Sunday, December 25, 2011
Aussie Christmas
The first Christmas in a land far far away from home ...... and with some "snow" ....very lucky indeed :)
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Enjoying Australia!
Last weekend we went with some of our Spanish friend to the Great Ocean Road. The weather was unusually warm, so we enjoyed at the beach, we swam in the Tasman Sea (OMG, it was cold!!) and if the evening we prepared the typical Ozzy BBQ and the typical Spanish Kalimotxo....and of course, next day we suffered the worldwide typical hangover :)
Here is the video to prove it! Just follow the link...
https://picasaweb.google.com/cristinaaponte/201109GreatOceanRoadEspanoles?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Here is the video to prove it! Just follow the link...
https://picasaweb.google.com/cristinaaponte/201109GreatOceanRoadEspanoles?authuser=0&feat=directlink
Monday, August 22, 2011
Plantando arbolitos
Como en esta vida hay que hacer de todo, la semana pasada me fui a plantar árboles con la empresa CO2 Australia.
Se trata de plantaciones de eucalyptus para capturar C02 y vender despues los creditos a empresas que "contaminen", un tema muy de moda en Australia ahora que estna a punto de aprobar el llamado "Impuesto del Carbono"para grabar a las grande empresas contaminantes por tonelada de C02 emitido.
El caso es que surgió la oportunidad de hacer este trabajillo durante unos días y no la desaproveché. Y menuda paliza!! Plantamos 1150 arbolitos cada uno en los 5 días que estuvimos en el campo. Eso supone agacharse hasta el suelo y levantarse de nuevo más de 250 veces al día! Lo bueno es que llovió a mares, asi que el suelo estaba blandito y no fu tan dificil clavar la pala. Lo malo es que acabamos de barro hasta las orejas.
Como experiencia estuvo divertido, pero como bien dice Mihai, no me he pasado toda la visda estudiando para acabar cargando sacos.. :)
La jardinería mejor la dejo para los ratos libres.
Se trata de plantaciones de eucalyptus para capturar C02 y vender despues los creditos a empresas que "contaminen", un tema muy de moda en Australia ahora que estna a punto de aprobar el llamado "Impuesto del Carbono"para grabar a las grande empresas contaminantes por tonelada de C02 emitido.
El caso es que surgió la oportunidad de hacer este trabajillo durante unos días y no la desaproveché. Y menuda paliza!! Plantamos 1150 arbolitos cada uno en los 5 días que estuvimos en el campo. Eso supone agacharse hasta el suelo y levantarse de nuevo más de 250 veces al día! Lo bueno es que llovió a mares, asi que el suelo estaba blandito y no fu tan dificil clavar la pala. Lo malo es que acabamos de barro hasta las orejas.
Como experiencia estuvo divertido, pero como bien dice Mihai, no me he pasado toda la visda estudiando para acabar cargando sacos.. :)
La jardinería mejor la dejo para los ratos libres.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Adventures in the Northern Territories
Last week we took some days off and flew to the so called "Top End" in the Northern Territory of Australia.
Once at Darwin we hired a 4WD campervan that would allow us to drive through all the unsealed roads and get to more isolated areas far from the mass tourism. At first the car looked great...but that was just "at first".... Later on the first night we would discover that the car had no mosquito nets in the windows... that meant either you sleep with all the windows closed and you suffocate or you keep them open and be literally eaten by thousand of mosquitoes.... great, isn't it??? After that horrible first night we bought a mosquito net and duct tape and covered the windows so we could be free of mosquitoes and have some air at the same time... bud luck that we forgot to close the small rear windows and so we woke up covered by mosquito bites again!!! ;(
In any case, the 4WD paid back... we drove hundreds of "corrugated" roads where all the car shacked like crazy and we crossed rivers where water raised up to 70cm!!! By the en of the trip, we could not open the side door, we could not close the back door, and we had lost several screws.... but that's why you rent a 4WD!!!
We visited three national parks: Kakadu, Nitmiluk (or Katherine Gorge) and Litchfield. The highlight in Kakadu were the crocodiles: there were both freshwater crocs, smaller and shy, and saltwater croc, very aggressive and really big!! There were many places where swimming was restricted because of the crocs. The park rangers tried to capture them and relocate in other "less turistic" areas. In the places where swimming was allowed it was always "under your own risk" ... creepy!!! Still we managed to swim in amazing places, and many times all by ourselves. Whenever we found a waterfall, we would swim to the base.
We also saw some aboriginal art and had a interesting chat with one of the park rangers about the situation of the aboriginal populations and the future of their culture.
And every night we camped in quiet places, far from the road, where we could make fire (the most effective way of keeping the mosquitoes away!) and enjoy a thousand of stars.
Overall, it was a great trip. Enjoy the pictures!!
PS. There are some videos worth to be seen... check them on the links below!!
video 1. Saltwater croc
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FBhJQWtMq3YXvSveZLRE7Q?feat=directlink
video 2. Swimming at the Jim Jim falls
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/66M6sbJLQO5I1lA-Id9Rnw?feat=directlink
video 3. Crossing the Jim Jim creek
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_XcW_yhklPt8xfiKWH3LAg?feat=directlink
Once at Darwin we hired a 4WD campervan that would allow us to drive through all the unsealed roads and get to more isolated areas far from the mass tourism. At first the car looked great...but that was just "at first".... Later on the first night we would discover that the car had no mosquito nets in the windows... that meant either you sleep with all the windows closed and you suffocate or you keep them open and be literally eaten by thousand of mosquitoes.... great, isn't it??? After that horrible first night we bought a mosquito net and duct tape and covered the windows so we could be free of mosquitoes and have some air at the same time... bud luck that we forgot to close the small rear windows and so we woke up covered by mosquito bites again!!! ;(
In any case, the 4WD paid back... we drove hundreds of "corrugated" roads where all the car shacked like crazy and we crossed rivers where water raised up to 70cm!!! By the en of the trip, we could not open the side door, we could not close the back door, and we had lost several screws.... but that's why you rent a 4WD!!!
We visited three national parks: Kakadu, Nitmiluk (or Katherine Gorge) and Litchfield. The highlight in Kakadu were the crocodiles: there were both freshwater crocs, smaller and shy, and saltwater croc, very aggressive and really big!! There were many places where swimming was restricted because of the crocs. The park rangers tried to capture them and relocate in other "less turistic" areas. In the places where swimming was allowed it was always "under your own risk" ... creepy!!! Still we managed to swim in amazing places, and many times all by ourselves. Whenever we found a waterfall, we would swim to the base.
We also saw some aboriginal art and had a interesting chat with one of the park rangers about the situation of the aboriginal populations and the future of their culture.
And every night we camped in quiet places, far from the road, where we could make fire (the most effective way of keeping the mosquitoes away!) and enjoy a thousand of stars.
Overall, it was a great trip. Enjoy the pictures!!
PS. There are some videos worth to be seen... check them on the links below!!
video 1. Saltwater croc
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/FBhJQWtMq3YXvSveZLRE7Q?feat=directlink
video 2. Swimming at the Jim Jim falls
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/66M6sbJLQO5I1lA-Id9Rnw?feat=directlink
video 3. Crossing the Jim Jim creek
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_XcW_yhklPt8xfiKWH3LAg?feat=directlink
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Sydney
Flash trip to Sydney for work. I had an entire free afternoon but it was raining cats and dogs..In the evening the rain stopped a little bit and I went out....nice city, like it very much, have to go back with Cris.
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