Parties, People, and Past Times

These photos are a collection of images from past parties, music gigs, etc. They are a collection of good times had with good people.

Vietnam.

In Vietnam I was lucky enough to travel with my three best mates for a month and the result was a trip that could never be repeated!Heading south from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh we visited, Hoi-an, Hue, & Nha Trang. We visited the Cu Chi war Tunnels, Halong Bay, and rode moto's to empty beaches for Seafood Lunches. We rode cyclo's in Saigon, and did a 10m jump off into an isolated waterfall. Most of our time in Vietnam was spent at night however, where we hit the pubs & clubs for some serious pool comps, some jenga with the locals, & on one night a 3am birthday dinner celebration with a large group of Vietnamese. This trip through Viet was a once in a lifetime adventure that will never be forgotton. Sean, kimbo, and Robbo, thanks for the good times.

China 2004

In March 2004 I set out on my first solo overseas adventure, traveling from Hong Kong to Beijing. This trip was an absolutely amazing experience for me that helped to open my eyes to the diversity in the world. I visited the great wall, the world's biggest Buddha statue, and a Giant Panda conservation reserve. I stayed in a 2000 year old monastery, explored Yangshou's limestone Karsts, and saw a live performance of the Shaolin monks. The best part of traveling in China however was the people I met and the simple act of being on the road. If i have anything to recommend to people traveling to China it is to get amongst the local transport, shopping centres, etc, and to visit monkey jane's hotel in Yangshou! Jane's is a really cool little guest house/hotel and if you want to see the best that Yangshou has to offer, Jane is definitely your girl...
China, Jane, I will be back!

ItinerArt

The above pieces are by my father and I. Works by myself contain the symbol * after the title, while pieces by my father contain the title only. For information on purchasing please leave details and questions by clicking the COMMENTS link below this text. Artwork Sizes (in cm): Female Perfection, Chinese Minority Tribe 60x50, Madonna's Dream 45x36, Birds of Paradise 60x55, Lady of the Lake & 2 Crickets 76x51, Lady of Shallot 90x60, Stewie Griffin 35x28, Untitled 120x80, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Intolerance, Blue Guitar 60x42, Evil Monkey, Jimi Hendrix,

Dalai Lama does public appearance in Sydney

On Friday the 15th & Saturday the 16th of June, the Dalai Lama presented two public talks at the Domain in Sydney. It was a very wet & cold weekend, and the weather did put a bit of the dent in the crowds. I attended the Friday session to hear the Dalai Lama discuss achieving outer peace through inner peace. In the morning I handed out pamphlets for the Australia Tibet council & we got through about 12 000 pamphlets which was a good result considering the weather. Seeing the Dalai Lama was an inspirational event, however the highlight of the day would have to have been knowing that I was making a personal attempt to help the Tibetan people.

Tibetan Buddhism

The Tibetan people are some of the most spiritual people in the world. This short video is a tribute to Tibetan Buddhism made by the Tibetan Photo Project. For more images, videos, and information on Tibet, check out www.thetibetanphotoproject.com
The beauty of this organisations' work is that much of their footage has been filmed by exiled Tibetans, and therefore provides us with an insider perspective of Tibetan culture. For other tibetanphotoproject videos on youtube, see the following links,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTlRXnCUzMI, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3umTc3twP6M, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-de3Qz0pzU, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PgcDOHH1lE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL3KL2yNpow, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yAmHfhyvBs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDy_at_ouQg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58KRnJk1DzU

Peru

So far Peru is the only South American nation I have visited (aside from 8hours at Santiago airport), but it definitely made me want to see what the rest of the continent has to offer. Peru is place of great diversity. On one side of the you have the heights of the Peruvian Andes, the Inca trail, and Machu Picchu, while on the other side you have the lowlands of the Amazon jungle.
In 2004 I spent a month traveling through Peru with a couple of cool English lads and lasses, and a slightly annoying American couple. Beginning in Lima we headed to Pisco where we took a boat trip to the Ballestas Islands to see some Sea lions and more birds then you will see in a BBC documentary. From here we traveled out to Nazca to see the famous Nazca lines, which I personally found more amazing as photographs than when you see them up close. Next stop was Arequipa where we visited the Santa Catalina monastery and dined on the traditional Peruvian meal of the Guinea Pig! After chilling out in picturesque Arequipa we headed to Lake Titicaca where we visited the reed islands of the Uros people and did an overnight homestay with some very short Peruvians. The night on lake Titicaca was one of the coldest nights I've ever experienced, and although it was a beautiful place it was good to be heading on to the famous city of Cuzco.
Originally built in the shape of a Puma, Cuzco is the starting and finishing point for the Inca trail, and is one of the coolest city's in the world. The nightlife in this little gem is some of the best you will find in the world, not because the pubs are anything special but because the vibe is so positive. We would be back to Cuzco in a few days, but for now we were off to do the Inca trail.
Day one of the trail was relatively easy and was mostly spent admiring the amazing scenery of the Andes. On day two of the Inca trail it snowed down heavily on us all morning and we were told it was the first time it had snowed in this part of Peru in fifteen years. At lunch we were also told that if the snow didn't lighten up we might have to abort the trek, but luckily for us the rest of the day was cold and dry. Day three of the trek was for me the most enjoyable, and i managed to spend most of the day walking with no one in sight in front or behind me. Day four is the big one, Machu Picchu. Starting out at 5am I ran the entire the distance of the days trek in the dark. My hope was to make it to the sun gate before the sun had risen, but to this effect I failed. I did manage to be the first of the trail to see Machu Picchu however, and to see this amazing place completely empty of tourists. After spending the rest of the day exploring the ruins and climbing Wanu picchu, it was time to head back to Cuzco...
We arrived back in Cuzco just in time for Inti Rami, the festival of the sun, we we drank corn beer, played soccer amongst Incan ruins, and saw some locals with an anaconda skin. I thin we all could have happily stayed in Cuzco for a few more days, were we not on our way to the Amazon Jungle.
The first thing that must be said about the Amazon is that it is exactly like you see in all the documentaries. There are animals everywhere! From Caimans, to Macaws, to Tarantula's and monkey's we saw it all. My only regret for the Amazon was that we couldn't stay longer... it's a place I simply must return to. Unfortunately, the end of my time in the Amazon also meant the end of my time in Peru, and after a day or two in Lima I was on a flight a home.

Thailand 06.

Thailand is one of those places you can never get tired of. The people are some of the friendliest in the world, the beaches are just paradise, and you can travel on a pretty cheap budget. I have been to Thailand three times now, but my time there in February 06' was probably the most fun i've ever had. Traveling with two of my best mates and my amazing girlfriend, we spent a month cruising around the southern end of this awesome country.

Starting in the energetic Khao San road (in Bangkok), we took the overnight bus to phuket. In phuket we partied on Sang Som and the girls hit the beach for some parasailing. Phuket was a cool place but the crowd was a bit old and as far as Thailand goes accommodation was a little expensive. From here we headed to Phi Phi island, where we chilled on the beach for a week, visited beautiful Maya Bay, and got legless on buckets filled with half a bottle of Thai whiskey. We could have easily spent the whole month on Phi Phi but there was just so much more to see. Next stop was Krabi but although it was really cheap there, we were only stopping over on our way to Khao Sok national park where we swam in rainforest waterfalls, payed $5AUD for our accommodation, and trekked to see the biggest flower in the world. Spending some time away from the coast was a cool experience, and it was here that we went elephant trekking and had the best fruit shakes of the whole trip. After Khao sok, Me and the Girls headed to Koh tao for some snorkelling and some putt putt, while my best mate headed to Koh Samui to catch up with some friends from a previous trip. On Koh Tao we had a bungalow probably 10 metres from the waters edge, and the beach was for resort guests only. In Koh Tao we snorkelled with reef sharks, tucked into banana pancakes, and the girls went diving. Koh Tao was probably my favorite part of Thailand, and after spending a week relaxing here we headed to Koh Phangan for the full moon party. After meeting back up with our other mate we hit the beach in Koh Phangan (with about 10 000 other tourists) for the 3rd biggest party in the world. Food poisoning limited my drinking a bit but we all had an awesome time and we even stumbled on some mates from school amongst the massive crowd. Sadly, Koh Phangan meant the end of our trip so we headed back to Bangkok for a few final days of drinking, and some shopping...

Thailand 06' was an great trip with some great mates. It has to be done again.