On the 9th of July, 2009:
Mum, Jenna and I took a hot air balloon, part of a week long trip to Port Douglas in far north Queensland.
On the 9th of July, 2011:
A day spent relaxing on the beach in Railay, Thailand with Ben and (not yet) Boyf - eating lots of delicious food and watching fire twirling, always the fire twirling.
After coming up with this blog post idea earlier today, it was interesting to look through my photo files and see what I could find.
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After getting back from a trip with a friend a few years ago, we swapped photos electronically only to find that the dates and times on our cameras didn't match up. Instead of our photos nicely meshing in the order we saw things, they were all over the place.
It only takes a few moments to reset the time on your camera for your destination and, if you sort by date like I do, it's a whole lot easier than manualling rearranging photo files when you get home. It's particularly important is you will end up photos from more than one camera. Make sure the date and time is correct.
Lesson learnt. Before taking my first photo in Cuba and the US last year I changed the dates on my camera.
Unfortunately, for my last trip I thought - it's only a three hour difference, I wont bother. Yep, that was a mistake. Any photos I took after 9pm sorted in with the next days photos. Annoying!
It also means that if I'm trying to remember something and refer back to the photos, I can't trust the time. Ok, yes I can work out the maths of subtracting 3 from the time on the photo but that's actually only true of Thailand. I went to Hong Kong before and after and that's only 2 hours behind home. And hang on a minute, was that adding time or subtracting it again? From time at home or Hong Kong? And what about daylight saving? I'm confused. :)
Change the date and time on your camera for match your destination. It's easy and saves hassles.
Fire-twirler in Railay, Thailand. Apparently I took this photo at 4:15am but sure as anything I was curled up in bed by then.
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It's true.
Here is Railay, Thailand, time has slowed.
The days are drifting slowly with lazing on the beach, floating in the warm ocean and cocktails. Lots of cocktails.
I'm currently unbelievable relaxed. Most of that will have evaporated by the time I return home due to lots of flights and time spent waiting in airports but I'm going to hold onto that feeling for as long as I can. After this post I'm heading for a massage.
This is the life.
Railay hasn't been all relaxing though. For the last two days I have been rock climbing.Rock climbing outdoors. On a massive big rock. Oih!
The first morning I was so apprehensive, not knowing what to expect, that I could barely eat breakfast. And it wasn't easy. It was incredibly hot and climbing in Thailand didn't miraculously make me a good climber. Unfortunately. But on the second afternoon (when I hadn't even intended to go climbing but the guide kindly invited me along with my friends) something happened.
I had my moment on the rock.
I was struggling up a climb, having just slipped off twice but decided to try one more time, and I realised I was happy. I was enjoying the moment. It was me against the rock - reaching, twisting, pulling, grunting, stretching, clinging, climbing more than I thought I could.
I am a rock-climber.
I can say that now and not feel like I need to add 'but' or 'although' at the end of the sentence. It's something that I enjoy, that I will do again and that I am committed to getting better at.
I am a rock-climber.
It's also the reason I'm now heading for a massage. I'm a tad bit sore. :)
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I'm using the computer in my hotel, overlooking the lobby as I wait for my friends to arrive so this post may end abruptly. :)
I can't believe my holiday isn't even half over yet. It feels like I have seen and done so much and that I should be heading back to the airport for the trip home any moment.
They have arrived!
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In a few days I head away on holiday. It seems like only a few months since I got back from my last trip and I can't believe I'm going overseas again so soon. So gratuitous and excessive. Can't help loving that!
My climbing buddies are over in Africa at the moment, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. They decided to stop in Thailand on the way home and invited me to join them. (Well, they invited me, then I invited myself and they invited me again.) Leaving a Melbourne winter for a week on the beach in Thailand? I couldn't say no.
Given my penchant for stopovers, I decided to have a few days in HongKong on the way. One of the main things I'm looking forward to doing there is taking photos. From viewing photos online I know there is some gorgeous scenes to be captured and I've even bought myself a little tripod to take.
Photography has really become a focus for me this year and I'm learning more and more about the technical aspects as I attempt to move into manual mode. (Bryan Peterson's book, Understanding Exposure, has made a lot of sense.) I am concerned, however, that my aspirations for this trip might outweigh my actual abilities! I do take some photos that I'm really pleased with but there are many duds mixed in. I also need to find the right balance for me between seeing and doing, and photographing.
When I meet up with the guys in Thailand, we're going climbing. Yep, I'm going to attempt to climb an actual cliff face or two. It's hard to describe how I feel about that - probably some combination of proud, amazed and freaked out! Where we are heading there is beautiful beaches backed with limestone cliffs so I can climb a little and then relax and swim. It's the best of both worlds. Although, I do want to remember it isn't like back at the climbing gym here at home - I can't come back next week and try harder. Climbing in Thailand might be a once in a lifetime opportunity and I want to know I gave it everything I've got. There is also going to be cocktails. :)
So that's my gratuitous, extravagent holiday. My little getaway from the Melbourne winter. Only a few days now and I can't wait!
Maria La Gorda, Cuba
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