posted by Uma the Puma @ 11:03 PM
3 comments
wOAH weeeell it's been a while. Went back to Melbourne for the games and to recover from injuries. Again the Unkles family came to the rescue- helped me heal. Been living with Alice in St Kilda. Lovely.... to cheer meself up, i went to see De la soul, supported by true live. So much was going on for the games the triathlon and marathon went right past our house! i went to a free jimmy cliff concert too, fun fun fun. 
1st week in Byron surfboards weren't the only thing floating.... it rained so much the streets were flooded. I was sleeping in a shed next to a swamp which, of course, flooded!
My Room in Byron
Lennox Head
One of my favorite places was the Tea Tree Lake at Lennox Head. It is surrounded by tea trees, which infuse into the water staining it deep red. In the shallow water your skin looks orange, in deeper water it's red, as you swim it becomes such a deep red it's almost black and you can't see your feet. After swimming in it your skin feels cleaner than after a shower. Way better than any spa treatment!!
And OOPS i had an accident and my collar bone broke... damn!
Melbourne 
Steve, Woodsy, me, Pete and Will - In the Park on Christmas Day
Xmas with the Unkles family. We had a picnic in the park and played frisbee golf etc. Deb took me to see a fairy tree with amazing carvings in it. They are a totally legendary family and looked after me so well. it's good to 
have an aussie family : )
Oh MY GUINESS!!! it's Symonds batting (Dad r u jealous??)
Had a lush day at the test match- **SMASHING!!
Went down the great Ocean road to stay in Lorne with Stevo and crew. We saw koalas, roos, wallabies, cockatoos and parrots which was so exciting for me. The wabes were pretty decent too. We did the Mountain to Surf run which was sweaty and fun!! DIdn't participate in the Pier to Pub swim as was too late.. have never seen so many people in the water at one time, it looked pretty scary ... i think if i'd swum i would have got run over by all those people!!!
Stevo and his buddies were doing a good job at keeping everyone in the town's spirits high! Topless twirlies, semi-nude masses doing sit-ups and push-ups on the round-a-bout at 3am after ripping it up on the dance floor! Keep up the good work boys!!!
posted by Uma the Puma @ 1:42 PM
0 comments
Paul Running!
Milford Sound
- It had just been raining so the waterfalls were still there. Apparently it's even more breathtaking when its pouring, but the weather cleared just as we arrived.
Caroline and Emma in Queenstown
Tongariro Crossing
This walk was AMAZING! Mt DOOM was hard work, so i sympathize with mr frodo but it was worth every step. we went from moorland to volcano to turquoise lakes to semi-tropical forest in a few hours.
Was really nervous when I arrived in Auckland had no plan and knew no-one, only a few names and numbers of distant relatives i'd never met. I went straight to the museum to get more of an idea of NZ history and culture (they also had luggage storage so I could sneak off and look for a good place to stay). After depositing my gear at the hostel I decided the next step was to go up the tower to get a good view of the place. I got chatting with Will in the room and he decided to come along. The sun was about to set when we arrived so we got to see the daylight and night views. We signed up for the free city tour with Stray. The guide dude was really bubbly and as Will and I both had up-in-the-air plans we decided to go 4 it and sign up for a Stray pass around NZ leaving the next day!!!!!
Twas awesome as we met some wicked people and got to see so many different places. Some of it was a bit rushed as I only had 5 weeks which wasn't nearly long enough. I will definitely go back again with more time and more extra $$$!
Diarmuid at Te Anau This was another highlight. Diarmiud, Noeleen and I did the Kepler walk. We plodded up the hil and some people ran by!! I think it's called the Kepler challenge and they run the whole 67K up and down the mountains. Impressive stuff! My favorite bit was when we were really high up in the forest and everything was covered in furry, pale green lichen and it just looked like some kind of enchanted fairy forest. Even being really cold in the hut was kinda fun. We met Saskia and Christina at the top... unfortunately there was no view as we were in a cloud, but we sat in the snow and celebrated with an apple and peanuts. GReat craic!..... OH YEEEEAH!
posted by Uma the Puma @ 10:32 AM
0 comments
It was so good to see all the family and friends in the US again. I can't believe it had been 8 years since my last visit! Grandpa was on really good form. Unfortunately Long Island seemed in danger of flooding at the time, but the rain just reminded me of home ; ) 
Halloween- Justin as Team Zizou (Life aquatic) and me as a fairy v predictable i know
The Grande Pomme was pretty wild. Justin took me to a Wolf Parade gig in the city- which was totally rad!! Did Manhattan with Minty! She took me to some parties including the opening of an art show in Brooklyn. Went to art galleries, shopping and yoga class. So fell like i got a taste for v trendy NY lifestyle. So much fun! A cocktail Bar in Manhattan Minty, Me , Adam and Kim
posted by Uma the Puma @ 10:17 PM
0 comments
The home visit was short and sweet and it was so good to see everyone. But managed to fit in some time en famile as well as lots of parties! Trips down to the mill in Devon and surfing in cornwall with Davy and the boys. Then had a whizz around scottyland to see the Cat in St Andrews- ra ra !! Caught up with lots of mates in London too. It was so good to see you all xxxxxxxxx
SomeRset oooooooooh ARRRRRRRRRRR
Chilling at the Fairy House with Beggo, Beans and Kitten
Angleterre may be rainy but it's where me peeps is living and i miss yo dudes everyday. ..Everyday's a party wooooooo hoooooooooooo. Send my love to the cows
posted by Uma the Puma @ 7:56 PM
1 comments
Mmmmm scorpian... oishii!
Dave also came out for a quick break. had the best times at Eden it was so good to be on holiday with Lindsay. At Eden we met Tiko who is a legend and spent 7 years meditating, he's one of the wisest people i've ever met he also had really long earlobes like buddha and he gave me thai chi lessons in the mornings.
Went to the Taipei 101 building. Unfortunately it was so new that we couldn't go to the top- shame, it's the tallest building in the world. would have been something to add to the "done" list! However Justine worked her magic and chatted our way into this incredible designer gym in the 101 building. We got a VIP tour! YA-Hey... Twas so lush, saw taiwanese boxing champion training, the views were spectacular and the design/archtecture was state of the art funky. There was even a bar/nightclub which was totally glam but served no alcohol only health drinks!
posted by Uma the Puma @ 5:45 PM
0 comments
Rain in Shibuya
soft spot for Yoyogi Park in the summer- kids out dancing and doing karaoke, people picnicing and all kinds of people making music and having fun. There is just such an awesome vibe. It's even fun being soaked in the rainy season and putting up with the killer summer humidity. 
Jeff, Dave, Kat, Lindsay, Justine and Natalie on the metro 
posted by Uma the Puma @ 5:17 PM
0 comments
lik lik picinini in Bau- EU Primary School, Zia Tribe Welcome Ceremony
The Charity: The aim of the Peter Pan musical was to raise money for the Papua New Guinea 
Assosiation. So in March a group of us who had been involved in the musical went out to the Morobe Province of PNG. We worked with Village Developement Trust an NGO set up by guys from the tribes in the area. The work they do is incredible. They deal with the development of the villages as a whole tackling anumber of issues- environment, education, health and culture. From fighting international logging companies who are trying to get in on some of that forest to, providing malaria and AIDS education and of course performing many sing sings!
Kamiali- Spear Fisherman - They taught us about their fishing, hunting, gathering and gardening techniques and fed us like kings the whole time. (Bigpela mary no kai kai!)
Initiation to the Zia Tribe: We went with boxes of school supplies for a number of schools in 
the Province. From Lae we took a 7 hour speed boat journey to Bau (most Zia people don't have a speed boat and there are no roads, so the journey to Lae, which is the nearest city, would take about 2 weeks!). We arrived in the village at dusk the whole village was on the beach waiting for us. They had prepeared a fantastic welcome for us all by moonlight as there was obviously no electricity. We were then initiated in to the tribe becasue in order to work for the tribe we had to be part of it. I became part of the Sakia (cockatoo) Clan.
Waria Valley Kids
We worked on improving the school and building desks. Although we were there to give, I felt like we received so much more than we gave. The people's kindness was overwhelming. Even more so when
you consider that these we the poorest people we had ever met in terms of material wealth.
We spent alot of time playing with the kids, who were fantastic. They taught us about their way of life, their games and their language.
Bigpela Bye Bye- Farewell as we walked back to the boat in the Waria River
Thong Island- Huan Gulf
It's no surprise that when we had to make our leaving speeches from Bau there was not a dry eye around. We made our tearful speeches of thanks and climbed back into the boat weighed down by all the gifs bestown upon us.
Being Rescued by Robert's friedns in Kamiali
posted by Uma the Puma @ 6:17 PM
0 comments
The snow reached the second storey in Tokamachi. This is an area with one of the highest snowfalls in the world! Drifts were 4m high in places!! So much snow that people often have to climb onto their rooves to clear the snow so that they don't cave in.
Me at Myoko Kogen (Joetsu)
Most of my winter memories involve road trips- Lindsay's road rage, Kat singing Peaches (or anything with else obscene lyrics), getting lost a lot but it was fun- eh! and flying through whiteness down an invisble mountain. It seemed to snow constantly, so you could never see where you were going. Consequently there was endless fresh powder. On the few occasions that the weather cleared you are just faced with a surprise spectacular view - like... WOAH!
There was a lot of time "on the road" but in such good company it was totally worth it. Especially the trip up to Zao, where we saw snow monster and Lindsay's nose froze!
posted by Uma the Puma @ 4:15 PM
0 comments
Travel Diary- Japan, USA, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan.
