More Rain

More rain this week, so no more new photos thus more of the Hunter valley. It was a beautiful place to be. 

Another rainy day

It's been raining for about the last week, so we're going to remember the cloudy, but not rainy day in the Hunter Valley. 

This weekend

Here are some photos of this weekends trip to the Hunter Valley. It was raining and cloudy for most of the day, so they aren't that great, but enjoy. 

This week

This week I've been so busy moving into my new place, having to get more work done at school, and just life in general that I haven't had time to take any new photos... Thus you get one from the move from Boulder back to WI. I hope you enjoy it I loved the colors and I know that there isn't much else that is interesting with it. 

The street that I live on

So this was just a neat little thing I saw on my street. I couldn't decided which one I liked best so you get to see them all, well not all of them, but a select few that I think may be the best. 

Street Performers this weekend

I was walking down the street the other day and ran into this group. It was amazing and I know that my photos don't do them justice. 

More photos of the spider

Can you see the spider? I'll zoom in as much as my wide angle lens will let me. 



More photos of the spider

The spider

So I found a much smaller golden orb spider and decided to face my fear and take some photos... from a distance... with the wide angle lens. While I was taking the photos a guy stopped me and asked what was so interesting in this patch that I was taking photos. I said the spider, it's big and I wanted to show people at home. He laughed and said that by Australian standards it was puny and that there were much larger and more interesting spiders around. I just hope I don't meet them. 

Free diner again tonight

So if you are ever in Newcastle Australia, stay at the Backpackers, I like the one here on Denison Street, but at all of them have a free dinner at the Brewery every Thursday night. Granted it's not the best food compared to what you see them serving the paying customers, but for a free diner it's great, large, and most importantly filling. Here are some photos from outside the restaurant.  

My new place

I finally found a place. It's cheep, in a great part of town, has a community garden near by, close to the beach, all the homes near by have been recently renovated... But the place I'm living in hasn't been renovated, that's why it's so cheap. We'll see how it goes in the mean time here is a photo of my new street. 

Another rainy morning

Another weekend with beautiful skies yesterday and rain this morning. At least this rain allows me to work on the photos I have already taken. 

Spiders

So the photo is not that of the spiders I saw while I was walking to a potential new apartment, but here is a link to the spiders that I think I saw. They were very VERY LARGE, Hanging from trees, sign posts, anything that was above my head, and not a very pleasant sight for me. The photo is another photo from the campus. I had thought about trying to take a photo of the spider, but my fear overcame my curiosity and my pull to take photos of everything I see. I figure if I get this place, I am never walking that path again,  I might bike so that I can go faster then the spiders, but then I might not see their webs and I do not want to come into contact with them, no matter how non toxic or shy they might be.  

The photo is a statue on the campus which I walk by every day (well almost every day) to go from the bus stop to the Physics building. I now have to go and forget about the spiders! 

The end of another week in AU

Another week has ended here in Australia and I'm starting to settle in at work. I still don't have a place of my own, but I have a few leads. At least the hostel is nice where I'm staying. Surffest has the finals this weekend so I hope to get some photos from that. Have a great weekend.

my body's in the office but my mind is ...

As the title states, my body is in my office, the first office I've had with real windows, but still my mind is on the beach. So here is another photo from this weekend. 

A day at the beach

I finally got to the beach. Everyone at the hostel was saying that it was so far away when in reality it wasn't. 

It was a beautiful day of doing almost nothing. 

The Campus

The Campus looks like a jungle. It use to be a swamp before the drained it and built the university, or Uni. The water is gone, but the mosquitos haven't quite figured that out. There are also a bunch of lizards every where. Some day I'll sneak up on one to take a photo. 

My first day

Here is my new home... well at least the building where my new office is. I'm surprised that every one is always smiling and laughing and completely ripping each other apart. It's wonderful. I am once again the only girl in the office, but by now I am use to that. 

The First Sunny Day

This was the first sunny day since I've been here. I know it's not the best photo ever, but this is such an exotic view for me. Not much more has happened. I've become antsy waiting for the school to open, I need to relearn how to take a vacation.  

Birds of Paradise

Although it has been raining all yesterday and today, there was a glint of sun just long enough for me to take some photos of these Birds of Paradise. I believe that these were the main flowers at my parents wedding. I can understand why my mother picked them, they are so beautiful!

Sydney

My view of Sydney. Another place to go and visit to get some better photos. The train ride was beautiful, but I was too tired and the sky was too grey for better photos of the ride (this is my excuse I know it's not a good one)

All the books I've read on Australia talk about the view you get when you first land; the amazing blue sky and brilliant colors. What they don't tell you is how it looks if you land while it's raining out side; grey and more grey. It's suppose to rain until after Monday, but the true silver lining is that I can sleep, drink coffee (and they may be right about having the best coffee in the world although Turkish coffee is amazing as well), and not worry about all the beautiful photos I'm missing at the beach. 

Arrived in Auckland

This was my view of New Zealand. Not the best shot I know, but gives a great reason to go back and visit... I need a better shot of the airport, and maybe some from outside as well. 

I am now safe in the New Zealand airport.  I have to say last night was the longest night of my life, quite literally. I started in Minneapolis at 5:15 p.m. (central time) then I left LAX at 10:30 p.m. LA time and arrived in Auckland at about 11:15 am LA time (7:15 Auckland time), the sun was just starting to rise. You could say that this last Thursday was the shortest day of my life. I left LA on Wed. night and arrived on Friday morning 12 hrs and 45 min later. As you might be able to tell I'm not quite all together thus I'm rambling. One more thing before I go, The flight was long enough so that I could sleep, watch 4 movies and 6 tv episodes enjoy two meals, three glasses of wine and three cups of the best coffee I've ever tasted. Many of these were done simultaneously. Now I have a three hour flight and a three - four hour train ride to my hostel. I'll try to get some photos for that entry. 

Migratory Birds

Through Nebraska there were fields filled with birds. Here are just some. It's not the best photo, but I was in a car... What can you expect :)

The road trip

Seth and I had a long road trip, and I'm glad that I had my camera to keep me occupied. This was from the second morning of our trip, it was foggy, bright, and beautiful. 

The Start of the Move

The journey to Australia has begun, and like all of my travels, this one has had its... complications. Between the service engine light, the rear lights and the horrible service from the trailer company, it has been rather interesting. But enough about that... The landscape has been absolutely amazing and thus the photos have been as well. Enjoy seeing my trip from the Rockies, through Middle America, and up into the Midwest.