15. September 2000 11:05 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments New Car in 2000 . . . 15. September 2000 11:05 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetnew car in 2000ShareIn 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...) 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. 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 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Away from Headquarters . . . 15. August 2000 10:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetaway from headquartersShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageAway 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. The kids were fighting to fit into the photo! The kids here were really cute.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. One of the helicopter pilots was driving through the jungle roads, took a corner too fast, and had a minor mishap.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. 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). 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. 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. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Helicopters . . . 15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweethelicoptersShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageHelicopters . . .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 ... 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. 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. 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! 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. 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. 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. 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. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments The Wildlife in Borneo . . . 15. August 2000 10:42 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetthe wildlife in borneoShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageThe 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. 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). 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. You can see how muddy it is in the jungle - I became quite dirty after many trips into the jungle. I think these trees are just as big as the Californian Redwoods. They might not be as old, but definitely just as big. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Repeater Stations . . . 15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetrepeater stationsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageRepeater Stations . . .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. 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. 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. 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!!! 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. 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. 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 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. 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! 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! Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments The Competitors . . . 15. August 2000 10:41 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetthe competitorsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageThe 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! 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Silam and Jungle Ops . . . 15. August 2000 10:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsilam and jungle opsShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageSilam 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 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. 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. Back to TopReturn to Borneo HomepageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Preparations at the Magellan Hotel 15. August 2000 10:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetpreparations at the magellan hotelShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillagePreparations 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. Glen and Paul checking all the equipment and re-programming some of the radios. 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. After the race, Glen and I decided to make most of the luxury and just veg... aaahhh... bliss! 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 Tweetecochallenge sabah 2000ShareEcochallenge ( Sabah 2000 )ArrivalSilam / Jungle OpsRepeater StationsThe CompetitorsHelicopterJungle Around UsThe VillageEcochallenge 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. Back to TopReturn to Contents pageCreated: 7 Dec 2001
4. March 2000 11:07 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Chilli Festival ( 4th March 2000 ) . . . 4. March 2000 11:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetchilli festival 4th march 2000ShareOn this particular Saturday, I drove to Terrigal to see the Mexican Chilli Festival... it was excellent. I shot two rolls of film up there. Some of these pictures have turned out beautifully! A couple of my Mexican friends were doing the entertainment there. Victor is very good at playing the mexican harp. His wife, Shiraz, is an excellent dancer. I took a series of shots in colour and a series in black & white. I shall first show you the ones in colour and then in b&w, as the b&w ones are very artistic! Victor plays the harp like a dream! I was once at Lance's place - Lance was helping Victor record his music onto CD. The harp does not look like your ordinary orchestral harp. It was ornate and somehow different. It is was a very beautiful instrument. As you can see, these women are gorgeous! Something about silk stockings, I think... Shiraz is the photo in the middle. She did quite a few numbers, and this was one of them. All 3 girls danced in a colourful combination! Here you see Shiraz dancing in a duet. I have seen her do this dance at a similiar concert May last year, here in Lindfield. Victor and a couple of guitarists provided accompaniment to the dancing. Shiraz moved so fast that at times, all you could see was this colourful wave of skirts. Her partner's costume reminded me of the costumes the Spanish toledos wore (except without the cape). As you can see, Shiraz danced a number of dances that day. It takes a lot of energy to do those dances!
22. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Symbio Wildlife Park 22. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsymbio wildlife parkShareToday we went to the Symbio Wildlife park together with some of our friends. They don't have a lot of animals in the park, but the ones they have a pretty cool and it is a good spot to get some nice animal photos (It was especially nice to see that they had polished the glass surrounding some animals). It was also really cool to have Aiden and Sammi feed some of the more friendly animals.
22. April 2012 05:44 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Luke and Alexsandra's wedding 22. April 2012 05:44 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetluke and alexandra s weddingShareToday Luke and Alexsandra was married. She is from Serbia so the wedding itself was a beautiful traditional Serbian Orthodox wedding in a small church in Alexandria. The church was very darkly lit and I was shooting using natural light trying to be as discreet as possible using my old Nikon D50 camera (still waiting for the new D800) but by some miracle I was able to capture the above photos (by setting it to my max 1600 ISO and underexpose 2 stops and then push and noise reduce in post...would have loved to have one more stop). Luke has some Scotish ancestry so ourside the church there was a guy playing the bag pipe. Afterwards the reception was in Drumoyne with about 250 guests invited. Lots of very loud Serbian music and traditional Serbian line dancing (Not sure what the correct name is).
16. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Easter show and EQ 16. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweeteaster show and eqShareSynday we took Dylan to the Easter show at Fox Studios. We had bought him a 5 hour pass as a reward for an assignment we gave him.Dylan tried a number of rides, but I think his favourite was a dodge'm'cars.While Dylan was queueing up we had a look around at the other entertainment.
15. April 2012 07:39 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments High Tea in Royal National Park 15. April 2012 07:39 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweethigh tea in royal national parkShareToday we went to High Tea in Audley in the Royal National Park 30 minutes drive from where we live. Kim had bought a 2 for 1 deal and decided to try it.Verdict was that is wasn't anything special and even with the special deal it was a bit over priced.Afterwards we decided to go rowing up through the creek.Aiden was very keen to get to play with the water which was difficult in the rowing boat (next time we will get a Canoe).Afterwards we let him play a bit on land before heading back.
8. April 2012 06:18 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bora Bora Island Scenery 8. April 2012 06:18 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetbora bora island sceneryShareThe island itself is a beautiful place. I took a lot of photos of the lagoon and the beauty of Bora Bora....so many that it would be too many to have in the previous Bora Bora post. With the risk of creating a post full of Blue photos...I had to separate them out to prevent the other posts from getting too big. Here they are...I will let them speak for themselves...
6. April 2012 06:19 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Snorkeling with Sharks and Stingrays 6. April 2012 06:19 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsnorkeling with sharks and stingraysShareOne of the days at Bora Bora we went with a boat around the lagoon to go snorkeling and have lunch on one of the Motu's (Islands). Along the way we went snorkeling in spots where we also could see sharks and stingrays. Our first spot was a snorkeling spot with lots of coral and different fish. I Even saw a big fat murray eel. Kim also had a bit of a snorkel in the clear blue water even though the water was deep and there was a slight current. Aiden was facinated by the fish and wanted to join mummy in the water to say hello to the fish'ies... After this we went to a more shallow spot on the reef with lots of reef sharks. Yes, that is me in the water with 12 sharks circling around me (and no safety net in place).These sharks would come swimming towards me and then turn around within a meters reach. Click here to see a video I uploaded to Facebook with the Sharks getting close After lunch we stopped to feed the Stingrays in the lagoon. They are fairly harmless and I was feeding them dead fish. While doing so I was bitten by one of them that mistook the camera I was holding in my other hand as a fish.
5. April 2012 06:10 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Bora Bora 5. April 2012 06:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetbora boraShare Bora Bora is a beautiful island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Kim and I had promised eachother that we one day we will go there. It is about an hours flight from Tahiti and along the way you pass a number of other Polynesian islands and atolls. When we landed we were met by the stunning blue lagoon and the very characteristic mountain which is an old extinct volcano. Aiden especially was mesmerised by the view going on the boat from the airport to our hotel. On arrival we were met by traditional Tahitian music and someone blowing a seashell. And Aiden immidiately got into the mocktails. Our hotel was on the main island itself and we had a small hut facing the lagoon and had a beautiful view every morning waking up. Every morning we had breakfast overlooking the lagoon where Aiden would stuff his face with fruits, bread and youghurt. We spent a lot of time at the small beach close to the hotel just swimming in the clear water of the lagoon. The locals were out on the lagoon showing off their skills. Aiden loved the calm clear water and the beach...it was a pleasant 27-28 degrees. Every time he saw water he would point at it and shout BoBo (Water)...and insist on going swimming. One evening I did a couple of sunset portraits. Aiden again insisted on going in the water. I also went for a swim after we finished the photos, which was absolutely magical as the light was surreal and the water was absolutely calm. Across the lagoon from the hotel we had a little island (Motu) with beautiful place to go snorkeling. First I went in the water and notices a small reef shark circling around the corals...being kinda shy. I mentioned it to Kim and as soon as she also spotted it later in the day she rushed out of the water (A couple of days later she had a similar experience with a large stingray at the beach). It was hard to leave all this beauty behind
4. April 2012 04:09 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Flowers of French Polynesia 4. April 2012 04:09 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetflowers of french polynesiaShareI took a lot of photos of flowers...enough to warrant a separate blog entry.. If you are not a flower person then just scroll down the page past these...lots of other good stuff there. Anyhow...I will let them speak for themselves...
3. April 2012 07:08 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Tahiti 3. April 2012 07:08 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweettahitiShareThis Easter we decided to go to Tahiti and Bora Bora in French Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We were supposed to have been going to Japan, but we decided that we instead wanted a more relaxing holiday and changed it to an Island holiday enjoying the sun, sand, water and sunsets. Tahiti is the main island of French Polynesia and is not larger than it is possible to drive around the entire island in a couple of hours (appx 120 km). On one of the days we rented a car and did just that. We could have joined a day tour, but I am not very keen on the 5min photo stop kind of tours and much prefer to be able to travel independently and take time to see what we would like to see. It is reasonably easy to find your way around the island. There really is just one road and the entire road is marked by kilometer markers and we had the distances for most of the sights we wanted to see. We didn;t go too much into the interior because of time restraints and some of these roads are only accessible by 4WD. First we stopped at one of the old Tahitian temples which was interesting After that we headed to some large caves full of freshwater (would have been convenient in the old days)...very damp and very dark. After this we tried to find the road up to a lake and supposedly large waterfall. Some of the locals were very helpful with assisting us with directions but unfortunately the road was closed. Fortunately we did find the nearby gardens which Kim wanted to visit (I will do a separate flower blog posting). We did find some waterfallson the island (and saw several from a long distance away high on the mountains). After this we headed to Point Venus where Captain Cook in 1769 supposedly saw the passing of Venus ...now this houses the only lighthouse in French Polynesia.The next passing will be 6th June this year...243 years after the previos passing (can be seen as a shadow against the sun). We decided to skip the museums as we would rather experience the outsde rather than objects behind glass. The other days we spent around the hotel and the marina, just relaxing, swimming and dining. Aiden loved spending most of the time in the pool at the hotel. Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal Blog Portfolio Packages Contact About Home 27. March 2002 11:14 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Whale Watching 27. March 2002 11:14 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetwhale watchingShareWe went with Donna and Sandra up to Port Stephens to go Whale watching. It was a great day (very cold) and we saw lots of whales. Click here to see more photos from: Whale Watching/Slideshow 27. March 2002 11:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Climbing in New Zealand 27. March 2002 11:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetclimbing in new zealandShareI went climbing with Andy in New Zealand. We flew onto the glacier at Pioneer hut with a skiplane. We attempted a couple of peaks in the area but were mainly unsuccessful due to sloshy conditions and late starts. Andy eventually insisted going down after taking a bit of a slide after taking a bit of a slide. We did however get a little bit of climbing done. Click here to see more photos from: Climbing in New Zealand/Slideshow 16. September 2001 11:10 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Friends in Denmark . . . 16. September 2001 11:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy friends in denmarkShareBelieve it or not, I still have quite a few friends in Denmark. I would like to put photos of all of them here - unfortunately I do not have photos of all of them. If you are one of my friends and your photo is not on this page then please do not despair - I still consider you a friend, and maybe, the next time I go to Denmark, I shall have photos of you all! Here is one of my best friends in Denmark. This photo was taken quite a while ago, before I came to Australia. Kenneth is now living here in Sydney, on the beautiful Manly beach - only about a half hour away from me. Kenneth came to stay with me a few months ago. He was trying out a new job, and actually came back! He is going to give Australia a go, to see if he likes it like I do. No more biting winters, lots of warmth and sunshine, beautiful mountains and bush to explore... and I think he has discovered, there are lots of friends to make - especially the pretty fun-going ones with two legs and a skirt! *smile* He is actually a pretty good cook. Whist he stayed in my apartment for a couple of months, he cooked pot roast with gorgonzola sauce, and also gave a wonderful 3-course dinner for a small group of friends here. About two years after I arrived in Australia, I returned to Denmark for a visit. On the day I arrived in Denmark, he threw together a party for me! Here is Ester, another one of my friends. She is a fashion designer and paints some wonderful paintings. Naturally at parties, there was quite a large amount of beer being consumed (how can you not?? - not possible to have a party otherwise in Denmark. It was nice to taste one of the annual Christmas beers from Tuborg. Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001 28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Photo Gallery 28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetphoto gallerySharePhoto GalleryI have placed photos here - those I could not fit on the respective webpages. SchwedagonMandalayMarionetVolleyballCreated: 3 Nov 2001 28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments South East Asia ( 24 July ~ 24 August 2001 ) . . . 28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsouth east asia 24 july 24 august 2001ShareI initially made plans to explore Burma and then make my way across the border into western China at Burma's only border crossing up north. I had not made any definite plans wanted to play it by ear... but in the end my trip consisted of Thailand, Cambodia and restricted areas to Burma. I was away for a total of 5 weeks and must admit that parts of my trip really frustrated me - there were many restrictions in Burma and being in Bangkok at times stressed me because of all the tourists and crowds. I really only went to Cambodia to see the magnificent Angkor Wat - actually I really did enjoy being there. I think my most enjoyable part of the trip was the days I had climbing on the secluded areas of Krabi. Burma(23 Jul ~ 5 Aug)Cambodia(6 ~ 10 Aug)Thailand 28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Monkeys . . . 28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetmonkeysShareThere were quite a lot of monkeys at Mt Popa. The photo above in the middle, shows monkeys that look like they are playing around. They are actually fighting monkeys and can be very dangerous because they bite and also snatch things from you. They were rather oblivious to me being there, until the flash on my camera went off. Then their attention was on me and they were ready to attack. I adopted the “monkey mentality” - avoid eye contact and move away backwards - the only way to stop the monkeys from attacking is to not look at them. 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North (continued) . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetburma up north continuedShare Whilst I was up north, I watched a rather interesting game of volleyball. I have never seen such dexterity and agility amongst the players! It was amazing to see how flexible these guys were. 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Mt Popa . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmt popaShareThere is a monastry on Mt Popa - a hill located 50km away from Bagan. When I was there, it was a cloudy day. I ran into a woman selling petrified wood - quite silly really, considering the place was covered with it. They must think tourists are stupid! *laugh* I managed to pick up a couple of small pieces to take back with me. As you can see, there are stacks of them around. And no... this is not a tombstone. This is actually a road sign. You would be surprised how big some of these pieces are - this piece below was actually about a metre long and 40cm wide. Actually what I found interesting were the toilets in Burma. My girlfriend tells me that squatting over a toilet is quite common in Asia. In many of the city areas, they would have toilets as we know them, and they would also have a carved hole in the ground, on which either side, one places their feet on. Toilets in the rural area are more crude than that - a hole leading into a gaping pit. However, what I found interesting about these toilets were that recycled running water was used to wash away any excrement. The water is first used for washing one self and then used in the toilets. As there were a few toilet cubicles a row, sometimes you would see the excrement from a toilet uphill go beneath you! *laugh* Very clever and environmental system, I think! Trying to grab a snooze... *smile* Like Schweddagon, most of this is real gold as well. And yes, there is a monkey sitting near my head. If you click to the next page, you will see that I have taken a series of photos of the monkeys. 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Puppet Show . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetpuppet showShare I saw the most interesting puppet show, known as the “Mandalay Marionettes” There were 2 or 3 puppeteers out the front, with a live band of musicians. Unfortunately, it was more of a show for the tourists, rather than the locals. It cost 1,000 chats or US$2 per show. 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetburma up northShare I decided take a 20-hour train-ride to Myitkyinã *laugh* it took 20-hours to get there by train because there was only one track. It was definitely faster to run next to the train than to travel in it! We had to wait for the oncoming train to return before we could travel north. At one point, we crossed a bridge that was so rickety that I thought it would collapse any moment! Locals working in the rice fields. Locals using water-buffaloes to plough rice fields. The train travelled along the Jrrawaddy River. It would have been nice if I was able to travel to Mandalay via a riverboat down the Jrrawaddy River. It was amazing to find out that people live “on” these lakes, by building houses on stilts. This sort of housing is quite common in many parts of Asia, especially areas where monsoons quite frequently flood an area. It is also very environmentally-sound, I think, and hurts the land less. Most of the houses are made of wood. Myitkyinã is pretty dismal in rain! There is a huge drug problem in Burma, especially through the crossings into China. I have scanned a copy of a recent newspaper article about this problem in Burma. << Older posts Newer posts >> Newer posts12...84858687888990919293Older posts SearchInclude comments in search Newsletter Get notified when a new post is published. Enter your e-mail Please enter an e-mail address Please enter a valid e-mail Thank you
27. March 2002 11:14 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Whale Watching 27. March 2002 11:14 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetwhale watchingShareWe went with Donna and Sandra up to Port Stephens to go Whale watching. It was a great day (very cold) and we saw lots of whales. Click here to see more photos from: Whale Watching/Slideshow
27. March 2002 11:03 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Climbing in New Zealand 27. March 2002 11:03 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetclimbing in new zealandShareI went climbing with Andy in New Zealand. We flew onto the glacier at Pioneer hut with a skiplane. We attempted a couple of peaks in the area but were mainly unsuccessful due to sloshy conditions and late starts. Andy eventually insisted going down after taking a bit of a slide after taking a bit of a slide. We did however get a little bit of climbing done. Click here to see more photos from: Climbing in New Zealand/Slideshow
16. September 2001 11:10 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments My Friends in Denmark . . . 16. September 2001 11:10 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmy friends in denmarkShareBelieve it or not, I still have quite a few friends in Denmark. I would like to put photos of all of them here - unfortunately I do not have photos of all of them. If you are one of my friends and your photo is not on this page then please do not despair - I still consider you a friend, and maybe, the next time I go to Denmark, I shall have photos of you all! Here is one of my best friends in Denmark. This photo was taken quite a while ago, before I came to Australia. Kenneth is now living here in Sydney, on the beautiful Manly beach - only about a half hour away from me. Kenneth came to stay with me a few months ago. He was trying out a new job, and actually came back! He is going to give Australia a go, to see if he likes it like I do. No more biting winters, lots of warmth and sunshine, beautiful mountains and bush to explore... and I think he has discovered, there are lots of friends to make - especially the pretty fun-going ones with two legs and a skirt! *smile* He is actually a pretty good cook. Whist he stayed in my apartment for a couple of months, he cooked pot roast with gorgonzola sauce, and also gave a wonderful 3-course dinner for a small group of friends here. About two years after I arrived in Australia, I returned to Denmark for a visit. On the day I arrived in Denmark, he threw together a party for me! Here is Ester, another one of my friends. She is a fashion designer and paints some wonderful paintings. Naturally at parties, there was quite a large amount of beer being consumed (how can you not?? - not possible to have a party otherwise in Denmark. It was nice to taste one of the annual Christmas beers from Tuborg. Created: Jan 2000 Last Updated: 16 Sept 2001
28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Photo Gallery 28. July 2001 11:11 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetphoto gallerySharePhoto GalleryI have placed photos here - those I could not fit on the respective webpages. SchwedagonMandalayMarionetVolleyballCreated: 3 Nov 2001
28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments South East Asia ( 24 July ~ 24 August 2001 ) . . . 28. July 2001 10:52 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetsouth east asia 24 july 24 august 2001ShareI initially made plans to explore Burma and then make my way across the border into western China at Burma's only border crossing up north. I had not made any definite plans wanted to play it by ear... but in the end my trip consisted of Thailand, Cambodia and restricted areas to Burma. I was away for a total of 5 weeks and must admit that parts of my trip really frustrated me - there were many restrictions in Burma and being in Bangkok at times stressed me because of all the tourists and crowds. I really only went to Cambodia to see the magnificent Angkor Wat - actually I really did enjoy being there. I think my most enjoyable part of the trip was the days I had climbing on the secluded areas of Krabi. Burma(23 Jul ~ 5 Aug)Cambodia(6 ~ 10 Aug)Thailand
28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Monkeys . . . 28. July 2001 10:51 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetmonkeysShareThere were quite a lot of monkeys at Mt Popa. The photo above in the middle, shows monkeys that look like they are playing around. They are actually fighting monkeys and can be very dangerous because they bite and also snatch things from you. They were rather oblivious to me being there, until the flash on my camera went off. Then their attention was on me and they were ready to attack. I adopted the “monkey mentality” - avoid eye contact and move away backwards - the only way to stop the monkeys from attacking is to not look at them.
28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North (continued) . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetburma up north continuedShare Whilst I was up north, I watched a rather interesting game of volleyball. I have never seen such dexterity and agility amongst the players! It was amazing to see how flexible these guys were.
28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Mt Popa . . . 28. July 2001 10:50 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetmt popaShareThere is a monastry on Mt Popa - a hill located 50km away from Bagan. When I was there, it was a cloudy day. I ran into a woman selling petrified wood - quite silly really, considering the place was covered with it. They must think tourists are stupid! *laugh* I managed to pick up a couple of small pieces to take back with me. As you can see, there are stacks of them around. And no... this is not a tombstone. This is actually a road sign. You would be surprised how big some of these pieces are - this piece below was actually about a metre long and 40cm wide. Actually what I found interesting were the toilets in Burma. My girlfriend tells me that squatting over a toilet is quite common in Asia. In many of the city areas, they would have toilets as we know them, and they would also have a carved hole in the ground, on which either side, one places their feet on. Toilets in the rural area are more crude than that - a hole leading into a gaping pit. However, what I found interesting about these toilets were that recycled running water was used to wash away any excrement. The water is first used for washing one self and then used in the toilets. As there were a few toilet cubicles a row, sometimes you would see the excrement from a toilet uphill go beneath you! *laugh* Very clever and environmental system, I think! Trying to grab a snooze... *smile* Like Schweddagon, most of this is real gold as well. And yes, there is a monkey sitting near my head. If you click to the next page, you will see that I have taken a series of photos of the monkeys.
28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Puppet Show . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetpuppet showShare I saw the most interesting puppet show, known as the “Mandalay Marionettes” There were 2 or 3 puppeteers out the front, with a live band of musicians. Unfortunately, it was more of a show for the tourists, rather than the locals. It cost 1,000 chats or US$2 per show.
28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Burma Up North . . . 28. July 2001 10:49 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments Tweetburma up northShare I decided take a 20-hour train-ride to Myitkyinã *laugh* it took 20-hours to get there by train because there was only one track. It was definitely faster to run next to the train than to travel in it! We had to wait for the oncoming train to return before we could travel north. At one point, we crossed a bridge that was so rickety that I thought it would collapse any moment! Locals working in the rice fields. Locals using water-buffaloes to plough rice fields. The train travelled along the Jrrawaddy River. It would have been nice if I was able to travel to Mandalay via a riverboat down the Jrrawaddy River. It was amazing to find out that people live “on” these lakes, by building houses on stilts. This sort of housing is quite common in many parts of Asia, especially areas where monsoons quite frequently flood an area. It is also very environmentally-sound, I think, and hurts the land less. Most of the houses are made of wood. Myitkyinã is pretty dismal in rain! There is a huge drug problem in Burma, especially through the crossings into China. I have scanned a copy of a recent newspaper article about this problem in Burma.