Miss Mandie

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then flipping through the above album will be equivalent of reading a 57,000 narrative on the recent road trip I just completed with two friends. It was an epic journey of 10,500 kms (6500 miles), from Mullumbimby, NSW to Uluru, NT, up to far North Queensland to see the Daintree Rainforest and back again,  conquered in the short time frame of just a month. We set up and packed up our campsite nearly every night, stopping only occasionally for longer than a night to catch our breath and luxuriate in the bliss of not having to roll that bloody camping mattress up AGAIN (self-inflating foam = extremely comfortable but is also a big pain in the arse to fit back in the miniature bag that it comes with).

We didn’t really plan for our trip. It was a spontaneous decision to take Charish (USA) around the country before she headed home, accompanying us was Scotti (NZ) to help with the driving and do the “boy things” that are required on any outback road trip (such as hammering tent pegs into hard clay – thanks Scotti!). My friend Steph had done the journey a few months before us, and handed us all we needed (camping/rest area “bible” that listed all free campsites in Oz, tent, camping stove, cookware). What else did we need other than a fierce determination not to let the desert get the better of us!

Enjoy the pics – the best way to encapsulate the unique journey just experienced

Christmas on the farm, 2008

Given that Christmas was now a couple of months ago, I figured it was time for me to get organised enough to share the photos from that time. It was a great Christmas with most of the family congregating at “the farm” in NSW. It was particularly great that Jeff came along too – having one of my CouchSurfing family members there with me just made things feel complete.

I just found this unpublished post from my visit to Washington, DC back in September last year – here ya go!

Anybody that knows me, knows I love flowers. I will spend time making daisy chains to wear in my hair, I hang pictures of them on my walls, I put freshly picked ones in my room, they are even woven into the paisley tops I wear…I just cant get enough of them it seems!

So you can imagine how much fun I had snapping them at the Botanical Gardens, Washington DC. I understand that not everyone will be interested, but for those of you that might share a similar love for nature’s way of exploding colour into our lives, I hope you enjoy the album!

It was surprisingly the first time I had used my camera to take up close and personal photos of anything using the digital macro function on my Canon Powershot SD750 (or Ixus 75 as its sold in some parts of the world). I think they turned out well for an automatic digital camera! Sure I had some troubles with getting it to focus on some flowers, but overall I was impressed with how they turned out. This camera costs less than $300 (I think in both Aussie and US dollars) and I always see a multitude of people with them when out – we are onto something good so if you are in the market for a reliable camera, consider this Canon.

Photo Album – Venturing to Vegas!

I know I am getting slack on keeping this site updated. I know this because I have been back from my trip to Las Vegas for over a week now. But I am feeling energised and enthused about being a better communicator/friend/blogger. Anyway, to the point of this entry – a week filled to the brim of fun, laughter, friendship, excitement, desert, casinos, fulfilling life-long dreams and free drinks at penny slots. So where to begin on trying to encapsulate this week without writing a novel…hmmm, let’s give it a shot (click on the following link)….

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