7. May 2012 05:45 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Halfway there - Baby brother for Aiden 7. May 2012 05:45 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetSharehalfway thereKim is pregnant again and we are now halfway there and on Monday we went for the halfway scans (due late September).Everything is on track and looking good so far (5 fingers and toes etc.). For the first time we were able to tell the gender of the baby and it turns out that we are expecting a little brother to Aiden.This means that Aiden very soon will have someone to play with here at home.
25. April 2012 03:07 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Kurnell walk 25. April 2012 03:07 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetSharekurnell walkToday was Anzac day. We decided to use the day to explore some of the local area in the National Park on the other side of Botany bay near Kurnell.It was very windy (Aiden wasn't happy with the wind). The walk along the coast is easy an quite scenic. There is even a small lighthouse about a kilometer down the track and the rocks have cook textures.
22. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen 0 Comments Symbio Wildlife Park 22. April 2012 07:40 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments TweetSharesymbio wildlife parkToday 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 TweetShareluke and alexandra s weddingToday 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 TweetShareeaster show and eqSynday 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 TweetSharehigh tea in royal national parkToday 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 TweetSharebora bora island sceneryThe 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 TweetSharesnorkeling with sharks and stingraysOne 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 TweetSharebora bora 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 TweetShareflowers of french polynesiaI 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...