2014-01-27

Project Australia

As promised on My Impossible List, I have made a movie of my cross country trip to Australia, New Zealand and a bit of Asia. Hope you enjoy watching the nearly six minutes of it as much as I enjoyed the long hours working on it!

Edit: if the "Insert video" doesn't seem to work, here's the link to the video.


2014-01-26

Photo of the Week - Te Ika-a-Maui

As my trip is coming to an end, I have decided to feature one picture that for me represents one month of travelling. 
This week's picture was taken in November from the Northern Island of New Zealand, Tongariro more specifically. As my last POTW post, I decided to go all out and feature a panorama.




This is one of the few pictures where there are Tongariro and Ngauruhoe together, with little to no cloud, so you can actually see the summits. Once again, it was so hard to choose, between the fumes of Rotorua, the geometry of Taranaki, and of course Tongariro. But, definitely, the Alpine Crossing was one of the highlights of November and the Northern Island.
What do you think?

2014-01-19

Photo of the Week - Te Waipounamu

As my trip is coming to an end, I have decided to feature one picture that for me represents one month of travelling. 
This week's picture was taken in October from Doubtful Sound.


Again, an excruciating choice, first to choose the most remarkable place I've seen in October, then to choose the best picture to describe it. This time, I focused on a moment rather than on the beauty of the picture. One of the most amazing things I've done in October was the overnight cruise to Doubtful Sound, and it was made even more exceptional by the fact that it wasn't pouring... So there we were, after seeing so many seals, and just before admiring the sunset, at the table enjoying delicious food and good company, when suddenly I lift my eyes and there I see the rainbow. As the boat was still moving toward our anchoring place, it only lasted 5 to 10 minutes, but with the light on the fiord it makes for a remarkable picture.
What do you think?

2014-01-16

I'm leaving...

This is the end... after the end of 2013 comes the end of my Working Holiday Visa in Australia. 
and what a grandiose way to end the year that was...

I'm leaving a country which is an island and a whole continent in itself, where the pigeons are pink (the funny galahs) or yellow and the native animals cannot be seen anywhere else... A country so vast that in one whole year, I only scratched the surface of what there is to see and experience... This was the country of utes and paddocks, of premix drinks and stubby holder, a country where Coriolis turns the other way...
But before going back to France, I'm leaving a place that has been for me home away from home, with beautiful people that I'm not sure I will see again...

A year ago, I was experiencing the first goodbyes, and now I have to brace myself for the last ones of this WHV. If I had known how hard it would be to leave, I would have worked the 88 days needed to renew the visa, and unless you already know that you only have the one year, I strongly recommend that you seize the second opportunity to stay in this incredible country.
I know that in a couple of weeks I will see again my old friends and my family, but somehow, it's not cheering me up right now. I have no idea what 2014 has in hold for me. As I am turning 31 this year, the plan would be to do another WHV in New Zealand, taking the time to spend on the places I liked the most, and maybe find a real job in the country... 
or learn how to run a vineyard

That would enable me to do all the travelling I couldn't do this year: Bali, the rest of Northern Territories, maybe even the Philippines... 

But I'm also keen on making my brain work again, and while I'm writing this article, I'm also applying for jobs, mostly in the UK because one thing I'm sure of, I need to speak english on a daily basis. I'm doing this because I don't know if 2 years away from the workforce will annihilate any thought I had about a career.

So, as Freddy Mercury sang, "the show must go on" and "whatever happens, I'll leave it all to chance".
And for today, I'll let you with this thought:

2014-01-12

Photo of the Week - Uluru

As my trip is coming to an end, I have decided to feature one picture that for me represents one month of travelling. 
July and August were spent working in Ultima. Things happened there, of course, and there are a lot of pretty pictures to prove it, but it was more a personal quest than a month of travelling. So, this week's picture was taken in September at Ayers Rock.



Well, I love this picture for obvious reasons. The colors are beautiful, enhancing the magnificence of the Rock, and with a moon to put all that into perspective. The shadow of the Earth on the horizon, the burning red of Uluru, no wonder this place is sacred. Every Australian told me I should have climbed it, and as it will probably be forbidden before long, I should have listened to them, but it's difficult to not feel disrespectful while walking on this natural wonder.
What do you think?

2014-01-05

Photo of the Week - Pinnacles

As my trip is coming to an end, I have decided to feature one picture that for me represents one month of travelling. 
This week's picture was taken in June from Pinnacles National Park, next to the little town of Cervantes.




For those who followed this blog from the beginning, you already know that June was mainly spent in Cervantes, which is a lovely place north of Perth. The coastline is pristine and the weather was neither cold nor warm for the beginning of winter. Several aboriginal stories run for this place, whether it's people clawing their way out, or warriors turned to stone during the day, all of them all kinds of creepy, and that is why you will rarely find an aboriginal on this land. But at sunset, it's really something to see.
What do you think?

2014-01-01

Happy New Year

Happy 2014 everyone!

Follow the link for my video of the Sydney New Year's Eve fireworks, enjoy!


I chose this song because as the night was falling, the whole harbour was flashing like a diamond in the sun