New Zealand 3 days, 4 nights
Flight NZ144 heading to Wellington (NZ) after a drawn out week in Sydney, the film is shite, one of those ‘animation/real actor’ bugs bunny films. So I tuck into the in-flight mag and start to feed my head on what I will find in NZ. The usual ‘Lord of the Rings’ Middle Earth reference is everywhere, lush images of landscapes and amazing views.
The Hoff remembered my birthday!
I can’t believe it… the man, the legend, the Hoff… remembered my birthday. All hail the Hoff!!
trib(ute) #1
White ute, on back streets of the CBD, Melbourne
The first time I visited Australia it was quite apparent that the ‘ute’ was a national icon. Trying to understand this passion further myself and friend (Simon) began documenting these beasts. Capturing the loved ones, used ones, and the quite frankly weird ones. The ‘roo bars’, bumper stickers and aerials that accessorise the exteriors of this symbolic vehicle.
Mountain madness
The infamous 1996 summit attempt of Mount Everest, which consumed the lives of 9 people. The circumstances are described by Jon Krakauer (a journalist with Outside magazine at the time) who accompanied Rob Halls Adventure Consultants Guided Expedition team.
The book is thrilling, not only accounting for what happened in 1996, but detailing what has driven men and women over century’s to risk their lives for this treacherous and magnificent mountain for the trophy of reaching the summit, despite all the odds.
It reminds you that we have this inbuilt desire to conquer nature, to be the king of the castle I suppose… mankind against the elements! that kind of thing. I never really saw the appeal, but when you reach the summit of any mountain, its the most glorious and incredible feeling. But the journeys just begun, the metaphors that have been drawn from climbing mountains are endless. If you can’t see the attraction, just climb a mountain/hill or something feel your legs burn and your chest pump… you won’t regret it.
Back to the book, read it. It’ll make you think about the mountain you might need to climb.
Jet Lag
Shortly after arriving in London after the pleasant 23hrs worth of pained travel (thanks to Cathy Pacific) on my global cultural excursion, that still hangs in limbo, i turned the pages of my new (on loan) book (thanks Damski/Hooch). This paragraph explains the feeling perfectly:
“She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise of London, that Damiens theory of jet lag is correct: that her mortal soul is leagues behind her, being reeled in on some ghostly umbilical down the vanished wake of the plane that brought her here, hundreds of thousands of feet above the Atlantic. Souls can’t move that quickly, and are left behind, and must be awaited, upon arrival, like lost luggage.”
Extract from Pattern Recognition, William Gibson, page 1
NZ Volcano Scarier Than Mt. Doom
WHAKAPAPA VILLAGE, New Zealand — New Zealand’s Mount Ngauruhoe starred as fiery Mount Doom in Peter Jackson’s epic film trilogy Lord of the Rings, but neighboring Mount Ruapehu is the volcano scientists fear most.
A trio of active volcanoes in the center of New Zealand’s North Island — Ngauruhoe, Ruapehu and Tongariro — form the southern tip of the “Rim of Fire,” an arc of active volcanoes circling the Pacific Ocean.