to the site $12 and the entrance to the site itself $40...so a good $150 USD per person) which is a 4 hour ride each way. Despite the expensive trip there it would be a shame to come all this way and not go there...and believe me...it is worth it. Just the train trip there is pretty spectacular between deep gorges and roaring rivers. The first hourin the train is spent climbing the hillside in Cusco...the train rides along for one kilometer and then stops, changes direction and then goes another kilometer before doing the same again...in total it takes the train 7-8 direction changes to make it to the top of the hill.
And the Macchu Pichusite itself is really spectacular in itself. We spent close to 6 hours exploring the area and had we known earlier that they closed access to one of the peaks at 1pm then we could easily have spend more time exploring.






Wednesday we checked out of the hotel in Cusco and booked ourselves a night bus to Copacabana in Bolivia. The remainder of the day we spent visiting other Inka sites around the area by local bus. Some of the sites especially the one closest to Cusco called Saqsaywaman is pretty spectachlar.



We had a really scary incident where we got attached by two really vicious dogs. The first dog went for me an I kicked ouut after it and just missed it, but it was just enough to surprise the dog and make it back off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the second dog attack Kim and I saw her try and kick it as well whereafter it also back off (probably because the fist dog got scared). After that they kept their distance...a close encounter but walked away unhurt but with our hearts pounding. Click here to see more photos from Peru

The last couple of days Kim and I have been in Santiago de Chile. Kim arrived a day late due to mechanical problems with the aircraft from Sydney and I arrived 6 hours late with Chris (my colleague) at 3am in the morning. Chris and I got ripped off by the taxi due to us not having studied the local conversion rates...but after that we had no other problems.

The first day we spent sleeping and familiarizing ourselves with the area around Providencia and Bellavista. There are some gorgeous little bars and restaurants in these areas. Santiago is a very modern city. It is very clean and you don´t see the same problems as for instance in Buenos Aires with street kids. I can see why my cousin Ulla decided to live in this city for a while.
The Metro in Santiago is really good...there are trains every few minutes and they cost about $1 USD regardless of where you get off...a lot cheaper than catching taxis and a lot faster too.

Next day we went sightseeing around Santiago city centre. The highlight was Cerro Santa Lucia which is an old castle converted into a lovely park area used very much by couples out for a romantic afternoon.
As for food...it seems that most locals eat hotdogs and pizza for lunch so we had a hard time finding something reasonably healthy.

We spent a lot of the late afternoon and evening sorting out luggage storage. We are staying in a serviced apartment with no storage facilities so we had to go to the bus terminal on the other side of the city to store it. When we got back we received an email from the lady renting us the apartment saying that she´d store it for us. I feel a lot more happy about her storing it than in the terminal especially as my work laptop is in the bag.

Next morning it was again time to go to the Airport...this time to fly to Peru.

This week I am in Buenos Aires in Argentina for our annual International Partner Conference and sales Kickoff meeting.

I arrived Thursday night after a long flight with my colleagues and early Friday morning we started our meetings with new product introductions as well as briefing on what is going to take place the next week or so...and as the week progresses I will keep you up to date here.

Friday night we went to a restaurant called the winery and had finger food and tasted a range of different wines. Afterwards in the late evening I decided to go for a walk through the streets of Buenos Aires. It seems to be a very cultural city with some of the normal problems for a large city. There are a lot of people in the streets in the evening especially around the pedestrian areas.



It is interesting that all the tourist maps here display the Islas Malvinas (Falkland Islands) as belonging to Argentina. I think the Argentinians really should move on and start accepting that the islands belong to the UK and that they cannot claim them just because they captured them for a few months back in 1982 or because they are closer to Argentina than to the UK.

Buenos Aires is not a place to go for a beach holiday. The water is brown and muddy...I though it was because of the recent rain, but looking at other photos it seems that is is always muddy.



On the first evening we had an opening party at the local Yacht club. Two girls were singing and providing some pleasant entertainment and the morning opening ceremony also provided entertainment.



On the official opening night we went to a restaurant displaying some extremely good tango dancing. It is some of the fastest and most impressive dancing that I've ever seen live.









And of cause I needed to have a try as well.



On the closing night we went to a local restaurant and one of the sponsors provided the entertainment in the form of some dancing girls.

Click here to see more photos from Argentina

This week I am in Mexico City assisting some of our partners.

I flew in Saturday evening and had Sunday to do a bit of sightseeing before meeting up with our partners in the evening. I took a tour to the big pyramids outside Mexico City (Pyramid of the Sun is the third largest pyramid in the world...apparently the largest is also here in Mexico). It was fantastic seeing the Pyramids and it is one of the few things that I've always wanted to see in Mexico...so now: been here done that.



The whole complex is huge it is 3-4 kilometers long so it takes a fair amount of work to walk from one end to the other...especially with all the stairs and sections.





We also saw the most holy cathedral in Mexico...a place where they keep a piece of cloth with an image of Virgin Mary that was left after someone carried flowers in the cloth. It is a beautiful piece of cloth...but I don't buy the flower story.




Monday to Friday was work days and the first couple of days were spent training with our partners and customers. Here in Mexico they don't start work until around 10am...but also don't finish until after 6-7pm and then followed by dinners etc. with the partners mean that some days go on until around midnight.

I find that Mexican food here is very different from the Mexican food that we get in Australia and elsewhere (but I already knew that). The food is still very unhealthy and full of meat and cheese...but much more tasty and much more variation. Our partners were very impressed on the first evening with them that I was able to eat whole chillies in the tacos...but when I explained to them that I was used to Asian food and to chop up fresh chillies into my day-to-day food then they understood.


In the big intersections in the city there are children dressed as clowns doing tricks to earn a few pesos. The other day I say three kids standing on each others shoulders which was very impressive...I also saw an older woman dressed as a clown walking around with a bucket with a dark cloth in it and throwing it at the cars...very freaky and I think she needs to change her tricks if she want to make any money. One of the more disturbing was a mother with a three year old kid who lay down on the street in the middle of the traffic while the kid was making somersaults on top.


On the last evening we went to Plaza Garibaldi. This is the place that all the great Mariachi bands came/come from. The whole square is filled with bands that you can hire to play music for you. When you drive to the square the Mariachis line the streets and run alongside the car trying to convince you that you should hire them to play some music for you.



We went into a restaurant where they besides the Mariachi also had other entertainment such as cockfighting and lasso dancing. Afterwards we went this cantina where a lot of bands were playing simultaneously at various table. All very Mexican and a great tradition. I wonder if the Mariachis will still exist in 20 years from now...but seeing the reaching of the mexicans they probably will. The food was excellent and I tried another couple of great traditions such as beer with lemon and chili in it as well as the mandatory Tequilas (El Tequila Loco).



The hospitality of our partners here has been excellent. They have taken me out every night and made sure that I tried everything Mexican.

Here's some videos:


Cockfightting
Indian Dancers
Lasso Dancing
Plaza Garibaldi
Mariachi


Click here to see more photos from Mexico

I haven't blogged much this year yet. Mainly because not a lot has happened this month (January traditionally is a quiet month) but also because it has been very hot and wet which is not a good combination for outdoor activities.

The next two months however are going to be really busy as I will be traveling in Latin and South America.

I am looking forward to the trips as it will take me to most of South America such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

As I travel I'll start posting pictures and entries in this blog.

I was glad that I didn't have too much to drink on New Years Eve, because the day after turned out to be a busy one.

In the morning we had breakfast with Kims family at the cemetery where her mum is buried.

Right after this we went to the golf course at the coast and played 18 holes. It was a pretty hot day, but there was a nice breeze along the coast and the course is in such a spectacular location.

Click here to download video of Playing Golf #1
Click here to download video of the Golf Course #2


Most of the beaches in Queensland and New South Wales were closed due to dangerous surf conditions. There is a hurricane off the coast of Queensland creating some huge waves along all of Australia's east coast.

In the evening we had dinner with Kims family having steam boat and those rice paper things that you roll up (not sure what it is called)...and it was yummi.

They have this fermented fish that has been fermented over 3-4 years and it is really nice as a dipping sauce with a few chillies mixed in. Click here to see more photos from New Years Day

The year 2007 has now ended and it is time to start some new adventures in the new year.

2007 was full of traveling and other adventures and I expect 2008 to be much of the same.

Take some time to look at what is happening in 2008 as well as what happened in 2007.

Click on this link to see the events of 2007

Also please bookmark this page and also have a look at the RSS feed features of this page.

After Christmas Eve we went a couple of days to Jervis Bay. Jervis Bay is about 3-4 hours drive south of Sydney and is not part of New South Wales, but belongs to ACT (Australian Capital Territory, Canberra). Hyams beach at Jervis has got a reputation of having the whitest sand in the world.

The house we had rented was right on the beach so it was easy to go for a swim. Unfortunately the water was quite cold, so Kim and I instead opted for a trip to the local golf course.

In the morning we went fishing and although we did catch a few fish they were all too small to keep. The most annoying was that we kept catching stingrays.





Click here to download video of fishing at Jervis Bay #1
Click here to download video of fishing at Jervis Bay #2


I know that the area has got a lot of Port Jackson sharks and on the beaches we found a lot of shark eggs.

In the evenings we played Mah Jong and 21. I decided to stay out of the Mah Jong game until I've got a better grasp of how it is played (some of the numbers on the bricks are in Chinese and it therefore took too long time to compute and I felt it was a disadvantage). I had a lucky night in 21 and won $20.
Click here to see more photos from Jervis Bay

The Australians celebrate Christmas on the 25th December where we in Denmark celebrate it on the 24th in the evening. I still like to celebrate on the 24th and it is the day of the year where I most miss family (and the only day of the year where I miss the cold in Denmark).


Most of my friends were either out of town or have kids and therefore not very mobile on this evening so this year I decided that it should just be Kim and myself.

I cooked the traditional Christmas dinner with duck and ris-a-la-mande and we had a very nice evening.

In the morning next day we went over to Kims family for lunch and there was a lot of people and kids there. Again this year I took on the duty of being Santa's local ambassador and hand out presents to the children...all good fun.

Last weekend Andy, May and myself went climbing at Mt keira near woolongong south of Sydney.

May had never really done any outdoor climbing before and Keira is a good place to go and try your first lead climb.

The weather forecast didn't look promising but we decided to go there anyway as in our experience the forecasts are never very accurate here. Besides it said that there was a chance of one or two showers in the afternoon.

As soon as we arrived to the cliffs in the morning we started feeling the first few drops. The rocks were still dry so we decided to put up an easy route anyway.



Once we finished it was raining more steadily and the rocks started getting slippery. There was a climb in the corner that was still dry so we decided to quickly also do this. And afterwards we put up a top rope on a climb that also still was dry.

Before we got onto it it was raining heavily and there was a storm with lots of lightening approaching.

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Click here to download video

After a couple of not very motivated (and wet) attempts on the climb I volunteered to clean up the climb. As I approached the top the water was coming down like from a waterfall and by the time I had cleaned up the anchors I was drenched (and yes...my pants were very wet).

Climbing wise a really disappointing day...but we still had fun.

Every year both Kim and I have been in the Sydney harbour area to watch the fireworks on New Years Eve.



But this year we decided to have a quiet new years eve just the two of us with a visit to the movies and then a nice dinner at home.



We did however watch the fireworks from our balcony at midnight and it looked just as spectacular as previous years (I borrowed the photo above from another site).

Between Christmas and New year we drove with Kims family up to Smiths Lake (300km North of Sydney). We rented a house on the lake up there.

We hired a tinny (small aluminium boat) a couple of days and went fishing and managed to catch a lot of breams (a lot too small to keep).





Kims dad loves fishing and he quickly found out that in the morning and evening the fish were at the shore just outside the house.

In the evening we cooked nice dinners and BBQ's and the cookaburras came to the balcony around dinner time to check if there were leftovers. We had a bit of fun with them as you can see.



In the evenings we played Blackjack (Kim and I cleaned up) and had nice food and wine.



Chong (The husband of Kims sister) showed his more feminine side.



The rest of the time we spent at the beach playing in the waves and playing with Kims sisters kids.

Christmas day was celebrated with Kims family at her sisters house.

A lot of people were there and everyone had been asked to bring some food. Kim had cooked Red Duck Curry the day before while I was preparing the Christmas Eve dinner.



Again...lots of food, playing table tennis, jumping the trampoline and all the kids got to open their presents.

Christmas even was celebrated in the traditional Danish way in the evening of the 24th December.

Kim and I had invited some friends over to out new house and prepared the traditional roast duck, ris-a-la-mande and large tiger prawns for entrees.



It was a nice evening and we didn't finish until well after midnight and all of us were really full by the time we finished dinner. There was a couple of kid and after dinner they got to open their Christmas presents.

Every year on Kims dads birthday we celebrate with the family. Every couple brings a couple of dishes of food and we all share it.

On our honeymoon in Bali I really wanted to do this scuba dive that was recommended to me by my friend Andy. It is this old wreck of a US cargo ship (USS liberty) that was torpedoed by the japanese in 1942 and then beached to save the men and the cargo.



The wreck has since slided back into deeper water (during a volcanic eruption in 1962) and it now in 5 to 27 meters of water just off the coast.



I did two dives on the wreck while Kim was snorkeling in the surface on top of the wreck and it is without a doubt the most amazing scuba diving experience I've had. The ship is huge and you can swim through the cargo hulls and there is an amazing variety of fish and corals on the wreck.

I saw a 1.5 meter barracuda, a 1cm tall seahorse, a garden of eels and a great variety of other fish including a large school of travelly.



I had my personal dive master for the day and I got him to take some photos and some video with his camera while we were diving. On the first dive we went all the way around the wreck (max depth 27 meters) and on the second we went through the wreck itself.



Kim had a really good experience as well and really enjoyed the 30 degree warm water and managed to get her bum burnt while snorkeling for several hours.

I think we'll both go back there if we get the chance.

Click here to download video of me feeding fish

Click here to download video of me diving

Our Honeymoon day after the wedding went to Bali in Indonesia. We did have some hesitation going there considering that the Bali Bombers had been executed the week before and that the Australian government discouraged all travel there.

The plane up there (and back) was only 25% full so plenty of space to get a good sleep.

We stayed in Nusa Dua Westin....a nice hotel although the rooms are a bit small.

On the first day we slept in and later in the day drove to Kuta to have a look around and do some shopping. Later in the evening we went to Jimbaran Bay for dinner. This is a whole beach where all the restaurants have put their tables and chairs out onto the beach itself...very romantic but quite expensive compared to local restaurants.





The second day we hired a car to drive us to Ubud in the hills, Monkey Forest and later in the day down to a small place called Tanah Lot. Especially the last one was very nice around sunset and we ended up not getting back to our hotel until 8.30 in the evening much to the dismay of our driver.





Dinner took place near the hotel and we found that the value of the food/prices was much better here.

A couple of days later we went for another drive (In between we went to Tulamben...see posting below) up to some beautiful lakes and temples up on the north of the island as well as rice paddies and we had a really nice trip despite driving with the most grumpy driver.







Time was running out and Kim felt that she hadn't spent enough time shopping so the last two days were spent shopping and sitting at the pool and on the beach.



One evening we booked a really nice restaurant called "The Living Room" in Seminyak and I booked the whole outdoor area (cost a fortune) just so that we could have a romantic evening in the garden just the two of us with personal waiting staff.





The week was way too short and we never got to do everything we wanted to do so I have a feel we will be coming back in the future.

On Sunday the 16th November 2008 I got married to Kim. It was a fantastic day and thanks to family and friends joining us making this a very memorable day.


My day started out (Kims started much earlier) in the morning with my Best Man (Andy) as well as a number of other friends coming over to my house picking up trays, organising ribbons on cars and picking up supplies for the wedding ceremony.

Kim had earlier in the morning left the house to go to her dads place to get dressed and have hair and makeup done.

Once we got the call saying that she was ready we drove over to her dads place and on the way there we were stopped by the police who insisted on breath testing us...sorry guys you were out too early, we hadn't started drinking yet.

At Kims place I had to bribe my way in through the door before they would let me in...all part of the tradition.



Once I was let in my friends carried the trays of fruit, wine and noodles upstairs and this was the first time I saw Kim looking absolutely gorgeous in her wedding dress.
We then started the Tea Ceremony where we first had to pay respect to the elders by burning incense and then serve tea to the parents. In return they would then present us with red envelopes containing money and Kim's dad also gave Kim an old bracelet and ring that used to belong to her mum.



After the Tea ceremony I drove down to La Perouse where the wedding ceremony was going to take place. We were a bit early so they were still getting ready. The wind was really strong so the garden arch needed wires to stay in place etc.

Once all the guests has arrived (around 40-50) Kim arrived in Nancys car with her bridesmaid (Natalie) and the ceremony could begin.



Kim and I had decided and written most of the ceremony ourselves and the celebrant presented it beautifully (and very loud).



After the ceremony we had some drinks and snacks with out guests and then took pictures for the next couple of hours around La Perouse and Centenial Park.

















Later in the afternoon we went back to our house to relax and freshen up for an hour until we then went to the Reception.



We had invited 80 guests and they all arrived (more or less). People were greated out the front where they were served canabes and drinks and there was a pianist playing a piano.

People were then seated and once everyone were at the tables the bridal party was introduced.









After the entrees My dad and Andy held their speeches (both very good and unfortunately mostly true) and after the main courses it was the turn of KC and myself.

To everyones surprise we had arranged entertainment during the evening in the form of some drummers. Everyone was given a drum and had to participate in the drumming.



This also involved us dancing as part of the entertainment.

This was eventually followed by us cutting the wedding cake (a tower of cupcakes) a then dance the bridal walz.






Kim had changed to a more practical dress for the bridal walz and she looked absolutely stunning in it. Because I'd been sunburnt during the day my face almost matched the dress.

End of October we moved settled and moved into the new house. Not without a bit of of drama as the previous owner wasn't out of the house at settlement...but by the end of the day she was fortunately gone.

She was living there with three little boys (terrorists), so there was a number of smaller things that had been neglected and really needed some attention and there were a number of flaws around the place that needed fixing (it seems that the solution to every problem for the previous owners was silicone glue).

Most of this is under control now thanks to my dad helping out while here for the wedding (see next posting). Both Kim and I have now moved all our things and I've put kim in charge of selecting what colours she would like the walls to be downstairs before we go out and buy furniture.

We also need to get new lights downstairs as the ones there heat up and switch themselves off (cheap crap) so I may just as well do the ceiling now that I am at it.

My dad was in Sydney for our wedding and arrived on the 5th November just in time for us to also celebrate his birthday (We took him to his favourite steak house to get his favourite T-bone steak).

It was great to have him here for the wedding as it would have been empty to not have any family members from my side at the wedding. It was also really sad that my mum couldn't come.

We had just moved into the house week before so everything was still messy and there was a lot of things that needed fixing on the house. My dad was really helpful helping me out with a lot of the thing I'd never done before such as replacing tiles in the bathroom. He also changed the locks, fixed lights, painted walls, fixed doors, leaking taps etc.

It gave us something to do together which was great for bonding. I just wish he'd been there a bit longer...but maybe I can convince him to come back to help me build a pergola.

We also managed to do a bit of sightseeing around Sydney and it was great that he got a chance to meet Kims family.



The wedding was something different for him and I think that he was pretty frustrated that he didn't know what the asian customs were (not a typical Danish wedding).

He did give a really good speech at the wedding and I'm sorry to say that everything he said is true (although not everything was accurate).

The temples in Luang Prabang are some of the most beautiful anywhere. Yes, Thailand has some amazing temples, but these are different. They are smaller, and more intricately decorated.

Luang Prabang is without a doubt the cultural highlight of Laos. The old part of the city is beautiful and there are good reasons why is has been heritage protected.

I believe it has the most beautiful temples of South East Asia - they are not the largest or even the oldest, but the amount of details that has been put into them is absolutely stunning.



In addition to this there are a lot of other very interesting things to see in and do in the city, which I will cover in later posts.

The city itself is situated between two rivers where one of them is the Mekong which is still fairly busy with slow boats and ferries (The chinese are building a large bridge across the river north of the city)





The section between the two rivers form the city itself which consist of four parallel streets each about a kilometer long.



Everything within the city itself can be covered on foot and in the evening the main streets are blocked for card and reserved for pedestrians.

The place is dominated by a big hill with a small temple and stuba on top. It is very popular with tourists to climb the hill around sunset. And there is a great view of the mountains from the top.







There are some things that have changed in the city since I was there the last time. The most noticeable is the amount of tourists and fine hotels - and here it is really the more wealthy middle aged Europeans you see. The main street of the old city is full of modern western European influenced restaurants, souvenir and antique stores.



Fortunately you don't have to travel further that to the parallel streets to fine more low key Laos places to eat.

Also, last time I visited, I stayed in a small guest house near the city centre called Tanoy Guest House. When I stayed here I became good friends with the family and the place was named after the oldest daughter who's name was Tanoy.

The place is still there and apart from a larger fence it looks pretty much unchanged.

The 'secret' war in the 60's and 70's had a major impact on the country. A massive amount of bombs were dropped by mostly the Americans in mostly the Northern and Eastern part of the country. This was partly an internal civil war but also to stop the North Vietnamese using the country as a supply route.

To get an insight into this was I can highly recommend the books by Christoper Robbins called 'The Ravens' and 'Air America'.

The impact today is that un-exploded ordnance (mines, cluster bombs etc.) is covering large parts of the country and that every year lots of people including children gets injured or killed.

It is also very noticable, especially in the Hmong villages that there is no presence of old men. This is because most of these were killed either during the war where especially they took heavy casualties despite the American support or through 'education' camps after the war.

Last time I went to Laos I went to Plains of Jars which was one of the most heavily bombed areas and the debris was everywhere. We weren't going there on this trip, but to give the family and friends an insight into the history and the dangers to present people we visited the COPE organisation in Vientiane.

Here is Aiden in front of an unexploded (disarmed) clusterbomb. Looks just like a ball and tempting for kids to play with.



These were dropped from canisters on aircraft with several hundred in each load. It is estimated that 1/3 of these didn't explode on impact.
 


This map shows the areas most effected.



If you look for the bombs they you see them everywhere - mostly disarmed and used as fence posts.



There is also remains of anti aircraft guns such as this one in Luang Prabang. The barrel had been removed but everything else still worked on it and they could turn it by rotating the handles, much to the amusement of the kids. During the war kids only a little older than our kids would have been fighting at the front lines.

One thing that I love taking photos of on my travels are People.



A lot of the photos of the people of my travels are in the other posts, but here is a selection that didn't really fit into the other stories.

This is an old woman sitting doing preparing food or doing her handicraft outside her house while observing the street life.



Someone was shooting a wedding, I used the opportunity to snap a photo of my own.



A woman bathing in the Mekong



A girl posing for her boyfriend on top of the hill at Luang Prabang



A woman walking down the street



Another woman doing handicraft outside her shop

The fishing along the rivers in Laos are still very traditional.

It is the circular throw out nets, fish traps and people foraging along the river banks to collect river seaweed and snails for eating.



In most places they still use dugout canoes for the fishing.





In the various town you see people sitting repairing their fishing nets.










Kim told us that when she was a little girl she used to help the family repair the fishing nets, but that she's forgotten how to do it.



One of the delicacies in Loang Prabang is the local riverweed. We saw multiple people collecting it and also sitting cleaning it.

Some of the other highlights for the kids in Vang Vieng was the gym at our hotel. The local guys used it to train for kick boxing and the kids felt inspired.






Also, one evening we spotted someone launching wishing lanterns. We asked where they came from and through a lot of pointing we found a local shop keeper selling them.

We bought one and launched it an the kids loved the experience.




Also, one of the trees at the hotel had two little monkeys staying there most of the day. The kids loved standing there shouting profanities at them.

At Vang Vieng we did do some water sports.

Again we were extremely lucky kayaking a section of the river back to Vang Vieng and having the entire river to ourselves.




The three kids were all in a kayak with our guide sitting on top of their life jackets - fortunately they can all swim.



Kim and I was in one Kayak and Sacha and Mavis in another.





Just where we started out there was a rapid with water flowing over a large boulder but with plenty of flat water on the sides. Kim was little impressed when I headed straight into the rapids and with perfect skills paddled us through them...her being soaked and the kayak being full of water may have had something to do with it.



She's later said that the kayaking trip was one of her favourite and most fun activities on the trip, so maybe she was somewhat impressed with my brilliant paddling skills!!







Along the river are still some of the remains of the bars and zip lines - but all very quiet now.



Approaching Vang Vieng we went past some really scenic locations with bungalows etc.









The experience at the end got and all thumbs up!





Another water activity that Mavis and I did was tubing through one of the caves. You essentially sit in an inflated car tyre and then pull yourself along a rope inside a cave. It was fun for the kids, however this place was packed with Koreans trying to do the same thing.

Aiden initially didn't want to go, but I am proud that he eventually managed to get the courage to do so.



We also went to one of the lagoons. There are a number of them and some of them are very popular. We organised with a driver to drive us to one of the less popular ones. It was still scenic and it had platforms of the trees to jump from and you could see why some travelers would have killed themselves jumping off them.







There were also a couple of rafts which reminded me of the first time I went to Laos and paddles across a local river on a raft. It got on one of them in the lagoon and the whole thing literally sunk under me - I only just managed to get off in time before getting soaked.

The second one was able to hold my weight and I took the boys for a little paddle.

At one of the caves in Laos there is this amazing Buddha statue inside the cave.

I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the diffused light was falling onto the statue itself and through the entrance to the cave. We were there all by ourselves and I asked Kim to sit and offer a little prayer in the ray of light coming in through the cave.

I didn't bring a tripod with me to Laos, so everything had to be shot handheld which was tricky as there wasn't much light there.

In Vang Vieng we also went to some caves. Again we were the only ones there - I don't know if this was just because no one else were interested or because we went there at a time when everyone else were doing other activities.

The caves are in fairly pristine condition, they are dark, moist and other than descending a makeshift ladder walking through them gives a feeling of exploring the caves for the very first time.





Some passages were really narrow






And other parts of the caves were massive.










Overall the caves are beautiful and again it was amazing having them to ourselves.

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

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

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


Click here to see more photos from: Tokyo/Slideshow

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

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

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

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


Click here to see more photos from: Denmark/Slideshow

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

Click here to see more photos from: Miscellaneous/Slideshow

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

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

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

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


Click here to see more photos from: USA/Slideshow

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

Generally the skiing conditions are pretty good, but last year was pretty bad, but we did get some skiing done.
Click here to see more photos from:Skiing in Australia 2006/Slideshow

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

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


Click here to see more photos from:Holland/Slideshow

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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







Click here to see more photos from: Tokyo/Slideshow

In 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

At the end of 2005 my Mum and Dad escaped the winter in Denmark by travelling to Sydney for a couple of weeks.

They stayed here over Christmas and New Years Eve. While they were here we went for a drive up to Graemes house at Taylors Lake near Port Macquarie where we Christmas Eve cooking traditional danish Roast Duck, and Ris-a-la-mande.

New years even we celebrated at Graemes place at McMahons Point here in Sydney.

New Years day was the hottest on record...48 degrees.

Click here to see more photos from: Christmas and New Years Eve 2005/Slideshow

Fotografier Oversættelse ©Copyright Freddy Pallesen 2000 ~ 2005
Design dagbog ©Copyright 2001 ~ 2005
Created: 13Dec 2004Sidst update: 13-Dec-2004