Lucas and Aiden got themselves a surfing lesson. Aiden was too scared to go, but Lucas had a great time.

Aiden is a big fan of the Thomas Trains, so a few weeks ago when Kim saw some vouchers for the Train Shed she bought some tickets.

This morning we went out there with the whole family to go riding on the trains. Aiden was very excited...to the point where he didn't want to get off the train.



The kids had 5 rides each and they also had lunch and scones provided for us.







Aiden had to check out anything that remotely looked like a train (looks like he is taking a wee here).




It was also a good day to try out the new camera (just came back after 5 weeks in the repair shop for recalibration). Kim was using it most of the day and said she loves it compared to my old camera.


On the way in I had seen a signpost towards the Warragamba Dam. This is where 80-90 percent of Sydneys drinking water supply comes from.

This morning it was a beautiful winter day here in Sydney and we decided therefore to go duck feeding in Centenial Park with Aiden and Dylan (I was supposed to have been doing a course, but it was cancelled).

Aiden eventually figured out that it was fun to tear off small pieces of bread and throw it in the water for the ducks and swans to eat.



I showed him how to hand feed the big swans with a flat hand, but he still didn't like them much...and even less so when one of them stole his bread after sneaking in from behind.



Stupid Swan!!!!



But eventually the swan apologised and he was happy to feed the smaller birds.



Also the pond is full of fat eels (and on one occation I have seen turtles there). Some of them would surface to try and steal the bread from the ducks.

Yesterday we went to Emily's birthday party in Centennial park. We were there on time at 10.30 on a very cold morning (it had been 7 degrees overnight) but there was no-one else there...the host and the birthday child turned up two hours later (I cannot stand people who consistently have no respect for other people time).

We had brought Aiden tri-cycle that he got as a birthday present from his grandma last year.



We also spend some time exploring the forest next to the playground.

Today we celebrated Aidens birthday with the family.

In the morning we all had Yum Cha and afterwards we took all the kids to Little Dynamos to play.



In the evening we had the family over for steamboat and cake. Great opportunity to take a new family photo with the latest member of the family...Emma.

Today it was one year ago that my my Mum and Aidens Grandma passed away.

I am still sad that Aiden never met her but I am hoping that he will get to know Bedstefar better as he is growing up.




I am also glad that Aiden will have a brother to keep each other company and I hope the two of them will be close and grow old together.

I still have a suitcase sitting here full of photos that I one day will get the courage tp go through...but not anytime soon.

Today was Aidens second birthday...time flies!



We had a Birthday cake for him with the family and sang Happy Birthday and let him blow out the candle.

Today is a very unique day in that the planet Venus passed over the disc of the Sun. The next such passing wont happen for another 105 years.

And it is even more interesting since we recently returned from Tahiti where Captain Cook observed the last passing several hundred years ago.



Here in sydney it was a very cloudy day, but I did manage to snap a couple of photos using a very powerful lens covered with dark filters. It is a planet Venus at the 7 o'clock on the sun in the photo.

Bummer...I had to return the camera yesterday. It was driving me mad with back focusing...not what you would expect from a $3000 camera. Hopefully they will be able to fix the issue, but unfortunately they are saying that there is a 21 day turnaround. The focus was 5cm off which is critical especially then taking portraits.


I did however manage to take a couple of photos that were ok and a bit of video with it on Sunday inside a very dark ten-pin bowling place (it was Kayla's birthday party) with all kinds of weird lighting. I was shooting at insanely high iso (12800) and I must say that I general I was pretty impressed.



Especially impressed with how fast I could shoot with lots of kids running around. They are totally usable for my blog and online posting although I wouldn't enlarge them. There was a lot of noise at these high ISO's, but most of it could be managed to a certain degree in Lightroom.






Later I was shooting with KC's camera at the lunch table...there was more light and I was strugling with taking photos using natural light.

Today I picked up my new camera. It is the new Nikon D800 and is currently one of the most sought after cameras on the market.

I have been wanting to get a full frame camera for some time now and this was the one for me to get...the reviews are excellent.


I pre-ordered it shortly after is was announced and has been waiting for over three months for it to arrive...but it is finally here.




It will be a steep learning curve to get used to all the new features of the camera and it will be a sad goodbye to my almost 10 year old D50 entry level camera.

I am now moving from 5 auto focus points to 51...from 6 Megapixels to 36 megapixels...max 1600 ISO to 25600 ISO...no bells and whistles to having features such as Video, Timelapse, HDR, face detection, live view, aparture preview...and the list goes on...



The D50 has served me well, but it is definitely time to move on as the technology has advanced so much. Not sure what I do with the old camera...but I will most likely end up selling it.

It is Autumn here in Sydney and today the forecast was for 19 degrees and sunny...the first cool'ish day here. In the morning we went with Kims family to the cemetry to visit Kims mum. After this we were planning to head up to the Blue Mountains to Mt Wilson to visit some of the private gardens to take photos of the Autumn colours and get some new family photos of Kim, Aiden and I.


When we arrived it was really windy and only 7 degrees (later it dropped to 5 degrees). We had dressed for the cold, but Dylan who had joined us on the spur of the moment was a bit underdressed and cold so he borrowed a spare jumper I had with me. We immediately found a pile of leaves and they started having fun throwing them up in the air.








We decided to visit the Yengo Sculpture garden and the owner came to greet us, tell us about the garden and charge for the entry.











The garden was very nice and the colours were awesome.















There were lots of sculptures hidden around the garden.



Dylan got a bit upset because we had to scold him for running around (this was a private garden so deserved a bit of respect), throwing pebbles, thrashing my camera gear and keeping to run into the frame of the photo I was trying to take. I had also been trying to get a bit interested in what he is seeing around him to learn more things and asking him if he was interested in some of the lookouts to experience one of the most beautiful places in Australia, as well as look at the things in antique shops etc., but he was totally dis-interested..."you can drag the horse to the water, but you can force it to drink".



After the garden Aiden was really tired and cold and we were getting hungry, so we decided to head back and stop along the way for lunch. It was good timing as it started to rain a little. I decided to drive on the great western highway as there were more options for food and I though it would be quicker getting back...turned out everyone else had the same idea so it was at a crawl.

This year the airshow was on - we went there with the boys, highly recommended and will definitely find time to go there next time.

We took the older children to see Peter Pan - this was their christmas/birthday presents.

At easter we rented a house with the family again.

KA had some tickets for the lead-up final games for the NRL. I thought it could be fun to give the boys the experience of seeing a game...especially Aiden was really into it.

We have started to take the boys climbing occasionally. Especially Aiden enjoys it and is able to climb to the top without being afraid.

My dad was here earlier in the year visiting.

Lucas just had his 5th birthday.

It was celebrated at the local park with his friends and we had hired an entertainer to do some activities with them.

Some photos from Aiden 7th Birthday













His party was at the climbing gym. Unfortunately he was sick on that day, so didn't enjoy it as much as he could have.






One of his presents was a crystal growing dragon - here is before and after.

I haven't blogged much this year yet. Mainly because not a lot has happened this month (January traditionally is a quiet month) but also because it has been very hot and wet which is not a good combination for outdoor activities.

The next two months however are going to be really busy as I will be traveling in Latin and South America.

I am looking forward to the trips as it will take me to most of South America such as Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.

As I travel I'll start posting pictures and entries in this blog.

I was glad that I didn't have too much to drink on New Years Eve, because the day after turned out to be a busy one.

In the morning we had breakfast with Kims family at the cemetery where her mum is buried.

Right after this we went to the golf course at the coast and played 18 holes. It was a pretty hot day, but there was a nice breeze along the coast and the course is in such a spectacular location.

Click here to download video of Playing Golf #1
Click here to download video of the Golf Course #2


Most of the beaches in Queensland and New South Wales were closed due to dangerous surf conditions. There is a hurricane off the coast of Queensland creating some huge waves along all of Australia's east coast.

In the evening we had dinner with Kims family having steam boat and those rice paper things that you roll up (not sure what it is called)...and it was yummi.

They have this fermented fish that has been fermented over 3-4 years and it is really nice as a dipping sauce with a few chillies mixed in. Click here to see more photos from New Years Day

The year 2007 has now ended and it is time to start some new adventures in the new year.

2007 was full of traveling and other adventures and I expect 2008 to be much of the same.

Take some time to look at what is happening in 2008 as well as what happened in 2007.

Click on this link to see the events of 2007

Also please bookmark this page and also have a look at the RSS feed features of this page.

After Christmas Eve we went a couple of days to Jervis Bay. Jervis Bay is about 3-4 hours drive south of Sydney and is not part of New South Wales, but belongs to ACT (Australian Capital Territory, Canberra). Hyams beach at Jervis has got a reputation of having the whitest sand in the world.

The house we had rented was right on the beach so it was easy to go for a swim. Unfortunately the water was quite cold, so Kim and I instead opted for a trip to the local golf course.

In the morning we went fishing and although we did catch a few fish they were all too small to keep. The most annoying was that we kept catching stingrays.





Click here to download video of fishing at Jervis Bay #1
Click here to download video of fishing at Jervis Bay #2


I know that the area has got a lot of Port Jackson sharks and on the beaches we found a lot of shark eggs.

In the evenings we played Mah Jong and 21. I decided to stay out of the Mah Jong game until I've got a better grasp of how it is played (some of the numbers on the bricks are in Chinese and it therefore took too long time to compute and I felt it was a disadvantage). I had a lucky night in 21 and won $20.
Click here to see more photos from Jervis Bay

The Australians celebrate Christmas on the 25th December where we in Denmark celebrate it on the 24th in the evening. I still like to celebrate on the 24th and it is the day of the year where I most miss family (and the only day of the year where I miss the cold in Denmark).


Most of my friends were either out of town or have kids and therefore not very mobile on this evening so this year I decided that it should just be Kim and myself.

I cooked the traditional Christmas dinner with duck and ris-a-la-mande and we had a very nice evening.

In the morning next day we went over to Kims family for lunch and there was a lot of people and kids there. Again this year I took on the duty of being Santa's local ambassador and hand out presents to the children...all good fun.

Last weekend Andy, May and myself went climbing at Mt keira near woolongong south of Sydney.

May had never really done any outdoor climbing before and Keira is a good place to go and try your first lead climb.

The weather forecast didn't look promising but we decided to go there anyway as in our experience the forecasts are never very accurate here. Besides it said that there was a chance of one or two showers in the afternoon.

As soon as we arrived to the cliffs in the morning we started feeling the first few drops. The rocks were still dry so we decided to put up an easy route anyway.



Once we finished it was raining more steadily and the rocks started getting slippery. There was a climb in the corner that was still dry so we decided to quickly also do this. And afterwards we put up a top rope on a climb that also still was dry.

Before we got onto it it was raining heavily and there was a storm with lots of lightening approaching.

>

Click here to download video

After a couple of not very motivated (and wet) attempts on the climb I volunteered to clean up the climb. As I approached the top the water was coming down like from a waterfall and by the time I had cleaned up the anchors I was drenched (and yes...my pants were very wet).

Climbing wise a really disappointing day...but we still had fun.

This week I am in Tokyo for work visiting a couple of partners and also giving them some training on some of our internal solutions that they would like to sell.

I love visiting Tokyo...it is like Disney land and everything is just so slightly different. Like for instance the toilets have all the buttons on the side. Yesterday I saw one with a volume control and a "flush noise" button. I couldn't help pressing it...and yes the toilet did make very realistic sounding flushing sounds. I am unsure under what circumstances the sounds can be useful...another mystery that I may be able to solve one day.
In the hotel I also tried all the other buttons and it is kind of cool with all the sprinkling water (heated to body temperature), but I still haven't found the button for the 'but' dryer.

Click here to see video of Tokyo Square in Shibuya

We visited one of our partners customer service centre and that was like watching a movie. They had big wall-to-wall screen showing that status of all the various sites, latest news tv, weather forecasts...or anything else that could be relevant to them running their operations. The walls were liquid crystal walls and by the flick of a button they could make the whole wall transparent and the next minute they would have the latest status projected onto the walls instead...unfortunately they wouldn't allow me to take a photo.



Masaru and I also went to a whale restaurant in Shibuya...we tried Whale Sashimi, Whale Tempura, Whale Skin, Whale Bacon, Whale tongue, Whale Beef and Whale soup (I only ate it for Scientific Purposes). It was all very delicious and the Whale Sashimi (raw whale meat) was definitely my favourite.






For lunch today I had a really nice baby clam soup...very unusual and very nice.

In general food is really nice and there are some unusual places that specialise in their small niche markets...for instance the lunch place that specialises in 'Lemon Detox lunches'. Compared to the food in Sydney this is a magnitude better.


The hotel I stay at is in Shibuya which is the area in Tokyo that is very famous with all the lights and screens...it is a very hip area where all the teenagers are wearing the latest fashion and have funny hair. My room is a lot bigger than the one I stayed in last time I was in Tokyo...in this one you can actually walk around the bed and it has got all the features you would normally expect from a western hotel room. And they serve a really nice bacon for breakfast...I bet it is Danish bacon.



We also took the peak hour train in the morning...man those trains are fast and they are packed so tight that it is impossible to move let alone raise your arms.

Being in Tokyo also means very long working hours. People here start working around 9am in the morning and seldom leave work until after 9pm. It is still the musical chairs with meeting rooms, the deadly silence in the offices, hot working environments etc.

One evening we went out with our partners...which was a big introduction to japanese customs. We went out for a late dinner after work a big group of us and when they have dinner then a lot of drinks were served. This was a chinese restaurant so we were drinking some chinese type of wine that tasted like bitter Kahlua. After dinner we went to this drinking place which was really weird (and slightly uncomfortable but interesting). They pay an entry fee of around 3000 Yen ($30 AUD) and you then get to sit down with a girl that serves you drinks and who you can have conversation with (and conversation only).
You cannot choose the girl and I guess this is the modern form of the Geisha...and a cheaper way of talking about your problems at work or with your wife than visiting a psychologist.

I really like visiting Tokyo...but I don't think I could live there (too controlled). It is really interesting to visit especially in a working capacity as you see all the funny differences in lifestyle, work, objects and opinions. Most of the time it is a really good laugh...like when one of the guys asked if he could take a picture of me because he told his wife that he was working with a foreigner that looks like Tom Cruise (I told him that Tom is a full head shorter then I am).

We had an earthquake while I was there. The whole building started swaying from side to side...I was looking at the Japanese guys are they were calm so I thought that there was no reason to panic. Apparently it happens all the time there.

Click here to see more photos from Tokyo

Here is some more photos from the trip.

Before my trip to Tokyo and before Christmas we decided to go to the Hunter Valley to stock up on good wines (We buy them now cheap and drink them in 5-10 years time when they would be really expensive).

Hunter Valley is about 2 hours drive North of Sydney and it had got about 200 Vinyards you can visit for wine tasting and then buy the wines straight from the cellar.

We went there with a couple of Kims friends and Kim and I bought a couple of cases of wine together.



Everything in the Valley was nice ang green due to a lot of rain in the area lately.


Click here to see more photos from Hunter Valley

When Kim left Epicor she got a gift certificate to go Kayaking at Woy Woy, so this weekend we headed up there together with Mike and his wife Helen.



Both Kim and I have done some kayaking before but it was a new experience for Helen. We paddled up through some of the inland waters in Brisbane Waters near Woy Woy and afterwards we stopped at the fisherman's wharf for some really nice seafood.

One of the things about living in Australia is that you are exposed to a lot of creepy crawly stuff. In the urban jungle you don't really notice, but once you come a bit closer to nature then you cannot avoid seeing some of the insects etc. This is especially true when we go climbing. The last couple of weeks Andy and I have been exposed to a couple more creeps than we usually see.

The last couple of weeks Andy and I have been climbing in the Sydney area. Last weekend we went up to Berowra again and had a generally pleasant day had it not been for the brown snake.

On the last climb of the day we decided to try this climb that none of us had done before, but because of the protection we decided to top rope it. In the guide book the description reads:

Savage Cabbage 8m 19
Up thin crack then tricky moves left to main crack. Follow this (take care with pro) to new lower off. Often dirty and sometimes inhabited by a (friendly) brown snake.

This was warning enough and as a safety precaution we checked the holes at the bottom of the climb and didn't see anything suspicious. He started climbing and about 2 metres up he stuck his had into one of the pockets. He then decided to take a peek to see if there was anything in there and very quickly pulled his stand out shouting "Fu...a snake". Fortunately he hadn't been bitten or I would have had to call him a helicopter....again.

Wikipedia says the following about the snake:
Brown snakes are easily alarmed and may bite if approached closely, handled or threatened. The Eastern brown snake is the most toxic member of the genus and is the second most toxic land snake in the world.

I don't think we'll be jumping onto that climb anytime soon.

This weekend we decided instead to go to Narrabeen slaps as we hadn't been there for a while and it is easily accessible (15 minutes drive from home). It is a nice selection of semi difficult slabs along the Wakehurst parkway (almost rain forest).

Generally when climbing in Sydney you see many webs from the funnel webs and I also saw at least one at Narrabeen. And, when we go to other climbing areas then there are always multiple holes in the rocks where you can see the funnel shaped webs. I happen to hate spiders and always fear that I will poke my fingers into a funnel web. I have only seen a live (I think) funnel web once and that was in Nowra on the bottom of a pond of water (people generally check their swimming pools for funnel webs before swimming as they can stay below the surface for ages), I saw a tiny scorpion on the floor of the cooking area in Nowra on the same trip.

Wikipedia says:
Although they are rather small, they should not be handled without taking substantial precautions, because their fangs have been known to penetrate fingernails and soft shoes, resulting in dangerous bites. Funnel-webs are probably one of the three most dangerous spiders in the world and are regarded by some to be the most dangerous.

While Andy was belaying me he saw a redback spider crawl across the rope back and squashed it under his feet. He told me he had to stomp on it several times before it died.

Wikipedia says:
The redback spider is a potentially dangerous spider native to Australia. It resembles a Black widow spider. Redbacks, along with funnel-web spiders, are the most dangerous spiders in Australia. Most Australians dislike the redback spider, thanks in part to the frequency with which it is encountered in the environs of human habitations.

Also, the crag is generally infested with mosquitoes, ticks and on this day we also had the pleasure of a big fat Tiger Leech which had had a feast on Andy's big toe so it started bleeding heavily as we left the crag (but the leech lived to see another day). We saw it earlier on Andy's sandals but flicked it off...only later did we discover that it had been sucking blood from him.